An explosion at a fireworks store in eastern China killed eight people and injured two, authorities said late Sunday.

Rural communities in China often light sparklers and screeching “missile” fireworks to celebrate holidays and milestones such as the Lunar New Year, which falls on Tuesday.

The “improper discharge” of fireworks by one or more villagers caused an explosion at a nearby store in Jiangsu province’s Donghai county around 2:30 pm (0630 GMT) on Sunday, local authorities said in a statement on social media.

“Emergency management, fire, public security, and health authorities rushed to the scene immediately to carry out rescue and response operations,” Donghai authorities added.

A fire caused by the explosion was extinguished by around 4:00 pm, the statement said, adding that eight people were killed and two people sustained minor burns.

Investigations were being carried out and those responsible have been taken into custody.

The Ministry of Emergency Management said that China was entering the peak period for fireworks use during the Lunar New Year holiday, warning citizens against unsafe practices like test-firing or smoking outside of shops.

It added that it also sent a warning notice to fireworks enterprises nationwide “requiring a full inspection” of safety risks and hazards.

Industrial accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards.

An explosion at a biotech factory in northern China’s Shanxi province killed eight people this month.

And in late January, an explosion at a steel factory in the neighbouring province of Inner Mongolia left at least nine people dead.

Gunmen on motorcycles have killed dozens of people in dawn raids across three villages in north-western Nigeria.

Armed men shot locals dead, set homes alight and abducted an unknown number of people in Niger State, Musa Saidu, head of the State Emergency Management Agency (Sema), told the Media.

The attacks on Saturday morning occurred near the site of a suspected jihadist massacre earlier this month, in which more than 100 people were killed in a similar ambush.

Armed criminal gangs, known as bandits, have carried out attacks and kidnappings in Nigeria for years, mainly targeting those in the north-west – but reports of attacks in other parts of the country have risen sharply more recently.

Bandits swooped on the village of Tunga-Makeri early in the morning, before striking the nearby villages of Konkoso and Pissa, local officials said.

Police said six people were killed in one incident, and 20 more in the attacks on Konkoso and Pisa.

Officials confirmed at least 29 people had been killed as of Saturday, but Saidu said that death toll could rise.

The number of people abducted is also unknown because many residents fled their homes and ran into the nearby bush or neighbouring communities, he said.

“People are afraid because you can’t tell which community is going to be next,” he added.

A security report cited by AFP news agency said bandits came on 41 motorcycles, each carrying two or three men.

Abdullahi Rofia, a resident of neighbouring Agwara, told the Media that many displaced people have taken shelter in his community, which was itself attacked two weeks ago.

“People are so traumatised, they no longer go to farm nor do they go to market,” he said.

“The bandits are not interesting in stealing or looting – they are more interested in killing and terrorising locals.”

Authorities have introduced emergency measures, including a restriction on late-night gatherings and a “partial curfew” that bans motorcycle taxis from operating after 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT).

Police confirmed that security teams have been deployed and rescue efforts are ongoing.

Nigeria’s leaders are under pressure to curb violence, with jihadist groups active in the north-west and separatist insurgents based in the country’s south-east.

The US launched Christmas Day strikes targeting Islamist militants in Nigeria’s northern Sokoto state and President Donald Trump warned of further attacks “if they continue to kill Christians”.

Many of the victims of jihadist violence are Muslim, according to organisations monitoring political violence in Nigeria.

A Nigerian official told the Media last month that 200 suspected bandits had been killed in an operation in the central Kogi state.

It came after more than 250 children and staff were abducted from a Catholic school in Papiri, in one of the largest recent mass-kidnappings. Their release was later secured.

Ghana intends to request the extradition of a Russian man accused of illegally recording his sexual encounters with several women and sharing footage online without their consent.

African and Russian media identified him as a self-styled “pick-up artist” and online blogger in his 30s who had travelled to Ghana to secretly film his interactions with women.

Outlets in both countries claimed the man used a pair of sunglasses fitted with a camera to film some encounters and circulated them on social media, though officials did not confirm this.

Speaking to journalists on Saturday, Sam George, Ghana’s technology minister, said he had invited the Russian ambassador to discuss the alleged incident.

Earlier, Ghana’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection said an initial investigation had established the suspect had likely left the country.

It added that did “not reduce the seriousness of the alleged conduct or the state’s responsibility to pursue accountability”.

George said he had asked the Russian ambassador in the capital city Accra for Moscow’s cooperation in getting justice for the victims.

However, Russia does not extradite its citizens, except in extreme circumstances.

The minister told the Media: “I have invited the Russian ambassador in Ghana for a meeting.

“The actions of the Russian citizen flout our cyber-security laws. I will officially indicate to the ambassador our official position.”

Earlier, he told reporters: “That gentleman will be looked for, we will activate every resource in our disposal working with Interpol.

“We will request the Russian authorities – and that is why I have invited the Russian ambassador – to work with our law enforcement.

“We want the gentleman to be brought back to Ghana, extradited to Ghana for him to face the rigours of our law.”

George said they would try the suspect in absentia if he failed to return to Ghana.

Local media report the same man had been involved in similar illegal acts in Kenya.

Under Ghana’s Cybersecurity Act 2020, anyone who publishes explicit images of children or adults without full consent can face up to 25 years in prison.

Authorities in Ghana have been paying increasing attention to online abuse, including sexual extortion and romance scams.

There has been an increase in arrests in recent years for these offences.

In 2022, a court sentenced a 22-year-old phone repairer, Solomon Doga, to 14 years in prison for sharing nude images of a Lebanese woman.

He pleaded guilty to sexual extortion and non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

Ghana also introduced new laws under the Cybersecurity Act 2020 to punish those who share nude photos or videos online, especially of women and children, often for revenge or blackmail.

BBC -Experts say it’s in such good condition, that it has allowed them to see what the dinosaurs’ skin really looked like.

The newly identified species has been named Haolong dongi, and belongs to the iguanodontian family.

Nicknamed the “spiny dragon”, the newly-discovered dinosaur had both longer and shorter spikes across its body – a bit like a porcupine.

The discovery was made by an international team of scientists led by China’s Anhui Geological Museum and the Institute of Natural Sciences in Belgium.

They found the new iguanodontian dinosaur in the north-east of China.

Experts say the dinosaur was a herbivore – meaning it only ate plants.

It had large overlapping scales along its tail, but its body was also covered in spikes of different sizes – structures never before seen in dinosaurs.

They think the spikes likely served as a way of protecting Haolong dongi against predators, making the it harder to swallow for the numerous other species that roamed the same ecosystem.

Other theories include the fact the spikes might have played a role in the dinosaur controlling its body temperature or helping it to sense the world around it.

In addition, the fossil also contained large areas of skin, which surprised the team.

Huang Jiandong, from Anhui Geological Museum, explained: “The complexity of dinosaur skin is far greater than we imagined.”

Pascal Godefroit, palaeontologist at the Institute of Natural Sciences, added: “Finding skin preserved at the cellular level in a dinosaur is extraordinary.

“It gives us a window into the biology of these animals at a level that we never thought possible.”