Tens of thousands marked the 69th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki on Saturday, as the city's pacifist mayor urged the Japanese government to listen to increasing concerns over controversial plans to expand the role of its military.

Crowds gathered to remember the more than 70,000 people who died in the initial blast or from after-effects in the months and years following the bombing, which hit Nagasaki at 11:02 am local time (0202 GMT).

U.S. President Barack Obama vowed Saturday to help rescue thousands of civilians besieged by jihadists on an Iraqi mountain, as an MP warned they would not survive much longer.

He gave no timetable for the first U.S. operation in Iraq since the last American troops withdrew three years ago and put the onus on Iraqi politicians to form an inclusive government and turn the tide on jihadist expansion.

He was elected on a promise to end America's "dumb war" in Iraq.

Now, in launching U.S. air strikes to counter a "barbaric" offensive by jihadist militants, a reluctant Barack Obama has reopened a chapter of recent American history he had once dared hope was finished.

The British air force will drop food aid to Iraqi refugees fleeing extremists in "the next couple of days", the defense secretary said Friday, although London has ruled out taking military action with the United States.

The announcement came after the Foreign Office urged Britons in the Arbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk provinces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region to "leave now" as fighting spreads north.

Mali's leader warned Thursday that a lack of air surveillance in his country's troubled north could pose risks for the world by allowing criminals to use it as a base.

U.S. jets struck jihadist positions in northern Iraq on Friday, a potential turning point in a two-month crisis Washington said was threatening to result in genocide and to expose U.S. assets.

President Barack Obama's order for the first air strikes on Iraq since he put an end to U.S. occupation in 2011 came after Islamic State (IS) militants made massive gains on the ground, seizing a dam and forcing a mass exodus of religious minorities.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the people of Gaza need greater hope for the future, as he urged the extension of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

U.S. President Barack Obama called Wednesday for the release of three Al-Jazeera journalists sentenced to prison in Egypt for allegedly defaming the country.

The United States will help African nations set up a rapid response force to support United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions, President Barack Obama said Wednesday. 

President Barack Obama announced billions of dollars in investment for Africa on Tuesday, as the United States challenges China and Europe's leading roles in the continent's economic emergence.