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The latest deadly breach of the Capitol’s perimeter could delay the gradual reopening of the building’s grounds to the public just as lawmakers were eyeing a return to more normal security measures following the Jan. 6 insurrection.Capitol Police officer William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force, was killed Friday when a man rammed his car into a barrier outside the Senate side of the building. The driver, identified as 25-year-old Noah Green, was shot and killed after he got out of his car and lunged at police with a knife.The deaths came less than two weeks after the Capitol Police removed an outer fence that had temporarily cut off a wide swath of the area to cars and pedestrians, blocking major traffic arteries that cross the city. The fencing had been erected to secure the Capitol after the violent mob of of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the building Jan. 6., interrupting the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. The violence lead to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer.Police, who took the brunt of the assaults that day, have left intact a second ring of fencing around the inner perimeter of the Capitol as they struggle to figure out how to best protect the building and those who work inside it. That tall, dark fencing — parts of it covered in razor wire until just recently — is still a stark symbol of the fear many in the Capitol felt after the mob laid siege two months ago.Lawmakers have almost universally loathed the fencing, saying the seat of American democracy was meant to be open to the people, even if there was always going to be a threat.But after Friday’s attack, some said they needed to proceed with caution.“It’s an eyesore, it sucks,” Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio said about the fencing in the hours after the two deaths. “Nobody wants that there. But the question is, is the environment safe enough to be able to take it down? In the meantime, maybe that fence can prevent some of these things from happening.”Ryan, chairman of a House spending committee that oversees security and the Capitol, stressed that no decisions had been made, and that lawmakers would be “reviewing everything” after the latest deadly incident. His committee and others are looking at not only the fence but at the staffing, structure, and intelligence capabilities of the Capitol Police.“The scab got ripped off again here today,” Ryan said. “So we’ve got to figure this out.”Despite the fencing, Friday’s breach happened inside the perimeter. The driver slipped through a gate that had opened to allow traffic in and out of the Capitol and rammed a barrier that had protected the building long before Jan. 6. And there was no evidence that Green’s actions were in any way related to the insurrection.Suspect Rams Car Into US Capitol Barricade, Killing 1 OfficerSecurity remains high after January 6 Capitol riot  Still, it was a reminder that there is always a target on one of the country’s most visible public buildings, especially as political tensions have risen since the insurrection and there has been broad public scrutiny of the security failures that day.“This may just cause everybody to pump the brakes a bit on taking the fence down entirely because of the sense of security that it provides us,” said Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton of Virginia, another member of the spending panel that oversees the legislative branch.As a lawmaker who represents the suburbs of Washington, Wexton said she wants to see the Capitol open again to visitors. While the indoor parts of the building have been closed to the public for the last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the plazas, roads and sidewalks that surround the Capitol were only cut off after the riot, keeping the public completely away from the area.“I would like to see it come down at the earliest possible moment,” Wexton said of the fencing.While lawmakers were initially supportive of the fencing to secure the area, and the thousands of National Guard troops sent to the Capitol to back up the overwhelmed police force, they soon said they were ready for a drawdown.“I think we’ve overdone it,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky last month. “It looks terrible to have the beacon of our democracy surrounded by razor wire and National Guard troops.“Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, the top Republican on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, said the fencing should come down because the next security problem is “highly unlikely to be a carbon copy of the last problem.” Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida told Fox News he believed Democrats were keeping the fence up for “political reasons.”But abhorrence of the fence is a rare issue on which the two parties can agree.“It’s just ghastly, it’s an embarrassment,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat. “If there’s a better way to protect us, I want to see it. I want to work to get it.”Security officials, though, say that the Capitol cannot return to what had been status quo.In February, acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman told lawmakers that “the Capitol’s security infrastructure must change.”A security review requested by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, in the aftermath of the riot and conducted by a task force recommended eventually replacing the barrier with mobile fencing and “an integrated, retractable fencing system” that could be used as needed. But it is unclear whether such an expensive proposal could win approval from Congress.Ryan said his committee was doing extensive research and even had a recent call with Israeli security officials to learn how they keep their government secure.“We’ve got to figure out what the sweet spot is with the security,” he said.
 
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A passenger train smashed into a vehicle on its tracks and partially derailed outside a rail tunnel in Taiwan on Friday, and police said at least 34 people were killed and dozens injured. Survivors were climbing out windows and onto roofs to reach safety in the island’s worst railway disaster in decades.The crash occurred near the Toroko Gorge scenic area around 9 a.m. on a public holiday, and officials in Hualien county said rescue efforts were continuing. Media reported 350 passengers were on board.Reports said a truck or some type of service vehicle fell from a cliff and landed on the tracks, where a train emerging from a tunnel smashed into it. With much of the train still trapped in the tunnel, escaping passengers were forced to scale doors, windows and roofs to reach safety.The vehicle apparently hit after the locomotive had emerged, causing the greatest damage to cars 1-5, according to the rescue department of Hualien county.Television footage and photos posted by people at the scene on the website of the official Central News Agency showed people climbing out the open door of a railcar just outside the entrance to the tunnel. The inside of one car was pushed all the way into the adjacent seat.The accident came on the first day of the four-day Tomb Sweeping Festival, an annual religious festival when people travel to their hometowns for family gatherings and to worship at the graves of their ancestors.Taiwan’s last major rail crash was in October 2018 when an express train derailed while rounding a tight corner on the northeast coast, killing at least 18 people and injuring nearly 200.In 1981, a collision in western Taiwan killed 30 people and injured 112 in what was previously its deadliest train accident.Taiwan is a mountainous island where most of its 24 million people are squeezed onto flatlands along the northern and western coasts. The lightly populated east is popular with tourists, many of whom arrive along the coastal railway lines to avoid treacherous mountain roads.Taiwan’s extensive rail system has undergone substantial upgrades in recent years, particularly with the addition of a high-speed line connecting the capital Taipei with west coast cities to the south.
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A California community that has been a bellwether of the coronavirus pandemic’s rampage across the United States warned on Thursday that the number of cases of more contagious COVID-19 variants is increasing to worrisome levels.”The region’s progress in curbing the pandemic remains precarious,” the health department in Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley, said.”County residents are therefore urged to avoid travel, quarantine if travelling, and consistently use face coverings.”The situation in Santa Clara, which was home to an early surge of coronavirus in California last year and the nation’s first death from COVID-19, offers a window into the pandemic’s progress across the wider United States.Several states, including Florida and Michigan, are struggling to contain a resurgence of the virus linked to new highly contagious variants.The seven-day daily average of cases across the United States has been increasing continuously since March 19, a Reuters analysis shows. Over the past 13 days, the average daily number of new COVID-19 cases has increased by about 17%, from 55,591 on March 19 to 64,814 on March 31. Total cases stand at more than 30 million, including more than 552,000 deaths.”We’re already seeing surges in other parts of the country, likely driven by variants,” Santa Clara Health Officer Sara Cody said in a statement. “Combined with the data we are seeing locally, these are important warning signs that we must continue to minimize the spread.”The rise in cases comes despite unprecedented efforts to vaccinate people worldwide and across the United States, where nearly 30% of the population had received at least one vaccine dose by Thursday, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Many U.S. states are moving to ease pandemic public health restrictions, and people who have been vaccinated are starting to venture out after a year of staying mostly at home.But with most of the population still unvaccinated, experts warn that it could be a recipe for a deadly fourth wave of the disease.In California, the most populous U.S. state, with 40 million residents, about 5.6 million people, or 17.3% percent of the population, had received one vaccine dose, the CDC said.As cases have leveled off in recent weeks, state officials have reopened activities such as restaurant dining and are making plans to send children back to school.California Gov. Gavin Newsom, however, warned that with at least seven variants of the virus in circulation, the state is not close to achieving so-called herd immunity, which would require most residents to be inoculated.”Now is not the time to spike the ball,” said Newsom, who received his own vaccination on Thursday in Los Angeles. “Now is not the time to announce ‘Mission accomplished.’”In Canada, officials in the province of Ontario declared a limited lockdown beginning on Saturday, while French president Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ordered his country into its third national lockdown.
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Judges at International Criminal Court in The Hague have upheld the acquittal of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and youth minister Charles Ble Goude, paving the way for both to return home.  The two had been accused of instigating postelection violence, and observers said there were concerns that their return could again destabilize Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer of cocoa.Gbagbo and Ble Goude were in the courtroom for the verdict. Ble Goude smiled widely as Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji read it.”The appeals chamber by majority has found no error that could have materially affected the decision of trial chamber in relation to either of the prosecutors’ two grounds of appeal,” Eboe-Osuji said. “It therefore rejects the prosecutor’s appeal, and confirms the decision of the trial chamber.”The judge also revoked all remaining conditions on the men’s release. Gbagbo, who has been staying provisionally in Belgium, has said he wants to return to Ivory Coast, where he remains a heavyweight in the opposition against current President Alassane Ouattara.In a statement, Gbagbo’s defense team hailed the acquittal, saying justice had been done.Supporters of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and former youth minister Charles Ble Goude celebrate their acquittal outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, March 31, 2021.In 2019, ICC judges acquitted Gbagbo and Ble Goude of crimes-against-humanity charges related to postelectoral violence in Ivory Coast in 2010 and 2011. The vote saw Ouattara defeating Gbagbo, who refused to concede.  Following an investigation of alleged atrocities that included perpetrating murder and rape, Gbagbo became the first former head of state to be arrested on orders of the ICC.The prosecution appealed the initial acquittal on procedural grounds, all of which were dismissed by the appeals judges, with two of them dissenting.In some cases, Eboe-Osuji offered particularly strong criticism of prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s arguments, including her apparent suggestions that the first court had hadn’t fully considered all the evidence before coming to its verdict.”Judges of the ICC … are presumed to act with integrity and impartiality. The appeals chamber would expect evidence of a very clear nature to support such a serious allegation as was made,” Eboe-Osuji said.Wednesday’s ruling amounted to yet another setback for the ICC prosecution. Judges previously acquitted on appeal former Democratic of Republic of the Congo Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba. Prosecutor Bensouda earlier dropped crimes-against-humanities charges against Kenyan leader Uhuru Kenyatta.Bensouda is also under U.S. sanctions for launching an investigation into war crimes by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. However, champions of the 20-year-old ICC argue that its mission — as a court of last resort taking on extraordinarily difficult cases against powerful figures — is extremely challenging from the start.Bensouda’s nine-year term is up in June. British prosecutor Karim Khan will succeed her. 
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While the United States’ vaccination campaign against COVID-19 is well under way, daily rates of infection remain high.Anthony Fauci, the White House’s top adviser on the pandemic, expressed concern Sunday that this could be the result of states lifting some restrictions too early – especially around Spring Break.“I think it is premature,” Fauci told CBS, speaking of some states lifting restrictions as vaccination rates rise, warning that there is “really a risk” of seeing a third epidemic wave.Answering reporters’ questions Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden said he believes rates may be plateauing, instead of decreasing, because people are “letting their guard down.”  Shots in Little Arms: COVID-19 Vaccine Testing Turns to KidsPandemic will require vaccinating children tooLast Thursday, Biden pledged to put 200 million shots into arms in his first 100 days as president. On Sunday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Sunday that more than 51.5 million Americans have received at least one coronavirus shot and 93.6 million have received both of their shots.  At the same time, the U.S. has been confirming roughly 60,000 new cases of the virus daily for the past few days. A plateau of cases at such a high number is concerning.“I remain deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic. The latest CDC data continue to suggest that recent declines in cases have leveled off at a very high number,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC.Earlier Sunday, Dr. Deborah Birx, who had served as the Trump White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, told CNN that she believes the U.S. death toll of nearly 550,000 could have been much lower if officials in cities and states had taken more aggressive steps to mitigate the disease’s spread by learning lessons of the first surge. “There were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge,” Birx said. “All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially.”In Venezuela, opposition leader Juan Guaido announced on Twitter that he has tested positive for the virus and is currently in isolation. Como Presidente Encargado, pero también como venezolano, y sobre todo como ser humano, quiero informarle responsablemente al país que, tras cuatro días de cuarentena producto de algunos malestares y pese a haber tomado precauciones, he dado positivo para Covid-19.— Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) March 28, 2021The announcement follows news that the Facebook page of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been frozen, according to a spokesman for the social media giant, because the page contained misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. Maduro violated Facebook policy when he posted a video without any medical evidence, promoting Carvativir, a drink made with the herb thyme, as a cure for the coronavirus, a company spokesman told Reuters. He described the drink as a “miracle” medication capable of neutralizing the coronavirus without any side effects.Neighboring Brazil is averaging 2,500 deaths a day from COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.The South American nation is on pace to reach 4,000 deaths a day, six experts told The Associated Press, a level that would rival the worst seen in the U.S., which has about one-third more people. The U.S. set a record of 4,477 deaths on January 12, 2021, according to Johns Hopkins data.“Four thousand deaths a day seems to be right around the corner,” Dr. José Antônio Curiati, a supervisor at Sao Paulo’s Hospital das Clinicas, the biggest hospital complex in Latin America, told the AP.President Jair Bolsonaro appeared on television last week to declare 2021 “as the year of the vaccine.” Brazil’s Supreme Court backed some states that have implemented nightly curfews, which the Bolsonaro administration fought, saying that only the federal government can impose such restrictions. The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported Sunday evening more than 127 million global COVID-19 infections. The research center updates its data constantly and provides expert input.The United States has more cases than another country, with more than 30.2 million infections, followed by Brazil, with 12.5 million, and India, with almost 12 million, according to the center.
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More than 18,000 unaccompanied children are in U.S. custody since they crossed the southern U.S. border in recent months, in what has become an early test for the administration of President Joe Biden. Michelle Quinn reports.
 
Producer: Mary Cieslak  
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday criticized what he called “disgraceful attacks” on police officers after protests over a new policing bill in the city of Bristol turned violent, resulting in 10 arrests.Local police said a demonstration involving more than 1,000 people Friday afternoon had been largely peaceful, but a minority had shown hostility to police later in the evening.”Last night saw disgraceful attacks against police officers in Bristol. Our officers should not have to face having bricks, bottles and fireworks being thrown at them by a mob intent on violence and causing damage to property,” Johnson tweeted.”The police and the city have my full support.”Police in riot gear had beaten back crowds of protesters with shields and batons.Large demonstrations are not allowed because of coronavirus restrictions, and police have urged people not to attend even peaceful protests.On Saturday, a peaceful demonstration against the policing bill in Manchester, where protesters lay down on tram tracks, was ended by police, who made 18 arrests, citing disruption to the transport network.But Bristol has seen the most dramatic protests. Last Sunday, two police officers were seriously injured and at least two police vehicles set on fire in the city after a peaceful protest turned violent.The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill would give police new powers to impose time and noise limits on street protests.That has angered activists, and scrutiny of police tactics has increased since a heavy-handed response to a London vigil for murder victim Sarah Everard.Matthew Dresch, a journalist for the Daily Mirror newspaper, on Friday filmed a policeman hitting him as he shouted “What are you doing? I’m press.”In a tweet accompanying the video, Dresch said: “Police assaulted me at the Bristol protest even though I told them I was from the press. I was respectfully observing what was happening and posed no threat to any of the officers.”Police said they were aware of the video and were trying to contact the journalist.
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The death toll from the collapse of a nine-story apartment building in Cairo has climbed to 18 people, according to Egyptian state media.The building collapsed in the Egyptian capital early Saturday. State newspaper Al-Ahram said that search and rescue workers recovered the bodies over the course of the day.Excavators could be seen digging through the debris in the el-Salam neighborhood Saturday morning. Police cordoned off the area, keeping back the curious and people apparently looking for relatives in the building.”They took four people out in front of me, who looked like they were almost gone,” said Mohamamed Mostafa, a resident of the neighborhood.At least 24 others were injured and taken to hospitals, according to a morning statement by Khalid Abdel-Al, the administrative head of Cairo governorate. The tally of those killed by his office stayed at nine as of Saturday evening.It was not immediately clear what caused the building’s collapse. An engineering committee was formed to examine the structural integrity of neighboring buildings, Abdel-Al said.Building collapses are not uncommon in Egypt, where shoddy construction is widespread in shantytowns, poor city neighborhoods and rural areas.With real estate at a premium in big cities like Cairo and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, developers seeking bigger profits frequently violate building permits. Extra floors often are added without proper permits.The government has recently launched a crackdown on illegal building across the country, jailing violators and in many cases destroying the buildings.
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The pandemic has not been a good time to open a new business. But that didn’t stop two friends who opened a hair salon in Washington anyway. Iuliia Iarmolenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.  
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Sudan is celebrating the normalization of its relations with the World Bank Group after significantly reducing its debt with the help of a U.S. bridge loan. A virtual celebration was broadcast Friday on national TV, featuring officials of the World Bank and the Sudanese government welcoming Sudan’s re-engagement in the international financial institution.The executive boards of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) declared Sudan eligible for debt relief under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok welcomed the beginning of the debt relief and praised the transitional government’s economic reforms.He congratulated the Sudanese people, the transitional government and the partners of the development for the achievement. Hamdok said this was the real beginning of removing the weight of the external debt from the Sudanese people and returning Sudan to the global financial markets. He said the debt had halted the growth and potential of a giant economy that suffered from corruption, mismanagement, wars and suppression of the Sudanese people.Sudan’s debt had mushroomed to $56 billion under three decades of the autocratic role of Omar al-Bashir.A transitional government supplanted al-Bashir, making concerted efforts to alleviate Sudan’s isolation brought on by his iron-fisted rule.Economic reformsSince 2019, the Sudanese government has made economic reforms to relieve its debt and meet IMF and World Bank Group requirements to access the international funds.The U.S. Treasury provided a same-day bridge loan of $1.15 billion to help Sudan clear its arrears.Sudan’s debt to the International Development Agency (IDA) had blocked the country’s access to international financial institutions like the World Bank Group.Sudanese Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim praised the U.S. role in helping Sudan clear its unpaid debt. He also thanked the World Bank for the unlimited support of the transitional government, including the grant of $1.3 billion to help with debt relief. Ibrahim said the strong partnership showed that the international community stoof with the nation after the December 2018 revolution in which al-Bashir was deposed.The executive director of the World Bank, Axel Van Trotsenberg, confirmed the International Development Association’s willingness to support Sudan’s transition.”This is a historic day,” Van Trotsenberg said. “After nearly three decades, the Republic of Sudan has now officially normalized relations with the World Bank Group. This will allow us to open an exciting new chapter in our partnership. The bank stands ready and is willing to step up its support to Sudan and we would like to make available about $2 billion in IDA grants for poverty reduction and sustainable economic recovery.”Clearing arrears with the IDA is a key step toward meeting the requirements needed to assist Sudan with the HIPC Initiative, which is scheduled to make a formal assessment in June.  
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During his first formal news conference as U.S. president, Joe Biden on Thursday announced a new nationwide coronavirus vaccination goal: 200 million shots in arms during the first 100 days of his administration.”I know it’s ambitious – twice our original goal – but no other country has even come close,” said Biden at the start of the event in the White House East Room.In late January, just days after his inauguration, Biden said he wanted to ship out 150 million shots in his first 100 days, but his administration scaled back that projection.As of Wednesday, 130 million injections had been administered, White House officials said, with 85 million people having received one shot and 45 million people being fully vaccinated.Three entities, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, have promised enough vaccine doses to inoculate all 260 million adults in the United States by the end of next month, another goal previously announced by Biden.In June, Pfizer and Moderna are set to deliver another 100 million doses.Biden, on the 65th day of his presidency, also said the government was closing in on another pledge he had made – of having most kindergarten-through- eighth-grade classrooms reopened during the first 100 days of his administration.’We’re really close’The president cited an Education Department survey stating nearly half of such schools with in-person learning were open full time.“Not yet a majority, but we’re really close,” said Biden. “And I believe in the 35 days left to go we’ll meet that goal as well.”During Biden’s hourlong news conference, there were no queries directly related to the coronavirus pandemic from any of the 10 reporters who were selected to ask questions.Over the past year, COVID-19 has killed more than 542,000 people and infected at least 30 million in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.White House officials earlier Thursday announced plans to spend $10 billion of money already appropriated by Congress to expand access to coronavirus vaccines and overcome hesitancy about the vaccine in high-risk communities.So far, only the states of Alaska, Mississippi, Utah and West Virginia have made all their adults eligible for vaccination. Florida is to join them on April 5.It is expected to be some time before many children, who are at lower risk of serious illness from the coronavirus, will be inoculated in the United States.Pfizer on Wednesday began testing its vaccine on children under age 12. Astra Zeneca and Moderna have been testing their vaccines on those between six months and 12 years, while Johnson & Johnson says it expects to extend its trial to younger age groups after assessing the performance of its one-shot vaccine in older children.   
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Former Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers forward Elgin Baylor died of natural causes at the age of 86 on Monday, the NBA franchise announced.Baylor, the number one draft pick in 1958 and Rookie of the Year in 1959, spent 14 seasons with the Lakers. He is enshrined in the Hall of Fame and was considered one of the greatest players to never win a championship.A gifted shooter and rebounder despite his 6 ft 5 in frame, Baylor still held the record for most individual points in a single game in the NBA Finals when he scored 61 points against Lakers’ arch rivals, the Boston Celtics, in 1962.”Elgin was the love of my life and my best friend. And like everyone else, I was in awe of his immense courage, dignity and the time he gave to all fans,” his wife Elaine said in a statement.Baylor’s number 22 jersey was retired and hangs in the rafters of Staples Center while the 11-times NBA All-Star was immortalized in a statue that stands outside the arena.”Elgin was THE superstar of his era, his many accolades speak to that,” Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss said.”He was one of the few Lakers players whose career spanned from Minneapolis to Los Angeles.”But more importantly he was a man of great integrity, even serving his country as a U.S. Army reservist, often playing for the Lakers only during his weekend pass.”After his retirement, Baylor coached the New Orleans Jazz before he was hired as the general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers, spending 22 years in that role.”RIP to the NBA’s first high flyer, Lakers legend and Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor,” former Lakers guard and former team president Magic Johnson wrote on Twitter.”Before there was Michael Jordan doing amazing things in the air, there was Elgin Baylor.” 
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Residents of the northeastern Nigerian city Maiduguri were elated Wednesday evening when electricity was restored nearly two months after jihadists blew up power supply lines.The Jan. 26 attack was the third time in a month that militants from the IS-linked Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group had plunged the city into darkness.On a bustling street near Bakassi camp, which hosts more than 30,000 people displaced by the violent conflict in the region, residents were rejoicing.”Seriously, I appreciate it,” Sihiyina Chinde, 24, sitting on a wooden bench, preparing pan-fried rice cake and grounded beans in a pan she could finally see thanks to the streetlights.”I’m a maths and statistics student, and now I can read my books without using my torchlight.”Across the road, a group of children were buying cold water, sold in small plastic bags.”The light came back at 5:42 p.m. (16:42 GMT),” said the shop owner, Ibrahim Mustafa Goni.The power company has not yet released a statement but had said it was working on repairing the supply lines to the city of 3 million people.”Life has been hard,” says 48-year-old Goni, “especially at the moment, in the hot season, when cold water is really needed.”Last week, it was 42 degrees in Maiduguri. Goni had to use a generator from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., which cost him about 6,000 naira ($15) each day.”I had to increase the price of my commodities (as a result) and customers were complaining.”Tonight, “I’m happy,” said Goni, but “I appeal for the government to provide more security so that it doesn’t happen again.”ISWAP and rival Boko Haram jihadist group often target infrastructure, blowing up telecom and power lines in the northeast.Militants also target army patrols, making the roads in the region risky for civilians as well as repair crews from the power company.Nigeria’s jihadist insurgency began in 2009. The conflict has since killed around 36,000 people and displaced around 2 million from their homes.
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