ambassador to UN
AFP, Washington
Former Fox News anchor and State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Saturday withdrew from consideration to be the US ambassador to the United Nations amid criticism that she lacked the gravitas for one of the top diplomatic posts.
“The past two months have been grueling for my family and therefore it is in the best interest of my family that I withdraw,” Nauert said in a statement.
US Pentagon chief said he felt ‘welcomed’ on EU tour
AFP, Washington
Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan on Saturday said he felt “very welcomed” during his trip this week to NATO headquarters in Brussels and a major security conference in Germany.
“My takeaway is that I felt very welcomed and it was a very inclusive environment,” Shanahan said, speaking aboard the airplane bringing him home from a three-day international security conference in Munich.
Merkel declares
support of
anti-Russia sanctions
Tass,Munich
Germany supports sanctions against Russia, Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, adding that restrictive measures should be coordinated. “We support sanctions against Russia. They should be coordinated (with Ukraine),” she said.
Western countries should maintain the dialogue with Russia, German Chancellor said, adding that it is necessary to observe the Russia-NATO Founding Act.
Surfer seriously injured in Australia shark attack
AFP, Sydney
A 41-year-old surfer was airlifted to hospital Sunday after being bitten in a suspected shark attack on Australia’s famed Byron Bay.
The man was out catching waves shortly after dawn at Belongil Beach when police said he was “bitten on the leg by a shark”. Images taken shortly after appeared to show a chunk bitten out of the tail of the man’s surfboard.
