SANAA/ADEN (Reuters) – Unidentified assailants shot and seriously wounded a U.S. military instructor in Yemen on Sunday, while the army closed in on a town controlled by al Qaeda-linked fighters in heavy fighting that killed at least 27 people, local officials said. Four Americans – who were in the impoverished Arab state training its coastguard – were in the car that was attacked, a Yemeni coastguard officer said. “They were leaving their hotel in a Land Cruiser when militants in another car pulled up alongside and opened fire with rifles. …
NATO chief insists no rush to exits in Afghanistan
The United States and NATO leaders insist the Afghanistan fighting coalition will remain whole despite France’s plans to yank combat troops out early, but leaders wary of plummeting public support for the war are using an alliance summit Sunday to show they want to move quickly away from the front lines.
North Korea releases detained Chinese fishermen
BEIJING (Reuters) – North Korea released a number of Chinese fishermen and boats on Sunday two weeks after seizing them, ending a rare public dispute between the two allies, Chinese state media reported. The boats were taken in the Yellow Sea between China and North Korea on May 8 – although it remains unclear whether the action was authorised by the North Korean government. The North Koreans who took the boats had demanded 1.2 million yuan ($189,800) for releasing the fishermen, then cut their price to 900,000 yuan, the owner of one of the captured vessels said last week. …
