NATION/ WORLD
BRIEFING
Talks progress, but violence continues
Kabul, Afghanistan — Afghan and Taliban delegates on Monday reported some progress after two days of exploratory peace talks in Qatar, but attacks at home that killed 17 police officers underscored the violence that continues to ravage Afghanistan.
Taliban fighters overran 10 checkpoints in the Warduj district of Badakhshan province in the remote northeast of the country late Sunday night, Abdullah Naji Nazari, head of the provincial council, said in a statement. “According to information which I received from Warduj, so far the bodies of 17 policemen were taken to a hospital and 26 other policemen are missing,” Nazari said.
A Twitter account purported to belong to the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Obama launches opportunity initiative
Washington — President Barack Obama on Monday helped launch a private-sector initiative aimed at boosting opportunities for minority young people.
Americans believe that everyone deserves “an equal shot” at success if they’re willing to work for it, Obama said at an event in the Bronx launching the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, a nonprofit inspired by the White House initiative called My Brother’s Keeper.
The new organization aims to build “a national ecosystem” to help boys and young men of color, primarily through educational initiatives and intervention programs designed to close what Obama called the “opportunity gap,” boosting education and employment rates that lag behind those of their peers.
New princess gets royal names
London — It’s a name that immediately evokes British royal history: Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, on Monday announced the name they picked for Britain’s newborn princess, a choice seen as a tribute to both Prince William’s parents and grandmother, the queen, as well as a link to Kate’s family.
The princess, the second child of William and Kate, will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, royal officials said.
The names are firmly rooted in royal family history. Charlotte, the feminine form of Charles, appears to be a nod to the newborn’s grandfather, Prince Charles. The baby’s middle names honor Queen Elizabeth II, the infant’s 89-year-old greatgrandmother, and the late Princess Diana, William’s mother and the baby’s grandmother.
Charlotte also features in Kate’s family, as the middle name of her sister, Pippa Middleton.
The newborn princess is fourth in line to the throne after Charles, William and her brother, Prince George.
Joint Chiefs leadership: U.S. officials say President Barack Obama will nominate Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr. as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, choosing a widely respected, combat-hardened commander who led the Afghanistan war coalition during a key transition in 2013-’14. Obama is tapping Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva, a pilot and head of U.S. Transportation Command, to be vice chairman, the officials said.