Briefly

NIGERIA

Release of students welcomed by UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund said on Saturday it was relieved that scores of students abducted by gunmen from a school in north-central Nigeria's Niger state in May have been freed from captivity. Abubakar Sani Bello, governor of Niger state, told reporters at a news conference in the state capital, Minna, that 92 kidnapped persons, including 90 students, had regained their freedom after being held for about three months by unidentified gunmen. UNICEF said it will work with partners to provide mental health, psychosocial support and counseling services to the freed students and their parents.

UNITED STATES

Intensifying Hurricane Ida to hit Louisiana

Hurricane Ida rapidly grew in strength early on Sunday, becoming a dangerous Category 4 hurricane just hours before hitting the Louisiana coast while emergency officials in the region grappled with opening shelters for displaced evacuees despite the risks of spreading the coronavirus. The storm was expected to make landfall on Sunday afternoon, set to arrive on the exact date Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi 16 years earlier. A US Energy Department map of oil and gas infrastructure shows scores of low-lying sites in the storm's projected path that are listed as potentially vulnerable to flooding.

Xinhua - Agencies