Nigeria recruits vigilantes to fight off bandits

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Pascale Harter introduces stories from Nigeria, Ukraine, Canada and Malaysia. Nigeria is battling a kidnapping crisis across several states, driven by criminal gangs targeting rural communities, where locals are at risk of abduction and extortion. Now, groups of civilians have decided to take action to combat the crisis, reports Yemisi Adegoke. There’s growing alarm in Kyiv and in European capitals over the intensification of Russia's jet-powered drone attacks. As another winter of war approaches, there are worries that damage to vital infrastructure might make the city unlivable, sparking a second exodus of citizens. Meanwhile, in rural towns and villages, elderly locals have become reliant on international aid food parcels, James Landale reports. Canada introduced retaliatory "dollar for dollar" trade tariffs this week on specific imports from the US, in response to the new American tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on Canadian exports back in August. Last-ditch talks to prevent a new trade war collapsed last week - and the dispute's sparked a wave of visible patriotism across Canada. Rosa Rahimi reports from British Columbia. Sarawak is Malaysia’s biggest state and the country’s most diverse region with 34 indigenous groups. The biggest of these is the Iban – who make up nearly a third of the population and are famed for their intricate traditional weaving, often inspired by dreams. Its traditional motifs have been reworked as regional symbols of Sarawak, but beliefs in the power - and the risks - of certain designs endure, as Simon Broughton discovered. (Image: One of the vigilantes recruited by local authorities to fight off bandit attacks in Zamfara state, north western Nigeria, July 2026. © BBC)