Globe Trot: Suicide bomber kills 48 at Nigerian school

NIGERIA:At least 48 students are reported killed in a bombing at a secondary school in northern Nigeria. A suicide bomber dressed as a student exploded himself during a Monday morning assembly attended by 2,000 students. This is the second bombing in a week in Potiskum, Yobe state, and follows a string of attacks by Boko Haram militants in the region.

IRAQ:Mystery surrounds the already mysterious head of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who may have been killed in a U.S. airstrike this weekend. But international action so far has not succeeded in retaking Mosul and surrounding areas from the militant group. In a moving video, the Syrian Orthodox archbishop of Mosul weeps as he explains how for the first time in 1,500 years Christians are not able to worship in their churches.

NORWAY:Members of parliament from around the world met in Oslo and on Saturday signed the Charter for Freedom of Religion or Belief as part of a new coalition to combat religious persecution in places like Iraq, Pakistan, and Nigeria.

NORTH KOREA:Former detainees Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller reached U.S. soil after North Korea, which had imprisoned both men, released them late last week. Bae, a Korean-American missionary, had been held two years, one of the longest detentions by Pyongyang of an American, after receiving a sentence of 15 years’ hard labor.

CHINA: U.S. President Barack Obama met with leaders of 11 Asian nations in Beijing during his first stop on a trip designed to cement a major trade pact, something the new Republican leadership in Congress is likely to support.

MEXICO:Protesters carrying torches set fire to the ceremonial palace of Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto in a historic section of Mexico City on Saturday, as protests against the massacre of 43 teacher trainees continue. The students are believed to have been abducted by police and handed over to a gang, sparking national outrage over official corruption and misconduct. Street protests are tracking with a Twitter campaign hashtagged #YaMeCanse, or “I’ve had enough.”

ZAMBIA:Texas megapastor and author Voddie Baucham announced plans to leave his Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, to move to Zambia to become president of a new seminary at African Christian University.