Over 300 schoolgirls abducted in mass kidnapping in Nigeria
LAGOS, Nigeria — Gunmen abducted 317 girls from a boarding school in northern Nigeria on Friday, police said, the latest in a series of mass kidnappings of students in the West African nation.
Police and the military have begun joint operations to rescue the girls after the attack at the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town, according to a police spokesman in Zamfara state, Mohammed Shehu, who confirmed the number abducted.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said Friday the government’s primary objective is to get all the school hostages returned safe, alive and unharmed.
“We will not succumb to blackmail by bandits and criminals who target innocent school students in the expectation of huge ransom payments,” he said.
He also called on state governments to review their policy of making payments, in money or vehicles, to bandits.
Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings over the years, notably the mass abduction in April 2014 by jihadist group Boko Haram of 276 girls from the secondary school in Chibok in Borno state.
More than 100 of the girls are still missing.
House passes wilderness legislation:
The House passed legislation Friday that would create about 1.5 million acres of new wilderness and incorporate nearly 1,200 miles of waterways into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System as Democrats move to protect more public lands — with President Joe Biden’s blessing.
The bill passed by a vote of 227-200, with eight Republicans joining all but one Democratic lawmaker in voting for the bill.
Biden has set a goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and ocean by 2030, a move that supporters say will help curb global warming while preserving some of the nation’s most scenic lands for future generations of Americans to enjoy. But the bill faces an uncertain future in the 50-50 Senate, where support from at least 10 Republicans would be needed to overcome a filibuster.
Republicans said the wilderness area designations would restrict use of those lands and make them more susceptible to catastrophic forest fires. Lands designated as wilderness receive the government’s highest level of protection and are generally off-limits to motorized vehicles with allowed activities focused on recreation such as hiking, camping and horseback riding.
Contaminated water on military base:
The U.S. Air Force says it will be distributing bottled water to thousands of residents and business owners near its base in suburban Phoenix until at least April, marking the latest case of chemicals from military firefighting efforts contaminating the water supply in a nearby community.
Luke Air Force Base announced this month that studies showed high levels of contaminants had affected drinking water for about 6,000 people in roughly 1,600 homes as well as a few neighboring businesses.
A contractor is scheduling deliveries of drinking water to the homes of people who picked up their first bottles this week, said Sean Clements, chief of public affairs for the 56th Fighter Wing at the base. Those deliveries will go on until a long-term filtration facility can be set up in April, Clements said Thursday.
The base has recommended people use bottled water for drinking and cooking but deemed tap water safe for bathing and laundry.
Similar contamination tied to the use of firefighting foam has been found in water supplies near dozens of military sites in Arizona, Colorado and other states and has triggered hundreds of lawsuits.
Growing evidence that it’s dangerous to be exposed to the chemicals found in the foam has prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider setting a maximum level for those chemicals in drinking water nationwide.
Lady Gaga dog robbery:
Video of a violent robbery in which two men shot Lady Gaga’s dog walker and stole two of her purebred French bulldogs in Hollywood on Wednesday night shows a swift attack in which the animals were clearly the target of the robbers — corroborating an eyewitness account from the camera’s owner.
“They had a motive, and they didn’t care,” said Carlos Pantoja, 29, who said he witnessed the shooting from his porch before calling 911 and comforting the dog walker, Ryan Fischer, on the street.
In the video, one of the assailants shouts “Give it up” as the pair jumped out of a white Nissan Altima on Sierra Bonita Avenue — right in front of Pantoja’s home, which has an Amazon Ring camera on the porch. Fischer was shot once and is expected to survive his injuries, according to Los Angeles Police Capt. Jonathan Tippett.
Lady Gaga is offering a $500,000 reward for the return of her dogs, Koji and Gustav, with no questions asked, according to her representative. The singer is in Rome to film a movie.
Haiti gang leader killed after escape:
One of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders, Arnel Joseph, was killed Friday, a day after he and dozens of other inmates in a prison breakout that left at least eight people dead, including the prison director, authorities said.
Police spokesman Gary Desrosiers told The Associated Press that Joseph was riding on a motorcycle through the Artibonite area in the town of L’Estere when he was spotted by a police checkpoint. He said Joseph pulled out a gun and exchanged gunfire with police.
Joseph had been Haiti’s most wanted fugitive until his arrest in 2019.
Some suspect the jailbreak was aimed at freeing Joseph, although authorities have not provided details about who organized the breakout or why. It is unclear how many inmates escaped from the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison in northeast Port-auPrince, although Desrosiers said at least 40 were recaptured.
Limbaugh buried:
Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh has been buried in a private cemetery in St. Louis, his family announced Friday.
Limbaugh’s widow, Kathryn, and his family said a private ceremony with close family and friends was held Wednesday, but they did not say where he was buried.
The family said additional celebrations of Limbaugh’s life are planned in the future, both virtually and in his hometown of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, The Southeast Missourian reported.
Limbaugh died Feb. 17, a year after announcing he had lung cancer.
The fiery Limbaugh was a leading voice of the Republican party and conservative movement for decades with a daily radio show that was broadcast on more than 600 U.S. stations for more than 30 years.