N'Djamena (AFP) - Ten suspected Boko Haram members went on trial in Chad on Wednesday over their alleged roles in twin attacks that killed 38 people in the capital N'Djamena in June.

It was the first Chadian trial involving the Nigeria-based Islamist group, which has in the past months stepped up attacks and suicide bombings in Nigeria and the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

They are accused of criminal conspiracy, killings, wilful destruction with explosives, fraud, illegal possessions of arms and ammunition, as well as using psychotropic substances, city prosecutor general Bruno Mahouli said.

The closed-door hearing is expected to last eight days.

The accused include Nigerian national Mahamat Mustapha, also known as Bana Fanaye, who according to Chadian authorities was the mastermind behind the June 15 suicide attacks that struck a school and a police building in N'Djamena, killing 38 people and injuring over 100.

Shortly after Fanaye's arrest in late June, Chad's top prosecutor Alghassim Kassim said the suspect was the "ringleader of a network smuggling weapons and munitions between Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad".

Fanaye was also responsible for procuring weapons and "recruiting and managing Boko Haram members", Kassim added.

The June attacks in the Chadian capital were followed by another suicide blast at a market in July that killed 15 people.

Chad -- which is part of a regional fightback against Boko Haram -- has beefed up security in response to the bloodshed. The 8,700-strong force is not yet up and running.

Meanwhile, two suspected Boko Haram members blew themselves up on Lake Chad while being pursued by the Chadian army, a military source told AFP on Wednesday.

There were no other casualties in Tuesday's incident on the island of Kaiga-Ngouboua on the lake which is ringed by Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

In Nigeria, a Lagos court late last year convicted in secret three suspects on charges linked to Boko Haram and sentenced them to 25 years in jail.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In a move likely to upset Israel's government, the Palestinians are seeking to raise their flag, along with the Vatican flag, at U.N. headquarters — just in time for Pope Francis' visit next month.

Supporters of the idea hope the U.N. General Assembly will adopt a resolution on the flag-raising shortly before the pope arrives. They're betting that the United States or other allies of Israel will not block the plan and risk offending the Holy See on Francis' first U.S. visit.

The Palestinians' proposal has been tabled, and a draft of the resolution has been seen by The Associated Press. It would allow non-member observer states — there are only two — to display their flags with the 193 member states.

While the Vatican's mission to the U.N. earlier expressed support for the idea, it circulated a letter this week distancing itself from the draft, asking the Palestinian mission to "kindly to remove in its draft resolution any reference to the 'Holy See' and any generic reference 'on behalf of the Observer States.'"

The Holy See's mission did not comment Wednesday. Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, called the Palestinians' move "an attempt to create a meaningless and cheap gimmick."

The United States and Israel oppose recognizing the Palestinian state, arguing that it undermines efforts to negotiate a peace agreement. That process, however, has largely been at a standstill since the deadly conflict in Gaza a year ago.

Many states have shown support for the Palestinians' pursuit of statehood, including the Holy See.

In May, the Vatican officially recognized the state of Palestine in their first formal, bilateral treaty. Israel's foreign ministry said it was "disappointed." During Francis' 2014 visit to the Holy Land, the Vatican's official program referred to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine."

In 2012, the Vatican welcomed an overwhelming vote in the General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinians' status to a U.N. non-member observer state. Their delegation promptly unfurled the flag in the chamber.

The pope has not been shy about ambitious diplomacy. He helped bring the United States and Cuba together for their historic reestablishment of diplomatic ties. Last year, he invited the Israeli and Palestinian presidents for a day of peace prayers at the Vatican.

Most countries in Western Europe have held off on recognizing a Palestinian state, but some have hinted that their position could change if peace efforts remain deadlocked. Most countries in Africa, Asia and South America have recognized Palestine.

Francis is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Sept. 25, opening a gathering of world leaders to launch a set of development goals aimed at ending both poverty and hunger over the next 15 years.

More than 100 heads of state and government are expected at the gathering, which leads into the annual U.N. General Assembly of world leaders the following week. President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled to speak on the first morning.

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Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed. This story has been corrected to reflect that the Vatican's mission to the U.N. this week sent a letter distancing itself from the draft.

An aerial view of the Pentagon building in Washington, June 15, 2005, with the Potomac river in the foreground. © Jason Reeds / Reuters

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon's inspector general is investigating an allegation that the military command overseeing the anti-Islamic State campaign distorted or altered intelligence assessments to exaggerate progress against the militant group, a defense official said Wednesday.

The official was not authorized to discuss the probe publicly and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

The investigation was first disclosed by The New York Times. The paper reported that the investigation began after at least one civilian Defense Intelligence Agency analyst told authorities that he had evidence that officials at U.S. Central Command were improperly reworking conclusions of assessments prepared for policy makers, including President Barack Obama.

Details of the allegations were not available. A spokeswoman for the inspector general's office, Bridget Serchak, declined to comment.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday that he can't speak about any potential inspector general report or investigation.

Asked if he believes he's gotten skewed intelligence, he said: "I myself have tried to be very candid throughout about my own assessments of the counter-ISIL campaign. And I, therefore, have spent a lot of time making sure that I'm well-informed and I also expect candor on the part of everybody else in the department. That's the only way we can know what we're doing, how we're doing and when."

Carter said everyone from the president on down needs the most candid and accurate information "in order to make the kind of decisions that will lead most rapidly to victory."

Carter spoke to reporters at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where he watched a portion of the military exercise Red Flag, involving at least 100 fighter jets and other aircraft from the U.S., Israel, Jordan and Singapore.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said he could not confirm the probe. The Pentagon typically does not publicly comment on the work of the inspector general's office, which is an independent arm of the Defense Department.

Cook said Defense Secretary Ash Carter "counts on independent intelligence and analysis from a variety of sources to help him make critical decisions about the nation's security."

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama "places a premium" on getting unvarnished intelligence assessments and a range of views for policymakers.

"That yields, in the minds of our experts, the best, richest account of the facts on the ground," Earnest said, adding that the president is confident he is receiving honest intelligence assessments.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said Pentagon and Central Command officials have been publicly candid about the difficulty of the war against the Islamic State. At times, however, they have painted a rosier picture than was reflected by developments on the ground.

On May 15, for example, Brig. Gen. Thomas Weidley, who at the time was chief of staff to the military headquarters running the war, told reporters that the Islamic State was "losing and remains on the defensive." Even as he spoke, Iraqi officials were saying that IS fighters had captured the main government compound in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. Two days later the city fell, marking a significant victory for IS and a setback for the U.S. and Iraq.

Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for Central Command, said he could not discuss ongoing investigations.

"The (inspector general) has a responsibility to investigate all allegations made and we welcome and support their independent oversight," Ryder said.

Ryder said the government's numerous intelligence agencies routinely produce a wide range of "subjective assessments related to the current security environment," and that it is customary for agencies to comment on others' draft assessments.

"However, it is ultimately up to the primary agency or organization whether or not they incorporate any recommended changes or additions. Further, the multi-source nature of our assessment process purposely guards against any single report or opinion unduly influencing leaders and decision-makers," Ryder said.

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Associated Press writer Nancy Benac contributed to this report.

Beirut (AFP) - A new 48-hour truce between Syrian regime forces and rebels in three towns entered into force on Thursday after negotiations, a mediator and a monitoring group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said that fighting and rocket fire had stopped in the rebel bastion of Zabadani and the besieged government-held villages of Fuaa and Kafraya.

Earlier, Mohammed Abu Qassem, secretary general of Syria's Tadamun (Solidarity) Party and a mediator of the truce, confirmed the ceasefire was due to begin at 6:00 am local time.

The new two-day truce follows a similar ceasefire earlier this month for the towns that was intended to lead to a broad agreement to end the fighting in Zabadani and the blockade of Fuaa and Kafraya.

Pro-regime forces, including Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah militia, launched an offensive to seize Zabadani from rebel groups early last month.

The town is the last rebel-held bastion in the area along the border with Lebanon and has been subjected to massive aerial bombardment since the operation began.

In retaliation, a rebel alliance including Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front surrounded Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite Muslim villages in Idlib province, and began firing rockets into them.

The first ceasefire for the three towns began on August 12 as a 48-hour truce but was extended for another day as negotiators tried but ultimately failed to reach a broad deal.

The earlier talks included discussion of the withdrawal of rebels from Zabadani, perhaps in exchange for the evacuation of civilians from Fuaa and Kafraya or the delivery of aid.

The rebels have also sought the release of prisoners held by the regime.

Negotiations on those points were now ongoing, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Fuaa and Kafraya are the only remaining government-held villages in Idlib province in northwest Syria.

The regime still holds a military airport there, but was otherwise expelled by a rebel alliance earlier this year.

WTVD – Raleigh/Durham
Louisiana officer shot and 1 stabbing victim have both died

By Jon Herskovitz

(Reuters) - Police firing tear gas stormed a grocery market in southwestern Louisiana on Wednesday to arrest a man accused of shooting a police officer to death and stabbing three women, one fatally, before barricading himself inside the store, authorities said.

The suspect, identified as Harrison Lee Wiley Jr., was captured about an hour after the violence began in the small town of Sunset, about 70 miles (112 km) west of the state capital, Baton Rouge, the St. Landry Parish Sheriff said.

Wiley is accused of stabbing his wife and two other women in a "domestic disturbance," then fatally shooting the officer who was the first to arrive on the scene, Sheriff Bobby Guidroz told reporters.

Wiley, described by responding officers as "highly intoxicated," then jumped into an automobile and drove about three blocks before crashing the vehicle into a JR Food Mart, the sheriff said.

“It went to hell in a hand basket from there,” Guidroz said.

The grocery's owner, a customer and an employee who were inside the store, escaped, and the suspect holed up inside an inner office while police converged on the area and surrounded the building.

Officers fired volleys of tear gas into the building, then forced their way inside to arrest the suspect, who "resisted" before he was subdued and taken into custody, the sheriff said.

"I was told by officers responding that he was high on some sort of narcotic," Guidroz said. "We're going to do a thorough investigation as to what he was high on," he said.

The slain Sunset police officer, initially reported to have survived his gunshot wounds, was identified as Henry Nelson, 51. One of the stabbing victims, Shameka Johnson, 40, was also pronounced dead, the sheriff said.

Johnson's sister, Surlay Johnson, and Wiley's wife, Courtney Jolivette, were hospitalized with stab wounds, the sheriff said.

The Johnson women are siblings of the mayor of the neighboring town of Grand Coteau, the sheriff added. Their relationship, if any, to the suspect, was unclear.

Officer killed, woman stabbed to death in La.

A man shot and killed a police officer and stabbed three women, one of them fatally, during a domestic dispute.
Suspect is officer's cousin