USA

20 Dec 2018; DW: Jim Mattis has announced his resignation citing policy differences with his president. He was seen as a stabilizing force for international order in the chaotic, go-it-alone administration.

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will step down at the end of February, he announced in a letter to US President Donald Trump. Trump tweeted the news on Thursday, saying Mattis was "retiring, with distinction, at the end of February."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House has approved funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall in legislation that pushes the government closer to a partial government shutdown.

The House voted 217-185, largely along party lines. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it has almost no chance of passing.

Senators already passed their bill to avert a shutdown by extending funds to Feb. 8. It did not include the wall funding.

Without resolution, government funding for various departments expires at midnight Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is developing plans to withdraw up to half of the 14,000 American troops serving in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Thursday, marking a sharp change in the Trump administration’s policy aimed at forcing the Taliban to the peace table after more than 17 years of war.

One official said the troops could be out by summer, but no final decision has been made.

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. It is up to Russia, Syria and Iran to fight the Islamic State terror group (IS or ISIS, outlawed in Russia), US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter, commenting on his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.

"Getting out of Syria was no surprise. I’ve been campaigning on it for years, and six months ago, when I very publicly wanted to do it, I agreed to stay longer. Russia, Iran, Syria and others are the local enemy of ISIS. We were doing there work. Time to come home and rebuild," the tweet reads.

Washington, Dec 20 (AFP) The United States does not want to be the "Policeman" of the Middle East, US President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday, as he defended his controversial decision to pull US forces out of Syria.

"Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East, getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we are doing? Do we want to be there forever? Time for others to finally fight....," he tweeted.

Washington, Dec 20 (PTI) The US Senate has approved a legislation to temporarily fund the government in an effort to avoid a partial shutdown just before Christmas after President Donald Trump backed away from his demand for money for a border wall with Mexico.

Senators on Wednesday passed the measure, which would keep government running to 8 February.

20 Dec 2018; DW: The White House announced the move on Wednesday after President Trump tweeted that the US had defeated IS. He had been looking for a way out of Syria for a while; Turkey seems to have given him a good reason.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on Wednesday against 15 Russians over hacking, interference in U.S. elections and a nerve agent attack in England.

In a separate action, the agency also announced plans to lift sanctions on the aluminum manufacturing giant Rusal. It comes after the department approved a plan that severed Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s control of the company.

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Wednesday issued a blistering report about clergy sexual abuse, saying that Catholic dioceses in Illinois has not released the names of at least 500 clergy accused of sexually abusing children.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Los Angeles auxiliary bishop, Monsignor Alexander Salazar, following an allegation of sexual misconduct with a child in the 1990s, officials said Wednesday.

The Vatican announced the resignation in a one-line statement. It was the latest in a string of misconduct allegations against bishops to come to light this year, following the scandal of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington that exposed how bishops have largely avoided punishment for improper behavior.