Nigeria

The Texas Tech athletic department didn't make the news official, but it did post a photo on its website of Stephanie Okechukwu, a 7-footer from Nigeria, palming a basketball in each hand.

US airstrikes hit ISIS camps in Nigeria on Christmas Day in what officials said was a joint operation, raising questions over whether further action will follow.

"I said, ‘Nope, let’s give a Christmas present.’ … They didn’t think that was coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp got decimated," Trump said.

The United States Africa Command stated that the strike in Sokoto was conducted "at the request of Nigerian authorities" and killed multiple terrorists.

The blast occurred in Maiduguri, a city that has been at the heart of an Islamist insurgency waged by Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, for nearly two decades.

The students are among more than 300 pupils and 12 staff seized by gunmen from St Mary's Catholic boarding school in Papiri village in the early hours of November 21.

Terrorism is growing across Africa as coups, corruption, and weak leadership leave nations exposed and children unsafe.

The attack is the latest in a series of abductions in central Nigeria and puts more pressure on the government, which is under scrutiny from US President Donald Trump.

The US has imposed full restrictions and entry limitations on nationals from five countries - Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria - in addition to the initial list of 12 countries.

In its first foreign military intervention in nearly a decade, Nigeria sends fighter jets and ground troops to assist Benin government in restoring order.