Nigeria says all options open to free kidnapped girls as US has begins surveillance flights ADVERTISING Nigeria says all options open to free kidnapped girls as US has begins surveillance flights ABUJA, Nigeria — U.S. reconnaissance aircraft flew over Nigeria
Nigeria says all options open to free kidnapped girls as US has begins surveillance flights
ABUJA, Nigeria — U.S. reconnaissance aircraft flew over Nigeria in search of the nearly 300 kidnapped schoolgirls Tuesday, a day after the Boko Haram militant group released the first evidence that at least some of them are still alive and demanded that jailed fighters be swapped for their freedom.
A Nigerian government official said “all options” were open — including negotiations or a possible military operation with foreign help — in the effort to free the girls, who were shown fearful and huddled together dressed in gray Islamic veils as they sang Quranic verses under the guns of their captors in a video released Monday.
The footage was verified as authentic by Nigerian authorities, who said 54 of the girls had been identified by relatives, teachers and classmates who watched the video late Tuesday.
The abduction has spurred a global movement to secure the girls’ release amid fears they would be sold into slavery, married off to fighters or worse following a series of threats by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.
Protesters marched through the streets of the capital, Abuja, Tuesday to demand more government action to find and free the girls, who are believed to be held in the vast Sambisi forest some 20 miles from the eastern town of Chibok, where they were seized from their school on April 15.
FBI: 100s have contacted us on pedophile teacher
Hundreds of people have contacted the FBI about a teacher suspected of drugging and molesting boys during a four-decade career at international schools on four continents, greatly expanding the potential number of suspected victims.
The FBI said last month that William Vahey had molested at least 90 boys, whose photos were found on a memory drive stolen by his maid. The bureau said Tuesday that it has now “been contacted by several hundred individuals from around the globe wishing either to reach out as potential victims or provide information in the ongoing investigation.”
Special Agent Shauna Dunlap said officials wanted as many people as possible to call or contact the FBI through its website in order to receive counseling and provide information about a man who the bureau calls one of the most prolific pedophiles in memory.
Vahey killed himself at age 64 after evidence of molestation was found on a memory drive stolen by a maid in Nicaragua.
He was one of the most beloved teachers in the world of international schools that serve the children of diplomats, well-off Americans and local elites. The discovery of his molestation has set off a crisis in the community of international schools, where parents are being told their children may have been victims, and administrators are scurrying to close loopholes exposed by Vahey’s abuses.
European court: People can ask Google to remove personal info from search results
AMSTERDAM — Google and other search engines were thrust into an unwanted new role Tuesday — caretaker of people’s reputations — when Europe’s highest court ruled that individuals should have some say over what information comes up when their names are Googled.
The landmark ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union will force search engines to decide when to censor computer users’ search results across the 28-nation bloc of over 500 million people.
The court decision — which cannot be appealed — was celebrated by some as a victory for privacy rights in the Internet age. Others warned it could lead to online censorship.
The ruling applies to EU citizens and all search engines in Europe, including Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing.
It has no immediate impact on the way Google and other search engines display their results in the U.S. or other countries outside Europe.
By wire sources
