NATION & WORLD WATCH

White Sands monument re-designated as US national park

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – President Donald Trump’s signature on defense legislation enacted by Congress means White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico is now White Sands National Park. White Sands became the 62nd designated national park Friday with Trump’s signing of the defense bill, park officials said Saturday. White Sands National Monument was established in 1933 by President Herbert Hoover to preserve “the white sands and additional features of scenic, scientific, and educational interest.”

Cuba names tourism minister to be first PM since 1976

HAVANA – Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday named Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz as the country’s first prime minister since 1976. Marrero, 56, was tourism minister for 16 years, presiding over a rise in visitors and a hotel construction boom that has made tourism one of the most important sectors of the economy. DiazCanel cited Marrero’s experience in negotiating with foreign investors as one of his prime qualifications. Fidel Castro was prime minister from 1959 to 1976, when his title was changed to president.

New Lebanese PM meets with parliamentarians on road ahead

BEIRUT – Lebanon’s new prime minister held consultations Saturday with parliamentary blocs in which they discussed the shape of the future government and said afterward that legislators all had one concern: To get the country out of its “strangling” economic crisis. Hassan Diab, a university professor and former education minister, will have to steer Lebanon out of its worst economic and financial crisis in decades. “Lebanon is in the intensive care unit and needs efforts” by all sides, from political groups to protesters, Diab said.

Visiting French president says forces killed 33 jihadists in Mali

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – French forces killed 33 Islamic extremists in central Mali on Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced during a three-day trip to West Africa, an area dominated by the growing threat posed by jihadist groups. Macron tweeted that he was “proud of our soldiers who protect us” and said two Malian gendarmes were rescued in the operation. In a speech to the French community living in Ivory Coast, Macron said French troops will continue fighting terrorism in the Sahel region.