Norway, China restore ties after six years of tension
Christian Science Monitor :
Norway and China have resumed ties after more than six years of tension, Norway’s prime minister said on Monday.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg told lawmakers that Norway will restore cooperation with “a major world economy” following years of strained relations stemming from the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision in 2010 to award the peace prize to Liu Xiaobo, a jailed Chinese dissident.
Serbia to get Russian fighter jets
AP, Belgrade :
Serbia said Monday that it will purchase Russian combat jets in a move likely to add to tensions in the Balkans amid Moscow’s apparent efforts to prevent the volatile European region from joining Western institutions.
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said he will travel to Moscow later this week to sign a deal that will include six MiG-29 fighters, which he says are needed “to protect our freedom and sovereignty.”
Truck attack kills 12 in Berlin
AP, Berlin :
Police said Tuesday that the driver who rammed a truck into a crowded Christmas market in the heart of the German capital, killing at least 12 people and injuring nearly 50, did so intentionally and that they are investigating a suspected “terror attack.” The truck struck the popular Christmas market outside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church late Monday as tourists and locals were enjoying a traditional pre-Christmas evening near Berlin’s Zoo station.
Smog chokes Chinese cities
AP, Beijing :
Thick, gray smog fell over Beijing on Tuesday, choking China’s capital in a haze that spurred authorities to cancel flights and close some highways in emergency measures to cut down on air pollution.
Beijing and much of industrial northern China are in the midst of a “red alert,” the highest level in China’s four-tiered pollution warning system.
