Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, 52, was released in exchange for five Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government - presumably at the behest of Italy - after he had been taken hostage by Taliban fighters 15 days ago in southern Afghanistan. Washington, London, and other European capitals condemned the exchange because it sent "the wrong signal to prospective hostage takers," as a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office put it in an interview with Reuters.The New York Times notes that Italy has a history of paying ransom for the release of hostages: It was widely reported that the former Italian...