Boko Haram attacks 3 Nigerian villages
Boko Haram attacks 3 Nigerian villages
JOS, Nigeria — Boko Haram assaulted three villages in northern Nigeria, killing 48 people, residents said Wednesday, hours after twin bombings claimed at least 118 lives in this central city in an attack the government blamed on the Islamic extremists.
One of the villages attacked between Tuesday night and early Wednesday is near the town of Chibok, where more than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped last month by Boko Haram, according to residents and a state intelligence agent who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to give information to reporters.
Arrests of 6 in video dancing to ‘Happy’ highlight tensions over change in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran — An Internet video of six young Iranian men and women dancing to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” has led to their arrests, showing how far Tehran will go to halt what it deems to be decadent Western behavior — despite the views of its moderate president.
Criticism outside Iran was predictably swift Wednesday, with calls for freedom for the jailed youths zipping around social media. Williams tweeted: “It’s beyond sad these kids were arrested for trying to spread happiness.”
A tweet posted Wednesday evening on President Hassan Rouhani’s account seemed to address the controversy, even if it stopped short of mentioning the video or the arrests directly.
“#Happiness is our people’s right,” it said. “We shouldn’t be too hard on behaviors caused by joy.”
The widely followed account appears to reflect Rouhani’s positions. Iranian media in the past quoted Rouhani as saying the account is authentic. At the same time, a senior Rouhani adviser said last year that the president had such an account only during the presidential campaign and that Rouhani’s views are represented by his official website.
House Democrats to participate in GOP-led Benghazi probe; Pelosi taps 5 members
WASHINGTON — House Democrats will participate in the special, Republican-led select committee investigating the deadly 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, despite serious concerns within the party that the inquiry is an election-year ploy to energize core GOP voters.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced on Wednesday that she will appoint the full complement of five Democrats on the 12-member panel, tapping lawmakers who have been deeply involved in previous congressional investigations of the Sept. 11, 2012, assault on the U.S. diplomatic outpost.
“I believe we need someone in that room to simply defend the truth,” Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference.
Cummings will serve as the ranking member on the select committee. Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, had selected Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., a seasoned prosecutor, to be the panel’s chairman along with six other Republicans.
Power prices may rise as pollution rules tighten, nation turns more to natural gas
NEW YORK — Electricity prices are probably on their way up across much of the U.S. as coal-fired plants, the dominant source of cheap power, shut down in response to environmental regulations and economic forces.
New and tighter pollution rules and tough competition from cleaner sources such as natural gas, wind and solar will lead to the closings of dozens of coal-burning plants across 20 states over the next three years. And many of those that stay open will need expensive retrofits.
Because of these and other factors, the Energy Department predicts retail power prices will rise 4 percent on average this year, the biggest increase since 2008. By 2020, prices are expected to climb an additional 13 percent, a forecast that does not include the costs of coming environmental rules.
By wire sources