Politics
Eight people including 6 children missing as heavy rains trigger flooding in Sri Lanka
Eight people including 6 children missing as heavy rains trigger flooding in Sri Lanka
Eight people, including six children who were returning from school, have gone missing in Sri Lanka when the farm tractor they were traveling on was swept away by floods triggered by heavy rains, police said Wednesday.
Sri Lanka has experienced heavy downpours and strong winds over the past two days that have flooded homes, fields and roads and forced authorities to suspend train services in tea-growing mountain areas.
In the worst incident, a farm tractor carrying 11 school children was swept away Tuesday evening in the eastern region of the country, police said.
Five children were rescued while six other children along with the driver and another adult are still missing in the incident near the town of Karaitivu. A search operation is underway, police said in a statement.
Separately, a woman died when a brick wall collapsed on her in the mountainous region of Badulla in the central part of the country. Eight people were injured in various other weather-related incidents, the Disaster Management Center said.
As of Wednesday, over 3,000 people had been moved to evacuation centers and nearly 600 homes were damaged,
Army and navy troops were deployed to rescue victims and provide food and other essentials to those affected.
The Meteorology Department attributed the severe weather to a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal and warned it is likely to move closer to Sri Lanka and intensify into a cyclonic storm on Thursday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with severe weather since May, mostly caused by heavy monsoon rains. In June, 16 people died due to floods and mudslides.
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Politics
Board of Peace: US Forces are ‘annihilating’ terrorists in Nigeria– US President Donald Trump
US President, Donald Trump, says the American forces are “annihilating terrorists who are k!lling Christians” in Nigeria.
He made the remarks during the Board of Peace signing ceremony on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, while discussing what he described as progress in global peace and security efforts on Thursday, January 22.
He stated that militants had “k!lled thousands and thousands of Christians.”
“Many good things are happening. In Nigeria, we are annihilating terrorists who are killing Christians. We’ve hit them very hard. They’ve k!lled thousands and thousands of Christians.”he said
Recall that in October 2025, Trump declared Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern over the mass k!llings of Nigerian Christians. According to him, the k!llings are being masterminded by Islamic terrorists. On Christmas day in 2025, he ordered a military airstrike on an enclave inhabited by some of the Islamic terrorists in Northern Nigeria.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT0VdHHjNYh/?igsh=MTk5MDh5N2l5Mmh2aA==
Politics
Governor Abdulrazaq Suspends Kwara Poly Rector Over Student Protest
Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, has ordered the Rector of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Engr. Dr. Abdul Jimoh Mohammed, to immediately step aside from his role until further notice.
The suspension of Mohammed follows Tuesday’s protest by students of the institution over the use of the school’s facilities as a temporary camp for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation service.
A statement on Wednesday by the state Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Hajia Sa’adatu Modibbo Kawu, said the Governor has set up a committee to investigate the protest.
The Governor ordered the Rector to step down and hand over to the most senior Deputy Rector pending the outcome of the investigation.
The Governor also announced a three-person panel to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the recent student protest at the Kwara State Polytechnic.
The committee is headed by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Bar. Senior Ibrahim Sulyman. Other members are the Commissioner for Environment Hon. Nafisat Buge and the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare, Dr. Mrs Mercy Olufunke Shittu.
The statement by the Commissioner reads: “Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has announced a three-person panel to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the recent student protest at the Kwara State Polytechnic.
“The committee is headed by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Bar. Senior Ibrahim Sulyman. Other members are the Commissioner for Environment Hon. Nafisat Buge and the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare, Dr. Mrs Mercy Olufunke Shittu.
“The committee has two weeks to submit its report to the Governor, while their terms of reference are: (1) to look at the remote and immediate causes of the protest and handling of same; (2) recommend ways to prevent such things in the future; (3) make further recommendations on the growth of the school.
“The Governor has meanwhile directed the Rector of the Polytechnic, Engr. Dr. Abdul Jimoh Mohammed, to immediately step aside from his role until further notice, while the most senior Deputy Rector acts in his place in the interim.
“The committee will engage with all relevant stakeholders on its assignment.”
News
Court Removes Abure, Directs INEC to Recognise Nenadi Usman–Led Labour Party Leadership
A Federal High Court in Abuja has removed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party, ruling that his tenure has expired and is no longer valid in law.
In its judgment, the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately recognise the leadership of the party under the Senator Nenadi Usman–led National Caretaker Committee as the lawful authority of the Labour Party.
The court held that the decision to replace Abure followed due process and was consistent with existing legal precedents, rejecting arguments that the matter was purely an internal party affair beyond judicial review.
With this ruling, the Nenadi Usman–led committee is now recognized as the legitimate leadership of the Labour Party, pending the conduct of a properly constituted national convention to elect a substantive executive.
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