Plus: The dilapidated Aston Martin worth £1m ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. Ukrainian soldiers and civilians in Donbas have spoken to defence correspondent Jonathan Beale about the efforts to end the war with Russia. In the latest episode of From Our Own Correspondent, Mayeni Jones shares what it's like to cover schoolchildren's abductions in Nigeria. And finally, watch an Aston Martin made famous by James Bond get a makeover. | |
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | Escaping Ukraine's war-ravaged Donbas |
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| | Refugees fleeing the Donbas take advantage of the fog, as visibility is reduced for enemy drones. Credit: BBC/Matthew Goddard | Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding talks with US representatives in Moscow on a draft peace proposal to end the war in Ukraine. Follow live updates here. Earlier in the day, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said "now more than ever, there is a chance to end this war." Nearly four years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces control about 85% of the eastern region of Donbas. While feeling "tired mentally and physically", frontline soldiers find the idea of ceding territory to Russia unacceptable, Jonathan Beale hears. But some civilians he spoke to said they are willing to sacrifice their homes in return for peace. |
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| Reckoning with the kidnapping crisis | | Remote boarding schools, like this one in Papiri, are seen as soft targets by groups seeking a large ransom. | Armed gangs across northern Nigeria have resorted to kidnapping for ransom as a source of income. In response to the most recent spate of abductions, President Bola Tinubu has ordered the recruitment of an additional 50,000 police officers and said more personnel would be sent to vulnerable areas to avert further kidnappings. |
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| | Mayeni Jones, Africa correspondent |
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| | The first story I covered as a new foreign correspondent was a mass kidnapping, in February 2019. During my time in Nigeria I covered five more mass kidnappings of children, the last one in March 2024. Shortly after that trip I was diagnosed with PTSD. The voices and tearful faces of the mothers I interviewed over the years came flooding back. The pictures of the children they might never see again haunted me.
These mass kidnappings may seem like awful headlines to the majority of the world. But in northern Nigeria they are tearing families apart, changing lives forever and depriving millions of children of an education, as authorities close schools because of security concerns. |
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| | | | - Security challenges: Several armed groups operate across the vast country - here is a breakdown.
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