AFP, Washington
President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised the alliance between Japan and the United States exactly 75 years after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that led to America’s entrance into World War II.
President-elect Donald Trump also marked the milestone anniversary with a message praising the “American heroes” who died in the raid.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to make a historic visit to a memorial in Pearl Harbor later this month-the first such visit by a Japanese leader-when Obama is scheduled to join him.
Italy’s PM resigns, hints at early election
AFP, Rome
Matteo Renzi bowed out as Italian prime minister with a combination of jokes, regrets and a strong hint that he wants to lead his party into an early election battle.
Political consultations on forming a caretaker government were set to begin Thursday at 6 pm (1700 GMT), after Renzi formally submitted his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella following a crushing referendum defeat.
KSA, Iran engaging in ‘proxy wars’: Johnson
AFP, London
Britain’s foreign minister Boris Johnson has accused Saudi Arabia and Iran of “puppeteering” and engaging in “proxy wars” in the Middle East, a video reported on Thursday shows.
In the clip, Johnson tells a conference in Rome last week it was a “tragedy” that politicians in the region were “twisting and abusing religion” to advance their political objectives.
Another Palestinian shot dead
AFP, Jerusalem
An 18-year-old Palestinian threatened Israeli border police with a knife at a flashpoint junction in the occupied West Bank on Thursday and was shot dead, Israeli authorities said.
The incident occurred at the Tapuah junction near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, where a number of attacks have taken place in recent months, police said.
Police said: “A suspect approached border police suspiciously.
