NEWS OF THE DAY
_1 Libya air strike: U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers and drones attacked a pair of Islamic State military camps in Libya, seeking to eliminate extremists who had escaped the former Islamic State stronghold of the central coastal city of Sirte, the Pentagon said Thursday. The camps were located about 28 miles, southwest of Sirte. The strikes were carried out overnight and were authorized by President Obama, marking perhaps the final use of military force by a wartime president who intervened in Libya in 2011 as part of a coalition that ultimately toppled dictator Moammar Khadafy. Libya fell into chaos following Khadafy’s ouster and killing. The country remains with no effective government and a multitude of rival factions and militias.
_2 Deadly crash: A truck loaded with sand collided with a school bus early Thursday, killing at least 24 young children in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, police said. At least two dozen other children were injured when the speeding truck collided head-on with the bus, said Javeed Ahmed, the state’s top police official. The children, between the ages of 3 and 12, were studying at a school in the town of Etah. Another police officer, Daljeet Chaudhry, said visibility was low due to dense fog. Accidents are common on Indian roads, with most blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.
_3 Gaza water crisis: International aid workers on Thursday opened a new desalination plant in the Gaza Strip, bringing some relief to a territory where 97 percent of the water is undrinkable. It is the Hamas-ruled territory’s second and largest desalination plant. While it will not solve Gaza’s water woes, officials said the project marked an important step. The plant will initially produce 6,000 cubic meters of water a day, a small fraction of Gaza’s needs. In all, the population uses 150,000 cubic meters a day, most of it from a depleted coastal aquifer. Conditions have greatly deteriorated over the past decade since Hamas, a militant group sworn to Israel’s destruction, took power. Hamas and Israel have fought three wars since the 2007 takeover, resulting in heavy damage to Gaza’s infrastructure, and an Israeli-Egyptian blockade has slowed reconstruction efforts.
_4 Smoking ban: The Czech Republic is one step away from losing its status of one of the last havens for tobacco smokers in Europe. The Senate, the upper house of Parliament, voted 45-12 on Thursday to approve a smoking ban in bars, restaurants and cafes. The lower house gave its green light on Dec. 9. To become effective on May 31, which is World No Tobacco Day, it needs final approval: a signature from President Milos Zeman, who is a chain smoker. Movie theaters, concert venues, exhibition halls and indoor sports settings would be banned from having separate rooms for smokers. Unlike most of Europe, Czechs have remained tolerant of smoking. Right now it is up to restaurant owners to decide whether to allow or ban it. _5 Medicinal pot: German lawmakers approved legislation that would allow some patients to get cannabis as a prescriptiononly medication. Parliament’s lower house passed the bill unanimously on Thursday. The vote clears the way for the law to take effect in March. Patients in Germany previously have had to seek special authorization to use the drug and around 1,000 people did so. Until a cannabisgrowing program is started in Germany, prescriptions will be filled with imported marijuana.