Abubakar Adam has not seen seven of his 10 children in the two months since armed men snatched them from their boarding school in Nigeria's northern Niger state. He sold his car, a parcel of land, cleaned out his savings and along with other parents sought help from friends and relatives to raise 30 million naira ($72,993) to get their children back. But the bandits just took the money - and one of the men delivering it - leaving Adam with nothing. The rash of kidnappings across the largely poor northwest has left hundreds of parents facing the same desperate quandary: beg, borrow and sell assets, or risk never seeing their children again.

As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, Loujain al-Hathloul was a threat to national security. Some believe the new US administration under Joe Biden had a hand in her release.

After its exit from the EU, the United Kingdom is seeking to be part of the Pacific free trade area. A formal request will be made early next week, the government said.

On May 17, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, delivered 110 truckloads of food items to the Kano State government to be distributed to the vulnerable and less privileged whose means of survival were affected by the lockdown directive.⁣ ⁣ Two weeks later, the food items have not been distributed and have been left to rot in the open.⁣

Luxembourg has abolished fares for all standard-class journeys on trains, trams and buses in what the government of the tiny European nation said was a bid to tackle road congestion and pollution, as well as supporting low earners.⁣

Here is why you should pick up a copy of The Guardian on Saturday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on the newsstands on Saturday.

Here is why you should pick up a copy of The Guardian on Friday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on the newsstands on Friday⁣ ⁣

WhatsApp has reached 2 Billion users two years after announcing a 1.5 Billion mark. The free messaging service and ad-free application was purchased by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion.

Free, fantastic and flamboyant: Marie Losier's 'Cassandro the Exotico'.