Globe Trot: Boko Haram ratchets up the violence in Nigeria

NIGERIA: Boko Haram attacks are too hard to keep up with. An official says “many, many” people have been killed by militants who attacked a town on the border with Cameroon, forcing closure of the border this week. And this morning we have reports of a deadly attack in Kogi state, in central Nigeria, with houses and cars set on fire and casualties yet to be determined.

Yesterday U.S. President Barack Obama announced the United States will “do everything we can” to help Nigerian authorities find nearly 300 teenage girls missing since their April 15 abduction from their school. U.S. involvement followed a media campaign by women’s and human rights groups, including a rally yesterday outside the Nigerian Embassy in Washington. Assistance is to include U.S. military and law enforcement personnel skilled in intelligence, investigations, hostage negotiating, information sharing, and victim assistance.

UKRAINE: Germany’s foreign minister warns: Ukraine is close to war.

PAKISTAN is bracing for polio travel restrictions, after the World Health Organization on Monday ordered new containment rules to limit an outbreak in Pakistan, Syria, and Cameroon that is spreading to other countries.

ARGENTINA: A law allegedly meant to protect religious freedom is having the opposite effect. Pastor Marcelo Nieva: “For a long time we hoped that a miracle would happen: that the persecution would stop. But the true miracle is that we can have peace and joy in our hearts while it continues.”

THAILAND: Citing abuse of power, a Thai court today ordered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra removed from office.

IRAQ: Following WORLD coverage of the church in Iraq and Canon Andrew White, this entertaining interview of White by Eric Metaxas over the weekend is worth watching.