WASHINGTON — Secretary of State #Marco Rubio has been thrown into two top national security jobs at once as U.S. President Donald Trump presses forward with his top-to-bottom revamp of U.S. foreign policy, upending not only longstanding policies that the former Florida senator once supported but also the configuration of the executive branch.

Trump’s appointment of Rubio to temporarily replace Mike Waltz as national security adviser is the first major leadership shake-up of the nascent administration, but Waltz’s removal had been rumored for weeks -- ever since he created a Signal group chat and accidentally added a journalist to the conversation where top national security officials shared sensitive military plans.

So, just over 100 days into his tenure as America’s top diplomat, Rubio now becomes just the second person to hold both positions. He follows only the late Henry Kissinger, who served as both secretary of state and national security adviser for two years under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the 1970s.

Rubio -- a one-time Trump rival and hawkish conservative who was derided by the president as “Little Marco” during the 2016 presidential campaign -- has proven adept at aligning himself with Trump’s “America First” foreign policy positions. Rubio has largely eschewed his staunch advocacy of providing foreign aid and promoting democracy overseas since taking over the State Department, repeating a refrain that every policy or program should make America safer, stronger or more prosperous.
Rubio leads during Trump’s massive changes

Since being confirmed in a 99-0 Senate floor vote, Rubio has presided over a radical reorganization of the State Department. That includes the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and plans to cut U.S. jobs by 15 per cent while closing or consolidating more than 100 bureaus worldwide. He has also begun a major cull of the visa system, revoking hundreds, if not thousands, of visas issued to foreign students.

He has overseen the negotiation of agreements to send immigrants accused of crimes to third countries, most notably to El Salvador, in cases that are now being challenged in federal courts.

“Marco Rubio, unbelievable,” Trump said Thursday before announcing on social media that Waltz would be nominated as ambassador to the United Nations and Rubio would take over as national security adviser in the interim. “When I have a problem, I call up Marco, he gets it solved.”

That’s a far cry from 2016, when Rubio and Trump were competing for the GOP presidential nomination and Rubio warned that Trump was a threat. After Trump won, the relationship remained contentious, but eight years later, Rubio was an enthusiastic Trump supporter who worked his Florida bona fides to get into the president’s inner circle.

Yet, even after Rubio was nominated to the top diplomatic job, doubts remained. Many pundits suggested he would last only a short time in office before Trump dismissed him in the same way he did his first-term secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who was fired by tweet in 2018 just 18 months into the job.

Yet Rubio has been resilient. And as of Thursday, he oversees both the State Department and the National Security Council, which is responsible for coordinating all executive branch foreign policy functions, ranging from diplomatic to military and intelligence operations.

Thomas Wright, an NSC official during the Biden administration who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the national security adviser post alone is “more than a full-time job.”

“It is just very hard to comprehend the idea that you can do this job sort of part time,” Wright said.

He said he watched national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his deputy work 14-15 hour days, six to seven days a week: “I think they felt that they had to do that to do the job properly.”
Rubio says little so far on his additional role

Appearing Thursday night on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Rubio was not asked to weigh in on the president’s decision to tap him as national security adviser but did joke that he was barred from adding pope to his list of many jobs because he is married.

But as he marked the first 100 days of Trump’s latest term, Rubio applauded the president for his vision.

“I am honored by the trust President Trump placed in me and I am proud of the work the Department of State has done over the past hundred days to implement his agenda and put the American people first,” he wrote Wednesday in a State Department Substack post.

One of Rubio’s former Florida statehouse colleagues, Dan Gelber, a Democrat, said of Rubio’s increasing responsibilities that “Marco is probably, to a certain extent, one of the more reliable Cabinet officers, if not the most reliable.”

“And I can only believe those qualities are even more vital to his current confluence of positions and growing portfolio,” Gelber said. “He’s not a chaos guy, and I’ve always sort of wondered how he’s going to do in an administration where there seems to be so much chaos. And maybe that’s why he’s getting all these positions.”

Rubio’s dual-hatted role comes on top of him serving as acting administrator of the largely shut down USAID and as acting head of the National Archives. It puts him in a similar position to that of Trump’s longtime personal friend and golfing buddy Steve Witkoff.

As a special envoy, Witkoff is the lead U.S. negotiator in the Iran nuclear talks and in administration peace efforts for the Israel-Hamas war and the Ukraine-Russia war.

In many ways, Rubio and Witkoff are following in the footsteps of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had multiple roles in the first administration, ranging from the Middle East to Latin America and immigration.
How Rubio’s expanded duties are seen at the State Department

State Department officials appeared taken aback by Trump’s appointment of Rubio as acting national security adviser. Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said at a briefing Thursday that she learned the news from a journalist who asked her a question about Trump’s post minutes after it appeared on social media.

Officials, however, have noted that Rubio in recent weeks has spent an increasingly large amount of time at the White House away from his posh seventh-floor State Department office in what is known as “Mahogany Row,” a corridor known for its wood paneling.

At the same time, these officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel shift, said they did not expect Rubio’s duties as secretary of state to change significantly. He still plans to travel on diplomatic missions abroad and likely will delegate at least some of the NSC management to others, they said.

Cha-ching! Millions of dimes spill onto #Texas highway after truck rolls.Millions of coins spilled onto a Texas highway this week after a tractor-trailer hauling US$800,000 in dimes rolled over in an accident, authorities said.

The spillage led to the closure of a portion of the southbound lanes of U.S. 287 in Alvord for about half a day as workers got on their hands and knees to pick up the coins in addition to using brooms and shovels and large industrial vacuums.

The tractor-trailer rolled onto its side at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday after veering off the road and overcorrecting, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The highway reopened at about 7 p.m. that day, DPS said.

The driver and a passenger were transported to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, DPS said.

Alvord is located about 80 miles (130 kilometres) northwest of Dallas.

The tractor-trailer appears to be part of the fleet of trucks operated by Western Distributing Transportation Corporation, which has a division that moves cargo for the government in armored vehicles with armed personnel. A person answering the phone at the company Thursday said they had no comment.

The U.S. Mint says on its website that it’s the nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coins. A message left with the agency on Thursday was not immediately returned.

Luigi Mangione wants state murder case dropped, arguing double jeopardy in UnitedHealthcare killing

Scandal in #Ottawa: Police Arrest Man with Large Sum of Money, Only to Discover He Was a Successful Investor .

The Arrest Incident

The incident occurred in a busy area of the city. Police officers noticed the man acting nervously while waiting for a bus. Suspecting something was amiss, they decided to check his documents and the contents of his sports bag. Inside, they discovered 438,000 Canadian dollars.

Initially, investigators suspected that such a large sum could be linked to shadow financial schemes, money laundering, or the illegal circulation of cash. However, the detained individual, Liam Foster (name changed), immediately stated that he was an investor and that the money had been earned through Bruh AI, a platform that uses artificial intelligence for automated trading in financial markets.
The Investigation Clears Everything Up

At first, the police were skeptical of Foster’s statement. However, after a thorough investigation, it was revealed that Foster had indeed been actively using Bruh AI for investments, and his account on the platform confirmed the legitimacy of the funds. Furthermore, bank statements matched the amount found in his bag.

Foster had planned to travel to the suburban Nepean area and, fearing delays with bank transfers, decided to carry the amount in cash. Now that his innocence has been confirmed, the only question remains: how outdated are the police’s methods if a successful investor can be suspected simply because of nervous behaviour and cash on hand?

This case clearly demonstrates how technology is transforming the financial world, and how traditional notions of "big money" are no longer always relevant in today’s investment landscape.

Phenomenal Earnings: From 250 to 438,000 CAD

"I didn't expect such a result," Foster admitted. "When I saw the police, I immediately realized no one would believe me. That's why I got nervous."

It was later revealed that Foster wasn't the only one using the Bruh AI to generate profits. According to platform users, the automated data analysis and the accuracy of the predictions allowed many investors to significantly increase their capital.
Verification Confirms the Legitimacy of the Earnings

After a thorough investigation, the police determined that all of Foster's transactions were entirely legal. His account on Bruh AI, bank statements, and investment history confirmed that the money had indeed been earned on financial markets with the help of AI.

However, the arrest and the resulting scandal sparked a strong public reaction.
Public Reaction: Is the Police Force Unprepared for Financial Innovations?

"This is a worrying sign: honestly earned money can raise suspicion simply because law enforcement doesn’t understand how innovative investment platforms work," noted one commenter.

Financial analysts also emphasized the importance of preparing police officers for the new realities:

"This case shows that law enforcement needs to understand modern investment tools, or these situations will continue to occur. Artificial intelligence is already a part of the financial world, and ignoring it is not an option," said one expert.

Cryptocurrency and investment platform specialists warn that such cases could mark the beginning of more serious conflicts between outdated regulatory methods and new technologies.

"Bruh AI and other AI platforms open new horizons for investors, but unfortunately, the lack of awareness among some institutions is hindering progress," experts noted.

This incident has become an important lesson for all market participants. Today, even legitimately earned money can raise suspicion if law enforcement is unable to keep up with technological advancements. Perhaps it is time to reconsider the approach to regulating digital financial tools and educating those who uphold the law.

India to ask caste status in next census for first time in decades

#Trump administration tells #Congress it plans to label #Haitian gangs as foreign terror organizations

Pakistan claims it has ‘credible intelligence’ India will strike within 36 hours

#FBI starts using polygraph tests in internal leak investigations,

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has started using polygraph tests to aid investigations aimed at identifying the source of leaks emanating from within the law enforcement agency.

“We can confirm the FBI has begun administering polygraph tests to identify the source of information leaks within the bureau,” the bureau’s public affairs office told Reuters in a statement.

The Washington Post was the first to report the FBI’s use of polygraphs, which are commonly known as “lie detector” tests.

Republican President Donald Trump’s administration has been cracking down on people who leak information to journalists since he returned to office in January.

Last week, the U.S. Justice Department made it easier for prosecutors investigating leaks to the news media to subpoena records and testimony from journalists.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned of possible prosecutions of former senior advisors who were fired during a probe into leaks of Pentagon information to the media, saying evidence would be handed over to the Department of Justice once the investigation is completed. Hegseth’s memo requesting the investigation left open raised the possibility of using polygraphs.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard pledged in March to “aggressively pursuing recent leakers” in order to hold them accountable for unauthorized disclosures.

Trump marks his first 100 days in office with a rally in Michigan, a state rocked by his tariffs

#Vancouver Police have confirmed that the suspect in Saturday's deadly ramming attack that killed 11 people in the city is the brother of a man who died in an unrelated killing last year.

Thirty-year-old Adam Kai-Ji Lo — who has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder with more charges anticipated — is the brother of Alexander Lo, who was killed in January last year in Vancouver.

A fundraiser was set up by Adam Lo for his brother's funeral expenses, but it has since been removed from the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform.

Adam Lo wrote that his brother had been killed in a "senseless act of violence" and that despite their "disagreements," the death had hit him with "overwhelming force."

A second request for funding was set up by Adam Lo in September 2024, where he said his mother tried to take her own life after his brother's killing.

Dwight Kematch was arrested at the home where Alexander Lo's body was found, and he was charged with second-degree murder in November, but the case is the subject of a publication ban.

"I'm burdened with remorse for not spending more time with him," Adam Lo wrote in the online crowdfunding pitch to cover his brother's funeral expenses.

"I can't disclose all the details, but the painful reality is that he won't be returning, leaving my mother with an indescribable sorrow for a son she brought into this world, only to see him depart so suddenly," it said.

The later fundraising page for his mother said she had "immense bills to pay and has struggled for a long time due to high interest rates," while also having difficulty finding work.

Adam Lo said he found her unconscious in her bed, and she was taken to the hospital.

"I feared I had lost the only family member I have left," Lo wrote. "Her suspected overdose came as a shock, but I knew she was grieving the loss of my brother and struggling immensely with her finances."

Lo said he was seeking donations because he could "only feel confident in her well-being if she is confident in her ability to pay her bills and, ultimately, keep her home."

Kematch has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer did not return a message seeking comment.

Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai said on Sunday that Adam Lo had had numerous interactions with police and mental health workers.

Sgt. Steve Addison, who confirmed that Lo's brother had been killed last year, also told a news briefing on Monday that police in a neighbouring jurisdiction had contact with Lo on Friday, the day before the festival attack.

He said the interaction "was not criminal in nature and it didn’t rise to the level where it required mental health intervention."