*Ethiopia to release all political prisoners, says prime minister*

*Ethiopia to release all political prisoners, says prime minister*

Ethiopia's prime minister has announced the release of all political prisoners and the closure of a notorious detention centre which allegedly used torture to extract confessions. Hailemariam Desalegn told a press conference charges would also be dropped for those still awaiting trial. The move was designed to allow political dialogue, he said.

Ethiopia is accused by human rights groups of using mass arrests and detention to stifle opposition. However, this is the first time the government has admitted to having any political prisoners, previously describing them as "criminals", BBC Ethiopia correspondent Emmanuel Igunza says.

Campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the government of using anti-terrorism laws to jail its critics. The exact number of people in detention is not known. However, thousands have been detained since 2015, when there were widespread protests calling for political and economic reforms, prompting a crackdown.

*Logan Paul: YouTuber apologises over Japan dead man video

*Logan Paul: YouTuber 💻 apologises over Japan dead man video 📹*

An American YouTube star says he does not expect to be forgiven after he posted a video which showed the body of an apparent suicide victim in Japan.

The video showed Logan Paul and friends discovering the body in the Aokigahara forest at the base of Mount Fuji, known to be a frequent site of suicides.

It prompted a barrage of criticism online with some comments calling it "disrespectful" and "disgusting".

Logan Paul later apologised and said he was "misguided by shock and awe".

"I have made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgement, and I don't expect to be forgiven," he said in a video apology posted to Twitter.

"I should have never posted the video. I should have put the cameras down and stopped recording what we were going through. There's a lot of things I should have done differently, but I didn't", he said.

"I'm ashamed of myself," he added. "I'm disappointed in myself."

The video was uploaded on Sunday and had millions of views on YouTube before it was taken down.

*Gaming addiction classified as disorder by WHO*

*Gaming addiction classified as disorder by WHO*

Gaming addiction is to be listed as a mental health condition for the first time by the World Health Organisation. Its 11th International Classification of Diseases (ICD) will include the condition "gaming disorder". The draft document describes it as a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour so severe that it takes "precedence over other life interests".

Some countries had already identified it as a major public health issue. Many, including the UK, have private addiction clinics to "treat" the condition. The last version of the ICD was completed in 1992, with the new guide due to be published in 2018.

The guide contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms and is used by doctors and researchers to track and diagnose disease. It will suggest that abnormal gaming behaviour should be in evidence over a period of at least 12 months "for a diagnosis to be assigned" but added that period might be shortened "if symptoms are severe".

*It's So Cold in Canada a Zoo Had to Bring Its Penguins Inside*

*It's So Cold in Canada a Zoo Had to Bring Its Penguins Inside*

Thanks to the recent deep freeze in North America, Calgary Zoo had to take extreme measures to protect its animals from the weather - including even the most naturally cold resistant, the zoo's king penguins.

This was in keeping with the zoo's guidelines to bring the penguins indoors when the temperature reaches -25 degrees Celsius (-13 degrees Fahrenheit), zoo curator Malu Celli told the Globe and Mail. Temperatures were averaging at -28 degrees Celsius (-18.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Calgary over the new year period.

"We just don't want to expose them to too much," Celli said. "To keep them safe, we decided to pick a limit to let them out." King penguins are subantarctic birds, living not on the icy continent of Antarctica like their larger cousins, emperor penguins, but on the islands in more temperate waters a little farther north, preferring land free of snow and ice. Although the penguins are built to withstand cold temperatures, it doesn't tend to dip down quite that far in the islands they inhabit in the wild.

Ex-Governor of old Kaduna state, Lawal Kaita, is dead

Ex-Gov of old Kaduna State, Lawal Kaita, is dead*

Former Governor of old Kaduna State, Lawal Kaita, has died. He passed away on Tuesday at 86. Circumstances surrounding his death were still sketchy at press time, other than that he died in Abuja about 5 p.m. A security aide at his Katsina GRA residence said family members were still being expected as at 8 p.m on Tuesday for burial arrangements.

Another source said the late governor is expected to be buried in Katsina on Wednesday. Kaita was governor of defunct Kaduna State from October to December 1983. The late governor had health challenges late last year, a development which made him to be admitted at the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina, for some time.

Meanwhile, Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State has expressed sadness over Kaita’s death. Governor Masari, in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Abdu Labaran Malumfashi, described the deceased as one of the most accommodating, generous and refined politicians the nation has produced.

Marketers insist petrol can't sell for N145 per litre

: *Marketers insist petrol can’t sell for N145 per litre*

Fuel marketers on Tuesday insisted that they could no longer import Premium Motor Spirit at a control price of N145 per litre. They also said they were not responsible for the recent scarcity of the product witnessed across the country.

The Chairman of Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Dapo Abiodun, disclosed these to State House correspondents at the end of a meeting stakeholders in the oil industry had with Federal Government’s delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari.

The meeting which was held at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja was also attended by the heads of the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Immigration Service as well as representatives of other paramilitary services. Abiodun said neither the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation nor the independent marketers could be blamed for the recent fuel scarcity.