In brief: Romania OKs U.S. ABM interceptors
BUCHAREST, Romania – Romania’s top defense body on Thursday approved a U.S. proposal to place anti-ballistic missile interceptors in the country as part of a revamped American missile shield, the president said.
Romania will host “ground capabilities to intercept missiles” that will increase its national security and go into operation starting in 2015, President Traian Basescu said.
“Romania will not host a system directed against Russia, but against other threats,” Basescu said, adding that the measure was not directed against Russia.
The U.S. State Department confirmed the plan.
“Romania has agreed to host a Standard Missile 3 interceptor as part of the administration’s new missile defense plan … to protect U.S. forward-deployed troops and our NATO allies against current and emerging ballistic missile threats from Iran,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.
Crowley also tried to assuage Russian fears, saying “as we have made clear over and over again, this is not a capability that is directed at Russia.”
Car blast near hotel kills 6, hurts dozens
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives near a hotel in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding nearly two dozen, officials said.
The blast in Kandahar happened as NATO and Afghan forces are preparing for a joint offensive against Taliban militants in the neighboring province of Helmand in a major bid to break the Taliban stranglehold on the south.
A policeman in the district where the blast occurred, Ahmed Shah Khan, said the bomber’s target was not immediately clear, and the explosives may have detonated prematurely.
The blast occurred in a busy commercial area near a major road that is frequently used by U.S. officials and other dignitaries in Kandahar, the main commercial center of the south.
Obama to meet the Dalai Lama
WASHINGTON – The White House said President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama will meet at the White House this month.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs confirmed to reporters Thursday that the meeting would be in February but didn’t specify a date. Chinese leaders have urged Obama not to meet with the exiled Tibetan religious leader.
The White House says Obama told China’s leaders last year that he would meet with the Dalai Lama, viewed by U.S. leaders as a respected religious and cultural leader.
Storm pounds into French Polynesia
PAPEETE, Tahiti – Cyclone Oli buffeted French Polynesia on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists to churches, schools and temples.
The archipelago that includes Tahiti was under red alert until the cyclone passes, and all roads were closed. Towering waves were buffeting buoys off the coast of Tahiti’s capital, Papeete. French television showed a naval ship pitching in the storm.
Around 3,500 people in Tahiti and Moorea were evacuated, officials said, and about 50 homes were destroyed in Moorea.
A dozen people were reported injured in Bora Bora.