In brief: Military rescues 234 abducted girls, women
LAGOS, Nigeria – Nigeria’s military rescued 234 more girls and women from a Boko Haram forest stronghold in the country’s northeast, an announcement on social media said today.
It brings the number of females declared rescued this week to more than 677.
It comes as the army deployed ground troops following weeks of punishing air raids on the Sambisa Forest.
President Goodluck Jonathan, whose term ends this month, said Thursday that the forest is the last holdout of the Islamic militants and he pledged to “hand over a Nigeria completely free of terrorist strongholds.”
It is not known how many girls, women, boys and men Boko Haram has kidnapped during its nearly 6-year-old rebellion. Nigeria’s army has reported rescuing only females.
Nepal renews, clarifies call for international aid
KATHMANDU, Nepal – Nepal’s government renewed its appeal to international donors to send tents, tarpaulins and basic food supplies in the wake of last weekend’s devastating earthquake, saying some of the items being sent are of little use.
The government also asked donors to send money to help with relief efforts if they cannot send things that are immediately necessary.
“We have received things like tuna fish and mayonnaise. What good are those things for us? We need grains, salt and sugar,” Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat told reporters Friday.
Mahat said the government had decided to exempt taxes on tents and tarpaulins.
Information Minister Minendra Rijal said Nepal would immediately need 400,000 tents and so far has been able to provide only 29,000 to the people who need them.
A week after the massive earthquake killed more than 6,600 people and collapsed buildings, temples and homes, remote villages remain cut off from help.
The U.N. has estimated the magnitude-7.8 quake that struck April 25 affected 8.1 million people – more than a fourth of Nepal’s population of 27.8 million.
Scores arrested amid ferry disaster protests
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korean police said today that they detained 40 people when protests over government labor policies and the handling of a year-old ferry disaster spiraled into violence late Friday.
Thousands of demonstrators, many of them carrying banners and wearing yellow jackets, the color identified with supporters of the families of the ferry disaster victims, occupied several downtown streets and clashed with police officers, who created tight perimeters with their buses and aggressively blocked the marchers from reaching the presidential Blue House.
Several police officers and protesters were injured during the disturbance, said an official from the National Police Agency.