After more than a week in darkness and rising floodwater, one of seven men trapped in a semi-submerged cave in Laos was brought out alive, according to the rescue team leading the operation. The men had been stranded in the cavern since 20 May in a remote, mountainous part of central Xaysomboun province, where they were searching for gold when flash floods cut off their escape, according to early reports from state media. Rescuers found five of the men alive on Wednesday, sheltering together in a narrow shaft about 300m from…

Thursday May 14, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somali commandos freed nine civilians from al-Shabab captivity during a military operation in the Middle Shabelle region, the Ministry of Defense said Wednesday. According to the ministry, Danab special forces launched the planned raid Tuesday night in Gambole, where they killed five al-Shabab fighters, among them a local commander. The Defense Ministry said the civilians had been held hostage by the militant group. It did not immediately provide further details on their…

Kenya has repatriated 119 citizens who were trapped in online fraud syndicates in Myanmar, with nearly 200 more still awaiting evacuation across Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, the State Department for Diaspora Affairs said Monday. In a statement, the department said 198 Kenyans remain in the pipeline for repatriation. That group includes 66 in Thailand’s immigration detention center, 129 in shelters in Myanmar, and three in a Caritas Catholic safe house in Cambodia, where Kenya’s Embassy has established contact. The…

Nigerian state police say more children abducted last month from a Catholic school in Niger state have been released, adding to a partial liberation earlier in December but leaving key details unclear. Sister Mary T. Barron, the superior general of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, which manages St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary schools in Papiri, said she learned of the development in the evening. She said details were not immediately clear and that more information was expected in the morning. The…

The Congolese government announced on Friday that it had rescued at least 223 civilians living in Ukraine since the country was hit by the Russian invasion. But there is no news of twenty others blocked on Ukrainian territory due to the bombings.…