2-IN-1 STORY: Nigerian Ex-Militants Call For End To Niger Delta Pipeline Attacks; Buhari: Niger Delta Militancy Threatens National Economy

From right: President Muhammadu Buhari; Shell Global Upstream Director, Mr. Andrew Brown; MD/Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor; and Shell GM, Business & Government Relations, Simbi Wabote, at the State House in Abuja yesterday. Photo: State House

Former militants have called for a halt to a resurgence of attacks on oil and gas facilities in Nigeria's Niger Delta, saying it is an unnecessary distraction for President Muhammadu Buhari's administration.

South Africa Thinks It Can Beat HIV By Weaning Girls Off Sugar Daddies

An empty message (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

South Africa’s health department will launch a project to “wean” young women off sugar daddies, in its latest bid to stop the spread of HIV. The US$180 million project will focus on young women aged 15 to 24 and the usually older men who are “infecting and impregnating them,” said health minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

African Union Urges International Police Force For Burundi

Killings and attacks have become a regular feature in Burundi as a political crisis grips the country ©Onesphore Nibigira (AFP)

An African Union human rights report called on Friday for an international police force and more military and rights observers to be sent to troubled Burundi.

After Ebola, World Bank Creates Pandemic Insurance Plan

World Bank

The World Bank announced Saturday a new program to mobilize funds quickly against virulent disease outbreaks after the world was caught unprepared in the 2014 Ebola disaster in West Africa.

India Sets New Heat Record As Temperatures Soar

Indian children try to cool off amid soaring temperatures in Allahabad on May 17, 2016 ©Sanjay Kanojia (AFP)

Temperatures have soared to a scorching 51 degrees Celsius in one Indian city, meteorologists said Friday, with the ferocious heat setting a new national record.

Doubt Cast On Identity Of 'Second Rescued Chibok Girl'

Serah Luka was among 97 women and children rescued by Nigerian soldiers in the Damboa district of the northeastern state of Borno

Campaigners on Friday questioned a Nigerian military claim that a second Chibok schoolgirl had been rescued, but the army maintained she was one of the 219 abducted by Boko Haram.

Egypt Army Says Plane Wreckage Found Near Alexandria

Egyptian air and naval forces have found some of the passengers' "personal belongings" and debris of EgyptAir flight 804, which crashed while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo, the army said Friday.

Governors Approach World Bank For US$3.25bn Lifeline

The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) Chairman, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State

The 36 state governors have decided to turn to the World Bank as one of the ways of surviving the current economic downturn in the country, which has made it difficult for many of them to pay workers’ salaries.

Want Better Brain Function After 50? Try To Keep Busy, Study Says

© Peter Morgan / Reuters 

Your overcrowded schedule might finally put your mind at ease: a new study suggests that busy people have better cognitive function as they get older than their less-busy people peers.

Searchers Scour Mediterranean For Wreckage Of Missing EgyptAir Jet

The disappearance of flight MS804, an Airbus A320 Image source: mailonline UK

Search teams scoured the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, hunting for wreckage of an EgyptAir jet carrying 66 people that disappeared in a crash that Egypt said may have been caused by a terrorist attack.

Another Chibok Girl Rescued, Amina Visits Buhari

Miss Serah Luka the second girl rescued Image source: Daily Trust

Two days after the rescue of one of the 200 schoolgirls abducted from the Chibok community in Borno State, another schoolgirl was rescued on Thursday night.

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima (middle) presents the Chibok schoolgirl Amina Ali and her baby to President Muhammadu Buhari, during the president’s meeting with the family at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday Photo: Felix Onigbinde

How Chibok Girl Was Found

The rescued Chibok schoolgirl Amina Ali Nkeki, 19, and her "husband" being screened by the military Photo: Sahara Reporters

*She’ll undergo medical screening – Army

Emotions ran high in Chibok yesterday as the first of 219 school girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents over two years ago was brought to the village for identification.

Swaziland King's Jet 'Impounded' In Canada

Swaziliand's King Mswati III often appears in public in traditional dress and has many wives.

The private plane of Swaziliand's King Mswati III has been detained in Canada for the second time in two years due to a debt dispute, according to Canadian court documents, Reuters news agency reports.

House Of Reps Panel Backs Deregulation Of Oil Sector

Deputy Whip, Hon. Ado Doguwa heads the Ad hoc Committee on Deregulation of the Petroleum Downstream Sector Image credit: The Sunday Interview screengrab

The House of Representatives yesterday embraced the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry by the Federal Government.

EgyptAir Flight From Paris To Cairo Disappears From Radar

There were 56 passengers, seven crew members and three security men on board the Airbus A320, EgyptAir said, adding that the passengers included a boy and two babies ©Khaled Desouki (AFP)

Egyptian search teams combed the Mediterranean for signs of an EgyptAir flight that vanished from radar screens en route from Paris to Cairo on Thursday with 66 people on board, the airline said.

'Dozens' Of Athletes Likely Banned From Rio Games For Doping: IOC Boss

IOC president Thomas Bach

IOC president Thomas Bach said Wednesday that "dozens" of athletes could be banned from the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after new tests on samples from previous games.

2-IN-1 STORY: Petrol Price Strike Flops In Port Harcourt, Abuja, Lagos; FG To NLC: Return To Negotiation Table

Failure to launch: Strike by led by Ayuba Wabba NLC faction flops In Port Harcourt, Abuja, Lagos

Many workers yesterday shunned the strike called by a faction of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) led by Ayuba Wabba to protest the increased price of petrol from ₦86.50 to ₦145. But there were rallies, which disrupted traffic in some cities.

FOR THE RECORD: Chibok Girl Rescued, Her Baby And Boko Haram "Husband" (PHOTOS)

Amina Ali Mkeki and her 4 month old baby

SaharaReporters has obtained a photograph of 19-year old Amina Ali Mkeki, one of the Chibok girls infamously kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 when she was 17 years old. Amina was rescued near the Sambisa Forest, government sources and activists told SaharaReporters earlier Wednesday.

UN Pushes 'Get-Tough Agenda' On Peacekeeper Sex Abuse

Accused Congolese MINUSCA soldiers sit at the Military Tribunal of Kinshasa last month ©Eduardo Soteras (cds/AFP)

A former number two at the US Department of Homeland Security is forcing the United Nations to confront one of the worst crises in its history: sexual abuse by peacekeepers.

ASUU Plans ‘Mass Action’ Against Fuel Price Hike

The National president of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, on Tuesday mobilized members of the union for strike and mass action commencing from Wednesday to force the Federal Government to revert the pump price of petrol from ₦145 to ₦86 per litre.

NLC Walks Out Of Meeting With FG, Begins Strike Today

Photo: NAN

The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress on Tuesday walked out of the meeting held with the representatives of the Federal Government, vowing to go ahead with its scheduled nationwide strike on Wednesday (today).

Russian Senator Calls For Criminal Prosecution For Doping In Sports

© Maksim Bogodvid / Sputnik

A senator representing Russia’s second largest city, St. Petersburg, has proposed amending the criminal code to include articles on criminal responsibility for doping in sports and for those dealing in banned substances designed to enhance athletes’ performance.

Kaduna Beggars Storm Govt House, Demand Withdrawal Of Anti-Begging Law

Members of the Joint National Association of People with Disability protest in Kaduna yesterday

Beggars under the auspices of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) yesterday stormed the Kaduna Government House in their hundreds to demand the withdrawal of the anti-begging law until the governor fulfils his campaign promises.

Old Trafford Bomb Scare All My Fault — Security Firm Boss

Chris Reid, managing director of Security Search Management & Solutions Ltd at his home in Biggin Hill in Kent

The Premier League season will finally end, two days after the bomb scare which forced Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium to be evacuated.

Fake Admission: UNILORIN Expels 108 Fresh Students

The University of Ilorin says no fewer than 108 fresh students of the institution were expelled for gaining admission through dubious means.

Fuel Price Hike: FG, Labour Meeting Ends In A Deadlock

Talks between the Federal Government and organized labour on the increase in the pump price of petrol ended in a deadlock on Monday night.

2-IN-1 STORY: Fuel Price Hike: Reps Convene Special Session, Summon Oil Minister, Kachikwu; 2 Million Tonnes Of Petrol Stuck On High Seas

Inside the chambers of the House of Representatives

The House of Representatives has convened a special session at which Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, will interact with the lawmakers over the new premium motor spirit price regime hiked to ₦145 lask week, some lawmakers, including Ahmed Kaita and Akeem Adeyemi have disclosed.

Nigeria, Partners Switch Focus To Poverty Reduction

From left: President Paul Biya of Cameroon; President of France; Mr Francios Hollande; President Muhammadu Buhari; President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic; and Chadian President Idriss Déby, during the 2nd Regional Security Summit at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja yesterday Photo: State House

Member states of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and development partners have agreed to focus more on reducing poverty in the region in order to end terrorism.

Main Opposition Splinters As PDP Breaks Into Two Factions

Former governors and ministers reportedly leading a splinter group called "Concerned PDP Stakeholders Steering Committee"

Main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party has broken into factions, Sunday Punch has learnt. Already, 12 of its former governors and no fewer than 14 former ministers are leading a breakaway group, which is labelled, Concerned PDP Stakeholders Steering Committee.

Govt Lied About Consulting With Labour On New Fuel Price — NLC

General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson

The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, tells The Punch On Sunday that the Federal Government’s decision to increase the fuel pump price from ₦86.50k to ₦145 per litre is a bad policy which should be reversed

Excerpts below:

NLC Vows Total Shutdown, Gives Nigerian Govt. 96 Hours To Revert To Old Petrol Price

NLC President labour to call out their members on an indefinite strike

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its affiliates, include the Trade Union Congress, TUC, on Saturday gave the federal government a 96-hour ultimatum to rescind the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry and revert to the old petrol price of ₦86.50 per litre or face a total shutdown of the economy from Wednesday.

More Help Needed To Defeat Boko Haram, Rebuild, Summit Told

(L-R) Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou, French President Francois Hollande, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Chad's President Idriss Deby Itno and Cameroon's President Paul Biya give a press conference in Abuja on May 14, 2016 ©Stephane de Sakutin (Pool/AFP)

Regional and Western powers were on Saturday urged to do more to stop the threat from Boko Haram, as the UN voiced concern about the militants' ties to the Islamic State group and threat to African security.