The Alakola of Ikola-Ijesa in Atakumosa West Local Government of Osun State, Nigeria’s sout-west, Oba Festus Adeyemi, has hailed Governor Adegboyega Oyetola for his efforts to diversify the economy through gold mining.

A statement by the Special Adviser on Civic Engagement, Oyintiloye Olatunbosun, said that Oba Adeyemi, during a rural/community engagement programme, noted that with more revenue coming into the state’s coffers through mining, Osun would soon end over-reliance on federal allocation, even as the nation continued to struggle to end reliance on crude oil for revenue.

He said: “I want to commend the governor for taking mining activities from artisan to corporate level, with the involvement of private sector players coming for exploration and exportation.

“This will have a positive effect on the economy of the state because with the current efforts of the governor, in the next few years, gold will be our own crude oil in Osun State.

“We are also collaborating with the Federal Government on mining. Our state is one of the two states, along with Kebbi State, selected as pilot states for the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI).”

Adeyemi, as an Oba of a community where mining activities take place, also hailed Oyetola’s positive efforts in the areas of health, infrastructure, agriculture and education across the state.

Governor Oyetola, represented by his Special Adviser on Civic Engagement, Oyintiloye Olatunbosun, said Osun was known for large deposit of mineral resources such as gold, lead, zinc, quartz, feldspar and several precious metals.

He said his administration was determined to invest in the resources for the growth of the economy.

Indian conglomerate Adani Group said it’s ready to begin the first coal exports from the controversial Carmichael mine in Australia’s Galilee Basin, more than a decade after the group took over the project.

“The first shipment of high-quality coal from the Carmichael mine is being assembled at the North Queensland export terminal in Bowen,” the group run by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani said in a statement.

The group said it has secured the market for the 10 million tons per annum of coal that will be produced at the Carmichael mine.

The project, proposed in 2010, has become a global emblem for opposition to fossil fuels.

It has been impeded by legal challenges and a sustained campaign by climate activists, which has gained strength amid a global retreat from coal.

Lenders have backed away from the mine, forcing the company to self-finance it and reduce the size to a sixth of its potential.

One of the biggest markets Adani is counting on is India, where the dirtiest fossil fuel is expected to dominate the energy mix for several years.

Coal currently accounts for nearly 70% of India’s power generation, although the country is aiming to gradually reduce that dependence as it builds more renewable energy capacity.

Historical tombs and artifacts, including an ancient silver ring, thought to date back to the fourth century were unearthed in Turkey’s northern Ordu province.

The tombs were uncovered during roadway expansion efforts in the Kurtuluş district of Ordu, a province on Turkey’s Black Sea coast, with teams from the local museums directorate launching excavations for the artifacts’ urgent recovery.

Officials added that many human and animal remains were found in the tombs, along with pieces of jewelry made of gold, sardine stone, silver, glass and bronze.

The findings included a silver ring with red agate stone, on which the figure of the god Hermes is engraved.

Pieces of a glass bottle and beads were also found in one of the tombs, they said.

The findings were taken to the Ordu Museum Directorate.

The historical coins exhibited in Tunceli Museum, one of Turkey’s favorite museums, take its visitors on a journey into the past.

The museum consists of 4 blocks and 5,800 square meters (6,936 square yards) of indoor space in eastern Tunceli province, which is of great importance in terms of tourism with its unspoiled nature and cultural riches.

In addition to the sections featuring written and visual displays, it also welcomes visitors with sections including “Alevism,” “archaeology,” “library” and “ethnography.”

While nearly 2,000 artifacts are exhibited in the showcases, about 700 artifacts are kept under protection in warehouses in the museum.

Among the most striking works in the museum are the coin collections belonging to the Greek, Roman, Umayyad, Abbasid, Artuqid, Aq Qoyunlu, Rum Seljuk Sultanate and Ottoman periods.

Approximately 170 coins, which were collected by donations, purchases or excavations and taken under protection in the museum, present important archaeological findings with the figures engraved on them.

The coins, which are a source of material culture in terms of the history of Tunceli, give clues about the periods in which they were made through the state coat of arms, the name of the ruler who minted them, their date of issue and the city where they were minted.

At the same time, figures to which Anatolian civilizations attribute symbolic value based on their cultures, mythologies, geography and the events they have experienced stand out on the coins.

Speaking to newsmen, Tunceli Museum Director Kenan Öncel said that the museum houses artifacts that are thousand of years old.

Stating that the coins exhibited in the museum are among important works, Öncel said, “We have a wide variety of coin exhibitions from the Greek period to the Roman, Byzantine, Sassanid, Anatolian Beyliks, Abbasis, Umayyad, Ilkhanate and Ottoman periods in our museum.

With the invention of money and the discovery of money by the Lydians, money was widely used in Anatolia. Coins of a civilization in the Aegean region can be found in Tunceli today as coins were used as trade materials.”

After weeks of heavy rain overwhelming already swollen rivers, two dams in Brazil’s Bahia state burst and flooded surrounding towns.

In the town of Itabuna, residents could be seen using inflatable rafts and canoes to deliver supplies to neighbours.

The rains have caused at least 18 deaths in Bahia since the beginning of November and thousands of people have been moved from some of the 67 towns facing further flooding.

Itambe is an agricultural region in southern Bahia located about 200 kilometers (125 miles) inland from the coastal city of Ilheus.

The mayor of Vitoria da Consquista, Sheila Lemos, said all residents close to the river had been evacuated.

In a posting on the city’s website, Lemos said the flooding threatened to cut off the BR-116 highway, a major truck route between northeastern and southern Brazil.

Bahia Governor Rui Castro said at least 300 people have been evacuated from each of some 20 towns in the state that were hit by floods caused by heavy rainfall for almost two months.

The rains have caused 17 deaths in Bahia since the beginning of November, and 66 towns are facing emergency situations, civil defense officials said.

In the state capital of Salvador, weather officials said December rainfall has been six times greater than the average.

Heavy storms have battered western regions of the United States, leaving thousands without power.

Almost 30in (76cm) of snow fell in parts of northern California in 24 hours, causing blackouts and road closures, including a 70-mile (112km) stretch of Interstate 80 into Nevada.

Avalanche warnings are in effect across six states.

Over the weekend, southern California was hit by rainstorms, which saw power lines snap and streets flooded.

More than 1.8in of rain fell over 24 hours in San Marcos pass in Santa Barbara County, while Rocky Butte in San Luis Obispo County recorded 1.61in, officials said.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno, Nevada, said snowstorms would remain heavy over Sunday night and well into Monday, and forecasters have warned that travel could prove difficult in the region for several days.

Avalanche warnings were put into effect on Sunday for parts of Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado and California, as the storms created widespread areas of unstable snow.

Authorities near Reno said three people were injured in a 20-car weekend pileup on Interstate 395, amid limited visibility.

Power cuts affected residents in Washington, Oregon and other areas, although northern California was the worst hit. Power Outage US reported 28,000 power cuts there in the early hours of Monday local time, mostly in northern coastal counties and those on the Nevada border.

Meanwhile, in Montana, the NWS warned that “dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as five minutes”. Wind chill could make the temperatures feel as low as -48C.

One benefit of the storms in California will be to replenish the Sierra snowpack. It accounts for about 30% of California’s fresh water supply and had been at dangerously low levels after weeks of dry weather.

The state’s department of water resources reported on Christmas Eve that the snowpack was now between 114% and 137% of normal ranges, with more snow expected to fall.

While the west coast is battered by heavy storms, many southern states have been experiencing “unusually warm temperatures,” with dozens of cities on track for their warmest December on record.

The NWS reported that Wichita Falls, near Texas’s border with Oklahoma, reported a record temperature of 32C (90F), while Houston saw temperatures hit 27C.