Briefly

UNITED STATES

Trump: Taliban peace deal 'very close'

The US government on Friday expressed optimism about a possible peace deal with the Taliban that could lead to a gradual withdrawal of US troops after more than 18 years of war in Afghanistan. US President Donald Trump reportedly said in a radio interview on Thursday that the two sides are "very close" to reaching an agreement in the coming weeks. There are about 13,000 US troops in Afghanistan. A US-led coalition invaded the country following the Sept 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. The longest war in US history has reportedly killed more than 2,400 US soldiers and tens of thousands of Afghans.

$3.8b diverted to wall from military

The administration of President Donald Trump is transferring $3.8 billion in recently passed military funding to finance construction of the president's long-sought US-Mexico border wall. The move has angered not just his Democrat rivals but also GOP defense hawks. It would see the Pentagon transfer money that had been earmarked for National Guard units, aircraft procurement and shipbuilding to anti-drug accounts that can finance construction of the wall. Trump's action came less than two months after he signed a huge appropriations package into law. He alienated lawmakers on both sides last year when diverting funding intended for popular projects on military bases.

SYRIA

Air defenses respond to missile attack

Syria's air defenses engaged "hostile targets" over the capital Damascus, state-run media said late on Thursday. Residents reported loud explosions that rocked the city shortly before midnight. State news agency SANA quoted reports saying the air defenses intercepted a number of missiles. It said the missiles approached from the southwest over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. No further details were immediately available. Israel does not usually comment on reports concerning its airstrikes in neighboring Syria, though it has frequently attacked what it says are Iranian targets there.

ANTARCTICA

Record temperature fuels climate concerns

Scientists in Antarctica have recorded a record temperature of 20.75 C, breaking the barrier of 20 C for the first time on the continent, a researcher said on Thursday."We'd never seen a temperature this high in Antarctica," Brazilian scientist Carlos Schaefer said. He cautioned that the reading, taken at a monitoring station on an island off the continent's northern tip on Feb 9, "has no meaning in terms of a climate-change trend", because it is a one-off temperature and not part of a long-term data set. But news that the icy continent is now recording temperatures in the relatively balmy 20s is likely to further fuel fears about the warming of the planet.