Kremlin shrugs off
US call to scrap
nuclear-capable missile
Reuters, Moscow
The Kremlin shrugged off a U.S. call for it to scrap a nuclear-capable missile on Friday, saying it was in compliance with the Cold-War era arms control treaty Washington accuses the missile of violating.
A senior U.S. official said on Thursday that Russia must scrap its 9M729 nuclear-capable cruise missiles and launchers or modify the weapons’ range to return to compliance with the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty and avert a U.S. pullout from the pact.
Cambodia won’t allow foreign military bases
AP, Hanoi
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Friday that his government will not allow any foreign military bases in its territory and called media reports that China is seeking a naval base there “fake news.”
Hun Sen, who is on a three-day visit to Vietnam, insisted at a news briefing with his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, that the Cambodian Constitution does not permit foreign military bases.
Merkel’s party chooses
successor
AP, Hamburg
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party is meeting Friday to elect a new leader who could help shape Germany’s political direction for the next generation. A close ally of Merkel’s and a one-time rival are considered favorites for the job to lead the center-right Christian Democratic Union.
Merkel announced in October she would give up the reins in her party, though she has said she plans to remain chancellor until the end of the current term in 2021. However, it’s possible elections could be called before then.
Trump to nominate Nauert as UN ambassador
Reuters, Washington
President Donald Trump will nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as US ambassador to the United Nations, two White House officials said yesterday, tapping someone with no prior policy or political experience to deal with some of the world’s thorniest issues.
The decision was expected to be announced on Friday morning, the officials said, requesting anonymity..
S. Korea, DPRK hold meeting in Kaesong
Xinhua, Seoul
South Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a vice-ministerial-level meeting Friday at the inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK’s border town of Kaesong.
Seoul’s unification ministry vice spokesperson, Lee Eugene, told a press briefing that Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung was scheduled to participate in the meeting between chiefs of the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong slated for 11 a.m. local time (0200 GMT).
