IN BRIEF (Page 12)

SYRIA

Battle rages for vital water source

Intense battles raged on Sunday in a water-rich valley northwest of Damascus, a day after a truce was breached by rebels' killing of a government envoy, a military source said. The Syrian army backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah fighters reached the outskirts of Ain Fijeh spring near Damascus, as part of a widescale offensive to recapture the spring, the main water source for the five million residents of Damascus.

UNITED STATES

Trump 'planning Putin summit'

US President-elect Donald Trump plans to hold a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on his first foreign trip shortly after taking office, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported. Trump would seek to "reset" relations with the Kremlin, with Iceland being the likely venue for the meeting, the newspaper said, citing unnamed British officials it said had been informed of the plan.

ISRAEL

Excavations find Anne Frank link

Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial says researchers excavating the remains of one of the most notorious Nazi death camps have uncovered a pendant that appears identical to one belonging to Anne Frank. Yad Vashem said on Sunday it has ascertained the pendant belonged to Karoline Cohn, a Jewish girl who perished at Sobibor and may have known the famous diarist.

Xinhua - Afp - Ap

(China Daily 01/16/2017 page12)