World briefs

UNITED NATIONSU.S. pledges $3B to climate fund

President Barack Obama will pledge $3 billion to a UN climate-change fund that's intended to help poor nations boost renewable energy and counter the ill effects of global warming. The pledge would make the United States the largest donor to the newly established fund. With pledges in place from Germany and France, and one coming from Japan, the Green Climate Fund is nearing its goal of securing $10 billion in pledges.

SWEDEN

Submarine intrusion confirmed

Sweden has confirmed that a small foreign submarine illegally entered its waters last month, though it's still unclear which country was behind the intrusion, officials said yesterday. In unusually stark language for the nonaligned country, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven warned that such incursions into Swedish territory presented "enormous risks" for those involved and that Sweden would defend its borders "with all available means." The Scandinavian country launched its biggest submarine hunt since the Cold War on Oct. 17 after receiving eyewitness reports of some type of underwater craft in the archipelago that extends from Stockholm into the Baltic Sea. It has since called off the search.

Vatican CityPope to remember typhoon victimsPope Francis will host a luncheon for Filipino survivors of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan during his Jan. 12-19 visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The Vatican yesterday released the itinerary for the pope's visit, which comes just five months after his August pilgrimage to South Korea. The pope will arrive in Manila on Jan. 15, and two days later fly to the central city of Tacloban, hardest hit by the Nov. 8, 2013 typhoon that left more than 7,300 people dead or missing.