NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Peace possibilities: The top American commander in Afghanistan and other U.S. officials are talking up prospects for peace negotiations with the Taliban, arguing that after 16 years of war the militants are weary of a stalemate on the battlefield. Gen. John Nicholson, who commands more than 14,000 U.S troops in an American-led coalition, acknowledged that peace talks, which the Taliban definitively rejected just two years ago, likely would take years to bear fruit. His emphasis on a push for peace coincides with the Trump administration’s injection of new resources into the war effort and the start of the traditional fighting season this spring. It also comes as turmoil in the State Department raises questions about the steadiness, depth and effectiveness of American diplomatic clout.
2 WWII bomb: Italian bomb experts have moved to the sea for safe detonation a 500-pound British bomb from World War II, accidentally dug up in an Adriatic town. Some 23,000 people in Fano were evacuated Tuesday night as a precaution while the bomb was transported to sea. The bomb was accidentally dug up during excavation work. The army said the Italian navy took the bomb out to an area in the Adriatic outside navigation routes. The accidental unearthing of Allied bombs is an occasional event in Italy.
3 WWI burial: Family members from two continents reunited on Wednesday for the solemn burial of a distant relative who died over a century ago in World War I. Private Thomas Edmundson from Sunderland, England, was just 20 years old when he was killed in action in April 1915 during some of the bloodiest fighting on the Western Front. He was hastily buried with some of his comrades beneath a simple marker and his body was not recovered after the war. In 2014, his remains were uncovered in a field near Ypres, Belgium, during routine building works. DNA testing confirmed his identity in 2017.
4 Palestinian aid: The United Nations says about $540 million is needed for humanitarian relief in the Palestinian territories in 2018. Jamie McGoldrick, the top U.N. humanitarian coordinator, said Wednesday that 75 percent of that sum is for Gaza, where “a man-made tragedy is unfolding daily.” Gaza has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since the Islamic militant group Hamas took over the territory in 2007. The closure, along with Hamas’ conflicts with Israel and a bitter power struggle with the group’s bitter rival, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, has devastated the economy. Half the sum is to support emergency projects by UNRWA, the main U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, after Washington slashed its funding this year. 5 “Hannibal” directive: Israel’s government watchdog has taken aim at the military’s “Hannibal” directive — a controversial tactic used when soldiers were abducted. The directive, used most recently during a 2014 war in Gaza, authorized the use of heavy fire if a soldier was abducted, even at the risk of killing the soldier. During the 2014 war, troops used the Hannibal procedure after soldiers feared militants had captured an officer. Israel unleashed heavy shelling and air strikes on the southern town of Rafah, killing some 100 Palestinians. In Wednesday’s report, the state comptroller said the directive suffered from a lack of clarity about “the value of the abducted soldier’s life.” It also noted that it did not “explicitly” mention the need to use “proportional” force.