Boko Haram militants release hostage video

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.

Canada's Peel Region police said Wednesday (April 17) that nine people, including Air Canada employees, are facing charges in connection to the $20 million Toronto Pearson airport gold heist that was meticulously carried out exactly one year ago.

Viral publications on social media are claiming that Princess Salma of Jordan shot down six Iranian drones late on Saturday. Jordan is the latest target of misinformation following its role in defending Israel against Iran's drone and missile attack. We explain in this edition of Truth or Fake.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in an unprecedented strike launched directly from Iranian territory. Almost all of the drones, rockets and cruise missiles launched by Iran were intercepted by Israeli air defenses with the help of the US, UK, and several Arab countries.

The Croatian city of Vukovar, on the banks of the Danube, has a painful past. Located on the border with Serbia, it was the scene of the first major battle in the 1990s Balkan wars. Four years before the genocide in Srebrenica and eight years before the war in Kosovo, Vukovar was the first city in the former Yugoslavia to suffer ethnic cleansing, in 1991. More than 30 years later, reconciliation between local Serbs and Croats is hindered by impunity for war crimes and the inability to agree on a common version of events.

India's mammoth elections are now under way, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi widely expected to win a third term. Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has expanded subsidy programmes for the poor and women. These programmes include measures like equipping homes with butane gas by offering free cylinders or distributing free food rations. Some 60 percent of the population benefits from Modi’s food distribution scheme, which he has pledged to renew for another five years. Another success story is the nationwide rollout of digital payment services. Meanwhile, critics say the prime minister is eroding democracy by targeting opposition parties and controlling the media.