AP, Bonn
The foreign ministers of France and Germany are sounding a positive note after new U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took part in a discussion about Syria on the sidelines of a diplomatic summit in Bonn, Germany.
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, says the meeting Friday was “particularly useful,” noting that “it is important and absolutely instrumental for us to have a close dialogue with the United States on the Syrian issue and on many other issues.”
Dutch to bring back Cold War warriors as trainers
AFP, The Hague
The Netherlands plans to bring back retired military officers to train a new generation of soldiers in the “forgotten” art of Cold War tactics, including large-scale battles, a news report said Thursday.
“These former officers were schooled during the Cold War and can give tips and tricks for commanders when they have to direct brigades of more than 4,000 soldiers on the battlefield,” the Algemeen Dagblad said.
5 killed in Philippine troops clash with rebels
AP, Manila
Two soldiers and three communist rebels were killed while 15 other troops were wounded in a land mine attack and clashes in the southern Philippine city of Davao, President Rodrigo Duterte’s hometown, a military official said Friday.
Maj. Ezra Balagtey, a military spokesman, said Friday that the soldiers were pursuing the rebels from a communist group on Thursday after a harvester had been set on fire on a pineapple plantation when the guerrillas detonated a land mine.
Czech PM foresees coalition govt
AP, Prague
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says his leftist Social Democrats are ready to form a coalition government with the hardline Communist Party after this year’s parliamentary elections.
It would be the first time the Communists would get a chance to share power since the 1989 Velvet Revolution toppled 40 years of their often-bloody rule.
