The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has finally given clearance for the payment of severance package for former workers of the defunct Capital Bank, almost two years after its collapse.
“BoG has instructed that part of their interim dividends distributable by the Joint Receivers to them (BoG) as 1st priority creditor, be used to fully fund the severance packages of the ex- staff of Capital Bank,†a document by the receivers to the workers stated.
The document, sighted by 3news.com Thursday was jointly signed by the receivers, Vish Ashiagbor and Eric Nana Nipah of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The workers whose appointments were terminated following the takeover of the defunct bank by the GCB Bank, have for months been agitating for their end of service benefits which they said were promised them by the receivers.
The document, sighted by 3news.com Thursday was jointly signed by the receivers, Vish Ashiagbor and Eric Nana Nipah of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The workers whose appointments were terminated following the takeover of the defunct bank by the GCB Bank, have for months been agitating for their end of service benefits which they said were promised them by the receivers.
Details of when the severance package will be paid and how is expected to be announced this week to the workers through their union, the Union of Commerce, Industry and Finance (UNICOF).
“The Joint Receivers will notify ex-staff of the bank through their representatives of the timing and mode of these payments in the course of the week,†the document stated.
It noted that the payment of the severance package will be done per the terms negotiated for with UNICOF on the workers behalf.
The Bank of Ghana in August 2017 revoked the licence of Capital Bank and UT Bank on grounds of being “deeply insolventâ€.
BoG explained their liabilities exceeded their assets, which it said put them “in a position not to be able to meet their obligations as and when they fell dueâ€.
According to BoG, despite repeated agreements between them and the two banks to implement an action plan to address these significant shortfalls, the owners and managers “were unable to increase the capital of the banks to address the insolvencyâ€.
In a move to protect customers of the banks, BOG resolved to revoke the licences of UT Bank and Capital Bank under a Purchase and Assumption transaction with GCB Bank.
Host of Joy FM’s ‘Newsfile’ programme, Samson Lardy Anyenini has hinted that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah could face up to ten years in prison if found guilty of offences leveled against him.
Anyenini, who is also a lawyer contends that Appiah Mensah could face this number of years in jail if only the charges he is being accused of can be proven in court.
Reacting to the bench warrant that was issued for the arrest of Appiah Mensah who is popularly known as NAM1, Anyenini said: “It will be important for example to know in detail the person who has made the complaint and the specific nature of the complaint. If you know that, then you will begin to appreciate the consequences that will follow.”
“You may have defrauded by false pretenses in an insignificant amount of money and you may have defrauded by false pretenses over a significant amount of money.”
Yesterday, an Accra Circuit Court issued a warrant for the arrest of NAM1 and Rose Tetteh, believed to be the wife of Nana Appiah Mensah and one Benedicta Appiah, said to be his sister.
Lawyer Anyenini also added: “The source of the money can also become the main issue and in this circumstances…where issues of the potential money laundering charge that may also come. These are labelled in our law as serious offences and for as long as they are serious offences – a second-degree felony, you are looking generally about 10 years”.
He, however, pointed out that the sentence duration could be more than 10 years if other offences are determined against him during trial.
But we may get to know, because we are hearing that there could be a money laundering matter and several other issues that have to do with serious crimes and therefore it may be premature to look at it within the confines of defrauding by false pretences rather than some other more serious felonies”, he added.
He also said section 131 of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) stipulates “Whoever defrauds any person by any false pretense shall be guilty of a second-degree felony.â€
The decision by the Parents Teachers Association of Koforidua Secondary Technical School (SECTECH) to levy parents Ghc100 to procure furniture for the School to ameliorate inadequate furniture challenges that confront the school has not gone down well with some parents who argue that it is government’s responsibility.
Parents have been levied Ghc100 each towards procuring 1,500 mono desks following a decision taken during a PTA meeting held in December 2018.
Some parents told Kasapa News they were taken aback by the amount, having paid Ghc10 PTA dues and Ghc30 Levy for PTA Projects during the registration of their wards in September 2018 but affirmed that they agreed to pay because of the urgency of the situation.
In October last year, Kasapa News reported on a seeming desk crisis in the school as a result of the implementation of the Free SHS policy which exponentially increased the population of the school.
Some of the students were seen leaning against classroom walls to learn while teaching was ongoing because they had no desks to sit on. Some students were forced under the circumstance to join some pieces of woods together as desks.
This compelled management to resort to plastic chairs for some of the students though that was not convenient.
Students who sat in the plastic chairs wrote on their laps while others who did not want to distort their handwritings turned their chairs into tables and knelt to write on it.
Some of the students complained of back pains and neck pains as a result of the situation.
Assurance by government to provide the school with desks was not forthcoming while the challenge continues to have negative effects on academic exercises hence the PTA’s decision to levy parents.
MyNewsGh.com has obtained details of all the managers behind the embattled gold trade hub, Menzgold.
Yesterday, top directors of the company were declared wanted by the Ghana Police Service after Circuit Court warrant was issued for their arrest on Wednesday, January 9, 2018.
Hitherto the latest directive by the court, it has been only Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM-1), whose face and identity has been in the public domain although he was not in charge of managing what inside sources claim was a franchise.
Interestingly, NAM 1 himself was hardly in town and was mostly globe-trotting in quest of his several other businesses while the day-to-day activities of Menzgold were left to a team to administer.
MyNewsG.com has uncovered the identity of the 13 top powers that actually controlled Menzgold and we bring you the details.
After blowing the covers of the entire 13-member senior management were running the affairs of the company before it runs into crises, we shall put out rather jaw-dropping revelations on each of them.
The first is Isaac Wilson, supervision and Operations team manager.
The second is a baron, Elisha Owusu who is head of Bullion and Shipping. No Menzgold product leaves Ghana without him.
The rest are Nana Yaw Offei – Corporate Manager, Mrs Abigail Mensah – Operations and Supervision Team Head, Mr Justice Akoto – Operations and Supervision TeamMember.
Mr Isaac Otseng – Operations and Supervision Team Member, Miss Sefiatu Abdulla – Operations and Supervision Team Member.
Mr Enoch Kwesi Agyemang – Operations and Supervision Team Member, Mr Shadrack Fordjour – Marketing Manager.
Mr Patrick Pamfol – Operations and Supervision Team Member, Miss Belinda Nsiako – Operations and Supervision Team Member, Nana Kwame Adjei Nti – Marketing Manager and Clive Ofosuhene – IT Manager.
Minister for Business Development, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal has been named the Best Performing Minister for 2018.
This was announced by research firm, FAKS Investigative Services in its 7th annual survey.
The assessed the performance of Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and Regional Ministers, and out of ten (10) Ministers presented, Dr. Mohammed Awal was rated number one with a score of 93.18%.
Regional Reorganization and Development Minister, Dan Kwaku Botwe took the second spot followed by Railway Development Minister Joe Ghartey. FAKS Investigative explains that the survey focused on project initiatives, the execution and the impacts of the projects on society and Ghanaians at large.
“Some of the project initiatives that dominated and informed our decision included Presidential Pitch, a Business Idea Contest that gave support to 20 beneficiaries with amount ranges between GHc25,000 and GHc50,000; The National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) program which offered support to 7, 000 young entrepreneurs with start-ups and small businesses across the country,†FAKS revealed in the report signed by its CEO, Fred Yaw Sarpong.
The survey, according to the research firm took place between October and December, 2018.
Respondents such as students, petty traders, journalists, MPs, civil society organizations (CSOs), traditional rulers, academia, business owners, commercial drivers and others contributed to the survey.
Best 10 Ministers, 2018
1st – Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal- Business Development Minister Respondents: 4,211 Mark: 93.18%
2nd – Hon. Dan Kwaku Botwe- Regional Reorganization and Development Minister Respondents: 4,001 Mark: 88.53%
3rd – Hon. Joe Ghartey- Railway Development Minister Respondents: 3,911 Mark: 86.54%
4th -Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh- Education Minister Respondents: 3,899 Mark: 86.28%
Public Relation Officer of the GES, Cassandra Twum-Ampofo says some Senior High Schools will go off the double-track system once GETFund projects are completed.
According to the Ghana Education Service, work is ongoing to complete the many Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) projects to accommodate more students.
The double-track system started in the 2018/19 academic year with the aim of addressing congestion in SHSs following the implementation of the Free SHS programme.
The double-track system which runs under the green and gold tracks which sees students in school for three months within any given period.
This system has been questioned by some Ghanaians but it was mainly to help address the infrastructure challenges.
She said the government is working assiduously and “I am very hopeful that by the time we even get to September a lot of the schools would have fallen off the double track.
“Some of the schools have uncompleted projects and the ministry is working hard to complete them. So if these projects are completed and we are able to expand our space we will be able to go off the double track,†she said.
Private schools who wish to be enrolled on the system, she indicated, are to apply and will be selected once they meet specified criteria.
“When you apply, we have a team that will go and inspect your infrastructure and others…if government is absorbing we have to be sure that within five years we can use your facility,†She told Joy News.
The decision by the Parents Teachers Association of Koforidua Secondary Technical School (SECTECH) to levy parents Ghc100 to procure furniture for the School to ameliorate inadequate furniture challenges that confront the school has not gone down well with some parents who argue that it is government’s responsibility.
Parents have been levied Ghc100 each towards procuring 1,500 mono desks following a decision taken during a PTA meeting held in December 2018.
Some parents told Kasapa News they were taken aback by the amount, having paid Ghc10 PTA dues and Ghc30 Levy for PTA Projects during the registration of their wards in September 2018 but affirmed that they agreed to pay because of the urgency of the situation.
In October last year, Kasapa News reported on a seeming desk crisis in the school as a result of the implementation of the Free SHS policy which exponentially increased the population of the school.
Some of the students were seen leaning against classroom walls to learn while teaching was ongoing because they had no desks to sit on. Some students were forced under the circumstance to join some pieces of woods together as desks.
This compelled management to resort to plastic chairs for some of the students though that was not convenient.
Students who sat in the plastic chairs wrote on their laps while others who did not want to distort their handwritings turned their chairs into tables and knelt to write on it.
Some of the students complained of back pains and neck pains as a result of the situation.
Assurance by government to provide the school with desks was not forthcoming while the challenge continues to have negative effects on academic exercises hence the PTA’s decision to levy parents.
He took some damage to the tendon behind the knee that will need rest and rehabilitation for what is a Grade Two strain.
Manager Anthony Johnson has confirmed injury to the Dutch-born Ghanaian.
“Both Gaz Stopforth and Akwasi had scans and we had the results back this week and it wasn’t what we were hoping for,” said Johnson.
“Gary looks like he is going to need surgery on his injury and he is going to be out for the foreseeable future, which is a massive blow for us as he has been first class.
“Akwasi took a bang to the back of his knee against Telford. The recovery period was four to six weeks from time of injury and he had a little setback with it but hopefully we’ll have him back in the next four weeks as he will be massive for us in the run in.
“The injury situation is like nothing I’ve ever known. We’ve just got to get through it and see if we can bring in some bodies in the short term to help with numbers.”
The ceremony took place in a hotel complex in Conakry.
Alongside the two lovebirds, there were members of the bride’s family from Conakry and her village Saramoussaya in Mamou, but also relatives of the groom also from Conakry and Ghana.
Menzgold CEO Nana Appiah Mensah has always been wanted. But in the latest demand for him, it is over accusations of defrauding by false pretence.
Before then he was coveted by the Tourism and Creative Arts ministry headed by Catherine Afeku after he revealed his big plans for the creative arts industry.
Lawyer Samson Lardi Anyenini who is the also the host of Newsfile on Joy FM says Nana Appiah Mensah, CEO of Menzgold could face 10 years or more in jail if found guilty of a serious offence by the court.
He added that even though it is premature to determine the charges Nana Appiah would be tried, he may be in for a long while if the defrauding by false pretence and money laundering offences for which an arrest warrant has been issued are proven.
“It will be important for example to know in detail the person who has made the complaint and the specific nature of the complaint. If you know that, then you will begin to appreciate the consequences that will follow. You may have defrauded by false pretences in an insignificant amount of money and you may have defrauded by false pretences over a significant amount of money.
“The source of the money can also become the main issue and in this circumstances…where issues of the potential money laundering charge that may also come. These are labelled in our law as serious offences and for as long as they are serious offences – a second-degree felony, you are looking generally about 10 years,†he told Raymond Acquah on UPfront.
He, however, added that the charges are going to be extremely difficult to prove or sustain for these customers who may have received benefits over five years and reinvested over and again.
Section 131 of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) stipulates “Whoever defrauds any person by any false pretence shall be guilty of a second-degree felony.â€
Mr Anyenini says once the specific offence committed is identified the exact demand of the police on NAM 1 will be clear.
However, he added that the law recommends a 10 year jail term, “but we may get to know, because we are hearing that there could be a money laundering matter and several other issues that have to do with serious crimes and therefore it may be premature to look at it within the confines of defrauding by false pretences rather than some other more serious felonies.â€
Nana Appiah Mensah is currently the most wanted man in Ghana as an Accra Circuit Court has issued a warrant for his arrest. The Circuit Court, which issued the warrant for the arrest of the CEO of the gold dealership company, said NAM 1, as he is popularly called, is wanted for defrauding by false pretence. He is also wanted for money laundering.
He current location is unknown but grapevine say he is either in Nigeria or South Africa.
Actress Ashley Judd’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has been dismissed by a Los Angeles federal court.
Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled on Wednesday that Ms Judd’s allegations did not fall within the scope of the statute under which she had sued.
But Ms Judd’s defamation claim, that Mr Weinstein had sabotaged her career, may still proceed, the judge said.
Mr Weinstein denies all allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation.
Ms Judd’s sexual harassment lawsuit was re-filed following a change in California state law after her initial claim was rejected by Judge Gutierrez last September.
She alleges she rejected unwanted advances from him and he then tried to wreck her career.
But in a statement late on Wednesday, Judge Gutierrez said the law that deals with sexual misconduct claims in professional relationships, which was revised to include directors and producers, could not be applied retrospectively to Ms Judd’s case.
Mr Weinstein’s lawyer, Phyllis Kupferstein, welcomed the judge’s decision.
“We have said from the beginning that this claim was unjustified, and we are pleased that the court saw it as we did” she said in a statement, adding: “We believe that we will ultimately prevail on her remaining claims.”
However, Ms Judd’s claim that the Oscar-winning producer “blackballed” her after she refused his advances would still be heard, Judge Gutierrez said.
That part of her lawsuit states that “Weinstein used his power in the entertainment industry to damage Ms Judd’s reputation and limit her ability to find work”.
In 2017, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson said he had been considering Ms Judd for a role in the 2002 film but that she was “blacklisted” following conversations with the Weinstein Company.
He said that Mr Weinstein had warned him that the actress was a “nightmare” to work with.
Mr Weinstein, however, said he had no role in Mr Jackson’s casting and denied trying to derail Ms Judd’s career.
The producer still faces a separate, criminal case involving five allegations of sexual assault, including rape. His lawyers have argued that civil cases should not be heard until the criminal investigation is concluded.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, are to divorce after a 25-year marriage.
The pair announced the move in a joint statement on Wednesday on Twitter.
“After a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends,” the couple said in the statement.
Amazon, formed 25 years ago, this week eclipsed Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable listed company.
Mr Bezos, 54, who founded Amazon, is the world’s wealthiest man according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, with an estimated wealth of $137bn, some $45bn ahead of Bill Gates.
The 48-year-old MacKenzie Bezos is a novelist, the author of The Testing of Luther Albright (2005) and Traps (2013).
“We feel incredibly lucky to have found each other and deeply grateful for every one of the years we have been married to each other,” the couple’s statement said.
“If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again. We’ve had such a great life together as a married couple and we also see wonderful futures ahead, as parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects, and as individuals pursuing ventures and adventures.
“Though the labels might be different, we remain a family, and we remain cherished friends.”
Last year they launched a charity project together, the Day One Fund, with the aim of helping homeless families and building pre-schools in low-income communities.
The couple have four children – three sons, and an adopted daughter.
US media report that Mr Bezos has been romantically involved with a former Fox TV host, Lauren Sánchez.
The leadership of Queen Mothers of Ghana has beseeched President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to consider appointing them to serve on Boards of State Institutions in order to contribute their quota to the development of Ghana.
The leader of the delegation Nana Abena Boatemah told the president during a call on him at the Jubilee House that the Association is blessed with women who are knowledgeable and are ready to make positive contributions to the development of the.
The Queen Mothers also prayed the President to find ways by which he can compel the National House of Chiefs which is currently male-dominated to admit Queen Mothers to be part of the House of Chiefs in order to make the affirmative action drive a reality as far as Queen Mothers are concerned.
The association is operating under the name: “National Council of Women Traditional Leadersâ€.
In response, President Akufo-Addo said he will entreat the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei Opare, who was present at the meeting, to give consideration to their request to be appointed to serve on boards of State Institutions.
On the issue of serving on the National House of Chiefs, the President indicated that Chiefs who serve on the National House of Chiefs have previously registered their displeasure at the call to have Queen Mothers as members of the various Houses of Chiefs in the country.
The President, therefore, called for broader consultations with the Chiefs to find a solution to the issue.
The delegation
The delegation included Presidents of all 10 Regional Queen Mothers Associations in the country. From the Upper East Region, POGNAA Alsong-Tumpaahi Ayamga, Upper West, Halakoro Hajaratu Liman, Northern Region, Kansawurche V.A. Bukari, and from the Brong Ahafo, Nana Abena Boatemah.
The rest are from the Ashanti Region, Nana Ajarko Diffie, Western Region, Awulae Ndebozuma, Central Region, Nana Ama Amisah, Eastern Region , Nana Adutwuwaa Dokua and Volta Region, Mamaga Toleyfoe V.
The Ghana Education System (GES) has corrected some misconceptions surrounding the Double-Track School Calendar and the Semester System introduced at the beginning of the 2018/2019 academic year for Senior High Schools.
It said it was inaccurate for anybody to state that students under the Double-Track System were expected to spend only 81 days in a year of 365 days.
These were contained in a release signed by Ms. Cassandra Twum Ampofo, Head of Public Relations Unit of GES.
Management stated that each academic year was made up of two semesters totaling eight (8) months of schooling or 162 Teaching Days.
“Teaching days is the number of days students will actually be in class during the year. This excludes weekends and public holidays. Teaching Days is a technical term not to be confused with calendar days which include weekends and public holidays,†it explained.
Students of the Double-Track (GREEN & GOLD) are expected to run three (3) academic years like any other second cycle student before writing their final examinations.
In effect, students on the Double-Track System will be expected to have 486 teaching days in their academic work before writing their final year exams and not 81 days.
The release said the introduction of the Semester System and the Double-Track School Calendar had increased the number of hours of instruction in an academic year for all students, hence the double-track system.
Under the previous trimester system, the total number of hours students spent in the classroom for one academic year was 1,080 hours, it noted.
It said with the new Semester system, the total number of hours students are expected to spend in the classroom for one academic year is 1,134 hours, an increase of 54 hours a year.
It is important, therefore, for the public as well as all stakeholders to adequately inform and educate themselves before making public comments on the Free Senior High School and the Double-Track System, the release emphasized.
Former Central Regional Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Bernard Allotey Jacobs says he will join forces to resist any attempts by the Akufo-Addo government to relocate the Coastal Development Authority situated in the Central Region.
According to him, it appears everything is centralized in Accra, the capital city of Ghana and so he wouldn’t allow the government to take the one significant thing that belongs to the Central Region.
He told sit-in host Nana Yaw Kesseh on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ that he has got hints of the move by government, but should they advance their plans, he won’t hesitate to incite the masses in the Region against the government.
He stressed that he will incite the people with every ounce of energy in him “and we will march to the streets”.
“We will not accept the removal of the Coastal Authority from Cape Coast to Accra. We will not. I will incite the people of Central Region and we will march to the streets. And I hope President Nana Akufo-Addo will not allow this,” he warned.
President Akufo-Addo created the Coastal Development Authority, together with the Middle Belt and Northern Development Authorities, and tasked them to implement the Infrastructure for the Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP).
The development authorities were passed into law in November 2017.
The aim of the Authority is to champion the welfare the fisher folks in the country.
In the early hours of Thursday the head of DR Congo’s National Electoral Commission (Ceni), Corneille Nangaa, said Mr Tshisekedi had received 38.5% of the vote and had been “provisionally declared the elected president”.
The full results were, with turnout reportedly 48%:
Felix Tshisekedi – 7 million votes Martin Fayulu – 6.4 million votes Emmanuel Shadary – 4.4 million votes What’s the reaction been? Mr Tshisekedi, who is the son of late veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, told supporters at his Union for Democracy and Social Progress party headquarters in Kinshasa that Mr Kabila should no longer be seen as a rival.
“I pay tribute to President Joseph Kabila and today we should no longer see him as an adversary, but rather, a partner in democratic change in our country,” he said.
Mr Tshisekedi has promised to make the fight against poverty his priority.
Mr Fayulu, a former oil tycoon, dismissed the results as having “nothing to do with the truth”.
“The Congolese people will never accept such a fraud,” he told the BBC, adding: “Felix Tshisekedi never got 7 million votes. Where did he get them from?”
And France appeared to back him: the foreign ministry said the announced results did not reflect the vote.
How will Congolese citizens react?
Analysis by Louise Dewast, BBC News, in Kinshasa
This is a historic moment for Mr Tshisekedi’s party, the UDPS, who have tried unsuccessfully to win power for decades.
But in recent days, rumours of a deal between Mr Tshisekedi and Mr Kabila have raised concerns among other members of the opposition. Mr Tshisekedi himself has acknowledged talks with the ruling party to prepare a transition of power.
Candidates can appeal results if they wish and the final decision will be announced by the constitutional court.
The big question now is how the country will react. There are serious concerns of unrest if people conclude that results have lacked in credibility.
The Catholic Church, which deployed the largest number of election observers, has warned they will reject any results they believe to be fraudulent.
On Wednesday, anti-riot police were deployed in the capital, Kinshasa, amid fears that a disputed result could trigger violence.
Polling at the end of last month was marred by allegations of vote-rigging. The influential Catholic Church warned that there had been irregularities.
The leaders of Zambia and South Africa urged officials to release the tally quickly to avoid growing suspicion around the poll, which has been marred by allegations of fraud.
The Central Bank has denied playing any direct role in the selection of five banks for recapitalization under the Ghana Amalgamated Trust (GAT).
GAT is an arrangement of private pension funds to inject GH¢2 billion into supporting solvent and well-run indigenous banks, which were otherwise having difficulties meeting the new minimum capital requirement of GH¢400 million.
The banks are the merged Omni/Sahel Sahara Bank, Universal Merchant Bank, Prudential Bank, ADB and NIB.
Following the announcement of the package on January 4, 2018, the Central Bank came under heavy accusation for eliminating some local banks from benefiting under the scheme.
But Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Ernest Addison says they had no direct role in the selection process, saying: “We have not played a direct role but we supported the initiative.â€
Following the recapitalisation exercise that ended at the close of business on 31st December 2018, there are now 23 universal banks operating in Ghana. These banks have all met the new minimum paid-up capital of GHC400 million.
According to the Central Bank, 16 banks of the 23 met the new minimum paid-up capital requirement of GH¢400 million mainly through capitalisation of income surplus and fresh capital injection.
Three have also met the new minimum capital requirement through a merger. They are; First Atlantic Merchant Bank Limited and Energy Commercial Bank, Omni Bank and Sahel Sahara and First National Bank and GHL Bank.
The rests are ADB, NIB, Universal Merchant Bank, and Prudential Bank.
A Saudi woman who fled her family and refused to leave a Bangkok hotel has been declared a legitimate refugee by the UN, the Australian government says.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, refused to board a flight from Bangkok to Kuwait on Monday and barricaded herself into her airport hotel room.
She said she feared her family would kill her for renouncing Islam.
Thai immigration officials had initially said she should return to Kuwait.
Officials in Australia have hinted that her request will be accepted.
“If she is found to be a refugee, then we will give very, very, very serious consideration to a humanitarian visa,” health minister Greg Hunt told the ABC news agency before the UN determination was made public.
Ms Mohammed a-Qunun shared dozens of live updates on her case on social media, attracting international attention.
The cases of Saudi stand-up comedian Fahad al-Butairi and his wife, Loujain al-Hathloul, a women’s right-to-drive activist, who were arrested in 2018, has resurfaced following a Twitter thread detailing their disappearance.
In a series of tweets, American writer and television producer Kirk Rudell spoke about his friendship with the Saudi couple who tried to challenge the kingdom’s strict social rules.
The tweets about their disappearance went viral, spotlighting Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on activists and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October last year.
Rudell tweeted about messages he shared with the couple after meeting them in Los Angeles a few years ago.
“I’d like to see what they could do in this world, if they were given the chance,” said Rudell, adding, “I’d like to have that dinner with them some day.”
In a follow-up tweet, Rudell said he was “overwhelmed” by the response to his tweets, including one from California Congressman Adam Schiff, who said he would contact Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States about the case.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the interest in and support of this story. It has been humanity-affirming and the best possible expression of Twitter in action. My intention was to bring the plight of Fahad and Loujain to the attention of people who can do more for them than tweet,” he wrote.
Both Butairi, 33, and Hathloul, 29, were arrested in 2018. Butairi’s whereabouts are unknown, while Halthloul remains incarcerated.
Hathloul was among a group of more than a dozen Saudi women’s right-to-drive activists detained and allegedly tortured by electrocution, flogging, and sexual harassment, according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
For years, she advocated for the women’s right to drive in the kingdom, and in 2013, actively participated in a campaign where she posted videos of herself driving in an attempt to encourage women to do the same.
With an active social media presence, the 29-year-old had been arrested several times for defying the now-lifted ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia.
Most of them campaigned for the right to drive and an end to the kingdom’s male guardianship system, which requires women to obtain the consent of a male relative for major decisions.
A couple years ago, when I was writing for American Dad!, I needed an Arabic speaker for a small part. Our casting director recommended a Saudi comedian, who happened to be in LA for a couple months shooting a tv show. His name is Fahad Albutairi.
Theresa May is launching a fresh push to convince MPs to back her Brexit deal as they begin five days of debate.
The prime minister cancelled a vote on her deal last month at the last minute to avoid a humiliating defeat.
She is hoping new proposals on Northern Ireland will change enough MPs’ minds to save the deal.
But the DUP have already rejected the plans – and rebel Tories are planning a move that could give MPs more say over what happens if her deal is rejected.
The MPs, headed by former Tory ministers Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve, helped inflict a defeat on the government on Tuesday on an amendment aimed at making it more difficult to leave the EU without a deal.
Now they are planning to table another amendment that could open up alternatives to Mrs May’s deal if she loses next week’s vote.
Labour has, meanwhile, said it will table a motion of no confidence in the government if Mrs May’s deal is voted down next week.
It comes as ministers publish plans to give the Northern Ireland assembly in Stormont the power to vote against new EU rules if the border backstop comes into force after Brexit.
Mrs May is hoping that giving a greater role to the devolved government, which is currently suspended, will help her win the support of the Democratic Unionist Party for her Brexit deal.
But the DUP’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson said the proposals were “meaningless” and had “no real significance”.
Mrs May’s de facto second-in-command David Lidington said he “would have been surprised had this document of itself been sufficient to shift their position”.
But he said the government would be coming forward with further proposals in the run-up to next week’s vote.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said he was “confident” Mrs May’s Brexit deal would pass the vote, arguing that the only alternatives were a no-deal Brexit which would cause economic damage or “no Brexit”.
The UK Parliament passed legislation last year stating that the UK would leave the European Union on 29 March – two years after negotiations on its exit began.
As things stand, the UK will leave without a deal if Mrs May’s deal is rejected.
Brexiteer Conservatives argue that this would be better than Mrs May’s deal, but a cross-party group of MPs are attempting to use Parliamentary tactics to prevent it.
On the eve of Wednesday’s debate, the government suffered an embarrassing defeat when 20 Tory MPs joined forces with Labour to signal their opposition to a no-deal Brexit.
A host of former ministers, including Michael Fallon, Justine Greening and Sir Oliver Letwin, voted to amend the finance bill to restrict the ability of the Treasury to make tax changes in the event of a no deal – and threatened to target other legislation in the coming months.
The same alliance of cross-party MPs will later seek to push through an amendment that would oblige Mrs May to return to the Commons within three days with a fresh plan.
It would also enable MPs to table their own alternatives to Mrs May’s plan, which could include another referendum or measures to prevent a no-deal Brexit. The amendment to a procedural business motion, which must be selected for debate by Commons Speaker John Bercow, is due at about 13:00 GMT, after Mrs May faces Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister’s Questions.
If MPs approve the business motion, the debate on the terms of the UK’s withdrawal and future relations with the EU will continue on Thursday, Friday and Monday before concluding on Tuesday, when Mrs May is expected to address MPs before the vote.
The BBC’s assistant political editor Norman Smith said ministers were under no illusion about the scale of opposition they face – but hoped to gradually chip away at the numbers ranged against them with a series of reassurances over the Northern Ireland backstop.
Further measures are expected to guarantee access to British markets and minimise any divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
The DUP and many Tory MPs object to the backstop, a contingency plan agreed by the UK in December 2017 which the EU has said is necessary in case the two sides do not agree their future relationship or another solution by the end of 2020.
They want the backstop to be removed entirely or a legal guarantee that the UK will be able to leave it unilaterally at a time of its choosing.
The 63-year-old will be formally sentenced at a hearing on 11 February.
There was no immediate comment from the Iranian authorities.
Ever since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when religious hardliners came to power, Iran’s leaders have called for Israel’s elimination. Iran rejects Israel’s right to exist, considering it an illegitimate occupier of Muslim land.
In 2005, Segev was given a five-year prison sentence after being convicted of trying to smuggle 30,000 ecstasy pills from the Netherlands to Israel using a diplomatic passport with a falsified expiry date.
He also had his licence to practice medicine revoked, but he was allowed to work as a doctor in Nigeria when he moved there after his release from jail in 2007.
Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, said in June that Segev had confessed to making contact with Iranian embassy officials in Nigeria in 2012 and visiting Iran twice to meet his handlers.
He was allegedly was given a classified communications system to send coded messages and passed on “information related to the energy sector, security sites in Israel and officials in political and security institutions”.
While Segev admitted to the charge of espionage, he reportedly told investigators that he had been trying to “fool the Iranians and come back to Israel a hero”.
An initial charge of “assisting an enemy during a time of war” was removed from his indictment as part of his plea bargain.
Further details of the case remain under a gag order.
“The district attorney’s office wants to reveal more details about the affair, and once it’s out, it will be clear that Segev indeed had contacts with Iranians, but not to aid them,” Segev’s legal team told the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
“That is why the treason charge was removed from the amended indictment.”
US President Donald Trump has made his first TV address to the nation from the Oval Office, escalating a stand-off with Congress that has led to an 18-day partial government shutdown.
Mr Trump insisted on funding for his long-promised US-Mexico border wall.
However, he did not declare an emergency that would enable him to bypass the lower house of Congress now controlled by the opposition Democrats.
Democratic leaders accused him of holding the American people hostage.
The Republican president wants $5.7bn (£4.5bn) to build a steel barrier, which would deliver on his signature campaign pledge.
But Democrats – who recently took control of the House of Representatives – are adamantly opposed to giving him the funds.
The ongoing closure of a quarter of federal agencies is the second-longest in history, leaving hundreds of thousands of government workers unpaid.
What did President Trump say?
In an eight-minute address on Tuesday night carried live by all the major US television networks, Mr Trump said the federal government remained shut because of the Democrats.
He said of the situation at the border: “This is a humanitarian crisis, a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul.”
Mr Trump said an as-yet-unratified revamp of the North American Free Trade Agreement would pay for the wall, a claim previously disputed by economists.
The president also said that 90% of heroin sold in the US came from Mexico, though US government figures make clear all but a small percentage is smuggled through legal points of entry.
Mr Trump correctly pointed out that Democrats have in the past supported a physical barrier.
In 2006, senators Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden voted in favour of 700 miles (1,120km) of fencing on the nearly 2,000-mile border under the Secure Fence Act.
Mr Trump cited cases of American citizens “savagely murdered in cold blood” by undocumented immigrants.
“How much more American blood will be shed before Congress does its job?” he asked.
On Wednesday, he will seek to stiffen the resolve of fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill before hosting congressional leaders for talks at the White House.
Mr Trump heads to the south-western border on Thursday.
How did Democrats respond?
In a brief rebuttal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer demanded that Mr Trump end the shutdown.
Mrs Pelosi said: “The fact is the women and children at the border are not a security threat, they are a humanitarian challenge.”
The California congresswoman added: “And the fact is President Trump must stop holding the American people hostage, must stop manufacturing a crisis, and must reopen the government.”
Mr Schumer accused Mr Trump of trying to “govern by temper tantrum”.
“President Trump has appealed to fear, not facts. Division, not unity,” the New York senator said.
He concluded: “The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a 30-foot wall.”
Democrats argue that maintenance of existing border fencing, hi-tech tools to scan vehicles crossing at ports of entry, and hiring more personnel would be cheaper and more effective than a wall.
Playing for time
There were two audiences for Donald Trump’s address to the nation on Tuesday night. The first was the American public, which polls indicate are generally uninterested in his border wall proposal and view the president as responsible for the government shutdown. The other was Republicans in Congress, who Mr Trump needs to keep in the fold if he is going to get anything out of this extended political confrontation.
It seems unlikely that the president said anything that will move the needle with the public at large. The arguments were familiar – and some have already been debunked. The president has been saying there’s a “crisis” at the border practically since he first started campaigning for president.
As for congressional Republicans, the speech was a demonstration that Mr Trump is going to use every arrow in his presidential quiver to get his wall.
The president may have bought himself a bit more time for negotiations. It’s just not clear what good it will do him.
What’s the reality at the border?
Though both Democrats and Republicans agree more border security is needed, critics have accused Mr Trump of greatly exaggerating the problem.
The number of illegal border crossings is down from 1.6 million in 2000 to fewer than 400,000 last year.
And research indicates that undocumented immigrants are much less likely to commit crime than native-born American citizens.
The White House suggested at the weekend that thousands of terrorists were caught attempting to cross the US-Mexico border, but in fact all but a handful were stopped at airports.
How much support does President Trump have?
Mr Trump is backed by most of his party, though on Tuesday moderate Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats in calling for an end to the shutdown before the border wall issue is resolved.
Her fellow Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Cory Gardner of Colorado, issued similar appeals last week.
A new opinion poll suggests just over half of Americans (51%) blame President Trump for the government shutdown.
However, 77% of Republicans said they supported his refusal to approve a budget without taxpayer dollars for the US-Mexico border wall, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll.
What would an emergency declaration achieve?
Though Mr Trump did not declare a national emergency on Tuesday night, analysts say he may still do so before the impasse comes to an end.
Such a dramatic escalation of the standoff might allow him to access military spending to fund his barrier, which remains un-built two years into his presidency.
But the president would be accused of usurping Congress’s constitutional power of the purse, and the move would be bogged down in a quagmire of legal challenges.
Some correspondents have speculated that he may ultimately resort to such a declaration as a last-ditch tactic to allow him to reopen the government without losing face to Democrats.
Their meeting started on Tuesday evening and could last two or three days.
A spokesperson for the electoral commission has told BBC News that deliberations usually take between 24 and 48 hours, however they said that there are no limitations and the board will announce provisional results when they are ready.
Anderlecht striker Dauda Mohammed is set to join Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem on loan for the rest of the season, GHANASoccernet.com can exclusively reveal.
The Vitas have an option to sign the former Asante Kotoko forward on a permanent basis in the summer if he excels.
The former Ghana youth international did not travel with the Anderlecht squad o on Monday to San Pedro del Pinatar for their winter training.
The year 2018 ended with a slight increase in inflation rate to 9.4% for the month of December compared with 9.3% in November 2018.
The monthly change rate in December 2018 was 1.1 percent as against 0.7 percent in November 2018.
According to the Acting Government Statistician, David Kombat, the slight hike in inflation for December can be attributed to the marginal hike in transport fares and spare parts.
“If you look at the Upper West Region, for example, we see that consistently when there is a change in fuel price or not, the inflation rate for transport is always the cause of the increase in their rates. The cost of Spare parts has also had a trickling down effect on the overall year – on – year inflation rate,†he stated.
The price drivers for the food inflation rate were Coffee, tea and cocoa (13.5 percent), Fruits (11.4 percent), Meat products (10.9 percent) and Mineral water, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices (9.2 percent).
Meanwhile, five regions (Upper West, Being Ahafo, Western, Ashanti and Northern) recorded inflation rates above the national average of 9.4 percent.
The Upper West region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 11.4%, followed by the Brong Ahafo region, while the Upper East region recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation rate of 7.5% in December 2018.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the change over time in the general price level of goods and services that households acquire for the purpose of consumption with reference to the price level in 2012.
It is measured in two ways which include annual and monthly. Monthly change rate measures the change in the average price level between the current month and the previous month whiles the annual rate is the measure of a twelve month period.
Asante Kotoko will not travel to Cameroon on the Executive Chairman Dr Kwame Kyei’s commercial aircraft due to their inability to secure the requisite clearance to fly outside Ghana.
The Porcupine Warriors were due to leave Ghana for Cameroon on Thursday with the Unity Air but the latest development has forced the side to alter their plans.
Chairman Dr. Kwamy Kyei late last year launched his Unity airline which is originally certified commercially fly within Ghana.
There were however attempts to get the aircraft cleared for international trips purposely for Kotoko to use as a charter for a round trip to Cameroon.
These attempts to have the 30-passenger aircraft cleared has however been turned down.
This means Kotoko must now make alternative arrangements to have their team airlifted to Cameroon for the first leg of the playoff tie against Cotton Sport.
Kotoko will play Coton Sport on Sunday January 13, with the return leg at the Baba Yara Stadium in a week’s later.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has received 26 Nissan pick-up trucks from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for onward distribution to various districts.
GHS took delivery of the vehicles on 4 January 2018 to support healthcare delivery in the three regions of the north.
The beneficiary districts include:
*Upper East:
Pusiga Binduri Nabdam Kassena Nankana West Bawku Municipal Bolgatanga Municipal Builsa North Builsa South Bongo District
*Upper West:
Sissala West Wa East Wa West Jirapa Daffiama Bussie Issa Nadowli-Kaleo Lambussie Sissala East
*Northern:
Mion District Sawla/Tuna/Kalba District Karaga District Saboba District Central Gonja District Chereponi District East Gonja District Zabuzugu District
The Director-General of GHS, Dr. Anthony-Nsiah Asare revealed that with this support, all districts in the Upper West Region now have been fully covered with a pick-up.
“Ghana, as you know, is poised to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) at primary healthcare level by 2020 ahead of the deadline of 2030 through the support of partners and other stakeholders,” he added.
He also asked the Regional Directors to note that the vehicles are by no means personal vehicles for District Directors, and as such, under no circumstances should they be misapplied. Managers have been entreated to ensure safety and regular maintenance of the vehicles.
The Director-General gave the assurance that the allocation letters of the vehicles will soon be sent to the managers, indicating the comprehensive insurance premium payable and the date for collection.
The GHS extended its heartfelt gratitude to JICA for the vehicles.
They all pleaded not guilty to the charges in the court presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh and were granted bail.
Doris was granted bail in the sum of GH?170,000.00 with two sureties, while Stephen and Rita were granted bail in the sum of GH?90,000.00 each with two sureties each.
The court also ordered the prosecution to initiate the process to file witness statements and serve lawyers of the accused as well.
The case has been adjourned to January 23 this year.
The prosecutor, Superintendent Emelia Asante, told the court that the complainant in the case is the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
She said in January 2018, a 40-footer container with goods belonging to Doris arrived at the Tema Port for it to be cleared.
She said the container was supposed to have been moved from terminal TCT to Terminal BMT where the documents and duties would have been processed and paid for by Doris.
The prosecution said Stephen, with the connivance of two others, namely Darlington Kotey and Nana, now at large, fraudulently moved the container from the TCT terminal but did not transfer same to the BMT terminal as the case should have been.
The prosecution said they rather smuggled the container out of the Tema Port to James Town through a driver of Doris.
She said Doris received the goods without any documents covering them and quickly gave them to her customers.
The prosecution alleged that Doris, who has been in the import business for a long time, gave Rita an amount of GH?55,000.00 to be used in clearing the goods.
Superintendent Asante said Rita admitted having received the said money from Doris but alleged that she also gave it out to Darlington for him to clear the goods since she (Rita) was specialized mainly in the clearing of cars.
She said Stephen, who works with BMT terminal at the port as a clearing agent, used his identity card to facilitate the release of the container from TCT to BMT Terminal.
A suspected robber last Sunday lost his life when he was hit by a warning shot fired by a police patrol team after he allegedly snatched a mobile phone from a student who was returning home from a party at about 2 a.m. near Manet on the Spintex Road, Accra.
The robber was a pillion rider on an unregistered motorbike allegedly used for snatching mobile phones in robbery expeditions by the two suspected robbers.
In an attempt by the police to arrest the suspects, the victim said, the police pursued them and fired warning shots but they failed to stop.
An eye witness said after the pillion rider was hit by the bullet, he fell from the motorbike but the rider did not stop even though he had also been hit.
Confirmation
When contacted, the Commander of the Operations Unit of the Accra Regional Police Command, Chief Superintendent of Police, Mr Kwasi Ofori, confirmed the incident.
He said the police found Amponsah who had called for help from some men who were suspected to be his accomplices, a few meters off the Spintex Road.
Amponsah and two of his accomplices were arrested and upon a search, a machete and a dagger were retrieved from them.
The motorbike has also been impounded, while the mobile phone which was snatched from the victim was also found in the pocket of the pillion rider after he had been shot by the police.
With the dust now settled on the clean-up of the universal banking sector, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has given the strongest indication that it is now set to fully turn its attention on the savings and loans companies in the country.
According to the central bank, it was ready to finalise the stock-taking exercise within the sector in its quest to ensure that those in operation meet all the requirements necessary per the demands of the law to be in business in that space.
The second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mrs Elsie Awadzie, announced this on an Accra radio station on Tuesday when she clarified some issues in relation to the shake-up in the universal banking space by the central bank.
“Now we are turning our attention to the savings and loans (S&L) companies to ensure that they are also doing the right thingâ€, she said.
According to her, after giving the companies in that space some time to clean up their institutions while the central bank dealt with the issues regarding the universal banks, it was time to take stock of their operations again and find out what they had been able to do over the period to clean up their operations.
Mrs Awadzie said the central bank was keen on assessing the state of the S&Ls and to ascertain which ones were solvent and then move in to sanitise the system where necessary.
She indicated that the central bank would not, under any circumstances, shield any insolvent S&L just as was done in the case of the universal banks that fell after the intensive restructuring and recapitalisation exercise.
“We have the interest of depositors at heart and we will not toy with the regulations. We do not want to see any more abuses in the system to set the economy backwardâ€, she said, adding that no matter how tedious the exercise will be, it will be carried out in the best interest of the sector.
Clean-up necessary
Meanwhile, banking consultant, Nana Otuo Acheampong, has welcomed the decision of the BoG to turn to the S&Ls for a clean-up of their operations.
“The decision has been on the table for some time but now that the central bank has completed work on the universal banks, it is time to turn to the S&Lsâ€, he said.
He said while the move was necessary, it was important for the central bank to also ensure that it protected the savings of depositors as per the directives from the Presidency.
Recapitalisation
On the recapitalisation of the S&Ls, he said there were proposals to raise the minimum capital to between GH¢40 million and GH¢50 million. He said although it had not yet been finalised, the decision was in the right direction.
Presently, the minimum capital for the S&Ls is GH¢15 million. Some players within the industry have argued that the proposed increase in the minimum capital was not necessary, considering the fact that they provide loans as low as GH¢200 to petty traders and, therefore, would not require that huge sum to work with.
They said players in the small business space depended mostly on their activities and, therefore, any attempt to do what would impact on their operations would have a ripple effect on the traders.
But Nana Otuo Acheampong disagreed, saying “if they want to have low capital, then they need to step down to play in the microfinance spaceâ€.
As to how the BoG should go about its exercise, he said the central bank could look at collapsing the most insolvent ones that cannot be salvaged or consolidate or supervise purchase and acquisitions.
“One or a combination will do for the sector but like I said, the exercise should be done in a manner to ensure that depositors are protectedâ€, he said.
Meanwhile, he urged players in the S&L space to consider merging their operations in order to make them stronger and to avoid falling under the hammer of the central bank.
Brief facts
Presently there are 37 savings and loans companies operating across the country. The latest entrant, GN Bank ,is yet to be fully accepted to be the 38th company in that space.
The minimum capital required presently to be an S&L in the country is GH¢15 million.
The highlight of his year was undoubtedly helping the Rojiblancos win the Uefa Europa League and the Black Stars qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with a match to spare.
The Best XI comprise Uganda and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Denis Onyango as goalkeeper, Cote d’Ivoire, and Tottenham Hotspur’s Serge Aurier as right-back, Morocco and Juventus’ Medhi Benatia and Cote d’Ivoire and Manchester United’s Eric Bailly as the centre-back pair and Senegal and Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly as left-back.
In midfield, Partey is joined by Guinea and Liverpool’s Naby Keita and Algeria and Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez.
Egypt and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who picked the flagship African Player of the Year award at the event, club-mate and Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Gabon and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang make up the attacking trio.
Partey was named in a preliminary 34-man roster unveiled for the African Player of the Year award in November but was missing when the list was whittled down to 10.
US President Donald Trump has made his first TV address to the nation from the Oval Office, escalating a stand-off with Congress that has led to an 18-day partial government shutdown.
Mr Trump insisted on funding for his long-promised US-Mexico border wall.
However, he did not declare an emergency that would enable him to bypass the lower house of Congress now controlled by the opposition Democrats.
Democratic leaders accused him of holding the American people hostage.
The Republican president wants $5.7bn (£4.5bn) to build a steel barrier, which would deliver on his signature campaign pledge.
But Democrats – who recently took control of the House of Representatives – are adamantly opposed to giving him the funds.
The ongoing closure of a quarter of federal agencies is the second-longest in history, leaving hundreds of thousands of government workers unpaid.
What did President Trump say?
In an eight-minute address on Tuesday night carried live by all the major US television networks, Mr Trump said the federal government remained shut because of the Democrats.
He said of the situation at the border: “This is a humanitarian crisis, a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul.”
Mr Trump said an as-yet-unratified revamp of the North American Free Trade Agreement would pay for the wall, a claim previously disputed by economists.
The president also said that 90% of heroin sold in the US came from Mexico, though US government figures make clear all but a small percentage is smuggled through legal points of entry.
Mr Trump correctly pointed out that Democrats have in the past supported a physical barrier.
In 2006, senators Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden voted in favour of 700 miles (1,120km) of fencing on the nearly 2,000-mile border under the Secure Fence Act.
Mr Trump cited cases of American citizens “savagely murdered in cold blood” by undocumented immigrants.
“How much more American blood will be shed before Congress does its job?” he asked.
On Wednesday, he will seek to stiffen the resolve of fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill before hosting congressional leaders for talks at the White House.
Mr Trump heads to the south-western border on Thursday.
How did Democrats respond?
In a brief rebuttal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer demanded that Mr Trump end the shutdown.
Mrs Pelosi said: “The fact is the women and children at the border are not a security threat, they are a humanitarian challenge.”
The California congresswoman added: “And the fact is President Trump must stop holding the American people hostage, must stop manufacturing a crisis, and must reopen the government.”
Mr Schumer accused Mr Trump of trying to “govern by temper tantrum”.
“President Trump has appealed to fear, not facts. Division, not unity,” the New York senator said.
He concluded: “The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a 30-foot wall.”
Democrats argue that maintenance of existing border fencing, hi-tech tools to scan vehicles crossing at ports of entry, and hiring more personnel would be cheaper and more effective than a wall.
Playing for time
There were two audiences for Donald Trump’s address to the nation on Tuesday night. The first was the American public, which polls indicate are generally uninterested in his border wall proposal and view the president as responsible for the government shutdown. The other was Republicans in Congress, who Mr Trump needs to keep in the fold if he is going to get anything out of this extended political confrontation.
It seems unlikely that the president said anything that will move the needle with the public at large. The arguments were familiar – and some have already been debunked. The president has been saying there’s a “crisis” at the border practically since he first started campaigning for president.
As for congressional Republicans, the speech was a demonstration that Mr Trump is going to use every arrow in his presidential quiver to get his wall.
The president may have bought himself a bit more time for negotiations. It’s just not clear what good it will do him.
What’s the reality at the border?
Though both Democrats and Republicans agree more border security is needed, critics have accused Mr Trump of greatly exaggerating the problem.
The number of illegal border crossings is down from 1.6 million in 2000 to fewer than 400,000 last year.
And research indicates that undocumented immigrants are much less likely to commit crime than native-born American citizens.
The White House suggested at the weekend that thousands of terrorists were caught attempting to cross the US-Mexico border, but in fact all but a handful were stopped at airports.
How much support does President Trump have?
Mr Trump is backed by most of his party, though on Tuesday moderate Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats in calling for an end to the shutdown before the border wall issue is resolved.
Her fellow Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Cory Gardner of Colorado, issued similar appeals last week.
A new opinion poll suggests just over half of Americans (51%) blame President Trump for the government shutdown.
However, 77% of Republicans said they supported his refusal to approve a budget without taxpayer dollars for the US-Mexico border wall, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll.
What would an emergency declaration achieve?
Though Mr Trump did not declare a national emergency on Tuesday night, analysts say he may still do so before the impasse comes to an end.
Such a dramatic escalation of the standoff might allow him to access military spending to fund his barrier, which remains un-built two years into his presidency.
But the president would be accused of usurping Congress’s constitutional power of the purse, and the move would be bogged down in a quagmire of legal challenges.
Some correspondents have speculated that he may ultimately resort to such a declaration as a last-ditch tactic to allow him to reopen the government without losing face to Democrats.
Politician, Hopeson Adorye who is now the husband of Gospel musician, Gifty Osei, has revealed that his love for the singer did not permit him to court her for a long time. According to him, he dated the singer for about three months.
In his speech at their very private December 28 wedding, Mr Adorye said he was in a hurry to marry her after she told him she was single.
“When she told me that she was single, I was excited because I am a divorcee and had eyes for her the very day I met her at an event she had come to perform at.
“You know I saw a ring on her finger that day and was scared she may belong to someone so I kept quiet but once in a while; I called her to find out if she was doing well. It was on one of these occasions that I got the courage to ask if she was married and she answered no.
“So trust me I did not want to waste any time at all because this was something I wanted the very day I set eyes on her so after a month of dating her, I went straight to do knocking and then thanks be to God, from October to December, here we are as husband and wife,” he said.
Mr Adorye continued, “I can tell everyone here with all sincerity that my heart is at peace knowing I have her now. In fact my children are very happy about us, they love her and her children love me too.
“This is the work of God. Another thing is that she has never asked me for anything before, nothing and for me it is a good thing.â€
Is his advice to people in relationships Mr Adorye said, “There is no point in saying I am with someone and I am studying the person, one year, two years, what are you studying? You just have to be vigilant and if you like it, just go in for it.â€
The Ministry of Business Development through the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan is poised to improve the livelihood of Ghanaians and support the creation of jobs for a prosperous Ghana.
This was revealed at a recent retreat which the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan and the Ministry of Business Development embarked on at the Volta Serene Hotel.
The retreat was led by the Minister of Business Development, Hon. Ibrahim Awal Mohammed, with all Staff of the Ministry and NEIP to review 2018 and set targets for 2019. All departments presented their reports to the Minister and ideas were generated and discussed on how to make the work of the Ministry and NEIP more impactful.
All this is geared towards actualizing and promoting the vision of His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo of making Ghana an Entrepreneurship driven nation and also to serve the people of Ghana better in 2019, the CEO, lawyer John Kumah has posited.
Opposition presidential candidate Martin Fayulu has warned election officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo not to “disguise the truth” as tensions mount over the delayed result.
Mr Fayulu said the “Congolese people already know” the result of the vote, which took place on 30 December.
The election outcome was initially expected to be announced on Sunday.
The poll is to establish a successor to Joseph Kabila, who is stepping down after 18 years as president.
Mr Kabila has promised that the polls, which were supposed to have taken place two years ago, will be DR Congo’s first orderly transfer of power since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960.
His preferred successor, former interior minister Emmanuel Shadary, is facing strong opposition from Mr Fayulu, an ex-oil tycoon, and Felix Tshisekedi, son of a veteran opposition leader.
On Tuesday, Mr Fayulu said DR Congo’s National Electoral Commission (Ceni) must “publish the provisional results of the presidential election in the near future,” adding: “The election results are not negotiable.”
The head of the electoral commission, Corneille Nangaa, earlier said that the results from a number of polling stations still needed to be counted.
Mr Nangaa, who has given no date for when provisional or final results would emerge, has said people need to be patient amid rising tensions over the delay.
Meanwhile the influential Catholic Church, which deployed 40,000 observers during the vote, said that it knows who won the election. Its statement has been condemned by officials in Mr Kabila’s government.
After last month’s vote, internet and text-messaging services were shut down nationwide in a move that the government said was necessary to guard against the spread of unofficial results.
Last week, US President Donald Trump announced that 80 troops had been sent to nearby Gabon because of the “possibility that violent demonstrations may occur” following DR Congo’s vote.
They would be deployed if needed to protect US citizens and diplomatic facilities in DR Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, he said.
Who is running for president?
There are 21 candidates, but three frontrunners:
Martin Fayulu: The ex-oil tycoon – worked for Exxon Mobil for 20 years and entered politics in 2006. He is known as the “people’s soldier” for leading protests against President Kabila.
Emmanuel Shadary: Kabila’s ‘hardline’ choice – an ex-interior minister who is under EU sanctions for alleged human rights violations in deadly crackdowns on protests. His ruthless reputation has earned him the nickname “Make It Happen”.
Felix Tshisekedi: The man trying to outdo his father – son of late veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, he has promised to make the fight against poverty his priority. Backed out of an opposition deal to have a unity candidate and ran on his own ticket with the backing of politician Vital Kamerhe.
What’s the background?
Mr Kabila took over from his assassinated father Laurent in 2001. He was elected in 2006, and secured another term in controversial elections in 2011.
He was barred from running for another term under the constitution, and was supposed to step down two years ago, but the election was postponed after the electoral commission said it needed more time to register voters.
A 40-year-old amputee was last Sunday beaten by a watermelon seller for setting fire on the grass and trees planted at the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange for beautification purposes.
The fight which lasted for about three minutes attracted some passers-by who attempted and failed to separate them.
Hawkers selling around the interchange have been accused of burning the grass for the past week but none of them has claimed responsibility.
A fire was set at a location close to the Villagio Estate recently which burnt the trees and grass planted by city authority.
According to the watermelon seller [Ama Sarpong], they have been on alert when they saw a cloud of thick smoke coming from near the footbridge so they went to the scene.
They surprisedly only met Baba Iddris, a beggar at the interchange, who was busily setting more fire.
Ms Sarpong told Joy News that her plea to stop Baba got him angry and he started insulting her with threats.
She said she is concerned that “we are in the harmattan season which is not safe for indiscriminate bush burning especially at the interchange where hundreds of vehicles stuck in traffic during the rush hours.â€
“The place was bushy and authorities are not coming to weed it…I, therefore, decided to burn it to drive away snakes and other reptiles,†Mr Iddris said in his defence.
In the process, there was a heated exchange of insults which generated into a fierce fight, which attracted passers-by.
The sound of it may be scary, especially to those who may be hearing it for the first time, but vaginal steaming has over the years evolved from being a mere cultural practice to be en vogue.
What really is vagina steaming and how is it done and to what end? What are the medical implications?
Adwoa Adobea Owusu visited a place in Accra where women can go and have their vagina steamed while being treated as a queen.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has rubbished claims by the current government that his administration left behind debts and empty coffers.
According to Mr. Mahama, it is untrue that the NPP government inherited nothing from the national kitty, therefore, such assertion must be corrected.
Addressing delegates of the NDC at Asankragwa as part of his five-day flagbearership campaign tour of the Western Region, Mr Mahama touched on money inherited from various sources by the NPP administration when they took over the affairs of country January 7, 2017.
He explained, his administration left behind 200 million US Dollars in the Ghana Infrastructure Development Fund, GHC700 million in the Road Fund and money from cocoa syndication, among others.
He said the loans taken by the NDC administration were invested in roads, water, education, hospitals and electricity, adding that there is nothing to show for all the money that the NPP has borrowed.
Mr Mahama was also unhappy that the government was selling fertilizer marked “not for sale†to cocoa farmers, even though his government distributed them free of charge to the farmers.
A Police officer, Sergeant Saviour Senaya, is alleged to have burnt the house of his girlfriend, Veronica Doh, at Adenta in the Greater Accra Region for breaking up with him.
According to an eyewitness, Israel Aboagye, the policeman came to the house early Sunday morning to look for the girlfriend with a polythene bag in hand but the lady had gone to church with the family.
The ammunition was discovered during a random search in the bus with registration number GR 4417-12 at the Nkwanta police barrier.
They [the ammunition] were concealed under a passenger seat and the boot of the vehicles.
DCOP Doku told Daniel Dadzie on Joy News Today, the driver Tony Kwaku Boadu and his conductor Samuel Larbi were arrested and are assisting with investigations.
“When the driver was quizzed, he indicated that someone gave the items to him at the terminal at Tudu in Accra to be handed over to another person at Kpassa,†he stated.
President of the Madina Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Prof Abdulai Salifu Asuro, has expressed concern about the low patronage of Science and Technology education at the tertiary level in Ghana.
According to him, even though Science and Technology education is very key to the development of Ghana, the private sector investors choose to invest little in it.
Prof Asuro who was speaking at a press conference in Accra stated that even though it is a challenge, his outfit (Madina Institute of Science and Technology) is determined to provide quality but affordable tertiary education in that regard to the people of Ghana and other African countries.
He said the school which is an off-shoot of the Madina Foundation for Science and Technology (MFST), is running educational institutions at various levels in the country for Ghanaians and students from other African countries.
“As key investors in the education sector, the directors of MFST saw the need to inculcate in Ghanaian and African youth, great academic credentials coupled with a high degree of moral consciousness which would enable them to serve their communities with integrity, humility, selflessness, dedication and commitment,†he noted.
Having established several educational institutions in the country at the primary and secondary levels including one for orphans, Prof Asuro said, “MFST saw the establishment of a tertiary educational institution as a logical follow-up in their efforts to provide quality but affordable tertiary education to the people of Ghana and Africa at large.â€
Madina Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) is accredited by the National Accreditation Board to provide quality but affordable tertiary education to graduates with a unique orientation, graduates who will not only excel and rub shoulders with the best scholars globally.
MIST is affiliated to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST) for Engineering programmes (Oil & Gas Engineering, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering), and the University for Development Studies (UDS) for Business programmes (Marketing, Banking & Finance, Accountancy and Human Relations).
According to an eyewitness, identified only as Gabby, the deceased was shot together with a mechanic, Dennis Kojo, by the police, who visited the area following the snatching of a lady’s handbag by unknown persons.
Gabby, who was at the scene, stated: “What happened is that after searching me, they [police] brought a lady out to ask her if I’m the one who snatched the phone, and she said no. So, after searching me, they heard a motorbike coming around the corner, so, they quickly drove there and I heard gunshots. They were two, so, I rushed there to see who they shot, but they [police] didn’t allow me and many people were coming out to see who they shot, but they took him and put him in the van and drove off.”
Narrating the incident to ClassFMonline.com, brother of the deceased, Gameli Akuinor, said: “The whole of Saturday, we tried calling him [Divine] but he wasn’t picking up. My sister sent a WhatsApp message around 6 p.m. asking if he was with me because I don’t live with them, but I said no. My mum called around 8 p.m. to find out again but I said no he wasn’t. The following day, I called around 5 a.m. and they said he had not returned. I went there and when I got there, I went to his room, his fan was on, the TV was on, which meant he was only taking a stroll.
“We went to GREDA Estates Police station and met one Christine Manu, who was jovial about the whole thing that he is an adult and he was going to get back home, but we were sceptical because it was unlike him, so, we lodged a complaint and went to the Nungua police station, where I spoke to one gentleman and learnt that there was an incident, so, he called one Mr Arhinful, who sent the pictures of my dead brother. When I saw it, I just shook my head.
“Apparently, a lady had lodged a complaint with the police about her missing handbag which was snatched from her by unknown persons. The police patrol team came around the area and shot Divine and Kojo after carrying out a search.
“Divine got shot twice and died, according to an eye witness.â€
German champions Bayern Munich have made a fourth bid for English born Ghanaian youngster Calum Hudson-Odoi believed to be around £35m.
According reports in the UK, Bayern’s £30m bid on Monday evening was rejected but the Bavarians continued with their pursuit of the 18 year old with a fresh offer on Tuesday.
The FIFA U-17 World Cup winner impressed for the Blues on Saturday in their FA Cup win over Nottingham Forrest, creating both assits for Alvaro Morata’s brace.
The Bavarians buoyed by the success of Jadon Sancho at Borussia Dortmund, have already seen offers of £13.5m, £20m and £30m rejected by Chelsea.
Ex-staff of some banks whose licenses were withdrawn by the Bank of Ghana will be paid “purely on humanitarian grounds,†the regulator has said.
Elsie Awadzi, deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, indicated that the regular is not under any obligation to pay the affected staff who have told stories of hardship since the August 1, 2017 lay-offs.
“If there are any unpaid salaries before these banks exited they become claims on the book of the receiver,†Awadzi said on the Super Morning Show on Tuesday.
Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Elsie Awadzi.
By the receiver, she was referring to two Directors of audit firm, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), Eric Nana Nipah and Vish Ashiagbor.
They were appointed by the central bank to officially supervise the winding down of business at the insolvent banks UT and Capital.
The receivers sacked all staff of the companies and the banks were later taken over by big player GCB.
Although an exit pay package has been agreed with the former employees, it is yet to be paid. They petitioned the president, Nana Akufo-Addo in May 2018 for an intervention and are yet to receive a response.
During its struggles, UT Bank received over 860m cedis while Capital bank got 610m cedis. Part of the combined 147bn cedis have been retrieved, Elsie Awadzi indicated.
The ex-Directors and shareholders of the defunct banks have been sued by the receiver in an attempt to recover the monies.
It is not known the quantum of severance pay to be paid or when it will be paid.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is reported to have said that the laid-off staff can expect payment by Christmas 2018.
The Deputy Governor, however, would only say the affected former employees can “hopefully†receive payment in six months.
Former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama has said he is very much persuaded that the NDC will win the 2020 general election.
Mr Mahama made this revelation when addressing the NDC party delegates and sympathizers in Wasa Amenfi East Constituency on Monday, January 7 as part of his Western Regional campaign tour ahead of the NDC presidential primaries to elect its party flagbearer to lead the party come 2020 slated for January 26, 2019.
According to the former president, the Akufo-Addo’s led administration has failed the good people of Ghana in discharging its 2016 campaign promises made such as one constituency, one million dollars, one district one factory, one village, one dam policy.
He accused the NPP government of collapsing the agricultural sector by non increment of cocoa prices for the past two years, selling subsidized cocoa fertilisers meant for free to farmers to boost cocoa production in the country.
Mr John Mahama who is contesting with other five in the party’s presidential primaries urged the national and constituency party executives to restructure the party and ensure unity to accelerate progression and admiration to guarantee victory in the upcoming general election which according to Mahama, power awaits NDC come 2020.
“Ghanaian’s eyes are on NDC. So let’s have our plans well because, 2020 by the grace of God as a Muslim says (×3) Insha Allah 2020 NDC will win the election”, he said.
Mr. John Mahama is continuing his campaign in the Region today, Tuesday, January 8, 2018 in Jomoro, Ellembelle, Evalue-Ajomoro Gwira, Ahanta West among other Constituencies.
Mr. Mahama is among other high profile aspirants within the NDC who have submitted nomination forms to contest including the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Sylvester Mensah, and Nadowli Kaleo MP, Alban Bagbin.
Other aspirants are Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah; a former Trade and Industry Minister; Former Vice Chancellor of the University for Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Prof. Joshua Alabi, Goosie Tanoh and Nurudeen Iddrisu.
Original host nation Cameroon was stripped of staging the tournament in November because of slow preparations.
Egypt, which will host the tournament for a fifth time, has just six months to prepare for the expanded 24-team finals, which kick off in June.
Caf has since offered Cameroon the chance to stage the finals in two years’ time, which has meant that the original hosts for both the 2021 and 2023 finals have been asked to delay their tournaments.
Caf had originally planned to name the new hosts on Wednesday 9 January.
Ivory Coast, which was set to host the 2021, has protested the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Guinea’s football federation announced on Monday that it has agreed to move its staging of the Nations Cup from 2023 to 2025.
The successful bidder for this year’s finals will have just six months to prepare for the 24-team finals, which are scheduled to run between 15 June and 13 July.
Tuesday’s announcement will take place in the Senegalese capital Dakar, which will host Caf’s annual awards ceremony later in the day.
Egypt’s Mohamed Salah is looking to retain his title as he takes on Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Senegal’s Sadio Mane for the African Player of the Year award.
