Defense and foreign ministers from more than 30 nations are gathering in Washington to plan the next steps in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group and to determine what more they can do as the fights for key cities in Iraq and Syria move forward.
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter was scheduled to meet with his counterparts yesterday to discuss how they can accelerate the campaign and build on some of the momentum, particularly in Iraq.
The Washington meeting comes as Iraqi security forces, aided by the coalition, are preparing to encircle and eventually attempt to retake Mosul.
France and the US are preparing a coordinated strike against the IS group in Mosul, French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said in Paris yesterday.
“[French Minister of Defense] Jean Yves Le Drian is in Washington. He is preparing with the Americans a coordinated attack on Mosul,” le Foll said on France Info radio.
The meeting of defense ministers at Joint Base Andrews was to be the fourth time that Carter has convened an anti-IS coalition meeting.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said Carter would talk about the military campaign and how it can be accelerated.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry is to host a joint meeting of defense and foreign ministers in the counter-IS coalition today for the first time.
They are expected to talk about the coordination of political and military efforts, including counter-terrorist financing.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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