White House sets up rules for transgender ban in militaryAugust 24, 2017 - 16:13 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The White House is expected to soon give the Pentagon guidance on implementing President Donald Trump’s order to ban transgender people from serving in the military, the Voice of America . A memo reported by the Wall Street Journal, and later confirmed by officials who spoke to the New York Times and Reuters, would give Defense Secretary Jim Mattis six months to implement the plan set in motion by a series of Trump tweets in late July. The policy would give the Pentagon the ability to expel military members based on a standard of whether they could be deployed to war zones or take part in other missions. It would also deny admittance to new transgender people who want to join the military, and would end spending for medical treatment regimens for current transgender service members. Trump in his tweets based his decision on what he said were the “tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” The decision was welcomed by some in his conservative base, but also faced a large backlash from lawmakers and rights advocates. The move also came a year after the Pentagon under former President Barack Obama announced transgender military members would be allowed to serve openly. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Armenian delegation participating in NATO PA session The delegation is headed by Andranik Kocharyan, the chairman of the standing committee on defense and security matters. Schengen visa cost won’t change for Armenia – diplomat The increase in the cost of a Schengen visa will not apply to citizens of Armenia, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson has said. Yeremyan Projects opens state-of-the-art dairy production plant Yeremyan Projects officially launched the Yeremyan Products state-of-the-art milk processing plant in Yerevan on May 24. Armenian PM’s helicopter makes emergency landing in Vanadzor The helicopter transporting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made an emergency landing in Vanadzor. |