California lawmakers approve drought plan
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gov. Jerry Brown and the top Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday announced a $687 million plan to provide immediate help to drought-stricken communities throughout California, including $15 million for those with dangerously low drinking water supplies.
The proposal comes amid one of the driest periods in the history of the nation’s most populous state, forcing farmers to fallow fields and some communities to warn of low water supplies.
The Democratic plan now goes to the Legislature,
Taliban confirm talks about prisoner trade
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Washington has held indirect talks with the Taliban about the possible transfer of five senior Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for a U.S. soldier captured nearly five years ago, a senior Taliban official told The Associated Press.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 27, of Hailey, Idaho, was last seen in a video released in December. The footage was seen as “proof of life” that was demanded by the United States.
Bergdahl is believed to be held in the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He is the only U.S. soldier to be captured in America’s longest war.
Associated Press
