Briefly

UNITED STATES

Outage hits Google services worldwide

A massive blackout on Monday temporarily disrupted popular Google services such as Gmail and YouTube, derailing the remote learning, work and entertainment that people have come to rely on during the pandemic. The outage began shortly before 4 am US Pacific time and lasted about 45 minutes, according to the Silicon Valley-based internet giant. Services that require users to log in to accounts such as video-sharing platform YouTube or e-mail service Gmail had "higher error rates" than usual, resulting in people being denied access, Google said. Hitting in the middle of the European workday, the issues frustrated users who took to social media to air their grievances.

NIGER

At least 28 killed in extremist attack

An attack blamed on Boko Haram killed 28 people and burned 800 homes in Niger's Diffa region on Saturday, Nigerien authorities and the United Nations said on Monday. The extremist group has been waging attacks in the region around Lake Chad since 2009, causing about 250,000 people to flee, according to UN figures. The latest attack targeted the village of Toumour, less than 20 kilometers from the border with Nigeria, the government said in a statement. On Tuesday, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for an abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in northwest Nigeria in Chibok in 2014.

Agencies - Xinhua