Global Agenda, 1:15 PMIn historic Hiroshima visit, Obama urges nuclear disarmament

US President Barack Obama on Friday became the first sitting president to visit the site of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, Japan, where he called on world nations to "escape the logic of fear" and reduce their nuclear arsenals. Obama, who was in the country while attending a G7 summit, visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Obama at Hiroshima: What to watch for

Seven decades after the U.S. launched an atomic attack in Hiroshima, President Barack Obama will become the first sitting president to visit the city Friday, traveling there to offer a reconciliatory balm for the still-painful knowledge of the devastation countries can inflict upon one another. By visiting Hiroshima, Obama is casting the powerful presidential spotlight on the haunted memories of one of history's darkest days.

Nuclear-free aspirations of Obama, Abe conflict with reality

When U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe make a historic visit to Hiroshima on Friday - the first time a sitting U.S. president has visited the site of the first atomic bomb attack - their words advocating nuclear disarmament will clash with real-world security necessities. Far from backing up the vision of a world without nuclear bombs that Obama laid out in a 2009 speech that helped secure a Nobel Peace Prize, his near-finished presidency has seen a multibillion-dollar modernization of the U.S. nuclear force.

Afghanistan: New Taliban leader between Drones, ISIL & Negotiations

The May 21 drone strike that killed Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor was no ordinary assassination; it was an act of armed politics against an acutely political war strategist. The Taliban has already named Mansoor's successor, Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada , and is reassuring its members that the status quo will endure - but Mansoor kept a steady hand on the tiller and, now he's gone, the movement could struggle to hold the line.

Korea A-bomb victims angered by Obama’s Hiroshima visit

A group representing Korean victims of the US atomic bombings of Japan protested Thursday that their suffering was being neglected ahead of President Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima. The Association of Korean Atomic Bomb Victims estimates that anywhere between 40,000 and 70,000 Koreans died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when atomic bombs laid waste to the two cities in August 1945.

S. Korea court rejects same-sex marriage

A lawsuit filed by a prominent gay film director and his partner seeking legal status for their same-sex marriage was rejected by a South Korean district court on Wednesday in the first case of its kind. A South Korean court has rejected a lawsuit filed by Kim Jho Gwang-Soo , a gay South Korean movie director, and his long-time partner Kim Seung-Hwan seeking legal status for their same-sex marriage Movie director Kim Jho Gwang-Soo and his long-time partner Kim Seung-Hwan, held a wedding ceremony in Seoul in September 2013 and submitted their marriage registration form to their local authority -- only for it to be rejected.

S Korea court rejects same-sex marriage

Movie director Kim Jho Gwang-Soo and his long-time partner Kim Seung-Hwan, held a wedding ceremony in Seoul in September 2013, but their marriage registration form was rejected. A South Korean court has rejected a lawsuit filed by Kim Jho Gwang-Soo , a gay South Korean movie director, and his long-time partner Kim Seung-Hwan seeking legal status for their same-sex marriage SEOUL: A lawsuit filed by a prominent gay film director and his partner seeking legal status for their same-sex marriage was rejected by a South Korean district court on Wednesday in the first case of its kind.

Obamaa s Hiroshima trip parachutes him into history disputes

By visiting Hiroshima, Barack Obama parachutes himself into a seemingly endless dispute among key U.S. allies and trading partners over World War II. In Tokyo's decades-long tug-of-war over history with its neighbors China and South Korea, it's the American president who could end up losing.

Mullah Akhtar Mansoor related news and updates on one click

It was not immediately confirmed that he had been killed, but the Associated Press reported an American official saying the US believed Mansoor and another male had been killed in the strike, which was carried out by a drone and authorized by Barack Obama. The official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the operation, told the AP the attack was carried out by unmanned aircraft operated by US special operations forces, at about 6am ET, south-west of the Pakistani town of Ahmad Wal.

After Taliban leader’s assassination, where do Afghan peace talks stand?

The White House, finally confirming the death of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, announced Monday the Taliban "should seize the opportunity to pursue the only real path for ending this long conflict - joining the Afghan government in a reconciliation process that leads to lasting peace and stability." That is some optimism.

Hiroshima trip by Obama stirs differing views across Pacific

Two very different visions of the hell that is war are seared into the minds of World War II survivors on opposite sides of the Pacific. Michiko Kodama saw a flash in the sky from her elementary school classroom on Aug. 6, 1945, before the ceiling fell and shards of glass from blown-out windows slashed her.

US shifts tactics, takes war on terror to Taliban HQ in Pakistan

A US drone strike killing Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour signaled a major break with precedent as the United States circumvented Pakistan in an effort to disrupt the strengthening insurgency. KABUL: After months of failed Pakistani efforts to broker peace talks with the Taliban , a US drone strike against the leader of the Afghan militants signaled a major break with precedent as the United States circumvented Pakistan in an effort to disrupt the strengthening insurgency, officials said on Sunday.

Airstrike on Taliban leader escalates U.S. involvement in Afghanistan war theater

The U.S. airstrike thought to have killed Taliban chief Akhtar Mohammad Mansour over the weekend represents another escalation in U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan and signals a new willingness to target senior Taliban leaders on Pakistani soil, analysts and officials said Sunday. Although U.S. officials were awaiting final confirmation of Mansour's death, the strike early Saturday marks the most aggressive U.S. military action in Pakistan since the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Afghanistan probes Mansour’s fate after deadly US drone attack

Afghan authorities scrambled Sunday to confirm the fate of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour after US officials said he was likely killed in drone strikes -- a potential blow to the resurgent militant movement. The Taliban have so far not commented on the unprecedented American bombardment on Saturday, authorised by President Barack Obama, in Pakistan's remote southwestern province of Balochistan.

Pentagon: US airstrike targets Taliban leader Mullah Mansour

The U.S. conducted an airstrike Saturday against Taliban leader Mullah Mansour, the Pentagon said, and a U.S. official said Mansour was believed to have been killed. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the attack occurred in a remote region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.