Dozens kidnapped in northwest Nigeria after bandits invite them to talks

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By Reuters and Posted by TOE Armed bandits in northwest Nigeria abducted dozens of villagers whom they invited to a meeting ‌about potential peace negotiations, authorities and residents said on ‌Monday, highlighting the region’s worsening security. Police said 39 people were seized on Sunday ​when they went to a meeting in the forest near Magamin Diddi village in the Maradun municipality of northwest Zamfara State. Some local residents and officials said the number could be as ‌high as 50. According to ⁠a Zamfara State Police Command statement, the victims were meeting relatives of a bandit leader in ⁠an attempt to broker peace and ease restrictions on movement imposed on the community. Zamfara is at the centre of a long-running security ​crisis in ​which armed groups, locally referred ​to as bandits, carry ‌out mass kidnappings, killings and village raids. The violence has disrupted farming and displaced thousands. Security forces have deployed personnel and...
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Powerful typhoon Kajiki  makes landfall in Vietnam after more than 500,000 people ordered to evacuate

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By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL AP

Vietnam has evacuated hundreds of thousands of people and closed schools and airports as it braces for Typhoon Kajiki, its strongest storm of the year so far.

More than 586,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes – thousands of soldiers are on standby to assist with evacuations

Forecasters said the typhoon had winds of up to 166 kilometers (103 miles) per hour at 10 a.m. Monday but is expected to weaken slightly before making landfall between central Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh provinces later in the afternoon.

The typhoon started as a weak tropical depression on Aug. 22 but grew into a powerful storm in less than two days, matching last year’s Typhoon Yagi as one of the region’s fastest-growing, according to state media. Its rapid strengthening forced Vietnamese authorities to rush emergency measures as strong winds and heavy rain hit the region.

Last year, Typhoon Yagi killed about 300 people and caused $3.3 billion in damage.

Kajiki has already caused devastation in China, with strong winds and heavy rain whipping Hainan Island and nearby parts of Guangdong province on Sunday. About 20,000 people were evacuated from high-risk areas, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.

One man in Nghe An province died Friday after being electrocuted while trying to secure his roof ahead of the storm, state media reported.

The storm is expected to move inland into Laos and northern Thailand.

Vietnamese state media reported plans to evacuate nearly 600,000 people in the provinces of Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, Hue and Danang, where more than 152,000 homes are in high-risk areas.

The government said over 16,500 soldiers and 107,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed to assist with evacuations and remain on standby for search and rescue.

Vietnam halted flights at two airports in Thanh Hoa and Quang Binh provinces on Monday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said while dozens of flights have been cancelled.

Scientists published a study last year warning that seas warmed by climate change will result in Southeast Asia’s cyclones forming closer to land, strengthening faster and lasting longer, raising risks for cities.

“It’s frightening to see our projections from just last year already materializing,” said Benjamin P. Horton, Dean of the School of the Environment and Chair Professor of Earth Science at City University of Hong Kong.

He said that the speed at which these changes were unfolding was a “clear signal” that the climate crisis is moving faster than expected. “We are no longer predicting the future — we are living it,” he said.



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/Kc1b5Si

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