USA

UNITED NATIONS, February 13. /TASS/: The UN Security Council will gather on February 18 on Russia’s initiative to discuss implementation of Minsk agreements, Russia’s first deputy envoy to the UN, Vladimir Polyansky, told TASS.

"In connection with the fifth anniversary of the Minsk agreements, marked today, Russia requested holding an open UN Security Council session with participation of an OSCE envoy to analyze the implementation of the agreements," he said.

WASHINGTON, February 13. /TASS/: US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he considered the recent incident in Syria, in which a Syrian teenager was killed by US troops, to be an altercation, but not escalation, the Voice of America said.

"I got an initial report that there was an altercation in Syria. That's all the further I have on it right now," the radio station quoted the defense secretary as saying in Brussels. "I wouldn't say that there's escalating if you will, or you used the plural, clashes, if you will."

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump brushed aside the decision of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to end a decades-old military agreement with United States, saying he didn’t really mind and it would save money.

UN, February 13. /TASS/: The UN Secretariat would welcome a summit of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Russia, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and China), UN Secretary General’s official spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.

"We would welcome any meeting of Security Council permanent members which we hope would lead to increased cooperation between those five countries in the Security Council," he said, answering to a question from TASS.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution on Libya confirming the conclusions of the recent Berlin conference on Libyan reconciliation and the need for a lasting ceasefire in the country.

The text, drafted by the United Kingdom, was approved with 14 votes out of 15, with Russia abstaining.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is likely to back new U.S. restrictions on Huawei Technologies, reversing earlier opposition to a proposal meant to further crack down on exports to the blacklisted Chinese company, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

The reversal would make it harder for U.S. companies to get around the effective ban on exports to Huawei, the world’s second-largest smartphone maker.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three U.S. senators will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kiev on Friday, seeking to reinforce the importance of his country as a strategic U.S. ally after he found himself at the center of President Donald Trump’s acrimonious impeachment trial.

“The U.S.-Ukraine relationship is as important now as ever,” Republican Senators Ron Johnson and John Barrasso and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said in a statement on Wednesday announcing their trip.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution to endorse the outcome of last month's Berlin Conference on Libya.

Resolution 2510 won the support of 14 of the 15 members of the Security Council. Russia abstained.

Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said after the vote that there should have been no rush in the council.

Resolution 2510 endorses the outcome of the Berlin Conference held on Jan. 19 and notes that the outcome represents "an important element of a comprehensive solution" to the situation in Libya.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday met with visiting Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud here discussing bilateral ties and Iran, said the U.S. State Department.

Pompeo talked about the U.S.-Saudi partnership to confront Iran's threats, said the department in a statement.

The two sides also discussed recent violence in Yemen and the need to return to de-escalation, the statement added.

Texas, USA (AP) --- Details that have emerged more than two months after a Texas police officer killed an unarmed man during a traffic stop still leave the unanswered question: Why did he pull the trigger?

Temple Officer Carmen DeCruz, 52, was charged with manslaughter Monday in the fatal shooting of Michael Dean, a black 28-year-old, in the city of 76,000 people about 70 miles (112 kilometers) northeast of Austin. Before then, Temple police had released little information about the Dec. 2 shooting.