QUOTE OF THE DAY
“This is the largest amount we have ever had to request at the start of the year. The complexity and scale of what we are doing is rising all the time.” Valerie Amos, United Nations undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, on the U.N.’s request for $13 billion in humanitarian funding, half of which is needed for aid in Syria Article, 1AEU ministers make peace-deal pledge
BRUSSELS - European Union foreign ministers Monday pledged “unprecedented” political, financial and security support for Israelis and Palestinians if they reach a peace agreement.
In the event of a final peace deal, EU ministers said, the 28-member trade bloc would offer Israel and a future state of Palestine a “special privileged partnership.”
That would mean increased access to European markets, facilitation of trade and investment, closer cultural and scientific ties and promotion of business-to-business relations, ministers said.
At their meeting in Brussels, the ministers proclaimed the EU’s readiness to “contribute substantially” to bring about an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The ministers didn’t cite specific figures.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has been trying to broker an agreement on the terms of Palestinian statehood, but gaps remain wide and there have been no apparent signs of a breakthrough.
Indians hold vigils for ’12 rape victim
NEW DELHI - Students, Bollywood actresses and women’s groups held rallies and candlelight vigils across India on Monday in memory of a young woman whose fatal gang rape on a moving bus a year ago shook the nation’s conscience.
The victim, a 23-year-old student, was heading home with a male friend after watching the movie Life of Pi when six men lured them onto a private bus. They beat the man with a metal bar, raped the woman and inflicted internal injuries.
The two were dumped naked on the roadside, and the woman died two weeks later.
British premier sure
of Afghan accord
CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan - British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed confidence Monday that a security agreement will be signed to allow a continuing allied training mission in Afghanistan after 2014.
Cameron was in Afghanistan for a pre-Christmas visit with United Kingdom soldiers who form the second-largest NATO contingent fighting to stop the Taliban insurgency. Britain plans to withdraw all combat troops by the end of next year.
He stressed that Britain would stick to that timetable but noted the importance of a deal to ensure the framework for training missions and counterterrorism support.
“That’s clearly in Afghanistan’s interest, that’s in America and NATO’s interest, too, and so I’m confident that after some discussions an agreement will be signed,” he told reporters at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province.
After helping forge the deal - known as the Bilateral Security Agreement - President Hamid Karzai balked at signing it.
Front Section, Pages 8 on 12/17/2013