Governor Bello visits parents of kidnapped students, promises their safe return

Children have been out of school for over a year, raising worries about students falling behind. In India this month, some states have started allowing schools to reopen. But in Delhi, many are choosing to stay away, over fears of a third wave.

The Indian state of Karnataka has seen major tensions after the regional government approved of a decision by schools to ban the hijab. Amid those tensions, some old videos have been doing the rounds. Also, on Saint Valentine's Day, heart-shaped icons and landscapes are being shared... but not all of them are real.

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

There are calls for empathy and the end of mistreatment of Africans stuck on the border of Ukraine as they try to flee the war that's followed Russia's invasion. Thousands of Africans study in Ukraine and many have been sharing their suffering and fear after having been sidelined, attacked and discriminated against as they try to flee.

The first group of Nigerian evacuees escaping the Russian invasion of Ukraine arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on Friday. Nigerian student Oduola Joshua Adebowale, a first-year medical student said he fled his home with only his documents and laptop after an explosion shook his hostel.

The French presidential race has officially started, with the official release of the final list of candidates. Eight men and four women are vying for the top job at the Élysée palace, including incumbent Emmanuel Macron, who held his first campaign event amidst the Ukraine crisis. Our reporter Claire Paccalin followed him on the trail.

African citizens are amongst the thousands of people evacuated from the besieged Ukrainian city of Sumy. Hundreds of students from the continent had been stuck in the city since Russian forces invaded. Also, as the world celebrates International Women's Day, we hear from some of the Kenyan women living in informal settlements about their struggles. And we head into the deep blue with South Africa's first Black freediving instructor, Zandi Ndhlovu.

Nigerian student Jerry Kenny is stuck in Kherson, a city in Ukraine occupied by Russian forces. Kenny says he will not leave before his fellow students are safely evacuated.

During French Press and Media in Schools Week from March 21 to 26, the FRANCE 24 Observers team when to meet a class of students from the Paul Valéry high school in Paris. We answered their questions about disinformation and exchanged tips on how to sort the real from the fake. This report covers our experience, and ends with an image the students verified themselves.

The human rights monitor looks back on civil and human rights in 2021, a year of dashed hopes. According to Amnesty International, the digital sphere is increasingly becoming a space for activism — and repression.

Armed men kidnapped the MSF employees on Feb. 24 from the group's base in Cameroon's Far North region in Fotokol, which is near Nigeria and Chad. Those kidnapped and subsequently released include a Senegalese, Chadian and Franco-Ivorian along with their two Cameroon security guards.

African students who have fled the war in Ukraine say the racism they face is making a bad situation worse. DW's Tobore Ovuorie has kept in touch with several of them as they go about seeking refuge in Europe.