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AT least 2,300 people were killed in Libya and thousands more were reported missing after catastrophic flash floods broke river dams and tore through an eastern coastal city, devastating entire neighbourhoods. As global concern spread, multiple nations offered to urgently send aid and rescue teams to help the war-scarred country that has been overwhelmed by what one UN official labelled “a calamity of epic proportions”. Massive destruction shattered the Mediterranean coastal city of Derna, home to about 100,000 people, where multi-storey buildings on the river banks collapsed and houses and cars vanished in the raging waters. Emergency services reported an…

TANZANIA airports regulator has denied allowing the smuggling of wildlife from a park in the northern region to Middle East countries. It follows allegations on social media that the wild animals were being trafficked on cargo planes from Loliondo, near the famous Serengeti National Park, to the United Arab Emirates. The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) said the accusations were “completely false” and noted that the airport in Loliondo was not a designated entry or exit point. There were allegations that a plane carrying wildlife had been seen on 26 August, but TCAA said the last flight to Loliondo was…

SMART DNA, a leading DNA testing center based in Lagos, Nigeria, has released a comprehensive data analysis of all relationship DNA tests conducted at its facility between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that DNA is Deoxyribonucleic acid; it is the material that carries genetic information for the development and functioning of an organism. A DNA test (genetic testing) is a medical test that can identify mutations in one’s genes, chromosomes or proteins. These tests provide information about an individual’s ancestral roots. A DNA relationship test is the use of genetic profiles…

FORMER Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) says he does not need a title to serve in the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, which in his view, is birthing the next generation of leaders. Fashola, a close aide of Tinubu, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the Lagos State University, Ojo, on Tuesday. He was at the University to deliver a keynote address at the institution’s fifth research and innovation fair. The former Lagos State Governor, who also served as Tinubu’s Chief of Staff when the President was governor of the…

BRUNO Fernandes ran the show for Portugal as they romped to a record 9-0 win over Luxembourg on Monday without suspended talisman and all-time top goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo. Roberto Martinez’s side have now won all six of their qualifying games, without conceding a single goal and scoring 24 themselves, with this the country’s largest ever victory. Portugal lead the Group J standings, five points clear of Slovakia in second place, whom they beat in Bratislava on Friday. Luxembourg are third, three points behind Slovakia. Manchester United playmaker Fernandes, who scored Portugal’s winner against Slovakia, laid on three goals as the…

THE United States on Monday described Russian President Vladimir Putin as desperate over the Ukraine conflict in a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and renewed warnings that any arms deal could trigger US sanctions. “Having to travel across the length of his own country to meet with an international pariah to ask for assistance in a war that he expected to win in the opening month, I would characterize it as him begging for assistance,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. “President Putin launched this war against Ukraine, with its full-scale aggression, with a dream of…

DONALD Trump has asked the judge overseeing his federal election meddling case to step aside due to previous statements she made in court. He said in a legal filing some past comments create a perception of bias against the former president. The request for a recusal was filed to Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday. She is overseeing the case being brought by special counsel Jack Smith, who accuses Mr Trump of a conspiracy to overturn his 2020 election loss. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The former president said last month that he planned to petition Judge…

TAYEB ait Ighenbaz was forced to choose whether to save his 11-year-old son or his parents when they became trapped under rubble after Morocco’s earthquake struck. The goat herder from a tiny community in the Atlas Mountains says he is haunted by the decision he had to make. Tayeb was with his wife, two children and parents on Friday night in their small stone home when it was rocked by the country’s biggest earthquake in 60 years. He leads me to his former home, which now lies in ruins. You can still see partially inside the building and he points…

ZIMBABWE’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been accused of nepotism after naming his son to a new cabinet following his controversial re-election last month. Mr Mnangagwa on Monday named his son, David Kudakwashe, as deputy finance minister as part of the parliament’s youth quota. He also appointed his nephew, Tongai Mnangagwa, the deputy tourism minister, local media reported. Mthuli Ncube, an ex-banker, was retained as the finance minister while the ruling Zanu-PF party’s national chairperson Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri was re-appointed as the defence minister. Outspoken main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) lawmaker Fadzayi Mahere termed the new cabinet “indefensible”, and accused…

THOUSANDS of people are feared dead after a powerful storm triggered devastating flooding in Libya. The leader of the east Libyan government, which is not recognised internationally, said deaths exceeded 2,000 and thousands were missing. Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya specialist, told the BBC the death toll could reach as many as “several thousand” people. Storm Daniel made landfall on Sunday, prompting authorities to declare a state of extreme emergency. Seven Libyan army personnel went missing during ongoing rescue efforts. Officials in the east imposed a curfew, while schools and shops were ordered to close The eastern cities of Benghazi, Sousse,…

THE National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal, on Monday, sacked the son of Prof. Jerry Gana, Rep Joshua Gana, from the House of Representatives. This newspaper reports that Rep Gana was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Edati/Lavun/Mokwa Federal Constituency of Niger State in the Feb. 25 general elections. Gana, who won the election with 47,942 votes as against 40,003 votes scored by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Abdullahi Usman Gbatamagi, was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Dissatisfied with the declaration, the APC…

PAUL Pogba is facing a ban of up to four years after allegedly testing positive for testosterone, according to reports in Italy. The France midfielder, whose return to Juventus from Manchester United in July 2022 had already turned into a nightmare before this development, is reported to have tested positive after his club’s Serie A fixture against Udinese on August 20, a game in which he did not play. According to reports, Pogba is set to be suspended on an initial precautionary basis and has three days to request a B sample. The maximum suspension in such cases is four…

THREE more countries sealed their places at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) on Saturday as Mozambique secured qualification with a dramatic 95th-minute winner. Mauritania and the Democratic Republic of Congo also booked a spot at next year’s finals, but there was disappointment for striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as his Gabon side missed out. Three places are still to be resolved for Afcon which kicks off in Ivory Coast on 13 January. Mozambique ensured their return to the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2010 thanks to a late 3-2 win over Benin in Maputo in Group…

GERMANY have sacked coach Hansi Flick just nine months from hosting Euro 2024 after Saturday’s humiliating 4-1 defeat by Japan, the German FA (DFB) announced on Sunday. Flick became the first and only Germany head coach to be sacked since the position was created in 1926. Sporting director Rudi Voeller, who coached the side to a 2002 World Cup final against Brazil, will take over on an interim basis, with a successor to be announced at a later date. German FA boss Bernd Neuendorf said the sacking was “unavoidable” after the team’s recent run of “disappointing” results. In a statement,…

PRESIDENT Joe Biden has denied that the US is attempting to stem China’s international influence, after signing a new historic deal with Vietnam. More than 50 years since the last American soldier left Vietnam, Mr Biden travelled to Hanoi to sign the agreement that will bring the former foes closer than ever before. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam is a major relationship upgrade for the US. It is the culmination of a relentless push by Washington over the last two years to strengthen ties with Vietnam, which it sees as key to counter China’s influence in Asia. It is…

TWO foreign aid volunteers have been killed and two others injured in a Russian missile attack in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv has said. Emma Igual, the Spanish director of Road to Relief, and Anthony Ihnat, a Canadian colleague, died on Saturday as their vehicle drove towards Bakhmut. The NGO said that German volunteer Ruben Mawick and Johan Mathias Thyr, a Swede, were badly injured by shrapnel. The group said the vehicle suffered a “direct hit”, flipped and caught fire. The aid workers had left from Slovyansk and were headed to the Bakhmut area to assess the needs of civilians “caught in…

ANNUAL inflation in Egypt hit 39.7 percent in August, official figures showed Sunday, an all-time high as the Arab world’s most populous country grapples with a punishing economic crisis. It comes after a previous record of 38.2 percent in July and amid an unrelenting downturn that has seen the currency shed half its value against the US dollar since early last year. Food and drink prices alone rose 71.9 percent year-on-year, said the state statistics agency CAPMAS. The economic crisis in the import-dependent country was catalysed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, which destabilised crucial food supplies and unsettled…

USING heavy equipment and even their bare hands, rescuers in Morocco on Sunday stepped up efforts to find survivors of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,100 people and flattened villages. The first foreign rescuers flew in to help after the North African country’s strongest-ever quake killed at least 2,122 people and injured more than 2,400, many seriously, according to official figures updated late on Sunday. Friday’s 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping out entire villages in the hills of the Atlas mountains. On Sunday an aftershock of magnitude 4.5…

NIGER’s military has accused France of gathering forces and equipment in several West African countries with a view to launch a “military intervention” against Niamey. Colonel Amadou Abdramane, a spokesman for Niger’s coup leaders, made the claim on national television late on Saturday. He said France was continuing to deploy its forces in member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as “part of preparations for an aggression against Niger, which it is planning in collaboration with this community organisation”. French “military cargo aircraft have enabled large quantities of war material and equipment to be unloaded in…

SEAN Strickland defeated Isreal Adeanya to become the new UFC middleweight champion of the world with all judges scoring the fight in his favour at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. A first-round knock down by the American was the highlight of the fight that went the whole five rounds. All three judges scored the fight 49-46 for the American and new middleweight world champion, Strickland. He did it with nonstop pressure and steady, upright boxing never once attempting a grapple. It is back to the drawing board for the Nigerian-born fighter Adesanya as he was on the back…