BATTLE FOR FRANCE

French voters go to the polls Sunday after a presidential election campaign that was noteable for its volatility and overshadowed in its final days by a terror attack on police in Paris.While there are 11 names on the ballot, only four leading contenders are seen as having a realistic prospect of making it through to the second round of voting.They are far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, scandal-hit conservative François Fillon, centrist newcomer Emmanuel Macron and far-left wildcard Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

The top two in Sunday's vote will face off on May 7 for the second and final round of voting.

Latest polls suggest the results are too close to call, meaning France could end up with a choice between candidates from the far-left and far-right, or a far-right stalwart facing off against a political novice. With such a fractured field, no one is expected to win a majority in Sunday's first round.

Benoit Hamon is the mainstream left-wing Socialist Party nominee but polls suggest he has struggled to gain traction. Fellow socialist President François Hollande is so unpopular he decided not to stand for a second term.

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16-year-old pupil impregnated by vice principal gives birth

A 16-year-old pupil of the Government Secondary School, Tunga, Niger State, Faith Galadima, who was impregnated by the school’s vice principal, Mohammed Mohammed, has given birth to a baby boy. The teenager was delivered of the baby at Injita village, Munya Local Government Area of Niger State. The VP had allegedly slept with the pupil sometime in March this year, putting her in the family way. Mohammed was arraigned in court on April 4, 2017 and is standing trial on two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child, and impregnating a female pupil. The accused was remanded in the prison custody for three months after he pleaded not guilty to the charges. The presiding magistrate, Fatima Auna, had granted the VP bail in the sum of N1m, which she said was in line with sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 constitution, and sections 341 and 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The victim, who narrated her ordeal to journalists on Tuesday, said that she gave birth to the bab

2018: Buhari bans recruitment by MDAs, presents N8.612tn budget

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday banned fresh recruitment by all Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, except by presidential approval. He said this was to manage a rising personnel expenditure that was expected to increase to 12 per cent in 2018. He disclosed that overhead cost would also rise by N26bn in 2018 or 12 per cent increase. Buhari spoke when he presented the estimates of the 2018 budget to a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives in Abuja. The President laid a budget size of N8.612tn before the legislature for 2018, an increase of N1.7tn from the N7.44tn appropriated in 2017. Buhari, who wore sky-blue Hausa native attire and a matching cap, addressed lawmakers for 1hour and13minutes amid applause and intermittent murmurs by senators and members of the House. The President said he had released up to N450bn out of the N2.2tn budgeted for 2017 capital projects as of the end of October. He promised to raise the im

Herdsmen demand head, body parts of slain colleague

Fulani herdsmen under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria on Tuesday demanded the head and other body parts of one of their colleagues who was killed during a clash with farmers in Ugala, Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State. The slain herdsman, identified simply as Buba, was said to have been beheaded, during a fight between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in the community on Sunday. Several other persons sustained injuries in the fracas. The Vice Chairman of the MACBAN, Alhaji Abdurrahman Abdul, who led a delegation of herdsmen on a visit to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone Six, Calabar, Mr. Abubakar Marafa, said three other members of the association had been declared missing since the incident happened. He told Southern City News that Buba was on his way to rescue one of his shepherds who was allegedly attacked by farmers when the incident occurred, adding that the Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayad

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