TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian police detained two prominent dissidents and surrounded the home of a third, part of an escalating crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied, who has labelled his opponents traitors and criminals. The arrests, along with others this month, have targeted some of Saied’s most important critics along with other politicians, judges and media figures. Issam Chebbi, head of the Republican Party, was detained near a shopping centre while he was out with his wife, his family and lawyers told Reuters. Police later searched his home.

***
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The death toll from heavy rains that devastated coastal areas of Brazil’s southeastern Sao Paulo state reached 54 people on Friday, official figures showed, climbing from 50 reported a day earlier. Massive downpours have caused landslides and flooding in coastal towns of Brazil’s richest state since last weekend. The city of Sao Sebastiao bore the brunt of the human toll, with 53 of the reported deaths. The Sao Paulo state government said in a statement that more rains were expected on Friday while search and rescue efforts continued with dozens still missing. More than 4,000 people were forced from their homes, it added. The local government also called on tourists not to travel to cities in the region in order to avoid overloading hospitals, roads and water and food supply.

***
APEST (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that more parliamentary group talks were needed before lawmakers vote on the ratification of Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership bids which they will begin debating on Wednesday. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the trans-Atlantic defence pact after Russia invaded Ukraine, but Sweden faced unexpected objections from Turkey for harbouring what Ankara considers to be members of terrorist groups. Speaking on public radio, Orban said he had asked lawmakers of his nationalist Fidesz party to support the NATO bids, adding however that some deputies were “not very enthusiastic” about the expansion and sought further discussion.

***
NEW DELHI/BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will pursue a $5.2 billion deal with India to jointly build six conventional submarines in the country during Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Feb. 25-26 visit, two Indian and two German sources said. The naval project is the latest attempt by a Western military manufacturing power to wean New Delhi away from its dependence on Russia for military hardware. India is desperate to replace its ageing submarine fleet, with 11 of its 16 conventional submarines more than two decades old, and as it seeks to counter China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean.

***
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Police in Nigeria arrested a lawmaker who allegedly was carrying nearly $500,000 in cash in a battleground state a day before the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections, raising fresh concerns Friday about the influence of money in the vote. Chinyere Igwe, a member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, was found traveling with the money inside a bag in his car around 2 a.m. along with a distribution list, Rivers state police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko said. It is illegal to move undeclared cash of more than $10,000 in Nigeria. Authorities were interrogating the lawmaker Friday, Iringe-Koko said.