A night of relative calm in Baltimore. Girls and women are rescued from Boko Haram. And the Supreme Court tackles gay marriage.
It’s Wednesday, and here are five things to know for your New Day.
BALTIMORE RIOTS
Quiet curfew: For one night, at least, Baltimore caught a break. Streets in the city were calm overnight as a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew — enforced by nearly 2,000 National Guardsmen and more than 1,000 police officers — went into effect. There were a handful of arrests for curfew violations and a few rocks and bottles thrown at police just as the curfew began, but that was the extent of any trouble last night. The coordinated work of law enforcement as well as self-policing efforts from community members are credited for the smooth night. The fallout from the recent unrest continues today, when the Baltimore Orioles play the Chicago White Sox with no spectators allowed, a first for major league baseball.
GIRLS RESCUED
‘Not the Chibok girls’: Nigerian troops rescued almost 300 girls and women during a raid on Boko Haram terror camps yesterday, but army officials said none of them were girls mass abducted in April 2014 from a school in Chibok. They did say, however, that captives from other Boko Haram camps that were recently raided might include some of the Chibok girls. So does this mean that Nigeria is finally making progress against Boko Haram? Well, the troops have managed to destroy three camps in Sambisa Forest run by the terrorists. But the fates of the abducted girls remain — for now — a mystery.
INDONESIA EXECUTIONS
Fallout: Indonesia executed eight drug smugglers by firing squad early today, and the fallout has been swift. Two of the eight were Australians, and Australia has recalled its Indonesian ambassador in protest. Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the executions “cruel and unnecessary.” Of the six other men who were put to death, four were Nigerians, one was a Brazilian and another was an Indonesian. Indonesia did hold off on executing one prisoner, a woman from the Philippines. It was not immediately clear why the woman was — at least temporarily — spared.
NEPAL EARTHQUAKE
Diminishing hopes: It’s been a few days since the huge earthquake rocked Nepal and the surrounding Himalayan region, killing close to 5,000. The chances of finding more survivors dims with each passing hour. And now Nepal has a new crisis to deal with after 200 people went missing after a landslide yesterday. The landslide occurred in Langtang National Park, a popular trekking area north of Kathmandu. Quake relief efforts continued, but officials warned they were hampered by problems of getting aid into the country and then delivering it to some of the remote communities in desperate need. There was one piece of a good news though: a 21-year-old man was rescued, pulled free from rubble near a city bus park.
GAY MARRIAGE
Swing vote: The future of a great national issue may come down, once again, to Anthony Kennedy. The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday on the constitutionality of gay marriage. The high court seemed to be split, splintering into its usual left-right divide and leaving Justice Kennedy as the probable deciding vote. Most of the justices’ questions involved the definition of marriage and whether gay marriage should be decided by voters or the judiciary. Kennedy, at the start of arguments, joined other court conservatives in pointing out that marriage has been defined as being between a man and a woman for a long time. But later, he seemed to side with the court’s liberal wing in acknowledging gay couples sought “dignity” for their relationships through marriage. How will he vote? We’ll find out in June.
Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a few others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.
Free falling: Daredevils jump out of a perfectly good skyscraper in Dubai.
Just beat it: Man dances to Michael Jackson as the riots start in Baltimore.
Perfect save: A skateboarder falls but manages to save himself perfectly.
Beauty shot: Check out 100 years of Mexican beauty in 60 seconds.
I’ll have the crab: An octopus grabs a quick bite in Sydney, Australia.
