Briefly

NIGERIA

Gunmen kidnap three Chinese, kill two locals

Armed men kidnapped three Chinese nationals and killed two local staff working on a power project in Nigeria's central state of Niger, police said on Thursday. The gunmen－thought to be members of gangs who have carried out mass kidnappings-struck on Tuesday, attacking staff from the Sino-Hydro Power Dam who were working on a transmission line tower in a village, police said. After a gunfight with police, three Chinese nationals were kidnapped and another four of their compatriots were rescued, Niger police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said. A Chinese worker and two local staff were hit by bullets and the Nigerians later died in hospital, Abiodun added. Joint police and military teams had launched a search operation for the missing workers.

UNITED STATES

World War II mail received 76 years later

A letter sent from a US soldier stationed in Germany to his mother in Massachusetts has been delivered 76 years after it was sent. John Gonsalves, 22 at the time, wrote to his mother in Woburn in December 1945 after the official end of World War II, WFXT-TV reported on Wednesday. The letter would sit unopened for more than 75 years before being found in a US Postal Service distribution facility in Pittsburgh. "Dear, Mom. Received another letter from you today and was happy to hear that everything is okay," the letter read. "As for myself, I'm fine and getting along okay. But as far as the food it's pretty lousy most of the time." Gonsalves died in 2015.

Agencies Via Xinhua