President Joe Biden is expected to name Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the commander of the Air Force, to take over as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to a person familiar with the matter.
CNN reported that, "If the Senate approves this, it will be the first time in US history that the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is of African descent."
Brown will succeed Gen. Mark Milley, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump in 2018. He will be the second black man to hold the position, after Colin Powell, who served in the position between 1989 and 1993.
According to another official, this appointment is expected to be announced next July, while Milley's term ends in September.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff serves a four-year term. Although this position is the highest rank in the military, he does not command any troops, instead serving as the president's top military advisor.
Sullivan: We are working to achieve a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the United States is "working to achieve a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia."
He added that he spoke on Wednesday via videoconference with his Israeli counterpart Tzachi Hanegbi, as well as with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, indicating that he will visit the Kingdom at the end of this week, where he will meet with Saudi leaders.
It was revealed that the White House is working on a deal that will push forward the normalization of relations between the Kingdom and Israel.
In turn, Hanegbi explained that Israel's two main goals are "ending the Iranian nuclear program and reaching a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia."
He also commented on the prospects for the renewal of relations to bear fruit, and said: "Saudi Arabia and Israel have a common interest, and I believe that we, the Americans and the Saudis, speak the same language."
Just about two months ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that in return for normalizing relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia demanded security guarantees from the United States, as well as assistance in developing the country's civilian nuclear program.
Bloomberg: The Pentagon seeks to hold a meeting between Austin and his Chinese counterpart
The Pentagon is seeking to arrange a meeting between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Li Changfu in Singapore next month, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
US Secretary of Defense: My Chinese counterpart refused a call to me and our communications have been cut off for two months
The potential meeting between Austin and Lee is supposed to take place on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual government security forum that brings together defense ministers and other military leaders from 28 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
And last year, Austin met Li Shangfu's predecessor, General Wei Fengyi, during the same event.
But unlike his predecessor, the current Chinese minister is subject to US sanctions , after the US Treasury imposed them in 2018 on the Training and Supply Department of the Chinese Central Military Council and Li, who headed it at the time, which could make high-level military contacts between the United States and China embarrassing. Somewhat, according to observers.
The new Shangri-La Dialogue is scheduled to be held from June 2 to 4.
And at the end of last April, Austin revealed that former Chinese Defense Minister Wei Feng had refused to receive a call from him after the United States shot down the Chinese airship, and that communication between the two sides had been cut off for two months.
The Russian permanent representative to the United Nations comments on the idea of moving the organization's headquarters from New York
Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, commented on the idea of moving the United Nations headquarters from New York that the United States of America would never agree to that.
This came in an interview with Nebenzia with the "Novosti" agency, where he continued that, in addition to the US's disagreement, it is difficult to mobilize the support of two-thirds of the member states of the organization to take such a decision.
And Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during his recent visit to New York, in response to a question about whether now is the right time to move the United Nations headquarters from New York, that "that would be a good thing."
Nebenzia indicated that the Americans will never agree to this because it represents prestige for them, in addition to an opportunity to abuse their duties as a host country for the organization, as well as "a lot of money."
According to Nebenzia, New York receives a conservative estimate of $5 billion annually from being host to the headquarters of the United Nations, and from the fact that diplomats from 193 countries live here. The United States has repeatedly violated its obligations as the host country of the United Nations headquarters for the sake of its own interests. In particular, Washington, at its sole discretion, did not issue visas to state delegates, and restricted their movement in New York.
According to Nebenzia, the issue of moving the UN headquarters "comes up and down periodically", as it was discussed before during my previous stay here on a long business trip (1996-2000), when a number of countries demanded (it was not us) that the Americans comply the duties of the organization, and we talked then about whether the organization should be moved to another place. Some cities were even named such as Germany's Bonn, for example, which actively offered its services, Geneva, and other places.