A video showing a kidnapped Briton and an Italian being held by armed men apparently from an al-Qaida group, is being investigated by the UK Foreign Office.

Authorities in northwestern Nigeria said today they needed international assistance to help them cope with a locust invasion threatening to devastate crops and cause food shortages.

ONE of the worst locust infestations to hit West Africa in 15 years has reached northern Nigeria, where authorities are battling the swarms with insecticide sprayed from crop-dusting airplanes.