All primary and secondary schools in the state are now taking a mid-term holiday to celebrate the upcoming Eid-el-Kabir celebrations.
Schools are scheduled to start taking a break on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, and are expected to resume academic work on Sunday, June 15, 2025, according to an official statement from the state’s education ministry.
According to the ministry, the directive applies to both day and boarding schools, with parents and guardians of boarding students being advised to arrive early on June 4 for their children.
The ministry stressed that the decision was in line with the 2024/2025 academic calendar, which remained unchanged despite the festive break, and that all academic and holiday schedules would be strictly adhered to.
READ ALSO: FG Declares June 6, 9, Holidays to Celebrate Eid-Ul-Adha.
The Commissioner of Education, Ali Makoda, urged parents to ensure that students resume after the holiday.
We also urge parents and guardians to make sure their children adhere to the school’s official resume date, according to Makoda.
Standing in the early-evening sunshine at Ashton Gate, as the Bristol fans revelled in a first play-off finish in four years, director of rugby Pat Lam was in defiant mood.
After allowing himself a handful of seconds to dwell on the 52-26 win over Harlequins that secured the Bears’ play-off place, Lam’s attentions swiftly turned to Friday night and the semi-final showdown with local rivals Bath at The Rec.
“Bath have only lost four games this year – who have they lost to?” he rhetorically asked BBC Radio 5 Live, knowing full well his side have done the double over the runaway league leaders.
“So we know how to do it, and that’s what we’ll do. We know how to beat them. We have done it in so many different ways – rain, dry weather, home, away.
“When we came back up [into the Premiership in 2018], the supporters made it really clear we don’t lose to Bath, and we have won 11 out of 14 since.
“We know how to do it and it’s about getting it all right on Friday.”
Owner Steve Lansdown’s money has helped to tempt a host of superstars to Ashton Gate since their promotion in 2018, but Lam insists Bristol are no longer among the league’s big spenders, as the club cut its cloth during and after Covid.
“As far as spend goes, we spend eighth [out of the 10 Premiership teams],” Lam explained.
“Ourselves and Bath are the only two teams to be in the top four all season, yet Bath have spent nearly £3m more on their squad than we have.
“It reminds me of Connacht when we won the Pro12. So to get to this stage I am so pleased and proud of the players.
“Bath in six days’ time – I just have to do the gameplan, I don’t have to do any motivation or talking. The local boys – Ellis Genge, Yann Thomas – they will take control.”
Sharks sail close to the wind
In the end, the top four ended the final day of the regular season as it started, with Leicester, Sale and Bristol all doing enough to book their play-off places and join Bath in the semi-finals.
But while Leicester, who beat Newcastle 42-20, and Bristol enjoyed routine home wins, Sale had to dig deep against an Exeter side desperate to rally after a forgettable campaign.
Bath remain the bookies pick for the title, understandably so given their excellence all campaign and the depth of their squad. But Leicester are narrow favourites to join them in the Twickenham showpiece, thanks to the home advantage they will enjoy against the Sharks at an emotionally-charged Welford Road on Saturday.
However, Sale’s George Ford, who continued his supreme personal form, was unperturbed following the tricky 30-26 win at Sandy Park.
“We knew they were much improved the last few weeks, and we were anticipating a game like that,” he told BBC 5 Live.
“It was like a quarter-final for us, and finals rugby is never easy anyway. There are parts of our game we will need to fix up for next week, and we will do that.”
Perfect 10s
Premiership Rugby revealed in the week that fly-halves are again the league’s highest-paid position, with the playmakers earning an average of more than £230,000 a season.
It’s not hard to see why. On show over semi-final weekend will be three of the world’s best: Finn Russell for Bath, Handre Pollard for Leicester and Ford for Sale – who are all in great form – while Bristol’s AJ MacGinty is also a class act and won the man-of-the-match award against Harlequins.
On a recent Rugby Union Weekly podcast we discussed the question: if you could pick any of those fly-halves in your side to win a Premiership final, who would you choose? All three co-hosts picked someone different.
Whichever club ends up winning the Premiership title on 14 June is likely to owe a few more quid to the big earners.
Drama in Durban
Arguably the biggest story of the weekend didn’t take place in Britain or Ireland but in Durban, South Africa, as the Sharks reached the last four of the United Rugby Championship by beating Munster 6-4 in a penalty shootout following a 24-24 draw.
Munster emptied the tank on a daunting away fixture, as they always seem to do when the stakes are high, but were edged out after the Sharks superbly converted all six of their place-kicks.
But the shootout was riddled with controversy as first Jack Crowley exchanged words with Jaden Hendrikse after the latter opened the scoring, before Hendrikse went down with cramp just after nailing his second kick to put the Sharks 4-2 up.
The conveniently-timed injury meant Crowley initially could not take his second shot at goal, despite the Irishman telling referee Mike Adamson he was prepared to kick with the prone Hendrikse a matter of metres away.
Whether Hendrikse was genuinely injured or not was fiercely debated post-match, but his wink towards Crowley – rugby’s most notable since Bloodgate – means he will not get the benefit of the doubt in many quarters.
The Sharks will travel to fellow South African side Bulls in the last four, while Leinster host Glasgow in a repeat of their Champions Cup quarter-final in April, which Leinster won 52-0.
End of an era
The stellar careers of Ben Youngs, Mike Brown and Dan Cole all rumble on for another week at least, but it was goodbye to another great of the English game this weekend as Alex Goode left the stage after his 402nd and final appearance for Saracens.
As discussed last week, rarely in the past has such a high-calibre group of players all retired together, with Danny Care, Anthony Watson and Joe Marler also calling it a day this season.
In Sex and the City, the Carrie necklace was almost as well-known as a pair of Manolo Blahnik heels, so we’re eager to see one of our own now that it’s back on screens.
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Sarah Jessica Parker shared a close up of the iconic Carrie necklace on Instagram(Image: Sarah Jessica Parker/Instagram)
Fashion and relationships were equally important in the Sex and the City universe, particularly for Carrie Bradshaw, the main character. SATC provided some significant fashion moments, from her show-stopping Vivienne Westwood wedding dress in the movies to her wildly impractical pair of Manolo Blahnik or Jimmy Choo heels.
Her Carrie necklace, however, became just as well-known and worn on repeat by Sarah Jessica Parker throughout the entire series and into the upcoming And Just Like That spinoffs. At the conclusion of the SATC TV series, she found herself (and Big) thanks to the nameplate necklace, which was so significant.
Harriet Cowan, the star of Clarkson’s Farm, has this fleece gilet in several colors.
READ MORE: Debenhams reduces the price of a luxury watch from £1800 to £154 ahead of Father’s Day.
The necklace was made a cameo in the second season of And Just Like That, and we’re hoping it makes another appearance in the recently released third series. Never one to let a pivotal fashion moment go away. You’ll undoubtedly want a nameplate necklace of your own, so we narrowed down some of the best options for you to buy if you’re anything like us and have coveted most of Carrie’s wardrobe since the show first aired.
Carrie Name Necklace by Abbott Lyon, £85
Abbott Lyon’s Carrie necklace(Image: Abbott Lyon)
A classic italic script-style writing that resembles Carrie’s exact writing makes for a great choice, including Abbott Lyon’s aptly named Carrie necklace. Additionally, you can choose between three different chain lengths, including 18k gold, silver, and rose gold options. For a layered look, you can personalize it with up to 12 characters and add options like a birthstone pendant or an additional half chain.
PRYA’s Siena Personalised Name Necklace cost £56, and is now costing $42.
PRYA’s Siena necklace(Image: PRYA)
This comes in three chain lengths, with options for either 18k gold plated, 14k rose gold plated, or silver plated. You can also pick your chain style from chunkier Cuban links to dainty classic chains. You can enter your choice’s name, which is case-sensitive, and provides a sneak peak at how each letter appears.
Sterling Silver Name Necklace on the High Street was no longer available. It cost £24.25, and is now costing £33.60.
Not on the High Street’s name necklace(Image: Not on the High Street)
This Potiega name necklace from Not on the High Street gives you plenty of creative freedom if you want to change up the font style. There are options for choosing between sterling silver, 18k gold, and rose gold plated finishes, and you can choose from six different fonts, including scripts and old English. Additionally, there are various chain lengths, and customization options allow you to use up to 10 characters.
£85 Posh Totty Personalized Name Necklace
Posh Totty’s name necklace(Image: Posh Totty)
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Posh Totty’s personalised name necklace is a fantastic option for a slightly softer, chunkier appearance. The font can be fully personalized with up to 10 characters, and it has a thicker, more rounded appearance than the other versions. Sterling silver, 18kt gold, or rose gold plated, are options, as are the other options, but each of the latter will cost more than £10.
A pro-Israel rally was staged by a man in Colorado using a makeshift flamethrower during a video. It is being viewed by the FBI as a terrorism attack. During the assault, the suspect, Mohamed Soliman, allegedly yelled “Free Palestine.”
The law firm bringing the lawsuit claims that more than 520 additional former rugby players have signed on to file a concussion lawsuit against the sport’s authorities.
According to Rylands Garth, there are currently 319 former rugby league players, compared to 784 who were from rugby union.
Former England players Gavin Henson, Colin Charvis, Ryan Jones, England and the British and Lions scrum-half Harry Ellis are among the players who are suing World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union, and the Welsh Rugby Union for damages.
Former British and Irish Lions duo Lee Byrne and Phil Greening were confirmed to be parties to the concussion lawsuit in November.
The former players assert that the governing bodies lacked responsibility for taking appropriate steps to protect them from serious brain injuries.
The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) and the Rugby Football League (RFL) are both facing similar legal proceedings.
According to medical examinations conducted for the company, two-thirds of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit against rugby league authorities displayed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Roy Heaney, who played for Wigan and Salford in the 1980s and was diagnosed with early-onset dementia and probable CTE, is one of the claimants in the rugby league case.
He claimed that his rugby league career was insufficient because he frequently had concussions and that the care he received while training and playing games was insufficient.
Before the case might go to trial in the following year, new players had one more chance to join the legal proceedings on Friday, May 30.
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One of the clubs he played for said that a former rugby league player who died and has led to a murder investigation was “a well-known face throughout the community game.”
According to Greater Manchester Police (GMP), the body of 50-year-old Mick Martindale was discovered at a property in Eldon Street, Oldham, on Saturday at around 19:50 BST.
Oldham Rugby League Football Club said he wore the Roughyeds’ shirt “with pride” in a tribute posted on social media in late 1990s.
Mick Martindale’s Facebook page
According to GMP, Mr. Martindale’s cause of death has not yet been determined.
Specialist officers are assisting his family, according to a force spokesperson.
The Roughyeds claimed that their former player, who also coached at Oldham St. Annes, was well-known.
When the club underwent a change, Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust claimed that Mr. Martindale was a member of the Roughyeds squad.
“Larger than life,”
The trust claimed that Mr. Martindale made his professional debut at Halifax Panthers as a teenager before moving to Oldham in time for their second competitive game of the 1998 campaign against Widnes Vikings. He then spent some time at Wakefield.
Before moving to Rochdale, Mr. Martindale scored seven tries in 26 games for Oldham that year, including in the Trans-Pennine Cup final against Batley.
He later won the National Cup for Oldham St Annes, and he has remained well-known and well-known in the amateur game, the trust continued.
A larger-than-life character vanished far too quickly, according to the author.
