President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology in Ghana, Henry Kwadwo Boateng, has openly acknowledged that contractors sometimes deliver subpar work as a result of insufficient financial backing from the government.
Boateng’s comments highlight the recurring problem of contractors receiving criticism for their lackluster craftsmanship, which frequently sparks public outrage within construction zones.
Boateng highlighted the insufficiency of government funds allocated to projects as a primary factor contributing to the problem.
In a report on Adomonline.com, he added that when contractors receive contracts, they meticulously prepare plans and designs accompanied by cost estimates for budget consideration.
However, government officials frequently inform them that the allocated budget is inadequate to execute the proposed designs. Consequently, contractors are compelled to make adjustments to their initial plans to align with the available funds.
“When the government wants to undertake the construction of road at a particular area, the contractors go to site to survey a lot of things such as population of the area, landscape, rain pattern to help us do the right design and sizes of culverts. But when we present the budget, the government will tell us, the fund is not enough so if we can do something about it,’ adomonline.com quoted.
Henry Kwadwo Boateng emphasized the crucial role of thorough site surveys conducted by contractors when the government plans to undertake road construction in specific areas.
These surveys take into account various factors such as the local population, landscape, and rainfall patterns to ensure the precise design and appropriate culvert sizes.
Gospel singer Nacee has recently revealed that the overwhelming number of testimonials he has been receiving regarding his song ‘Aseda’ are truly awe-inspiring and beyond imagination.
God wanted the message in “Aseda” to be delivered at this precise time, the record producer said during an interview with Amansan Krakye on Property FM.
He declared, “All the songs I write receive thousands of testimonies frequently, but I would not want to say anything that might come across as boastful. Look at the comments section on YouTube, TikTok, or Twitter to see the types of testimonies people are sharing there.
“And after reading the comments you’ll understand what we’re talking about but I wouldn’t want to sound like I’m exaggerating. My Aseda song is the word of God and God really wanted this message to come at this time and the way the song is doing in people’s homes I can’t take the honour upon myself.”
He asked those in doubt to head to his YouTube channel and read the testimonies that has flooded the comment section.
“I can’t share God’s honour with Him but I’ll just entreat you to go on my YouTube channel and watch the video with the comments that follow to witness the numerous testimonies,” he remarked.
Nigerian musician-turned-politician Banky W disclosed that his wife Adesua Etomi had miscarried their twins in 2019
Banky W talked about how losing their twins had been difficult for him and his wife Adesua Etomi in an interview.
Banky W admitted that 2019 had been challenging for him in an interview with Chudeity a few hours ago.
He asserted that his wife Adesua was having trouble getting pregnant while he was preoccupied with his campaign for office.
Adesua Etomi, his wife, began undergoing IVF treatments toward the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019.
According to Banky W, the second IVF treatment his wife underwent was very challenging for her and she experienced great pain. Despite running for office during this time, all he could do was spend quality time with her.
In his words; “Whether it’s the community of people that are close to you or family, it feels like you’re being emptied on a daily basis. You’re giving everything you have and it’s not enough and then we lost twins, because we were pregnant with twins and we lost them. Then we tried again, our relationship was strained. It was a tough time”.
Lead convenor for the of the #FixTheCountry Movement, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has raised concerns about the manner in which the government is dealing with a leaked tape purportedly revealing a scheme involving a prominent member of the Ghana Police Service and a high-ranking member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The alleged plot revolves around pressing charges against the Inspector General of Police (IGP) as a means to manipulate the 2024 election outcome.
In a post shared on Facebook, on Thursday, July 13, 2023, Barker-Vormawor said that he is not so worried about the desire of the senior police officers in the tape to change the IGP, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, which he describes as normal internal office politics.
He said that what he is so worrying is the intention of senior police officers to rig an election; adding that if the people captured in the tape were members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), they would be in jail by now being prosecuted for treason.
“But these individuals were directly discussing rigging the 2024 elections using the police as the instrument of such rigging. Senior Police Officers were plotting how the elections can be compromised. Now that is not just criminal but subversive of our democracy
“I dare say that if the conversation had been about rigging the elections for the NDC, they would have already been picked up and charged with Treason felony.
‘It seems because they were talking about rigging elections for the NPP, this government, consistent with its playbook, has resolved to ignore the compromise of national security interests of this Republic,” parts of the post read.
Barker-Vormawor, who is currently being prosecuted for the “I would organise a coup myself” comment he made in 2022, said that the state can continue trialling him, as it turns a blind eye to the real dangers to Ghana’s democracy.
Background:
A leaked audio recording, allegedly involving a Police Commissioner and a politician discussing a plot to remove the Inspector General of Police (IGP), George Akuffo Dampare, has ignited public outrage.
The recording features an officer who identifies himself as “Mensah” and a politician who is reportedly a regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Their conversation revolves around plans to remove the IGP from office due to fears that he would be too firm during the 2024 elections and prevent any potential rigging.
The Commissioner of Police also specifically identifies the IGP’s handling of the Assin North by-election as evidence of his commitment to ensuring free and fair elections.
The Parliament of Ghana has set up a 7-member committee to conduct a probe into the leaked tape after calls by the NDC Members of Parliament.
Proponents of the government have however stated that the allegations in the said tape should not be taken seriously because the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has no plans to change IGP Dr Geroge Akuffo Dampare.
Executive Chairman of First Sky Group, Eric Seddy Kutortse, has displayed unwavering dedication over the past six years by allocating an impressive sum exceeding GHS13 million to assist a significant portion of individuals in Ghana who require dialysis treatment as a result of kidney failure.
The continuous support for such persons, as he said while speaking with journalists in Accra, has become necessary because he felt the need to offset some of the financial strains of these people.
Eric Kutortse also explained that unlike other people who support such things because of personal experiences, or owing to some peculiar relationships they have with similar medical cases, his was purely borne out of the need to support humanity.
Speaking to journalists during an event at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, where the country’s first wholly-Ghanaian medical team successfully conducted kidney transplants, he stated that his motivation stems from the Bible.
“The main motivation about all this in our Holy Book. The Bible says that we should have compassion on our fellow beings. And then more so, we have been privileged in the positions that we are able to create wealth and we believe this world is not meant for us alone.
“It has to go to support the kingdom work, it has to go in to support humanity, and that is the reason we believe God has blessed us with these resources, and that is what we are doing,” he stated.
The First Sky Group Executive Chairman also said that he was happy about the success of the medical field in Ghana because over the years, while he has continued to support these ailing patients, it is getting more and more expensive.
He also disclosed how he has personally sponsored the medical expenses of a few people to India, where they are charged hundreds of US dollars.
“This is a dream come true. This is what I’ve been dreaming about and it’s a landmark for humanity, it’s a landmark for Ghanaians because that is the only way we can have the exit plan for the dialysis.
“For the past 6 years, First Sky has been supporting the dialysis with over GH¢13 million and this is continuing every day. And the cost is increasing. Every patient goes for sessions three times a week, and as we speak now, the cost of each session is about GH¢400. You could imagine someone dialysis for almost 10 years or 15 years and the total cost spent on these medical services.
“That is why we’ve decided that the solution to this will be the kidney transplant but unfortunately, this could not be done in Ghana for some years ago, and all this is being done in India at a total cost of around $100-200,000. I personally sponsored about 4 of such patients to India and I believe that it is not worth it for us to be investing in other country’s economy,” he added.
The breakthrough by the Ghanaian doctors gives hope for the future of persons suffering from kidney failures, as Prof. j. E. Mensah, the Head of the KBTH Department of Surgery, said that soon, people woulf not need to travel outside for such medical procedures.
Also speaking at the event, he stressed that the patients on both sides (donors and recipients) are all doing well, and that is a good sign.
“Those who donated their kidneys have gone home. They are healthy. Those who received the new kidneys will be going home on Monday and they’ve not had any dialysis since the transplantation so, the kidneys are functioning well.
“… very soon, no patient should go to India, South Africa, Singapore for kidney transplant,” he explained.
It has been revealed by Dr Raymond Morbu, the CEO of Andel Premier Medical Centre, that an increasing number of women who engage in lesbian sex are visiting hospitals because of unusual discharges from their private parts.
He attributes this to the use of sex toys to satisfy their sexual desires.
Upon diagnosis, it is often discovered that foreign objects have been left in the vagina, he revealed.
This, he said, leads to an increased risk of HIV/AIDS infections due to cuts and abrasions.
According to Dr Morbu, this trend has emerged after LGBTQ+ activities came to wide public attention in Ghana.
He noted that foreign objects are sometimes found in the vaginas of women who practice lesbianism.
Dr Morbu made these revelations while discussing the rise in the practice of homosexuality and its impact on HIV/AIDS prevalence in Ghana during an interview on Accra 100.5 FM on Monday, July 10, 2023.
He also stated that the women who use sex toys and engage in lesbianism are wealthy individuals who influence young people to join the practice.
Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, the Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, also shared concerns about homosexuality and its role in the spread of HIV.
He emphasised the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing the issue, stating that HIV prevalence among homosexuals is higher than other general diseases.
Dr Atuahene believes that if the anti-LGBTQ+ bill is passed, it will help in addressing the spread of HIV by reducing new infections.
As part of a slew of new anti-LGBTQ regulations in Russia, the State Duma, or lower house of parliament, has approved a new law that outlaws practically all medical assistance for transgender people, including gender reassignment surgery.
The bill, which was read for the third and last time on Friday, forbids doctors from performing gender reassignment procedures unless they are necessary to correct a child’s innate physiological defects. Additionally, it prevents registry offices from changing official documents based on gender transition medical certificates.
Before becoming effective, the measure still needs to be passed by the Federation Council and signed by Vladimir Putin.
Amendments made for its third reading include disqualifying individuals who have undergone gender changes from becoming adoptive parents or guardians, as well as the possibility of annulling a marriage if one or both spouses undergo a gender change and update their civil status records.
Putin has toughened anti-LGTBQ legislation in recent months, as the Kremlin clamps down on free speech and human rights amid the war in Ukraine.
These recent legal developments in Russia expand the constraints on the LGBTQ community and reflect a tightening of regulations and control over transgender rights in the country.
In December 2022, Russia expanded its existing “gay propaganda” law to exert control over public discussions and narratives surrounding non-heterosexual relationships and identities. The package of amendments signed by Putin includes heavier penalties for anyone promoting “non-traditional sexual relations and/or preferences,” as well as gender transition.
Russia’s first transgender politician, Yulia Alyoshina, has warned of the severe consequences of the proposed transgender bill.
“Once the bill becomes law, the repercussions will be harsh, as transgender individuals will be denied the right for medical care, which is constitutionally guaranteed,” Alyoshina told CNN.
“This bill is not just discriminatory, it is a real genocide of transgender people,” she added.
In October, amid the hearings on “LGBTQ propaganda” law amendments and the bill passing its first reading in the State Duma, Alyoshina, who obtained her new passport in 2020, resigned from her position as a regional head of the Civic Initiative party and chose to end her political career.
The latest restrictions seem to be closely intertwined with the ongoing dissent on the political and human rights activity in Russia.
Notably, on the eve of the final reading, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced it had detained a transgender activist on suspicion of treason.
The FSB alleged that the activist, a Russian citizen from the Oryol region, supported the Armed Forces of Ukraine by providing financial assistance through a donation to the independent human rights monitoring group OVD-Info.
The Russian state labeled OVD-Info a foreign agent in 2021 under a law that critics say suppresses dissent. The group has continued to document alleged rights abuses inside Russia and expanded its mandate to help anti-war protesters following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Natural adaptations enable plants to flourish in difficult conditions. New features, such as drought tolerance and disease resistance, are produced through spontaneous natural mutations and can aid the plant in thriving. However, the rate of climate change on Earth is accelerating beyond the capacity of plants to adapt organically, putting many of the food-producing plants in danger.
A growing season may be extended or new crops may be cultivated due to changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, and frost, but agriculture is very vulnerable to the effects of changing climate conditions. Climate change also poses significant obstacles to farming.
Now, scientists are turning to the vastness of space for solutions.
In 2022, the joint laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sent seeds on a trip to the International Space Station (ISS). The objective: to induce genetic mutations in the seeds through exposure to cosmic radiation and microgravity, that could help develop resilient crops capable of thriving in the face of the escalating climate crisis.
Seeds of a cereal grain called sorghum, and a type of cress called Arabidopsis, spent several months on the ISS before they were returned to Earth this April for analysis. Now screening will begin to identify favorable traits in the mutated seeds.
Shoba Sivasankar, head of Plant Breeding and Genetics for the joint FAO and IAEA Center of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, explains that scientists are able to artificially induce plant mutations on Earth using gamma rays and X-rays.
However, the space environment, which offers a broader spectrum of radiation and additional extremes like microgravity and temperature fluctuations, has the potential to induce genetic alterations that differ from, or are induced much quicker than, those typically observed using terrestrial radiation sources.
“In space, the stress that will be encountered by an organism would be at the highest level and beyond anything that we can actually simulate on Earth,” explains Sivasankar. She adds that the radiation outside the ISS could be “more than a hundredfold higher” than the natural radiation possible on Earth.
By selectively breeding plants grown from the mutated seeds, Sivasankar and her team hope to create new crop strains.
“Firstly, we are working on improving crop yields and productivity of crops such as grains, legumes, roots and tubers – for example, cassava and sweet potato,” she says. “And then there is climate change resilience – for example resistance to increasing incidence of diseases, tolerance of climate phenomenon such as drought, or high heat, and increasing salinity of the soil because of saltwater intrusion or irrigation and evaporation.”
For decades scientists have been sending seeds to space. China has been using space radiation to induce genetic mutation in crops since the 1980s, exposing seeds to cosmic radiation via satellites and high-altitude balloons, which reportedly facilitated the production of giant sweet peppers and improvements in wheat and rice.
Many different varieties of seed have been aboard the International Space Station, while researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) are currently experimenting with the cultivation of seeds that were sent on a journey around the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
The MSU scientists are exploring the effect of extraterrestrial conditions on plant amino acids – the building block of proteins – and evaluating how that impacts plant growth and development. The research could offer insights into the adaptive capabilities of plants in extreme environments, and help us understand how crops could potentially be grown off-Earth for long-duration space missions.
The private sector has also taken an interest in the impact of spaceflight on plant seeds. In the United Arab Emirates, StarLab Oasis, an Abu Dhabi-based startup, has announced plans to send quinoa seeds into space in the hopes of enhancing the genetic potential of a crop that holds promise for its nutritional value and adaptability in arid regions.
Sending seeds to space will help “sustainability, climate change, and food security on Earth,” StarLab Oasis’ co-founder Allen Herbert told CNN in 2022. “Space is a place where you have limited resources, limited energy, limited space. It’s the perfect place to do research and that same technology can be brought right back down to Earth.”
It’s that same hope of finding solutions for Earthbound agriculture that’s driving Sivasankar, and the IAEA says initial results from its research could be available later this year.
“I do feel hopeful for the future of food security, because technology is coming to the fore,” she says. “But food security is not just about genetics – we need a combination of all technologies, and everybody needs to come together and work together.”
In Italy, controversy has been generated by a court decision that exonerated a school caretaker of molesting a student since the incident lasted less than 10 seconds.
The 66-year-old man who was accused of sexual assault was declared not guilty by the judges of the Court of Rome’s Fifth Criminal Section because they determined that the entire incident lasted “about five to ten seconds.”
According to RAI, the girl, who was 17 at the time, testified that the crime occurred in April 2022 when she and a friend were ascending the stairs at school.
She testified that she pulled up her trousers and felt a hand tucked inside them, under her briefs, touching her buttocks, according to the judgment, issued July 6.
During the trial, the janitor admitted that he had touched the student but that he had done it “as a joke.”
The judges accepted the defense’s argument that the act was meant to be a “clumsy joke” without “libidinous intent” towards the girl.
The decision caused outrage among students and sparked a viral trend on social media.
A local union representing high school students, ‘Rete degli Studenti Medi del Lazio,’ said on Facebook that “this is not a joke, there is nothing funny about it.”
“It is unacceptable that we cannot feel protected at school. Once again, the patriarchal system has won, with the tacit support of institutions and politics. This model does not represent us, we will always be on the other side of the fence, for a safe society based on respect,” they said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Italians have taken to Instagram and TikTok to post videos of themselves touching a sensitive part of their body for 10 seconds, marked by a timer, in an attempt to show that it actually is a fairly long period which can make people uncomfortable and change a person’s life. Accompanying the media are the hashtags #10secondi and #palpatabreve (brief groping).
Among those to take to social media were “The White Lotus” actor Paolo Camilli, who posted a video with the caption “shouldn’t the state protect us?” on his Instagram account.
The prosecutor’s office told CNN on Thursday that the item that was brought to the Elysee palace had “a piece of a finger, a fingertip it seems.”
It further stated that as of Monday, police had opened an investigation for a “threat of a crime or offence against an elected official.”
According to CNN station BFMTV, it is thought that the fingertip belonged to the sender.
The Elysee is the official home in Paris of French President Emmanuel Macron, who has held office since 2017.
In the past year, Macron’s government has struggled to ease public anger over a controversial pension reform plan, and then following the police killing of a teenager in the outskirts of Paris.
Volker Türk, the head of the UN’s human rights office, has called for a “prompt, thorough, and independent investigation” on the shocking finding near the region’s capital, El-Geneina.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it had opened a new inquiry into alleged war crimes in Sudan shortly after Türk made his demand. This announcement occurred after 90 days of rising bloodshed between the rival groups of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan made the announcement in a report to the UN Security Council Thursday, saying “we are in the midst of a human catastrophe.”
Inside the mass grave were bodies of ethnic Masalit who along with other non-Arab communities are often targeted by Arab militias, supported by the RSF, according to Human Rights Watch.
The deceased were allegedly killed last month by the paramilitary RSF and their allied militia, the UN Human Rights Office said in a statement Thursday.
“According to credible information gathered by the Office, those buried in the mass grave were killed by RSF and their allied militia around 13-21 June in El-Geneina’s Al-Madaress and Al-Jamarek districts…,” the statement said.
The statement added that the bodies included victims of the violence that occurred following the assassination of Khamis Abbaker, the Governor of West Darfur, on June 14, and others who died due to untreated injuries.
Türk strongly condemned the killings and said he was “appalled by the callous and disrespectful way the dead, along with their families and communities, were treated.”
He urged the RSF and other parties involved in the conflict to abide by international law and facilitate prompt searches for the deceased, and their collection and evacuation, without discrimination based on ethnic background.
“The RSF’s leadership and their allied militia as well as all parties to an armed conflict are required to ensure that the dead are properly handled, and their dignity protected,” Türk stressed.
West Darfur remains one of the most conflict-ridden areas in the Sudanese Darfur region, with a long history of severe violence.
International aid agency Save the Children said Thursday its staff fleeing the city of El Geneina, the West Darfur capital, saw hundreds of bodies, including those belonging to children, along the road.
“We spent 49 days indoors as outside the snipers did not stop. Our only wish was to get up in the early morning hours to get one jerry can of water before the fighting starts again,” said Ahmed, who works for Save the Children in West Darfur, according to a press release from the organization.
“When we finally managed to leave there were bodies everywhere on the ground in Geneina town. There were thousands of men, women and children, no one was spared. There are flies everywhere,” said Ahmed, who recently escaped the violence and is now taking refuge in Kassala state.
Last month CNN also reported that activists had identified hundreds of bodies left on the streets of West Darfur.
The recent killings reflect the atrocities committed during the early 2000s, where hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in an ethnic cleansing campaign led by the Janjaweed, an Arab militia that preceded the RSF.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Khan called for urgent action into the alleged war crimes, saying that attacks on civilians, particularly targeting children and women, are prohibited by the Rome Statute.
“The current security situation in Sudan and the escalation of violence during the current hostilities are matters of great concern to the Office,” he said.
“As we speak there are women and children in fear of the lives.”
Khan also said the ICC was investigating reports of fresh crimes in Darfur after the UN’s revelations about the mass grave of at least 87 people in Darfur.
The ICC has been investigating crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region since 2005 after a referral by the UN Security Council, and the Hague-based court has charged former leader Omar al-Bashir with offenses including genocide.
Khan said the risk of further war crimes was “deepened by the clear and long-standing disregard demonstrated by relevant actors, including the government of Sudan, for their obligations.”
Per the Ukrainian general and the Pentagon, the much debated and much-anticipated American-made cluster munitions that Washington decided to send to Kyiv are now in the country.
Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavsky told CNN in an interview conducted in central Ukraine on Thursday morning: “We just got them, we haven’t used them yet, but it can radically change (the battlefield).”
There are currently cluster munitions in Ukraine, the Pentagon announced on Thursday afternoon, confirming the weapons’ existence in the nation.
Tarnavsky is commander of the “Tavria” Joint Forces Operation, which is operating on a large section of the southern Ukraine front.
Tarnavsky added: “The enemy also understands that with getting this ammunition, we will have an advantage… the Russians think that we will use it on all areas of the front. This is very wrong. But they are very worried.”
Eyebrows were raised at the US delivery of these cluster munitions, which are banned in over 100 countries. Ukrainian forces, battling for every inch of territory taken by Russian forces over the past 504 days, are grateful amid low supplies of the 155mm standard artillery round.
High ranking officials have sought to assuage concern. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday that the Ukrainians will only use cluster munitions in “appropriate places.”
Kyiv has already committed “in writing” to make sure that these munitions are not used in populated areas, Austin added.
“They will record the places that they use them and they will prioritize de-mining efforts,” he said. A line echoed by the Pentagon who reiterated that Ukraine, does not have “any interest in using the cluster munitions anywhere near the civilian population, unlike the Russians.”
In Tarnavsky’s interview with CNN, a rare appearance with Western media, he covered a lot of ground in his limited time between meetings with his staff and inspecting troops across the front line.
The general says Ukraine is carrying out “large scale offensives,” while also admitting Ukrainian troops have made modest gains, especially in the south.
The expectation was that the counter offensive “should be fast, lightning-speed movement, the destruction of the enemy, capturing some frontiers, some objects, objects of attack and as a result achieve some goal.”
“It is successful, but not as much as each of us would like,” Tarnavsky said.
There is a simple reason for Ukraine’s lagging counteroffensive, he continued, explaining that “the Russians prepared quite powerfully for this event.”
Russian preparations centered around huge, elaborately sown minefields, making movement difficult and turning Ukrainian de-mining hardware into targets for Russian attacks. Manual demining is laborious and dangerous.
“They made very dense complex mining using minefields, high-explosive warheads, and the direct laying of powerful landmines, which are now located in the areas where equipment and personnel will pass.”
Making progress along the southern front is central to Ukraine’s summer plans, Kyiv has had to start to fight smart, at least in the short term, by economizing on artillery usage.
As Ukrainian soldiers try to pick a path through the minefields, near constant barrages of artillery from both sides have pummeled each other for weeks.
Tarnavsky uses a metaphor for the current state of the fighting: “It’s like in boxing, we hold the opponent at arm’s length. We don’t let them get close. Why? Because close combat is a completely different thing. So, at long distances, we defeat (them) effectively.”
Ukraine is trying to reach well beyond frontlines to hit command and control nodes, as they did successfully this week.
A rising star in the Russian military, Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov, was injured and killed in the Russian-occupied city of Berdyansk, on the Azov Sea.
According to a Russian Telegram channel, Military Informer, Tsokov died as a result of a strike by a long-range British Storm Shadow cruise missiles on the 58th Army’s reserve command post in a hotel.
Tarnavskiy refused to be drawn on the exact details of Tsokov’s death, but flatly said, “it turned out that this was the appropriate military commander who suffered the punishment he had to suffer.”
Battlefield victories like these can have a strategically destabilizing nature, he said. “When personnel receive information that their commander has died, it is not known who will lead them. This will definitely have a negative impact.”
He’s not the only high-profile figure to vanish recently, to Ukraine’s battlefield benefit.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin appears to have incurred the wrath of Russian President Vladimir Putin after staging a short-lived rebellion last month. Tarnavsky called Wagner “a powerful and serious organization,” but was quick to highlight the confusion and chaos that has reigned on the Russian side since then.
“The more such events or such splits occur, the more positively it affects both the conduct of [Ukrainian] active actions and success, and directly on their state,” he added.
Authorities said that a major river that is overflowing close to the capital of India has reached its highest level ever, forcing widespread evacuations and destabilising water supplies while northern regions report an increase in fatalities from severe flooding.
According to the Central Water Commission, the Yamuna River, a tributary of the powerful Ganges River, crossed the “high flood level” threshold on Wednesday for the first time in 45 years.
The Yamuna reached 208.57 metres (approximately 684 feet) on Thursday, the highest level ever, according to officials. The Yamuna runs through multiple states and travels nearly 855 miles (1,376 km) south from the Himalayas.
Public Works Department Minister Atishi Marlena said about 30,000 people were evacuated along the river banks and urged residents to stay with relatives or seek shelter at relief camps.
“We are monitoring the water levels but right now there is so much water that we cannot stop it. Our focus right now is on evacuating,” she said Thursday, calling the situation “unprecedented.”
Complicating matters, Haryana state neighboring Delhi released water from a barrage – which could cause the Yamuna water levels to rise further, Marlena added.
India’s National Disaster Response Force told CNN on Thursday it had 12 teams working to help evacuate residents in affected areas.
The river overflowing has also led to school and office closures, along with likely water shortages, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, he said schools in affected areas have been ordered shut through Sunday, and non-essential public and private employees have been asked to work from home.
The overflowing has also impacted three water treatment plants in Delhi, Kejriwal said, warning that people will likely have to ration water supplies for several days due to shortages.
Transport has also been impacted, with some roads closed due to waterlogging, and heavy goods vehicles restricted from entering flood-affected areas.
Delhi metro trains, which serve millions of passengers each day, must travel at slower speeds when crossing bridges over the river, with the Yamuna metro station closed.
India is in the midst of monsoon season, which can last from April to September.
A week of heavy rains in the north of the country has caused flash floods, landslides, evacuations and sparked rescue efforts across much of the region. The death toll has climbed to at least 67 people, according to authorities.
The mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh has been hardest hit so far with at least 31 deaths, its chief minister said Tuesday.
More than 50,000 tourists were evacuated from Himachal Pradesh within 48 hours, according to the state’s Information Department – including in towns popular with travelers for their Himalayan backdrops and scenic forests.
In neighboring Uttarakhand state, three people drowned on Wednesday after a car lost control and fell into a river in Khoh River Pauri district, according to CNN affiliate CNN-News 18.
Meanwhile 11 people have died in Punjab state, 12 in Uttar Pradesh, and 10 in Haryana, CNN News-18 reported, citing officials.
With the launch of its Chandrayaan-3 mission on Friday, India is attempting to become just the fourth nation to carry out a controlled landing on the moon.
At 2:30 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET), Chandrayaan, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, is anticipated to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh state.
India is attempting a soft landing for the second time after Chandrayaan-2, its last attempt, failed in 2019. Chandrayaan-1, its first lunar probe, orbited the moon before being purposefully crash-landed onto the lunar surface in 2008.
Developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Chandrayaan-3 is comprised of a lander, propulsion module and rover. Its aim is to safely land on the lunar surface, collect data and conduct a series of scientific experiments to learn more about the moon’s composition.
Only three other countries have achieved the complicated feat of soft-landing a spacecraft on the moon’s surface – the United States, Russia and China.
Indian engineers have been working on the launch for years. They are aiming to land Chandrayaan-3 near the challenging terrain of the moon’s unexplored South Pole.
India’s maiden lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, discovered water molecules on the moon’s surface. Eleven years later, the Chandrayaan-2 successfully entered lunar orbit but its rover crash-landed on the moon’s surface. It too was supposed to explore the moon’s South Pole.
At the time, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the engineers behind the mission despite the failure, promising to keep working on India’s space program and ambitions.
Just before Friday’s launch, Modi said the day “will always be etched in golden letters as far as India’s space sector is concerned.”
“This remarkable mission will carry the hopes and dreams of our nation,” he said in a Twitter post.
India has since spent about $75 million on its Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Modi said the rocket will cover more than 300,000 kilometers (186,411 miles) and reach the moon in the “coming weeks.”
India’s space program dates back more than six decades, to when it was a newly independent republic and a deeply poor country reeling from a bloody partition.
When it launched its first rocket into space in 1963, the country was no match for the ambitions of the US and the former Soviet Union, which were way ahead in the space race.
Now, India is the world’s most populous nation and its fifth largest economy. It boasts a burgeoning young population and is home to a growing hub of innovation and technology.
And India’s space ambitions have been playing catch up under Modi.
For the leader, who swept to power in 2014 on a ticket of nationalism and future greatness, India’s space program is a symbol of the country’s rising prominence on the global stage.
In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to reach Mars, when it put the Mangalyaan probe into orbit around the Red Planet, for $74 million – less than the $100 million Hollywood spent making space thriller “Gravity.”
Three years later, India launched a record 104 satellites in one mission.
In 2019, Modi announced in a rare televised address that India had shot down one of its own satellites, in what it claimed was an anti-satellite test, making it one of only four countries to do so.
That same year ISRO’s former chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan said India was planning to set up an independent space station by 2030. Currently, the only space stations available for expedition crews are the International Space Station (a joint project between several countries) and China’s Tiangong Space Station.
The rapid development and innovation has made space tech one of India’s hottest sectors for investors – and world leaders appear to have taken notice.
Last month, when Modi met US President Joe Biden in Washington on a state visit, the White House said both leaders sought more collaboration in the space economy.
And India’s space ambitions do not stop at the moon or Mars. ISRO has also proposed sending an orbiter to Venus.
This week, the Chinese military has increased its activities in the area of Taiwan, flying scores of warplanes over the Taiwan Strait’s middle line and into the main areas of the island’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ).
Analysts claim that while the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) activities has a number of ramifications, none of them are good for Taiwan or the stability across the Taiwan Strait.
38 PLA aircraft were spotted in the area of the island in the 24 hours ending at 6 a.m. local time on Wednesday, 33 in the same period on Thursday, and 30 in the same period on Friday, according to data from Taiwan’s Defence Ministry.
Over those 72 hours, 73 PLA aircraft either crossed the strait’s median line – an informal demarcation point that Beijing does not recognize but until recently largely respected – or entered the southeastern or southwestern parts of the island’s ADIZ.
China’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy of Taiwan as its territory despite never having controlled it, and has spent decades trying to isolate it diplomatically. Beijing has not ruled out using force to take control of the island.
The PLA aircraft detected this week included fighter jets, H-6 bombers, anti-submarine warning aircraft and reconnaissance drones, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.
The ministry said it tasked combat air patrol warplanes, naval vessels and land-based missile defense to monitor the PLA aircraft, along with nine Chinese warships that were present around the island.
Their response underscores the problem that increased PLA activity poses to Taiwan, said Carl Schuster, a Hawaii-based analyst and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.
When Taiwan’s military responds to PLA operations, it taxes the island’s systems and equipment.
“Constant use creates a maintenance headache that reduces readiness until (spare) parts are delivered and installed,” he said. “Also, air frames and hulls require inspection and refurbishment as certain age and stress times are reached.”
He also says surges in PLA activity are aimed at wearing down the mental ability of Taiwan’s people to resist a potentialtakeoverby Beijing.
“Beijing hopes Taipei will just accept unification as inevitable and allow Chinese forces in without resistance. They are trying to diminish if not destroy the Taiwan population’s will to resist,” he said.
But even if that tactic does not work, the continued presence of large numbers of PLA warplanes and ships around Taiwan can lull the island’s defenders – both the Taiwanese military and any potential external reinforcements – into complacency, he said.
Under the Taiwan Relations Act, Washington has agreed to give Taiwan the ability to defend itself, largely through weapons sales, although President Joe Biden has said repeatedly that US troops would defend the island in the event of a Chinese invasion.
Either way, with US equipment or even fighting troops, it may become too late for Washington to come to Taipei’s rescue if large amounts of PLA planes and ships are already on station around the island.
“The longer the delay in reacting to PLA buildups, the less time available to match or counter that buildup. The US margin of advantage is too slim to achieve success if its forces move too late,” Schuster said.
From the PLA’s perspective, sustained drills are a necessary part of readiness to execute any move on Taiwan, the former US Navy captain said.
“PLA forces need constant training since such skills are perishable and exercises offer both training in those skills and opportunities to rehearse and examine some aspects of war plans,” he said.
“Military operations are complex, like American football. The plays and drives require constant practice and rehearsal to be conducted effectively,” Schuster added.
China last held three days of intensive military drills around Taiwan in April, exercises the PLA said “comprehensively tested joint combat capabilities of its integrated military forces under actual combat situation.”
“Forces in the command is ready for combat at all times, and will resolutely destroy any type of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist or foreign interference attempts,” a PLA statement after the April drills said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
As for this week’s drills, a report in the state-run Global Times said they “aim to safeguard national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.”
“Such drills are becoming more combat-oriented and more intensive in order to deter and prepare for interferences from external forces,” the report said, citing Chinese experts.
Meanwhile, the activity in and around the Taiwan Strait in the past few days hasn’t been limited to the PLA.
A US Navy P-8A reconnaissance jet transited the strait on Thursday, according to a statement from the US 7th Fleet in Japan.
“The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows,” the statement said.
On its English-language website, the PLA accused the US military of hyping the situation, and a spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command said PLA troops tracked and monitored the US plane.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told CNN Thursday that he doesn’t see confrontation between the US and China involving Taiwan as “imminent” or “unavoidable.”
“But having said that it’s my job to make sure that we have to continue to maintain a credible deterrence in the Indo-Pacific,” he said. “The most credible deterrent is a combat capable force and that’s what we have today.”
A 13-year-old girl from Leicestershire has been missing for almost 24 hours without any cash or a cell phone on her.
Yesterday at approximately 5:50 p.m., Kelsey Mitchell was last seen at a location in the Royland Road neighbourhood of Loughborough.
According to the authorities, the adolescent is white, about 5’3″ tall, and has a “medium frame with long thick brown hair.”
County police continue, “She was last seen wearing a grey Adidas sweatshirt, grey Adidas leggings, and white trainers.”
Kelsey Mitchell was last seen at an address in the Royland Road area of Loughborough (Picture: Google Maps)
Kelsey is not believed to have any money or a phone with her and might be trying to make her way to Nottingham, about 15 miles north of Loughborough.
‘Officers and Kelsey’s family are extremely concerned for her welfare and are asking anyone who may have seen her or know where she may be to get in touch,’ police added.
Just a few weeks after leaving as an MP, Boris Johnson has requested permission to create an outdoor pool at his lavish country estate.
According to the Mirror, the former prime minister paid £3.8 million for his Cotswolds property back in May and has now submitted a planning application to begin construction there.
Mr. Johnson submitted an application to the neighbourhood council last month asking for permission to build an 11m x 4m swimming pool in his new home. A decision is anticipated next month.
The 400-year-old property, set in nearly five acres, boasts nine bedrooms, a walled garden and a tennis court.
In the meantime, the former Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP has been issued with a warning from County Archaeological Services, urging him to monitor for possible finds during the construction process, due to the site’s ‘considerable archaeological interest’.
Mr Johnson’s earnings since leaving Downing Street have been considerable, thanks to speaking engagements, book advances and his newspaper columnist role.
Analysis by Sky News and Tortoise media published in March this year showed that the former PM earned 85% of all the outside pay generated by MPs up to that point.
The former Prime Minister is planning to build a pool at his Cotswolds mansion (Picture: Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock)
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said at the time that all his interests are properly registered and declared.
This comes just a month since Mr Johnson resigned as an MP, after the Privileges Committee found he had misled the Commons over partygate claims back in December 2021.
The ex-PM chose used public Money to cover the £245,000 bill for his lawyers during the Partygate inquiry.
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said at the time that ministers had ‘utterly failed’ to produce evidence to prove their claim that funding Mr Johnson’s legal defence with taxpayers’ money followed convention.
‘This murky arrangement that has seen the public left to pick up the tab for Boris Johnson’s Partygate legal bills is not only without precedent but without justification,’ Ms Rayner added, calling for Mr Johnson to pay back every penny.
Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat deputy leader, echoed Labour’s criticism when responding to the news that Mr Johnson is planning to build a pool in his lavish country residence.
She said: ‘If Boris Johnson can afford to pay for a swimming pool, surely he could have paid his own legal fees for the Partygate inquiry instead of taxpayers having to stump up the cash.
‘He should finally do the right thing and reimburse these legal costs. It is an outrage that hardworking families’ money was used to defend Johnson’s lies and law-breaking.’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced criticism last year when he decided to build a new heated private swimming pool in the grounds of his North Yorkshire home, after it emerged that it used so much energy the local electricity network had to be upgraded.
This came at the same time as his constituents found themselves on the brink of losing their public baths due to soaring energy prices.
The Titan submersible‘s wreckage has reportedly yielded presumed human remains, according to the US Coast Guard.
Now that presumed human remains have been found from the implosion’s debris, medical experts will formally examine them.
Follow Metro.co.uk’s live blog here for the most recent information on the Titan submersible recovery.
At the scene of the deadly implosion of the deep-sea vessel, which claimed the lives of five individuals, the US Coast Guard (USCG) reported receiving wreckage and evidence from the ocean floor.
Large pieces of debris from Titan were transported to St John’s harbour on Wednesday by the Horizon Arctic ship, where it was seen being unloaded by a crane.
Speaking after the evidence was recovered, the Marine Board of Investigation’s chairman, Captain Jason Neubauer, said: ‘The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy.
‘There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.’
OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan was reported missing on Sunday, June 18 but after a huge search debris from the wreck was eventually discovered around 1,600 feet from the bow of the infamous sunken ship Titanic.
The implosion was confirmed on June 22. All five passengers were killed.
Those killed were British billionaire Hamish Harding, renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, prominent Pakistani business tycoon Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.
The alarm was raised when the submersible lost contact with its mothership, MV Polar Prince, off the coast of Newfoundland. The implosion was confirmed a few days later.
However the US Navy picked up sounds ‘consistent with an implosion’ shortly after it lost contact.
The debris was located by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) named ‘Odysseus’.
Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the US First Coast Guard District, said: ‘This was a catastrophic implosion of the vessel which would have generated a significant broadband sound down there that the sonar buoys would have picked up.
He described the region of the North Atlantic where the implosion took place as ‘unforgiving and difficult to access’ – and animations have reconstructed what the implosion could have looked like.
Pictures show pieces of the Titan wreckage being unloaded from the Horizon Arctic ship at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.
US maritime officials are investigating and say they will issue a report aimed at improving submersible safety, The Mirror reports.
Investigators from Canada, France and the UK are also involved in the probe.
It was ‘unexplained, but not suspicious’ that a lady and her teenage daughter were found dead in their burnt-out barbecue-filled home.
On December 29, 2017, Suzan Mahmoud, 42, and her daughter Davina Allen, 17, were discovered dead in their home in Hampshire’s New Forest national park.
The second daughter of Ms. Mahmoud made the horrifying discovery.
An inquest into their deaths opened at Winchester coroner’s court today, where it was heard Ms Mahmoud and Davina’s bodies were found lying in a bedroom surrounded by burned-out barbecues.
All the doors and windows had been closed, and a preliminary cause of death was given as nitrate intoxication.
At the time of the deaths, neighbours described the incident as ‘horrific’ and a young woman was seen outside the home wrapped in a blanket with police.
It’s thought they had only recently moved into the home and renovations were ongoing.
The full inquest into the circumstances of the deaths will take place next year.
Hampshire Constabulary previously described the deaths as ‘unexplained’ but not suspicious.
At the time a spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said: ‘We were called just after 1.45pm on Thursday December 29 to a report of the bodies of a 17-year-old girl and 42-year-old woman having been found at an address in Shorefield Road, Downton.
‘The deaths are being treated as unexplained, but not suspicious.
‘Their family has been informed and a file will be prepared for the coroner.’
Let me start off by putting my support for Ukraine in their struggle against the Russian invasion on the line. I also believe that western allies should be helping Ukraine in this struggle.
In the past, I have offered arguments for why Vladimir Putin may have been justified in renewing his steadfast demands that NATO not admit Ukraine or other Eastern Europeans to their club, and I still stand by those claims.
Ben Wallace, the UK’s defence secretary, made an important—and immediately divisive—point this week, though, as the war between the two nations shows little promise of coming to an end anytime soon.
During the ongoing NATO summit, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is once again pushing for more support in terms of more powerful military equipment, and that his homeland hadn’t been issued a timeframe for joining the bloc, Wallace spoke with typical frankness about the situation.
Wallace said: ‘Whether we like it or not, people want to see a bit of gratitude.
‘Sometimes you are asking countries to give up their own stocks [of weapons]. Sometimes you have to persuade lawmakers on the [Capitol] Hill in America.’
He added: ‘You know, we’re not Amazon. I told them that last year, when I drove 11 hours to be given a list.’
There was immediate outcry at Wallace’s bluntness.
He was accused of being ‘wrong’ and ‘out of order’ and was even gently slapped down by the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said that everyone agreed Zelensky had expressed his gratitude.
But here’s the thing – I genuinely think Wallace is right.
Many of the British public are struggling with the cost of living crisis, and making ends meet is becoming increasingly difficult.
So when they hear that the Ukrainian leader is moaning about a perceived lack of action despite the billions the UK has already pledged, they can be forgiven for feeling a little aghast.
That’s all Wallace was saying, not that the aid should stop, not that the Ukrainian cause was not just, simply that Zelensky needed to recognise that ‘war fatigue’ in countries battling economic crises is a real threat, and that gratitude always helps.
And I think he’s entirely correct.
In total Ukraine has received around $150billion from countries around the globe in the year since Putin’s invasion.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan, a country that the West played a pretty significant part in destabilising, is in dire need of around $4.6billion in humanitarian aid this year, according to the UN.
There’s no rush by NATO to plug that significant gap, and I don’t think it’s anti-Ukraine of me to point out that there may be a hint of hypocrisy at play.
And nor do Wallace’s comments don’t mean *he* is anti-Ukraine, just that we need to be realistic about the levels of aid that the UK is giving to them and just how long that is sustainable.
There are estimated to be as many as 32 countries around the world engaged in armed conflict, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is too often considered by politicians and parts of the media as the only one worth paying attention to.
I won’t speculate as to why, but I think it is important that Zelensky doesn’t forget that this is not the only country facing a fight, and that’s what the Defence Secretary’s comments might help achieve.
Wallace may be an outlier in the UK – and I suspect he feels liberated by the fact that he has consistently ruled himself out of standing for the Tory leadership – but he isn’t the only player on the world stage who feels resources and the attitude of western citizens need to be taken into account.
The American national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told a public forum at the same NATO summit: ‘The American people do deserve a degree of gratitude from the United States government for their willingness to step up and from the rest of the world as well.’
President Biden has always said the USA will continue supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, but a recent poll showed a 5% fall in support for the US backing Zelensky’s country in reclaiming territory, something that could have informed Sullivan’s comments.
I wouldn’t suggest the West stops all funding and aid to Ukraine, but fatigue is a real danger, and Zelensky needs to be aware, and yes grateful, about how much this is truly costing his allies.
Just seconds after landing, a jet carrying 172 passengers abruptly veered off the runway.
Video taken from inside the LATAM Airlines Airbus A321 shows it taxiing down the runway at Hercl Luz International Airport while it is pouring rain.
Then, it appears to rapidly veer to the left before launching off the tarmac.
All 172 passengers and the seven staff members were declared unharmed following the incident on July 12 by the airline and the airport, also known as Floripa Airport.
The incident prompted over 70 flights to be cancelled.
Part of the runway was damaged when it crashed off the tarmac.
A LATAM Airlines spokesperson said: ‘We reinforce that all 172 passengers and seven crew members of flight LA 3300 were safely disembarked and released after evaluation by the medical team.
The aftermath of a plane sliding off the runway in heavy rain (Picutre: Jam Press Vid)
‘The action was taken after the incident with the Airbus A321 aircraft PT-MXM, which exceeded the runway limits upon landing.’
The Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Centre is investigating the incident.
The airline confirmed that it is assisting CENIPA with the investigation and will provide updates on social media in the coming days.
The Wagner Group‘s new base outside a village in Belarus has seen the light of day in its first images.
Near the village of Tsel, massive tents have been erected as barracks for the group that conducted a coup against Vladimir Putin’s government in late June.
Vladimir Putin dismissed charges against the Wagner soldiers and their commander Yevgeny Prigozhin after the failed uprising in order to stop “bloodshed.”
But Prigozhin was forced into exile in Belarus, where president Aleksandr Lukashenko also offered to station some of the mercenary fighters.
Their move to Belarus has forced ‘young women and girls’ living nearby in Mogilev region to flee, according to one report.
The group will leave Lukashenko ‘trembling with fear’ as they are ‘extremely undesirable and dangerous’ to his regime, according to Valery Sakhashchyk, defence and security spokesman for the exiled Belarusian government-in-waiting.
The former commander of the Belarusian 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade, he told the i newspaper the overwhelming majority of the country’s forces were opposed to Wagner staying in the ex-Soviet state.
Wagner fighters comprise of hardened criminals released from Russian jails,including rapists and murderers.
They were freed by Putin to fight in their invasion of Ukraine.
Crimean Wind Telegram channel said: ‘Young women and girls living near the location of the PMC Wagner detachments in the Mogilev region began to travel to relatives in other regions of Belarus for fear of being subjected to violence by Prigozhin’s militants.’
The initial encampment holds up to 298 tents accommodating 30 people each, it was reported.
A report said: ‘The first group of Wagner mercenaries has already settled in Belarus and is practicing tank manoeuvres.
‘Another camp is going to be built near Baranovichi.’
Despite tents being seen, there is still some mystery over Prigozhin’s whereabouts, he said.
‘The Wagner leader apparently arrived in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, last week after two his private planes touched down at a military airfield – but the jets then returned to Russia,’ Mr Sakhashchyk said.
Alexander Nikolayev, a 72-year-old seasoned diplomat from Russia, passed just three weeks after being the victim of an unidentified attack close to his country home in the Tver region.
Prior to Vladimir Putin‘s takeover of Crimea, Nikolayev held the position of senior Russian diplomat there. Nikolayev was savagely attacked in an unreported event.
After the brutal attack, Nikolayev was allegedly “covered in blood, haematomas, and bruises” and unable to breathe without a ventilator, according to his family, who then accused the Russian police of conducting a subpar investigation into the assault.
Despite being rushed to one of Moscow’s top hospitals, Nikolayev remained in a coma and eventually succumbed to his injuries.
Following his work in Crimea, Nikolayev later served as the Russian ambassador to Bangladesh before transitioning to working for Rosatom, the state nuclear energy corporation, in 2016.
His murder was later highlighted by Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko as the latest in a series of suspicious deaths of those with high-ranking connections to the Russian energy sector.
The family of Nikolayev sought the assistance of renowned Russian human rights expert and journalist Eva Merkacheva to investigate his death.
She revealed that a local Cossack leader, who had close ties to the police, confessed to having an altercation with an unidentified individual whom he pushed.
The incident occurred near a shop in a village near Konakovo town in the Tver region.
The Cossack leader, Alexander Konopenko, is currently under house arrest, and the Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into Nikolayev’s death.
From 2003 to 2008, Nikolayev served as Russia’s Consul-General in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, before the peninsula’s forceful annexation by Putin in 2014.
Nikolayev, survived by his wife and two daughters, adds to the list of mysterious deaths associated with the Russian energy sector since the conflict with Ukraine began.
While the precise nature of Nikolayev’s role at Rosatom remains unclear, the circumstances surrounding his demise raise significant concerns.
There won’t be any relief from the heatwave that Europeans and British tourists are currently experiencing on the continent.
After an anticyclone system named Cerberus advanced northward, warnings for imminent danger to life are already being issued for several European countries owing to the intense heat.
However, once Cerberus exhausts itself, Italian meteorologists now anticipate that a second heatwave, known as Charon, will take its place.
This could push temperatures back up to 43°C in Rome and as high as 47°C in Sardinia, The MailOnline reports.
Cerberus – named after Hades’ three-headed dog in Greek mythology – will see temperatures rise to above 45°C in Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey by the end of next week.
The Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily are set to bear the brunt of the unforgiving heat, with the BBC claiming temperatures could reach 48.8°C.
In Athens today, rescue workers had to rescue tourists from the Acropolis as temperatures climbed.
On Tuesday the death of a 44-year-old street painter in Lodi, Italy was believed to be heat related – as was the drowning of two children in Manfredonia, who were believed to be seeking relief from the heat.
The ground temperature in parts of southern Spain reached upwards of 60°C, with the European Space Agency warning continental records could be broken next week.
Health ministry officials have issued red alert warnings for ten major cities in Italy, including Florence and Rome.
A red alert warning means the heat is so intense that it poses a health risk to the whole population – not just vulnerable groups.
Italian politician Nicola Fratoianni said: ‘We are facing an unbearable heatwave. Dying from the heat is unthinkable – we should be taking measures to avoid tragedies like this in the hottest hours of the day.’
Carlo Cacciamani, head of Italy’s national meteorological and climatology agency, said the unusually hot weather hitting the country is because the Cerberus anticyclone has pushed out a colder weather system from the Azores which usually influences summer weather in Italy.
‘This is happening more frequently and means we see temperatures around 40°C instead of the normal 30-31°C,’ Cacciamani told The Times.
‘The world just had the hottest week on record, according to preliminary data,’ the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said, with high temperatures having ‘potentially devastating impacts on ecosystems and the environment’.
Research published on Monday found that more than 61,000 people died due to the heat during Europe’s record-breaking summer last year.
Most people who died were over the age of 80, and about 63% of those who died due to the heat were women, according to the research published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Boomplay, an African-focused music streaming and download platform, has recently unveiled a collaboration with the popular global short videos brand, TikTok. This partnership aims to facilitate cross-promotion of trending content on both platforms by means of mutual playlists and content discovery, presenting an exciting opportunity for users to explore and engage with diverse entertainment experiences.
Users of both platforms will be pleased to know that Boomplay will now host a playlist of TikTok trending sounds, while TikTok will have Boomplay’s top songs as part of its discovery and sound pages.
The mutual playlists, tagged TikTokPicks and BoomplayPicks, will feature songs that made it into the top trending songs on both platforms each week, with TikTok’s list focusing on user-created content and songs that garnered the most engagements.
The vision for the partnership is such that Boomplay and TikTok are bringing the worlds of music and creativity of artists and creators together on the two platforms to build connections among fans, and give artists expanded reach. The new partnership will see custom-curated playlists being shared and amplified on both platforms, taking the African rhythm, dance and storytelling to an even greater audience.
“Boomplay continues to expand its strategic partnerships with global brands to offer artists creative and innovative channels to access their target audience while providing extensions for content promotion. We are very excited to partner with TikTok, one of the largest and fastest growing platforms in the entertainment tech industry, with great creation properties perfectly suited to the music community,” said Paul Azumah-Ayitey, Public Relations Manager at Boomplay.
Commenting on the partnership, Boniswa Sidwaba, TikTok’s Head of Content Programming for Sub-Saharan Africa said, “TikTok is hugely popular across Sub-Saharan Africa with a thriving community using our platform to share their love of music, sport, comedy, trends, fashion and the diverse culture that makes the region so unique. With this partnership with Boomplay, we look to encourage our creative community to continue to use African music as the soundtrack for great content development while celebrating and taking African musicians to the world.”
Boomplay and TikTok anticipate a successful outcome with this partnership as they amplify trending sounds to their constantly growing millions of users.
While many of these users already engage with the content properties on both platforms in different ways, this collaboration will allow creators and content owners to interact directly with their target audience in a more creative, fun and meaningful way that focuses on African music.
Tebah Educational Initiative (TEI) Lead Vice President, Mr Alexander Yanyi-Ampah, Emphasizes Importance of Mentorship and Career Guidance in Ghana’s Educational Curriculum for Empowering Career Development.
TEI is an initiative designed to provide mentorship, career guidance, leadership training, and scholarship opportunities to youth across the world.
The programme started in Maryland in the United States and was extended to Haiti, South Africa, and currently Ghana, where some schools in the Northen Region, Bono, and Westen Region were benefiting from the outfit.
Mr Yanyi-Ampah supported by Mrs Viola Yanyi-Ampah Founder and President of TEI stated during interaction Ghana News Agency and stressed that the introduction of mentorship programmes was key due to the global change in both educational and career dynamics and to sharpen the students’ ability to match up with others wherever they found themselves.
“Now we want to focus more on Ghana. Obviously, because we have Ghanaian roots, we think it’s best to come back home. We were trying to get the students up and running and get them up to power with kids outside the country,” he stated.
Mr. Yanyi-Ampah said the move would help yield positive outcomes both at school and in the working environment for Ghanaian students to compete with others irrespective of their location.
He went on to say mentoring students contributed significantly to realizing the true potential in their field of interest to move forward professionally, provided a compelling opportunity for personal growth and career advancement, and boosted productive outcomes.
Mr. Yanyi-Ampah mentioned that their engagement with some Ghanaian students so far had refined some specific skills such as leadership, communication, good listening skills, and exposure to different perspectives, which would help them outstand in any field they found themselves in.
He added that career mentorship and guidance helped students learn about different careers and fields, which in the long run boosted job satisfaction, emphasizing that many professionals failed to move up the career ladder because they lack certain key values necessary to help them climb the ladder of success.
Mrs. Yanyi-Ampah, founder and President of “The Tebah Educational Initiative,” had challenged educational institutions to holistically develop human resources for the global market.
“The essence of modern education is to unearth skills and totally equip the graduates to offer solutions to society’s numerous problems. Any educational system that produces graduates to add up to societal problems needs to examine its mandates.
“Ghana and Africa need pragmatic youth who are ready to brace the storm, explore global opportunities and resources, and use them to solve domestic challenges,” Mrs. Yanyi-Ampah stated.
She noted that this year the foundation would continue to encourage and motivate students through educational programmes, mentorship, and scholarship opportunities across the world.
The foundation seeks collaboration with strategic stakeholders to provide the tools and means for a quality education, which formed an essential ingredient for students across the globe, beginning in Ghana, to enter the global workplace.
“Our mission is to give hope, inspire, motivate, and encourage the students we work with to continue to strive for academic excellence. We offer students the opportunity to excel throughout their education for the advancement of their country and the world at large.
“We offer scholarship opportunities through the Tebah Private Donor Award Scholarship scheme, provide self-awareness mentorship programmes, and encourage students in self-development activities by engaging them in debates, sports, and other extracurricular activities,” she said.
Mrs Yanyi-AMpah said, through the initiative, “we have high expectations and hopes for our students. We are establishing a culture to harness their skills and talents in their education while guiding them to become successful future leaders.”
The significance of sacrifice in a relationship may be challenging to measure precisely, but its undeniable importance underscores the need for adjustments and compromises to foster a healthy and satisfying partnership. True essence of sacrifice lies in the smaller gestures, as sacrifices in relationships need not always be grand or monumental acts.
While every relationship is unique, here are some examples of sacrifices that are often considered worthy:
Time and attention Relationships require time and effort. You may need to sacrifice some personal time or prioritize your partner’s needs over your own at times. This could involve spending less time on hobbies or adjusting your schedule to accommodate quality time together.
Personal ambitions Sometimes, individuals need to sacrifice or adjust their personal goals or ambitions to support their partner’s aspirations. This doesn’t mean giving up everything, but rather finding a balance that allows both partners to pursue their dreams while supporting each other.
Independence Sacrificing a certain level of independence is natural in a committed relationship. It may involve making joint decisions, consulting with your partner before making major choices, or considering their perspective when making individual choices.
Comfort zone Stepping out of your comfort zone is often necessary for personal growth and relationship development. You might need to sacrifice the familiar and embrace new experiences or activities that your partner enjoys.
Emotional vulnerability Being vulnerable and open in a relationship can require sacrificing emotional defences. It involves sharing your thoughts, feelings, fears, and insecurities, which can be challenging but very crucial for building trust and intimacy.
An Accra Circuit Court has granted GHS 200,000 bail with two sureties to a businessman accused of the fraudulent sale of Mercedes Benz C300.
The accused person is said to have sold an unregistered 2015 model Mercedes Benz C300 saloon car to the complainant, Mr Seidu Issaka, for GHS180,000.00.
The court presided over by Mrs Susana Eduful adjourned the case to August.9, 2023.
Police Chief Inspector Samuel Ahiabor, prosecuting told the court that Mr Issaka was a trader and a resident of Achimota, a suburb of Accra.
It said the accused on the other hand was a businessman and a resident of Taifa.
The prosecution said sometime in 2021, the complainant desired to buy a Mercedes Benz saloon car for his private use and was introduced to the accused person by a friend, since he was a dealer in cars.
On October 5, 2021, the accused then sold an unregistered 2015 model Mercedes Benz C300 saloon car to the complainant for GH₵180,000.00.
It said about a week later, the car developed a fault, and the accused was informed but he assured the complainant that he had a mechanic, who could repair car.
The prosecution said the accused then went for the car with the promise of repairing it and returning it in time but failed to do so.
The accused resold the said car to another person, appropriated the proceeds and went into hiding.
It said that he was arrested, and he admitted the offence.
The prosecution said investigations revealed that for the accused to execute his plans to succeed in his endeavour to steal, he managed to secure a certified copy of the car documents from the Customs Office, which documents he knew the original was with the complainant.
It said the document facilitated his reselling of the car to another buyer and after investigations, the accused was charged with the offence and brought before the court.
Elevated blood sugar levels after eating are frequently observed, even among individuals without diabetes, but they may serve as a potential warning sign of being susceptible to developing diabetes, emphasizing the importance of understanding and maintaining one’s health.
The key to preventing your blood sugar levels from rising is paying attention to food and physical activity.
Here are some effective tips that might help you control the rising blood sugar levels after eating:
Eat a high-fibre diet
Fibre is a type of carbohydrate that does not break down in the body, so its consumption does not have much impact on the blood glucose level because it produces very little amount of sugar. Experts suggest that consuming high-fibre-rich foods does not cause a spike in your blood sugar levels.
Also, consuming fibre-rich foods keeps you satiated so you don’t overeat. Plus, you don’t eat extra calories or too much sugar.
Practice portion control
One of the best ways to avoid post-meal sugar spikes is to control how much you are eating. Consume meals in small portions several times a day, but do not overeat in one go, which is why your sugar spikes in the first place. If you consume small amounts of food, your blood sugar will remain balanced and there would be no sudden fluctuations.
Don’t skip breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Generally, people think that dinner causes your blood sugar levels to spike, but it is not so. From breakfast to lunch to snacking, everything you eat during the day can affect your blood sugar levels. In fact, skipping breakfast can cause your blood sugar levels to spike rapidly in the next meal. Try to incorporate protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats in your breakfast.
Don’t lie down immediately after eating
Raise your hand if the first thing you do after eating is lie down because you feel too lazy to do anything! Well, studies have found that lying down immediately after eating or sitting can cause a rapid rise in your blood sugar levels. When you do this, your muscles are not able to transfer the extra glucose into the bloodstream. Plus, this habit promotes digestive problems. It is better to walk slowly for some time after eating to promote insulin sensitivity. It is also a good way to utilize glucose more effectively.
A 28-year-old commercial motorist, Baba Suleman, also known as Tornado, has been convicted and sentenced to eight years of hard labor for charges of unlawful entry and theft.
Suleman pleaded guilty and was convicted on his own plea by the Jasikan Circuit Court presided over by Mr Alfred Kwabena Asiedu.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Seth Vincent Kpodo, Prosecutor, told the Court that the complainant was a manager of a guest house and fuel filling station and the convict, a commercial Okada rider.
He said there had been a series of complaints of theft of mobile phones, television sets and laptops within Worawora and its environs.
ASP Kpodo said all efforts made by the people living in the vicinity and the Police to arrest the perpetrators had proved futile.
He noted that on July 4, this year, at about 2100 hours, the convict was in charge of his Sanya motorbike with registration number M- 1241- 17 with his friend one Awaki Ransford, a student of Worawora Senior High School as his pillion rider.
ASP Kpodo said Awaki, also a witness in the case, together with the convict went to the complainant’s fuel station to buy fuel for their motorbike.
He said after they bought the fuel, it started raining and the convict told the witness to climb the staircase to the guest house in order not to get wet and the witness obliged.
ASP Kpodo said after few moments, Awaki saw the convict with an electric iron and 32-inch Nasco smart television and its remote valued GH¢1,350.
He said the convict disclosed to the witness he took the items from one of the hotel rooms after enquiring.
ASP Kpodo said the witness who was scared, then, ordered the convict to return the items to where he took them as that was not their motive of coming to the filling station.
He said the convict instructed the witness to take his motor key and ride the motor to the entrance of the filling station in order to run away with the items.
ASP Kpodo said the witness got scared but took the key from convict and rode the motorbike away leaving the convict behind.
He said all this while the fuel attendant and the manager were inside their office because of the rain.
ASP Kpodo said the convict kept waiting for his friend but all in vain.
He said the convict together with the TV set and pressing iron proceeded to the Apesokubi township to search for the witness.
ASP Kpodo said the convict on his way, met one Emmanuel Ansah also a witness and upon interrogation, convict could not give any tangible explanation to where he got the items from.
He said the convict was arrested together with the TV set covered in a pink lady’s dress and the pressing iron to the Apesokubi Police station and an official complaint lodged.
ASP Kpodo said on July 5, witness Ansah had an information that the said items belong to one Gyamfi Prosper, the C.E.O of the Oti Guest House and Desert filling station at Apesokubi, where the complainant was the manager.
He said on the same day, witness Awaki was arrested together with the said Sanya motorbike and in his witness statement to Police, disclosed that he only escorted the convict to purchase fuel but not to steal the said items.
ASP Kpodo said the convict in his investigation cautioned statement admitted the offences and stated that he stole the items from one of the hotel rooms.
He said the items were displayed and the complainant again identified the same as hers.
Actor and actress Chris and Damilola in 2015, exchanged vows in a private ceremony held in Ghana, following the birth of their son the previous year in 2014, as the former lovebirds initially crossed paths on the set of the soap opera ‘Tinsel’ where their romantic journey commenced, yet regrettably, the once beloved pair reached a point of parting ways in September 2017.
Revealing what caused their split during an interview with popular Nigerian media personality, Chude Jideonwo, the Nigerian actress detailed that her marriage to the actor crashed because “love is not enough.”
She explained that “Love is not enough. When you meet somebody and you want to spend your life with them, love is just one of the qualities that you need. But it is not everything.”
During the conversation, Damilola also reiterated that she has never regretted divorcing her ex-husband. She added that the only regard she has for Chris Attoh is that he is the father of her son.
Upper West Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr. Victor Elikpilim Nuworkpor, emphasizes the importance of prioritizing personal security as a preventive measure against the infiltration of violent extremism within communities.
He said people should also avoid giving information about their friends, family members and other relations to strangers, to safeguard peace.
Mr Nuworkpor gave the advice during an interaction with students at the Tumu College of Education, as part of the implementation of the, “Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) in Eight Border Regions in Northern Ghana,” project by the NCCE, with funds from the European Union (EU).
The overall objective was to prevent and contain violent extremism and terrorism through the promotion of social cohesion, peace and tolerance in the five Northern Regions and other hotspots (the three bordering regions in the north).
The specific aim of the youth engagement programme was also to ensure that the youth understood the negative consequences of joining violent extremist groups and appreciated the legal framework that barred such activities.
He told the students that even if they knew the person or group of people seeking information, they should not volunteer to disclose anything, until the purpose for the request was given or permission sought for from a higher authority.
Mr Nuworkpor explained that the information given out could be used to attack a person, a group, or a community.
He entreated the students to be abreast with all emergency numbers, especially that of the security, to get the necessary help when in danger.
Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI) William Addai, the Second-In-Command of the Ghana Immigration Service in Tumu, who spoke on “Identifying Early Warning Signals, Community Surveillance and Basic Community-Based Strategies for Countering Arms Proliferation as Mechanisms for Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism,” said the West Africa sub-region had been engulfed with activities of extremists, especially the Sahel region.
He said Ghana’s neighbouring countries were equally facing similar security challenges and as a result, citizens from countries like Burkina Faso, were escaping into Ghana as refugees.
DSI Addai, indicated that as residents of the municipality, they needed to be vigilant for suspected extremists since not all the people coming into the Municipality were using the approved routes.
He took the students through triggers of violent extremism, signs of radicalisation, and how to prevent and contain these activities.
Mr Osman Kanton Luriwie, the Executive Director for Action for Sustainable Development, also spoke on “Peace Building Mechanisms and Gender Dimensions of Violent Extremism: Strategies for Enhancing Social Cohesion,” saying, efforts in peacebuilding should be geared towards achieving sustainable peace to guarantee growth and development.
“Ad-hoc measures to peacebuilding could relapse and degenerate into unimaginable consequences,” Mr Luriwie said.
He urged the students not to think of violent extremism as a male affair, explaining that said females were now being used in executing the plans of extremists and no one should underestimate their role in these activities.
Ghanaian gospel musician Sonnie Badu, has declared his eagerness to work on upcoming projects with Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale.
In a recent interview with Neat FM on July 12, 2023, the singer of the hit song “Baba” conveyed his admiration for the musical talent of both Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale.
Sonnie Badu emphasized the potential impact that a collaboration between himself, Stonebwoy, and Shatta Wale could have, promising a beautiful and memorable musical experience.
He expressed his desire to feature Stonebwoy on one of his songs, considering it a wonderful opportunity. Additionally, he expressed his willingness to include Shatta Wale, believing that their collective efforts would create a remarkable impact.
The acclaimed gospel artist also spoke about the close bond he shares with Stonebwoy, which has developed over nearly a decade of friendship and support. Reflecting on their early encounters, Sonnie Badu revealed that Stonebwoy sought him out during the beginning of his musical journey.
He expressed his long-standing connection with Stonebwoy and his desire to feature him on one of his songs, acknowledging the need to speak to his record label for the collaboration to come to fruition.
Despite belonging to different genres within the music industry, Sonnie Badu remains hopeful that by merging their distinct musical styles, they can create something truly memorable and influential within the Ghanaian music scene and beyond.
The collaboration between Sonnie Badu, Stonebwoy, and Shatta Wale holds great potential to captivate listeners and make a significant impact in the music industry.
In the Tema Region, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has taken the decision to disconnect power supply to the Musahamat Banana Farm, Treasure Island, and the Ada Technical Institute due to outstanding debts owed to the company.
The disconnection forms part of ECG’s ongoing revenue mobilization, dubbed “Operation Zero.”
The Musahamat Banana Farm, located in Aveyime, owes the ECG a total of GHC219,184.42, Ms. Sakyiwaa Mensah, Tema Regional Public Relations Officer for the ECG, disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency.
Ms. Mensah said Treasure Island Hotel, on the other hand, owed GHC379,775.95, hence their disconnection.
She said Aveyime Irrigation also got disconnected over a debt of GHC63,801.22 while the Ada Technical Institute also suffered the same over GHC71,102.11 indebtedness to the electricity distributor.
She stated that the Company commenced the two-month operations on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, to ensure that no customer of theirs has an unpaid debt.
“The intention is that once customers have consumed electricity, they must be ready to pay for it in a bid not to build debt.”
The PRO stated that the ‘Operation Zero’ campaign had many of the staff of ECG deployed to the field to visit customers, ensure debts payment, monitor metres to ensure their integrity, check on other ECG installations, and provide customer education on ECG cashless system and how to use its mobile app, the Power App.
She added that “there is, however, a lean presence of staff available in all offices, overseeing customers who may visit the offices for additional services.”
She also advised the customers and the general public to allow their staff access to all metres on their premises.
“The customers and the general public are also advised to ensure that all possible payments are made with mobile money or debit cards to ECG, as the company is doing cashless transactions.”
For the first time ever, Funke Akindele discusses her two failed marriages. Last year, the Nollywood actress underwent her second divorce.
In June 2022, Abdul Bello, better known as JJC Skillz, who was the husband of the popular Nigerian actress, shockingly announced that they have decided to separate. Funke Akindele and JJC Skillz got married in 2016.
The actress first married got to married to Oloyede, a Lagos-based businessman, in 2012 and the marriage lasted for only 413 days as issues of abuse surrounded the union.
Speaking about her failed marriages in an interview with Chude, she said: “the only reason why I will share this with you is to encourage young ladies out there that are in a hurry to get married, that are pressured to get married. Calm down, take your time, If you rush in, you will rush out”.
She continued that “I just wanted to get married. I want to do things right, have children and all that. When I went into the (first) marriage, it didn’t work fine. And it ended in a very bad way, in social media, the noise was everywhere. I was actually filming and somebody called me and told me, I wanted to die!
“You know I cried, lost some good deals then. But I didn’t let it break me.” The mother of twin boys seized the moment to advise ladies to ignore societal and family pressure and only get married if they want to spend forever with their partners.
Mamdev Ghana Limited, the contractor responsible for the Prof John Evans Atta Mills Presidential Library in Cape Coast, has officially delivered the facility to the government for renovation and subsequent commissioning.
The facility is now in the hands of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB), and the Ghana Library Authority (GLA) who have resolved to get it running within three months.
The three institutions will work in close collaboration with other stakeholders, including the family of the late President, to raise the edifice to the standard of an ideal cultural and intellectual heritage centre to promote tourism.
The one-storey facility, sitting face-to-face with the Cape Coast Castle, was built, commissioned, and handed over to the University of Cape Coast (UCC) by the erstwhile Mahama Administration in honour of the late President.
The edifice has a conference hall, multimedia room, e-lecture halls, offices, reception, secretariat, VVIP Lounge, kitchen, museum, roof terrace garden, among other facilities to enable it function as a research and memorabilia hub for the late President.
But more than six years after the commissioning, the library has failed to work because the contractor held on to it chiefly due to the failure of the State to pay him for the work done.
Consequently, parts of the building have deteriorated with broken glass windows, corroded and non-functional air-conditioners, broken ceiling, peeling paints on walls, among other challenges.
At a short handing over ceremony, Mr Akwasi Agyemang, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GTA, noted that all issues had been resolved to pave the way for the utilisation of the library.
He said it was imperative to renovate the facility to harness its potential to contribute to tourism in the region and called for a synergy between the Castle and the Library.
“Given its proximity to the Cape Coast Castle and its significance, it will become one of the recent attractions that we have in the municipality,” he noted.
He further revealed that the stakeholders had agreed to introduce new ideas and facilities such as shops and a learning centre for the youth, to help modernise and enhance the vision of the project.
“The Library Authority will make sure that it becomes a learning centre for the youth in the municipality,” he indicated.
Mr Agyemang further advised that the facility must be properly managed and maintained to raise the necessary revenue for itself to avoid falling on government for maintenance and other necessities.
Mr Joseph Kojo Mamphey, the CEO of Mamdev Ghana Limited, apologised to the people of Cape Coast and Ghanaians for holding on to the library for the non-payment over the years.
He was however glad that his action and continuous stay in the ancient city had birthed the Green City project, which aims to transform Cape Coast.
He thanked the chiefs and people and all other stakeholders for their cooperation throughout the execution of the project.
“We are privileged to hand over the keys to you today,” he said in an emotional voice.
Mr Kingsley Agyei Boahene, the Chief Director of the Central Regional Coordinating Council (CRCC) who represented the Regional Minister, expressed joy over the greenlight to get the facility running.
According to him, it was in the Regional Minister’s plans to reactive the project as it aligned with the development agenda of the region.
“We advise that it should be vibrant so that visitors can patronise it in their numbers,” he said, assuring the three institutions of the Council’s support in the rehabilitation of the project.
In adherence to the regulations for the closed fishing season, fishermen in New Takoradi, located in the Western Region, have diligently stored away their canoes and fishing gear. The closed fishing season, which applies to inshore and artisanal fishers, spans from July 1 to August 31 this year.
The month-long closed fishing season directives by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development in collaboration with the Fisheries Commission, under Section 84 of the Fisheries Act, 2022 (Act 625) formed part of strategic measures aimed at reducing overexploitation and ensuring fish stock replenishment in the country’s marine waters.
The Ghana News Agency (GNA) observed during a visit to the shores of the community that, some of the fishers idled around, others were busily mending their nets, with some servicing and repairing their outboard motors, while the rest worked on their canoes to put them in good shape ahead of the restart of the fishing season.
While expressing varied views, some fishermen lamented the negative impact of the directives on their livelihoods and others believed it was necessary as it would help replenish the depleted fish stock.
Mr John Arthur, a fisherman, appealed to the government and other relevant stakeholders to develop alternative interventions to help reduce the impact of the closed fishing season on their livelihoods within that period.
He said: “Fishing has been our only source of livelihoods and during this period of closed fishing season, we find it very difficult to cope with its impact on our daily upkeep and so we are appealing to the government to do something about it for us.”
He called on authorities to put in place efficient measures to empower them economically to be resilient against the impact of the closed season, saying; the government should provide them with soft loans with affordable repayment terms after end of the period.
Mr Ekow Yawda, another fisherman, said though they were complying with the closed fishing season directives, that was not the sole solution to replenish the depleted fish stock.
He noted that illegal mining activities (galamsey), activities of pair trawlers and the use of unorthodox fishing methods posed danger to fish stock and urged the government to deepen efforts to eradicate the menace to help restore fish stock in the long run.
Madam Esther Essinieku, a fishmonger at the New Takoradi shores, expressed worry about the closed fishing season directives, saying it affected the businesses of mongers as there were not enough fish to serve their customers.
“During this season our businesses become slow because fishermen do not go fishing and that means we are not able to serve our customers adequately which in turn, affect our daily income,” she indicated.
The situation was not different for food vendors along the shores of the community, as the GNA observed that there was low patronage of food and other items as at the time of the visit.
Contraceptives are a topic that many men and women may not fully understand.
There is as a result of a lack of awareness surrounding what the subject matter. To clear things up, contraceptives are different methods used to prevent pregnancy by interfering with fertilization. These prevent the release of an egg from the ovary (ovulation), block sperm from reaching the egg, and use hormonal substances to prevent fertilization.
There are different types of contraceptives available. Some use hormones like birth control pills, patches, or injections. Others use intrauterine devices (IUDs) that are put into the uterus to prevent pregnancy and many others, the usual condoms. The most common prevention is the condom and famous among women, is the morning-after pill.
Now concerning contraceptives, a lot of rumours and lies have been spread. We will list those lies while explaining why they are untrue and what you should actually believe.
1. Contraceptives are 100% effective
This is not true. No contraceptive method can guarantee 100% protection against pregnancy. Even though contraceptives are usually very effective when used correctly and consistently, there is still a small chance they might not work.
The effectiveness of contraceptives can differ depending on the type you use and how well you follow the instructions.
2. Contraceptives are only for preventing pregnancy
While preventing pregnancy is a significant aspect of contraceptive use, it’s important to know that contraceptives offer benefits beyond that. They can improve overall reproductive health, ease period pains, and even protect against certain STIs.
Some hormonal contraceptives, like birth control pills, patches, and intrauterine devices (IUDs), can help make periods more regular, reduce menstrual pain, and manage conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis. They can also provide relief from hormone-related imbalances.
3. Contraceptives may cause abortion
One common misconception is that emergency contraceptives, also known as the morning-after pill, cause abortion. But that’s far from the truth. Emergency contraceptives work by stopping an egg’s release or preventing fertilisation.
They don’t terminate an already established pregnancy. It’s important to understand the difference between preventing pregnancy and ending a pregnancy. Emergency contraception prevents pregnancy; it doesn’t cause an abortion.
4. Contraceptives are only for women
Contraceptives are not just for women. Men can play a role in contraception. Male condoms are widely accessible and offer a barrier method of preventing pregnancy.
Also, male sterilisation, known as a vasectomy, is a permanent contraceptive choice for individuals who have decided not to have more children.
Contraceptives lead to infertility Another myth surrounding emergency contraceptives is the belief that they can cause infertility. Scientific research consistently shows that emergency contraceptives do not harm fertility.
These contraceptives are designed to prevent pregnancy in the short term, and fertility typically returns to normal in the following menstrual cycles. It’s important that any difficulty in getting pregnant after discontinuing the pill is usually unrelated to the contraceptive itself and you should go see a doctor.
5. The morning-after pill makes you gain weight
Many women wonder if taking this contraceptive pill can lead to weight gain. While weight gain is often mentioned as a possible side effect of this particular birth control method, studies have not found a connection between the two.
Some individuals might experience slight water retention or changes in appetite, but any changes in weight are usually minimal and not solely caused by this contraceptive pill.
Emergency contraceptives are only effective when taken immediately after unprotected sex.
A very popular misconception is that emergency contraceptives can only work if taken immediately after unprotected sex.
This is not true.
Emergency contraceptive pills can be taken up to 120 hours (five days) after having unprotected sex. Some emergency pills work best when taken within 72 hours (three days) after sex. So, yes if you take your pill within this period, it’s still effective.
Fact: The sooner you take emergency contraception, the more effective it can be.
There is often confusion regarding the timing of emergency contraception, so it’s important to understand that the sooner you use any form of emergency contraception after unprotected sex, the better.
We may not fully understand how our bodies work or the precise time window for contraception to be effective, so it’s important to act promptly.
Four Members of Parliament representing both Caucuses have made a courtesy visit to the chiefs of Gomoa Ajumako, Gomoa Akyempim, and Effutu in the Central Region.
This move is part of broader efforts to find a resolution to the ongoing conflicts surrounding land ownership and boundaries in the region.
Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu, led Mr Desmond D. Paitoo, a National Democratic Congress (NDC), MP for Gomoa East; Mr Richard Gyan-Mensah, an NDC MP for Gomoah West and Naana Eyiah, an NPP MP for Gomoa Central and Deputy Minister for the Interior, to engage with the traditional leaders.
The rest of the delegation were Alhaji Kassim Zubairu, the Municipal Chief Executive for Effutu; Mr Solomon Quarm, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Gomoa East; Mr Bismark Baisie Nkum, the DCE for Gomoah West and Mr Benjamian Kojo Otto, the DCE for Gomoa Central.
A statement signed by Mr Afenyo-Markin, who is also the Deputy Majority Leader of Parliament and issued to the Ghana News Agency said the delegation’s commitment to an impartial strategy for resolving the land disputes and ensuring peace in the areas were paramount.
It said for the Region’s development, there would be the creation of a Development Authority for each of the areas visited as a strategic instrument to propel the developmental agenda of the enclave.
It also emphasised the creation of a bi-partisan joint committee to address the land concerns of the chiefs.
According to the Statement, Obrempong Nyanful Krampah XI, the Paramount Chief of Gomoa Ajumako, expressed his profound gratitude to the team for the visit.
“Gomoa Ajumako and Effutu do not currently have any open land disputes,” it said.
The statement said, the Paramount Chief, therefore, underlined the critical value of peaceful co-existence and applauded the group’s dedication to arriving at a solution that was advantageous to all sides.
On his part, Obirfo Ahunako Ahor Ankobea II, the Paramount Chief of Gomoa Akyempim, announced his consent for the plans made by the team that would enable them to achieve enduring peace and development.
“He sincerely reiterated his commitment to a peaceful resolution of the disagreements and openly admitted the frustrations that had motivated his earlier public utterances regarding the land issues, prompting the team’s visits,” it said.
The Statement quoted Nenyi Ghartey VII, the Paramount Chief of Effutu, as expressing gratitude for the team’s timely effort and reaffirming the Effutu Traditional Council’s support for their innovative ideas.
It added that Nenyi Ghartey VII lauded the delegation for their determined efforts that were leading to resolving tensions in the area.
He, therefore, called for continuous development in the area.
The Gomoa Assin Traditional Council, which has jurisdiction over all the Gomoa towns, in a news report allegedly expressed dissatisfaction with the alleged encroachment activities of the Effutu people on their lands.
Obirfo Ahunakor Ahor Ankobea, Omanhene of the Gomoa Akyempim Traditional Council is alleged to have said the trend if not stopped, could lead to a confrontation between the two traditional authorities.
The two ethnic groups had a history of land disputes, and in recent weeks, traditional leaders from both sides had traded affronts.
The dispute was reignited by an alleged recent claim by some traditional leaders from Atekyedo, which is part of the Effutu traditional area, that the lands of Okyereko fall within the Effutu enclave.
At a Press Conference in Parliament on Monday, Mr Afenyo-Markin told the Parliamentary Press Corps that a bi-partisan Committee dedicated to thoroughly investigating the land dispute between the Chiefs and people of Gomoa was set to be established.
He explained that the issues transcended partisan affiliations and required a united approach from all political parties.
“… The committee will thoroughly investigate the underlying administrative and traditional boundary issues to resolve the dispute between the chiefs and people of the two areas.
“As political leaders, we hold the responsibility of preserving the cultural heritage and security of our communities to attract investment to the enclave,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.
Ghanaian actress Yvonne Nelson is one of the film industry professionals who provided praise for Adjetey Anang in his memoir.
Yvonne Nelson emphasised Adjetey Anang’s humility as a key quality in addition to his acting talent. Despite his many accomplishments, Adjetey Anang, in the actress’ opinion, maintains a respectful and humble demeanour.
“What sets Adjetey apart is not only his immense talent but also his sense of humility. Despite his remarkable achievements, he remains down-to-earth, treating everyone with respect and kindness,” she writes on page 233 of the book.
“His calm demeanor and unwavering pursuit of perfection and excellence serve as a beacon of positivity on every movie set. Being in his presence is an inspiration in itself,” she adds.
Adjetey Anang, 50, launched his memoir on his golden jubilee anniversary. The memoir titled ‘Adjetey Anang: A story of Faith, Imperfection and Resilience’ tells Adjetey Anang’s journey to stardom, his impact, lessons, struggles, and the sacrifices which have shaped him over the years.
It also reveals the relatable individual behind the varied captivating screen characters he has played over the years, including the legendary Pusher from the iconic TV series Things We Do for Love.
Below is Yvonne Nelson’s full testimonial.
Adjetey Anang, an exceptional figure in the African movie industry, is a true legend and icon. His contributions to the growth and development of Ghanaian and African cinema have been immeasurable. It comes as no surprise that he has garnered multiple awards and earned a well-deserved reputation as an influencer.
What sets Adjetey apart is not only his immense talent but also his sense of humility. Despite his remarkable achievements, he remains down-to-earth, treating everyone with respect and kindness. His calm demeanor and unwavering pursuit of perfection and excellence serve as a beacon of positivity on every movie set. Being in his presence is an inspiration in itself.
To me, Adjetey is more than just a colleague; he is a brother, a confidant, and a constant source of encouragement. I looked up to him when I first entered the movie industry, watching him on the screens of productions like “Things We Do for Love.” The opportunity to work alongside him filled me with joy and excitement. His expertise and guidance have been invaluable, shaping me both personally and professionally.
Today, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Adjetey Anang, my dear friend and colleague, as he launches his memoir and celebrates his 50th birthday. It is a milestone worth celebrating and commemorating. I pray that he continues to enjoy good health, make an even greater impact, and experience many more years of success and joy.
Adjetey, your contributions to African cinema have left an indelible mark, inspiring countless individuals, including myself. Your talent, dedication, and unwavering commitment to your craft are commendable. As we celebrate this significant moment in your life, may you continue to shine brightly and touch the lives of many with your incredible presence.
Disgruntled New Patriotic Party (NPP) members in Sunyani East Constituency have take action by securing the Bono Regional and Constituency offices, expressing their dissatisfaction with the executive members’ non-compliance with a court ruling.
The aggrieved members threatened to deal drastically with anyone who dared to open any of the barred offices for work, because, per the Court ruling, the Constituency did not have executives.
A press release signed by Mr Stephen Kwarteng, an Assembly Member of the Atoase Electoral Area near Sunyani and copied the Ghana News Agency, said the members had earlier petitioned the Party’s regional and national secretariats.
It said this was during the polling station executives and electoral area coordinator’s election exercises in February last year, to ensure that the right thing was done but, the petition had fallen onto “deaf ears.”
The release said those exercises were suspended following an injunction placed on it by the Court when vetting of prospective candidates had commenced.
It said the Court agreed with the petitioners that there had been no Polling Station Coordinators’ elections in Sunyani East, so, the Party should delete any purported album of the Constituency from its national data.
The release added that no new executives had been elected for the Sunyani East, thus, Mr Musa Damtal, the incumbent remained the Chairman and any attempt to force any illegitimate executives on the Constituency would be resisted.
It reminded the Party’s national executives and elders that Sunyani East remained a stronghold of the NPP, saying, the situation required urgent attention to save the Party from losing the seat.
They appealed to the national executives to intervene as a matter of urgency, to allow for the conduction of the Constituency polling station coordinators and executives’ elections.
This would enable the Constituency to participate in the Party’s decision-making process at the regional and national levels.
Acting Chief Enterprise Business Officer of MTN Ghana, Mr Daniel Asare, has revealed that the company has expanded its network coverage to 374 rural areas during the first half of the year. This initiative aligns with MTN’s objective to enhance its market presence and increase its market share.
He said the company was also on course to achieving one billion dollars in network expansion by the end of 2023, with upgrading coverage for 2G and 3G respectively at 99.5 per cent and that of 4G to 99.3 per cent.
Speaking at a media and stakeholders forum, organised by MTN, Mr Asare said the investment in rural telephony amounted to USD 210 million.
He said the company had also injected USD 25 million in Ghana’s digital agenda to help empower the youth in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
MTN Ghana contributed GHC 4 billion to government revenue in 2022, he added.
The forum was on the theme: “Leveraging Technology to Serve Customers through media Excellence.”
The stakeholders were enlightened about the successes chalked by the company in previous years and the inclusion of new service policies to the existing ones.
Mr Asare said MTN currently operated in 19 markets and served about 289 million customers.
MTN Foundation had enhanced its focus on digital areas and donated 6440 blood unit this year alone from staff and their customers, he said.
He, however, said fibre cuts, mobile money fraud and network fluctuations had been some of the major challenges affecting the effective operations of the company.
The practise of living together prior to marriage is becoming more widespread among many couples, and everyone is debating whether it is beneficial or detrimental. Before you move in with your partner, there are many things to think about.
First, you both have to be on the same page and examine your intentions. Know why you’re living together in the first place. Is it to see if you’re compatible in the same house? Or because you and your partner are avoiding marriage?
You both have to have an honest conversation about why one or both of you want to live together without getting married first. Maybe one of you assumes that the other wants marriage while the other disagrees, or one thinks it’s just a serious relationship and hasn’t thought about marriage. In other words, you and your partner’s minds have to be in sync; if not, it can cause problems later on. So, let’s delve into the pros and cons of living together.
The Pros
Reduces stress after marriage
Living together before marriage lets you know your partner’s good and bad habits, so you can get used to them or even change some of them before you eventually get married. Imagine if you have never lived together and got married to see some of your partner’s annoying habits. But if you have lived together beforehand, there will be fewer surprises.
Sharing finances
This is a prevalent reason couples live together before marriage. It would make sense to stop paying different rent, electricity bills, and others when you and your partner would be in the same house most of the time. While this is an advantage, you’ll have a lot of money to spare, and you might be tempted to squander the extra money. Open a joint savings account instead so you can deposit all the extra money there. Then, you’ll have an emergency reserve when you get married.
You build a stronger bond
Intimacy is essential in any relationship, most especially marriages. Intimacy is not only physical or sexual, but there’s intellectual, experiential, and spiritual intimacy. When partners live together, they learn to be intimate on all levels, which is good for a healthy relationship.
The Cons
Lack of support
Whether you are getting married or not, living together is a huge decision, so many challenges can come with it. If you don’t have social support, it can impact your relationship and cause conflict. Everyone has different opinions about various things. It can be difficult to live together without the approval and support of your family and friends.
You’ll save money, but it can weaken your bond
Although living together comes with joint expenses, conflict arises from who gets to pay these expenses. So, decisions on who gets to pay each expense have to be made so it won’t cause conflict that can weaken your relationship.
As organisers prepare for the 2023 edition, which is anticipated to be held in Ghana, Calista Amoateng, the winner of Miss Teen Tourism World 2022, paid a courtesy call on Asantehemaa, Nana Konadu Yiadom III in Kumasi.
Calista was accompanied by several dignitaries, including her mother, Stacy Amoateng of Platinum Networks, and Kofi Kakra Kusi, the deputy public relations officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority.
With a harmonious sound of a flute in the background, the queen of the Asante empire joyously received them and showered blessings upon their lives.
“God bless you,” said the Asantehemaa. “May you excel in your endeavors.”
In 2022, Calista who was 16 won the contest in the Philippines and was excited about the achievement. She described the event as a learning turf.
“It is just unbelievable, yet believable, that is just how best I can describe the feeling,” she told the media at the time. “The experience was very entertaining, it was very educative too because you get to learn about different people and different cultures and different foods, clothing, music. It was very exciting too.”
The nature of the pageant is such that, “When you win, you get to host the pageant in your country the following year, then you get a scholarship for your university education, as well as prize money,” said Calista.
Consequently, Ghana will host the 2023 edition from August 1 to 20. Four candidates have been unveiled as Ghana’s representatives after a keenly contested Miss Teen Tourism Ghana 2023.
They are Raphaelina Naana Asare, Petra Ama Agyeiwaa Kumi, Junia Del and Keziah Barnes. With these four personalities having been groomed, Mrs. Amoateng is hopeful the ‘host and win’ dream would be realized.
CEO of the Hempire Association of Ghana, Nana Kweku Agyemang, has highlighted that the cultivation of industrial cannabis holds promise in remedying the presence of hazardous chemicals resulting from illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as ‘Galamsey’, on farmlands.
The comment by the CEO is on the back of the Narcotics Control Commission Amendment Bill 2023, which was passed on July 12, 2023 in parliament, to grant the Ministry for the Interior the authority to issue licenses for the cultivation of cannabis for industrial purposes.
According to him, cultivation of cannabis along the banks of water bodies can also contribute to the purification of rivers, allowing for domestic use of the water once again.
“Then also, it is good for the environment because at the moment we are clamouring to deal with galamsey and there are farmers sitting there looking at lands they would previously pay peanuts for, and those lands have been poisoned with mercury and other toxic chemicals.
“Well, I wish to inform you that when we cultivate industrial hemp on that land, those lands would be reclaimed because the industrial cannabis will absorb all the toxins over a period of time and the farmers will be able to go back to those farmlands and start cultivating high-value crops,” he said.
He added that “The same is true with our water bodies, the cultivation of industrial cannabis in those water bodies and the banks will clean up those water bodies so that we can return to them and use them in our everyday day domestic lives.”
The CEO also highlighted some health benefits that come with the cultivation of industrial cannabis.
“In medication, there are a lot of young people suffering from epilepsy and the oil from cannabis is something that can be used for all those features once and for all,” he added.
Prior to the passage, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, stated that Ghana was losing millions of dollars due to the lack of a cannabis cultivation license.
Speaker Bagbin made these remarks following the presentation and first reading of the Narcotics Regulation Commission Amendment Bill, 2023, on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, July 6.
The Supreme Court had previously ruled that the law granting licenses to grow cannabis, popularly known as ‘wee,’ was unconstitutional because there was no debate in Parliament prior to its passage into law, as required by Article 106 (5) (6) of the 1992 Constitution.
However, the Speaker, who stated that the country was losing out as a result of this decision, stated that he expressed his displeasure with the ruling to the justices of the apex court in a meeting and urged them to consult Parliament for proper briefings whenever such decisions are made.
Member of Parliament for Ayensuano Constituency in the Eastern Region, Teddy Safori Addi, has shared the story of his family’s eviction from their residence half a year before the 2020 national elections.
With tears in his eyes, he described receiving a phone call from his wife, while he was fully engrossed in his campaign, leading him to instruct his manager to find a place for his family to stay.
Recalling the distressing incident, Addi shared, “Six months before the election, my landlord ejected my wife and children in 2020. While I was campaigning, my wife called me in tears, informing me that the landlord had arrived to evict us.”
He explained that he immediately directed his manager to pick up his wife and children in a pickup truck and take them to a safe location.
After completing his campaign commitments, Addi rushed to be with his family. Upon reuniting with his wife, all he could say was, “Don’t worry, God knows best.” he said in an interview with Ahotor FM.
Addi further revealed the challenges he faced during his campaign, including relying on a motorbike for transportation.
He recounted an incident where the motorbike rider asked him if everything would be alright, to which he responded with a resolute “Yes, it is well.”
He said despite all these challenges, all he had in mind was he won’t give up until Ayensuano attains the level he want the constituency to reach.
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion has not shown any signs of slowing down since she entered the music business in 2019. She started out by accepting $500 gigs in her native Houston, but she has developed her brand to the point where she now competes with some of the more well-known names.
She has collaborated on music with Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, BTS, and Dua Lipa. In the world of business, her collaboration with Fashion Nova in 2020 was an immediate success. She reportedly made $1.2 million in sales in the first 24 hours, according to TMZ. According to ABC News, the 106-piece collection emphasises a “premium denim look with corset bodysuits, tops with matching pants, dresses, and outerwear.”
Also, in 2020, she collaborated with Cardi B on WAP which got nearly 2 billion streams on YouTube and Spotify. “That was the song for her. I don’t think it would have made sense for anybody else,” Cardi B told Forbes. “She added that spark.”
Three years after her collab collection with Fashion Nova, the musician continues to amass a massive fortune. In a recent interview with Forbes for a cover story in November 2022, she told the magazine, “I’m trying to really build something.” That same year, Megan Thee Stallion made history as the first Black woman to grace the cover of Forbes 30 under 30. From the interview, she reportedly earned an estimated $13 million from a combination of royalties, ticket sales, endorsements, and merch.
“I’ll take a break when I’m dead,” she told Forbes. “I’m trying to really build something.” She added, “When I start sitting, I feel like I’m not doing enough or I’m giving somebody else the opportunity to pass me.”
The superstar rapper has amassed a good number of endorsement deals that only A-list artists can imagine, regardless of her X-rated songs. She has endorsement deals with Nike, Revlon, Cash App, and Popeyes. “A roughly $1 million deal with Popeyes gave Megan a signature ‘Hottie Sauce’ and $250,000 for her own Popeyes restaurant,” Forbes wrote. Time Inc. also paid her $3 million to produce a documentary on her life, the magazine said.
Before becoming Megan Thee Stallion, she was Megan Pete. Her mother, Holly Thomas, was a bill collector and aspiring rapper who raised her in South Park, a Black neighborhood in Houston. She went on to study nursing at Prairie View A&M, one of the largest historically Black colleges in America.
While in college, Megan Thee Stallion was creating YouTube videos and subsequently caught the attention of hip-hop manager Travis Farris. In 2018, she was signed by 1501 Certified Entertainment, a Houston-based independent label, for a $50,000 advance. And since her first project Tina Snow in 2018, she has never looked back, combining her music with business deals.
Akon has finally made up for his wrongs and gifted French Montana an authentic designer watch after he reflected on the fake one he once got him back in the day.
French took to his Instagram with a video showing him receiving a brand-new watch while at an event with Akon. In the video, a man hands the Bronx rapper a black box while Akon sits beside him.
“The word now is to make sure you get the watch in the box,” Akon said before French opened the package to see a new timepiece. In another clip shared in the post, French showed viewers he bumped into Akon, helped him show off the diamond-encrusted watch he was wearing, and asked if that was what he was getting on this meet-up.
Akon told him, “You ain’t getting a watch this year. You getting something else.” In his caption, French Montana confirmed that Akon bought him the new watch and tagged an old Instagram page called Fake Watch Busta that called out rappers with fake designer watches.
“Stop asking Akon about the watch 😂 he just pulled up on me and gave me another watch lol let’s see if he did right this time @fakewatchbusta 💚😂🤣 #motherland #africanboys.”
Akon spoke about the fake watch incident on Drink Champs. According to the him, it happened on Canal Street in New York City, when he unknowingly purchased the two fake Hublot watches for $5,000 each.
He claimed he didn’t know about designer watches and just thought they looked nice. Unfortunately, as he explained it, both he and French got played that day.
“Listen, me and French got got that day,” Akon said. “But I’m the one that lost money. I bought two of them watches, one for me and one for him.”
He continued, “N***a, I got got too. Cause he came to me and said, ‘That’s a nice watch,’ I said, ‘N***a, I got one for you too.’ Because at the time…I didn’t know what a Hublot was. I just knew that I liked that. That was just a nice watch.”
David Kojo Kyei popularly known as Kaywa, is a Ghanaian music producer and the head of a record label. He recently discussed his approach to working with ex-artists and the difficulties the music business faces.
Kaywa recently emphasised the value of giving his former artists to God in an interview with Graphic Showbiz, as opposed to clinging to bitterness or using curses.
Kaywa expressed, “I understand how disheartening it can be to invest in new artistes only to see them depart when they achieve success, but that’s the nature of life. If I were to dwell on these experiences, I would hesitate to sign on any artiste in the future. However, I remind myself that I am nurturing national assets.”
He went on to express his gratitude for the significant influence he had on the careers of his former performers, realising that his influence on their lives is well known.
“Everyone recognizes the influence I exerted on the careers of all the artistes who departed from my record label. The modest contribution I made to their careers brings me joy, and if they go on to achieve success like Sarkodie, Shatta Wale, and Stonebwoy, I will take pride in that. Dr. Duncan may not be exceedingly wealthy, but everyone knows his contributions to Sarkodie,” he explained.
Regarding the challenges of signing artistes, Kaywa highlighted the issue of poaching, stating that artistes often leave when other record labels or individuals with greater financial resources approach them.
“These musicians are enticed away by individuals or other record labels who believe they can buy anyone. Many of these musicians leave when they are presented with lucrative offers,” he said.
He then appealed to poachers to collaborate with the original record labels instead of engaging in underhanded deals.
“I would like to appeal to poachers to work with the original record labels to which the artistes are signed, rather than resorting to backdoor tactics to persuade them to leave,” he urged.
When asked about the possibility of reuniting with his former artistes, Kaywa explained the policy at Highly Spiritual record label.
“At Highly Spiritual record label, we have a policy that forbids comebacks after an artiste’s departure. It is not conducive for the brand. However, we can maintain a good relationship, but working with the label again is not an option,” he disclosed.
