Strikes on al-Qaida base kill 55, says Yemen
SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni forces, reportedly backed by U.S. drone strikes, hit al-Qaida militants for a second consecutive day Monday in what Yemen officials said was an assault on a major base of the terror group hidden in the remote southern mountains. The government said 55 militants were killed so far.
The sprawling base was a rare instance of a permanent infrastructure set up by al-Qaida’s branch in the country, Yemeni security officials said. Built over the past months, it includes a training ground, storehouses for weapons and food and vehicles used by the group to launch attacks, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details to journalists.
The assault appeared to be a significant escalation in the U.S. and Yemeni campaign against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the terror group’s powerful branch in the southern Arabian nation. The United States has been striking al-Qaida positions in the country heavily with drone strikes the past two years, trying to cripple the group after it was driven out of several southern cities it took over in 2011.
Time running out for Russia, says U.S.
KIEV, Ukraine – Russia has “days, not weeks” to abide by an international accord aimed at stemming the crisis in Ukraine, the top U.S. diplomat in Kiev warned Monday as Vice President Joe Biden launched a high-profile show of support for the pro-Western Ukrainian government. Russia in turn accused authorities in Kiev of flagrantly violating the pact and declared their actions would not stand.
Biden, the highest-ranking American official to visit Ukraine during its conflict with Russia, planned to meet with government officials in the capital of Kiev on Tuesday. The vice president also planned to announce new technical support to help the fledgling government with energy and economic reforms.
Biden’s trip comes days after the U.S., Russia, Ukraine and Europe signed an agreement in Geneva calling for Moscow to use its influence to get pro-Russian forces to leave the numerous government buildings they now occupy in cites throughout eastern Ukraine. The U.S. asserted on Monday publicly available photographs from Twitter and other media show some of the troops in eastern Ukraine are Russian special forces, and the U.S. said the photos support its case that Moscow is using its military to stir unrest in Ukraine.
In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected charges Moscow was behind the troubles in eastern Ukraine and failing to live up to the Geneva agreement.
Hunt for Malaysia jet stretches beyond week
SYDNEY – The Indian Ocean search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet continued today after a week of painstakingly slow sonar scanning of the targeted patch of seabed has so far failed to yield a single piece of wreckage.
Up to 10 planes and as many ships will scour the ocean surface for debris Tuesday over an area covering 19,000 square miles centered 1,000 miles northwest of the Australian west coast city of Perth, the search coordination center said in a statement. Searchers will contend with scattered rain showers and swells of up to 10 feet.
A robotic submarine is continuing its ninth 16-hour mission scanning the silt-covered seafloor since the search for wreckage shifted beneath the waves on April 14.
The center said the U.S. Navy’s Bluefin 21 had so far covered about two-thirds of the 120-square-mile seabed search zone, creating a three-dimensional sonar map of any debris. Nothing of interest had been found.
Thousands bid goodbye to Garcia Marquez
MEXICO CITY – With two heads of state and thousands of tearful admirers, Mexico bid farewell on Monday to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian Nobel laureate considered one of the greatest Spanish-language authors of all time.
The ashes of the author, who died Thursday at age 87, were received at Mexico City’s majestic Palace of Fine Arts to several minutes of thunderous applause after being placed on a black pedestal by his widow, Mercedes Barcha, and his two sons, Gonzalo and Rodrigo.
He was eulogized in a brief ceremony in the dramatic art deco lobby by the presidents of both Mexico and Colombia, two countries linked by the writer through his birth, life, heritage and career.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said the writer’s death was “a great loss not only for literature but for humanity. Various generations ... found answers to the questions of life in his stories and tales.”
Associated Press
