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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Ray Kouguell reporting. Afghan leaders meet senior U.S. officials near Washington.
[Afghan's] Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah held talks with top U.S. officials at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, Monday. The discussions which included U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew were aimed at improving bilateral relations that have been strained by almost 14 years of war. Mr. Ghani said that Afghanistan's partnership with the United States is foundational and thanked the U.S. for giving his country freedom and hope. He also spoke in an exclusive VOA interview. "We have mutual interests and are faced with common threats. Given that, we have to create the type of coordination and cooperation that both ensures Afghanistan's national interests and secures United States vital interests in the region." The new Afghan leader vowed to defeat Taliban insurgents seeking to overthrow his fledgling government. He and Mr. Abdullah will meet Tuesday with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Military forces aligned with Libya's internationally recognized government shot down a warplane Monday flown by airmen linked to the rival Tripoli-based government allied with Islamist militias. Libya's Tobruk-based government said the fighter jet flown by the rival Dawn of Libya militia was shot down in western Libya after it had bombed targets in the western city of Zintan supportive of the elected government. A Tobruk spokesman said the pilot was killed. Tunisia's prime minister fired five police commanders Monday in the wake of last week's terrorist assault in Tunis on the country's national museum that left 21 people dead. Tunisian authorities say the guards assigned to provide security at the museum were having coffee at the time two militants gunned down the tourists. This is VOA news. Forces loyal to Yemen's Houthi rebel group appeared to have stopped in their drive south toward the southern capital of Aden. Edward Yeranian has details. Residents of Yemen's third largest city, Taiz, jeered a convoy of Houthi rebel fighters Monday outside a special forces base demanding they withdraw. The rebels appeared to consolidate their grip on Taiz but were pushed back as they tried to advance further south. A tribal fighter battling the Houthi forces trying to punch through to Aden insisted he and his men would sooner die than allow the Houthis to enter the south of the country. Edward Yeranian, for VOA news, Cairo. Ukraine again is accusing pro-Russian separatists of violating the cease-fire agreement the two sides signed last month, saying the rebels fired rockets and artillery at Ukrainian military positions in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian military spokesman says six soldiers were wounded in fighting over the previous 24 hours. NATO officials and European monitors confirmed there is renewed fighting. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks Monday in Berlin, aimed at bridging sharp differences over Greece's economic future. Mr. Tsipras is seeking short-term financial aid from the European Union in order to service its $270 billion debt to European creditors in the coming months and to keep Athens from falling out of the 19-member eurozone. Germany and other creditors are demanding that Greek leaders first make and enforce tough spending cuts and implement wide-ranging reforms in exchange for more bailout money. President Obama is calling for free and fair elections in Nigeria this Saturday and for Nigerians to reject the violence that's marred the country's previous polls. In a video released Monday by the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Mr. Obama said successful elections are key to stopping insurgent group Boko Haram and allowing more than a million displaced Nigerians to return to their homes. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is running for re-election against former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari. Thousands of mourners have gathered outside the prime minister's official residence in Singapore to lay flowers and pay their respects to the country's founder, Lee Kuan Yew. He died Monday at the age of 91. The government declared seven days of national mourning that will end with his funeral next Sunday. U.S. officials say there is no indication that a data breach led to Islamic State's posting on the Internet what it says are the names, addresses and photographs of 100 U.S. military personnel that it encourages its supporters in the U.S. to kill. A group calling itself the "Islamic State Hacking Division" said Sunday details of the service members came from government servers and databases. I'm Ray Kouguell in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |