First lady accepts White House tree
WASHINGTON – Christmas has come to the White House.
Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha and the family’s two dogs on Friday accepted an 18½-foot Douglas fir as the official White House Christmas tree.
It was presented by Christopher Botek, a second-generation Christmas tree farmer from Crystal Spring Tree Farm in Lehighton, Pa.
The tree was hauled up the driveway by horse-drawn wagon and taken to the Blue Room, where it will stand as the main attraction of the White House Christmas decorations.
Mrs. Obama, holding the leash for dog Sunny, and her daughters walked around the wagon to inspect the fir.
“It looks good. It looks beautiful,” she said, turning to ask Malia: “What do you think?”
“Love it. We’ll keep it,” said daughter Malia.
New work suspected at missile launch site
WASHINGTON – A U.S. research institute said Friday it has detected a new construction at a North Korean missile-launch site which the institute says is being upgraded to handle larger rockets.
Commercial satellite imagery shows work has resumed after a monthslong hiatus at Tonghae, on the country’s northeast coast, on what looks like a rocket assembly building and a launch control center.
The findings were provided to The Associated Press ahead of publication by 38 North, the website of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
It’s the latest sign that North Korea is pressing ahead with its nuclear and missile programs despite declaring its willingness to resume aid-for-disarmament negotiations.
Overhead photos have also indicated the North restarted a mothballed plutonium reactor.
Associated Press
