--- title: "While you were sleeping: 22 February 2018" description: "Hundreds of girls missing in Boko Haram attack, Trump suggests arming of teachers, and Brexit timeline stretch proposed." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "South Africa" author: "John Stupart" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/johnstupart/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-02-22-while-you-were-sleeping-22-february-2018/" published: "2018-02-22T05:34:39" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 699 --- # While you were sleeping: 22 February 2018 > Hundreds of girls missing in Boko Haram attack, Trump suggests arming of teachers, and Brexit timeline stretch proposed. By John Stupart · Published 22 February 2018, 07:34 SAST ## Content **Thursday, 22 February 2018** *"God does not play dice."* **Albert Einstein** ![Image](https://i2.createsend1.com/ei/d/41/A93/870/csimport/849x493q70Jess-GuptaOptimum1.050543.jpg) STORY OF THE DAY [Gupta Inc: It’s now a hand-to-mouth situation at Optimum Coal Mine](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ojkulht-l-p/) By JESSICA BEZUIDENHOUT for SCORPIO Dial one of Ajay Gupta’s numbers and all you get, for days on end, is: “You have reached the mailbox of...” This seems to be a conundrum not only facing the Hawks who are looking for the fugitive but apparently one also faced by Optimum Coal Mine boss George van der Merwe, who urgently needs to raise a Gupta, any one of them, so he can sort out a crisis at the mine. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING [Girls missing after Boko Haram attack](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ojkulht-l-x/) Just days after an unsuccessful attack on a school for women in north-east Nigeria, Boko Haram hit again. This time, over 100 female students were missing after Wednesday's attack, with fears of the terrorist group having re-created its Chibok kidnapping scandal in 2014. [Trump suggests arming teachers](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ojkulht-l-m/) Hot on the heels of actually getting something right, Donald Trump was quick to restore his karmic balance by suggesting that armed teachers could have fought off the Florida attacker. President Trump, heavily-backed by the National Rifle Association during his campaign, earlier suggested significant gun control reform. Then, when meeting survivors of the Florida attack, Trump appeared to pour gasoline on the fire. **Do you want to visit Design Indaba's Nightscape tonight? First Thing readers are the first up in the morning, and thus are deserving of a chance at free tickets. [Click](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ojkulht-l-c/)**[**Here**](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ojkulht-l-q/)**to****enter.** [Prolonger Brexit suggested](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ojkulht-l-a/) Britain's government has challenged the EU's proposal to wrap up the Brexit process by 2020. Officials stated on Wednesday that the Brexit process should take as long as the process takes, rather than fixing a permanent date. With the British Brexit negotiation generally confounding their EU counterparts, an indefinite, drawn-out process is likely to be met with derision and continental nose-sniffing. [US presidents lead Graham tributes](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ojkulht-l-f/) American presidents ranging from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump issued a torrent of tributes to "America's Pastor" Jimmy Graham. Graham died on Wednesday at the age of 99 years. Former president Barack Obama referred to Graham as "broad-minded, forgiving, and humble" while George W Bush counted him a "personal friend" after helping him quit drinking in 1958. — IN NUMBERS 22nd The ranking of a chimpanzee in terms of earnings on Wall Street. The chimp threw darts at a board with 133 companies on them. FACTS OF THE DAY Today is **Celebrity Day in the Church of Scientology.**Tom Cruise will be elated to know**Lord Xenu** shines upon his radiant self. It is**illegal to be reincarnated** in China without permission. 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