Poland wants 100,000 volunteers to take part in military training in 2027

ABUJA: At least 26 people have died from a meningitis outbreak in Nigeria’s northwest Kebbi state, a local health official said on Tuesday.
Nigeria is one of the hotspots of the deadly disease in Africa where at least 1,700 cases were reported last year, with more than 150 deaths recorded in seven states.
Kebbi state Health Commissioner Musa Ismaila confirmed the outbreak, citing a surge in cases in three local government areas.
“We are saddled with the unfortunate situation of an outbreak with a rising number of cases,” Ismaila said in a statement, detailing symptoms that include fever, severe headaches, and neck stiffness.
A total of 248 suspected cases have been line-listed, with 11 samples sent to the National Reference Laboratory in the capital Abuja. Two samples returned negative, while nine are pending, he said.
Meningitis is the inflammation of tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord which can be caused by viral or bacterial infections. It spreads mainly through kisses, sneezes, coughs and in close living quarters.
In response to the outbreak, the state government has distributed drugs to affected areas with isolation centers established with the support of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Gwandu, Jega, and Aliero, the three affected local government areas, Ismaila said.
Similarly, neighboring Sokoto state has issued a health warning following confirmation of an outbreak.
Last year, Nigeria became the first country in the world to roll out the “revolutionary” new Men5C vaccine against meningitis, according to the World Health Organization.

QUETTA: Separatist militants in southwest Pakistan said they had taken 182 hostages including military personnel on Tuesday in an attack on a train and threatened to kill them if security forces did not leave the area.
The train, which had about 400 passengers, was trapped in a tunnel and the driver was badly wounded, local authorities, police and railway officials said, without confirming the Baloch Liberation Army’s account of hostages.
Security forces said an explosion had been heard near the tunnel and that they were exchanging fire with the militants in a mountainous area.
The BLA, which seeks independence for Balochistan province bordering both Afghanistan and Iran, said it had killed 20 soldiers and shot down a drone. There was no confirmation of that from Pakistani authorities.
The group said it had taken 182 hostages from the train, including Pakistan army members and other security officials traveling on leave.
“Civilian passengers, particularly women, children, the elderly, and Baloch citizens, have been released safely and given a secure route,” it said in a statement emailed to journalists and posted on Telegram.
“The BLA further warns that if military intervention continues, all hostages will be executed.”
The Jaffar Express had been on its way from Balochistan’s capital Quetta to the city of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when it was fired on.
Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, condemned the attack and said the government would not make any concessions to “beasts who fire on innocent passengers.”
The Balochistan government has imposed emergency measures to deal with the situation, spokesperson Shahid Rind said, without giving more details.
The BLA is the biggest of several ethnic groups battling the government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources.
The conflict has seen frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region.