children

Thursday, December 11, 2025 MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has launched an emergency diphtheria vaccination drive in the Banadir region as an expanding outbreak kills at least 50 people in recent weeks and infects more than 1,000 children, officials said. The five-day campaign begins Monday, Dec. 15, and will deploy teams to neighborhoods, health centers and schools in Mogadishu and surrounding districts. The ministry urged parents to ensure children are vaccinated, calling diphtheria “a…

Australia on Wednesday became the first country to enforce a nationwide minimum age for social media, ordering platforms including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to block users under 16 or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (€28 million). The mandate, which took effect at midnight local time (1 p.m. Irish time), could see more than a million accounts shuttered and marks a potential turning point in how governments regulate Big Tech. The rules initially cover 10 major platforms, with the government saying the list will evolve…

Release of Abducted Schoolchildren in Niger State: A Fragile Victory Nigerian authorities announced that they have successfully secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted from St. Mary's Catholic boarding school in Niger state. This incident, which unfolded on November 21, saw 315 pupils and staff taken by gunmen from the co-educational facility located in north-central Nigeria. Following the chaos of the attack, around 50 students managed to escape, but the fate of another 165 children and staff remains unknown.…

Nigeria’s government has secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted last month in Niger state, local media reported, marking a partial breakthrough in one of the country’s worst mass school kidnappings in recent years. The children were among those taken on Nov. 21 when gunmen stormed St. Mary’s Catholic boarding school in Papiri, a hamlet in Niger state. The Christian Association of Nigeria said at the time that 303 children and 12 school staff were seized in the raid. About 50 pupils managed to escape within hours,…

Guilty verdict in Auckland filicide forces hard questions about mental illness, accountability and community care The Auckland High Court delivered a short, stark verdict last week: Hakyung Lee, a New Zealand citizen born in South Korea, was found guilty of murdering her two young children and hiding their bodies in suitcases. The image of the remains — Yuna Jo, 8, and Minu Jo, 6 — discovered in a storage unit in south Auckland after years missing, jolted a country and prompted painful public debate about how societies…

Israel Tightens Siege of Gaza City as Dozens Killed and Famine Deepens; Ceasefire Push Stalls Gaza City woke up to another day of smoke and sirens on Tuesday, with Israeli warplanes pounding densely packed neighborhoods while troops tightened a siege on the enclave’s largest urban center. Local authorities said more than 50 people were killed in Gaza City alone, among at least 105 Palestinians reported dead across the Strip in the past 24 hours. Aid workers said many of the dead were cut down not in combat zones but while…

In Mogadishu, tiny hearts get a second chance — and a health system finds its stride For three intense days in late August, the corridors of Guuleed Specialist Hospital in Mogadishu pulsed with a rare kind of urgency. A volunteer team of cardiac specialists from Somalia and abroad scrubbed in, monitors beeped in careful rhythm, and anxious families clutched prayer beads as their children—some no bigger than a bag of rice—were wheeled into operating theaters. By the evening of August 27, organizers said 15 children with…

In recent months, the Amara region of Ethiopia has witnessed a surge in drone attacks, bringing severe consequences to its residents (Photo: SM/file). Tragically, a drone strike in the Shoa area of the Amhara region claimed the lives of two children, aged eight and nine, and an elderly woman. Another woman suffered severe injuries during the attack. Reports from Ethiopian Media Service (EMS) revealed the grievous circumstances, emphasizing that the wounded woman remains in critical condition. Fano Mintesnot, the head of…

Gaza's civil defense authorities reported that a recent Israeli attack claimed the lives of 30 individuals, including 13 children, following strikes on two homes in the northern region of the Palestinian territory. The first airstrike occurred early today in Jabalia, a northern Gaza town, where initial reports indicated "at least 25" fatalities, among them the 13 children. More than 30 individuals sustained injuries, as noted by the civil defense. Since October 6, the Israeli military has unleashed a relentless…

Dr. Ubah Farah, a fervent advocate for UNICEF Somalia, underscored the profound impact of this national endeavor to eliminate polio. "This initiative is a lifeline for vaccinating children against polio," Farah expressed. She emphasized that such initiatives are pivotal in public health, aiming to wipe out the poliovirus and stymie its spread. The campaign kicked off in central and southern Somalia, with plans to gradually include the semiautonomous state of Northeastern State and the self-declared region of Somaliland.…