By Will Dunham and Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An American and an Italian who had been held hostage for several years by al Qaeda in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan were inadvertantly killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation in January, President Barack Obama said on Thursday. On behalf of the United States government, I offer our deepest apologies to the families,” Obama said in an appearance at
By Alastair Macdonald and Philip Pullella BRUSSELS/ROME (Reuters) – European Union leaders will reverse a cutback in rescue operations in the Mediterranean on Thursday to try to prevent record numbers of people drowning as they try to flee war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the bloc’s pre-eminent leader, said on arrival that Europe’s values and credibility in the rest of the world were
Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition pounded Houthi militiamen and military bases with at least 20 air strikes throughout Yemen on Thursday, residents said, despite Riyadh saying it was winding down its campaign. On Tuesday, the Sunni Arab alliance announced an end to its month-old bombing operation in Yemen but strikes have continued. The Houthi-controlled health ministry said on Thursday that air strikes had so far killed 951 people, among them
U.S. troops are in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine and are training Ukrainian forces, Interfax news agency quoted a spokesman for Russia’s Defense Ministry as saying on Thursday. A day earlier, Washington accused Russia of building up air defense systems inside eastern Ukraine and of involvement in training exercises of pro-Russian rebels in breach of a European-brokered truce. Igor Konashenkov was quoted as saying that U.S. troops were training
U.S. Under Secretary Wendy Sherman and Tehran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will resume talks about curbing Iran’s nuclear program later on Thursday, Iranian media said. The latest round of nuclear diplomacy, being held in a luxury hotel in Austria’s capital, kicked off with a bilateral meeting between Iran and the European Union on Wednesday. Iran’s nuclear negotiator Hamid Baidinejad told Iranian state television that “drafting the final deal has
By Paul Taylor and Reinhard Becker BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel was expected to press Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Thursday to move faster to agree detailed economic reforms crucial to unlock international bailout funds before Athens runs out of cash. The conservative German leader was due to meet the leftist Greek premier just before an emergency European Union summit on migration, a day before euro zone
EU leaders meet Thursday to discuss possible military action against human traffickers in Libya in a desperate effort to halt the tidal wave of refugees trying to reach Europe by sea. As Malta honoured the estimated 800 people who died in the Mediterranean’s worst migrant disaster with a poignant inter-faith funeral service for 24 of them, a draft statement for the summit seen by AFP committed leaders to “undertake systematic
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s Shiite rebels pressed their offensive in the country’s south on Thursday as a Saudi-led coalition bombarded them from the air in at least six cities, less than two days after announcing the end of a monthlong campaign against the Iran-supported militants.
By Angus McDowall SHARURA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – As Saudi Arabian air strikes have hammered Yemen over the past month, Riyadh’s Western allies are believed to have grown increasingly worried by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) taking advantage of the chaos to capture more ground. Although Riyadh has announced the end of its main air campaign, strikes against the Houthi militia persist, as does the fighting in central
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say they have found the body of a migrant who apparently drowned during floods as he tried to illegally enter the country from Turkey.