U.S. and Iran Signaling New Joint Effort in Iraq Crisis -by R.Gladstone, T Erdbrink and M.R. Gordon

The United States and Iran on Monday signaled increased willingness to work together to arrest the expanding Sunni insurgency in Iraq, with Secretary of State John Kerry openly suggesting such a collaboration would be constructive and another American official saying the subject could come up at talks this week on the Iranian nuclear dispute.

Cooperation between the United States and Iran to contain the Iraqi crisis would represent the first time the two countries — estranged adversaries for more than three decades — have jointly undertaken a common security purpose since they shared military intelligence to counter the Taliban in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks 13 years ago.

Mr. Kerry, in an interview with Yahoo News, called the advance by insurgents under the banner of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria over the past week an “existential threat” to Iraq and suggested American airstrikes were one possible answer. Asked if the United States would cooperate with Iran to thwart ISIS, Mr. Kerry said, “I wouldn’t rule out anything that would be constructive.”

Note EU-Digest: Sometimes politics sometimes make strange bedfellows

Read more: U.S. and Iran Signaling New Joint Effort in Iraq Crisis - NYTimes.com

French minister of defence on surprise visit to Mali

French Minister of Defence Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived Thursday on a surprise visit to the mountains of northern Mali, where French troops have been tracking Islamist fighters who are thought to be holding foreign hostages.

Le Drian came to show support for the mission and pay homage to the two paratroopers recently killed in the Ifoghas mountain range. A total of four French soldiers have died since France launched its Mali operations on January 11.

"The mission is not over,” Le Drian told FRANCE 24’s Matthieu Mabin. “The combat has been carried out very well so far, but we still need to restore Mali's territorial integrity, until Mali is freed."

Read more: French minister of defence on surprise visit to Mali - FRANCE 24 EXCLUSIVE - FRANCE 24