A 23-year-old man is in the grips of the Ghana Police Service for engaging in bestiality.
The man, a young farmer at Kentey in the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region, who has been identified as Kwaku Atta, was caught allegedly having sex with a female goat.
The 23-year-old, Kwaku Atta, according to the Nkwanta South Divisional Police Command, was suspected by the owners of the goat who reported their suspicions to the police on Saturday, May 20, 2023.
They believed someone had been having sex with their animal and this was confirmed during one of the suspect’s adventures.
According to an Adomnews report, Kwaku was frequently having sex with some of the goats of these owners and one of them had to be poisoned to death by its owners for fear that it will spread bad omen.
The report further noted that the suspect’s arrest led to the departure of his pregnant wife from their matrimonial home.
The suspect’s mother, Ndebechie Atta also admitted that her son, Kwaku was once caught in the act but insisted that he was falsely accused since there was no evidence to prove the act.
The police say the suspect will be charged with unnatural carnal knowledge. The suspect however has been granted bail to allow further investigations into the matter.
Following Sunday’s unresolved vote, the three major party leaders rejected Katerina Sakellaropoulou’s request to create a coalition government, forcing Greeks to cast another ballot.
Following a significant victory for his governing New Democracy party on Sunday but falling just short of a clear majority, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declined the mandate on Monday. In order to obtain that majority, Mitsotakis declared that he will ask for a second vote on June 25.
Both Nikos Androulakis, the leader of the socialist PASOK party, and Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the center-left Syriza party, rejected the mandate.
President Sakellaropoulou appointed Judge Ioannis Sarmas as a caretaker prime minister this afternoon to prepare the country for new election, according to a statement by the presidency. He will be sworn in on Thursday, public broadcaster ERT reported.
Although the date has not been formally announced yet, Mitsotakis has stated that if there are no constitutional issues, the repeat election will happen on June 25.
Voters cast their ballots last week in an election governed by the cost-of-living crisis, a wiretapping scandal and fury over the country’s deadliest-ever train crash.
Mitsotakis’ ruling New Democracy party surpassed expectations by winning over 40% of the vote with more than 99% of ballots counted, but failed to secure an outright majority.
His main opposition, Tsipras’s Syriza party, suffered crushing losses, taking just 20% of the vote.
Tsipras called Sunday’s result a “painful shock, unexpectedly painful.”
“I take full responsibility for the result. But in my own moral vocabulary, this means staying on and fighting. I apologize to the people we hurt, the hundreds of thousands of friends, supporters, campaigners and voters of Syriza. We will fight this together,” he said on Tuesday, following a separate meeting with the Greek president.
Tsipras added that he “fears [Sunday’s] result will be painful for society,” alleging that the ruling party during its first term “did not respect the rule of law, democracy and pluralism.”
The elections took place in the shadow of a wiretapping scandal in which the government was accused of spying on opposition politicians and journalists, raising overall concerns over the rule of law.
Androulakis, the leader of the socialist party PASOK, said: “Our party made a brave start. I am asking all progressive democrats in this new beginning to join us in rebuilding this strong, reliable progressive force.”
In remarks made on Tuesday, he urged “those who didn’t trust us in the first round, to trust us in the second vote, because if succeed, then the country will succeed too.”
Androulakis also stated the need for a “serious and credible” opposition.
Mitsotakis said he was “expecting a victory” for his camp, following the first round of elections on Sunday. “We’ve done probably better than many people expected,” he told CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday. “We still have not won an outright majority, that is why we will require a second election.
“But I think the results have been extremely encouraging. We’ve delivered on our main commitments, which I undertook four years ago.”
New Democracy rode the campaign trail on the country’s successful economic turnaround, with Mitsotakis billing himself as a reliable leader to improve growth.
Seven people are ‘in hot waters’ for defecating in the open.
The Yendi Municipal Assembly says it has recently prosecuted seven people for engaging in open defecation.
They were made to pay a fine of GH₵600 each for their actions, which were offensive and against the Assembly’s bye-laws on open defecation prohibition.
The Yendi Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Alhaji Hammed Abubakar Yussif said as the Assembly was having a discussion on GBC’s local Naya Radio, there was a phone call to the station that some people were “doing it just behind the radio station.”
“A team was organised and the seven people were arrested and prosecuted.”
“We’ll prosecute more of such,” he said and warned against the practice which was a threat to the environment.
Open defecation is the human practice of defecating outside—in the open.
In lieu of toilets, people use fields, bushes, forests, open bodies of water or other open spaces when nature calls.
The practice is common where sanitation infrastructure is not available.
About 892 million people, or 12 per cent of the global population, practice open defecation.
The last Population and Housing Census by the Ghana Statistical Service indicates that about 17.7 per cent of Ghana’s households practice open defecation.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Alhaji Yussif said the Assembly, from June 2023 onwards, would intensify the prosecution of offenders.
The interview was on the sidelines of the second multi-stakeholder dialogue on WASH, dubbed: “Executive Breakfast Conversation.”
It was on the theme: “Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and Sustainable WASH Service Delivery,” with the sub-theme; “Every Child Deserves Clean Water and Improved Sanitation.”
It was organised by the Ghana Chapter of World Vision International, a Christian humanitarian organisation, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, and the United States Agency for International Development, among other partners.
The Yendi MCE announced that the Assembly had put in place a programme to help households construct toilet facilities.
He said the materials for the work and the men are ready for the construction within a week after discussions with the Assembly.
Four chiefs and a queen mother of the Kwatwoma Traditional area, Jaman South Municipality of the Bono Region have been cited for contempt of court over the gazetting of Mr. Kwaku Bosea Yeboah as the Paramount Chief of the area.
In a motion filed by Nana Obiri Boahen of the ‘Enso Nyame Ye Chambers,’ a Sunyani-based legal firm and Counsel, the applicants are praying a Kumasi High Court to commit the respondents, including Mr. Yeboah to prison.
The other respondents are Nana Amankwah, the Benkumhene (left-wing chief) of the traditional area, Nana Tafowaa, the queen mother of the Asiedu Royal Family, Nana Kwabena Kom, ‘Ekonahene’ (war chief) of the traditional area and Nana Kwasi Boahen, the ‘Abakomahene’ of the traditional area.
The writ is praying the Court to commit for wilful /deliberate and conscious attempt to scandalise and expose the administration of justice to public ridicule and contempt, a conduct that is wilfully calculated to undermine the integrity of justice.
It said, “gazetting Mr. Yeboah, notwithstanding the pendency of a substantive suit and motion on notice for interlocutory injunction is a conduct contemptuous of the court and a total disregard for the administration of justice.”
According to the plaintiffs, the respondents intentionally and maliciously undermined the administration of justice by treating with contempt court processes, more especially “motion on notice for interlocutory” filed on Thursday, June 16, 2022, which was still pending in respect of the chieftaincy petition before a judicial committee.
The petitioners include Nana Boahen Korkor, the Chief of Adamsu and ‘Kurontirehene’ of the Kwatwoma Traditional Area, Nana Osei Yaw, the Adehyepanin (royal elder) of Atomase royal family and Nana Kupor, the head of Atomase royal family.
“Holding out or recognising Mr. Yeboah as the Paramount Chief of Kwatwoma traditional area, knowing fully well that, a chieftaincy petition has been mounted, contesting the occupation of the Kwatwoma paramount stool and also an application for injunction had been applied for and same waiting determination, thereby rendering the entire application and a larger extent that the entire action/suit is now moot, is a conduct which is repugnant, contemptuous, disrespectful and disobedient,” it added.
The writ indicated that the respondents must be committed for promoting, facilitating, assisting and urging Mr. Yeboah to carry on and represent himself as the paramount chief of the Kwatwoma Traditional Area, notwithstanding the pendency of an interlocutory injunction and the substantive chieftaincy petition.
Meanwhile, the respondents appeared before the Kumasi High Court Six, presided by Justice Mary Quansah, where the case was adjourned till Thursday, June 29, 2023.
Ghanaian rapper Ayigbe Edem has announced a special birthday celebration taking place in the Volta Region on Sunday, May 28th. The event will be held at the RC Park in Akatsi, Volta Region.
The Ghanaian hit maker who celebrated his birthday on May 20th, decided to extend the celebrations to his fans inside the Volta Region.
Edem commented on the concert saying: “I have not had a concert in the region for some time now and also I missed out on a couple of shows in the region this year because I was out of town so when the opportunity came for me to host a birthday concert, I decided to go back to the Volta region and celebrate with them.”
The Toto hitmaker also mentioned that the event will be a special one in the region such that it is coming with a fully active experience including a standard setup.
Commenting about his performance, Edem stated that his performance will be a special one. He said: “This performance will be a different one because there are a lot of surprises coming. I have arranged my set list to ensure every fan is treated equally.
He also noted that he will be spending more hours on stage at this event unlike before when there was a balance between him and other supporting artists.
“Of course, there will be supporting artists, but there is a limited number of supporting artists and also a surprise artiste coming to the Volta region,” Edem explained the reason for the limited supporting artists saying: “I want to be able to have more time with my fans on stage and make sure that I leave Akatsi satisfying everyone.”
The versatile Pan-African artiste who celebrated his birthday live on TV with close family and friends also put across that this event is not just a birthday concert. Still, it has a more extensive agenda with it.
“I am using this concert to push out a campaign called Safe Sex with Ebony condoms. I believe that impacting while entertaining people is the best, so I made sure we had a great course to go along the concert” – Edem added.
The rapper who has spent some time in America meeting with the likes of USA producer and artiste Swizz Beats, legendary Jim Jones, Paxton Baker, and Jay Z’s cousin among others used the opportunity to invite all his fans across the Volta to come to RC Park – Akatsi, Volta Region on Sunday, 28th of May.
The song “Alomo Gyata,” which went viral after being inspired by a broken heart, has since evolved into a party song that is frequently used for sound bites.
The music that has been trending on social media for months can be targeted at receiving revenue for being downloaded online, but according to Aligata App, who did a remix of the song, he has not earned any money from the song yet.
He made this known on LifeStyle TV’s entertainment show, Ebitz.
Alomo Gyata is a refix of the amazing Highlife hit song “Akwankwaa Hiani” by Adu Kwasi, and Aligata App has revealed that “no money has come from the song yet because in this era I could have gotten money from the streaming platforms, but we are doing the right things to ensure that peace prevails even after the song is uploaded on the streaming platforms”.
Aligata is one of the most lyrical and prolific emerging Afrobeats, Reggae and Dancehall recording and performing artiste in Ghana right now. He has quite a number of songs and is willing to collaborate with other musicians.
Many women think that men staring at their breasts is intrusive, rude, and uncomfortable, but for men, it boosts their mood, almost like staring at a cute pet.
Women generally have a higher life expectancy than men, perhaps because of the X chromosome that men don’t have. Lifestyle choices also play a big role in the life expectancy of women. That’s why men need to know how to live longer.
Here are the benefits of looking at breasts for men:
It makes them think positive
Staring at breasts increases positive thinking in men and positive thinking makes one healthy.
A 2012 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine examined the impact of positive thinking on men.
A control group was asked to write encouraging words in the morning while others were told to look at breasts. The result was that more than half of the patients with coronary artery disease increased physical activity just by staring at breasts than those who didn’t.
According to a study by Karen Weatherby, a German scientist published in the New England Journal of Medicine, looking at breasts will increase the lifespan of men.
500 males participated in the study over five years; half of them were told to look at women’s breasts for at least 10 minutes each day. The other half were told not to do so.
The study concluded that men who looked more frequently at breasts had lower rates of cardiac problems, slower resting heart rates, and lower blood pressure. This will make them live a long and healthy life.
The study revealed that “Sexual excitement gets the heart pumping and improves blood circulation. Gazing at breasts makes men healthier and engaging in this activity a few minutes daily cuts the risk of stroke and heart attack by half.”
Don’t be a creep!
Yes, it’s good for your health but we don’t think men should glare at women’s breasts and make them feel uncomfortable, especially in public. Perhaps they can look at their wives’ or girlfriend’s breasts for a longer life.
President Akufo-Addo says government is undertaking rigorous expenditure rationalisation and prudent spending to meet conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This he said is in order to access the second tranche of the $3 billion bailout in six months.
The IMF board last week approved Ghana’s request for a $3 billion bailout resulting in the release of the first 600 million dollars to the Bank of Ghana.
But subsequent releases will be hinged on Ghana meeting certain conditionalities set by the Fund which includes improvement in domestic revenue mobilisation.
Speaking at the ongoing Qatar-Africa Economic Forum in Doha, President Akufo-Addo said his government is very much aware of its obligations and will live up to them.
“The global situation has not been kind to incumbent governments all over the world and I think our situation will be no different but at the same time, I believe we have enough time.
“We have eighteen months, I am to leave office in January 2025, so 19 months from now to be able with a very disciplined approach, implement the IMF programme and reposition our economy to be able to bring some growth back and some relief back to the population.
“…to also be able to convince them that yes, it is worth continuing the journey that my party started.”
Touching on the benefits of the IMF bailout, President Nana Akufo-Addo said Ghana will soon return to the International Capital Market.
Mr Akufo-Addo said this will enable his government to get the needed funding to execute its mandate.
According to him, the shutting of the capital market to the country has been of great worry to him and his government.
“We have positioned ourselves to be able to go back into the International market which had been a source of funding for us during the first three or four years of our government,” he said on Tuesday, May 23.
Meanwhile, government says it is taking the necessary steps to review all existing flagship programmes as part of its objectives to strengthen the fiscal policy.
This was contained in the IMF’s May 2023 country report on Ghana.
Already, one of the flagship programmes, Free SHS has been described by the Fund as being poorly targeted, with the country’s education system producing poor learning outcomes.
Entertainment commentator Sally Mann-Frimpong has offered her perspective on Sarkodie and Black Sherif’s audience appeal at the 24th VGMAs.
During an interview with Caleb Nii Boye, she praised Sarkodie for his crowd engagement and control, while also acknowledging Black Sherif as a true performer.
Comparing the two artistes, Frimpong highlighted the contrasting styles and declared Black Sherif as the superior performer between them.
“When you compare the energy of both artistes, I’m referring to Blacko and Sarkodie, Blacko is a true performer,” she indicated.
While acknowledging that Sarkodie may not be considered a phenomenal performer in the conventional sense, she emphasized his remarkable talent for captivating crowds and earning their admiration.
“In my view, Sarkodie isn’t an extraordinary performer per se, but he knows how to sway the crowd. That’s the distinction. He knows how to command the crowd. I believe he possesses an aura that compels people to stand up when they see him,” she said.
In a light-hearted manner, Frimpong humorously questioned whether Sarkodie possessed some sort of mystical power, or ‘juju’ that compelled everyone to rise and acknowledge his presence.
“Sark is so decorated, look at me, He enters, and everyone wants to stand up. I don’t know if it’s magic or whatever, but everyone stands up, the landlord is here,” she humorously proposed.
She added that Sarkodie’s command of the audience says a lot about his star power and impact.
“He may not be considered a top-notch performer, but he has the ability to move the crowd and earn respect for himself,” she added.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Kwasi Anin-Yeboah is set to retire today, May 24.
The 70-year-old served for three years since taking over from retired Justice Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo in 2020.
Earlier this month, President Akufo-Addo informed Parliament of his decision to appoint Justice Gertrude Torkonoo as Chief Justice as Justice Anin’s replacement.
President Akufo-Addo in an earlier letter to the Council of State said Justice Torkonoo’s appointment is to avoid any vacuum that would occur following the retirement of Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah.
Justice Mrs Torkornoo per this nomination, will be vetted by Parliament and approve her nomination or otherwise.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has described outgoing Justice Anin-Yeboah, as an exceptional leader of the Judiciary at a farewell dinner organized by the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) in his honour.
The President said the tenure of Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah has seen laudable achievements worth emulating by his successor.
“Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah has been an exceptional leader to the judiciary. He has guarded jealously the judiciary and his conduct has brought honour to the judiciary and to our country. Not only has he continued with the modernisation of activities of the judiciary, but his tenure of office has also seen arguably the largest infrastructural development undertaken in the history of the judiciary,” he said.
Justice Yeboah on his part thanked the President and the Ghana Bar Association for their support.
Background on Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah
Justice Anin Yeboah is the fourth longest-serving Justice of the Supreme Court.
A graduate of the Ghana School of Law in 1981, he was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President John Agyekum Kufuor in June 2008.
Prior to that, he served as a Justice of the High Court from 2002 to 2003 and a Justice of the Court of Appeal from 2003 to 2008.
Apart from being a Supreme Court Justice, Justice Anin-Yeboah is also a part-time lecturer in Civil Procedure and the Ghana Legal System at the Ghana School of Law.
Justice Anin Yeboah’s name is also associated with football. In May 2017, he was appointed the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA).
He also served as the Chairman of the Appeal Committee of the Ghana Football Association from 2004 to 2008.
President Akufo-Addo has stated that Ghana’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout prorgramme which took 10 months to be completed is one of the quickest to have happened to the country.
Speaking at the 3rd Qatar Economic Forum, the President said the country had to ensure data provided were accurate, whilst the macro indices were heading in the right direction.
“Usually, the negotiations with the IMF take time. In fact, the 10 months which have been involved in the Ghanaian programme is one of the fastest on record”.
“There is a whole lot of stuff that you had to go through in terms of change of data, negotiations, and making sure that the macro indices you are looking for are in the right direction. All of these may take time. Nevertheless, it is over”, he pointed out.
He furthered that the IMF support programme will reposition the economy to regain macro stability.
According to him, the economic indicators have started improving, citing examples such as inflation and the exchange rate.
“Now, we believe that it [IMF programme] is going to provide us with the foundation for redirecting the economy, repositioning the Ghanaian economy firstly, to regain the macro stability that has been lost”.
“Secondly, to be able to have better control over important details like the interest rate, inflation and then finally, also to position us to be able to be back to the international capital market which has been a source of funding for us for the first three or four years of our government”, he added.
Last week, the Executive Board of the IMF approved a $3 billion Extended Credit Facility for Ghana, which will end in 2027.
This was as result of assurances from country’s Creditors Committee under the G20 Common Framework last week, which includes China.
Rescue teams actively combed the Kings River in Fresno County in pursuit of locating the missing children.
The quest for the lost children in the Kings River was carried out by the search and rescue teams of Fresno County.
Fresno County’s search and rescue teams embarked on a quest to locate the vanished children within the Kings River.
Two youngsters lost their lives during a family gathering in California when they were carried off by the Kings River.
On Sunday afternoon, two youngsters, known to be a girl of eight years and a boy of four years, accompanied their mother to the river. The mother’s aim was to swim to a specific rock and climb on it.
As per the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, both kids were not equipped with a life vest.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene around 2.00pm near the Pine Flat Dam in Sanger, California.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office closed recreational access to the Kings and San Joaquin Rivers due to high water levels (Picture: AP)
Search and rescue crews used boats, drones, and a helicopter to comb the area south of the dam. They quickly located the girl’s body less than an hour after the search began.
The boy remained missing for another day as crews desperately searched for any sign of the four-year-old. His body was eventually found about 1.75 miles downriver from the spot he swept away from.
‘Both the Kings and San Joaquin Rivers are closed to recreational users and have been since March 14th, 2023,’ the Sheriff’s Office said. ‘Sheriff John Zanoni made this decision in response to heavy winter storms and melting snow that have created high water levels and hazardous conditions.’
California saw an unusually large amount of snow last winter, including a series of ‘atmospheric river’ storms that drenched the Golden State earlier this year.
Public access sites at the rivers in Fresno County have been marked by warning signs in multiple languages, and disobeying this order could net swimmers a $250 fine.
The Sheriff’s Office said there was currently ‘no timetable’ for reopening the rivers for recreation, but also said they were monitoring water levels daily to make that determination.
A Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Political Science Department has expressed disappointment with IMF’s conditionalities for Ghana regarding the $3 billion loan approval.
According to Prof. Ransford Yaw Gyampo, Ghana is a highly corrupt country and the institution has provided no substantial help to check the leakages and slippages.
Mr Gyampo thinks that an IMF that is no longer perturbed about curbing a country’s corruption cannot be taken seriously.
“Indeed, in the fight against corruption, the talk about the continuous implementation of a National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) that exists merely in name by the document, shows that the IMF perhaps is no longer a serious institution.”
“This is because it doesn’t appear there will ever be serious efforts at implementing the NACAP and an IMF that does not know this is bogus,” he said.
He also indicated that the current IMF has lost its boldness and courage unlike previous times and thinks that the IMF in recent times is just tactically encouraging African dependence on the West.
“Otherwise, how and why were very low-hanging serious recommendations that would help us quickly turn things around, overlooked? Is the IMF ignorant that we earn just about only 5% of royalties from our gold?
“Is the IMF not aware that we produce oil and yet earn only just about 13% of the oil revenues? Why didn’t they talk about taxing the extractive sector adequately to raise more revenue for ourselves?”
“Why were they silent on what we must do to stop illicit financial flows? Do they come from countries whose sizes of government are as bloated as ours? Were they coerced to keep quiet about the local and international calls on our government to downsize?” Mr. Gyampo quizzed.
He continued that if the conditionalities do not answer the above questions then they are mere propaganda and only aim at inflicting hardships on deprived people.
“To make Africans dependent on the West; and cover up for leadership incompetence and unwillingness to sacrifice,” he lamented.
He finally cautioned government that Labour would resist any unnecessary imposition of hardships on poor people without an evident show of sacrifice on the part of political leadership.
“The IMF must know that the Ghanaian is intelligent enough to know when a cycle of dependence is being perpetuated and we will soon resist.”
“If the IMF truly wants to help us, then they must be bold in telling us nothing but the truth so we can wiggle ourselves out of imposed and our self-inflicted hardship,” he said.
Gifty Boakye, an influential Ghanaian fashion model has successfully obtained her Master’s of Arts degree in Global Development & Social Justice from St. John’s University in New York.
The graduation ceremony, held on the school premises last Friday, saw the commendable achievements of thousands of students across various disciplines. Having previously studied Communication for her Bachelor’s degree at the same institution, Gifty Boakye’s educational journey has been a testament to her dedication and passion.
In an interview with the director of philanthropy for Afrochela, now referred to as Afrofuture, she expressed her aspirations for the future:
“As a fashion model, I plan to continue serving as a global ambassador through public speaking and representing my people. My intention is to work as a diplomat, focusing on Ghana and sharing my perspectives on global affairs and the representation of nations.”
Gifty Boakye emphasized the value of her dual heritage, stating, “I am blessed to experience the duality of being both Ghanaian and American, and I strongly believe that cultural nuances can be expressed, explored, and explained. My goal is to work for the greater good, uplift people, enhance the quality of life for the vulnerable, promote peace, and build bridges towards gender equality.”
Reflecting on her influences and role models, Gifty Boakye drew inspiration from her mother, who epitomizes resilience.
She shared, “My mother already calls me ‘Ambassador Gifty Boakye’ and supports me through all my endeavors, offering prayers before each of my flights around the world.” Furthermore, she expressed her admiration for the late Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, and expressed her desire to follow in his footsteps.
Beyond her successful modeling career, Gifty Boakye has established herself as an entrepreneur. During her college days, she began modeling for local photographers, quickly gaining recognition for her beauty and photogenic qualities.
Notably, she was awarded the title of Local Model of the Year at the 2019 African Entertainment Awards USA and was a finalist in the 2022 World Supranational beauty contest.
In 2017, Gifty founded her brand, NATIVE, with the aim of promoting the idea that everyone should embrace and showcase their cultural roots without judgment. Additionally, her philanthropic work led her to establish the NGO Sisters Love and Admire Yourself (S.L.A.Y).
A TikTok content creator is being taken to court for posting a video in which individuals invaded someone’s home without permission as part of a joke. People saw the video on the internet.
A person named Bacari-Bronze O’Garro who lives in Hackney, a place in east London, was accused on Tuesday for not following a notice that was meant to keep the community safe.
A teenager called Mizzy became popular on an app for doing funny tricks, using a fake name.
In a statement, the Met confirmed the charge follows an investigation into social media footage.
Detective chief superintendent James Conway, of the Central East Command Unit, responsible for policing in Hackney and Tower Hamlets, said: ‘Understandably there has been extensive comment on this case in the media and on social media.
‘Now that an individual has been charged, I would ask that the judicial process be respected and allowed to take its proper course.’
Hilda Baci, the Nigerian chef who recently achieved the remarkable feat of breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest individual cooking time, has opened up about her previous challenges and shared her aspirations for the future.
It would be recalled that Baci cooked for 100 hours to surpass the previous record set by an Indian chef, Lata Tondon, in 2019.
While speaking about her plans following the media attention she gained after her cooking marathon, the chef, in an interview with TVC, disclosed that she used to be homeless before but now hopes to expand her business by tutoring clients worldwide.
She said: “I need young women to see that there’s more to them than society’s stereotypes. There’s always that narrative that you can’t make it [without having others] create a platform for you.
I’m saying this from an informed place because I used to be like that. For me, I needed to keep doing things with myself to show people that they can win as well. You can have a business, start cooking from home, and build that business properly to the point where you can open an outlet, expand that outlet, and branch out. But you need to do your due diligence. It’s not easy.
Many people see this buzz now and think I dropped from the sky. They didn’t know I was homeless at some point. There’s an entire phase that got me here, and I am not even done.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries to implement necessary reforms to prepare for the next pandemic at the United Nations Annual General Assembly in Geneva.
The disease has killed about 7 million people worldwide and is still killing people every day due to low vaccination rates.
He insisted Covid is still a threat, but not the only one the world may have to confront.
Despite the darkest days of the pandemic considered over, Dr Ghebreyesus said the next one was bound to ‘come knocking’.
After ending the global emergency status for Covid, he stressed: ‘We cannot kick this can down the road.
‘If we do not make the changes that must be made, then who will? And if we do not make them now, then when?
‘When the next pandemic comes knocking – and it will – we must be ready to answer decisively, collectively and equitably.’
The 10-day annual World Health Assembly, which coincides with the WHO’s 75th anniversary, is set to address global health challenges including future pandemics, eradicating polio and steps to ease Ukraine’s health emergency triggered by the war.
The WHO’s 194 member states are now drafting a pandemic treaty which is up for adoption at next year’s assembly.
‘A commitment from this generation (to a pandemic accord) is important, because it is this generation that experienced how awful a small virus could be,’ added Ghebreyesus.
At the same meeting, countries approved a $6.83 billion budget for 2024-25 – a decision that tested national commitments to fixing its funding model which was seen as too small and overly reliant on donors.
The budget includes a 20% increase in member states’ mandatory fees.
Garlic, a herb renowned for its unique fragrance and peppery flavor, contains a wealth of potent organic compounds, including antioxidants, vitamins B6 and C, and minerals like selenium and manganese. These valuable components provide a wide range of health benefits.
Among its many beneficial components, garlic contains ‘Allicin’, an organic compound responsible for many of the health advantages associated with this herb.
Regular consumption of garlic has been linked to various health benefits, including a reduced risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure, and improved immune function. Additionally, incorporating garlic into your routine may lead to notable changes in your body. Let’s explore some of the health benefits associated with regular garlic consumption:
Reduce inflammation
According to healthline, Garlic contains sulfur compounds that possess anti-inflammatory properties. While inflammation is a natural response to injury or infection, chronic inflammation can contribute to various health issues like heart disease and cancer. Regular intake of garlic can help decrease inflammation in the body, thereby preventing the onset of chronic diseases.
Lowers cholesterol
High cholesterol is a significant risk factor for heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. Numerous studies have demonstrated that garlic can effectively lower total cholesterol levels, particularly LDL cholesterol, commonly referred to as “bad” cholesterol. By reducing LDL cholesterol levels, garlic helps prevent the buildup of plaque in arteries, which can lead to atherosclerosis—a condition where the arteries narrow, potentially causing heart attacks or strokes.
Improved digestion
Garlic contains compounds that stimulate digestion and support the production of digestive enzymes. These enzymes aid in breaking down food and facilitating nutrient absorption in the gut. Enhanced digestion leads to better nutrient absorption, thereby boosting overall health and reducing the risk of nutrient deficiencies.
Enhanced immunity
Garlic exhibits immune-boosting properties that fortify the body’s defenses against infections and diseases. It contains compounds that stimulate the production of white blood cells, responsible for fighting off infections. Regular garlic consumption can help reduce the risk of common infections like colds and flu.
Improve brain function
Garlic contains antioxidants that protect the brain from damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can harm cells and contribute to the development of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Regular garlic consumption supports better brain function and helps reduce the risk of cognitive decline.
In conclusion, garlic is a nutritious and flavorful ingredient that offers a wide array of health benefits. Regular consumption of garlic can bring about several positive changes in the body, including reduced inflammation, lowered cholesterol, improved digestion, enhanced immunity, and better brain function. Adding garlic to your diet is a simple yet effective way to improve overall health and decrease the risk of chronic diseases.
However, it’s important to consult with a healthcare professional before incorporating garlic supplements or making significant dietary changes, especially if you’re on medication or have underlying health conditions.
Vanessa Nicole, the mother of Funny Face‘s children, has spoken out about the criticism and online harassment she has endured following her subtle suggestion of a potential reconciliation with Funny Face, the father of her children.
Amidst the online uproar, Funny Face and Vanessa have become a trending topic on Twitter, with many users insisting that Funny Face should not entertain the idea of reconciliation, considering how Vanessa allegedly abandoned their relationship, took off with their children, and caused him significant emotional pain.
Netizens are concerned that Vanessa’s return might potentially trigger Funny Face’s previous mental health struggles, especially since he has been on a path to recovery.
While Funny Face has yet to comment on the matter, Vanessa has taken it upon herself to address her critics through her social media platforms.
In one of her posts, she urges people to watch the full interview before passing judgment, highlighting that those who speak without proper understanding are simply indulging in the cheap and uninformed nature of social media, where anyone can create an account without undergoing any mental health assessment.
“The sensible ones will watch the full interview before commenting. The ignorant ones will say anything because talk is cheap, and besides, social media is a place you can open an account without any mental checkup.”
In another post, Vanessa emphasizes her priorities at this stage in her life, stating that she values consistency, stability, loyalty, and respect above all else.
“At this age, I’m only interested in consistency, stability, loyalty, and respect”
Some days ago, Vanessa had disclosed her intentions to make amends with Funny Face if given an opportunity.
In an interview with Kwaku Manu, she established that she has matured over the period and that, she wouldn’t hesitate to embrace the idea of reuniting him with the kids and herself.
“If Funny Face would want the kids and me to come home at least for a week or two, why not? It gets to a point in life where you have to mature. We have done a lot of things and been through a lot. We even have kids, three of them. So, spending a week or two with him won’t make any difference. It’s not like I intend to hurt him or he might hurt me. He would’ve hurt me long ago if really, he wanted to,” she told Kwaku Manu.
This revelation did not go down well with Ghanaians as they took to social media to advise Funny Face not to accept her back.
In a significant breakthrough, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in collaboration with law enforcement authorities has apprehended two individuals involved in a rampant power theft operation in Adjiringanor.
The two were arrested for repeatedly restoring power illicitly after disconnection of their establishments by ECG.
The arrest was part of the company’s efforts to clamp down on the illegal connections as part of a nationwide revenue mobilisation exercise.
This is the second time in 2023 that the ECG is carrying out such an operation. The first operation spanned from March 20 to April 2023.
During the operation, ECG discovered a recurring pattern where the arrested individuals, upon being disconnected due to unpaid bills, unlawfully reconnected their establishments without seeking authorisation from ECG.
The local utility company and law enforcement agencies (significantly) jointly succeeded in dismantling an extensive network of illegal electricity connections, marking a resolute step towards combating electricity theft and ensuring fair access to power resources in the community, as the company announced that it was able to recover GHS3.1 billion from its debtors after the month long exercise.
ECG on May 23, 2023, announced the second phase of the operation.
The weeklong exercise by the country’s major power distributor will focus on recovering debts from all categories of customers, including State-Owned Enterprises.
The company has explained in a press release that the exercise will be monitored by special teams authorised to apprehend and prosecute customers who refuse to comply.
Through Iran and the exclusion of a once-essential Pakistan, India is enhancing its soft influence in Afghanistan by supplying vital supplies.
According to a recent statement made to Nikkei Asia by a representative of the United Nations World Food Programme, an Indian gift of 20,000 metric tonnes of wheat is anticipated to reach Afghanistan in the coming months. This will fulfil a commitment New Delhi made in March to export the wheat through the Chabahar port in Iran. The final destination of the goods is the Afghan province of Herat over the Iranian border.
Hunger in Afghanistan remains widespread, with the WFP estimating that more than 19 million people suffer from acute food insecurity, when a lack of adequate food puts lives or livelihoods in immediate danger. A recent Taliban-imposed ban on female U.N. staff in Afghanistan caused an uproar in the international community and raised additional fears for the country’s future, even prompting hints at a U.N. pullout. But the WFP representative clarified the organization is committed to delivering aid where hunger threatens the lives of millions.
“The humanitarian needs across the country remain very high,” the representative said, “and [India’s] contribution will help us reach hungry families where needs are highest.”
The move not only reinforces India’s position as a key provider of essential aid to Afghanistan but also highlights New Delhi’s efforts to craft positive relations, even though it does not formally recognize the Taliban regime that seized power in August 2021. India reestablished its diplomatic presence in mid-2022 by deploying a “technical team” in the Afghan capital. Experts say the region is simply too important to leave.
In addition, the latest food aid marks a geopolitically significant change in the way India supplies assistance.
In response to the crisis in Afghanistan, India initially suggested trucking 50,000 tonnes of wheat through archrival Pakistan. Following extensive deliberations and prodding from the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan granted approval in November 2021. Consequently, the first shipment of Indian wheat was transported via the Pakistani transit route in February 2022.
However, despite India’s request, Pakistan did not grant an extension to the stipulated period, limiting the shipments to 40,000 tonnes.
Using the port at Chabahar offers substantial advantages over sending wheat through Pakistan, skirting the tense relationship between the nuclear-armed neighbors and allowing India to help Afghans more effectively.
“Use of Chahbahar negates the indispensability of Pakistan in terms of India reaching out to Afghanistan and Central Asia, especially since [Islamabad’s] own relations have gone south with the Taliban and ours have gotten better,” said Ashok Sajjanhar, a former Indian ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia.
“India has always had a historical and civilizational connect with the people [of Afghanistan],” he added. He also stressed the importance of having Indian officials in Afghanistan: “We want to have a technical presence and not a diplomatic one on Afghan soil,” he said. “We want to ensure that the aid we are going to supply reaches the rightful beneficiaries and not used by the authorities to serve its own people.”
Asked if India’s use of Chahbahar should worry Pakistan, Sajjanhar said it might be “a matter of concern.”
Islamabad’s own relations with the Afghan Taliban have soured, in part over the Kabul rulers’ inability or unwillingness to rein in Pakistani Taliban militants. And now India is tightening ties in a country Islamabad has long considered part of its sphere of influence.
A Pakistani expert, however, downplayed the shift, stressing that India and Afghanistan are sovereign states and their relationship should not be viewed through the prism of Pakistan.
“I think India and Afghanistan are free countries and must pursue autonomous, independent relations with each other,” said Mosharraf Zaidi, senior fellow at the TABADLab think tank and a former policy adviser to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “In fact, the more regionally integrated countries are amongst each other, the better it is for Pakistan.”
Afghanistan’s internationally isolated officials have naturally welcomed India’s outreach.
“India is an important country in the region, and Afghanistan values it,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Nikkei Asia. “We want to have good, friendly, and strong people-to-people relationships with India. The fact that India has just announced a donation of 20,000 metric tonnes of wheat is a great help to the people of Afghanistan, and we are very thankful to the people and government of India for this support.”
There are other signs of deepening ties, though New Delhi is keeping expectations in check. In mid-March, after India promised the wheat, the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a memo about a four-day training program for ministry officials through the Indian Embassy. Soon afterward, India clarified in its own local media that the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program under the Indian External Affairs Ministry is fully online and does not reflect a change in New Delhi’s policy toward Kabul.
Nevertheless, Mujahid acknowledged the training and thanked the embassy for its engagement.
Zaidi, the Pakistani expert, suggested that ties between Pakistan’s neighbors are inevitable and that the key is to solve the nuclear powers’ own rivalry.
“It’s understandable that eventually the Taliban and India would get along, and Iran and India would get along,” Zaidi said. “I think the question for me is how Pakistan can develop a framework for a normal relationship with India in which key issues are resolved to a point where countries don’t feel threatened by each other.”
A police officer in Australia who tasered a 95-year-old great-grandmother suffering from dementia has been suspended.
Officers responded to complaints that Clare Nowland was rummaging around with a knife at a care facility last week and found her with a cracked skull and brain bleeding.
Since the incident on May 17, she has continued to receive ‘end-of-life care’ at Cooma District Hospital in New South Wales.
Senior constable with roughly 12 years of service, who used the Taser, has been stood down with pay, according to NSW Police.
The force said: ‘A 33-year-old senior constable attached to Monaro Police District was suspended from duty with pay.
‘As investigations continue into the critical incident, further updates will be provided.’
The incident led to public outcry, with Clare’s loved ones and campaigners calling the police response disproportional and unreasonable.
Family friend Andrew Thaler told the BBC that the family are ‘shocked’ at what happened to Clare.
The mother-of-eight celebrated her 80th birthday by skydiving in Canberra and had lived at the nursing home for around five years.
‘The family are shocked, they’re confused… and the community is outraged,’ Andrew told the broadcaster today.
‘How can this happen? How do you explain this level of force? It’s absurd.’
While the worldwide support is welcome, Rowland’s family said in a statement on Monday, they have asked for privacy amid a ‘worrying and distressing time’.
‘Well respected, much loved and a giving member of her local community, Clare is the loving and gentle-natured matriarch of the Nowland family,’ they said.
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties said the NSW Police, long beleaguered by accusations of excessive force, needs better training when it comes to responding to ‘vulnerable people experiencing dementia or a mental health crisis’.
‘In 2008, great-grandmother Clare Nowland was filmed for a feel-good segment by the ABC when she decided to go skydiving for her 80th birthday,’ the group said on Monday.
‘This week, the now 95-year-old has made headlines for a different and incredibly disturbing reason, after she was allegedly Tasered by police in an incident at her nursing home.’
Yesterday, New South Wales Police Minister Yasmin Catley told Parliament that she is ‘shocked’ by the incident.
‘I believe that it is the case that none of us in this place, would want that to happen to anybody,’ she added.
Two officers arrived at the Yallambee aged care home in Cooma, about 250 miles southwest of Sydney, at about 4am.
Clare, 5’2″ and 95 lbs, was holding a serrated-edge steak knife from the nursing home kitchen, assistant police commissioner Peter Cotter said in a news conference last Friday.
She refused to drop the knife when police found her alone in a small treatment room, Cotter said, and an officer then struck Nowland with the Taser.
‘She was approaching police. It is fair to say, at a slow pace. She had a walking frame. But she had a knife,’ he added.
In an initial statement on the day of the incident, police said that an ‘an elderly woman suffered injuries during an interaction with police’ but did not mention the Taser.
The incident was captured on body cameras but as it is an ongoing investigation, Cotter said it is not in the ‘public interest’ to release the footage.
The officer was taken off duty pending a ‘level one critical incident investigation’, a category police reserve for exceptional cases of police actions leading to ‘death or imminent death’.
Such cases are reviewed by homicide officers and the state crime command, Cotter said, adding: ‘If a threshold is met where it changes from being a departmental issue to being a criminal issue, we are certainly mature and transparent enough as an organisation to do what has to be done.’
The officer has not been charged and is being supported by members of the local area command.
Asked by a reporter if Cotter understands why people are outraged by the incident, he said he is ‘concerned about the matter’.
‘That’s why we have commenced the investigation,’ Cotter added.
A paedophile who killed a seven-year-old child during a sex attack and eluded justice for more than 30 years has been sentenced to life in prison.
When David Boyd, now 55, was ultimately found guilty of killing Nikki Allan at Newcastle Crown Court earlier this month, her family embraced one another in tears.
In October 1992, he lured the schoolgirl to her gruesome death only yards from their shared home in Sunderland’s East End.
Heart-breaking CCTV of her last moments alive showed Nikki skipping behind Boyd, who lived in the same block of flats and was known to the family as her babysitter’s boyfriend.
The judge, Mrs Justice Lambert, jailed Boyd for life with a minimum term of 29 years on Tuesday.
She said: ‘The murder of Nikki Allan involved the cynical manipulation of a young seven-year-old girl who you lured away from her home late at night for the purpose of sexually assaulting her.’
Referring to the sounds of screams heard by neighbours that night, she added: ‘From the moment of her letting out those screams Nikki’s fate was sealed.
‘You decided to kill her to silence her and to prevent her from telling anyone that you had sexually assaulted her, or had attempted to do so.’
Boyd pushed her into the Old Exchange Building after striking her across the face and the judge said: ‘She must have quickly known she was trapped. She must have quickly known you were coming after her to hurt her.
‘It was cold and dark. It must have been a truly terrifying experience for this seven-year-old girl.’
Outside court, Nikki’s mother Sharon Henderson said she was disappointed with the minimum term, adding that she had only been told today that Boyd would be dealt with under the sentencing regime of the early 1990s, when minimum terms were usually shorter.
She told reporters: ‘I would have been satisfied with life (a whole life term).
‘This is a seven-year-old bairn. When is anyone going to take crimes like this seriously?
‘This is what happens to families like mine over and over again – injustice.’
Nikki was hit over the head with a brick and stabbed 37 times in the chest, with eight of the wounds penetrating her heart, before her body was dragged by the ankles down to the basement.
Boyd, also known as Bell or Smith, watched another man stand trial for Nikki’s murder a year later, although he was later cleared.
Last week, Northumbria Police formally apologised to Nikki’s family and George Heron, who was forced to leave the area in order to start a new life after being wrongly charged.
He said in a statement: ‘It is really difficult to put in words what I have felt since 1992 – going from trying to look out for my family to having my life flipped upside down.
‘Nikki Allan’s murder destroyed so many people’s lives – I am just one of those people. I could be angry about being unfairly treated from day one, but this isn’t about me – it is about getting the real truth out into the open, so her family, and what is left of mine, can have some closure and finally try to move on.
‘I hope that people don’t blame the present officers for the mistakes that were made in 1992/1993 – it is not their fault. It was probably as difficult for them reopening the case and they should be given credit for the work they have done trying to get it solved.’
In a victim impact statement, Mrs Henderson said: ‘Nikki was a bright and sparkly child who was always a mammy’s girl. She had a beautiful smile and was loved.
‘I cannot put into words how I felt when I heard Nikki was missing and was ultimately found murdered.’
She recalled the ‘horror’ of watching the man she was convinced had killed her daughter go free.
Mrs Henderson said: ‘I’m 57 and I’ve spent more than 30 years fighting for justice. My life and that of my family has never been the same since Nikki was murdered.
‘By murdering Nikki, David Boyd destroyed the life of my beautiful daughter, my life and the lives of my daughters and grandchildren. We have not been able to live normal lives since that day.’
Boyd continued with his life and went on to indecently assault a nine-year-old girl after approaching a group of youngsters in a Teesside park in 1999.
For that offence he was jailed for 18 months.
Tellingly, he would confess to a probation officer how he had previously had sexual fantasies about naked ‘young girls’ when he was in his early 20s. He was 25 when he murdered Nikki.
The judge said: ‘As the years passed by and you got on with your life, you must have thought often about Nikki’s murder.
‘You must have thought – no doubt with some satisfaction and some relief – that you’d got away with it.
‘However, the science of DNA analysis was advancing.’
In 2018, those advances allowed police to re-examine Nikki’s case and extract samples from her clothing, that Boyd was first arrested on suspicion of murder.
After initial denials, one of the first comments topless Boyd made after answering the door to detectives was: ‘What evidence have you got?’
He later wore a t-shirt saying ‘I am unstoppable’ during one of his interviews.
Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, told jurors Nikki had been out with friends on the evening of October 7, 1992, and a woman told police she saw a little girl wandering with a man now known to be Boyd.
He said: ‘The little girl would occasionally drop behind and would then skip to catch up. This was Nikki Allan. She was with her killer and she was unwittingly skipping to her death.’
Locals told police they heard piercing screams that night.
The tight-knit community helped officers carry out an overnight search when it was realised the schoolgirl was missing.
Nikki’s shoes and coat were found outside the dockside warehouse the next morning – with her body found in the basement.
Her blood was discovered outside the only entry point, a boarded-up window about six feet off the ground.
Investigators believe Boyd must have hit Nikki outside the building, then lifted her inside and carried out his monstrous attack, during which he left traces of DNA on her clothes.
Assistant Chief Constable Brad Howe said after the conviction: ‘David Boyd hid his crime, lying about his involvement and prolonging the family’s suffering, knowing all along that he had taken the life of their little girl.
‘The investigation into Nikki’s murder has been one of the most complex and comprehensive ever conducted by Northumbria Police.
‘I’m extremely proud of the investigative team and all those who played their part in securing this conviction. I further hope this sends a strong message that no matter how long ago an offence took place, we will do everything we can to see justice served.’
Following the Cabinet Office‘s discovery of fresh evidence of alleged lockdown violations, Boris Johnson’s future has once more been turned over to the police.
According to a report in The Times today, the former prime minister, 58, reportedly hosted friends and family at Chequers between June 2020 and May 2021.
As part of an investigation into how his administration responded to the coronavirus outbreak, Johnson’s government-funded lawyers discovered proof of the trips in his ministerial diary.
The alleged get-togethers in Chequers, an official country residence for British prime ministers, were ‘clearly a breach of the rules’, a source told the newspaper.
His legal team decided they were duty-bound to raise the potential breaches of lockdown rules to the Cabinet Office, according to The Times.
The Cabinet Office, under the terms of the civil service code, should ‘report evidence of criminal or unlawful activity’ to the authorities.
It’s the latest accusation of rule-breaking for the already scandal-scarred Tory (Picture: PA)
A Cabinet Office spokesman told The Times: ‘Information came to light during the process of preparing evidence for submission to the Covid inquiry.
‘It was identified as part of the normal disclosure review of potentially relevant documents being undertaken by the legal team for inquiry witnesses.
‘In line with obligations in the civil service code, this material has been passed to the relevant authorities and it is now a matter for them.’
Johnson and his wife, Carrie, stayed at Chequers during the first lockdown when shelter-in-place rules closed people’s front doors shut and shuttered businesses. He recuperated from Covid-19 there in April 2020.
A spokesman for the former prime minister said: ‘Some abbreviated entries in Mr Johnson’s official diary were queried by the Cabinet Office during preparation for the Covid Inquiry.
Among the gatherings, Johnson (left) attended a leaving gathering for two officials, involving 15-20 people, in 10 Downing Street (Picture: PA)
‘Following an examination of the entries, Mr Johnson’s lawyers wrote to the Cabinet Office and privileges committee explaining that the events were lawful and were not breaches of any Covid regulations.’
This new revelation adds to the already chaotic drama that began in November 2021 when three social gatherings held in Downing Street during lockdown came to light.
Fearing his political unravelling, Johnson told Parliament the following month that Number 10 never violated any coronavirus guidelines.
But Sue Gray, a former senior civil servant, saw differently. In a major report, she painted a picture of ‘excessive’ workplace drinking in Downing Street, citing 16 social parties.
Late-night booze-filled parties with wine bottles scattered around and a leaving do with a karaoke machine and even a dust-up between two staffers were among the raucous gatherings described by Gray.
Others included a bring-your-own-booze cocktail party in May 2020 and a basement bash held one day before Prince Phillip’s funeral in which a swing was broken and a staffer was sent to the Co-op with a suitcase to fetch more booze.
‘There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times,’ Gray wrote in the report released May last year.
Johnson’s ministerial diary showed friends swung by his grace and favour house Chequers on several occasions (Picture: WPA Pool/Getty Images)
‘Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.’
The Met issued 126 fines relating to eight gatherings in and around Downing Street and Whitehall, some of which Johnson attended.
Johnson was among those fined – for attending his 56th birthday party on June 19 20202 – making him the first premier to ever be found to have broken the law.
But in March this year, he admitted that he had misled the House of Commons but stressed that it was what he believed at the time.
He told Parliament’s privileges committee, which is investigating whether he lied to MPs about violating lockdown rules, he did not do so ‘intentionally or recklessly’.
Johnson said none of his most-trusted aides warned him before or after that the gatherings violated social-distancing restrictions. It is up to the privileges committee to decide whether such rules should have been obvious, regardless of what his staff told him.
Johnson’s legacy is one of ‘lying’, a campaign group said (Picture: ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA)
The committee has been informed about the alleged entries in Johnson’s diary.
MPs are expected to publish their potentially make-or-break report on whether the former Tory leader broke lockdown rules next month.
If the committee rules he misled Parliament, Johnson may be suspended.
A ban of 10 days or more could all but extinguish any possibility that he could revive his political career as it would instead ignite a by-election in his seat.
He has been an MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in north-west London since 2015 but holds it on the razor-thin majority of 7,210.
For Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, a campaign group consisting of bereaved people, Johnson must ‘quietly step back from public life’.
‘These revelations make a grim mockery of Boris Johnson’s claims that he didn’t break his own lockdown rules,’ the group tweeted.
‘His legacy is one of lying, complete contempt for the ordinary people he was supposed to protect, and above all, presiding over the deaths of nearly 200,000 people,’ it added.
‘If he had any respect he’s quietly step back from public life and reflect on the pain and suffering he has inflicted.’
A parish council member has testified in court on charges that he killed his wife in the house they shared.
When Milton Keynes police were called to their cottage on Saturday morning, they discovered Christine Sargent inside the house unconscious. Michael Sargent, 77, was then detained.
At the scene, the 73-year-old received immediate first aid before being taken to the hospital shortly after 8 am.
She died later that day.
Her husband, Mr Sargent, of Bradwell Road, Loughton, Milton Keynes, was charged with one count of murder.
He appeared at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court today.
A Home Office post-mortem was carried out yesterday and provisional results found that Mrs Sargent died as a result of neck compression.
Police taped off the entrance to the bungalow Mr and Mrs Sargent shared together (Picture: South Bedfordshire News Agency)
Senior investigating officer detective chief inspector Dejan Avramovic, of the major crime unit, said: ‘Christine’s family are being supported by specially trained family liaison officers and our thoughts are with them.
‘On their behalf, we would ask that their privacy is respected at this extremely distressing time for them.’
Mr Sargent is also well-known by his middle name ‘Andy’ and has been serving as chair of the planning committee on Loughton and Great Holm Parish Council since 2011.
Parish councillor Michael Sargent was better known by his middle name ‘Andy’ (Picture: Loughton and Great Holm Parish Council)
He’d taken up the role after working as a technical manager at Volkswagen Group UK for almost 25 years.
The pensioner is also a member of the All Saints Church Loughton Jubilee graveyard committee.
Elsewhere, a woman in Australia faces life in prison after she killed her abusive husband by lacing biscuits with drugs before putting him in a freezer.
Days after his death, heartbroken Camille was admitted to a mental health unit after her family raised the alarm about her expressing suicidal thoughts.
On December 8, her sister called round at her home in Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, Lancashire, to find the doors wide open.
Camille wasn’t in the house and it appeared she had left by the side gate to avoid being seen on a neighbours doorbell camera, the court heard.
She left a note in which she described how she struggled to cope since Ethan died and what she wanted to happen after her death, the court was told.
After a search, her body was found at an area known as Forty Steps in nearby woodland – by the same police officer who had discovered her son’s body there just weeks before.
Area Coroner Kate Bisset said: ‘This was an absolute tragedy, utterly heart-breaking.
‘Camille was an intelligent, articulate and loving lady and Ethan was the light of her life.
‘When Ethan died she was destroyed by the loss, her heart was broken beyond repair.’
Preston Coroner’s Court heard Camille, an HR administrator, had a history of depression stretching back 20 years and had made numerous threats to end her life.
The inquest heard she found life ‘too much’ when her only child killed himself on October 14 after splitting up from his girlfriend.
He was also struggling to deal with the death of his grandmother and the pressure of starting his first job, it was heard.
Camille’s partner Richard Benson broke down in court as he revealed that on a number of occasions over the next eight weeks she expressed an intention to take her own life.
He said: ‘Camille had lots of challenges and had struggles with her mental health. But she was very loving, kind, funny and intelligent.’
The inquest was told that she’d been detained for a short period in Leeds under the Mental Health Act following concerns from her family and health care professionals.
But she had managed to get out of the unit and spent three days on her own in a hotel, where she tried unsuccessfully to kill herself.
The Coroner read out a statement from the family which said she had been given anti-depressants following Ethan’s death because her mental health had deteriorated.
She had periods of heavy drinking and had started attending meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, the inquest heard.
Tony Garner told how was out walking his dog in Holland Wood, Walton-le-Dale when he came across Camille sitting on steps early one morning.
He told the inquest: ‘She said she was fine. I got about six feet beyond her and she said “just over there my son killed himself.”‘
Camille told Mr Garner about spending three days in a hotel in Leeds trying to kill herself with drink and pills.
He told the inquest: ‘I helped her up and she said she would be OK. So I went home and went to work, but it played on my mind.
‘Later that day I saw a Facebook post in which she seemed upbeat. I messaged her back inviting her to go for a walk if she wanted to talk.
‘Then I saw a post later that she had gone back to those woods and took her own life. I realised I was probably one of the last people to see her alive.’
Det Insp Mark Riley said when he visited Camille’s house there were photos of Ethan laid out on the settee as well as a framed football shirt of his.
Her mobile phone was recovered and it contained an account of what she was intending to do.
An investigation later showed mental health professionals involved had done everything they could and could not be blamed.
But it flagged up ‘frustration’ that West Yorkshire Police had not been forthcoming with information from Camille’s time ‘missing’ in Leeds.
Mental health nurse Natalie Maher told the inquest: ‘Her mood was low, she was spending long periods of time in bed, constantly thinking about her son and what had happened to him.
‘She was experiencing feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness. She didn’t want to be here any more. She wanted to be with her son.’
Reaching a conclusion of suicide, Ms Bisset said Camille had been drinking half a bottle of vodka a day at times.
She said Ethan’s death had caused her to suffer ‘catastrophic’ mental health problems, adding: ‘The loss of a child is unthinkable, but it was unsurvivable for Camille.’
She said it appeared that Camille had been deliberately calculating in what she told mental health staff so she had the space and opportunity to do what she intended.
Ms Bisset added: ‘The services did everything they could to support her mental health.
‘I am equally satisfied Richard and her family could not have done any more to protect her.
‘There is nothing that could have been done differently by that family. And the man in the woods is not responsible in any way.’
Fighting in Belgorod entered its second day after ‘Russian partisan fighters’ crossed the border from Ukraine.
Located some 400 miles from Moscow, the Russian city has become vulnerable to the effects of the war, and its own government dropped a bomb there in April.
Footage of an alleged ‘sabotage group’ made out of anti-Putin Russians entering territory in the Graivoron district bordering Ukraine began to emerge on Telegram on Monday morning.
Though these remain unverified, reports said the local headquarters of the interior ministry and FSB security service had been targeted.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, confirmed that forces have continued to sweep the rural area, where the alleged attack took place.
At least 10 civilians were wounded, and one died, he added, also urging residents who evacuated on Monday to stay put and not go back to their homes.
‘We will let you know immediately when it is safe. Security agencies are carrying out all the necessary actions,’ Mr Gladkov said.
‘We are waiting for the counterterrorism operation to be over.’
A major explosion is reported to have hit the Russian FSB security service building in the region overnight (Picture: east2west news)
It was impossible to verify who was behind the attack or what its aims were, but disinformation has swiftly made its way on both Russian and Ukrainian channels.
Moscow blamed it on Ukrainian military saboteurs, but Kyiv said it was an uprising against the Kremlin by Russian partisans.
The Ukrainian outlet Hromadske cited Ukrainian military intelligence as saying two armed Russian opposition groups, the Liberty of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), were behind the attack.
Hromadske said both were composed of Russian nationals committed to fighting the Kremlin authorities.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that Kyiv was ‘watching the events in the Belgorod region’ but was not involved.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Russian security forces ‘highly likely’ clashed with partisans in at least three locations within Belgorod.
‘Russia is facing an increasingly serious multi-domain security threat in its border regions, with losses of combat aircraft, improvised explosive device attacks on rail lines, and now direct partisan action,’ it said in a tweet today.
In addition to the alleged incursion, Mr Gladkov reported multiple drone attacks on Graivoron and other settlements of the Belgorod region on Monday.
The attacks resulted in no casualties, but damaged buildings and caused a fire.
Two more drones were shot down by the region’s air defence systems earlier today.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the president had been informed, and that work was under way to drive out the ‘saboteurs’, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.
A recent study reveals that women are more than twice as likely as males to pass away from a heart attack.
Researchers said the findings underscore the need for increased awareness of the risks of heart disease in women.
The survey also found that women under the age of 55 had to wait 15 minutes longer for care after they arrived at the hospital.
Previous studies have found that women who have a heart attack when a major artery feeding into the heart is completely blocked – ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) – have a worse prognosis during their hospital stay compared with men.
Experts suggest this may be because of their older age, increased numbers of other conditions, and stents being used less to open blocked arteries.
Study author Dr Mariana Martinho of Hospital Garcia de Orta, in Almada, Portugal said: ‘Women of all ages who experience a myocardial infarction are at particularly high risk of a poor prognosis.
‘These women need regular monitoring after their heart event, with strict control of blood pressure, cholesterol levels and diabetes, and referral to cardiac rehabilitation.
‘Smoking levels are rising in young women and this should be tackled, along with promoting physical activity and healthy living.’
The new research compared short and long-term outcomes after STEMI in women and men, and looked at whether any sex differences were apparent in both premenopausal (55 years and under) and postmenopausal (over 55) women.
The study included 884 patients, with an average age of 62 years and 27% were women.
Women were older than men (average age 67 versus 60 years) and had higher rates of high blood pressure, diabetes and prior stroke, researchers found.
Men were more likely to be smokers and have coronary artery disease.
While the time between symptoms and treatment with stents did not differ between women and men overall, premenopausal women had a significantly longer treatment delay after arriving at hospital than their male peers – 95 versus 80 minutes.
Researchers compared the risk of adverse outcomes between women and men after taking into consideration factors such as diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, peripheral artery disease, stroke and family history of coronary artery disease.
At 30 days, 11.8% of women had died compared with 4.6% of men.
At five years, nearly one-third of women (32.1%) had died compared with 16.9% of men.
Meanwhile more than one-third of women (34.2%) experienced major adverse cardiovascular events within five years compared with 19.8% of men.
Dr Martinho said: ‘Women had a two to three times higher likelihood of adverse outcomes than men in the short and long-term even after adjusting for other conditions and despite receiving PCI within the same timeframe as men.’
The researchers conducted a further analysis in which they matched 435 men and women according to risk factors for heart disease including hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and smoking.
In matched patients over 55 years of age, all adverse outcomes measured were more common in women than men, the study found.
Some 11.3% of women died within 30 days compared with 3.0% of men.
At five years, one-third of women (32.9%) had died compared with 15.8% of men.
Dr Martinho said: ‘Postmenopausal women had worse short and long-term outcomes after myocardial infarction than men of similar age.
‘Premenopausal women had similar short-term mortality but a poorer prognosis in the long term compared with their male counterparts.
‘While our study did not examine the reasons for these differences, atypical symptoms of myocardial infarction in women and genetic predisposition may play a role.
‘We did not find any differences in the use of medications to lower blood pressure or lipid levels between women and men.’
She concluded: ‘The findings are another reminder of the need for greater awareness of the risks of heart disease in women.
‘More research is required to understand why there is gender disparity in prognosis after myocardial infarction so that steps can be taken to close the gap in outcomes.’
The research, which has not yet been peer reviewed, was presented on Monday at Heart Failure 2023, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology.
Director of Water Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Prof Mike Osei-Atweneboana ‘twitches’ at the extent of devastation done to Ghana’s water bodies by illegal mining activities otherwise known as ‘galamsey’.
Not even the US$ 3 billion IMF loan granted the country is enough to salvage the water bodies from the destructing impact of galamsey, Prof Mike Osei-Atweneboana says.
In an interaction with The Independent Ghana, he noted that the country risks an alarming prospect of expending significant financial resources if it decides to safeguard its water bodies from the devastating impact of illegal mining activities.
Director, CSIR-Water Research Institute – Prof Mike Osei-Atweneboana
He, thus, has called for stringent measures to be taken in order to curb the menace, and also salvage Ghana’s water bodies as well as save the country from losing huge sums of monies in a bid to restore them.
“In terms of how much money the government needs to recover these water bodies, if you want to recover them just like that, the amount of money you’ll need to recover the water bodies, the country cannot envisage. It’s going to use huge sums of money.
“I wonder if I can (quantify it). The money we are even going in for from the IMF cannot even treat the water that we have here currently.
Ghana for many many years has been grappling with the ramifications of illegal mining, especially on the country’s arable lands, water bodies as well as its forest reserves.
The activities of illegal miners has resulted in the pollution of various water bodies including River Pra, Offin, Densu, etc.
It is estimated that the country loses US$ 2 billion to galamsey annually. The International Growth Centre (IGC), in 2017, estimated that Ghana needs $250 million to reclaim lands and water bodies affected by illegal mining (galamsey) activities in the Western Region.
Throwing more light on the subject, Professor Osei-Atweneboana intimated that Ghana does not need to spend huge sums of monies on trying to recover its water resources if small-scale or artisanal mining is temporarily banned and galamsey is put under check.
Recall that in 2017, a government ban was issued on small-scale mining, directed at both licensed and unlicensed miners. This was in efforts to mitigate the impact of these activities on the country’s natural resources as well as crackdown on illegal mining.
The Professor contended that Ghana’s turbid water bodies were regaining its value during this period. He, thus, wants the government to reintroduce the ban on small-scale or artisanal mining as it did in 2017 in order to help restore the water bodies.
“There’s always a way of treating it because the water will refresh or treat itself if mining is stopped and I must say that when the government put an embargo on mining sometime ago for about a year or so, and [we later] accessed our data on the quality of the water, it was relatively good. When galamsey was stopped, the water started cleaning Itself and we saw significant differences in the quality of water in terms of the turbidity and the chemical composition of the water.
“We may not have the money to treat the volumes of ( polluted ) water but if we put the right methods in place, we would not need to spend money on treating the water,” he said.
Member of Parliament from the North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has predicted that government will soon introduce draconian tax measures as a result of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal.
He said about 50 new tax measures are likely to be introduced per analysis.
“The analysis we have shows that because of this (the IMF) bailout, there are going to be 50 new tax measures… income tax is coming to be progressive.
“There is going to be quarterly tariff adjustment. So, every quarter, electricity tariffs are going to go up, can you believe that, every quarter?” the MP asked.
Ghana has been able to secure an IMF loan of US$ 3 billion. On Wednesday, May 17, 2023, the Bretton Wood Institution approved the loan, with a $ 600 million immediate payout.
$350 million would be disbursed every six months for the three-year programme.
While some have described the loan as timely, others including the North Tongu MP, have expressed concerns over the conditions of the deal.
Mr Ablakwa intimated that: “this is going to be the most painful” and “the most bitter IMF programme.”
“I asked myself who negotiated this on behalf of Ghanaians? Does the person have a heart? Does the person care about Ghanaians?,” he asked in an interview with Metro TV.
Additionally, he said that the deal negotiated on behalf of the people of Ghana includes an additional debt restructuring programme.
Also, public sector employment will be restricted for the 3 years span of the IMF programme, he added.
About the IMF deal
On May 17, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a 36-month arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) in an amount equivalent to SDR 2.242 billion (around US$3 billion, or 304 percent of quota).
The program is based on the government’s Post COVID-19 Program for Economic Growth (PC-PEG), which aims to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability and includes wide-ranging reforms to build resilience and lay the foundation for stronger and more inclusive growth.
The program will help Ghana overcome immediate policy and financing challenges, including through its catalytic effect in mobilizing external financing from development partners and providing a framework for the successful completion of the ongoing debt restructuring.
Director for the CSIR-Water Research Institute, Prof Mike Osei-Atweneboana, has asked the government to re-introduce the ban on small-scale or artisanal mining as a solution to the country’s perennial illegal mining menace.
He believes this will also help restore Ghana’s water bodies which have been polluted as a result of mining activities, especially illegal mining.
Interacting with the Independent Ghana, he mentioned that available data at the Institute indicates that some water resources in the country significantly improved around 2017 when the government issued a ban on small-scale or artisanal mining.
The Professor explained that the water bodies naturally purify themselves if these activities do not go on as frequently as they currently are. In view of this, he has called for a (temporary) ban on the activity to help revive Ghana’s lost water resources.
“There’s always a way of treating it because the water will refresh or treat itself if mining is stopped and I must say that when the government put an embargo on mining sometime ago for about a year or so, and [we later] accessed our data on the quality of the water, it was relatively good… When galamsey was stopped, the water started cleaning itself and we saw significant differences in the quality of water in terms of the turbidity and the chemical composition of the water,” he said.
Government in 2017 announced a ban on small-scale or artisanal mining. This was only intended to be a temporary response to illegal mining, however, the government under President Nana Akufo-Addo extended the ban indefinitely in October 2017.
However, the following year (2018) the ban was lifted.
Speaking on the implication of illegal mining, the Professor noted that Ghana risks losing all its water resources in a few years to come if nothing is done about the menace.
“Most of the animals in water bodies – the fishes and other primary producers that sustain life- are being killed. Fishes cannot stay in these water bodies. Even those that stay become completely polluted. So the fish that you eat may have an accumulation of the chemicals that we do not want because when they get into our system, they are going to kill us. So going forward, we need to do something, otherwise in the next 10 years we will have a lot of rivers but we cannot use them and we need to change and now.
“We may not have the money to treat the volumes of ( polluted ) water but if we put the right methods in place, we would not need to spend money on treating the water,” he said.
Ghanaian musician Mr Drew, has asserted his desire to be referred to by his own name rather than being categorized as the ‘Ghanaian Chris Brown‘.
During a recent interview on Y 107.9 FM’s ‘Dryve of Your Lyfe’ with Kojo Manuel, the musician shared his thoughts on being compared to the international superstar.
Despite often being referred to as Ghana’s Chris Brown, Mr Drew revealed that he does not fully embrace this comparison and would rather be recognized solely as himself.
“Lots of people call me Ghana’s Chris Brown but for me, I prefer they stop. I just want to be Mr. Drew and that’s all,” Mr. Drew shared.
He expressed his desire to distance himself from the association with Chris Brown, as it often brings unnecessary pressure and pushes him towards certain things he actively tries to avoid.
While acknowledging the immense success and global influence of Chris Brown, Mr Drew conveyed his admiration for the talented artiste and recognized the impact Chris Brown has had on his career.
However, he emphasized his aspiration to establish his own unique identity and make a significant impact on a global scale.
“Chris Brown has already established himself in the world and on a very large scale, so that’s what I’m also trying to do for my career. But don’t call me Ghana’s Chris Brown. I want to be known as Mr Drew,” asserted Mr Drew.
Ghanaian rapper Strongman Burner has urged Ghanaian youth to prioritize living within their means and refrain from indulging in excessive spending.
In a conversation with popular YouTuber and Content Creator Kwadwo Sheldon, the talented artist emphasized the importance of financial responsibility for leading a prosperous life.
Strongman drew attention to the stark comparison between material purchases and essential needs.
He pointed out that the cost of ten round-neck shirts could instead afford 100 bags of cement, highlighting the significant difference in value.
Strongman Burner posed a thought-provoking question, “If a day’s attire and shoes cost 4,000 cedis, how can I afford to pay for Simona’s fees?” This powerful statement underscores the importance of prioritizing essential expenses over unnecessary luxury items.
In Ghana, many young people are willing to spend large sums of money on clothing in their pursuit of societal validation and a perceived sense of status. The rapper’s words serve as a reminder that true prosperity lies in financial prudence and making sensible choices aligned with long-term goals.
The desire to emulate the lavish lifestyles portrayed by superstars on social media has been on the rise in Ghana. However, Strongman Burner urges his fans and followers to resist the temptation and instead focus on building a solid financial foundation for themselves.
Strongman Burner, born Osei Kwaku Vincent, gained recognition after securing first place in the inaugural Next Big Thing in GH Rap music competition. His winning streak continued with hit songs like “The Lord,” “Dirge,” and “Rap God,” along with notable tracks such as “Odo Nkoaa” and “Facts.”
By advocating for financial prudence and responsible spending, Strongman Burner aims to guide his fans towards a more prosperous and sustainable future. His impactful message resonates with individuals seeking to strike a balance between enjoying life’s pleasures and securing a stable financial footing.
One in five cases involved patients abusing other patients, although not all trusts gave a detailed breakdown.
Meanwhile, police recorded nearly 12,000 alleged sexual crimes on NHS premises in the same time period.
These include 180 cases of rape of children under 16, with four children under 16 being gang-raped.
Incidents range from rape, sexual assault, groping and stalking to abuse (Picture: PA)
The investigation found that fewer than one in 10 trusts has a dedicated policy to deal with sexual assault and harassment, and the BMJ reported they are no longer obliged to report abuse of staff to a central database.
More than half of these allegations (58%) involved patients abusing hospital staff.
Experts warned that the figures were likely to be a serious underestimate as they are often deterred from making such complaints.
Deeba Syed, from the Rights of Women helpline, told The Guardian: ‘Women tell us they are expected to continue to care for patients who are abusive or harassing without efforts to adequately safeguard them from further harassment.
‘We hear worrying reports of women feeling pressured into not raising formal grievances and instead being transferred to different departments or locations.
‘They tell us it is argued that this is more expedient than moving the harassing patient, despite victims feeling this is unsafe to others and a punishment on them.’
Latifa Patel, BMA workforce and equalities lead, also said she assumed NHS trusts without dedicated sexual safety policies are ‘sitting on huge numbers of unreported incidents’, which she describes as ‘a truly disturbing implication’.
The data also showed that 193 of the 212 trusts reported 10 or fewer staff-on-staff incidents between 2017 and 2022, though the BMJ and The Guardian said medics thought this was implausible.
In addition, more than 4,000 NHS staff were accused of rape, sexual assault, harassment, stalking, or abusive remarks towards other staff or patients during the period.
Only 576 have faced disciplinary action, the investigation found.
Navina Evans, chief workforce officer at NHS England, said: ‘The health service must be a safe space for all patients and staff and must not tolerate any sexual misconduct, violence, harassment or abuse.
‘NHS England has established a dedicated team to ensure people who experience violence and abuse are supported in the workplace, and there is greater provision of support for all victims and survivors.
‘All NHS trusts and organisations have measures in place to ensure immediate action is taken in any cases reported to them and I strongly encourage anyone who has experienced any misconduct to come forward, report it and seek support.’
Footages from TV3’s new reality dating programme Perfect Match Extra has elicited reactions.
The housemates could be seen on their beds in one of the videos having fun and amusing one another.
People are drawing comparisons to the popular reality show Big Brother Naija and rallying behind Perfect Match Extra, urging Ghanaians to show their support.
The video, which was shared on TV3’s Instagram page, shows the housemates having a great time and entertaining each other while lounging on their beds. The clips captured the essence of the show, showcasing the chemistry and friendship among the participants.
The show’s similarities to Big Brother Naija, a sensation in the reality TV world, have contributed to its buzz. Perfect Match Extra has been praised for its ability to engage audiences.
The emergence of these videos has only intensified the excitement surrounding the show. Social media platforms are abuzz with discussions, reactions, and debates about the potential outcomes and favourite contestants. Many folks have, however, made suggestions on how the show could be improved.
Ghanaians react to Perfect Match Extra show
Though many people called for support for the show, others were not too pleased with the idea.
amabrown80 said:
This is going to be great oo but Ghanaians wont support their own da
cuttie_raphy commented:
Ghanaian celebs shd start hyping this show like they do for bbn ,this is our own
tiz.me_thilda said:
This reality show should be given it’s own station as BBN does
Based on recently released statistics, the number of gadget thefts committed by users of electric scooters and bikes in London has nearly tripled in the past year.
In the capital in 2022, burglars stole 108,900 devices, including about 90,000 mobile phones.
This sum reflects an increase of approximately 40%; daily thefts from city residents and tourists amounted to about 300.
Additionally, as the number of electric bikes and e-scooters on the streets has increased, so has the number of thieves taking advantage of them.
Freedom of information requests commissioned by insurance company Direct Line found electric bikes were used in 1,397 gadget thefts last year.
There were 424 carried out by people riding e-scooters too, meaning the number of thefts carried out by people riding the two vehicles rose by 185% in 2022.
But the true number is likely to be even higher, as some victims will not report incidents to the police.
Latest London news
The statistics, supplied by Scotland Yard and City of London Police, also show the number of thefts involving knives and other weapons has jumped up.
In 2021, there were 2,341 such incidents, but that figure rose by 6% to 2,480 last year.
Even more people were injured by thieves carrying weapons too, with 180 recorded in the statistics.
E-scooters can only be legally used on UK roads if they are rented as part of a government-backed trial scheme.
In London, those schemes are currently running in ten boroughs:
Camden
City of London
Ealing
Hammersmith & Fulham
Kensington and Chelsea
Lambeth (north of the borough only)
Richmond upon Thames
Southwark
Tower Hamlets
Westminster
The Metropolitan Police advises people to avoid texting while walking and to only use their phone for the briefest time possible on the street to limit opportunities for criminals.
Last month, it was revealed that a phone was snatched by thieves every six minutes in London, with only 2% of them recovered.
After fresh mouse droppings were discovered all over the kids’ playrooms, a childcare was fined £225,000.
Inspectors found the restrooms at Busy Bees in Whipps Cross Hospital in east London to be in need of improvement, without hot water, and lacking soap.
Following a routine health inspection in January 2022, they discovered droppings in the kitchen and next to a washbasin, and they also ordered a temporary shutdown.
Busy Bees has 390 branches and charges parents £400 a week, promising their children the ‘best start in life’ and ‘warm, nurturing environments’.
The firm pleaded guilty to two food safety and hygiene offences and was made to pay £15,092 in costs and a £190 victim surcharge on top of the near-quarter of a million pound fine.
It was also charged with failure to keep the premises clean and in good repair, and failure to put in place adequate procedures to control pests.
A Busy Bees spokesperson said: ‘Our actions included a thorough deep clean of the entire premises, including all equipment used within the nursery.
Latest London news
‘We have made significant investment in the centre and in retraining staff to ensure all are fully up to speed with current hygiene best practice.’
Councillor Khevyn Limbajee said the findings were shocking, adding: ‘When parents entrust their children to attend a nursery, they do so in the belief that they will be left in a safe and clean environment.
‘Young children are particularly vulnerable to the diseases due to their developing immune systems.
‘The judge has rightly recognised the serious nature of the offences in this case through the imposition of such a significant penalty against Busy Bees Nurseries Limited.’
Nicholas Omane Acheampong, a seasoned gospel musician who has been mourning the loss of his mentor and close friend, Kwadwo Akwaboah Snr, has acknowledged that he is the driving force behind his success.
In a Graphic Showbiz report, the veteran musician credited Akwaboah Snr for his success in the music industry, stating that he believes many people may not know Akwaboah Snr was behind all his hit songs.
“In fact, he recorded all my hit songs from Aporsor, Zaphnath Paneah, Tabitha Kum, and Mahashala among others, and he also played a major role on all my albums. He would go through all the songs with me to make sure I got everything right.”
Nicolas Acheampong described how he embarked on his music career by seeking out a talented sound engineer who understood the type of music he pursued, and Akwaboah Snr turned out to be the perfect match.
“When I started my music career, I wanted a talented sound engineer who would understand the kind of music I do and he has been a blessing since he came into my life. I benefited a lot from him so his death is a big blow to me,” he stated.
Acheampong also noted Akwaboah Snr’s uncompromising commitment to quality in describing his work ethic.
He said, “the man I know will not do any shabby job because of what he stood for. Some musicians could not work with him because of how principled he was. If a song is bad, he will not record it no matter what.”
In addition, Acheampong said the close bond between him and Akwaboah Snr and their shared passion for music created a deep connection, and the missed opportunity for other musicians to benefit from his talent and insight was regrettable.
He described Akwaboah Snr as his role model and the best musician and sound engineer he had encountered.
“He was very close to me and I know how deep that man is. It hurts me that a lot of musicians could not benefit from this wonderful man who I describe as my role model and the best musician and sound engineer I have come across.
“Since his death, I have had the likes of Kaakyire Kwame Appiah and others calling me. They know how close I was with him. I am so sad,” he added.
The late Kwadwo Akwaboah Snr, 69, was a talented guitarist, producer and keyboardist. He worked with some of Ghana’s great musicians, including Kojo Antwi, Rex Omar and the late Nana Kwame Ampadu, Jewel Ackah and C.K. Mann.
He also played in his late father, Master Bob Kwabena Akwaboah’s Akwaboah International Band, Marriot Band and Oheneba Ntim Barima Band.
Some of the songs he is known for are Awerekyekyere, Face To Face and Hini Me.
Kwadwo Akwaboah Snr’s one week is scheduled for Trede, off the Obuasi Road on Tuesday, May 30.
With over 4,000 attendees at her first-ever gospel concert in Ghana, Ghanaian gospel singer Efe Grace broke several records.
On Saturday, May 20, 2023, Efe Grace, had her maiden gospel concert dubbed ‘Grace Effect’ in Accra, at The Makers House Chapel.
The auditorium used for the concert could only accommodate about 2000 seaters but unexpectedly, the number of people who were present was beyond count.
This led to a huge number having no access to the auditorium the place was very full and couldn’t accommodate them. This made the organizers create another means to avoid the auditorium being overcrowded.
“Grace Effect”, was also a live recording concert that featured Nigerian artistes; Mercy Chinwo and Sunmisola Agbebi.
Again, Ghanaian artistes who were slated to perform at the program were, MOGmusic, Pastor Isaiah Fosu Kwakye, Kofi Owusu Peprah, Akesse Brempong, and Ohemaa Mercy.
There was a surprise performance by Reverend Mensah Bonsu, the biological father of Efe Grace. He sang his hit song “Yehowa Ne M’Abankese” and other few songs from his old album.
Indeed gospel music lovers proved how much they love Efe Grace’s music, as it showed in the number that attended the event. This includes the special appearance of Joe Mettle, Piesie Esther, Celestine Donkor, Pastor Sammie Obeng-Poku, Felix De Solo, Luigi Maclean and many others who came just to support Efe Grace’s first concert in Ghana.
According to Efe Grace she underestimated the program and never thought her first show will have this huge attendance, just to support her at the live recording.
In an exclusive interview with The Spectator Gh, she explained, “Our apologies to all who experienced any inconvenience as a result of the overflow regardless, we appreciate you all for keeping faith with us”.
At the end of the concert, Efe Grace expressed how grateful and humbled she is to receive such amazing support from Ghanaians at her event.
An executive of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Nurudeen Hamidan, has warned all party agents in the ongoing by-election in the Kumawu constituency not to sign pink sheets until voting ends.
Mr. Hamidan gave the warning to party agents after the NDC claimed that it had detected some pink sheets being used for the elections have already been signed even though voting is still underway.
In an interview with Citi News‘ Hafiz Tijani, Mr Hamidan who is also the former Chief Executive of Asokore Mampong called on the Electoral Commission to ensure that no pink sheet already signed is used in the election.
The already signed pink sheet has since been changed by officials of the Electoral Commission while some NDC agents at some polling stations have been changed by the party.
He added that the NDC will do everything possible to ensure that Tuesday’s election is not rigged in favour of the ruling New Patriotic Party.
The EC is conducting a by-election in the Kumawu constituency following the demise of Philip Basoah in March this year.
The two main political parties, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have all put in various efforts seeking to annex the parliamentary seat.
The EC which is organising the by-election, has assured that all necessary materials are ready for the by-election.
The parliamentary candidates include: Akwasi Amankwaa popularly known as ‘Tom Cee’, of NDC, NPP’s Ernest Yaw Anim, and two other independent candidates both with the same name, Kwaku Duah.
The legal dispute between Prince Harry and the Home Office about his safety while in the UK has been resolved.
Nearly two years ago, the Duke of Sussex filed a petition for judicial review in the High Court after his right to armed security was restricted after he resigned from his royal duties.
He objected to the judgement that he shouldn’t even be able to pay for it privately.
At a hearing earlier this month, a judge was asked by his lawyers to allow him to bring a case over the decisions.
Harry leaving the High Court in London earlier this year (Picture: Reuters)
But the High Court have today ruled that the prince could not also seek a judicial review over whether to let him pay for the specialist police officers out of his own pocket.
The Home Office said the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) considered it was ‘not appropriate’ for wealthy people to ‘buy’ protective security, which might include armed officers, when it had decided that ‘the public interest does not warrant’ someone receiving such protection on a publicly-funded basis.
Lawyers for the Met Police said Ravec had been ‘reasonable’ in finding ‘it is wrong for a policing body to place officers in harm’s way upon payment of a fee by a private individual’.
Mr Justice Chamberlain refused Harry permission to bring the second challenge, rejecting on a number of grounds.
The court was told at the earlier hearing that his latest legal challenge was related to an earlier claim he brought against the Home Office after he was told he would no longer be given the ‘same degree’ of personal protective security when visiting the UK.
A full hearing in that challenge, which also focuses on Ravec’s decision-making and for which Harry was given the go-ahead last summer, is yet to be held.
Tuesday’s ruling comes amid an ongoing High Court trial involving the duke, in which he is bringing a contested claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over allegations of unlawful information gathering.
Harry is also waiting for rulings over whether similar cases against publishers Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) and News Group Newspapers (NGN) can go ahead.
A judgment is also expected in the duke’s libel claim against ANL – publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday – over an article on his case against the Home Office.
Today, police in Portugal will begin scouring a reservoir in a new effort to find Madeleine McCann.
The paedophile suspected of killing Maddie frequently visited the enormous body of water.
Officers closed off a mile-long section of Barragem do Arade, 25 miles from the location of the three-year-old’s disappearance in 2007, near Silves in the Algarve.
And overnight a no-fly zone covering the whole of the man-made dam was put in place, leaving the airspace above the water and land near the water’s edge where today’s search will focus open to police drones only.
The ring of steel meant journalists and curious onlookers were kept more than a mile back from two white tents put up yesterday by a secluded hilltop area on a peninsula jutting into the reservoir Portuguese police are planning to comb until nightfall following a scheduled 9am local time start.
Police divers were seen entering the water earlier this morning, and a police motor boat has also been sent into the water with two officers on it.
Jailed sex offender Christian Brueckner, 45, has called the man-made lake his ‘little paradise’.
Divers will explore water close to a dam, with digs also expected in woods close by.
Portuguese officials were seen taking a boat out on the reservoir this morning(Picture: Getty)Search teams are expected to spend at least two days looking at the man-made water space(Picture: AP)Camp has been set up in the mountains so officers have a clear view over the area(Picture: EPA)
The Policia Judiciaria force said in a statement: ‘In view of the news made public, the Judiciary Police confirms that, regarding the investigation into the disappearance of an English child, which occurred in the Algarve in 2007, steps are still being taken to fully clarify the situation.
‘Within the scope of international cooperation, in the next few days in the Algarve region, new searches will be carried out, coordinated by the Judiciary Police, at the request of the German Authorities (BKA) and with the presence of the British Authorities.
‘Information will be provided in due course on the outcome of the proceedings.’
Sources close to the investigation said they had evidence the clearing in the trees was the spot Brueckner used to spend time at after parking up his camper van nearby.
A local who asked not to be named, but knows the area well, said: ‘It’s pretty well-hidden by the trees and you don’t realise it’s there until you’re almost upon it.
‘People wild camp there overnight from time to time which is why you’ll find the remains of fires inside small walls of stone.
‘It’s got old sun loungers in it and makeshift benches that visitors use to rest on.
‘It’s very out-of-the-way and very peaceful but at the same time it’s got a slightly eerie feel about it.’
A well-placed police source said: ‘Portuguese police are going to carry out a thorough and very careful search of the area today.
‘Policia Judiciaria officers are going to be divided into four teams who will focus on a land search. It will be very meticulous and exhaustive.
‘Forget the idea of big trucks and large machinery. A lot of the work that’s going to be done here today will be done by hand with backup technology.’
The insider said there was no plan to bring in sniffer dogs today and did not comment on local reports boats with sonar equipment would comb certain stretches of the water.
High-tech equipment used to detect human remains buried under the earth, as well as underwater if required, is expected to be used.
No heavy machinery was taken to the area yesterday and council officials were spotted carrying a ‘lorryload’ of wheelbarrows to the zone by the hidden leisure area clearing, suggesting police will rake and dig it by hand using the likes of pickaxes rather than excavate earth with diggers in an attempt to preserve any evidence they find.
Local Portuguese reports, partly confirmed by police sources, claimed the searches were requested and authorised after German police obtained videos and photos of Brueckner close to the planned dig site.
They are thought to have been found buried in the paedophile’s ‘secret lair’ in a dilapidated factory site in the German village of Neuwegersleben, 65 miles south-east of Hanover.
Police raided the site in February 2016 in search of the body of missing five-year-old Inga Gehricke, who vanished while on a family outing in Saxony-Anhalt in May 2015 and has been dubbed the ‘German Maddie.’
Reports at the time said German detectives had discovered more than 8,000 images and videos on USB sticks and hard drives filled with child abuse images.
They were said to have been buried under the body of Brueckner’s dead dog.
Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria force, whose officers are doing most of the dig work today, has confirmed the searches were requested by their German counterparts the BKA.
The request was made via an international letter of request sent to Portugal’s Attorney General’s office and passed on to prosecutors in Portimao.
Portuguese officials have not yet said when it was received but it is believed to have been about two months ago.
Although this week’s operation has been initiated by German police, Portuguese detectives are showing with the manpower and logistical support they are providing that they are fully on board.
Carlos Farinha, the PJ’s deputy director, travelled from Lisbon yesterday to the reservoir to view the preparation work ahead of the start of the searches and meet German counterparts.
He is believed to have attended a briefing meeting with German police, who arrived at the scene around 6.30pm local time in four vehicles including three VW people carriers and left two hours later.
Today Algarve PJ chief Fernando Jordao who is normally based in Faro and Helena Monteiro, tasked with an ongoing Portuguese police ‘cold case’ review from the northern city of Porto, are due to spend time at the search area in another show of the importance attached to this week’s operation by the Portuguese force’s upper hierarchy.
Operational coordination will be in the hands of a chief inspector who has not yet been named.
Scotland Yard representatives will be in the area for what has been described as a ‘watching brief.’
Respected Portuguese broadcaster SIC has said the searches, due to last for at least two days and longer if anything of relevance is found, will be 80 per cent land-based and 20 per cent water-based.
In a lunchtime broadcast yesterday it said: ‘Investigators know suspect Cristian Brueckner used to come to this dam regularly.
‘He would call it his little paradise and would often spend the night here. He was seen here often.
‘The German authorities considered this reservoir to be an area of interest and ended up sending an International letter of request or letter rogatory.’
No police divers have yet been spotted and there are conflicting reports about whether underwater searches will take place or if they will occur in shallows near the edge of the reservoir where water levels are currently much lower than normal because of the ongoing drought.
The force made its statement as German police arrived at the reservoir where today’s search will start.
They were travelling in three Volkswagen vans, two black and one dark-blue, and a Ford Ranger with a Portuguese police escort in front.
They showed up around 6.30pm local time. It was the first time all day any German officials had been seen at the reservoir, where Portuguese police and civil protection workers arrived around lunchtime to prepare the ground for the searches.
Brueckner is in prison for the rape and murder of a 72-year-old woman, but German police have charged him with multiple child sex offences between 2000 and 2007.
They claim to have ‘concrete evidence’ that Madeleine is dead, and say they found links to her in a van belonging to him.
The German worked in Portugal for years. Prosecutors say phone analysis puts him at the Ocean Club resort she vanished from on May 3, 2007.
Madeleine was taken from a hotel room, where her twin two-year-old siblings were sleeping.
Parents Kate and Gerry McCann used private detectives to search for her until Scotland Yard began its Operation Grange inquiry in 2011.
Portuguese police officially made Brueckner a suspect in April 2022.
Last night they confirmed the search – led by German officers with their support – was part of ‘steps still being taken to fully clarify the situation’, and added: ‘Information will be provided in due course.’ They confirmed Scotland Yard officers will observe at the site.
The hunt will last at least two days. The reservoir was searched twice in February and March 2008 by divers hired by Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia, who claimed he had an underworld tip-off she was dumped there.
Small bones were found but police said they were not human. The McCanns called Mr Correia a self-publicist.
A lorry driver also told police he saw a woman handing over a child like Madeleine to a man there two days after she went missing.
The new search will be the first major operation in the case since June 2014 when UK police were given permission for digs in Praia da Luz using cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar.
The McCanns lit candles at a vigil for Madeleine in their village of Rothley, Leicestershire, on the 16th anniversary of her disappearance earlier this month.
On May 13 – her 20th birthday – they released a video with the message: ‘We love you and we’re waiting for you. We’re never going to give up.’ The family has not made a statement on the new dig. Brueckner’s lawyer did not comment.
But a source close to the killer told MailOnline: ‘They can search all they want. I will be amazed if they find anything.
The Arade Dam, the Barragem do Arade in Portuguese, is fed by the watercourse of the Arade River whose source lies to the southwest of the Serrra do Caldeirao mountain range and runs through the municipalities of Silves, Lagoa and Portimao before reaching the ocean.
Construction was concluded in 1955 and it began operating the following year.
An Assistant Lecturer at the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC), Mr. Philip Atawura has appealed to the public for financial assistance to undergo a kidney transplant.
Mr. Atawura, who lectures at the Ghana Institute of Journalism branch of UniMAC has been diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease and has been undergoing dialysis treatment as a temporary measure to sustain his life.
In a letter from the Office of the Registrar, UniMAC, the cost of a kidney transplant for Mr. Atawura is Thirty-Eight Thousand, One Hundred and Sixty Dollars ($38,160), with an additional Three Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢ 300,000.00) for the donor and ancillary issues in India.
The letter further stated that the University is appealing to the public to assist with any amount towards a fundraising campaign to get Mr. Atawura and his donor to India to undergo treatment.
“We shall be very grateful if you could assist with any amount towards a fundraising campaign to get Mr. Philip Atawura and his donor to India to undergo treatment,” the letter read in part.
The University has provided bank account details for donations as well as a Vodafone mobile money number for those who wish to contribute.
The Acting Registrar of UniMAC, J. Sika Akoto, PhD, signed the letter, which was copied to the Vice-Chancellor, Acting Director of Finance, and Acting Rector (Institute of Journalism).
Donations can be made to the following bank account details:
Bank: Prudential Bank Ltd. Account Name: University of Media, Arts and Communication
Account Number: 0091901740010 Branch: Ring Road Central Narration on payment: Re: Mr. Philip Atawura For those who prefer to contribute via mobile money, the Vodafone mobile money number for Philip Atawura is +233-503-470-988.
The Sun revealed Harris’ passing on Tuesday, following a protracted battle with neck cancer.
He is thought to have passed away at home.
Harris was released from prison five years ago and moved to Berkshire with his wife of more than twenty years, Alwen Hughes, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
It was reported in October that Harris was ‘gravely sick’ and no longer able to eat, requiring carers to monitor him at his home.
His health is reported to have taken a turn for the worse after the death of his beloved poodle earlier in the year.
He was also reported to have been hospitalised during his time in prison after his diabetes spiralled out of control.
Harris was released from jail in May 2017 after serving three years of his five years and nine month sentence after being found guilty of 12 counts of sexual assault, one of which was later overturned.
He has not spoken out publicly since his release from jail but shared a statement in Merritt’s recent book, Rolf Harris: The Defence Team’s Special Investigator Reveals the Truth Behind the Trials.
Harris said in the statement: ‘I understand we live in the post truth era and know few will want to know what really happened during the three criminal trials I faced – it’s easier to condemn me and liken me to people like [Jimmy] Saville and [Gary] Glitter.
‘I was convicted of offences I did not commit in my first trial. That is not just my view but the view of the Court of Appeal who overturned one of my convictions. I had already served the prison sentence by the time of the appeal.
‘I changed my legal team after the first trial, and I was told that if the truth was out there, William [Merritt] would find it and he did. The evidence he found proved my innocence to two subsequent juries.
‘I’d be in prison serving a sentence for crimes I did not commit if it were not for William’s investigation. It is difficult to put into words the injustice that I feel.’
The Australian-born entertainer had worked in the entertainment industry for decades, as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality.
Throughout the years he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (in 1968); then was advanced to Officer in 1977, then to Commander in 2006, and even famously painted a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.
But in 2012 when the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal broke, Harris was arrested as part of the Operation Yewtree police investigation.
This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon…Check back shortly for further updates.
Another fatal accident has occurred in the Okere District of the Eastern Region, claiming six lives in the process.
The latest accident occurred on the afternoon of Monday, May 22, 2023 at Bepoase, off the Asenema road.
The accident happened as a head-on collision between a Hyundai H – 100 with registration number GX 2698 – 18 and a Toyota Hiace with registration number, ER 804 – 18.
An eyewitnesses account disclosed that the Toyota Hiace which was loaded with food stuffs and traders from the Nkurakan market and heading towards Adukrom collided with the Hyundai H -100 which was en route to Koforidua from Adukrom.
The crash left four persons dead on the spot with two others being pronounced dead on arrival at the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial and the Koforidua Regional hospitals where the victims were rushed to.
An unspecified number of passengers were also left in a critical condition. Personnel from the Akropong and Adukrom Police Commands together with officers from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) responded to the accident and helped in the rescue and also to restore order to the road.
Previous accidents in the Okere District
On May 13, 2023, three persons died after a head-on collision involving a tricycle (aboboyaa) and a KIA truck at the Adukrom water works junction in the Okere District.
On September 12, 2022, a lecturer and three female students of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) also lost their lives in an accident on the Apirede-Somanya road. The accident led to several others sustaining life-threatening injuries.
On October 08, 2022, a Benz sprinter bus with registration number GY 1570-13 conveying passengers from Koforidua to a funeral at Aflao, summersaulted at Apirede, killing six persons. The two Apirede accidents led to the temporal closure of the Apirede-Kwamante-Somanya road by the Okere District Security Committee (DISEC).
Head of the DISEC and District Chief Executive (DCE) for Okere, Daniel Kenneth explained that the closure became necessary due to the frequent fatal accidents happening on the road.
The award will be presented by UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres as part of celebrations on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on Thursday, May 25, 2023.
Captain Erzuah who has served in Abyei – an area on the border between South Sudan and Sudan since March 2022 expressed her gratitude for being selected to receive the prize while acknowledging her platoon members. She described the award as ‘an award for all of us’.
Captain Erzuah who is an ardent gender advocate made sure her 22-strong platoon were composed equally of men and women and conducted regular patrols and outreach to local leaders as well as women’s and youth groups, to better understand and address community concerns and needs.
“Together with civilian UN colleagues, she also hosted discussions on domestic violence, gender equality, and childcare. Those conversations resulted in an increase in the number of women enlisted in Community Protection Committees, which were initially male-dominated. The engagement with community members led to improved early warning about threats of violence against civilians and broader security issues.
“The monthly market walks she initiated with her battalion also contributed to building strong and enduring relationships between traders, local residents, and the UN., “part of the statement said.
About the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award:
The United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award created in 206 recognises the dedication and efforts of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security.
“The Resolution 1325 reminds us that our women peacekeepers are not only supporting global peace and security. They are leading the way. By every measure, Captain Cecilia Erzuah of Ghana is one of those leaders,” said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“On every front, Captain Erzuah’s work has set the standard for ensuring that the needs and concerns of women are reflected across our peacekeeping operations,’ he added.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has sarcastically told Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, affectionately called NAPO, that he is challenging him in old age.
In a video in commemoration of the minister’s 55th birthday today, May 23, 2023, he wondered why the Manhyia South lawmaker is racing so fast in age.
“NAPO, I hear tomorrow is your birthday. You are racing very fast…do you want to be an old man like me? If you were born in 1968, if you do the calculations, you are now 54 or 55 years of age. Whatever it is, many happy returns. I have consistently advised you and wish to urge you to take things slowly. God Bless you,” he said.
Happy Birthday Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh….simply called "Napo".
NAPO is a trained medical doctor and a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who served as a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2003.
He studied Human Biology and Medicine at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, later continuing post-graduate studies at the Netherlands Institute of Health Sciences and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He is the current Member of Parliament for Manhyia South Constituency in the Ashanti Region of Ghana and served as a Minister of Education but is currently the Minister for Energy.
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh was born on May 23, 1968, at Pakyi Number 2 in the Ashanti Region.
Prior to parliament, Prempeh served as CEO of Keyedmap Security Services Limited from 2004 to 2009.
Students of Our Lady of Lourdes Girls’ Senior High School in Navrongo are protesting against being fed only rice-based meals for a week in a row.
On May 22, 2023, the students held their bowls as they chanted “We want food” on the school premises.
Confirmed! Students of the OLL Model Girls SHS in Navrongo (on the Kologu Nanga Road, 4 km from Navasco) earlier today, May 22, 2023 protested being fed only rice based meals for a week in a row. The students also complained about the poor quality of the rice meals. See video! pic.twitter.com/XOKxIxeHrE
Prophet Nigel Gaise, leader of the True Word Prophetic Ministries, is among 30 defaulting borrowers of the Students Loan Trust Fund.
His photographs and other details were published in the Daily Graphic last Wednesday for having defaulted in repaying their student loans.
According to the publication by the Students Loan Trust Fund, Prophet Gaise who completed his studies at the University of Ghana in 2012 owes GHS 4,391 in student loans.
Head of Public Relations at the Students Loan Trust Fund, George Ferguson Laing, said that the publication was done in accordance with the Students Loan Trust Fund Act 820, which empowers the SLTF to publish defaulters as one of the necessary steps before prosecution.
“Repayment of student loans is critical for the sustainability of the student loan scheme, it is important that borrowers who have benefited from the facility repay so that a new generation of students are also able to access tertiary education”l,” he said.
According to Mr Laing, the SLTF has decided to prosecute defaulting borrowers in a bid to pool enough resources to meet the increased demand for student loans.
He encouraged all borrowers to take immediate steps to repay their loans to avoid prosecution.
“The long honeymoon is over, borrowers need to repay their loans and create opportunities for others. It’s both a moral and a legal obligation”
Afghan women wait to receive food in Kabul. Millions in the country suffer from acute food insecurity. © Reuters
