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News In Brief
US poised to announce withdrawal from nuclear arms treaty
AP, Washington
The Trump administration is poised to announce Friday that it is withdrawing from a treaty that has been a centerpiece of superpower arms control since the Cold War and whose demise some analysts worry could fuel a new arms race.
An American withdrawal, which has been expected for months, would follow years of unresolved dispute over Russian compliance with the pact, known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty. It was the first arms control measure to ban an entire class of weapons: ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 500 kilometers (310 miles) and 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles). Russia denies that it has been in violation.
AP, Washington
The Trump administration is poised to announce Friday that it is withdrawing from a treaty that has been a centerpiece of superpower arms control since the Cold War and whose demise some analysts worry could fuel a new arms race.
An American withdrawal, which has been expected for months, would follow years of unresolved dispute over Russian compliance with the pact, known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty. It was the first arms control measure to ban an entire class of weapons: ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 500 kilometers (310 miles) and 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles). Russia denies that it has been in violation.
US charges 19 in Chinese ‘birth tourism’ scheme
AFP, Los Angeles
US prosecutors announced on Thursday they had dismantled three secret “birth tourism” networks that illegally offer Chinese expectant mothers the chance to give birth in California so their children will have US citizenship.
In total, 19 people were charged in the schemes, in which families were poised to pay tens of thousands of dollars, California’s prosecutor Nicola Hanna said in a statement.
Pakistan test-fires short-range ballistic missile Nasr
PTI, Islamabad
Pakistan Army on Thursday successfully test-fired the short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile “Nasr” which it claimed can defeat any ballistic missile defence system now available in the country’s neighbourhood or any other system being developed.
Nasr, with a strike range of about 70-km, is a high precision, shoot and scoot weapon system with the ability of in-flight maneuverability, according to the Pakistan Army.
Saudis, UAE, Yemen ask UN to pressure Huthis
AFP, United Nations
Yemen’s government and its allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates asked the UN Security Council on Thursday to turn up the pressure on Huthi rebels to uphold a ceasefire deal.
In a letter sent to the council, the three governments accused the Huthis of violating the ceasefire in the port city of Hodeida 970 times since it came into force on December 18.
Japan mayor resigns after ordering arson
AFP, Tokyo
A Japanese mayor who came under fire after telling his subordinate to burn down a building in the way of a road construction project, offered to resign on Friday.
Fusaho Izumi, from Akashi city near Kobe in western Japan, was recorded ranting at a senior city official who was struggling to evict tenants and the owner of the building, as he sought to expand an existing road.
