BBC news with Neil Nunes.
A series of bombs has ripped through Shiite mosques and offices in Yemeni capital Sanaa, killing more than 30 people. Islamic State militants said they carried out the attacks targetting Shiite worshipers and the headquarters of Houthi rebel movement who've taken over the capital and much of Yemen. The Houthis are holding peace talks in Geneva with Yemen’s government in exile. This Houthi delegate suggested significant steps have been taken.
"What happened today in the meeting is that there were significant progress in setting a future vision before steps to a solution. We also had a real discussion on the truce as well as the necessary steps to stop the internal conflicts. Some positive ideas were proposed."
The two most senior defense officials in the United States say there is no way that US will achieve its aim of recruiting 24,000 soldiers in the Iraq by the autumn. The US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and the chairman of joint chiefs of staff General Matin Dempsey called for greater commitment from the Iraqi government. From Washington, E M.
"It was a bleak picture on Iraq that was painted by America’s two most senior defense figures, Ashton Carter, the Defense Secretary, and General Matin Dempsey, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, acknowledged there was now no chance the US would achieve its goal of training 24,000 Iraqi troops by the autumn, saying only 7,000 have been recruited to date. America has also been too slow, they admitted, in arming Iraqi security forces in their fight against Islamic States.
With Greece, just 14 days away from defaulting on its massive debts, Athens and its international creditors are playing down any hopes of resolving the crisis. Later today, Euro Zone finance ministers will meet in Luxembourg to discuss the looming end of the Greek bailout program. The Bank of Greece that said the outcome could force the country out of the single currency and the European Union. Greece’s economic spokesmen U Z warned that his country did not have the money to pay its international debts.
"I can see no reason of signing something when you can’t deliver when it can create recession, and if it gives Greece a great recession, we are not gonna meet our targets, and the European partners will come back and say, look at the Greece, they're never credible, they never deliver what they've promised. But that is becoming self-fulfilling prophecy you don’t have a strategy that is actually economically viable."
The authorities in Chad have banned the wearing of a full face veil, or burka, following suicide bombings on Monday which killed at least 23 people. The Prime Minister Kalzeube Pahimi Deubet made the announcement after meeting religious leaders. He blamed the attack on the Nigerian Islamic group Boko Haram which is increasingly using female suicide bombers. Security has been increased in the capital of N’Djamena since the bombings which targetted at the police headquarters as well as the police academy.
World news from the BBC.
The Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says he is shocked by Hungary's decision to build a fence to stop the surge of illegal migrants crossing from Serbia. Above a wide barrier four meters high will stretch along 175 kilometers of border. M B is from the Hungarian organization that works with migrants.
"This is a shameful matter that effectively is starting a new iron curtain designed to keep people out, people who are fleeing wars, conflicts, severe human rights abuses. In fact, the Hungarian government has said that there are safe countries along the way to Hungary, and therefore migrants and asylum-seekers should stay there. And we contest this."
European Union governments have agreed in principal to extend economic sanctions against Russia by six months. Agreement is also reached on extending an EU ban on investment in Crimea by 12 months. The sanctions were imposed a year ago in response to Moscow's annexation of Crimea and and its support for separatists in Eastern Ukraine.
The authorities in Columbia say the country's largest rebel group, the FARC, has blown up an oil pipeline and contaminated a river in the northern town of Catatumbo. It’s led to the the water supply being cut off for more than 16,000 people. Attacks on the oil, electricity and transport infrastructure have increased since FARC rebels suspended the unilateral ceasefire two months ago. Peace talks between the FARC and the government are continuing despite the latest incidence.
Researchers in New Zealand have discovered the fossilised remains of the previously unknown species of bat which foraged on the ground and burrowed using its feet and wrists. The find suggests that New Zealand has been home to walking bats for more than 16 million years. Although thought to have only weighted forty grams, the ancient species was three times larger than its modern cousins.