A week in which the Sahel counts its dead by the dozen, an elderly woman in Madrid returns home after being evicted at 87, and Texas declares a state of emergency because diesel prices have nearly doubled. Six stories from six corners of the world, all from the past seventy-two hours.
Nigeria, 87 people abducted in two days. On Saturday, September 26, forty-seven farmers were seized in Rimi, in Niger State; the following day forty women were taken from Yargada, in Zamfara State. Authorities blame the abductions on armed gangs on motorcycles who have turned kidnapping into an industry across the country’s north: according to figures cited by Al Jazeera, between July 2025 and June 2026 they collected nearly six million dollars in ransoms, three times the previous year’s total. In August, in a single episode, as many as six hundred worshippers were kidnapped from inside a mosque.
Niger, more than fifty soldiers killed. Two separate attacks in the west of the country: an ambush on a convoy of gendarmes along the Abala-Filingué road on September 23, and an assault on Birni-N’Konni on the 26th, in which more than thirty soldiers died. On Sunday, the Islamic State’s Sahel Province claimed responsibility for both actions in two separate statements. Nigerien security sources confirmed the attacks, referring generically to terrorists, without releasing an official death toll.
Somalia, fighting breaks out in Baidoa. It is the third wave of clashes in six weeks, and al-Shabaab has nothing to do with it: the combatants are federal troops loyal to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and forces loyal to Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, the former regional president removed by the central government in March. On Monday, September 28, thousands of fighters entered the city, backed by fighter jets and drones. Médecins Sans Frontières recorded at least three deaths and sixty-nine wounded treated at the regional hospital in Bay, among the victims a health worker.
Haiti, the UN extends the anti-gang force. On September 28, at least eleven people were killed and several homes set on fire in the Artibonite region: local authorities describe it as retaliation after the killing of three gang members by the Gang Suppression Force. The following day the Security Council approved a resolution extending that same force’s mandate until March 31, 2027, with twelve votes in favor and three abstentions (China, Russia and Pakistan). On the ground there are roughly 1,500 personnel deployed, less than a third of the number originally planned.
Venezuela, calls to amend the hate-speech law. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez, in office since January 5 following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by US troops, has asked the National Assembly to reform the Ley contra el Odio (Law Against Hate), acknowledging that its application has strayed from its original intent. The law, passed in 2017, punishes incitement to hatred with sentences of up to twenty years and has long been criticized for being so vaguely worded that it can be used against any criticism of the government: after the 2024 elections, thirty-three of seventy-three documented detentions cited it.
Spain, evictions suspended for the most vulnerable. Maricarmen Abascal, 87, had been evicted on September 23 from the Madrid home where she had lived since 1956, despite protests from hundreds of people and an appeal from the United Nations. On Monday her lawyer announced a settlement: an eight-year lease, rent capped at no more than 30% of net income, and her return home as soon as she is discharged from the hospital. The same day the government issued a decree, in force from October 1, that suspends evictions until December 31, 2030 for vulnerable people with no alternative housing, subject to annual judicial review. It is not a blanket freeze and does not cancel outstanding debts.
Texas, diesel prices trigger a state of emergency. Governor Greg Abbott declared a thirty-day state of disaster on September 28 over diesel prices, which have climbed from $3.30 a gallon in early February to $5.86, a consequence of the war between the United States and Iran and the halt in oil and gas exports from the Middle East. The measures suspend certain state emissions limits and raise the permitted weight for fuel transport vehicles; the state fuel tax, however, remains unchanged.
