Boko Haram seeks swap, activist says

Boko Haram seeks swap, activist says

LAGOS, Nigeria

Nigeria’s Boko Haram extremists are offering to free more than 200 young women and girls kidnapped from a boarding school in the town of Chibok in exchange for the release of militant leaders held by the government, a human-rights activist has told The Associated Press.

The activist said Boko Haram’s current offer is limited to the girls from the school in northeastern Nigeria whose mass abduction in April 2014 ignited worldwide outrage and a campaign to “Bring Back Our Girls” that stretched to the White House.

Baltimore mayor fires commissioner

BALTIMORE

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake fired Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts on Wednesday, saying his presence had become a distraction in a city that needs to focus on ending a dramatic spike in homicides.

“Too many continue to die on our streets, including three just last night and one lost earlier today,” Rawlings-Blake said. “Families are tired of feeling this pain, and so am I. We need a change.”

The mayor’s decision to replace Batts on an interim basis with Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis – effective immediately – came as the city council was preparing to send her a letter calling for Batts’ resignation. And the city’s police union was poised to hold a no-confidence vote next week.

Army moves ahead on big troop cuts

WASHINGTON

In the midst of a war against the Islamic State that the Obama administration says will last many years, the Army is moving ahead with big troop cuts. And they could grow even larger unless Congress and the White House find a way to stop further across-the-board spending reductions this fall.

Army leaders were notifying members of Congress on Wednesday with details of how they intend to reduce the active-duty force from 490,000 soldiers to 450,000 within two years. The size of the reduction was announced months ago, but congressional delegations have been waiting for word on how the cuts would be distributed and timed; troop reductions can inflict significant economic pain on communities reliant on military base populations.

If a new round of automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, goes ahead, the Army says it will have to reduce even further, to 420,000 soldiers.

Some progress on wildfires in Canada

LA RONGE, Saskatchewan

Firefighters made some progress Wednesday in quelling hundreds of wildfires raging across western Canada that are threatening thousands of people and triggering air-quality warnings across the country and in the U.S. West and Midwest, authorities said.

Steve Roberts, a Saskatchewan wildfire management official, said better visibility has allowed aircraft to dump water on the flames there. Several hundred Canadian soldiers were involved in firefighting efforts and the military said another 500 troops from Manitoba were on standby. Firefighting crews from across Canada and from South Dakota have been helping out.

Combined dispatches