
-
'Hands Off!' Anti-Trump Americans flood Washington
-
Harman leads by three at Texas Open
-
Barcelona draw to increase Liga lead after Real Madrid stumble
-
Ecuador mounts anti-drug op overseen by Blackwater founder
-
Pegula rallies to reach Charleston final
-
Nick Rockett flies to victory in magical Mullins Grand National
-
Ovechkin on the brink of the 'impossible'
-
Anthony, Bird to enter basketball Hall of Fame
-
'Phenomenal' Munster edge O'Gara's La Rochelle to reach Champions Cup quarters
-
Munster edge O'Gara's La Rochelle to reach Champions Cup quarters
-
Rahul, Jaiswal fire as Delhi and Rajasthan register big IPL wins
-
Aston Villa beat Forest for seventh straight win ahead of PSG trip
-
Jaiswal, Archer help Rajasthan thrash Punjab in IPL
-
Inter's title charge stalls after throwing away points at Parma
-
Real Madrid stumble at home to Valencia in Liga
-
Leading garment producer Bangladesh holds crisis talks on US tariffs
-
PSG win 13th French title ahead of Aston Villa Champions League clash
-
Nick Rockett storms to victory in the 'Mullins' Grand National
-
Despair and sadness follow death of Malian musical great Amadou
-
Arsenal held by Everton, Wolves push Ipswich closer to relegation
-
Lions contender Prendergast fires Leinster to Champions Cup quarters
-
Nick Rockett wins the 'Mullins' Grand National for father and son
-
Last-gasp Buendia goal keeps Leverkusen's Bundesliga title hopes alive
-
Video shows last minutes before Gaza aid workers' deaths, Red Crescent says
-
Zverev 'mentally' affected by Australian Open defeat
-
Rahul guides Delhi to third straight IPL victory
-
Arsenal draw at Everton to edge Liverpool closer to Premier League title
-
Senate Republicans move forward with Trump tax cuts
-
Sinner regrets 'unfair' doping ban as he prepares return to courts
-
Isa hat-trick powers Toulon into Champions Cup quarters in Saracens thriller
-
'Hang tough, it won't be easy': Trump defiant on tariffs
-
Zelensky slams 'weak' US reply to Russian strike on his hometown
-
Musiala hamstring tear compounds Bayern's injury crisis
-
Selfies, goals and cheers at South Africa's grannies World Cup
-
Tsunoda frustrated with 15th in Red Bull qualifying debut
-
Rain forecast adds new element to combustible Japanese GP
-
Ukraine mourns 18 killed in Russian missile strike
-
Germany's Mueller to leave Bayern Munich after 25 years
-
India's Modi clinches defence, energy deals in Sri Lanka
-
Verstappen snatches 'special' pole for Japan GP with lap record
-
Cambodia hails opening of naval base renovated by China
-
Verstappen snatches 'insane' pole for Japan GP in track record
-
Thousands rally for South Korea's impeached ex-president Yoon
-
New Zealand hammer Pakistan by 43 runs to sweep ODI series 3-0
-
Myanmar quake death toll passes 3,300: state media
-
India's Modi in Sri Lanka for defence and energy deals
-
'No one to return to': Afghans fear Pakistan deportation
-
Fractious Republicans seek unity over Trump tax cuts
-
America's passion for tariffs rarely pays off, economists warn
-
Trump's global tariff takes effect in dramatic US trade shift
RBGPF | 100% | 69.02 | $ | |
JRI | -7.19% | 11.96 | $ | |
BCC | 0.85% | 95.44 | $ | |
SCS | -0.56% | 10.68 | $ | |
BCE | 0.22% | 22.71 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.13% | 22.29 | $ | |
NGG | -5.25% | 65.93 | $ | |
RELX | -6.81% | 48.16 | $ | |
RIO | -6.88% | 54.67 | $ | |
RYCEF | -18.79% | 8.25 | $ | |
VOD | -10.24% | 8.5 | $ | |
GSK | -6.79% | 36.53 | $ | |
AZN | -7.98% | 68.46 | $ | |
BTI | -5.17% | 39.86 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.7% | 22.83 | $ | |
BP | -10.43% | 28.38 | $ |

North Nigeria state reopens schools shut after abductions
Nigeria's northern Zamfara state reopened schools on Monday four months after they were shut due to mass kidnappings of students by criminal gangs, the local government said.
Schools in Zamfara were closed in September following the kidnap of 80 students from a secondary school in Kaya village in one of a string of mass abductions from schools across northwestern Nigeria.
"This is to inform all principals, head teachers of schools below tertiary level... that were categorised as green and yellow to reopen tomorrow Monday... for resumption (of) normal lessons," said a statement from the state's education ministry, referring to the security colour-coding system.
A total of 115 school were ordered to resume classes while 85 others designated as "red" were to remain closed "until when the security situation improves," said the statement.
Northwest and central Nigeria have been plagued by heavily armed criminal gangs, called bandits locally, who carry out deadly raids on villages, kidnapping residents and burning homes after looting them.
The gangs have increasingly been attacking schools for mass abductions of schoolchildren to squeeze ransom from parents and communities.
Around 1,500 schoolchildren were seized last year in 20 mass kidnappings in schools across the region, with 16 students losing their lives, according to the UN children welfare agency UNICEF.
Most of the hostages were released after negotiations but some are still in captivity in bandit forest hideouts.
The mass kidnappings prompted the closure of hundreds of schools in six states -- Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Niger, Sokoto and Jigawa -- in a bid to save children.
The abductions frightened communities in the north, which was already grappling with low school enrolment, stopping at least one million children from returning to school, according to UNICEF.
There are an estimated 10 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, most of them in the north and Experts worry the kidnappings may bolster those numbers.
- Houses burned -
Several measures including amnesty and military operations have failed to end the violence by bandits whose activities the Nigerian government recently said constitute "acts of terrorism".
In one of the latest attacks, 16 people, including three security personnel, were killed at the weekend when bandits attacked Dankade village in northwestern Kebbi state, according a police spokesman.
"We recovered the bodies of 13 residents and those of a policeman and two soldiers from the village after the attack," Nafiu Abubakar, Kebbi state police spokesman told AFP on Monday.
Several residents were kidnapped while many houses were burnt by the motorcycle-riding gunmen who launched the attack from neighbouring Zamfara state, Abubakar said.
Communities in Kebbi state on the border with Zamfara are periodically attacked by bandits from Zamfara state where they maintain their camps.
In one of the worst attacks last June, 80 villagers were killed by bandits in raids on several villages in Danko-Wasagu district, a week after more than 100 students were abducted from a boarding high school in the state.
On Saturday 30 more of the kidnapped students along with their teacher were freed by their captors. Their colleagues were earlier released in several groups, according to officials.
O.Lorenz--BTB