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Mideast peace a priority

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 16:45

Peace between Israel and the Palestinians is a "priority," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on a visit to the region on Thursday, warning that time was running out for a two-state solution. "The prospects of a two-state solution cannot be kept alive forever as the situation changes," he told reporters from the seat of the Palestinian presidency in the West Bank city Ramallah. "The two-state solution does not have much longer, there is not much more time in which it could be brought about," he emphasised.

Korea ambassador-departure

Yonhap News AgencyMay 23, 2013 16:45

By Lee Chi-dong WASHINGTON, May 23 (Yonhap) -- As Choi Young-jin, South Korea's ambassador to the U.S., wraps up 41 years of public service next week, he has a new goal -- having a chance to contribute to bringing peace to a conflict-ridden area. "I would like to take some rest for the time being. And if given an opportunity, I hope to do peacekeeping activity once again in a region in need," Choi told reporters. He was responding to a question about what he plans to do after he quits next Thursday.

Obama shifts U.S. from 'perpetual war-footing,' limits drone strikes

Thomson ReutersMay 23, 2013 16:30

By Matt Spetalnick and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday shifted the United States away from a "boundless global war on terror," restricting deadly drone strikes abroad and signaling that America's long struggle against al Qaeda will one day end.

Factbox: Obama outlines rules for armed drone strikes

Thomson ReutersMay 23, 2013 16:30

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a wide-ranging speech on foreign policy on Thursday, President Barack Obama defended his administration's use of drones to kill terrorists abroad, and in a nod to concerns, outlined plans to limit the use of such strikes. As described in a White House statement, the key elements of the president's policy for the use of force in counterterrorism operations outside the United States and outside a war zone are as follows:

Obama seeks to redefine the US war on terror

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 16:17

President Barack Obama laid out new guidelines for drone strikes Thursday and launched a fresh bid to close Guantanamo, warning that a "perpetual" US war on terror would be self-defeating. Obama told Americans their country was at a crossroads, and must move on from the counterterrorism policies deployed after the September 11 attacks to confront a new era of diverse global threats and homegrown radicals. He argued that the idea of a "boundless" conflict everywhere radicalism took root, be it in Pakistan or Arab Spring nations or Somalia, was now obsolete.

MUJAO: an Al-Qaeda offshoot spreads its wings

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 16:16

Malian Islamist group MUJAO, which claimed twin car bombings in Niger on Thursday, is an offshoot of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) which advocates jihad, or holy war, in West Africa. The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, which became one of the masters of northern Mali before French and African armies intervened in the country in January, has claimed a number of abductions in the northeast of Mali. It has also been active in neighbouring Algeria where it has also claimed several attacks on Algerian forces.

Pentagon sees slight drop in F-35 acquisition costs: sources

Thomson ReutersMay 23, 2013 15:46

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's annual report to Congress shows a decline of $4.5 billion, or just over 1 percent, in the projected development and acquisition cost of the Lockheed Martin Corp <LMT.N> F-35 fighter jet program, sources familiar with the data said on Thursday.

Violence in Russia's North Caucasus kills four

Thomson ReutersMay 23, 2013 15:46

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Police killed two suspected Islamic militants on Thursday after one of them threw a grenade at a group of officers and two others died in a separate shootout in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, Interfax reported. Both incidents took place in Dagestan province, which has become the epicenter of violence for militants seeking to establish an Islamic state in the North Caucasus, near where Russia plans to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Utah boy, 15, arrested on suspicion of killing younger brothers

Thomson ReutersMay 23, 2013 15:46

By Dan Whitcomb (Reuters) - A 15-year-old Utah boy was arrested on Thursday on suspicion he stabbed to death his two younger brothers, ages 10 and four, at the family home while their mother was out running errands, law enforcement officials said. The boy, from the community of West Point, was taken into custody a day after the bodies of his brothers were found dead with what appeared to be "penetrating knife wounds," said Sergeant Susan Poulsen of the Davis County Sheriff's Office.

DR Congo shelling killed 3 ahead of Ban visit

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 15:45

Shelling killed three people in the flashpoint Democratic Republic Congo city of Goma ahead of a visit by UN leader Ban Ki-moon on Thursday, the United Nations said. Three shells were fired into the Goma district of Ndosho late Wednesday, killing three people and wounding 10, according to the UN humanitarian coordinator for DR Congo Moustapha Soumare. He did not say whether rebel or government forces were behind the shelling. Ban visited Goma on Thursday as part of a tour of the region to bolster an accord seeking to end conflict in eastern DR Congo.