The Djibouti authorities have signed a preliminary agreement with Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group for the development of infrastructure for launching satellites and rockets in the Horn of Africa country.
Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh presided over the signing of the accord.
The project, which will cost around $1bn (£822m) and take five years to complete, will also involve the construction of a port and highway in the northern Obock Region.
Rain over the past few days has brought flooding to land in Carmarthenshire, including a farm in the Towy Valley.
Footage shows a farm surrounded by floodwater as forecasters warn of more rain and possible flooding.
It comes as heavy rain is expected to cause disruption across large parts of Wales on Tuesday.
The Met Office said the heaviest rain was expected over higher ground, with up to 10cm (3.9in) possible in parts.
The alert covers 19 of 22 counties across Wales between 06:00 GMT and 20:00.
An apparent meteor has been spotted lighting up the sky across England.
Video footage and reported sightings of the event on Monday evening were shared from London, Hertfordshire and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands.
The Met Office tweeted at 20:15 GMT: “Reports of a meteor in the sky over the UK just now. If you managed to take any footage we’d love to see it”.
Clear skies contributed to the quality of sightings, it said.
Becky Roberts said she and her family were in the garden of their home in Lichfield, Staffordshire when they spotted it.
Sightings were also reported in West Sussex, Slough and Wiltshire.
The failure of the first ever satellite mission launched from UK soil is a setback but not a roadblock to the country’s space plans.
The rocket suffered an “anomaly” late on Monday night after its release by a jumbo jet operated by the American Virgin Orbit company.
The satellites it was carrying could not be released and were lost.
But plans for the UK to become a satellite-launching state are already well advanced.
Launches are planned in Scotland, from Sutherland and Shetland.
These would be the more traditional type of launch system in which the rocket goes straight up from the ground.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has assured that National Youth Corps members with disabilities will be engaged as Presiding Officers for the 2023 General Election.
Prof. Yakubu gave the assurance when he led a delegation comprising of National Commissioners, Directors and the technical team to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) headquarters in Abuja on a courtesy visit.
He said: “INEC is an equal opportunities employer. We want to give every Nigerian the opportunity not only to vote, irrespective of circumstances like a physical challenge, but also to participate in the conduct of elections where necessary.”
“In Osun State, for the first time, we included corps members who had physical disabilities (as ad-hoc staff for the governorship election) and spoke to the security agencies, political parties and the communities to protect these corps members. And they discharged their duties like every other Nigerian”.
“We were impressed by what we did in Osun and we will involve all corps members, irrespective of their disabilities as Presiding Officers for the (2023) general election.”
The INEC Chairman also commended the management of the NYSC for its consistent support of the Commission over the years.
He pledged that the Commission would continue to operate within the framework of the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NYSC. At the same time, he assured his hosts that INEC would continue to place a high premium on the security of corps members on election duty.
“We have insurance cover in the event of an injury or other emergencies for all corps members involved in election duty. And working with the security agencies, we will also extend protection and security to the youth corps members’ lodges when they deploy to the field on election day”.
“We had unhappy experiences before when some hoodlums raided the corpers’ lodges in some places while the youth corps members were out on election duty. We will continue to do whatever it takes to protect and guarantee the security and welfare of the youth corps members,” the INEC boss assured.
Responding, the Acting Director General of the NYSC, Christy Uba pledged that the NYSC would continue to partner with INEC to deliver its mandate.
On preparations for the 2023 General Election, she disclosed that the NYSC management had directed State Coordinators to encourage corps members to register on the INEC Portal for the election.
She also said that the Corps Welfare and Health Services Department Staff had visited the States to assure corps members and staff of the commitment of NYSC/INEC to their safety while on election duty.
Monowi is a very small village that is incorporated in Boyd County, which is located in the northeastern part of the State of Nebraska, within the United States of America.
Being quite small, the popularity of Monowi comes from the population that lives here, and it is only one person.
According to the population census of 2010, nowadays the village still counts a single resident, and Monowi itself is the only incorporated municipality in the States with a population as such.
The name is derived from some of the Native American languages that can not be traced today, however it is thought to have the meaning of “flower”, perhaps maybe because of the many wildflowers which are growing in the previous location of the village.
The first inhabitants are considered to arrived here in 1902, when the Elkhorn Railroad that connected the Midwestern United States was extended to the village.
With a total area of some 0.54 squre km (0.21 square mi), the population peak was in 1930s when it counted around 150 citizens.
As it was expected at that time, the younger residents were bound to leave the village, and move to the bigger cities in the search of better life and better jobs.
Up until 2004, there were only 2 residents, Rudy and Elsie Eiler, however, when Rudy Eiler passed away, today only Elsie Eiler is the sole resident who acts as mayor, librarian, and bartender.
Since Elsie pays taxes to herself and grants her own liquor license, she is becoming somewhat a celebrity in the area, and while keeping the Monowi Tavern open for people passing by, she definitely is a local novelty that people want to come and see.
Still, there are some locals from around who visit the tavern regularly and also chat about the past times when the village was livelier and something was always happening.
All in all, offering a variety of food and beverages to the visitors, Elsie Eiler is always available to sit down and chat with every visitor that would like to learn something more about the small village that was thriving a lot in the past, however, nowadays is struggling to keep up with the modern times.
Students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan in Oyo State on Monday protested the hike in hostel refusal fee by the management of the institution.
The students, in their hundreds, blocked the school gate and the ever-busy Sango-Poly junction, thereby causing gridlock before heading to the State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan. All the roads within the Secretariat were also blocked.
According to reports, it was gathered that The hostel refusal fee was initially N5,000 before the management increased it to N15,000.
One of the protesters, Abiodun, other name withheld, said, “We normally pay N30,000 for accommodation every season but for those who don’t want to stay in the hostel, they pay N5,000 refusal fee. But the management just woke up and said that it has increased the refusal fee from N5,000 to N15,000.”
“The management also said the hostel fee is compulsory now for all the students, including those who are not staying in the campus (off campus),” she explained.
They also said they were tired with the continued use of a consultant in running the affairs of the institution.
The protesters were chanting anti-government songs, saying the activities of the consultant had slowed down the growth of the institution.
49 BC Julius Caesar defies the Roman Senate and crosses the Rubicon, uttering “alea iacta est” (the die is cast), signaling the start of civil war which would lead to his appointment as Roman dictator for life
1430 Catholic Order of the Golden Fleece founded in Bruges in celebration of the prosperous and wealthy domains of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy
1475 Stephen III of Moldavia defeats the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui
1776 “Common Sense” Pamphlet by Thomas Paine published, advocating American independence
1839 First tea from leaves of indigenous plants of Assam, India arrives in the United Kingdom [date approximate]
1946 UN General Assembly meets for 1st time in London
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1982 NFC Championship, Candlestick Park, SF: San Francisco 49ers beat Dallas Cowboys, 28-27; “The Catch” – iconic moment in NFL history – Dwight Clark makes fingertip catch for a TD from Joe Montana with 58″ remaining; SF goes on to win Super Bowl
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1967 Edward W. Brooke (Sen-R-Mass), takes his seat as the 1st popularly elected African American to the US Senate
Famous Weddings
1857 Novelist Jules Verne (28) weds Honorine de Viane Morel
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1898 Painter Henri Matisse (28) weds Amélie Noellie Parayre
In Asia, donors from around the world have pledged more than $9bn to help Pakistan recover from the devastating floods that hit the country last year.
It amounts to more than half of the estimated $16.3bn Pakistan needs to recover from the disaster.
The pledges come as Pakistan continues negotiations over the next instalment of an international bailout.
To pay for those energy imports the country needs foreign currency, especially U.S. dollars.
Renown veteran actress, Kate Henshaw, has been elected unopposed as the National Public Relations Officer of the Actors Guild of Nigeria.
The National Secretary of AGN, Abubakar Yakubu, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.
Yakubu said that Henshaw was elected on January 9 with a by-election, during a special National Executive Council meeting to fill few vacant posts.
He also said Michael Yusuf defeated Rilwan Ibiefo to become the vice president of AGN, North-West zone, replacing Wash Waziri who occupied the position in the last tenure.
“Henshaw will be in charge of disseminating strategic communication among guild and non-guild members,” he said.
It is reported that the AGN is the largest actors association in the culture sector in Africa.
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