VOA news for Tuesday, March 8th, 2016

• Report rights infringement
• published: 08 Mar 2016
• views: 28

VOA news for Tuesday, March 8th, 2016 Thanks to http://gandalf.ddo.jp/ for audio and text From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Molly Johnson in Washington. A U.S. military airstrike on an al-Shabaab training camp in central Somalia has killed more than 150 militants. Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis says the weekend strike used both manned and unmanned aircraft. Davis says the U.S. learned the fighters were about to depart the camp when the strike was made. "They were nearing the completion of that training, and we took action to ensure that they couldn't put that training to use.” It's believed that the fighters were on their way to an attack and that U.S. and African Union troops were in an eminent danger. Witnesses say the airstrike hit the training camp in the central Hiran region, making two passes, firing three missiles each time. The U.S. is promising more transparency on the country's sometimes controversial use of drones to strike at terror targets. White House Counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco announced Monday the administration will release an assessment in the "coming weeks" of both militant and civilian casualties due to drone strikes dating back to 2009. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters today the U.S. considers the loss of life in drone strikes from several angles. "Avoiding civilian casualties is a very, very high priority, both for moral reasons, but also because extremist organizations like al-Shabaab will just use the death of innocent civilians to try to recruit additional members and with that additional anti-U.S. sentiment.” Earnest says the release of the drone strike data is consistent with President Obama's commitment to transparency. Tunisia's Interior Ministry said Monday that troops killed 21 militants who attacked a police station and a facility near the Libyan border. Officials said at least four civilians and one soldier were killed in the fighting in the southeastern town of Ben Guerdane. Thais is VOA news. At the U.S. State Department, spokesperson John Kirby says the U.S. will stand with the Tunisian people against terrorists. "The United States remains committed to Tunisia's security and to our close partnership to meet common security challenges throughout the region, and we renew our offer of help to the Tunisian government following, again, today's cowardly attack.” Authorities urged residents to stay inside after the shooting began. Ankara wants the European Union to double the amount of aid it will give to Turkey to deal with the migrant crisis, the European Parliament's president said today. The EU representatives discussed the crisis with their Turkish counterparts at a summit in Brussels and thousands of people remained stranded at the Greece-Macedonia border. European Parliament President Martin Schulz said Turkey asked for an additional $3.3 billion on top of $3 billion to help curb the migrant flow to the continent. North Korea today issued a threaten of a preemptive nuclear strike as a joint U.S.-South Korean military exercise got underway. The exercise follows tougher sanctions on Pyongyang after its most recent nuclear test and missile launch. More than 300,000 South Korean and 17,000 U.S. troops are engaged in the exercises, around which North Korea frequently issues threats. Vice President Joe Biden kicked off a five-day trip to the Middle East today, vowing that the United States will "squeeze the heart" out of the Islamic State and destroy it. He also took a moment to offer a little bit of pet talk to U.S. airmen posted in the region. "You control the skies over Iraq and Syria and as a matter of fact, you control the skies over the whole damn world.” Biden visited the U.S. airmen stationed at the Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi as drones taxied down the runway. The U.S. wants more sub-Saharan African students coming to study at its universities. U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis Marcus Jadotte is leading a first ever education trade mission to Africa this week. Thuso Khumalo caught up with it. Of the one million international students who studied at the U.S. colleges and universities during the 2014-2015 academic year, less than 34,000 came from Sub-Saharan Africa. The U.S. government wants to change that. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis Marcus Jadotte: "They should consider studying in the U.S. because of the innovative approach to education that we take in the United States.” Jadotte is traveling with representatives of 25 U.S. colleges and universities to recruit students and build partnerships with African universities. Thuso Khumalo, for VOA news, Johannesburg. And there is more on that story on our website voanews.com. I'm Molly Johnson in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA.