Lake Tana is a very large lake which is the source of the Blue Nile River, and it is located in the Amhara Region within the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

As the lake can be found in the northwestern Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is around 84 km (52 mi) long and 66 km (41 mi) wide, where the maximum depth has been measured to be 15 meters (49 feet).

Formed by a volcanic activity which blocked the in-flowing rivers as early as the Pleistocene epoch, the lake was much larger than it is today.

Due to its immense size, the entire lake has been named Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve providing an important ecosystem which is a hotspot of biodiversity, and also has a global importance for agricultural genetic diversity.

Throughout the lake, there are some islands and islets which number varies depending on the level of the lake, where the biggest one is Dek Island.

What is important is that the islands and peninsulas too around the lake collectively house more than 20 monastic churches, many of which were founded in 14 century, during the rule of Amda Tsion, though some are possibly older, where at least two date to the Gonderine period.

One of the most famous treasures from the monasteries can be found on Tana Qirqos Island, where a rock is located which was shown to CIA specialist, Paul B. Henze, on which he was told the Virgin Mary had rested on her journey back from Egypt. Sadly, the women are not allowed to visit the churches and monasteries on the islands, except that they are only allowed to land on the banks of the islands.

The main city on Lake Tana, Bahir Dar, is the perfect link for visitors to get a boat ride to one of the many islands, as it is a famous one due to the outflow of the lake where the Blue Nile River originates.

Around 70% of the fish species that can be found within the lake are endemic, and as there are no inflows in the lake, and it is well protected by the Blue Nile Falls, it means that the flora is only limited to a highly distinctive fish fauna that is generally related to species from the Nile Basin.

Unfortunately, there is the water hyacinth that threatens the lake, as it covers a large areas of open waters, and with recent data it is shown that Lake Tana is critically infested putting the aquatic biodiversity at extreme risk.

The small in-flowing rivers carry heavy loads of soil and suspended sediment into the lake, which affects the water quality and creates favorable conditions for the spread of the weed, which in fact creates an almost impossible situation to remove the plant from the largest national freshwater body.

Nevertheless, having an enormous religious and natural importance in the country, Lake Tana shall continue to be the beacon of Ethiopia’s freshwater, with hope to be well preserved and protected, so that it will stay there for an even longer period since its creation.

More than 5,300 people are believed to have died after floods in the Libyan city of Derna, an official has said.

“The sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies,” Hisham Chkiouat, a minister in Libya’s eastern administration said.

There have been desperate calls for more humanitarian support as victims lie wrapped in body bags and others have been buried in mass graves.

A tsunami-like river of floodwater swept through Derna on Sunday after a dam burst during Storm Daniel.

Rescue teams are digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the hope of finding survivors – but hope is waning and the death toll is still expected to rise further.

Officials say at least 10,000 people are missing, while 30,000 people are estimated to have been displaced, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya said on Wednesday.

Morgues and hospitals have been overwhelmed with bodies.

Libyan doctor Najib Tarhoni, who has been working in a hospital near Derna, said more help is needed.

“We just need people who understand the situation – logistic help, dogs that can actually smell people and get them from under the ground. We just need the humanitarian help, people who actually know what they are doing.”

There is also an urgent need for specialised forensic and rescue teams and others who specialise in recovering bodies, the head of the Libyan doctors’ union Mohammed al-Ghoush told Turkish media.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said an emergency team will arrive in Derna on Thursday “to assess medical needs and donate emergency medical kits to care for the wounded and body bags to the Libyan Red Crescent”.

Streets are covered in mud and rubble, and are littered with upturned vehicles.

Mr Chkiouat, a local official, said some areas of Derna have “vanished, completely disappeared”.

“So imagine a residential area has been destroyed completely, you cannot see it, it’s not existing anymore.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s by all means a tsunami.”

Taha Muftah, a photojournalist in Derna, said experts had raised the alarm about the dam since 2011 “but nobody did anything about it”.

“The water now has stopped and what is left is only the rubble, and the people who were taken by the flood are under the water,” he said.

A number of elite footballers have died, according to the Libya Football Federation (LFF).

It released the names of four players who were killed: Shaheen Al-Jamil, Monder Sadaqa and brothers Saleh Sasi and Ayoub Sasi.

The cities of Soussa, Al-Marj and Misrata were also affected by Sunday’s storm.

Libya has been in political chaos since long-serving ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in 2011 – leaving the oil-rich nation effectively split with an interim, internationally recognised government operating from the capital, Tripoli, and another one in the east.

But despite the split, the government in Tripoli has sent medical supplies, body bags, doctors and paramedics.

The European Union will put forward a package of measures to support its wind power industry as renewable energy companies struggle with challenges including inflation, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

“We will fast-track permitting even more. We will improve the auction systems across the EU. We will focus on skills, access to finance and stable supply chains,” von der Leyen said in a speech to the European Parliament.

Shares in wind turbine makers Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE), Vestas (VWS.CO) and Nordex (NDXG.DE), which have all suffered losses in relation to the wind industry’s flawed market design, were up between 1.6% and 4.4% on the news.

The 27-country EU has among the world’s most ambitious targets to expand renewable energy and is finalising a legally binding goal to produce 42.5% of EU energy from renewable sources by 2030.

But Europe’s offshore wind power industry has warned governments it is not big enough to deliver green power goals and requires a jump in policy support to get on track – particularly if new wind farms are to be manufactured in Europe.

“The future of our clean tech industry has to be made in Europe,” von der Leyen said.

Final investment decisions in European offshore wind farms hit a 10-year low in 2022, as developers faced record-high inflation, soaring interest rates, increased seabed leasing fees and volatile energy markets.

Residents of the devastated Libyan city of Derna desperately searched for missing relatives on Wednesday and rescue workers appealed for more body bags, after a catastrophic flood that killed thousands of people and swept many out to sea.

Swathes of the Mediterranean city were obliterated by a torrent of water unleashed by a powerful storm that swept down a usually dry riverbed on Sunday night, bursting dams above the city.

Multi-storey buildings collapsed with sleeping families inside.

Officials have put the number of missing at 10,000.

The U.N. aid agency OCHA said the figure was at least 5,000.

Officials of Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) have commenced the process of removing distressed structures in Lagos Island, Mushin and other areas across the State as part of efforts to control building collapse, prevent avoidable loss of properties and save lives.

The affected buildings include units of three and four flats in Oke-Arin and Doherty Streets of Lagos Island and four-floor one-unit residential buildings in Idi Araba areas of the State among others.

The exercise according to the General Manager of LASBCA, Arc. Gbolahan Oki is part of the routine mandate of the agency to bring to the lowest minimum the incidence of collapsed buildings and avoidable death of Lagos residents.

Speaking on the initial efforts made to ensure that the occupants of the affected buildings vacated the distressed structures, Arc. Oki who was represented during the evacuation exercise by the Director of Enforcement, LASBCA, Mr. Olusoji Olaopa, said that the agency had marked the building as unfit for habitation earlier and the occupants were expected to have vacated the building for their safety and the safety of others around them.

Oki stated that the evacuation and partial demolition carried out by the agency became necessary in order to compel the occupants of the distressed buildings to relocate to safer accommodations, explaining that the evacuation and partial demolition exercise was the last move by the agency before the final demolition.

He averred that the distressed buildings were identified based on inspection and monitoring exercises carried out by relevant Supervising Directors attached to different Districts across the State, assuring that the exercise was been carried out according to stipulated laws and not as a witch-hunt for anyone.

In his words, “The administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu frowns at the avoidable loss of lives and property of residents of the State. It is time for Lagosians to take their safety seriously and avoid blaming government at all times”.
Arc. Oki assured Lagosians that the agency will relentlessly continue to pursue its vision and goal of ensuring that all buildings across the State are fit for habitation and constitute no risk to other nearby structures.

One of the residents of the affected buildings in the Oke-Arin area of the State, Mr. Rabiu Jamiu affirmed that the officials of LASBCA had earlier served evacuation notice to the occupants of the building, adding that the landlords were also advised to carry out an integrity test on the buildings in order to ascertain their structural integrity.

Jamiu, who claimed to have lived in the affected building for about 13 years, said that the move of the government was for the safety of all.
“It is painful but because I don’t have where to keep my belongings for now or where to stay with my family members, my wife is in the house packing out loads and our children have gone to school but life goes on because this move is also for our safety”.

Meanwhile, the officials of LASBCA have sealed a Warehouse in Mushin under construction for not obtaining necessary approvals as well as a building under renovation along Palm Avenue Mushing for contravening required approval processes.