We live in a busy world with a lot of information being thrown at you. Don’t feel overwhelmed. OpsLens will give you a weekly briefing on the major stories you need to know about and cut out all the extra information that isn’t important. Here’s your weekly briefing on what’s going on in national security and military news.
President Trump and Putin Set to Meet at Summit
President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Helsinki, Finland on July 16th.
The two have met face-to-face twice before, but both of those meetings were at larger gatherings of international leaders. This meeting will be the first one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin.
The announcement of the meeting signals an effort on Trump’s part to improve Washington’s relationship with Moscow but has been met with criticism from Democrats who have argued that Trump’s decision to meet with Putin is evidence of an endorsement of Putin’s policies.
Topics that could be on the agenda will most likely include the Syrian civil war, fighting in eastern Ukraine, and cyberwarfare and election interference.
SecDef Mattis says U.S. Troops Levels in South Korea will Remain the Same
Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced on Thursday that the United States will maintain its current troop levels in South Korea.
Mattis recently returned from a trip to China and stopped in Seoul on his way home, where he met with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and reinforced America’s “ironclad” commitment to Seoul. “The U.S. will continue to use the full range of diplomatic and military capabilities to uphold this commitment,” Mattis said during a joint press conference with Minister Song.
There had been some speculation about diminishing U.S. troop levels on the Korean Peninsula after President Trump’s historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in Singapore last month.
There are currently 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea. That number has decreased over time and is down significantly from its peak of 70,000 in the late 1950s.
Gunman Kills Five in Newspaper Office
A gunman stormed the office of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis on Thursday, killing five people and injuring two other employees. Armed with a shotgun, Jarred Warren Ramos, 38, is accused of entering the back door of the office, barricading it so no one could escape, and then systematically hunting and killing employees.
Police said that Ramos was arrested shortly after the shooting and that responding officers found him hiding under a desk. No shots were exchanged during the arrest. He has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder, according to court records.
The five Capital Gazette employees killed were Gerald Fischman, 61, an editorial page editor; Rob Hiaasen, 59, an assistant editor; John McNamara, 56, a staff writer; Rebecca Smith, 34, a sales assistant; and Wendi Winters, 65, who worked in special publications.
Firefighter Killed by Gunman
A Long Beach Fire Department captain was shot and killed Monday after responding to a fire in a senior residential facility.
Captain Dave Rosa, 45, a 17-year department veteran, was fatally shot Monday during a call about an explosion at the facility. A second firefighter, Ernesto Torres, was also shot but is expected to make a full recovery.
Rosa had been with the Long Beach Fire Department for 17 years and had served as a captain for more than six years. He leaves behind a wife and two sons, ages 25 and 16.
Thomas Kim, a 77-year-old resident of the facility, has been charged with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder of a firefighter, two counts of attempted murder, one count of arson of an inhabited structure and one count of explosion with intent to murder. He could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if convicted.
