No cease-fire with Nigerian extremists
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Days after Nigeria’s military raised hopes with the announcement that Islamic extremists had agreed to a cease-fire, Boko Haram is still fighting and there is no word on the fate of the 219 schoolgirls held hostage for six months.
Officials had said talks would resume in neighboring Chad this week, but there was no confirmation that those negotiations had resumed by Wednesday.
The official silence raises many questions, especially since Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau has not confirmed that a truce has been agreed.
Blackwater guards convicted in deaths
WASHINGTON – Four former Blackwater security guards were convicted Wednesday in the 2007 shootings of more than 30 Iraqis in Baghdad, an incident that inflamed anti-American sentiment around the globe and was denounced by critics as an illustration of a war gone horribly wrong.
The men claimed self-defense, but federal prosecutors argued that they had shown “a grave indifference” to the carnage their actions would cause. All four were ordered immediately to jail.
Their lawyers are promising to file appeals.
The federal jury found Nicholas Slatten guilty of first-degree murder, the most serious charge in a multi-count indictment. The three other guards Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were found guilty of multiple counts of voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and gun violations.
Associated Press
