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Spain PM announces fresh flood aid of almost 3.8 bn euros

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Spain on Monday announced fresh measures worth almost 3.8 billion euros to help stricken citizens recover from the country’s worst floods in a generation that have killed 222 people.

But Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez postponed the reckoning for Spain’s political class after tens of thousands of protesters demanded accountability for the disaster, saying the debate must follow the recovery.

The exceptional Mediterranean storm that lashed Spain two weeks ago particularly devastated the wealthy eastern Valencia region, which has suffered most of the deaths and destruction.

The torrents of muddy water wrecked roads and railways, tossed cars, gutted shops and submerged fields, with the final bill expected to soar to tens of billions of euros.

Sanchez on Monday unveiled a second aid package worth 3.76 billion euros ($4 billion) to reinforce aid worth 10.6 billion euros announced last week.

Compensation will be streamlined and extended to cover more residents and property, while farmers will also receive fresh aid totalling 200 million euros, the left-wing premier told a news conference.

Sanchez has compared the measures to the state’s intervention to prop up the economy during the Covid-19 crisis.

The government “will be there with all the necessary resources and for as long as it takes”, he said.

Last week’s aid included support for small and midsize businesses, self-employed workers and households that have suffered deaths, incapacity and damage to homes and belongings.

Tax relief, a three-month postponement to repaying mortgages and loans and central government spending on the immense clean-up work facing local councils were also announced.

Thousands of soldiers, police officers, civil guards and emergency services are repairing wrecked infrastructure, distributing relief and searching for dozens of missing people.

– Regional leader admits ‘errors’ –

Widespread anger at the authorities for their perceived mismanagement before and after the floods triggered mass protests on Saturday, the largest in Valencia city which drew 130,000 people.

Demonstrators have demanded the resignation of Sanchez and the Valencia region’s leader Carlos Mazon as details emerge about the confusion enveloping the regional and central governments during the crisis.

But the government said it was focused on reconstruction.

“Later will come the political debate about what things we must improve in the face of this climate emergency”, Sanchez said.

Mazon on Monday conceded that “errors may have been committed” and that “everyone” would be obliged to review them.

Although Mediterranean storms are common for the time of year, scientists say climate change driven by human activity is increasing the intensity, length and frequency of extreme weather events.

Spain’s national weather service AEMET has forecast another storm bringing heavy rains over the Valencia region this week.

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Imo State Government bans all forms of task force in the state

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His Excellency the Governor of Imo State, Dist. Sen.  (Dr) Hope Uzodinma, CON, GSSRS, has approved the ban on all forms of task force currently operating under any guise or MDA in the state.

Ekwutosblog reports that in a Public Service Announcement issued by the Secretary to the State Government the public is advised to be guided accordingly,  subsequently.

The ban on task force in the state has become necessary following their incessant activities which has constituted nuisances to the general public and paints the image of the government in bad light.

Following the approval of His Excellency, on this issue, Government therefore warns that anyone or group of persons operating as task force under any guise will be apprehended by security operatives who have been directed to get rid of all forms of task force in the State and such culprits would be made to face the full weight of Law.

I.A OGUZIE Npom Fcal
For secretary to the State Government.

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One dead, three injured in Jos Sara-Suka fight

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One person was killed, and three others sustained injuries in a violent clash between rival groups known as Sara-Suka in the Yantifa community of Jos North Local Government Area, Plateau State.

According to residents, members of the rival gangs, armed with machetes, attacked one another on Tuesday evening, causing panic and forcing people to flee.

A local vigilante, Lawan Chizo, confirmed the incident and said security forces, including soldiers, were deployed to restore order.

He noted that the clash involved members of the Sara-Suka groups from Anguwan Rogo and Yantifa, who have been engaged in ongoing conflicts.

“There is still fear among residents, but normalcy has been restored,” Chizo stated.

In response to the violence, the Plateau State Commissioner of Police has called for an emergency meeting with community leaders to address the activities of Sara-Suka in the area.

The latest violence comes just two days after three members of Sara-Suka were killed in another clash near the Al-Mohap praying ground.

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Myanmar earthquake death toll crosses 3,000

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Death toll from Myanmar’s devastating earthquake has surpassed 3,000, with hundreds more missing.

This is as forecasts of unseasonal rain presented a new challenge for rescue and aid workers trying to reach people in a country riven by civil war.

Ekwutosblog reports that the last Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake, one of the Southeast Asian nation’s strongest in a century, jolted a region home to 28 million, toppling buildings, flattening communities and leaving many without food, water and shelter.

 

Myanmar’s embassy in Japan said on Facebook that on Wednesday, deaths rose to 3,003 with 4,515 injured and 351 missing, while rescuers scramble to find more.

However, conditions could get even tougher for the huge relief effort after weather officials warned unseasonal rain from Sunday to April 11 could threaten the areas hardest-hit by the quake, such as Mandalay, Sagaing and the capital Naypyidaw.

“Rain is incoming and there are still so many buried. And in Mandalay, especially, if it starts to rain, people who are buried will drown even if they’ve survived until this point,” an aid worker in Myanmar said.

The embassy in Japan added in its post that there have been 53 airlifts of aid to Myanmar, while more than 1,900 rescue workers arrived from 15 countries, including Southeast Asian neighbours and China, India and Russia.

According to state television, despite the devastation, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will leave his disaster-stricken country on Thursday for a rare trip to a regional summit in Bangkok.

The visit is said to be an uncommon foreign visit for a general regarded as a pariah by many countries and the subject of Western sanctions and an International Criminal Court investigation.

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