Xinhua world news summary at 1230 GMT, Feb. 26

HANOI -- Vietnam recorded six new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, including two imported and four locally transmitted, according to its Ministry of Health.

The new infections brought the total confirmed cases in the country to 2,426 as of 6:00 p.m. local time Friday, said the ministry. (Vietnam-COVID-19)

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LAGOS -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative in Nigeria has expressed concerns about and strongly condemns continuous terror attacks on schoolchildren in the west African country.

Early Friday, an unknown number of students were abducted by gunmen who stormed an all-girls school in Nigeria's northwestern state of Zamfara, about a week after 42 people, including 27 students, were taken away by gunmen who attacked a boarding school in Niger state in north-central Nigeria. (Nigeria-UNICEF-Students)

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JAKARTA -- Athletes in Indonesia started receiving COVID-19 vaccines on Friday, Indonesia's Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said.

According to the vice president, athletes are a vaccination priority group, especially those who will participate in domestic and global sports competitions. (Indonesia-Vaccination-Athletes)

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NEW DELHI -- India's civil aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday allowed airlines to offer concessions in ticket prices to passengers with no check-in luggage.

The aviation regulator issued a statement in which it has unbundled certain services and made them chargeable on an opt-in basis based on feedback received from passengers. (India-DGCA-Airfare)

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NAIROBI -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, talked over the phone on Thursday, vowing to strengthen ties.

The two leaders discussed the economy, peace and security, climate change, human rights and the humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa, according to statements from the Kenyan and U.S. governments. (Kenya-US-Relations)