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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaUS media organisations push Biden and Trump for TV debate pledgePublished45 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsUS election 2024Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Donald Trump and Joe Biden last debated each other during the 2020 presidential election.By Vicky WongBBC NewsA dozen US news outlets have called on the presumptive US presidential nominees to commit to taking part in TV debates ahead of November’s election.The statement did not name Joe Biden or Donald Trump, but said it was never too early for candidates to publicly declare they will take part.The letter warned the stakes of this year’s poll were “exceptionally high.”Mr Trump, who skipped all four Republican primary debates, has said he is keen to debate President Biden.The statement – published on Sunday – was signed by the BBC’s US partner, CBS News, as well as ABC, AP CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, NBCUniversal News Group, NewsNation, NPR, PBS NewsHour, Univision and USA Today.It said that televised debates have “a rich tradition” in US democracy, dating back to 1976, and that tens of millions of people tune in to watch.Where Biden v Trump will be won and lostBiden draws election battle lines in fiery speechIs it time for America’s elder statesmen to retire?”If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the statement said, adding that there was “simply no substitute for the candidates debating with each other, and before the American people, their visions for the future of our nation.”Mr Biden and Mr Trump have won enough delegates to secure their nominations at party conventions. There were no Democratic debates in this presidential election cycle, while Mr Trump secured his nomination despite skipping all the Republican presidential debates.Mr Trump, 77, has repeatedly claimed Mr Biden, 81, is too old and forgetful to debate him. Mr Biden has made similar allegations about Mr Trump. Last month, Mr Trump said he would take part in a TV forum with the Democratic president “anytime, anywhere, anyplace”.But the White House has expressed reluctance to commit to a contest amid concerns that the Commission on Presidential Debates – which administers the debates – would be unable to guarantee a “fair” bout. According to an Associated Press report last month, when asked by reporters if he would commit to a debate with Mr Trump, Mr Biden said: “It depends on his behaviour.”The televised debates are set to take place in September and October. But in a latter on Thursday, Mr Tump’s campaign called for “much earlier” and “more” presidential debates than initially proposed. “Voting is beginning earlier and earlier, and as we saw in 2020, tens of millions of Americans had already voted by the time of the first debate,” campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in the letter. In 2020, Mr Biden and Mr Trump took part in two ill-tempered presidential debates. Mr Trump’s repeated interruptions – which at one point prompted Mr Biden to exclaim “will you shut up, man” – saw NPR call the bout “maybe the worst presidential debate in American history”. Related TopicsUS election 2024Donald TrumpUnited StatesJoe BidenMore on this storyIt’s official – Biden and Trump set for rematchPublished13 MarchA simple guide to the US 2024 electionPublished13 MarchHow does US electoral college choose presidents?Published30 JanuaryTop StoriesLive. 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[ad_1] A dozen top US outlets urged candidates to take part in debates, citing “exceptionally high” stakes.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityBusinessMarket DataEconomyYour MoneyCompaniesTechnology of BusinessCEO SecretsArtificial IntelligenceIndia’s army of gold refiners face new competitionPublished1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, World Gold CouncilImage caption, India has thousands of workshops which melt down goldBy Priti GuptaMumbaiRefining gold has a long history in the family of Satish Pratap Salunke.Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he and his business collect scrap gold from jewellers, melt it down and sell it back to the jewellers in the form of gold bars.He has two refineries, one in Kochi in the southern state of Kerala and the other in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu. Relatives have refineries elsewhere in the south of India.”Every day my refiners on an average melt two to three kilograms of gold,” he says.Almost every town in India will have at least one small refinery similar to those run by Mr Salunke. It is known as the “unorganised” refining sector, which distinguishes it from big refiners who make gold bars and coins from imported, unrefined gold.It is estimated that, in total, Indian households hold a massive 25,000 tonnes of gold, and some of that is always available for sale, particularly when the price of gold is high or the economy is bad and people want to raise some cash.Jewellers may process returned gold themselves but will often use small refiners who will make the gold back into bars.Image source, Satish SalunkeImage caption, Satish Salunke says jewellers like to work with small refiners as they work fastMr Salunke says local jewellers like to deal with small refiners like his, because they work quickly and are happy to accept cash. “Most jewellers prefer buying gold from us, as we are based in every city with small units. A jeweller can take back his refined gold in a few hours, not like big refiners who will take days to refine the recycled gold.”According to the World Gold Council, of the 900 tonnes of gold refined in India in 2023, 117 came from recycled sources.But that recycling market is being eyed up by India’s big industrial gold refiners. They have expanded in recent years, spurred on by favourable import duties on their main source of gold – imported, unrefined gold known as gold doré.Between 2013 and 2021, India’s large-scale refiners increased their capacity from 300 to 1,800 tonnes of gold a year.But it is difficult for them to import enough unrefined gold to keep their refineries running. In fact, less than 50% of their refining capacity is used, according to Harshad Ajmera, secretary of the Association of Gold Refiners and Mints.So big refiners have been opening scrap collection centres in big cities, hoping to scoop up unwanted gold and turn it into high-quality bars.”At present most of the recycling of gold is done by the unorganised sector [small refiners] – that has to change,” says Mr Ajmera.More technology of businessCould AI take the grind out of accountancy?‘I want to help people fly – and keep them safe’How Temu is shaking-up the world of online shoppingCan Stockholm keep its edge in the music industry?Could product passports revolutionise the way we shop?He wants India to become a global hub for gold refining, which would mean importing more unrefined gold and for the big firms to take over more of the gold recycling.”Switzerland is the world’s largest gold refining centre and transit hub. We want India also to be in the same position,” says Mr Ajmera.CGR Metalloys is one of India’s leading gold refiners, refining about 150 tonnes of gold a year.Like the other big players, it has the latest equipment for gold smelting and refining, which it says is better for the environment and can guarantee the purity of its gold to extremely high levels. “The refined bullion is analysed to the highest levels of accuracy, on various methods of gold assaying,” says James Jose, managing director at CGR.It has opened three gold recycling centres in the state of Kerala.”Indian refineries have a huge capacity… we have huge overheads. So setting up collection centres will increase the flow of scrap gold. This will help increase my output by 30% to 40%,” says Mr Jose.In recent years, the government has become more involved in the refining industry. In 2020 the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) introduced a range of standards for gold bars including purity, weight, markings and dimensions.BIS-approved refiners can sell their bars to the commodity markets.”The industry is gradually shifting towards greater organisation and efficiency, led by established refineries licensed by the Bureau of Indian Standards, which is setting trusted benchmarks for refined gold products, which will make India a global hub,” says Somasundaram PR, the chief executive of the World Gold Council India.Some figures suggest that smaller refiners are losing ground. According to consultancy Metals Focus, in 2015 between 70 and 75% of the recycling industry was unorganised; by 2021 this had declined to between 60 and 65%.Image source, World Gold CouncilImage caption, Small refiners are facing more competition from big playersThe moves made by big recycling firms do not concern Mr Salunke much – he says he knows his customers.”Local jewellers are not willing to pay a recycling cost which is too much beyond what we charge,” he says.And, like other smaller refiners, Mr Salunke has also been investing in modern refining technology.They are moving away from using nitric acid to purify gold, instead switching to Aqua Regia, which is less polluting. “The gold recycled by us is as pure as gold recycled by an organised refinery,” says Mr Salunke. “Now we have a testing facility to check the purity, so it would be wrong to say we cannot refine gold into its purest form.”Related TopicsRecyclingIndiaTechnology of BusinessGoldTop StoriesJeffrey Donaldson: From the White House to Antrim police stationPublished5 hours agoMan arrested as hostage situation in Dutch bar endsPublished1 hour agoStabbed Iranian TV host’s station ‘faced threats’Published3 hours agoFeaturesWhy are electric car fires so hard to deal with?Seven bills going up and one going down in April’I drove 14 hours to see a Banksy for 10 minutes’AI photos show people with cancer their lost futureEwan McGregor ‘turned into his grandad’ in new roleThe Papers: DUP leader charged and ‘hefty’ water bill riseThe football pitch that doubles as an execution groundCanada’s drug experiment hits strong oppositionA view from inside ship that hit Baltimore bridge. 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaAnti-abortion activists plan backdoor strategy to US banPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsUS abortion debateImage source, Getty ImagesBy Holly Honderichin WashingtonUS anti-abortion activists, including allies of Donald Trump, have a strategy to ban abortion nationwide – one that bypasses Congress and the American people. It’s a plan that hinges on Mr Trump’s re-election in November and the use of a little-known 19th Century law.At this year’s annual “Pro-Life Summit” on 20 January, guests listened to a keynote speech from Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the country’s most influential anti-abortion groups. Ms Dannenfelser is widely credited with convincing Donald Trump to appoint three anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court during his presidential term. In June 2022, those appointees helped overturn Roe v Wade, rescinding the nationwide right to abortion. It was a generational victory for the anti-abortion movement. The runway had opened, activists said at the time, to an abortion-free future. But in the nearly two years since, their campaign has stalled in crucial ways. The American public has shown consistent support for abortion access, even in conservative states. And the movement’s ultimate goal – a federal abortion ban – has remained out of reach, a near-impossibility in a divided Congress that can unite behind few legislative priorities. The political reality has not escaped anti-abortion campaigners. Addressing her audience in the grand ballroom of a Washington DC hotel a rapt crowd of the movement’s most devoted followers – Ms Dannenfelser spent nearly half of her speech urging the audience not to lose hope. “It hasn’t been missed on any of us, right? That it has been hard,” she said. “We all know.”But anti-abortion activists may have a trump card. Conservative leaders, including allies of Mr Trump, have mapped out a new path to outlaw abortion. The plan could work, experts say, if the former president returns to the White House.”There could be a de facto nationwide ban that Trump could try to enforce on day one if he wins,” said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, and a leading expert on the US abortion debate. “It’s the Comstock Act.” Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Anti-abortion activists have struggled to advance their cause in the nearly two years since Roe was overturnedA 150-year-old lawThe Comstock Act, championed by anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock and passed in 1873, made it a federal crime to send or receive any material deemed “obscene, lewd or lascivious”. The statute makes specific mention of birth control and abortion, barring any materials designed or intended for “the prevention of conception or procuring of abortion”.Over the next century, various court rulings clarified the law’s meaning, gradually narrowing its scope. In 1971, Congress removed most of Comstock’s restrictions on contraceptives and two years later, through Roe, the Supreme Court established a constitutional right to abortion. By then, the act was seen as a largely unenforceable relic, and remained dormant for 50 years. But now, within right-wing circles, the Comstock Act is being revived. Without Roe in place to guarantee access to abortion, the logic is straightforward. According to a broad reading of the law, the mailing of any materials related to abortion – through the United States Postal Service and through private carriers like UPS and FedEx – would be illegal. By preventing any of the medications or tools necessary for the procedure from reaching hospitals and clinics, Comstock would act as an effective block on abortions, getting around the need for Congress to pass any new legislation.”It is sweepingly broad language,” said Rachel Rebouché, dean and law professor at Temple University Law school, and a leading scholar in reproductive health law. “If it was applied literally, it [Comstock] could be a ban on an abortion in an indirect way, because everything gets mailed to outfit abortion clinics.”The conservative strategyAnti-abortion activists and leading conservative groups have started preparing for this approach, crafting legal arguments and political strategies that reinterpret Comstock as an enforceable abortion ban.Josh Craddock, a lawyer and scholar with the conservative James Wilson Institute, has written extensively against the legality of abortion. He said fellow anti-abortion activists had coalesced around Comstock, describing it as “one of the most promising ways to help advance the cause of life in America right now”.”It doesn’t depend on Congress to act, or the Supreme Court to rule, there’s already federal law that protects unborn life,” he said. “That’s very black and white.” Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Abortion has continued to divide the American electorate, though the majority supports access to the procedureComstock will be raised before the Supreme Court this week as part of arguments from a group of anti-abortion activists and doctors who want federal approval of the abortion drug mifepristone to be withdrawn. And it has been invoked specifically in the conservative Heritage Foundation’s playbook for the next Republican administration, dubbed Project 2025. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, there is no longer any block on enforcing this statute, the Foundation said of Comstock. “The Department of Justice in the next conservative Administration should therefore announce its intent to enforce federal law against providers and distributors of such pills,” it concluded, referring to abortion pills.Project 2025’s abortion section was crafted by former Trump administration official Roger Severino, who declined the BBC’s request for comment through a representative. And the project as a whole includes most major anti-abortion groups on its advisory board, including Ms Dannenfelser’s SBA Pro-Life America and Students for Life, run by Kristan Hawkins. Can it work?Anti-abortion activists are excited by the legal theory behind the Comstock strategy. Implementing it in practice will depend on a federal government being willing to enforce the law after decades on the shelf.But experts insist this is feasible, even likely, with Mr Trump in the White House. “All it takes is an administrative decision from the Department of Justice that they are going to go after people for violating Comstock,” said David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University and an expert on abortion law. “The friction involved is very low, other than winning an election.”Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Anti-abortion activists say they expect Mr Trump to deliver once again on their agendaIf Comstock was enforced in this way, it would almost certainly lead to a rush of legal challenges and possibly end up in front of the Supreme Court. The effect of a federal ban would be both expansive and deeply unpopular. About 69% of voters think that abortion should be legal throughout the first three months of pregnancy – the period when most abortions occur – according to a recent Gallup poll. A political liabilityThat’s why, some critics say, anti-abortion activists have tried to keep their Comstock strategy quiet. “They [Republicans] know this is unpopular,” said Ryan Stitzlein, vice-president of government relations at the pro-choice group Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly called NARAL. “So they have to find ways to obfuscate or hide the ball.” In New Mexico, where Comstock has been invoked in efforts to create abortion-free “sanctuary cities”, activists have referred mostly to its statute number – 18 USC 1461 and 1462.It’s the same with Project 2025. Though the law is quoted directly, the word “Comstock” doesn’t appear a single time in the 920-page document. Only the statute numbers are cited. Jonathan Mitchell, an anti-abortion lawyer who has championed the Comstock strategy, told the New York Times last month he thought anti-abortion groups “should keep their mouths shut as much as possible until the election”.And Mr Mitchell, who has represented Mr Trump in the past, reportedly said he hoped the former president didn’t know about Comstock either “because I just don’t want him to shoot off his mouth”. Mr Mitchell did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment. All eyes on the White HouseIf Mr Trump does return to the White House next year, his support for Comstock will be necessary for any major enforcement of the law. He has made no public mention so far of the statute, and his views on abortion more broadly remain fuzzy. Mr Trump once declared himself “the most pro-life president ever”. More recently, apparently frustrated by Republican election losses linked to abortion bans, he has become publicly critical of tight restrictions, calling on “both sides” to compromise on legislation. “It could be state, or it could be federal,” Mr Trump said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press in September. “I don’t, frankly, care.” Then, last week, Mr Trump suggested he would support a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.”The number of weeks, now, people are agreeing on 15, and I’m thinking in terms of that,” he said on the “Sid & Friends in the Morning” radio show on WABC.Experts told the BBC that if re-elected, Mr Trump would likely approach abortion policy the same way he did in his first term: by deferring to activists in his orbit. “The business model in the past has been that Trump doesn’t particularly care, but that he assigns responsibility to people who do, who are very conservative,” said the University of California’s Mary Ziegler. And those who are promoting Comstock now are not fringe characters, she said, but former Trump administration officials and other allies of the former president. In the Heritage Foundation’s own telling, the first Trump administration “relied heavily” on its policy agenda in 2017, “embracing nearly two-thirds of Heritage’s proposals within just one year in office”.”It doesn’t mean that Trump is going to go for it. But it does mean that the people who are saying he will have credibility,” Ms Ziegler said. “These are very much Trump-world insiders who have his ear.” Related TopicsAbortionUS abortion debateUnited StatesMore on this storyAnti-abortion movement stalls as election year loomsPublished19 JanuaryFour ways the end of Roe v Wade has changed AmericaPublished24 June 2023US Supreme Court to consider abortion pill casePublished13 December 2023Top StoriesUN Security Council passes Gaza ceasefire resolutionPublished5 hours agoBowen: Biden has decided strong words are not enoughPublished2 hours agoUK hits out at Chinese-backed cyber-attacksPublished48 minutes agoFeaturesThe Papers: MPs say China is a ‘threat’ and the ‘Kate effect’ At Gate 96 – the new crossing into Gaza where aid struggles to get inWhat can the UK do about China cyber-attacks? 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaNigeria’s kidnap crisis: Inside story of a ransom negotiatorPublished10 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersBy Priya SippyBBC NewsA hostage negotiator has told the BBC that paying ransoms may be illegal, yet it is the only way families can guarantee the release of relatives kidnapped by the gangs terrorising swathes of northern Nigeria.Sulaiman, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, is from Kaduna state, where 280 children were recently abducted from a school in the town of Kuriga.He has been working informally in this controversial and risky role for several years – since some of his relatives were taken hostage.”We have to negotiate. You cannot use force to get hostages back. It would put the lives of our loved ones in danger,” he tells the BBC. Sulaiman first became involved in negotiations with kidnappers, referred to locally as bandits, in 2021 – a year before the payment of ransoms became illegal in Nigeria.Over the last three years he says he has negotiated the release of more than 200 hostages – a small fraction of the thousands of people abducted over the last decade.The negotiations take patience – and courage.”The government believes I have been helping the bandits,” he says, speaking from an undisclosed location.”The bandits think I have been getting money from the government, so I am also a kidnap target.” His first negotiation took place as he was trying to raise a ransom of around $12,500 (£9,800) for two of his relatives who had been abducted.”I did not know what I was doing. I was just speaking with the bandits – and begging them,” he says.However his patient approach with the gang members worked and in the end his relatives were freed – though he had to sell his farm in his home village to cover the ransom.Image source, AFPImage caption, This student, kidnapped in July 2021, was released before the payment of ransoms became illegalWhen word spread about the successful release, other families who were victims of kidnapping came to him for support. Soon his phone was constantly busy. “Almost everyone in my village has had a family member kidnapped,” he says, adding that he helps them out free of charge.And despite the outlawing of ransom payments, people still come to him – desperate for help.Sulaiman admits that it is a scary position for him to be in: “The government does not like negotiation with the bandits, and can send people to jail for doing that.”He puts his success down to his appreciation of the root causes of Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis, which he says is fuelled mainly by poverty and high levels of youth unemployment. Competition for land and resources between cattle herders and farmers has also contributed to the problem. The kidnappers tend to be former herders from the Fulani ethnic group, who target villages where mainly Hausa farmers reside.”When I speak to the bandits, I understand those people,” he says, adding that the negotiations tend to take place in Hausa, the lingua franca of the mainly Muslim north – though most kidnappers’ mother tongue is Fulfulde, spoken by the Fulani people.”I tell them that I know that they are living a difficult life in the bush, without electricity. I know that they feel they have been forgotten by the government.” Image source, AFPImage caption, Growing up in rural Nigeria has given the ransom negotiator an understanding of the issues fuelling the kidnappingThe gangs are often made up of gunmen on motorbikes who target areas and particular families on the word of paid informants. It is a huge, sophisticated money-making operation.Around 30,000 bandits in more than 100 gangs operate in north-western Nigeria, according to the Centre for Democracy and Development – a think-tank based in the capital, Abuja.Sulaiman says the success of his negotiations depends on the leader of the kidnappers: “Some bandits I have dealt with still keep hostages and want more money, even after you have paid the ransom.”But some of them release the hostages as soon as you pay.” The process can be arduous, taking up to 50 days to release a hostage and anywhere between 20 and 30 phone calls. “You have to use soft language. They can be rude and they will insult you but you have to remain calm,” he says. Despite a shortage of bank notes in Nigeria, the kidnappers demand that ransoms are paid in cash as bank transfers can be easily traced. Payments are usually delivered by a parent or a relative of one of the abductees, Sulaiman explains.”The bandit will call them and give them step-by-step directions on how to find them in the bush. Once they reach there, the bandit will count the money, note by note.” Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Sulaiman feels dialogue would work better than a heavy-handed approach to solve the crisisSometimes the bandits request motorcycles as part of the ransom payment, as well as alcohol and cigarettes. When another close contact of Sulaiman’s was kidnapped from a university along with other students – before ransom payments became illegal – he says the government paid around $2,370 for each student’s freedom – though there has never been any official confirmation of this. “The government will never admit on the record they paid [even then] because for them that would be admitting failure. But as insiders we know what happened and we didn’t have that kind of money,” he says.Sulaiman became involved in those negotiations and says the kidnappers had first demanded around $32,000 for each hostage and were eventually bargained down.These days with villagers left to foot the bill, few people can afford to raise the cash for ransoms. They often turn to crowd-funding for the money, though this is now also proving difficult given how the insecurity has devastated the economy.Bandits have been known to either kill hostages or release them when there is no hope of payment. Sulaiman thinks the spate of recent mass abductions from schools, and the threat to kill the students, may be a ploy to get the authorities to take notice: “They think the government will pay.”There are reports that the authorities have continued to pay ransoms on occasion – though this is always denied.And President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been at pains to say “not a dime” will be paid for the recently abducted children of Kuriga, directing the security forces to ensure their release. Between July 2022 and June 2023, armed gangs demanded more than $6m in ransom payments, according to a report by SBM Intelligence, a security risk consulting firm. The ransom negotiator agrees with the authorities that continuing to pay up will just fuel the kidnapping business: “Ransom payments do encourage kidnapping. The bandits are just looking for money.”But he is certain that the heavy-handed approach of military force is not the answer: “If I can advise the government, they should meet these people and have dialogue with them.” Until then, Sulaiman fears the next time his phone rings, it will be another abduction case. Determined to keep helping his community, he is sure to answer the call.More on Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis:Schoolboy recounts daring escapeWhy mass abductions have returned to haunt NigeriaThe motorcycle bandits terrorising northern Nigeria’How I survived my train hijacking’Kidnapping and debt: A Nigerian legacyRelated TopicsNigeriaAround the BBCFocus on Africa podcastsTop StoriesThis will be year economy bounces back, Sunak says, after inflation fallsPublished7 hours agoBank of England expected to hold interest ratesPublished25 minutes agoFresh string of defeats in the Lords over government’s Rwanda billPublished4 hours agoFeaturesThe Papers: Rwanda defeat in Lords and ‘rate cut hope’Famine looms in Sudan as civil war survivors tell of killings and rapesWill the UK economy ‘bounce back’ this year? 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaTrump unable to get $464m bond in New York fraud case, his lawyers sayPublished58 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Mr Trump’s lawyers say they have approached dozens of bond companies but cannot secure oneBy Madeline HalpertBBC News, New YorkDonald Trump cannot find a private company to guarantee the $464m (£365m) he has been ordered to pay in a New York civil fraud case.The former president must either pay the full amount in cash or secure a bond in order to continue his appeal. Mr Trump’s lawyers said on Monday that securing a bond of that size was a “practical impossibility”.For a fee, a bonding company would guarantee the full amount to the New York court.They would then have to pay it if Mr Trump loses his appeal and cannot do so himself. Mr Trump’s team spent “countless hours negotiating with one of the largest insurance companies in the world”, the lawyers wrote in a court filing, but concluded that “very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude”.The lawyers said they had approached 30 companies without success.Mr Trump’s two eldest sons also must pay millions of dollars in the case.Along with ordering Mr Trump to pay the penalty, New York Judge Arthur Engoron banned him from running any businesses in the state for three years after he found the former president falsely inflated assets to secure better loan deals. A judge paused Mr Trump’s business ban last month, but denied his bid to provide a smaller bond amount, $100m, to cover the fine. In the latest filing, the former president’s lawyers included an affidavit from a president of a private insurance firm, who said that “simply put, a bond of this size is rarely, if ever, seen”.”In the unusual circumstance that a bond of this size is issued, it is provided to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses,” the lawyers also said.Mr Trump’s unprecedented legal situation makes it difficult to predict next steps, said former federal prosecutor Diana Florence, who also said that penalties on this scale are usually levied against large companies.His legal team has been playing a delay game as he appeals the verdict, she said, but now “he might be out of rope”. New York’s attorney general has vowed to seize his assets if he does not pay the fraud judgement. There is also interest on the penalty hanging over his head, which is accruing by at least $112,000 per day until he pays. Trump’s lawyers said bond companies would not accept “hard assets such as real estate as collateral” for the bond, but only cash or “cash equivalents”, such as investments that can be quickly liquidated. “He’s facing the very real possibility that the AG will begin to liquidate [his assets], and he’s really dependent on whether a court is willing to give him more time,” Ms Florence said. According to a Forbes estimate, Mr Trump is worth about $2.6bn. He also testified last year that he had $400m in liquid assets.But the $464m judgement is not his only expense. He was ordered to pay $83m in January after losing a defamation case to E Jean Carroll, a woman he was found to have sexually abused. He has already posted a bond in that case. 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