Kelly Craft won Senate confirmation Wednesday to be the next US ambassador to the United Nations, overcoming Democratic resistance after President Donald Trump tapped her for the high-profile post.
Craft has been serving as US ambassador to Canada, where she was involved in negotiations over a revised North American free trade pact.
She is married to a wealthy coal magnate, and Democrats have expressed concern that her family ties to the industry may influence policy at a time when they want the US economy to be turning towards new sources of power like renewable energy.
Last month during her confirmation hearings, she pledged to lawmakers that she would recuse herself from climate change talks involving coal at the global body, even as she stood by Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the UN-backed Paris climate accord.
But her declaration that she believed “both sides” of climate science raised eyebrows and indicated that she may be out of sync on the issue with the rest of the UN.
Democrats also voiced concern about her lack of relevant international and technical experience for such an important and demanding position.
In a recently released minority report, Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee wrote that Craft “has neither the experience nor the skillset to represent US interests or challenge the world’s most seasoned diplomats on the global stage.”
Craft, 57, has been a major Republican donor, and her husband Joe Craft donated $1 million to Trump’s 2017 inauguration fund, according to political funding tracker Open Secrets.
She replaces Trump’s first UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who left at the end of last year as her star power was growing within the Republican Party.
Trump chose State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, a former Fox News anchor, to succeed her, but the nomination was never formally submitted and Nauert withdrew from consideration.
The destiny of the African Champions League is uncertain after the Court of Arbitration for Sport overruled the decision to replay the final.
Tunisia’s Esperance and Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca lodged appeals after the Confederation of African Football decided to replay the second leg – both felt they should be awarded the win.
Wydad had a goal disallowed and left the pitch because VAR was not working.
Esperance was winning 2-1 on aggregate and declared champions initially.
The home side was handed the trophy and winners’ medals after a two-hour delay on 1 June, but was told to return them days later after Caf ordered a replay on neutral territory, citing “unsafe conditions”.
Both clubs think they should be named champions and given the prize money. Wydad’s request was rejected by Cas, with Esperance’s appeal to be investigated at a later date.
Play in the second leg was halted after Wydad thought they had equalised on 59 minutes through Walid El Karti’s header but it was disallowed for an infringement.
The video assistant referee system was visible on the side of the pitch but the players had not been told it was not in use because of a malfunction.
After appeals by both clubs, Cas ruled that Caf’s executive committee “did not have jurisdiction” to order that the final be replayed.
It has ordered “competent Caf authorities to review the incidents”, specifically to refer the case to its proper disciplinary structures for a decision on whether the game will be replayed or not.
Chief Executive Officer of one of Ghana’s foremost fashion hubs, Akaal Dekor, Hawah Braimah, has bemoaned the growing trend of Chinese fashion businesses giving their Ghanaian counterparts a good run for their money.
Ms. Braimah, who doubles as the Principal of Akaal Fashion College at Kwamo in the Ashanti region blamed this development on the Chinese offering their products and services at prices far lower than those from Ghanaians.
The multiple award-winning business woman was, however, quick to add that should the Chinese leave the business, their Ghanaian counterparts may not be able to meet the market demands so the government should support the indigenous businesses structurally and financially to meet their production targets for the local and international markets.
Akaal Dekor has, over 20 years, contributed immensely to the Ghanaian fashion industry which has been a backbone of the creative sector.
The company’s high standards have attracted the internationally acclaimed Divas in the United States of America to severally send its officials to Ghana.
The recent feat was Akaal Dekor collections catching the unprecedented attention of His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Wales at the new Kejetia Market in Kumasi during his visit to the country.
Spanish La Liga side, Real Mallorca has announced the signing of Ghanaian international, Lumor Agbenyenu on a season-long loan ahead of the start of the 2019/2020 regular season.
The Black Stars left-back joins the La Liga newcomers from Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon.
Whiles Mallorca has secured his services to strengthen their squad ahead of what will be a very challenging season, the player is also hoping to get more playing time and to enjoy his football.
Coach Vicente Moreno is hoping the pacey left-back can bring his quality and experience to bear to help his side perform well in order to avoid relegation at the end of the season.
Contracted to Sporting Lisbon, Lumor Agbenyenu spent the 2018/2019 season on loan at Turkish club Göztepespor where he managed to impress.
His exploits with the side earned him a spot in the final 23-man squad that represented the Black Stars of Ghana at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.
He joins fellow countryman Baba Iddrisu Mohammed who also plays as a midfielder at Real Mallorca.
Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Education, has announced that Cabinet has approved proposals for a review of academic user fees of students.
He said this was done last month and have been forwarded to Parliament for ratification.
Dr Prempeh said this in a speech read on his behalf at the 11th Congregation of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa.
“I am aware of concerns within the university community on the matter of academic user fees, which have not been increased for three years. I wish to state that, this has primarily been due to the new procedure for approval of these fees by Parliament” he explained.
On the issue of clearance for some universities to replace staff, he said the Ministry of Finance was working on its backlog with urgency and that would be fully resolved before the end of August 2019.
The Government appreciates and understands the need for some staff beyond the age of 65 to be retained, especially for the depth of their experience and ability to continue to enrich faculty, Dr Prempeh explained.
He said there were constitutional implications of maintaining such staff on the government payroll and rather, they should be paid from Internally Generated Fund.
“Government accepts the position that there should have being a constitutional amendment to increase the age of retirement to bring such faculty members within the constitutional framework, and Parliament is in the process of considering same,” he said.
The Minister pointed out that the government was aware that one of the implications of its Free Senior High School policy was an increase in the number of students seeking university admission come 2020/21 academic year when the first cohort of students under the programme complete their West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
He stated that under a $500 million infrastructure upgrade through the GETFund securitisation, universities like UMaT would receive favourable consideration.
This, he said, was primarily because UMaT had remained focused on its core mandate in respect of the nature of programmes it run and the government believes this was important in developing and nurturing talents in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.
He congratulated the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jerry Kuma for his passion in ensuring the UMaT continued to employ the best standards in the training of their students.
Former Ghana Premier League champions, Accra Great Olympics has announced Portuguese sports kit manufacturing firm, STRIKE as their new kit sponsors.
The partnership was pulled off by Club Consult Africa who is the sole representative of STRIKE in Africa and will see the Ghanaian club being clothed for the next three (3) years.
According to the management of Accra Great Olympics, the partnership forms part of the club’s rebranding efforts to amplify the fans connection with the club and sense of identity in achieving collective successes.
As an emerging global brand, STRIKE, is kitting professional football clubs and national teams in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific regions.
The classic Olympics shirt is making a comeback ahead of the new football season, with the kit expected to feature bespoke designs as pertained to the early 80s to the late 90s.
Meanwhile, the replicas jerseys for the fans will be sold at GH?110.
General Secretary of the Public Utility Worker Union (PUWU), Michael Adumatta Nyantakyi has said the union was not surprised at the suspension of the Power Distribution Services concession agreement.
According to him, various stakeholders failed to do due diligence before PDS took over from ECG.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Wednesday he said the union was certain PDS was bound to be implicated soon or later.
“For us, it also came as a surprise because we least expected it, but on the other hand we were not very surprised because looking at the way this whole transaction was carried out through, some of us were very certain along the line that some of these developments could come up. So it is not very strange that we are hearing some of these things,†he said.
According to him the Millennium Development Authority( MiDA) completely overlooked concerns raised by the union and ECG.
“If MiDA had at least listened to some of the key issues that were raised by both the union and ECG at the time, they would have tread a little cautiously and would not have rushed this deal through the manner they did,†he said.
The Minister for Energy John Peter Amewu has said investigations conducted by the government has established that a document that was presented by Power Distribution Service (PDS) as a guarantee for the takeover of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) was forged.
The Minister explained that even though the document indicated that a company in Qatar has guaranteed for PDS, the management of the company told the government it had no knowledge of the document
PDS officially took over from ECG in February 2019 after winning the bid to run the power distribution service.
The company was expected to turnaround the operations of ECG to make it profitable.
There was drama at the Takoradi Circuit Court on Wednesday when a mother of one of the three missing Takoradi girls attacked one of the suspects, Samuel Udoetuk Wills.
Comfort Arhin, mother of Ruthlove Quayson, enraged by the not guilty plea of the suspect could not help but slap the suspect when he was being ushered out of the court.
Sam Udoetuk Wills and John Oji have been charged with six counts of conspiracy to commit crime to wit kidnapping and kidnapping.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, Chief State Attorney, Patience Klinogo, revealed that the accused persons used coded language on kidnapping and other crimes in their conversations on social media networking platform, Facebook.
She told the court that the interaction of the accused persons was detected on the mobile phone of the second accused, John Oji, after police arrested him on June 4, 2019, at Aflao around the Ghana-Togo border.
Two passengers onboard a Kumasi bound 34-seater Yutong commercial bus, died on the spot whilst others sustained various degrees of injuries when the bus fell into a ditch at Konongo in the Asante-Akim Central Municipality.
The driver of the bus with registration number GT 4979 17, heading from Accra on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 30, 2019, upon reaching that spot at Konongo in the Accra-Kumasi highway, lost control in an attempt to avoid crashing into a tipper truck ahead of him and landed in the ditch.
One of the deceased got trapped under the mangled bus for a couple of minutes before personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) at Konongo, pulled her after cutting through parts of the wreckage.
The bodies of the deceased, both females, yet to be identified, were deposited at the morgue of Steward Hospital, a private medical facility at Yawkwei.
Dr George Kwabena Yeboah, Medical Superintendent of Steward Hospital where some of the injured were sent for treatment, told the Ghana News Agency that they were responding to treatment and that their conditions and injuries were not life-threatening.
He, however, said two of them whose conditions needed advance treatment, had been referred to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
Ghana striker, Princella Adubea says she is looking forward to charting a new and successful course in her football career as she joins Spanish women’s league side, Club de Huelva in the coming season.
Adubea, who plays for National Women’s League side , Ampem Darkoa, left for Spain yesterday to sign the two-year deal and join the pre-season training of the club.
She told the Daily Graphic in a pre departure interview that it was a dream come true for her as she had always dreamt of playing football as a real professional.
” It is a great opportunity for me and I hope to make the most of the chance.
” I know it won’t be easy given the challenge & the expectation. However,I am determined to make it and will this give of my very best and work hard to succeed.
“The chance with Huelva is a stepping stone and I will make the most of it,” Adubea the 2017 SWAG Best Female Footballer said.
Adubea missed playing last season as she underwent knee surgery and has recovered fully and given the green light to play.
Though she was signed on by the Spanish side last May, she had to complete her recovery schedule and get the full medical clearance before travelling. On arrival, she will undergo the routine medical screening before being unveiled.
Adubea, who finished as the top scorer in Africa during the Under-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers in 2017, missed the tournament in France during the surgery, but nonetheless caught the attention of the Spanish club.
She is the first Ghanaian female player to join a club in Spain, though there are a number of female footballers playing elsewhere in Europe.
The State of Israel has honoured the late Maj Gen Francis Vib-Sanziri, the former Head of Missions and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
A road on the Golan Heights in Israel has been named after him. The road is now ‘Vib-Sanziri Route’.
This was contained in a statement issued to the Ghana News Agency by Colonel Eric Aggrey-Quarshie, Director Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces.
The statement said a citation, which was read at the dedication ceremony said, ‘Vib-Sanziri Route’ is named after Maj Gen Francis Vib-Sanziri (1957-2019) of the Ghana Defence Force, who served as Head of Missions and Force Commander of UNDOF 2017-2019.
“He was a true fighter for peace who played a key role in numerous peacekeeping operations across the world.
“The State of Israel salutes Maj Gen F Vib-Sanziri for his commitment to enabling stability and security for both Israelis and Syrians.
“He will be remembered as a true partner, a great leader, and most of all – a visionary”, the statement said.
Maj Gen Francis Vib-Sanziri died on Friday, April 19, 2019 in Israel while serving as the Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
He was buried on Friday, June 28, 2019 at the New Military Cemetery in Accra, Ghana.
Ethiopian Premier League champions Mekelle 70 Enderta have acquired the services of Ghanaian attacking midfielder Alhassan Kalusha.
Kalusha, the top earner in Ethiopia football last season, terminated his contract with Ethiopia Bunna last month, paving his way to the Mekelle based side.
Mekelle 70 Enderta will be representing Ethiopia in the 2019/2020 CAF Champions League and will be strengthening their squad with the signing of Kalusha.
The former Tamale Utrecht, Tura Magic and Dreams FC player has become a cult figure in the Ethiopian top-flight with his consistent performances.
The 25-year-old was the second-highest scorer in Ethiopia elite division in the 2017/2018 season with 13 goals playing for Ethiopia Electric Power Corporation FC.
Asante Kotoko played out a 0-0 draw with Ivorian side Societe Omnisports De L’ Arme on Wednesday at the Baba Yara Stadium.
The Porcupine Warriors dominated play but could not find the cutting edge.
Head coach Kejtl Zachariassen gave game time to some of the club’s new signings like Augustine Okrah and George Abege.
In the 61st minute, Omnisports had a set-piece to punish Asante Kotoko but goalkeeper Felix Annan was up to the task.
It is the second international friendly for the Porcupine Warriors who are preparing to play Kano Pillars in two weeks time in the CAF Champions League qualifier.
Last week, Kotoko beat Burkinabe side Rahimo FC 2-1.
A court in Sudan has postponed deposed President Omar al-Bashir’s corruption case, BBC Arabic reports.
The reasons are still unclear. Earlier, Sudan’s privately owned Baj News reported that the detained ex-president’s lawyers had asked for the case to be suspended because of his “aggravated psychological well-being” following his mother’s death two days ago.
The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news site reports that the case has been postponed to 15 August.
He was charged in June. The charges are related to laws on “suspected illicit wealth and emergency orders”, the public prosecutor’s office said at the time.
Ghana’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations star Samuel Owusu could not inspire ÄŒukariÄki to progress in the Europa League qualifiers after a 3-1 home defeat at home ended their campaign.
Owusu played the entire duration as the Serbian side suffered a heavy defeat to Norwegian side Molde.
After playing a 0-0 draw away in the first leg, ÄŒukariÄki were hopeful upending their opponents in Serbia but that was not to be.
The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has given an emotional address to parliament in Ghana on the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans arriving in America.
Ms Pelosi appeared tearful as she recalled the horrors of the slave trade.
She paid tribute to the contribution African Americans had made to the United States and said that Ghana’s struggle for independence had been an inspiration for the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King and others.
About 15 people have been arrested in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, for defying a government order not to take to the streets to protest against former international football star and President George Weah.
The group insisted on breaking through police lines to assemble, despite the fact that no permit had been issued to stage a protest, police added.
The group apparently did not know that organisers had temporarily halted plans to stage a protest against the rising cost of living and alleged corruption in government.
Striker Richmond Boakye-Yiadom progressed to the UEFA Champions third qualifying round with Red Star Belgrade despite losing 2-1 at Finnish side HJK.
The Ghana international, who scored in the first leg 2-0 win, was named in the starting line-up but replaced after 55 minutes.
For the team, they fielded another Ghanaian player Evans Mensah who lasted the entire duration.
HJK captain Sebastian Dahlström beat Milan Borjan to give HJK the lead and hope of levelling the aggregate score.
Just ten minutes later we were level as Dušan Jovan?i? made the most out of a clever Marko Marin pass and finished past Maksim Rudakov to make it 1-1 for the Serbian side.
Riku Riski evaded Filip Stojkovi? and beat Borjan from close range to give the Finnish side an unlikely victory.
A group calling itself, Agenda for Development in the Hohoe constituency of the Volta region, has declared their undying support for the candidature of the Energy Minister, John Peter Amewu as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency.
According to them, Amewu is the most qualified candidate for the role and they will do everything to see this dream happen.
George Dogboe,the leader of the group, at a press conference recently indicated that “Agenda for Development has been on the ground testing the pulse of the masses and objectively assessing the chances of Mr Amewu for the Hohoe Constituency Parliamentary seat and has realised that Mr Amewu is competent and capable to lead the constituency”.
He explained that Mr Amewu has a proven track record as a hard worker and that it was time Mr Amewu is given the chance to bring the much-needed development to the constituency.
“The name Johnny is synonymous to development and in Hohoe now when people want to say development they say Johnny,” he noted.
Mr Dogboe, therefore, called on Hohoe residents within the Volta region and beyond to “come and be part of the grand agenda for development”.
He said that as a show of appreciation for the good works Mr Amewu has been doing, the ordinary people within the constituency have mobilised resources to pick a nomination form for him to contest and win the Hohoe seat in the 2020 parliamentary election.
Agenda for Development is made up of market women, taxi drivers, artisans, farmers, ‘okada’ riders, and carpenters. They are from five traditional areas in the constituency, namely, Wli, Gbledi, Alavanyo, Gbi and Fodome.
The Minority in Parliament has debunked claims by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, that the increase in the Energy Sector Levy is as a result of the power purchase agreements (PPAs) that had been signed by the erstwhile National Democratic Congress Party (NDC) government.
They said the problem being faced in the energy sector was self-inflicted and the government must be held accountable.
But the Majority side has insisted that the PPAs, which were poorly negotiated by the NDC government, compelled the government to pay for fuel not utilised.
Therefore, they said, the proposed increase in the Energy Sector Levy was to raise money to clear the mess left behind by the past government.
The Minority side first advanced its position at a press conference yesterday and continued it during the debate of the mid-year budget presented by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, in Parliament last Monday.
Minority’s take on energy
Advancing the position of the Minority side on the energy sector, the NDC MP for Yapei/Kusawgu and former Deputy Minister of Power, Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, said the Minister of Finance sought to justify why the government increased the tariffs and tried to put everything on the power purchase agreements (PPAs) that had been signed.
He said the 50 per cent increment in the communication service tax had nothing to do with power, energy or electricity.
“If you take the Energy Sector Levies Act, Act 899, the components of the taxes are four. Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy, the Energy Debt Recovery Levy (divided into two) and the Road Fund Levy.
“The Road Fund Levy had nothing to do with the power sector even though it finds expression in the Energy Sector Levies Act. Any monies accruing to the GETFund Levy is also supposed to go to Road Fund. If you take the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy, which is also part of the Energy Sector Levy Act, that money is supposed to be used to subsidise premix fuel.
“The only component which has relation with the power sector is the Energy Sector Recovery Levy, and even that was broken into two”, he said.
Mr Jinapor explained that the Energy Debt Recovery Account was supposed to pay for Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) debt and so it had nothing to do with PPAs.
He said it was only money from the Power Generation and Infrastructure Sub Account that was used to pay for the TOR legacy debt.
“And so for the minister to increase five taxes and claim that it was because of PPAs that he was increasing taxes, is false, inaccurate and grossly misleading”, he said.
“The Road Fund Levy had nothing to do with the power sector even though it finds expression in the Energy Sector Levies Act. Any monies accruing to the GETFund Levy is also supposed to go to Road Fund. If you take the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy, which is also part of the Energy Sector Levy Act, that money is supposed to be used to subsidise premix fuel.
“The only component which has relation with the power sector is the Energy Sector Recovery Levy, and even that was broken into two”, he said.
Mr Jinapor explained that the Energy Debt Recovery Account was supposed to pay for Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) debt and so it had nothing to do with PPAs.
He said it was only money from the Power Generation and Infrastructure Sub Account that was used to pay for the TOR legacy debt.
“And so for the minister to increase five taxes and claim that it was because of PPAs that he was increasing taxes, is false, inaccurate and grossly misleading”, he said.
According to Mr Jinapor, in the 2018 account of the Energy Sector Recovery Account, the Road Fund got GH¢1.3 billion and indicated that out of that amount, only GH¢680 million was released to the Road Fund.
He said the minister used about 50 per cent of the amount for non-road-related activities.
“If you take the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy in the 2017 account, the minister borrowed GH¢150 million from that money and even in the 2018 account, the Price Stabilisation Levy was in excess”, he said, therefore, that there was no justification for any increases.
Mr Jinapor challenged the Minister of Finance to publish the list of the 2,300 megawatts (MW) of thermal capacity that he claimed were in excess and in the form of pay or take basis.
He recalled that in 2017, the former Minister of Energy, Mr Boakye Agyarko, told Parliament that he had terminated 11 PPAs and made a saving of GH¢7 billion.
However, he said, just last Monday, the minister claimed that only two PPAs had been terminated and made a saving of about GH¢1.5 billion, and wondered whom to trust between the two of them.
Majority’s rebuttal
Leading the debate for the Majority side, the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah, said the take or pay PPAs had accumulated debt for the country.
He said the government was taking the right decision to wean the country off that financial obligation.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah said the erstwhile NDC government had left the economy in tatters, saying that “Anytime they (the NDC) are in government, the macro economy is thrown overboard.”
He said the government had restored macroeconomic stability as every single macro indicator had improved.
“Purchasing power has improved, interest rate is down by 13, current accounts seeing surpluses and the currency stabilising,” he said.
Dr Assibey-Yeboah said the banking sector had been revamped with 23 healthy banks instead of the overblown banks.
He said the banks had about GH¢102 billion total assets, GH¢75.3 billion total deposits, while 3,000 jobs had been preserved.
In his contribution, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Ofoase/Ayirebi and Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Opoong Nkrumah, said the Energy Sector Levy had increased because of the take or pay PPAs.
He refuted the claim that the government had borrowed GHc80 billion, and stated that the NDC government borrowed more in the name of smart borrowing.
For instance, the NDC government’s borrowing amounted to 73 per cent of GDP while the current government’s borrowing was in the region of 54 per cent of GDP.
Taking his turn, a Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr Mohammed Amin Anta, said the PPAs had saddled the government with debts.
He said over the next three years, the government could incur additional GH¢3 billion as a result of the deal.
The Minister for Energy John Peter Amewu has said investigations conducted by the government has established that a document that was presented by Power Distribution Service (PDS) as a guarantee for the takeover of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) was forged.
The minister explained that even though the document indicated that a company in Qatar has guaranteed for PDS, the management of the company told the government it had no knowledge of the document.
Speaking to Citi Business News, Mr. Amewu stated that the government will prosecute anyone found to have engaged in the fraudulent act.
Government of Ghana in the late hours of Tuesday, July 30 announced the abrogation of the contract with Power Distribution Services barely six months after the company took over from the Electricity Company of Ghana.
In a statement signed by Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, it disclosed that “the decision follows the detection of fundamental and material breaches of PDS obligation in the provision of Payment Securities (Demand Guarantees) for the transaction which have been discovered upon further diligence.”
“The Demand Guarantees were key prerequisites for the lease of assets on 1st March 2019 to secure the assets that were transferred to the concessionaire.”
It further indicated that steps were underway to unveil the details that went into it as government is conducting a full enquiry into the matter.
Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America, Nancy Pelosi has called on government to continue to support smart development strategies that target sustainable economic growth in the country and Africa at large.
She added that even though Ghana is leading in intra-African trade, more needs to be done to diversify the economy.
She was speaking on the floor of parliament, Wednesday during a visit in Ghana to mark 400 years since the arrival of the first African slaves in Jamestown.
“Together, our government must continue to support smart development strategies that spur sustainable economic growth and lift up all families in Ghana and Africa.”
“Ghana is already a leader in itra-African trade. But we must do more to diversify economies and encourage trade throughout the continent so that we can create the regional security and stability necessary to achieve prosperity across West Africa,” she added
She noted that government “must create educational and economic opportunities that allow every student and worker to climb the ladders of opportunity”.
Shea butter is a skin superfood that comes from the seeds of the fruit of the Shea (Karite) tree and that is naturally rich in vitamins A, E and F.
Shea butter is one of the most versatile products readily available on the market. Since ancient times, Shea butter has been used for moisturizing skin and also apply to natural locks to promote hair growth and prevent breakages and dandruff.
The buttery rich cream can also be used to prepare sumptuous local and international dishes.
Many studies show that it is especially good at penetrating the skin and contains 60% fat, making it highly emollient.
Thanks to some other special properties, it does more than moisturizing its anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing components right into the skin.
Did you also know that due that the skin superfood, when applied on saggy breast, can make it firm and perky? Yes, this is another great reason why women should buy 100% natural shea butter.
To use shea butter to help firm the breasts, warm the butter up between the palms of both hands and massage in a circular motion for about 10-15 minutes.
Let the shea butter sit on the breasts for another 15 minutes and then remove the excess butter with warm water or a towel.
Repeating this process three to four times weekly will improve the appearance of sagging breast.
The Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) has published a list of corruption cases it has investigated and prosecuted.
The OSP revealed that it has currently investigated two corruption cases and charged the accused for court.
The cases are;
The Republic v (1) Mahama Ayariga (2) Kendrick Akasi Marfo – (investigated jointly with EOCO)
(2) The Republic v (1) Hajia Hawa Ninchema (2) Sumaila Ewuntomah Abudu (3) Alex Avade (4) Alhaji Abdul-Mumuni Jesewunde (5) Mary-Stella Adapesa (6) Mumuni Yakubu Nambe (7) Mahama Ayariga
The list of corruption cases of accused persons and being prosecuted by the OSP are;
(1) The Republic v Mahama Ayariga
(2) The Republic v (1) Hajia Hawa Ninchema (2) Sumaila Ewuntomah Abudu (3) Alex Avade (4) Alhaji Abdul-Mumuni Jesewunde (5) Mary-Stella Adapesa (6) Mumuni Yakubu Nambe (7) Mahama Ayariga
The list was published in fulfilment of a requirement by section 3 (3) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) as part of functions to on a half-year basis, publish a list of cases it is pursuing in at least two daily newspapers of national circulation and on its official website.
The publication also mentioned that there have been no acquittals and convictions as the two cases listed are still being prosecuted and as a result no value of assets have been recovered by the OSP.
A roadside bomb tore through a bus in western Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least 32 people, including women and children, a provincial official said.
Mohibullah Mohib, spokesman for the police chief in Farah province, said 15 other people were wounded, with most in critical condition.
The bus was traveling on a main highway between the western city of Herat and the southern city of Kandahar.
No one immediately claimed responsibility, but Taliban insurgents operate in the region and frequently use roadside bombs to target government officials and security forces. The Taliban have kept up a steady tempo of attacks even as they have held several rounds of peace talks with the United States aimed at ending the 18-year war.
The attack came a day after the U.N. mission in Afghanistan released a report saying that most civilian deaths in the first half of the year were caused by Afghan forces and their international allies. The report apparently referred to civilians killed during Afghan and U.S. military operations against insurgents.
The U.N. report said 403 civilians were killed by Afghan forces in the first six months of the year and another 314 by international forces, a total of 717. That’s compared to 531 killed by the Taliban, an Islamic State affiliate and other militants during the same period. It said 300 of those killed by militants were directly targeted.
The U.N. said the leading cause of civilian deaths and injuries was “ground engagements,” which caused one in three casualties. Roadside bombs were a close second, accounting for 28%. Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world a legacy of decades of war.
The Taliban, who effectively control half the country, have been meeting with U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad since late last year. They appear to be closing in on an agreement whereby American forces would withdraw from Afghanistan in return for guarantees that it would not be used as a launch-pad for international terror attacks.
The Lion King has become the fourth Disney film this year to make $1bn (£821m) in worldwide box office sales.
The Disney remake of the 1995 classic has achieved the feat less than three weeks after being released in cinemas.
The movie, which features the voices of Beyonce and Donald Glover, joins Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel and Aladdin in Disney’s $1b class of 2019.
As reported by Variety, director Jon Favreau’s version is already the fifth-biggest global release of of the year.
In North America, it has racked up sales of around $361m (£267m) and $638m (£324m) overseas, with cinema-goers in China and Brazil leading the way.
Music was always a big part of The Lion King’s success, with Sir Elton John bagging an Oscar for his performance on Can You Feel the Love Tonight on the 1994 original.
He actually fended off competition from himself, twice – The Circle of Life and Hakuna Mata – to take the prize for best original song.
Now a hat-trick of Lion King-related albums feature in the top 10 of the US Soundtracks Chart, which is headed by Beyonce’s star-studded project, The Gift.
The album of collaborations shifted 54,000 equivalent album units in the week ending 25 July, according to Nielsen Music, and also sits in second place in the US Billboard 200.
The film’s new official soundtrack is the second most popular record in that genre, having sold 22,000 units, while the original soundtrack by Sir Elton, Tim Rice and Hans Zimmer completes its circle of chart life by returning to the US Billboard top 200, 25 years after its first release.
Shin Ok-ju, who founded the Grace Road Church, convinced 400 people to move to Fiji in 2014, claiming they would be safe from imminent natural disaster
Once there, their passports were taken away and many of them reported being beaten to “drive out evil spirits”.
Shin was arrested last July.
On Monday, a South Korean court found Shin guilty on several criminal charges including violence, child abuse and fraud.
“The victims suffered helplessly from collective beatings and experienced not only physical torture but also severe fear and considerable mental shock,” said a sub-court of the Suwon District Court.
“Heavy punishment is inevitable against illegal acts carried out in the name of religion,” it said.
Five other church officials were also sentenced. There has been no comment from the church.
A Fijian business empire Grace Road Church has been described as heretical by mainstream South Korean Christian groups.
Shin preached that a global famine was imminent but that she and her followers would be safe in Fiji.
The church had leased land near the capital, Suva, and built a large business empire, with labour provided by Shin’s followers.
It won several construction contracts from the Fijian government and a business excellence award from the prime minister.
Reports say several million people in South Korea belong to groups that promote fringe beliefs and interest in these groups is growing.
In a move that will likely embolden President Donald Trump’s claims that social media companies are biased against him and his supporters, Twitter suspended an account Tuesday evening that the President had retweeted just hours earlier.
Trump retweeted a post from an account operating under the name “Lynn Thomas” that accused Democrats of being “the true enemies of America.” The account, which created in September 2018, described itself as a “Fierce Trump supporter” and declared: “I’m not a bot.”
Just a few hours later, Twitter had suspended the account, confirming to CNN it had broken the platform’s rules. The company did not say what rules the account had broken.
The Daily Beast first reported the suspension.
In an interview with C-SPAN set to air Tuesday night, Trump said he has “not much” regret when it comes to the tens of thousands of tweets he has sent, but he also acknowledged that it can be an issue when he retweets other accounts.
“The bigger problem are the retweets. You’ll retweet something that sounds good, but it turned out to be from a player that’s not the best player in the world, that sort of causes a problem,” he said.
Explaining his use of Twitter, Trump called it an “incredible way of communicating,” as well as a way to combat negative coverage.
Earlier this month, Trump invited a cadre of rightwing internet personalities to the White House for a “social media summit.” There the President bemoaned Silicon Valley’s purported bias against him and his supporters.
He claimed that Twitter was making it difficult for people to follow him on the platform, saying at the time,”People come up to me: ‘Sir, we want to follow you; they don’t let us on.” He added later: “I have millions of people, so many people I wouldn’t believe it, but I know that we’ve been blocked. People come up to me and they say, ‘Sir, I can’t get you. I can’t follow you.’”
There is no evidence, as CNN has previously reported, that Twitter or other social media companies have made it difficult for people to follow Trump. And when Trump recently used racist language to attack four progressive Democratic congresswomen of color, a Twitter spokesperson told CNN that the President’s tweets were not against its rules — a conclusion apparently contradicted by Twitter’s written policies.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will on Wednesday meet leaders in Northern Ireland, the key battleground in Britain’s fight to leave the European Union and the focus of increasingly tense rhetoric on both sides of the Irish Sea.
He arrived in Belfast on Tuesday night amid warnings from Irish leaders that his vow to leave the EU, with or without a deal, risks breaking up the United Kingdom.
Johnson will hold talks with Northern Ireland’s main political parties to discuss the restoration of the British province’s power-sharing government, which collapsed in January 2017.
But Brexit will be the issue hanging over the visit.
Ireland has a land border with the province that both sides want to keep free-flowing after Brexit, both for economic reasons and, more importantly, to maintain the delicate peace deal that brought an end to decades of violence between Irish nationalists and British loyalists.
The removal of checks on the border with Ireland was considered a key factor in reducing tensions. But after Brexit, that border will become part of the EU’s external frontier and would legally require policing.
The agreement struck by Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May proposed the so-called “backstop” solution, a mechanism designed to preserve the EU’s single market and prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.
But many eurosceptic MPs believe it gives the EU too much control over Britain and rejected the deal three times.
Johnson told Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, on Tuesday that the “backstop” plan was unacceptable, putting him at odds with both Dublin and Brussels, which insists the deal is not open for renegotiation.
“If they really can’t do it then clearly we have to get ready for a no-deal exit,” Johnson said on a trip to Wales, adding: “It’s up to the EU, this is their call.”
Varadkar has said that Johnson’s plan to renegotiate the deal by a deadline of October 31 was “totally not in the real world”.
– United Ireland threat –
Leaving without a deal would throw the border status into confusion and threaten economic catastrophe for Ireland, cutting it off from its main trading partner.
Johnson pledged to Varadkar on Tuesday there would be no physical checks on the border, whatever happened.
Brexit supporters believe electronic checks can take place away from the frontier, but no viable plan is close to being agreed.
Varadkar said on Friday that a no-deal Brexit would make the unification of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland more likely.
“People who you might describe as moderate nationalists or moderate Catholics who were more or less happy with the status quo will look more towards a united Ireland.
“And increasingly you see liberal Protestants, liberal unionists starting to ask the questions as to where they feel more at home,” Varadkar said.
Northern Ireland is not the only country whose status as a member of the United Kingdom after Brexit is under the spotlight.
Johnson visited Scotland on Monday, responding to independence calls from Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon by saying that the United Kingdom represented a “global brand”.
Sturgeon said last week that Scotland, where a majority of voters opted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, needed an “alternative option” to Johnson’s Brexit strategy.
He also visited Wales on Tuesday as part of the whistlestop tour of the United Kingdom, designed to signal his commitment to keeping the union whole after Brexit.
European aerospace giant Airbus Wednesday reported profits more than doubled in the first half of the year, a strong result it attributed mainly to increased production of its A320 family of aircraft.
It said net profits reached 1.197 billion euros ($1.34 billion), up from 496 million euros in the same six-month period last year.
“The half-year financial performance mainly reflects the ramp-up in production of A320 Family aircraft and transition to the more efficient NEO version, as well as further progress on the A350 financial performance,” Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury was quoted as saying in a statement.
“We continue to see good demand for our competitive product portfolio, including the new A321XLR, as shown by the strong market endorsement at June’s Le Bourget airshow.”
However, he said that the second half of the year “in terms of deliveries and in particular free cash flow continues to be challenging”.
The group delivered a total of 389 commercial aircraft during the six months, up from 303 in the same period in 2018, including 21 A220s, 294 aircraft of the A320 family, 234 of which were the NEO version, 17 A330w, 53 A350s and four A380s.
It aims to make between 880 and 890 deliveries during the whole of 2019.
Premier Health Insurance Company has picked up two awards at the second edition of the Ghana Insurance Awards ceremony held at the Kempinski Hotel.
The company picked up the coveted Brand of the Year award for excellence in service delivery to clients in the year under review.
It is the second successive time Premier Health Insurance is picking up the Brand of the Year Award even though it came from different organizers.
In the 2019 edition, Premier picked up the Brand of the Year category during the Ghana Pharma Awards held at the same venue.
“Winning a back-to-back Brand of the Year Award in the Private Health Insurance category is enough testimony that Premier is doing something right and we will not rest on our oars,†CEO of Premier Health Insurance, Percy Ansah Asare, said on the sidelines of the Awards ceremony.
“Our brand exists to serve our clients and to make health care delivery a lesser headache to all, especially to the less privileged in the society,†he added.
On the night which saw the best in the Insurance industry lining up for honours, Premier Health Insurance Company also picked up the CSR Award for the year.
This is for its mammoth Corporate Social Responsibility activities it undertook within the community it operates in and the support it gave the vulnerable groups and other religious organizations.
The Ghana Insurance Awards is an annual ceremony to uphold standards in the insurance industry and to celebrate excellence by the industry players.
The Awards Ceremony is also to reward achievement and leadership in various key areas including life and non-life insurance companies, re-insurers, brokerage firms and others intermediaries, health insurers, actuarial firms and other insurance service providers.
The main objective is to “Honour top class performance, professionalism and innovation across the Ghanaian Insurance industry, organizers of the Awards Ceremony,†Xodus Communications have said.
The Marketing Manager of Premier Health Insurance Ms. Golda Commey says while the awards are gratifying, it is also puts a responsibility on the team to uphold standards and to deliver better services to clients.
She says the industry is still young with many misconceptions about private health insurance and there is the need for people to know that contrary to perceptions about how expensive Private Health Insurance is, with as little as ¢30.00 a month, potential clients can subscribe to one of our products and will be given the best of health care when they fall sick.
The Driver of the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu has been arrested and processed for the City Campus Court for using a strobe light to drive against oncoming traffic.
Mr. Agyeman Manu was in the Nissan Patrol with a police officer when his driver was arrested.
Ministers of state can drive against oncoming traffic only when they are accompanied by a dispatch rider, which they are entitled to.
But it is still an offence for a Minister of State or his driver to use strobe lights.
Regulation 74 of the Road Traffic Regulations 2012, (LI 2180) limits the use of sirens and special warning devices to a few categories but some motorists have still fitted them on their vehicles to manoeuvre around heavy traffic.
Only government vehicle used for official purposes by the Head of State, police vehicles, Fire Service vehicles, ambulances, bullion vehicles or motor vehicle used by other recognized government security agencies can be fitted with strobe lights.
The War Against Indiscipline was started by Citi TV in May 2019 and since the police stepped in to partner the station, the campaign has been able to name, shame and punish persons who break road traffic regulations.
Offenders have been found driving on the shoulder of roads, driving against traffic, recklessly overtaking among others.
High profile arrests have seen the Tarkwa Nsuaem MP, George Mireku Duker and the Kade MP, Kwabena Ohemeng Tinyaase were caught in vehicles that broke road traffic regulations.
As of July 17, Citi TVs collaboration with the Ghana Police Service had accumulated GH¢258,000 in fines for the state.
Ghana youth international Princella Adubea has left the country to join her first foreign club Sporting Club De Huelva.
The Spanish side announced the signing of the former Black Princesses captain last month.
Adubea hopes to recapture her verve after returning from an 11-month injury layoff in April.
She has been tipped for greatness after her 10 goals helped Ghana qualify for a fifth consecutive FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup tournament in 2018.
The 20-year-old won the Women’s Premier League and Women’s FA Cup Golden boot three times, scoring 38 goals in the two seasons for Ampem Darkoa Ladies.
Ghana midfielder Bernard Mensah was on target as Turkish Super Lig side Kayserispor beat United Emirates side Al Wasl in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday.
The ex-Atletico Madrid midfielder scored in the 70th minute as the Kayseri based club beat Al Wasl 3-1 to round up their tour of Austria with a win.
Striker Fernando Henrique Boldrin opened the scoring on 15 minutes but Khameel Esmael levelled ten minutes later to send the game into the break at 1-1.
The European club then took the lead eight minutes after the breakthrough Ziya Alkurt.
Bernard Mensah put the icing on the cake with a fine finish 20 minutes from time.
Kayseripor returns to Turkey having lost two of their preseason games to Red Bull Salzburg and Eibar.
But the win against Al Wasl will serve as morale booster as they prepare for the start of the new season.
Premier Health Insurance Company has picked up two awards at the second edition of the Ghana Insurance Awards ceremony held at the Kempinski Hotel.
The company picked up the coveted Brand of the Year award for excellence in service delivery to clients in the year under review.
It is the second successive time Premier Health Insurance is picking up the Brand of the Year Award even though it came from different organizers.
In the 2019 edition, Premier picked up the Brand of the Year category during the Ghana Pharma Awards held at the same venue.
“Winning a back-to-back Brand of the Year Award in the Private Health Insurance category is enough testimony that Premier is doing something right and we will not rest on our oars,†CEO of Premier Health Insurance, Percy Ansah Asare, said on the sidelines of the Awards ceremony.
“Our brand exists to serve our clients and to make health care delivery a lesser headache to all, especially to the less privileged in the society,†he added.
On the night which saw the best in the Insurance industry lining up for honours, Premier Health Insurance Company also picked up the CSR Award for the year.
This is for its mammoth Corporate Social Responsibility activities it undertook within the community it operates in and the support it gave the vulnerable groups and other religious organizations.
The Ghana Insurance Awards is an annual ceremony to uphold standards in the insurance industry and to celebrate excellence by the industry players.
The Awards Ceremony is also to reward achievement and leadership in various key areas including life and non-life insurance companies, re-insurers, brokerage firms and others intermediaries, health insurers, actuarial firms and other insurance service providers.
The main objective is to “Honour top class performance, professionalism and innovation across the Ghanaian Insurance industry, organizers of the Awards Ceremony,†Xodus Communications have said.
The Marketing Manager of Premier Health Insurance Ms. Golda Commey says while the awards are gratifying, it is also puts a responsibility on the team to uphold standards and to deliver better services to clients.
She says the industry is still young with many misconceptions about private health insurance and there is the need for people to know that contrary to perceptions about how expensive Private Health Insurance is, with as little as ¢30.00 a month, potential clients can subscribe to one of our products and will be given the best of health care when they fall sick.
The world’s biggest smartphone and memory chip maker Samsung Electronics saw net profits slump by more than half in the second quarter, it said Wednesday, in the face of a weakening chip market and a trade row building between Seoul and Tokyo.
Net profits in the three months to June were 5.18 trillion won ($4.38 billion), down 53 percent year-on-year.
The flagship subsidiary of the sprawling Samsung Group has enjoyed record profits in recent years despite a series of setbacks, but is now struggling, with chip prices falling as global supply increases while demand weakens.
“The weakness and price declines in the memory chip market persisted… despite a limited recovery in demand,” it said in a statement.
In mobile phones, it achieved “stronger shipments on new mass-market models but was overall weighed down by slower sales of flagship models and increased marketing expenses”, it said.
Samsung launched its top-end S10 5G smartphone earlier this year, after South Korea won the global race to commercially launch the world’s first nationwide 5G network.
But in April it was embarrassingly forced to delay the release of its new Galaxy Fold phones after reviewers provided with early devices reported screen problems within days of use.
A simmering dispute between South Korea and Japan, which has seen Tokyo impose restrictions on chemical exports crucial to the South’s world-leading chip and smartphone companies — is also expected to affect Samsung Electronics’ key products.
Operating profits plunged 56 percent to 6.6 trillion won in the second quarter, the firm said, while sales fell four percent to 56.13 trillion won.
Over the course of the year, there have been a surge in the reported cases of kidnappings across the country with majority of the victims being children and teenagers. Several family members have mounted pressure on the government to intervene in the matter especially as the election year draws closer.
An outstanding case which remains unresolved involves the kidnapping of three young ladies; 15-year-old Priscilla Mantebea Koranchie; 18-year-old Ruth Love Quayson and 21-year-old Priscilla Blessing Bentum who went missing late last year.
Their abduction was pinnacle to a chain of many cases of the same sort resulting in the politicization of the situation.
Although they remain missing, the security apparatus in the country maintain that they are optimistic of finding the trio with increasing pressure from family members and the public.
Interior Minister who was summoned by Parliament to give update on investigations into kidnappings and security in the country revealed that some of the victims fake abductions in order to avoid punishment from parents.
“…the Police have found out that some of these reported cases of kidnappings involved teenagers who went to their friends and to avoid being punished by their parents, feigned having been kidnapped†Ambrose Dery explained.
Although the occurrence he disclosed has decreased per the statistics available to his outfit. He charged the law agencies to be up and doing to resolve all the outstanding cases which remain unsolved to bring sanity and safety in the country.
Coco Gauff, the American teen who electrified Wimbledon with a last-16 run, and US top seed Sloane Stephens crashed out Tuesday in round one of the WTA Washington Open.
Eighth-ranked Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, lost to Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson 6-2, 7-5 while 15-year-old qualifier Gauff fell to Kazakhstan’s 84th-ranked Zarina Diyas 6-4, 6-2.
“Every loss is something I learn from,” Gauff said. “Overall it was a good experience.”
The US Open women’s hardcourt tuneup event lost its only top-10 entrant in Stephens and its star attraction in 146th-ranked Gauff, whose loss came in her first main-draw match since she fell to eventual champion Simona Halep at Wimbledon.
“I’m looking forward to the US Open and hope I can make a good result there,” Gauff said. “I’m going to work on being more aggressive and trusting myself a little more on the court.”
Gauff has been shocked at the whirlwind speed at which her life has changed and that crowds still pack every seat to watch her.
“I’m happy for all the support,” said Gauff. “I thought it would settle back after a couple weeks but I guess people are still excited.
“All this has changed so quickly so it’s hard sometimes but having the experience is definitely going to help me for the US Open.”
Stephens, whose first WTA title came at Washington in 2015, exited with one win or less for the eighth time in 10 non-Grand Slam starts this year.
“I could have played better,” said Stephens. “It was hot. Tough conditions. But you know from here only thing you can do is improve.”
Stephens, 26, split with coach Kamau Murray in late 2018 after four years together and has been guided by Sven Groeneveld for the past two months.
“I’ve tried to have a good attitude and let the chips fall where they may going forward,” Stephens said.
“We’re starting fresh. We’ve done pretty well. I need to have fun and enjoy what I’m doing.”
Peterson collected her first victory in nine tries against a top-10 rival.
“Fought for every point that was out there,” Peterson said. “I stayed in the moment.”
Diyas dispatched the crowd favorite before a packed second stadium.
“I knew there was going to be a big crowd and they were going to support her so I was ready for it. I was more aggressive. I served better.
“She’s so young but she’s really good. She’s so strong and she has a big serve. She’s moving well. I think she’s going to be very big in the future.”
– ‘Sky is the limit’ –
Gauff, who can’t yet drive, has impressed foes and friends alike.
“She’s cool. She’s locked in and ready to go,” said 40th-ranked ATP pal Frances Tiafoe. “She will have a hell of a career. The sky is the limit if she stays focused.”
US second seed Madison Keys was impressed at Gauff’s poise in Wimbledon’s intense atmosphere.
“How she has handled it and how mature she is — she’s so wise beyond her years,” Keys said. “I was just really impressed with how well she handled herself on court. I’m not sure that many of us could have done so well.
“Everyone knew she was a great player and that she could do a lot. The fact she did it right off the bat was pretty impressive.”
Gauff is already a role model, Keys saying: “It has been fun watching her and reminding myself I used to be that excited to play.”
Forty-six inmates involved in one of Brazil’s deadliest prison riots were being transferred to other jails on Tuesday, an official said.
At least 57 people were killed Monday when fighting broke out between rival drug gang factions in the Altamira Regional Recovery Center in the northern state of Para.
Sixteen were decapitated in the hours-long battle, but most died in a fire that engulfed part of the overcrowded facility that used converted shipping containers to house some of the inmates.
It was the second major eruption of violence to rock the country’s severely overpopulated and deadly prison system in as many months.
Inmates involved in the fighting, including 16 leaders suspected of ordering the riot, were being transported Tuesday by bus or plane to detention facilities, including federal prisons, in state capital Belem, an official from the state government’s penitentiary department told AFP.
Most of the bodies have been recovered from the jail and clean-up operations were under way, she said.
The government is providing financial assistance to the families of the dead to help pay for funerals, she added.
– ‘Very bad’ conditions –
Experts estimate hundreds of prisoners are killed in Brazilian prisons every year, mostly in confrontations between rival gangs battling for control of one of the world’s most important cocaine markets and trafficking routes.
Monday’s riot was one of the deadliest in Brazil in decades. The turf war involved members of Class A Command and one of the country’s main crime groups, Red Command, officials said.
In May, at least 55 inmates were killed at several jails in the neighboring state of Amazonas, in violence also blamed on an apparent drug trafficking gang dispute.
In 1992, 111 prisoners were killed when security forces put down a mutiny at the enormous Carandiru jail outside Sao Paulo.
Brazil has the world’s third-largest prison population after the United States and China, with 726,354 inmates as of June 2017, according to the latest official statistics released this month.
The population is far above the capacity of the nation’s jails, which in the same year was estimated to be 423,242 inmates.
Around 33 percent of prisoners are pretrial detainees.
Amnesty International said the prison population topped 800,000 this year as it warned of more mass killings “if nothing is done to change the situation.”
“I don’t see much of an end to these massacres,” said Juliana Melo, a professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte.
Conditions inside the prisons have been described as inhuman, with most inmates poor, black and with little formal education.
The Altamira Regional Recovery Center was no exception.
The National Justice Council, a government agency monitoring prisons, rated conditions inside the jail as “very bad” and said the facility was holding more than twice as many prisoners as it was equipped to handle.
It also had a shortage of guards.
“This problem from hell will not be solved by throwing more prisons at the problem,” said Robert Muggah, research director at the Igarape Institute, a think tank in Rio de Janeiro.
“Since 2018, close to 9,000 prison spaces were built in the country — but the number of new inmates jumped by more than 17,800 over the same period.”
Anderlecht sporting director Michael Verschueren has lauded the qualities Ghanaian winger Francis Amuzu after the youngster signed a contract extension.
Amuzu, 19, has penned a deal which will see him remain at the club until the summer of 2022.
This ends speculations about his future after being linked with English Premier League sides Southampton and Brighton.
The Belgium youth international came through the club’s academy set-up and has now become a first-team regular.
”With Francis, we have a top talent in our ranks. We are therefore very happy that he has extended his contract. There is a bright future for him at RSC Anderlecht,” Verschueren said after both parties reached a deal.
Amuzu made his debut in 2017 in the first team for RSC Anderlecht.
He has scored two goals and 3 assists in 47 games since his promotion to the senior side.
American rapper A$AP Rocky pleaded not guilty to assault charges in a Swedish court on Tuesday, on the first day of a trial that has grabbed the attention of US President Donald Trump and the world’s media.
Known for his song “Praise the Lord,” the 30-year-old performer, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was detained almost a month ago following a street brawl in the capital Stockholm on June 30. If convicted, A$AP Rocky, who was charged with assault last week, could face up to two years in prison. On Tuesday morning, Swedish public prosecutor Daniel Suneson read out the charges against the artist and two other men in his entourage. Suneson said they assaulted the victim by kicking and beating him with a whole or part of a glass bottle while he lay on the ground.
The victim told the court he suffered injuries to his arm and head in the fight, as well as broken ribs. “I felt that they would beat me to death,” he said. A$AP Rocky’s lawyer, Slobodan Jovicic, maintains his client did not commit any crime. The rapper asserts that he was acting in self-defense when he threw the victim to the ground and stepped on his arm. “Please bear in mind that A$AP Rocky is an international, very well-known artist,” Jovicic said, adding that his client is used to being approached in the street, but that these men were “deeply provoking” and that he acted out of fear. Both members of A$AP Rocky’s crew, Bladimir Corniel and David Rispers, also deny any wrongdoing. Magnus Stromberg, a lawyer for the victim, said his client is seeking 139,700 Swedish krona in damages (about $14,600). The Stockholm District Court was packed with international press and A$AP Rocky’s family members, including his mother, Renee Black, who sat still, staring straight ahead as the charges were read out.
President Trump has appealed for A$AP Rocky’s release, and the US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Robert O’Brien, was in court on Tuesday to “support the members of the family and the American citizens.” O’Brien told CNN he wouldn’t go into details about his conversations with the President about the case, but that Trump “has made it very clear that he wants these individuals to come home as soon as possible.”
Some audience members were audibly sobbing and shaking their heads as Suneson showed evidence, including surveillance footage from the burger restaurant where the fight began.
In photos of the crime scene displayed to the court, a broken glass bottle was visible on the street where the brawl took place and a fragment of what appeared to be the same bottle could be seen stuck in A$AP Rocky’s sweater.
“This is a nightmare!” A$AP Rocky’s mother Renee Black (second from left), told the press at the district court in Stockholm. The victim described being “hit” and “stabbed” with broken glass, but Suneson said police did not find any finger prints or DNA on the bottle. Playing a video clip of the exchange, Jovicic argued that the bottle was broken behind A$AP Rocky’s back as he was “occupied with throwing” the victim to the ground. He claimed that glass shards from the bottle could have been caught underneath his client’s shoe, which may have inadvertently cut the victim. Jovicic also referred to transcriptions from the footage, when A$AP Rocky could be heard appearing to try to cool tensions: “Listen, listen. We don’t wanna fight you all. We’re not trying to go to jail.”
Footage of the altercation posted by TMZ and clips shared by A$AP Rocky himself, which have been at the heart of the investigation, were also played in court. The prosecutor suggested that one of the videos shared by A$AP Rocky on Instagram had been edited to omit the moment when his security guard grabbed the victim by the neck and lifted him off the ground.
He also shared text messages exchanged between different members of A$AP Rocky’s team, who spoke about “cleaning up” and “deleting” the videos.
But Jovicic argued the videos painted a different picture — one of “aggressive” and “threatening” behavior by the victim, who he claimed attacked A$AP Rocky’s bodyguard and refused to stop following his crew. “It is in this context that Mayers fears that there will be another attack on the bodyguard” and decides to throw the victim to the ground, Jovicic said. Asked by the judge whether A$AP Rocky had stepped on the victim’s arm on purpose, Jovovic replied: “It was intentional.”
Dave Rispers Sr., father of David Rispers, one of the accused, on the first day of the trial. As the prosecutor detailed the case against A$AP Rocky, the rapper’s fans were gathered in a nearby room to watch the proceedings unfold on a big screen. “I’m a big fan of A$AP Rocky,” Marie-Thiella Hakizmana, one of those gathered at court, told CNN. “I think he will be convicted — there is quite a lot of evidence against him. It would be right to convict him, but he shouldn’t get a very long sentence, since he was provoked.”
“I mean, there are laws in Sweden, just because you are a celebrity doesn’t mean you should get away,” she added. That fact is something that Swedish authorities tried to impress upon Trump after he took an interest in A$AP Rocky’s case, campaigning for the rapper’s release.
The US President previously said on Twitter that he had spoken with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and “offered to personally vouch for (A$AP Rocky’s) bail, or an alternative.”
But Swedish law doesn’t have a bail system and after Swedish authorities refused to release the musician, Trump tweeted: “Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM. We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem!”
In response, Löfven’s spokesperson Mikael Lindström said in a statement to CNN that “all people in Sweden are equal before the law.” “The Government is not allowed, and will not attempt, to influence the legal proceedings, which are now ongoing,” Lindström said. Several high-profile celebrities including Kim Kardashian West, musical artists Post Malone and Shawn Mendes, and actress Jada Pinkett Smith have also thrown their support behind the rapper, petitioning for his release using the hashtag “JusticeForRocky.” The trial, at the Stockholm District Court, is scheduled to continue on Thursday and Friday. Under Swedish law, A$AP Rocky could face a maximum penalty of two years in prison. However, according to Swedish media, the prosecutors have indicated they do not expect to ask for the maximum penalty.
A female police officer has been shot dead by suspected armed robbers at a checkpoint in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region.
She was among three officers stationed at a checkpoint close to fuel filling station.
The three police officers at the checkpoint, a male and two females, were attacked by the robbers who gunned down the female officer before stealing weapons belong to the police.
The incident happened close to the Star filling station around 10 p.m. on Tuesday evening, according to Joy News sources.
The sources said empty shells recovered from the scene of the incident show the robbers used G3 weapons in the attack.
The four robbers, according to Joy News sources, approached the checkpoint in an ash-coloured saloon car and were signalled to stop.
The sources say the robbers who were all armed, dressed in military camouflage and wearing face masks and dessert boots suddenly got down and shot at one of the female police officers killing her instantly.
The other policewoman, in her attempt to take cover, stumbled and fell and her weapon together with that of the deceased were taken by the robbers.
The third officer who had then taken cover fired at the robbers but the robbers managed to escape with the two weapons.
This will be the second time in less than three months a similar attack has happened in the city and guns belonging to the police stolen.
Last Wednesday a resident of Sagnarigu was also robbed at gunpoint at about 9 p.m.
Ghanaian female top-notch singer Eazzy is born Mildred Ashong known for producing back to back hits such as Wengeze, Power, Forever, Odo, Away and more got a big chance to speak on the BBC.
The music star, talking about her music journey revealed when she officially came into the music industry which was in the year 2009 as she was part of the artists to get unto Lynx Entertainment.
Eazzy had her first her hit Bo Wonsem Ma Me there which was so amazing and later had a remix version of it with Donaeo.
In 2012, she parted ways with the label based on mutual understandings but the went on to have her biggest hit “Foreverâ€.
Speaking with the host, she revealed the challenges female artist face its tough for a female artist to stay on top and be so relevant but then she keeps pushing each day.
Eazzy has worked with big names in the industry such as Shatta Wale, Mr Eazi, Stonebwoy, Medikal and more.
She also revealed her most embarrassing moment on stage she advised every lady to choose sneakers over heels when going on stage
The estranged wife of the ruler of Dubai – one of the most high-profile leaders in the Middle East – has asked for a forced marriage protection order in a UK court.
Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum’s wife, Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, is the third female member of his court to apparently try to run away.
This month she was reported to be in hiding in London and is said to be in fear for her life.
The case began in London on Tuesday.
What happened in the High Court? Princess Haya asked for wardship of her children – with whom she left the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – as well as a forced marriage protection order and a non-molestation order.
The details of the orders sought by the princess are not known.
Sheikh Mohammed meanwhile applied for the return of his children to Dubai, and also applied for the court to impose reporting restrictions on details about the orders – a request the judge rejected.
Sir Andrew McFarlane ruled there was “a public interest in the public understanding, in very broad terms, proceedings that are before the court”.
Who is Princess Haya? The princess, who was born in Jordan and educated at private schools in Britain, is an Olympic equestrian and the half-sister of the current Jordanian ruler, King Abdullah II.
She married Sheikh Mohammed in 2004, becoming his sixth and “junior” wife. The 70-year-old sheikh, who is the billionaire owner of Godolphin horse racing stables, reportedly has 23 children by different wives.
Princess Haya, 45, initially fled to Germany to try to seek asylum there, but it emerged this month that she was living in central London – specifically, in an £85m ($107m) town house in Kensington Palace Gardens.
It’s believed that Princess Haya will want to stay in the UK. However, if her husband demands her return to Dubai, this could cause a diplomatic headache for Britain – which has close ties to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
After she fled, Sheikh Mohammed wrote an angry poem accusing an unnamed woman of betrayal and treachery, and posted it on his Instagram page.
Why is Princess Haya said to have run away?
Sources close to the princess said earlier this month she had recently discovered disturbing facts about the mysterious return to Dubai last year of Sheikha Latifa, one of Sheikh Mohammed’s daughters.
Sheikha Latifa had escaped the UAE by sea with the help of a Frenchman, but was intercepted by armed men off the coast of India. She was then returned to Dubai.
At the time, Princess Haya defended Dubai’s reputation over the incident, claiming that Sheikha Latifa had been “vulnerable to exploitation” and was “now safe in Dubai”. Human rights advocates said she was abducted against her will.
Later, however, sources alleged that Princess Haya had become aware of new information related to the case, and as a result came under increasing pressure from her husband’s extended family.
In July 2000, another of Sheikh Mohammed’s daughters – Sheikha Shamsa Al Maktoum, who was 19 at the time – briefly escaped from the family’s Surrey home.
Her method of escaping – by driving their Land Rover to the edge of the estate, abandoning the car and slipping through a fence on foot – made headlines at the time. She was reportedly found in Cambridge a year later and returned to Dubai.
Democrats from Virginia’s Black Legislative Caucus have protested against a visit by President Donald Trump because of what they termed his “racist and xenophobic” rhetoric.
They and other Democrats boycotted the visit.
Mr Trump travelled to historic Jamestown to commemorate the 400th anniversary of representative democracy in the Western Hemisphere.
He is accused of stoking racial tension by attacking minority Congress members.
“I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world,” Mr Trump said on Tuesday as he departed the White House for Jamestown.
What is the event celebrating? The visit marks the day in 1619 when Virginia’s first House of Burgesses met in Jamestown – the first English permanent colony in North America.
The group of white, male property owners became the inspiration for American democracy, and state legislatures and congresses across the continent.
“Self-government in Virginia did not just give us a state we love – in a very true sense, it gave us the country we love, the United States of America,” Mr Trump said in his address to Virginia lawmakers and state officials in Jamestown.
He noted that 2019 marks 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia. Next month, the city plans to commemorate this anniversary.
“In the face of grave oppression and grave injustice, African Americans have built, strengthened, inspired, uplifted, protected, defended and sustained our nation from its very earliest days,” Mr Trump said.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Washington, is leading a delegation of lawmakers to the West African nation of Ghana where they will visit castles where enslaved people were kept before being shipped in bondage to the New World.
On Wednesday she is due to address Ghanaian lawmakers.
What have Virginia lawmakers said? The last-minute announcement by the White House that Mr Trump would visit the city led to boycotts by the state’s Democratic lawmakers and Black Legislative Caucus.
“We will not be attending any part of the commemorative session where Donald Trump is in attendance,” the Virginia House Democrats said on Twitter. “The current president does not represent the values that we would celebrate at the 400th anniversary of the oldest democratic body in the Western world.”
The state’s black caucus said Mr Trump’s participation was “antithetical to the principles” that the group stood for.
Members intend to hold a rival event in Richmond on Tuesday.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney resigned from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation’s steering committee for the commemoration – which issued the invitation to Mr Trump – saying that the Republican president “denigrates our democracy” and should not be welcomed.
Why has Trump been called racist?
Mr Trump has long been accused of stoking racial tensions, going back decades before he became a political figure.
In the past month, Mr Trump has accused four Democratic congresswoman of hating America and said they should “go back” to “the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came”.
In the past week he has attacked Maryland congressman Elijah Cummings – who is black – saying that the Baltimore district that he represents is a “rodent-infested mess”.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump called his accusers “racist” and said his strategy of attacking minority lawmakers was helping him politically.
“I think I’m helping myself,” Mr Trump said. “These people are living in hell in Baltimore.”
‘A speech more careful than his tweets’
It says much about modern America that at a celebration of this country’s democratic roots, there was a protest against its democratically elected president.
However, the summer of 1619 is remembered not only for that important first meeting of an assembly, it also marked the beginning of brutal years when Africans were brought to this land.
Donald Trump’s recent criticisms of the city of Baltimore have angered, but the comments that some congresswomen of colour should go back to where they came from were beyond what many black Democrats were prepared to accept. They felt they had to boycott the event.
In his speech, Mr Trump was more careful with his words than in his tweets. And he made specific reference to the past wrongs committed against African Americans.
That won’t stop the many accusations against the president who has repeatedly tried to defend himself against suggestions he is racist.
People who were at Jamestown to learn about their country’s history were critical of both Mr Trump and the Democrats.
Many felt it was wrong to try to exclude the head of state from such a symbolic ceremony, even as they questioned his recent online attacks.
What’s clear is that by design or angry accident, Mr Trump’s tweets have helped ensure that race will be a key and extremely sensitive issue throughout the campaign for next year’s presidential election.
Zelda Nana Yaa Adepa Dedaa Manteaw, popularly known as DJ Zel, has been honoured as an outstanding Disk Jockey (DJ) at the 2019 International African Achievers Merit Awards ceremony held in Accra.
The UK-based Ghanaian young (DJ) was honoured for excelling in her field of endeavour as she continues to make Ghana proud on the international stage.
After receiving the award, DJ Zel in an interview said, the award would further boost her morale as she continues to entertain people on the turntable.
”I thank the organizers for recognising my efforts and hard work. It has not been easy but gradually I keep making progress in my field and I hope someday I would make my country proud,” she said.
”I also dedicate this award to my fans and my parents who have offered me unflinching support in my early career and to my management, Zel Promotions,” she added.
The nine-year-old DJ is currently on a visit to Ghana, embarking on an initiative on education and sensitization on numerous environmental problems and other charity works.
Ten Democratic presidential hopefuls have taken the stage again for the second TV debate of the race to win the White House in 2020.
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, the most progressive candidates in the crowded field, will debate each other for the first time in Michigan.
The group of candidates will field questions on race, immigration, healthcare and more.
Ten more Democrats, including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, will spar tomorrow.
Millions of voters are expected to tune in for America’s biggest political debates in years.
As of a Tuesday poll by Politico/Morning Consult, a third of Americans planning to vote in the Democratic primaries said they were “very motivated” to watch the second round of debates; nearly 40% said they were “somewhat motivated”.
The winner of the Democratic presidential nomination will be crowned next July at the party convention. The presidential election will take place months later, in November.
Who’s on stage? The line-up for both debates was chosen at random by CNN.
Here’s Tuesday’s roster:
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar
Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan
Former Maryland Congressman John Delaney
Montana Governor Steve Bullock
Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper
Author Marianne Williamson
On Wednesday night, Former Vice-President Joe Biden, California Senator Kamala
Harris, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro,
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, Hawaii
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Washington Governor Jay Inslee and New York Mayor
Bill de Blasio, Former tech executive Andrew Yang will have their chance.
Who will take on Trump in 2020?
Twenty Democrats are debating once more to win the chance to take on Donald Trump. But who else has a shot at becoming the next president?
Find out who is already running and who might join them.