Journalist reported kidnapped in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali — Jihadi rebels kidnapped French journalist Olivier Dubois on April 8 while he was working in Mali’s northern city of Gao, the chief of Reporters Without Borders has announced.

A video released Wednesday shows Dubois saying he was kidnapped by the al-Qaida-linked group JNIM. In the video, he calls on his family, friends and authorities to work for his release. The video could not be independently verified.

Reporters Without Borders chief Christophe Deloire confirmed the kidnapping to The Associated Press and called for the reporter’s release.

The French Foreign Ministry confirmed his disappearance, saying they are in touch with his family and Malian authorities.

A family takes a photo Wednesday sitting atop a T-55M Soviet tank installed as a monument in Kirovsk, east of St. Petersburg, Russia. (AP/Dmitri Lovetsky)