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☆ She Was Kidnapped a Decade Ago With 275 Girls. Finally, She Escaped.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Ismail Alfa | Ruth Maclean | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The girls’ boarding school in Chibok, miles behind them, had been set on fire. Then she noticed that some girls were jumping off the back of the truck, she said, some alone, others in pairs, holding hands. They ran and hid in the scrub as the truck trundled on. But before Ms. Dauda could jump, she said, one girl raised the alarm, shouting that others were “dropping and running.” Their abductors stopped, secured the truck and continued toward what, for Ms. Dauda, would prove a life-changing nine years in captivity. “If she hadn’t shouted that, we would have all escaped,” Ms. Dauda said in a series of interviews this past week in the city of Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram’s violent insurgency.

Persons: Saratu Dauda, Dauda, hadn’t, ” Ms Locations: Nigeria, Chibok, Maiduguri

☆ Gunmen who kidnapped 287 school children in Nigeria say they will kill them all if $622,000 ransom not paid
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Abuja, Nigeria CNN —Gunmen who kidnapped at least 287 school children in Nigeria last Thursday have demanded a ransom of 1 billion naira ($621,848) and threatened to kill all of the students if their demands are not met, a member of the local community told CNN on Wednesday. About 100 of them are from the primary school and the rest from the secondary school. In 2021, at least 140 students were kidnapped by armed men from a private secondary school. The incident came just months after around 20 students from a private university in Chikun’s Kasarami village were abducted by gunmen. Five of those students were killed after a ransom deadline was not met, family members told CNN at the time.

Persons: Nigeria CNN — Gunmen, “, ”, Aminu Jibril, Jibril, Mansur Hassan, Uba Sani, ” Sani Organizations: Nigeria CNN —, CNN, Secondary School Locations: Abuja, Nigeria, Kuriga, Kaduna, Kaduna’s Chikun, Chikun’s Kasarami

☆ Nigeria: At least 287 school children kidnapped by armed gunmen in northwestern Kaduna State
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —At least 287 school children, some as young as eight years old, are being held by gunmen who raided their school in Nigeria’s northwestern Kaduna State early Thursday, a police spokesperson told CNN Friday. Some of the students were rescued but 287 of them remain with the kidnappers, Hassan said. “Students were kidnapped from the school premises on Thursday morning around 8:00 am (local time). Governor of Kaduna state, Uba Sani said in a statement Thursday that his government was “doing everything possible to ensure the safe return of the pupils and students” kidnapped. In 2021, at least at least 140 students were kidnapped by armed men from a private secondary school.

Persons: Mansur Hassan said, Hassan, ” Hassan, Uba Sani, ”, Sani Organizations: CNN, Secondary School, “, Reuters, Washington Post, National Security, Security, Amnesty Locations: Nigeria’s, Kaduna State, Kuriga, Kaduna’s Chikun, Kaduna, Nigeria, Abuja, Chikun’s Kasarami

☆ ‘Chowchilla’ details how 26 kids were buried alive in California – and how they escaped
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Holly Yan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

CNN —In 1976, gunmen stormed a school bus carrying 26 children – ages 5 to 14 – and their bus driver in Chowchilla, California. The Dairyland Union School District bus carrying 26 children and their bus driver was found empty and abandoned in July 1976. The kidnappers ordered the children and their bus driver into a moving van hidden underground. Bus driver Edward Ray speaks to reporters in 1976. “Chowchilla children are heroes,” she said in the CNN Film.

Persons: ”, “, didn’t, – pantyhose, –, Larry Park, Jodi Heffington, Jennifer Brown Hyde, van, ” Lynda Carrejo Labendeira, Edward Ray, ” Brown Hyde, Michael Marshall, Marshall, Hostages, Jim Palmer, AP Ray, ‘, ’, Mike Marshall, CNN “, LeRoy, Tatum, ’ ” Marshall, Ray, Ed Ray, ” Chowchilla, Ed Ray Day ”, Skip Shuman, Edward, Mike, Marshall “, Lenore C, ” ‘, ” Andrea, CNN Films ’ “, Park’s, “ Andrea, abductors, Frederick Newhall Woods, James Schoenfeld, Richard Schoenfeld, James, Fred Woods, Joe Rosenthal, who’d, Terr, Andrea, ‘ I’ve, Jodi Heffington Medrano, Heffington Medrano, Matthew Medrano, I’ve, William Newsom, California’s, Newsom, ” Carrejo Labendeira, “ Jodi, Carrejo Labendeira, “ ‘ Lynda, it’s, ’ ”, Heffington, couldn’t, Dominique Banos, “ Mr, Woods, Banos, ” Marshall Organizations: CNN, Dairyland, Dairyland Union School District, UPI, Workers, Fresno Bee, Tribune, Service, AP, Bus, Sacramento Bee, Marshall, CNN Films, California Gold Rush, San Francisco Chronicle, Larry Park CNN, James Schoenfeld California Department of Corrections, Mike Marshall CNN, ” Locations: Chowchilla , California, Livermore, Chowchilla, “ Chowchilla, Sacramento, Woods

Israel's strategy to cut off water, food and electricity to Gaza – where half the population are children – adds to the suffering of Palestinian civilians who had nothing to do with the brutal Oct 7 attack on Israel, Obama wrote. "It’s therefore important that those of us supporting Israel in its time of need encourage a strategy that can incapacitate Hamas while minimizing further civilian casualties." Israel has yet to launch a promised ground invasion to clear out Hamas, and Biden, in his visit to the war zone last week, said he implored Netanyahu to adhere to the "rules of war." Asked about a cease-fire, Biden said Hamas abductors needed to release the hostages, "and then we'll talk." Hamas released two Israeli hostages Monday, after letting free two American captives over the weekend.

Persons: Barack Obama, –, Obama, Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden, Netanyahu, Pope Francis, ” Biden, “, abductors Organizations: Israel, Israeli, White, Hamas, West Bank Locations: Israel, Gaza, Tel Aviv, United States

CNN —An FBI special weapons and tactics team stormed a Southern California motel Friday morning, rescuing a kidnapped 17-year-old boy who was being held for ransom, a law enforcement source familiar with the operation told CNN. Fidel Jesús Patino Jaimes, Jair Tomás Ramos Domínguez and Ezequiel Felix López were arrested during the operation in Santa Maria and charged with kidnapping, according to a federal criminal complaint. Alleged abduction caught on cameraThe criminal complaint alleges that last Monday, someone in Highland, California, heard a loud bang outside their home and then reviewed their Ring camera footage. According to the criminal complaint, the FBI located the phone at a motel in Santa Maria and conducted surveillance from outside the room where the suspect’s device was located. All three defendants admitted to playing a role in abducting or confining the victim, according to the criminal complaint.

Persons: Fidel Jesús Patino Jaimes, Jair Tomás Ramos Domínguez, Ezequiel Felix López, ’ Jeep, “ Organizations: CNN, FBI, US, Office, Central, Central District of, Cherokee, Facebook, Angeles Field Office Locations: Southern California, Santa Maria, Central District, Central District of California, Highland , California, Nogales , Mexico, Yonkers , New York

☆ Kevin Hart ends up in wheelchair after being ‘dumbest man alive’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Trying to do “young stuff” has temporarily landed Kevin Hart in a wheelchair. That’s according to the movie star, who posted a video on his verified Instagram account in which the caption reads in part, “I got to be the dumbest man alive!!!! !”Using some expletives in both the caption and the video, Hart recounted how he tried to race his friend, former NFL player Stevan Ridley, in a 40-yard dash and ended up injuring himself. Respect that age.”He then announced that he was in a wheelchair for trying to do some “young man stuff.”Hart said he bet Ridley he could beat him in the sprint, but was humbled. HEAL UP AND PEEKP MAKING US ALL LAUGH!”In 2019, Hart suffered “major back injuries” following a car crash.

Persons: ”, Kevin Hart, “, Hart, Stevan Ridley, ” Hart, Ridley, ” Ridley Organizations: CNN, NFL, New England Patriots

☆ Alix Dorsainvil: 'One day I hope to hug you in heaven,' US nurse tells kidnappers who held her for 13 days in Haiti
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Alisha Ebrahimji | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The US State Department that day ordered the departure of nonemergency government personnel from Haiti, where the security situation recently has deteriorated. Authorities registered 1,014 kidnappings in Haiti from January to June this year – 256 women, 13 girls and 24 boys – according to a United Nations report. El Roi HaitiDorsainvil first visited Haiti after the 2010 earthquake while she was still in college and “fell in love with the people,” El Roi Haiti said in a statement. She’d been on El Roi Haiti’s staff as a nurse to schoolchildren since 2020 and married the non-profit’s director, Sandro Dorsainvil, in 2021, the organization said. “Despite what happened to me, my love for you all, my love for Haiti has not changed or gone away,” she said.

Persons: Alix Dorsainvil, ” Dorsainvil, “, ”, Dorsainvil, Dorsainvil’s, Duvivier, Jesus Christ, El, El Roi Haiti Dorsainvil, ” El, She’d, Sandro Dorsainvil, I’d, I’ve Organizations: CNN, YouTube, US State Department, Prince, Authorities, United, El Roi Haiti Locations: Haiti, Haitian, The New Hampshire, El Roi Haiti, Port, United Nations, El Roi, ” El Roi Haiti, Caribbean, El

☆ U.S. Nurse and Her Child Released by Kidnappers in Haiti
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Simon Romero | More About Simon Romero | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An American nurse and her child in Haiti have been freed by their abductors after their kidnapping in late July drew international attention to a wave of anarchic violence gripping the capital, Port-au-Prince. El Roi Haiti, a faith-based humanitarian organization, said in a brief statement on Wednesday that Alix Dorsainvil, the group’s community nurse and the wife of the group’s director, was released along with her child after they were held in Port-au-Prince. They had been abducted on July 31 from El Roi’s campus near the capital, and the U.S. State Department had said that American officials were working with their Haitian counterparts to get them released. “There is still much to process and to heal from in this situation,” El Roi said in its statement. “We are so thankful for everyone who joined us in prayer and supported us during this crisis.”

Persons: ., Alix Dorsainvil, ” El Roi, ” Organizations: U.S . State Department, Haitian Locations: American, Haiti, Port, . El Roi Haiti, El Roi’s

☆ John Blake: The story about race I didn't know how to tell
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

John Blake, seen here in a second-grade photo, grew up as the son of a White mother and Black father. What I didn’t know was that my community had died long before the Freddie Gray protests. That’s the story I wanted to tell, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t know how to tell Harlow any of that because my story doesn’t fit traditional narratives about race or identity. My white family members didn’t change because I shamed them with an impressive lecture on systemic racism.

Google recently conducted an experiment in Europe where it sought to counter anti-refugee narratives online in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Like other countries, misinformation spreads rapidly across India, mostly through social media, creating political and religious tensions. Indian government officials have called on tech companies such as Google, Meta, and Twitter to take stronger action against the spread of fake news. Inflammatory messages have also spread via Meta's messaging service Whatsapp, which has more than 200 million users in India. The company's recent research on the subject suggested viewers were 5% more likely to identify misinformation after watching such videos.

CNN —An animal sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is facing demands for ransom money, after kidnappers abducted three of its baby chimpanzees. “This is the first time in the world that baby apes were kidnapped for ransom,” Franck Chantereau, founder of the sanctuary where the kidnap took place, told CNN on Friday. But they didn’t come so the kidnappers took these three babies hostage and demanded a large amount of ransom from us,” Chantereau said. “Obviously, it’s impossible for us to pay the ransom,” Chantereau said. But Chantereau said the kidnapping won’t shake his determination to save baby chimps from the clutches of smugglers.

Sherri Papini, the California woman who pleaded guilty to faking her own kidnapping and lying about it to the FBI, was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison. Prosecutors recommended last week that Papini be sentenced to eight months in prison. U.S. District Judge William Shubb sentenced Papini to prison time along with 36 months supervised release. Papini, a mother of two from Redding, was arrested more than five years after she was reported missing in November 2016. The government said an eight-month sentence would discourage Papini from ever trying such a scheme again and dissuade others from committing fraud.

☆ Satanic panic is making a comeback, fueled by QAnon believers and GOP influencers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Brandy-Zadrozny-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Brandy Zadrozny | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +23 min

Utah County Attorney David O. Leavitt speaks on July 31, 2019, in Provo. The accusations were part of a new case from Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith. Discussion about satanism and satanic abuse has increased in recent years, according to data provided to NBC News by Zignal Labs, which analyzes social media conversations. Popular culture and social media have also ferried ideas about satanism and widespread child abuse from fringe to the mainstream. (Anti-LGBTQ politicians and activists have equated LGBTQ people with predators who abuse children as part of a “gay agenda,” the well-worn panic that the gay rights movement’s true motivation is recruitment.

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