Rivers building collapse: Wike orders Arrest of owner, contractor

At least 18 people were killed on Sunday in an artisanal gold mine collapse in southern Niger, the local mayor said on Monday. The disaster took place in the southern Maradi region, near the border with Nigeria. The death toll is likely to rise, said the mayor of the commune of Dan Issa, Adamou Guero, . The Governor of the Maradi region, Aboubacar Chaibou, visited the site on Monday and promised better working conditions for people at the sire.

After deadly flash flooding devastated villages in Germany's Ahr Valley, many residents are hoping to return. But experts say there needs to be a fundamental change in how we build in areas at risk of floods.

The six-member technical panel of inquiry inaugurated up by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to investigate the cause of the collapsed 21-storey building in Ikoyi, Lagos, has sighted lack of quality control, quality assurance, among others as reasons the building collapsed.⁣ ⁣

Since September, the name Evergrande has caused panic on stock exchanges around the world. Paralysed by $300 billion in debt (€260 billion), or the equivalent of 2 percent of Chinese GDP, the country's second-largest real estate developer is now threatening Chinese growth. Evergrande has more than 1,300 construction projects across China, as well as financial products, electric cars, livestock, bottled water and even a football club.

It has become a major preoccupation of many governments across the globe; how to build a productive diplomatic relationship with China. This particularly as tensions between Washington and Beijing continue to ratchet upwards with Beijing's Winter Olympic Games in February now facing an American diplomatic boycott. Annette Young talks to Canadian-Chinese journalist and author, Joanna Chiu, whose new book 'China Unbound' argues how democracies have effectively enabled Beijing's campaign to increase its global influence. She speaks about the diplomatic toolkit required to ensure a healthy and robust relationship with China.

A new report by Amnesty international has documented war crimes and atrocities committed during the fall of the internationally backed Afghan government in August.

The war-torn country's health system has been facing a severe crisis since the Taliban takeover, which resulted in the suspension of much-needed international aid.

In the absence of international travel and visitors from abroad, a Ugandan tourism company is turning to young local tourists hoping to travel closer to home. The company is building a small but loyal customer base.

A fire erupted at the South African parliament in Cape Town on Sunday, with media coverage showing flames coming from the roof of the building and a plume of smoke that could be seen from some miles away. It wasn't immediately clear if anyone was in the building. The fire was on the third storey of the building and initial reports indicated that it started in the office space and spread towards a gym, said Jean-Pierre Smith, a Cape Town mayoral committee member responsible for safety and security.

Chad's transitional authorities on Tuesday (January 18) released the first of some 250 members of armed groups it has promised to free from prison under an amnesty aimed at fostering dialogue after the battlefield death of President Idriss Deby last April. Justice Minister Ahmat Mahamat Alhabo led a short ceremony at Klessoum prison near the capital N'Djamena, granting the immediate release of 22 detainees convicted of taking up arms against the central government in the past 10 years.

Lebanon's healthcare system is crumbling amid an economic crisis that has led to an exodus of thousands of doctors and nurses, forced private hospitals to close some departments and put further strains on the already stretched state sector.

In this edition, we take a closer look at a symbol of just how far former enemies France and Germany have come. Nowadays, the Rhine river is barely even an obstacle between the Alsace capital Strasbourg and its twin town of Kehl on the German side. Every day, thousands of cross-border commuters travel back and forth across the river on tram line D, which has linked the two sides since 2017.