Reuters, Berlin
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has accepted an invitation to attend the Feb. 17-19 Munich Security Conference, conference organizers said on Friday.
The conference in southern Germany will take place against a backdrop of uncertainty about transatlantic relations after U.S. President Donald Trump said he viewed NATO as obsolete and criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policies.
Philippines ends ceasefire with rebels
AP, Manila
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday he has ended the government’s six-month ceasefire with communist rebels and ordered troops to prepare for new fighting after the guerrillas lifted their own truce and killed troops in fresh attacks.
Duterte disclosed his decision in a speech two days after the Marxist guerrillas abandoned their own ceasefire, citing the government’s refusal to release what they consider political detainees and accusing the military of encroaching into their rural strongholds.
Ukraine appeals for global pressure against Russia
AFP, Avdiivka
Ukraine’s president appealed for more global pressure against Russia on Thursday as Moscow-backed rebels and government forces clashed around a frontline town for a fifth day in a surge of fighting that has reportedly claimed 21 lives.
The sworn foes have been exchanging mortar and rocket fire around the flashpoint eastern town of Avdiivka that sits just north of the Russian-backed rebels’ de facto capital of Donetsk.
Gunman kills Afghan cleric, his wife
AP, Kabul
An Afghan official says an unknown gunman has fatally shot a cleric and his wife in the country’s eastern Paktyka province.
Mohammad Alias Wahdat, provincial governor, said Friday the incident happened Thursday night in the Yusof Khail district.
Wahdat said the gunman entered the house and shot the cleric and his wife. Two of their children who were in the house survived.
