FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, STATES WARN FLOOD-PRONE COMMUNITIES TO EVACUATE TO PREVENT DEATHS.

The release of huge volumes of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon has made states along the path of River Benue in Nigeria brace up for possible flood disasters in their various domains.

To prevent deaths and other disasters associated with floods, states that are likely to be affected have asked residents of the flood-prone areas to vacate such communities.

According to the National Emergency Management Agency officials, no fewer than 11 states including Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Anambra, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Cross River are likely to feel the negative impacts of the opening of the dam.

The states advised such residents to leave the areas to avoid impacts on human lives and valuable assets.

Lagdo Dam, located 50 kilometers south of the city of Garoua on the Benue River, often releases huge volumes of water when overflowing and this leads to flooding in various states downstream of Nigeria

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PROTESTS ERUPT IN LIBYA OVER CONTRACT WITH ISRAEL.

Libya’s Prime Minister has suspended his foreign minister after she met informally with her Israeli counterpart.

Libya does not recognise Israel, as Tripoli backs the Palestinian cause, and the meeting has sparked protests.

Israel’s Eli Cohen described the meeting with Najla al-Mangoush as a historic first step in establishing relations.

Israel is trying to build closer ties with more Arab and Muslim-majority countries, such as oil-rich Libya.

However Libya’s presidential council, which represents its three provinces, said it was illegal to normalise relations with Israel.

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PLANE FOUND WITH MORE THAN FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.

A private plane found with more than $5m in cash, fake gold, guns and ammunition on board is at the centre of a deepening investigation in the Zambian capital, Lusaka.

Everyone knows the aircraft flew from the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and landed a fortnight ago in Zambia, but that is where the certainties stop.

So far nobody in Egypt or Zambia admits to chartering the plane or owning its contents.

With so many questions unanswered rumours have been swirling.

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ZIMBABWE’S PRESIDENT WINS SECOND TERM IN DISPUTED VOTE.

Electoral Commission says Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been elected to a second term with 52.6% of the vote.

But the opposition also claimed to have won, saying there was widespread vote-rigging, and observers said the vote fell short of democratic standards.

Mnangagwa is only Zimbabwe’s third president. A 2017 coup against veteran ruler Robert Mugabe put him in charge.

Zimbabweans still face high inflation, poverty and a climate of fear.

When he first became president, Mnangagwa – known as “The Crocodile” for his ruthlessness – promised a new start for his country’s people.

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NILE DAM TALKS RESUME BETWEEN EGYPT, ETHIOPIA, SUDAN.

Egypt announced that negotiations had resumed over Ethiopia’s controversial mega-dam, after agreeing last month to reach a deal following years of tensions between the two countries.

For years at loggerheads over the issue, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had agreed in July to finalise a deal within four months.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of a summit of African leaders from war-torn Sudan’s neighbours seeking to end the conflict that has raged there for over four months.

Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation announced a new round of negotiations on the Renaissance Dam began Sunday morning in Cairo, with the participation of the Egyptian, Sudanese and Ethiopian delegations.

The massive $4.2-billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been at the centre of a regional dispute ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the project in 2011, with Egypt fearing it will slash its share of Nile water.

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INDIAN PRIME MINISTER CALLS FOR AFRICAN UNION TO JOIN GROUP OF TWENTY.

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has called for the African Union to be made a G20 member, while also pitching his country as the solution to supply chain woes ahead of the bloc’s summit in New Delhi next month.

The Group of twenty major economies consists of 19 countries and the European Union, making up about 85 percent of global GDP and two-thirds of the world’s population but South Africa is the only member from the continent.

In December, United States President Joe Biden said he wanted the African Union “to join the G20 as a permanent member”, adding that it had “been a long time in coming, but it’s going to come”.

On Sunday, current G20 host Modi also called for including the pan-African bloc, which collectively had a $3 trillion GDP last year..

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INDIA SCHOOL SHUT DOWN OVER SLAPPING ROW.

Authorities in India’s Uttar Pradesh state have sealed a private school after its teacher asked students to slap their Muslim classmate.

Officials said Neha Public School was shut down as it “did not meet the education department’s criteria.”

The school’s students would be shifted to a government school or other nearby schools, officials said.

Meanwhile, the teacher – Tripta Tyagi – has told NDTV news channel that she was “not ashamed” of her actions.

The child’s family has said he was beaten up for getting his times tables wrong.

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HOME SECRETARY URGES POLICE TO INVESTIGATE EVERY THEFT.

Home Secretary, Suella Braverman says Police must investigate every theft and follow all reasonable leads to catch offenders.

Braverman says it is “completely unacceptable” that criminals are often “effectively free to break certain laws”.

She wants officers to use evidence from smart doorbells and dashcams to solve more lower-level crimes.

But there are concerns the approach may take resources away from high-harm crimes such as rape and sexual assault.

And Labour branded it a “staggering admission of 13 years of Tory failure on policing and crime”.

Data shows that, in the year to March, just 4.4% of all theft offences resulted in someone being charged.

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MIGRANT BARGE FACES LEGAL CHALLENGE OVER FIRE SAFETY.

Government plans to accommodate asylum seekers on a barge on England’s south coast face a possible legal challenge over fire safety.

Lawyers for the Fire Brigades Union have written to Home Secretary Suella Braverman raising issues including overcrowding and fire exit access on board the Bibby Stockholm.

The government has been given until Thursday to respond.

The Home Office says the wellbeing of asylum seekers is a priority.

The Bibby Stockholm is a three-story barge, currently berthed in Portland Port, Dorset, which is intended to hold around 500 men while they await the outcome of their asylum applications.