Xinhua world news summary at 0830 GMT, Dec. 16

JAKARTA -- Indonesian authorities have issued tsunami alert after multiple strong earthquakes jolted several regencies in West Java province's coastal cities late on Friday that killed two residents, damaged dozens of houses.

The initial earthquake measuring 4.5-magnitude occurred 48 km southwest of West Java city Sukabumi at 11:04 p.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB), at a depth of 50 km, Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said. (Indonesia-Earthquake-Tsunami)

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HAVANA-- Cuba reiterated on Friday its willingness to continue normalizing ties with Washington, despite setbacks caused by U.S. President Donald Trump's position on the issue.

The current U.S. administration has returned to a pattern featuring hostile rhetoric against Cuba, similar to previous periods of confrontation between the two sides, said Josefina Vidal, director general for U.S. affairs in the Cuban Foreign Ministry, at the closing ceremony of an academic workshop on Cuba-U.S. relations. (Cuba-US-Relations)

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WASHINGTON -- U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said Friday that he did not believe the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) newly developed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) posed a "capable threat" to the United States.

"It is not yet shown to be a capable threat against us right now," said Mattis at a briefing in Pentagon.

The United States is still examining the forensics, which will "take a while," Mattis added. (US-DPRK-Mattis)

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NEW DELHI -- India's Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi Saturday took over as the country's main opposition Congress party chief, days after being elected unopposed.

The 47-year-old assumed the reins of the Congress from his mother Sonia Gandhi, who had been the president of the 132-year-old political party since 1998, at a grand function in Delhi. (India-Gandhi-Congress) Enditem