Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has re-opened the debate over nuclear proliferation. The president-elect says the United States should "greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability" until the rest of the world "comes to its senses" regarding nuclear weapons. Trump made the comments on Twitter, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said strengthening his country's nuclear capabilities should be a chief military objective in the coming year.
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned to President-elect Donald Trump to help head off a U.N. resolution that demanded that Israel halt settlement activities in occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians. But under heavy Israeli pressure, Egypt, which sponsored the resolution, canceled the vote hours before it was to take place. The official, who wants to remain anonymous, says Israel learned that the U.S. would not veto the resolution.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Deutsche (DOY'-chuh) Bank says it has agreed on a $7.2 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to end civil claims over its dealings in mortgage-backed securities. The settlement, which isn't final, would address the bank's issuance of bonds backed by home mortgages in 2005-2007. Such bonds helped start a global financial crisis when the mortgages went into default and the bonds went sour. Credit Suisse also has said that it's agreed on a $5.3 billion mortgage-bond settlement.
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian state TV says army experts are dismantling explosives and booby-traps left behind by rebels before they pulled out of neighborhoods they held in the northern city of Aleppo. The Syrian government took full control of Aleppo on Thursday for the first time in four years after the last opposition fighters and civilians were bused out of war-ravaged eastern districts, sealing the end of the rebellion's most important stronghold.
CAIRO (AP) — An international rights group says it has found evidence that a Saudi-led coalition used Brazilian-made rockets carrying cluster bombs when it targeted schools in northern Yemen earlier this month. Human Rights Watch says the Dec. 6 airstrikes on Saada killed two people. The attack came a day after Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United States abstained from a U.N. vote to ban the use of cluster munitions.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
