
-
Kenya's economy faces climate change risks: World Bank
-
With tariff war, Trump also reshapes how US treats allies
-
Penguin memes take flight after Trump tariffs remote island
-
Tom Cruise pays tribute to Val Kilmer
-
'Everyone worried' by Trump tariffs in France's champagne region
-
UK avoids worst US tariffs post-Brexit, but no celebrations
-
Canada imposing 25% tariff on some US auto imports
-
Lesotho, Africa's 'kingdom in the sky' jolted by Trump
-
Trump's trade math baffles economists
-
Macron calls for suspension of investment in US until tariffs clarified
-
Trump tariffs hammer global stocks, dollar and oil
-
Mexico president welcomes being left off Trump's new tariffs list
-
Lesotho hardest hit as new US tariffs rattle Africa
-
Stellantis pausing some Canada, Mexico production over Trump auto tariffs
-
Rising odds asteroid that briefly threatened Earth will hit Moon
-
Is the Switch 2 worth the price? Reviews are mixed
-
Countries eye trade talks as Trump tariff blitz roils markets
-
AI could impact 40 percent of jobs worldwide: UN
-
US trade partners eye talks after Trump tariff blitz
-
Dollar, stocks sink as gold hits high on Trump tariffs
-
Trump tariff blitz sparks retaliation threats, economic fears
-
Lessons and liquids: buried alive in Myanmar's earthquake
-
Nintendo Switch 2 sparks excitement despite high price
-
Sri Lanka's crackdown on dogs for India PM's visit sparks protest
-
China vows 'countermeasures' to sweeping new US tariffs
-
Trump jolts allies, foes and markets with tariff blitz
-
How Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs will impact China
-
Europe hits out at Trump tariffs, keeps door open for talks
-
Australia sweats through hottest 12 months on record: official data
-
South African artist champions hyenas in 'eco-queer' quest
-
Taiwan says US tariffs 'highly unreasonable'
-
Trump escalates trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
China says opposes new US tariffs, vows 'countermeasures'
-
Quake-hit Myanmar's junta chief to head to Bangkok summit
-
New Spielberg, Nolan films teased at CinemaCon
-
Shiny and deadly, unexploded munitions a threat to Gaza children
-
Stocks tank, havens rally as Trump tariffs fan trade war
-
Financial markets tumble after Trump tariff announcement
-
Europe riled, but plans cool-headed response to Trump's tariffs
-
'Shenmue' voted most influential video game ever in UK poll
-
Revealed: Why monkeys are better at yodelling than humans
-
Key details on Trump's market-shaking tariffs
-
US business groups voice dismay at Trump's new tariffs
-
Trump sparks trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
US stocks end up, but volatility ahead after latest Trump tariffs
-
Boeing chief reports progress to Senate panel after 'serious missteps'
-
Is Musk's political career descending to Earth?
-
On Mexico-US border, Trump's 'Liberation Day' brings fears for future
-
Tesla sales slump as pressure piles on Musk
-
Amazon makes last-minute bid for TikTok: report

North Nigeria state reopens schools shut after abductions
Nigeria's northern Zamfara state reopened schools on Monday four months after they were shut due to mass kidnappings of students by criminal gangs, the local government said.
Schools in Zamfara were closed in September following the kidnap of 80 students from a secondary school in Kaya village in one of a string of mass abductions from schools across northwestern Nigeria.
"This is to inform all principals, head teachers of schools below tertiary level... that were categorised as green and yellow to reopen tomorrow Monday... for resumption (of) normal lessons," said a statement from the state's education ministry, referring to the security colour-coding system.
A total of 115 school were ordered to resume classes while 85 others designated as "red" were to remain closed "until when the security situation improves," said the statement.
Northwest and central Nigeria have been plagued by heavily armed criminal gangs, called bandits locally, who carry out deadly raids on villages, kidnapping residents and burning homes after looting them.
The gangs have increasingly been attacking schools for mass abductions of schoolchildren to squeeze ransom from parents and communities.
Around 1,500 schoolchildren were seized last year in 20 mass kidnappings in schools across the region, with 16 students losing their lives, according to the UN children welfare agency UNICEF.
Most of the hostages were released after negotiations but some are still in captivity in bandit forest hideouts.
The mass kidnappings prompted the closure of hundreds of schools in six states -- Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Niger, Sokoto and Jigawa -- in a bid to save children.
The abductions frightened communities in the north, which was already grappling with low school enrolment, stopping at least one million children from returning to school, according to UNICEF.
There are an estimated 10 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, most of them in the north and Experts worry the kidnappings may bolster those numbers.
- Houses burned -
Several measures including amnesty and military operations have failed to end the violence by bandits whose activities the Nigerian government recently said constitute "acts of terrorism".
In one of the latest attacks, 16 people, including three security personnel, were killed at the weekend when bandits attacked Dankade village in northwestern Kebbi state, according a police spokesman.
"We recovered the bodies of 13 residents and those of a policeman and two soldiers from the village after the attack," Nafiu Abubakar, Kebbi state police spokesman told AFP on Monday.
Several residents were kidnapped while many houses were burnt by the motorcycle-riding gunmen who launched the attack from neighbouring Zamfara state, Abubakar said.
Communities in Kebbi state on the border with Zamfara are periodically attacked by bandits from Zamfara state where they maintain their camps.
In one of the worst attacks last June, 80 villagers were killed by bandits in raids on several villages in Danko-Wasagu district, a week after more than 100 students were abducted from a boarding high school in the state.
On Saturday 30 more of the kidnapped students along with their teacher were freed by their captors. Their colleagues were earlier released in several groups, according to officials.
A.Samuel--CPN