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The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has issued a flood alert to Nigerians as the management of the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon is set to begin regulated water releases into the country.

NIHSA’s director-general, Umar Mohammed, in a statement on Tuesday said the dam’s regulated water releases will commence on September 17.

According to the statement, “The water discharge is anticipated to progressively escalate to 1000m³/s over the next seven days based on the inflow from the upstream Garoua River, which serves as the primary source into the reservoir and a significant tributary to the Benue River.

Nonetheless, the dam operators have indicated that the planned water discharges will be gradual to avoid surpassing the conveyance capacity of the Benue river system and triggering substantial flooding downstream in Nigeria. The overflow from the Lagdo Dam is projected to cease once there is a noticeable reduction in the flow into the Lagdo reservoir.

The agency unequivocally states that there is no need for alarm as major flooding downstream in Nigeria is not anticipated since the flow levels along the Benue River are still within cautionary limits.

Nevertheless, it is of utmost importance for all states bordering the Benue River system, namely: Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, and Rivers, along with the government at all levels (federal, state, and LGAs) to heighten their vigilance and implement appropriate preparedness measures to mitigate potential flooding impacts that may arise due to an increase in flow levels of our major rivers during this period.

The agency will continue to diligently monitor the flow conditions of the transboundary Benue River and the national inland rivers, and consistently provide regular updates on water levels across major rivers to prevent further flood disasters.”

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The spending and tax plans being discussed by Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump could have a big impact on the federal deficit.

According to separate analyses by nonpartisan think tank the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and the Penn-Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvania, Harris's policies could increase deficits by up to $2 trillion, while Trump’s policies could increase them up to $4 trillion.Neither organization’s analysis encompassed all of the tax cuts, spending programs, and taxes proposed by the candidates in recent days. However, the analyses highlight the rival politicians’ starkly different approaches to how they would manage the federal budget and the $35 trillion (and counting) national debt.

Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, favors tax cuts and credits for middle-income and lower-income households paid for by higher taxes on the wealthy, with the two potentially balancing one another out. Republican candidate Trump wants across-the-board tax cuts, while proposing tariffs on imports to generate revenue.

As Michael Gregory, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, put it in a commentary: “Harris and the Democrats have no problem increasing both spending and taxes, relying on the latter to control the deficit. By contrast, Trump and the Republicans are inclined to cut taxes and constrain spending, with the latter relied on for deficit control. The starkness is likely to become clearer over the next two months of campaigning as even more polices are proposed.”

Neither candidate would be able to enact their most ambitious economic plans without support from lawmakers. According to recent polls, Democrats face an uphill battle to retain control of the Senate, while Republicans are unlikely to win a majority in the House of Representatives. Forecasters project a divided government as the most likely outcome, meaning that most economic plans would likely have to be compromised to have any hope of passing.

In terms of its effect on the budget, Harris’s biggest proposal would be an expansion of the child tax credit to up to $3,600 per year per child from its current level of $2,000, matching the temporary credit expansion implemented by President Joe Biden in 2021 as a pandemic relief measure. On top of that, she would add a $6,000-per-year credit for children in their first year of life.Together, her proposals would cost $1.2 trillion over 10 years, according to the analysis of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Other items pushing up the deficit: expanding the earned income tax credit for lower income workers, providing a $25,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, and expanding Affordable Care Act subsidies, pushing down premiums for people enrolled in Obamacare.

Harris’s proposed tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations could cover most or all of those costs in the CRFB’s analysis. The most significant would be increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% from 20%, which would raise $1 trillion. The 25% “billionaires tax” on income and unrealized investment gains for people with more than $100 million unrealized investment gains would raise an additional $500 billion.

Trump’s costliest proposal is ending the tax on Social Security benefits, which would reduce revenue by $1.6 trillion to $1.8 trillion in the CRFB’s analysis. Lowering the corporate tax rate to 15%, as Trump proposed, would reduce revenue by another $200 billion.

Trump has promised to pay for those tax breaks—and pay down the national debt— by raising tariffs on foreign imports; estimates by multiple economists projected those policies would not bring in nearly enough to cover the tax breaks, let alone put a dent in the national debt. The CRFB estimated Trump’s 60% tariff on Chinese imports could take in as much as $300 billion, or end up reducing revenues by as much as $50 billion because of how much it would hurt the economy. 

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Winners of Pizza Hut's latest promotion better hope the chain's marketing stunt doesn't come across as cheesy.

Pizza Hut, a Yum! Brands (YUM) company, hopes to help New York City job seekers "make a lasting impression" with its latest promotion. The chain will choose winners whose resume will be printed on a custom pizza box and hand-delivered—with a medium-sized cheese pie—to their desired employer.

The pizza company said that "75% of resumes sent are never read," citing a CareerMinds.com study. Pizza Hut on Tuesday said the contest, which closes Sunday, could help winners beat the odds since "an office pizza is hard to ignore."

Pizza Hut said its aim is to help prospective candidates "capture employer attention during peak 'September Surge' hiring season," when "there is a notable increase in job opportunities across industries at the start of Q4."

In order to enter the contest, job seekers must visit ResZAmes.com; enter their desired employer's NYC zip code; and input their resume via online submission form. Pizza Hut will then review the submissions and "choose a select number of lucky winners." (If the web address doesn't make sense to you, say it aloud a few times.)

"Who could possibly ignore a resume when it is delivered as a delicious pizza?" Pizza Hut Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Friebe said.

Still, the company notes in the fine print the inevitable: "Our lawyers want you to know that Pizza Hut cannot guarantee that (i) a resume will be delivered to the potential employer, (ii) a candidate will receive an interview, and/or (iii) a candidate will receive a job offer or be hired."

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The United Nations has announced the donation of a $6 million fund in support of the Maiduguri flood victims in Borno State.

The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohammed Fall, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, September 17.

He said a joint mission comprising UN agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), alongside the Nigeria Red Cross Society, visited the main city of Maiduguri over the weekend.

According to Fall, the team met with people who had been impacted, many of them had already displaced multiple times by conflict and insecurity in the area.

The flood was caused by an overflow in the Alau Dam located just over 10 miles to the south of Maiduguri.

“We and our partners are providing them with hot meals, we are facilitating air drops of food in hard-to-reach areas cut off by flood waters, and we are also trucking in water.

We are also providing water and sanitation hygiene services and water purification tablets to stem disease outbreaks.

This is in addition to supplying hygiene and dignity kits to women and girls, as well as emergency health and shelter services,” he said.

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Thanks to falling mortgage rates, homebuilders felt a bit less dismal about the housing market in September.The National Association of Home Builders' sentiment index rose to 41 in September from 39 in August, breaking a four-month streak of declines but remaining well below the 50 level that indicates most builders feel optimistic about the near-term outlook for the market.Falling mortgage rates over the last few months have helped boost the homebuilding outlook, though builders are still pessimistic about customers' ability to afford to buy houses.

According to Freddie Mac, the average rate offered for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.2%, down more than a percentage point since May. Rates have been pushed down by expectations in financial markets that the Federal Reserve is preparing to cut its influential fed funds rate this week.Despite the recent downtick, mortgage rates are still well above the rock-bottom lows they hit during the pandemic, and a lack of available homes for sale has kept prices hot for new and previously owned homes. Buyers with typical incomes struggle to afford the houses they want between high rates and high prices. On top of that, builders face rising construction costs, the association said.

Builders expect things to improve in the coming months as the Fed cuts rates. An index of builders’ expectations for future business rose to 53 from 49 in August, entering positive territory.“Thanks to lower interest rates, builders now have a positive view for future new home sales for the first time since May 2024,” NAHB Chairman Carl Harris said in a prepared statement. “However, the cost of construction remains elevated relative to household budgets, holding back some enthusiasm for current housing market conditions.”

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