Beijing, China | AFP | A knife-wielding man with a grudge killed nine middle school children and injured at least 10 others as they returned home in northern China on Friday, authorities said, in one of the deadliest such rampages in the country in recent years. The 28-year-old suspect was …
Read More »Private schools intensify security to avert kidnap threats
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A number of private schools around Kampala have intensified security surveillance in an effort to protect pupils from possible kidnappers. The move follows an increase in kidnaps for ransom, involving both children and adults. In an interview with Uganda Radio Network, the Principal Administrator …
Read More »WhatsApp bans European under-16s from using app
Paris, France | AFP | WhatsApp has raised its minimum age for users in the European Union to 16 years, as the bloc prepares for a new online privacy law to come into force next month. In an update to its terms of service on Wednesday, WhatsApp said the minimum age …
Read More »Nepalese peacekeepers accused of child rape in South Sudan
United Nations, United States | AFP | UN peacekeepers from Nepal are facing allegations of child rape in South Sudan, the UN spokesman said Monday, describing the case as “especially heinous.” At the request of the United Nations, Nepal agreed to send a team of investigators to work with the UN …
Read More »Boko Haram has abducted over 1,000 children in Nigeria since 2013: UNICEF
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | As Nigeria prepares to mark the fourth anniversary of the Chibok kidnapping, UNICEF reported on Friday that over 1,000 children have been abducted by jihadists since 2013. “Since 2013, more than 1,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, including 276 girls …
Read More »Children wasting away in gold mines in Eastern Uganda
Moroto, Uganda | URN | More than 1000 children in the mining sites of Moroto district are at risk of developing chronic health complications unless proper measures are put in place to stop child labor at mining sites. A report from a study conducted by Platform for Labor Action in …
Read More »Libya shaken after bodies of kidnapped children found
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Libyans mourned Sunday after the discovery of the bodies of three small children from the same family kidnapped in 2015 on their way to school near the capital. Investigators said that based on the confession of one of their kidnappers, the children’s decomposed bodies were …
Read More »Pope shows support for terminally-ill British toddler
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Pope Francis has stepped in to the case of a seriously ill British toddler who is being kept alive on a ventilator. Alfie Evans, who is 22 months old, has a rare degenerative neurological condition which has not been definitively diagnosed. His parents, Tom Evans …
Read More »Senegalese president promises action on child murders
Dakar, Senegal | AFP | Senegalese President Macky Sall on Friday promised to “track down” the perpetrators of a spate of child kidnappings and killings in Senegal that have sown fear among parents in the West African nation. Police said Tuesday that two children had been murdered in recent days and …
Read More »S.Africa police accused of abuse during child assault probe
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African police were on Wednesday probing one of their own officers who was accused of molesting young girls while investigating sexual assault of scores of primary school pupils. The forensic investigator allegedly molested two girls aged seven and eight on Monday when he …
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