Communication Team Member of Asante Kotoko, Countryman Songo has recounted how coach Prosper Narteh Ogum announced his resignation to the management and board of the club during a meeting.
Dr. Prosper Narteh Ogum according to Countryman Songo announced his resignation as Asante Kotoko coach to the Board and Management during a zoom technical meeting on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.
Claiming that Ogum was disrespectful in the said meeting, the Fire for Fire show host said the former WAFA coach after raising his voice severally in the meeting thanked some board and management members while adding that he has resigned despite efforts to get him to retract the statement.
“There was a meeting and we (Management) presented what you gave us to the Board and they called you to also come and have your say. He joined the meeting initially but the Board told him to wait until we are done with our presentation before he can join. He started saying all sorts of things as if he has been told to resign the moment he joined the meeting after our presentation.”
“He just thanked some Board and Management Members and said that he has resigned and he can’t continue with the job. Even the way he resigned was not proper per how he spoke. Nobody sacked him from the job.”
“Just because he was not allowed to get his way during the meeting. Even Man United don’t get all their targets in a transfer window. He wanted everyone to keep quiet for only him to talk”
He added that the club has accepted the resignation of coach Ogum and will move on from him.
“The Management has accepted his resignation and we won’t go back to him. We won’t allow Ogum to intimidate the Board and Management for him to be allowed to do what he wants to do in the club.”
“You can’t disrespect the Board and Management at a meeting and we will come and beg you to come back. He was just afraid to go to Africa and defend the league title that he won,” Countryman Songo.
ItalianPrime Minister Mario Draghi handed in his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday after his unity government fell apart, plunging the country into political turmoil and hitting financial markets.
Mattarella’s office said in a statement that the head of state had “taken note” of the resignation and asked Draghi to remain in a caretaker capacity.
The statement did not say what Mattarella would do next. Political sources said earlier this week that he would likely dissolve parliament and call early elections in October.
Mattarella plans to meet the speakers of both houses of parliament on Thursday afternoon.
Italy’s coalition crumbled on Wednesday when three of Draghi’s main partners snubbed a confidence vote he had called to try to end divisions and renew their fractious alliance.
The political crisis has up-ended months of stability in Italy, during which the respected former central banker Draghi had helped shape Europe’s tough response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and had boosted the country’s standing in financial markets.
Italian bond and stocks sold off sharply on Thursday just as markets were bracing for the first interest rate hike from the European Central Bank since 2011.
In early trade, benchmark 10-year Italian bonds yields soared over 20 basis points to their highest in over three weeks and Italian stocks (.FTMIB) opened down 1.8%.
“It is a big blow to Italy’s ability to deliver policies and reforms over the near term,” said Lorenzo Codogno, head of LC Macro Advisers and a former senior Italian Treasury official. “There will be delays and disruptions with early elections, and most likely no budget by year-end.”
COALITION FRACTURES
Draghi had already tendered his resignation last week after one of his partners, the populist 5-Star Movement, failed to back him in a confidence vote on measures tackling the high cost of living.
Mattarella rejected the resignation and told him to go before parliament to see if he could keep the broad coalition going until the planned end of the legislature in early 2023.
In a speech to the Senate, Draghi made a plea for unity and set out a series of issues facing Italy ranging from the war in Ukraine to social inequality and rising prices.
But the 5-Star once again decided not to back him, saying he had not addressed their core concerns.
In addition, the rightist Forza Italia and League parties decided to shun the vote, saying they wanted a commitment that Draghi was willing to forge a new administration without 5-Star and with fresh policy priorities.
Polls say the conservative bloc, which includes the far-right Brothers of Italy party, would likely win a ballot.
Over the past year, there’s been a 28% increase in the number of posts and comments on the platform and a near-sevenfold jump in the number of newsletters, according to LinkedIn.
Part of this is due to what’s been happening in the world. The Great Resignation, layoffs in some industries, and reports of companies rescinding job offers are drawing users to the professional-networking platform. Concerns about a potential recession and its impact on the job market might mean you could now spend even more time on LinkedIn. And if those fears don’t pull you in, the company is betting a steady flow of articles and other content will.
LinkedIn has become the go-to destination for personal and professional blog posts, newsletters, and news sharing through two main strategies.
The first is LinkedIn’s leadership being, in their own words, “obsessed” with how people use the platform. The second is promoting diversity and inclusion to spur creative thinking. Both have helped company leadership figure out where to invest and what features to add.
The focus on making the platform more similar to other social-media apps like Instagramand Facebook has paid off. LinkedIn, which Microsoft acquired in 2016, had more than 830 million users as of April, which is a 20% increase from its 690 million users at the start of 2020.
“Over the past couple of years, we’ve really seen an explosion of content and conversation on the platform,” Keren Baruch, the product lead for creator strategy at LinkedIn, said. “And we’re just getting started.”
“Member obsessed”
LinkedIn’s recent surge in users creating newsletters, blog posts, and comment threads is the result of years of research into how people engage with platform. Execs called the strategy being “member-obsessed,” which is reminiscent of Amazon’s “customer obsession,” the leadership principle that Jeff Bezos, the retailer’s founder, has long praised. In essence, it says that by focusing on how customers use a company’s product and making it better for them, the whole company succeeds.
Blake Barnes, the vice president of product management at LinkedIn, said major projects often begin by trying to determine what users need to meet their goals.
“The place we start is always with our members, the people that use our platform, and it’s looking at our members in the context of our vision. It’s understanding what they need,” Barnes said.
LinkedIn’s mission has always been to connect people to economic opportunity, Baruch said. She noted that over the past several years, finding ways to encourage users to create articles, polls, and other content has emerged as a key way to help users achieve that goal.
In 2007, four years after the company launched, LinkedIn rolled out its messaging feature, allowing users to communicate with one another. In 2008, the company added a discussion feature in LinkedIn Groups so members could debate relevant topics. In 2014, the company introduced its now widely used blogging option. And two years later, in 2016, that blogging option got a face-liftgiving writers the ability to add photos and different fonts to their posts and blogs.
Greg Fisher, a professor at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, said LinkedIn’s focus on creating content reflects the company’s focus on its users.
“LinkedIn has a clearly defined target user base of working professionals, and they focus strongly on those users,” Fisher said. “They have not tried to branch out to reach a younger demographic, or to expand to become ‘cool’ for people outside of the workforce.”
Baruch explained that the company works to form relationships with top content creators. It has a team dedicated to working with the platform’s 200 most popular creators.
Conducting listening sessions with these creators and testing concepts with them has generated a number of ideas. “We’ve seen creators do a host of creative things from networking events, to AMAs, industry deep-dives with thought leaders,” Baruch said, referring to “ask me anything” Q-and-A sessions with notable figures.
The idea to let users publish newsletters was one idea that came from the platform’s top creators. LinkedIn created the option in 2019 and made it available to all users in 2021.
“It starts from having a very clear strategy of what we want it to feel like to be on LinkedIn,” Baruch said.
Emphasizing psychological safety
According to executives, fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion is another driving force of LinkedIn’s success.
“The best teams are the ones that have a diverse range of perspectives and backgrounds,” Barnes said. “They can create things that no one else can.”
He said it comes down to psychological safety, or the environment where workers and partners like content creators believe that they can share their ideas.
Research from McKinsey & Company, a global management-consulting firm, suggests that teams who believe there is psychological safety in their organization are more likely to innovate quickly and adapt well to change.
Tammy Madsen, a professor of strategy and innovation at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, explained how the leadership strategy relates to quick innovation. Psychological safety, she explained, means workers can share ideas without fear of backlash, but also feel safe enough to challenge one another.
“If there’s an idea that challenges the status quo, it’s about not defaulting to negative feedback simply because of that,” she said. “It’s about encouraging risk taking, encouraging experimentation, trying to foster a learning culture.”
The Moroccan Association for Human Rightsreleased a report on Wednesday putting the death toll from last month’s attempt by hundreds of migrants to storm the border between the north African kingdom and the Spanish enclave of Melilla higher than the official government tally.
The human rights watchdog, known as AMDH, said at least 27 people, mostly from Sudan, South Sudan and Chad, died in the attempt, with that number likely, to rise as many more suffered severe injuries and 64 people remained missing.
The Moroccan governmenthas previously reported 23 deaths in the June 24 border storming.
AMDH Nador official Omar Naji said that Moroccan and Spanish authorities used smoke bombs and tear gas to disperse the migrants, who had gathered at the BarrioChino crossing area, which separates the Moroccan city of Nador from Melilla, leading to many dying of asphyxiation, although autopsies have not yet been carried out.
Other people, the group said, died in a stampede caused by the smoke and ensuing panic.
In addition to the deaths, 200 Moroccan and Spanish law enforcement officers and more than 70 civilians were injured in the melee.
AMDH Nador section President Mohammed Amine also said 64 people remained missing as of last Friday.
The group released its preliminary report on Wednesday, saying it was based on an investigation conducted by its affiliate in Nador.
The report said around 1,500 migrants and asylum-seekers departed that day from nearby forests and arrived at the BarrioChino crossing area at around 9 a.m.
There they tried to open the main gate and started climbing the checkpoints.
At that moment, Moroccan authorities began throwing stones and smoke bombs at the migrants, causing many to die of suffocation.
Those who tried to escape and desperately reach the fence perished in a stampede that was made worse by the heavy use of tear gas, it added.
It said Moroccan officers did not use lethal force but some beat wounded migrants lying on the ground.
The number of Russian citizens who have declared bankruptcy and faced liquidation in the first half of 2022 rose by 37.8% over the same period from last year, a Russian Ministry of Economic Development report shows.
From January to the end of June, 121,313 Russian citizens filed for bankruptcy and had their assets liquidated to pay off debts, the report stated. Among them, the largest number of bankruptcy declarations were from Moscow at more than 6,000 individuals, followed by the region surrounding the capital, with more than 5,600.
Within the same timeframe, 20,185 Russian citizens filed for bankruptcy and went through debt restructuring, according to the report.
The number of individual bankruptcies in the country nearly tripled from 68,980 in 2019 to 192,833 in 2021, the report added.
There is no intelligence that Vladimir Putin is unstable or in bad health, the director of the CIA has said.
There has been increasing unconfirmed media speculation that Mr Putin, who turns 70 this year, may be suffering from ill health, possibly cancer.
But William Burns said there was no evidence to suggest this, joking that he appeared “too healthy”.
His comments came as the US announced it would provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons.
Earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia’s military focus in Ukraine was no longer “only” the east and implied Moscow’s strategy had changed after the West supplied Ukraine with such weapons.
‘Believer in control’
“There are lots of rumours about President Putin’s health and as far as we can tell he’s entirely too healthy,” Mr Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
Responding to laughter, he added that this was not a formal intelligence judgement.
Mr Burns, who served as ambassador to Moscow, said he had been observing and dealing with the Russian leader for more than two decades.
Mr Putin is “a big believer in control, intimidation and getting even” and these traits have hardened over the last decade as his circle of advisers has contracted, the CIA chief said.
“He is convinced that his destiny as Russia’s leader is to restore Russia as a great power. He believes the key to doing that is to recreate a sphere of influence in Russia’s neighbourhood and he cannot do that without controlling Ukraine.”
Mr Burns travelled to Moscow in November to warn about the serious consequences for invading Ukraine following intelligence the US had collected about Russia’s plans. But the CIA director said he left “more troubled than when I arrived”.
The Russian president’s plans were based on “profoundly flawed assumptions and some real illusions especially about Ukraine and the will to resist”, Mr Burns said.
“Putin really does believe his rhetoric. I’ve heard him say this privately over the years that Ukraine is not a real country.
“Well, real countries fight back. And that’s what the Ukrainians have done.”
The US estimates that Russian casualties in Ukraine so far have reached around 15,000 killed and perhaps 45,000 wounded, Mr Burns said. He estimated that Ukrainian losses were a little less.
He added Russia’s current concentration of forces in the Donbas suggested the military had learned hard lessons.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February, claiming falsely that Russian-speakers in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region had suffered a genocide and needed to be liberated.
Five months on, Russia has occupied parts of the east and south of the country, but it failed in its original aim of capturing Kyiv and has since claimed its main objective was the liberation of Donbas.
The US has accused Russia of preparing to annex parts of Ukraine.
But earlier on Wednesday the Russian foreign minister implied the US supplying long-range weapons could broaden Moscow’s military focus in Ukraine.
Despite Mr Lavrov’s apparent warnings, the US on Wednesday announced it would provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons.
Ukraine will receive another four Himars advanced rocket systems to hold the advance of Russian troops, bringing the total number to 16, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
Meanwhile Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska addressed US Congress, asking for more air-defence systems to “help us to stop this terror against Ukrainians”.
She said the weapons could help assure a “joint great victory”.
In our previous article, we gave you a list of 5 active Ghanaian footballers whose Black Stars careers might be over after being out of the national team for a minimum of three years.
Today, we look at the childhood sports of all the men who have occupied Ghana’s presidency since the beginning of the 4th republic in 1993.
Children and their preference for a particular sport is mostly influenced by their community or the school they find themselves in.
Some children after falling in love with a particular sport tend to pursue it as a career with the needed talents but others abandon it because of their parents.
Here is a list of Ghana’s 4th Republican presidents and their childhood sports:
Jerry John Rawlings – boxing
Born June 22, 1947, the late president of the 4th Republic of Ghana is best remembered for promoting boxing in Ghana and helping nurture several talents across the country.
Rawlings according to his son Kimathi had hoped in Ghanaian boxers because they had a strong disciplined mind to become great.
Ghana’s legendary boxer Azumah Nelson has on countless occasions credited the successes he archived in his career to the late Jerry John Rawlings who was also an amateur boxer.
Though JJ Rawlings couldn’t pursue his boxing career, he made sure that other young talents would get all the needed support from the State to be useful.
During his reign, Ghana won three world titles through Azumah Nelson, Ike Bazooka Quartey, and the late Alfred Kotey.
John Agyekum Kufuor – football
There isn’t much to be said about the footballing career of Ghana’s second president in the 4th Republic aside being in the school team during his days in Prempeh Colleague in Kumasi.
However, John Agyekum Kufuor was an established football administrator before occupying the high office in Ghana.
As a football administrator, former President John Agyekum Kufuor was the Chief Executive Officer of Asante Kotoko where he won a lot of local titles before he became Ghana’s leader in 2001.
His love for football also made him commit more resources to help the Black Stars qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in Ghana’s footballing history in 2006.
Kufuor renovated the Accra Sports Stadium and the Baba Yara Stadium as well as built the Essipong and Tamale stadium in 2008 to host the CAN 2008.
John Evans Atta-Mills – Hockey
The late former President was a professional hockey player but also worked as a football administrator for giants Accra Hearts of Oak.
He played for both the hockey teams of Achimota College during his Secondary School education and the University of Ghana, Legon in his tertiary days.
As a State Man, Atta-Mills changed the face of Ghana hockey by supporting the construction of the first ever water-based Astro-turf hockey pitch in 1999, and an ultra-modern world-class National Hockey Stadium which was built in 2009.
He is also a founding member of the Veterans Hockey team in Accra which was established in 1972.
John Dramani Mahama – football
Just like John Agyekum Kufuor, John Dramani Mahama was also a talented footballer but his father Emmanuel Adama reportedly made him ditch football to focus more on his education.
Though John Mahama couldn’t pursue a career in football, his son Sharaf continues from where his father left off to become a professional footballer.
Sharaf Mahama has played for several clubs in Eurpe inclduing Tempo Overijse, KV Mechelen, Charleroi and Rostocker FC.
As President, John Mahama’s love for football was seen through the government’s sports policies.
He built the Cape Coast Sports Stadium to ease the pressure of the four existing stadiums in Ghana. Mahama also built Ghana’s only boxing arena in Bukoum to promote the sport which sold Ghana to the world after football.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo – boxing
The current president is a football fan but his love for boxing precedes every sport in the world.
Young Akufo-Addo played football in his high school days and was in the University of Ghana, Legon’s hockey team together with the late John Evans Atta-Mills.
Akufo-Addo was an all-around athlete amongst all the presidents we have seen in the 4th Republic.
As the president, Akufo-Addo has invested heavily in sports infrastructure with the building of the multi-purpose sports complex in all the 16 regions in Ghana.
He will also be the 4th president to taste a FIFA World Cup after Kufuor, Mills, and Mahama.
Broadcast journalist, Patrick Osei Agyemang, popularly known as ‘Countryman Songo’ has said it’s a joke that Borussia Dortmund’s talent coach, Otto Addo, is leading Ghana to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
According to him, Mr. Otto is not equipped become a Black Stars coach let alone lead Ghana to the World Cup.
Speaking on Asempa FM, Songo said he is shocked that a football powerhouse like Ghana would consider a ‘trainer Scout’ to lead the country to the biggest international showpiece.
“I’m shocked that from the 70s, 80s, 90s and now we are in 2022 and Ghana, who have won African Cup, produced top players have decided to take trainer scout to the World Cup. We are joking. We have the money to hire top coaches but you’ve allowed the politician to misuse the money. Then in this modern world, not in the olden days, even the 60s and the 70s and 90s, Ghana we were hiring top coaches…But in the modern days is a trainer scout who will be leading Ghana to the World Cup,” Songo said.
Otto Addo serves as a transitional/talent coach at Borussia Dortmund with his duty centred on ensuring young players get a smooth transition from the academy to the first team.
The former Black Stars winger steered Ghana to qualify for the World Cup after eliminating Nigeria in a two-legged play-off.
Following the qualification, the Ghana Football Association extended his month interim role to six months, which will come to an end after the World Cup in Qatar.
At Borussia Dortmund, Otto Addo told the BBC in an interview that he holds four major roles at the club which includes managing talent, analysing games of each player in the talent group to identify their strength and weaknesses, individual training, and getting to know the players through meetings and digging into their lives.
The former Dortmund man penned a new three-year deal with Borussia Dortmund in June 2022 as he looks to develop many young talents for the German side.
Ghanaian descent, Anita Asante of Bristol City, have been chosen as first team coach ahead of the 2022/23 season.
The appointment of the former British footballer comes after calling time on her 19-year professional career when the 2021/2022 Women’s Premier League season came to a close.
Asante enjoyed a formidable career as she won the quadruple with Arsenal in 2017 together with making 71 appearances for England and featuring for Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics.
Asante joins Bristol City’s coaching setup after earning her UEFA B coaching badge.
The ex-footballer who last played for Aston Villa before retiring will assist Bristol City’s head coach Lauren Smith at the helm.
Bristol City women finished third in the Championship last season with head coach Lauren Smith at the helm. The club is looking forward to qualify for the topflight in the upcoming season.
Here is a look into her 19 years of professional career
Clubs career
Anita Ama Asante, born on April 27, 1985, turned 37 years on Wednesday, April 27, 2022.
She was born and bred in the UK and thus spent a chunk of his career in the European country.
Asante started her club career at Arsenal. She joined the youth team in 1998 and made her debut for the first team in 2003.
The centre-back played for 9 different clubs, amongst them, Arsenal was her longest-serving club. She spent 5 spells with the team, where she achieved most of her successes.
Asante joined rival London club, Chelsea in 2008 before travelling abroad to join US-based Sky Blues.
During her time in the US, she played for Saint Louis Athletica, Chicago Red Stars, Washington Freedom, and back to Sky Blues all in the space of two years.
She then moved to Sweden in 2012, spending five seasons in the Swedish league- one season at Goteborg and four seasons at FC Rosengard/Malmo.
She then returned to England, joining Chelsea in 2018 before a move to Aston Villa in 2020, where she called it a wrap.
International career
Anita Asante served the English national team for 11 years after playing at all levels in the youth team, including being named as the captain of the U19.
She made her senior debut in 2004 when she came on as a substitute in a game against Iceland.
She played at four different major tournaments for England, namely Euros- 2005, 2009, 2013, and the World Cup in 2011.
She made a total of 71 appearances for England. Her 50th game was a 1-0 win over Japan at the 2011 World Cup.
Anita scored one goal in her international career, her goal gave England a 1-0 win against Norway in a friendly in 2005.
Honours
Asante is one of the most decorated female British players. She is a Quadruple winner and a double winner.
At Arsenal, she won the UEFA Women’s Cup (Arsenal) in 2007 the FA Women’s Cup 3 times -2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, the FA Women’s National Premier League 4 times 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and FA Women’s Premier League Cup 3 times 2005, 2005, 2007.
She won the quadruple with Arsenal in 2007 (UEFA Cup, League, League Cup and FA Cup) and a double in 2006 and 2008 all at Arsenal – League and FA Cup.
Her spell in Sweden also landed her four trophies, the Svenska Cupen in 2012 and Svenska Supercupen in 2013 while at Göteborg. She won the same trophies with FC Rosengard/Malmo in 2015 and 2016.
A technical team of Orell Füssli Security (OFS) Printing Limited, in Switzerland has arrived in the country to install latest e-visa equipment at the Ghana Immigration Service and designated Ghana Missions abroad.
The installation of the new e-visa system corresponds with the present best practice regarding the enhancement of greater efficiency, data security, accountability of consular revenues and for the safety of national security.
Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, said this on Tuesday at the opening ceremony for the Site Acceptance Test visit by the technical team of the company for the implementation of the e-visa system.
The test is expected to be performed on Thursday July 21, 2022, at the Ghana Immigration Service headquarters.
Ghana, in February 2020, signed a Technical Support Agreement with OFS and TGN Digital Security Limited for the supply of machine-readable visa stickers and the deployment of an e-visa hardware personalisation system for the installation of the system.
Madam Botchwey said in furtherance of the implementation of the agreement, following the Factory Acceptance Test visit, the existing service providers had successfully integrated their systems with that of the OFS for the deployment of the new visa system.
“There were initial pilot runs of the system at our Berne and Copenhagen Missions (smaller Missions) following the integration exercise,” she added.
With the arrival of the technical team for the installation of the system, the Minister said the country was ready for the deployment of the system at the designated Missions abroad, starting with the bigger Missions in London and Berlin.
Madam Botchwey welcomed the on-site training of the Ghana Immigration officers on the management and operation of the system.
“It is my expectation that the visit would pave the way for the smooth deployment of the new hardware systems in our Missions abroad to ensure efficient delivery of visa services to applicants,” she added.
Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, the Controller General of the Ghana Immigration Service said the Service had taken delivery of the visa stickers, three visa issuing stations and the server equipment for the project.
The visa stations and server equipment, he stated, would be installed by the close of the week at the Airport and the Service’s Data Centre.
Mr Geoffray Raymond, Head, OFS Team, expressed happiness about the partnership and was confident that the installation would be completed by the end of the week.
Malawi, Benin, Nigeria, Botswana, Ethiopia, Morocco, Djibouti, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, among others are implementing the e-visa system.
Ghana has been recognized as the second most peaceful country in the sub-Saharan Africa region just beyond the island nation of Mauritius.
This was revealed last week by the 2022 edition of the Global Peace Index, GPI, report.
The score also placed Ghana as the 40th most peaceful country on the global ranking of 163 countries, however the country’s overall score was 1.759 as compared to 1.715 in 2021
The global rank means Ghana dropped two steps from the 38th spot in 2021. Per the 2021 global scores, Ghana is sandwiched between Kuwait and Albania.
Completing the top five most peaceful African countries are The Gambia (45th globally), Botswana (48th) and Sierra Leone (50th) in that order.
Ghana is currently dogged by an economic downturn that has seen government turn to the International Monetary Fund for an economic rescue programme. Government partly blame the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia Ukraine war.
Some of the security challenges that Ghana has faced in the past few months have been clashes between protesters and Police, with the most recent being the clash between Arise Ghana protesters and the Police in late June.
There is however a looming threat of terrorist violence being imported from across the Sahel, more so with neighbouring countries having recorded attacks in recent months.
As of last year, the report came out at amid rising insecurity with most citizens expressing grave concerns about rising insecurity following the murder of a bullion van police escort and a hawker in Jamestown plus a series of robbery incidents across the country.
The police have confirmed the death of a Ghanaian woman, 41, who was shot dead by unidentified persons on Cambridge Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.
According to Asaaseradio.com report, the woman was one of two Ghanaian women shot at 7PM on Saturday. The victim was pronounced dead at the hospital she was rushed to.
The second victim, also a woman who suffered from gunshot wounds was taken to the hospital but was less injured.
Neighbours confirmed the two women were from Ghana and active members of the West African business community in Worcester adding that the victim had two young children who lived with her at the Cambridge Street home.
But the police did not release the identity of the woman in its statement.
Meanwhile, the police say they are looking for a red Toyota Camry that was seen leaving the scene while they investigate what led to the shooting.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairsand Regional Integration has written to the management of the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) to notify all airlines operating in the country to allow passengers with Special Authorization Permit issued by a Ghana Mission Abroad to travel to Ghana on their airlines.
The Ministry explained in a letter that Ghana Missions abroad are encountering serious system challenges with the issuance of visas for potential travelers to Ghana, a situation that has worsened over the past two weeks.
The letter written on her behalf by the Chief of Protocol at the Ministry, Ambassador Emmanuel Antwi, to the GACL dated 15th July 2022 said “Ghana Missions abroad are encountering serious system challenges with the issuance of visas for potential travelers to Ghana.
“The situation has worsened over the past two weeks creating more chaotic scenes some of the Ghana missions.â€
It added “In this connection, the Ghana Airport Company Limited is being requested to urgently notify all airlines operating in Ghana to allow passengers with Special Authorization Permit issued by a Ghana Mission Abroadto travel to Ghana on their airlines (Only passengers with such authorization should be allowed to board as such authorization will be required for the processing of visa-on arrival.
People living near the site of a crashed cargo plane in northern Greece have been told to stay indoors amid fears over toxic material.
The Antonov-12, operated by a Ukraine-based company, was flying from Serbia to Jordan when it went down on Saturday close to the city of Kavala.
It was not immediately known whether there were any survivors.
Greece’s ERT state broadcaster reported that the aircraft had been carrying a 12-tonne cargo.
It has been described as potentially dangerous. On Sunday morning, emergency services were using a drone to survey the site of the wreckage out of caution. State-run TV reported the army, explosives experts and Greek Atomic Energy Commission staff would not approach until it was deemed safe.
“The (air) measurements at the moment have not shown anything but nonetheless instability in the field was observed,” Lieutenant General Marios Apostolidis, of the Northern Greece Fire Brigade, told reporters.
“In other words, intense smoke and heat, as well as a white substance that we do not recognise, so a special armed forces team has to inform us what it is and whether we can enter the field.”
The pilot had reportedly requested an emergency landing at Kavala airport due to an engine problem but was unable to reach the runway.
The plane was noticed at about 22:45 local time (19:45 GMT) by local residents. Footage appears to show it was already on fire as it descended.
Aimilia Tsaptanova – who saw the plane come down – said she was amazed it hadn’t crashed into their homes.
“It was full of smoke, it had a noise I can’t describe and it went over the mountain,” she said. “It passed the mountain and turned and crashed into the fields.
“There were flames, we were scared. A lot of cars came, but they couldn’t approach because there were continuous explosions.”
Some reports say eight people may have been on board the aircraft.
Local officials said seven fire engines had been deployed but they could not initially approach the crash site because of continuing explosions.
Greece’s special disaster response unit was also investigating the scene, Reuters reported.
So far there has been no public comment from Ukraine, Serbia or Jordan.
The government has served notice that the 15 percent Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for members of organized labour would be suspended when the conditions that necessitated it are no more.
The various worker unions declared an indefinite strike in demand for a 20 percent cost of living allowance to cushion them against the current economic hardship.
However, the government reached a consensus with them for the payment of 15 percent of the allowance effective July 1, 2022.
Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Bright Wereko Brobby spoke on the possibility of the non-payment of the allowance in the future.
“We have agreed that the Cost of Living Allowance will be paid effective 1st July. As the name applies, it is an allowance which is a result of certain factors that have arisen in the course of the year so as and when these factors are no longer there, there will not be the relevance to still continue with it.â€
Government and organised labour have agreed on a 15 percent cost of living allowance for members of organised labour.
The various worker unions, including the four teacher unions, the Ghana Medical Association, and the Public Sector Workers Union, among others, demanded the payment of 20 percent of their basic salaries as Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) due to the current economic situation in the country.
Negotiations dragged on for over two weeks, compelling CCT, GNAT, NAGRAT, and TEWU to embark on industrial action to insist on their demands.
But after a crunch meeting on July 14, 2022, both parties came to a conclusion on a 15% COLA, which will take retrospective effect from July 1, 2022.
The Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, reading out the terms of the agreement, said “We agreed with the labour unions that the COLA will be paid at the rate of 15% of base pay, that the effective date for the payment of the COLA will be 1st July 2022.â€
“We also agreed that all industrial actions underway and threats of same will be called off immediately and that labour will return to work.â€
