First word: Moscow plane crash kills 71 people

A Nigerian jet has been downed in the northwest of the country. The pilot safely ejected and avoided capture.

People look at cars stacked on each other at the entrance of a tunnel following heavy rains in Zhengzhou in China's Henan province. At least 25 people have died including a dozen passengers trapped in a flooded subway after torrential rains inundated central China, paralysing several cities and causing millions of dollars in damage.

Madagascan police this week arrested six people, including a foreign national, on suspicion of plotting to kill the president, after months of investigation, officials said on Thursday.

At least 30 jihadists have been killed by Rwandan forces who were deployed to Mozambique. Rwanda is just one of several countries that sent troops to the country after a recent uptick in activity by Shabaab Islamist militants. Also, Tunisia has received foreign aid to help battle Covid-19. The country's hospitals are overwhelmed and running out of oxygen. Finally, FRANCE 24 speaks to Christine Amisi, one of Africa's top doctors in efforts to help rape survivors.

Officials said the attack by unidentified shooters on motorbikes "targeted civilians" in Banibangou — near the jihadist-plagued tri-border region spanning Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing of Dawa Khan Menapal — just days after they pledged "retaliatory" attacks against key government officials.

As the Taliban make rapid gains in Afghanistan, women in the country are concerned about their future. An Afghan women's rights activist told DW her life may be in danger if the Islamist militants attack Kabul.

The attack left 14 children dead as the assailants reportedly "shot at anything that moved." It's the latest attack in near Niger's border with Mali.

A car bomb hit a convoy in the Mopti region before being followed by a hail of bullets. Islamic extremists are believed to behind the attack.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday.⁣ ⁣

Attackers shot dead at least 36 people and destroyed buildings in a night raid on a village near the central Nigerian city of Jos, officials said on Wednesday (August 25), in an area hit by repeated ethnic clashes. The gunmen went house to house killing residents in Yelwa Zangam late on Tuesday (August 24), a military spokesman said. Troops struggled to get to the area as a bridge had been destroyed, he added.

Islamic State suicide bombers attacked crowds of people gathered Thursday outside Kabul airport hoping to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, killing dozens including 13 US troops, as President Joe Biden vowed to hunt down those responsible.