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First Posted: 9/6/2013
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria
Military says strikes
killed 50 insurgents
Nigeria’s military says it raided an insurgent camp in the northeast and launched airstrikes over two days, killing at least 50 sect members.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said Friday that the military’s newly formed army division, established to quell the insurgency in the northeast, participated in the raid.
This came as residents said nine people were killed in a highway attack by the Islamic sect on Thursday at Bulabulin-Ngabura village, 31 miles north of Maiduguri, the birthplace of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Cab driver Musa Lado says he saw nine corpses along the road, including a Borno state government adviser. He said the group also abducted a man, his wife and two children along the road.
FALL RIVER, Mass.
Hernandez enters
‘not guilty’ plea
Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge Friday following his indictment in the killing of a friend authorities say was shot five times in an industrial park.
Hernandez firmly answered “not guilty” to six charges, including murder and weapons and ammunition possession charges.
His attorneys agreed ahead of the hearing that Hernandez, 23, will continue to be held without bail, but reserved the right to request bail later. The next court hearing was set for Oct. 9.
Defense attorney Charles Rankin said outside the courthouse that Hernandez’s legal team is confident the ex-Patriot will be exonerated during a trial. “Not one shred of evidence has been presented yet,” he said.
The arraignment “is like the opening kickoff,” Rankin said. And, he encouraged people to keep an open mind and let the lawyers and the justice system do their work.
NEW YORK
‘Crossfire’ back
with a ‘Ceasefire’
After the crossfire, CNN’s new debating crew plans a “Ceasefire.”
The network is resurrecting its old “Crossfire” political debate show starting Monday. CNN Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist said Friday that toward the end of every show, combatants will search for ways they can find common ground on an issue. The new segment will be called “Ceasefire.”
“Crossfire” has been off the air since 2005 and will return with Newt Gingrich, S.E. Cupp, Stephanie Cutter and Van Jones as rotating hosts. They will debate one issue per night on the 30-minute show.
The hosts said in interviews that their show will offer genuine debates, suggesting discussions are often contrived on competing cable networks.
JUNEAU, Alaska
8 left: Cat survives 11-story fall
A house cat in Alaska learned the hard way not to chase mosquitoes after following one out a window and falling 11 stories.
The 2-year-old cat, named Wasabi, survived but suffered a fractured leg and broken bones.
The Juneau Empire reports the cat was chasing the mosquito Monday in her owners’ apartment in Juneau, about two blocks from the state Capitol.
The mosquito escaped out a window, and Wasabi went after it. Stephanie Gustafson says her mother watched the female cat fall.