Five years have passed since Meek Mill was released from prison after serving a probation violation sentence that sparked controversy and spurred the #FreeMeekMill movement.
Since then, the recording artist behind hits like “All Eyes on You” has dedicated his life to reforming laws around probation and parole, with the launch of the REFORM Alliance. Mill co-founded the group in 2018 with Jay-Z, Michael Rubin and Van Jones. They have since passed 16 bills in 10 states around probation and parole laws, according to the organization.
“Not committing a [violent] crime still led me to prison being locked in a small room 23 hours a day, being locked up with murderers and eating junk food, sleeping on concrete,” Mill told CNN in a recent interview. “You know, that was a lot. I try to see past it and not to dwell on things like that, not bitter about it because it is my life and what brought me to who I am today.”
Mill received a two-to-four-year prison sentence in 2017 for violating probation from a 2008 gun and drug case. The violation occurred when he was arrested after being involved in a fight and later for popping wheelies on a dirt bike.
His sentence sparked calls for criminal justice reform from notable artists and athletes, including Colin Kapernick, Rick Ross, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and comedian Kevin Hart. Mill spent five months of his sentence incarcerated before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered his immediate release.
“A huge part of what we do is to tell the story of people impacted by the system,” Robert Rooks, CEO of the REFORM Alliance said. “People like Meek and others who get sent back to jail or prison for not for committing a new crime but for staying out past curfew or for seeing a loved one outside the city, town or county – those are just some of the reasons why we are telling the stories of everyday people who are currently trapped in our nation’s probation and parole system.”
Mill said his efforts to make a positive impact start close to home.
“One of my most memorable moments was recently buying my grandmother her first house and giving her a better way of living because she’s the one that laid out opportunity for my whole family,” he said. “And to be able to just set structure for my family and be able to help people, that’s a new part of my life that I’ve really enjoyed.”
Once again, Ghanaian TikTok star Wesley Kesse is in the news about allegations of “style theft” after appearing at the 2023 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA).
Social media users were quick to point out the striking similarities between Kesse’s outfit and Black Panther star Letitia Wright’s red carpet look for the Black Panther, Wakanda Forever premiere, prompting accusations of copying and unoriginality.
Kesse’s outfit consisted of a black encrusted suit with a high-necked shirt.
This isn’t the first time that Kesse has faced such accusations. In April 2023, he was accused by Nigerian actor and former BBA winner, UTI of stealing his concept for his birthday photo shoot.
Kesse clocked age 30 and shared a photo of himself clad in a white cloth with his arms opened to celebrate his three decades on earth.
The post which has caught the attention of the Nigerian TV presenter forced him to take to Instagram to lambast Kesse for allegedly stealing the photo concept from his photographer. According to Sir Uti, he used the concept first to mark his 40th birthday.
“At first I laughed &. Cos what in da ‘what I ordered’ is this? THE AUDACITYBut it’s easy to Laugh when it’s not your sweat and brain power that has been taken advantage of to the fullest. My Photographer @idaraadiakpan_/ @sbdstudios is Livid! THIS WAS ALL HER IDEA! I was just her muse! IT WAS HER GIFT TO ME FOR MY 40th!!” he said in a post.
Despite these allegations, some fans have defended his innocence, stating that fashion is often inspired by past designs and that Kesse had put his own unique spin on the outfit.
Prophet Nigel Gaisie has shared his opinion on accepting money from ‘morally bad’ sources.
In an interview on United ShowBiz, the revered spiritual leader made it clear that he would accept offerings made by anyone, no matter their background or lifestyle.
He stated that “Who am I to judge! I will accept offering from prostitutes and armed robbers because every money is money.”
He explained that armed robbers and prostitutes are human beings like we all and he does not discriminate among people.
He also urged all men of God to be hospitable with these people, because that is the one way to make them feel comfortable and have the mind to repent.
Nigel also advised against quick condemnation among Ghanaians.
His statement caused controversy and criticism from some members of the public.
It’s important to note that accepting offerings from anyone is a common practice in many churches worldwide. However, Rev. Gaisie’s specific mention of prostitutes and armed robbers is what drew attention to his statement.
Prophet Nigel Gaisie is the leader of the True Word Prophetic Fire Ministries, TWPFM (Grace Chapel) Worldwide with its head office in Accra, Ghana as well as the Prophetic Hill Chapel.
A special Aide to former President John Mahama says a post on social media attributed to her is fake.
Joyce Bawa Mogtari says the post is from a clone account created in her name.
In the said post, Joyce Bawa Mogtari is said to have called out Ashantis “for their unnecessary egos.”
This is said to be in relation to Dr Kwabena Duffour’s suit against the National Democratic Congress’s upcoming presidential and parliamentary primaries scheduled for Saturday, May 13.
But in a Facebook post on Wednesday, the former Deputy Transport Minister denied the said post and has thus asked the citizenry to ignore same.
According to her, the government is behind a number of clone accounts for political opponents to cause public outrage for them.
“As soon as they announced a government initiative to curb the spread of fake news I knew that this infamous government had discovered a new scam! Clone the accounts of political opponents and set them up for attacks or create disaffection.
“Hopefully even though I am grateful for the swift manner in which people shared the fake tweet for my personal attention, I wish that people would rather discount, discredit or report the fake tweets instead of sharing same across platforms knowing same to be false, fake and disinformation,” she posted.
This week, Stonebwoy’s ‘5Th Dimension’ album is the 17-track album debuts at No. 8 on the Billboard World Reggae Album chart, making it the first Ghanaian album to score this success on the reggae charts.
The album was ranked “based on multi-metric consumption blending traditional album sales, track equivalent albums, and streaming (audio and video) equivalent albums,” according to Billboard.
This new feat adds to a list of notable Billboard appearances scored by the Ghanaian reggae, dancehall, and afrobeat singer, which includes a Billboard World Album Chart appearance with his 2017’s Epistles Of Mama (EOM) album, as well as a Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart appearance for “Nominate”, his 2020 lead single off “Anloga Junction” album. He is also the recipient of three billboard achievement plaques for his features on Collie Buddz’s “Hybrid Album” and Sizzla Kalonji’s “I’m Yours”. The two albums ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on the Billboard charts.
Already, the album’s lead single “Life & Money”, which features UK rapper Stormzy, claimed the No. 14 spot on the Official UK Afrobeats Chart Top 20 songs this week based on sales and streams since its release.
“5th Dimension” is Stonebwoy’s 5th career album and his first in three years after the release of Anloga Junction in 2020. The 17-track album incorporates Afrobeats, reggae, dancehall, amapiano, folk, and other genres while leaning primarily toward pop and pop-related themes. The project also boasts features from Nigeria’s Davido, Oxlade, Tiwa Savage, Beninese legend Angélique Kidjo, and South African amapiano progenitor DJ Maphorisa. Others include Shaggy (Jamaica), Dexta Daps (Jamaica), Mereba (US), and Jaz Karis (UK).
After lying about using excessive force to apprehend a teenager, two Metropolitan Police officers were fired.
The North Area Command Unit’s PCs Alexei Zalesskiy and Conor Ryan were judged to have used excessive force as they were attempting to apprehend a 14-year-old kid, according to a misconduct hearing.
On April 17, 2021, both officers proceeded to Wilberforce Road in the London neighbourhood of Finsbury Park, where the incident took place. There have been reports of numerous young people causing mayhem while carrying blades.
The 14-year-old boy in question spat at PC Zalesskiy and PC Ryan before running away from them. The pair followed him and used force to arrest him close by.
Both were found to have used excessive force during the arrest, and then lied in statements about the incident.
Detective Chief Superintendent Caroline Haines, who leads policing in the north area, said: ‘Officers have to act with restraint and the public of course would expect them to be honest about their actions.
‘Action will be taken against any officer whose behaviour falls below that which is expected. We are determined to drive up standards, and those who fail to meet those standards have no place in the Met.’
Both men have now been added to the barred list held by the College of Policing.
The Crown Prosecution Service did not pursue criminal charges.
After surviving for two days alone in the Michigan wilderness, an 8-year-old kid was found.
After being lost in Michigan’s Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park on Monday, second-grader Nante Niemi from Wisconsin was discovered safe and well.
On Saturday afternoon in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Niemi vanished from his family’s camping close to the community of Wakefield. His family thought he had strayed off and gotten lost while gathering firewood.
His disappearance started a huge manhunt, which expanded to involve 150 search and rescue personnel and nine K9 teams to search the area on ground, air, and on Lake Superior.
Nante Niemi, 8, survived for two days in the Michigan wilderness (Picture: MSP Eighth District)
Rescuers searched for two days in an area of about 40 square miles – just a small portion of the state park’s 60,000 acres of wilderness. Large portions of the park were still inaccessible to cars due to unmelted snow.
Eventually, Niemi was found at about two miles away from his family’s campsite.
Michigan State Police said Niemi survived a full two days in the wilderness by building a shelter out of leaves, branches, and a log, and eating snow to stay hydrated.
‘He braved the elements by taking shelter under a log where he was ultimately found,’ rescuers said. ‘He didn’t have any food but ate clean snow for hydration.’
On Sunday, Niemi began walking down a hiking trail, searching for his campsite. ‘When he ran out of trail, he figured the best thing to do was to just stop and wait,’ the Michigan State Police said. ‘They offered to carry him out today, but he told the guys who found him that he wanted to walk!’
He was eventually discovered by Eli Talsma, a family friend who was assisting with the search team.
‘First thing he did is he went to give me a fist bump, and we gave a fist bump, and we gave each other a big hug,’ Talsma told CBS Detroit. ‘And I said, “are you OK, is anything wrong?” He’s like, “No, I’m good. I’m just ready to go home.”‘
Following coronation, King Charles attracted a large number of new admirers from all around the world, including the incestuous sex offender Josef Fritzl.
In a recent book co-written with his attorney and based on a collection of letters from prison, Fritzl discussed the new monarch, environmental campaigners, and other topics.
The 87-year-old was imprisoned after a court heard how he kept his daughter Elisabeth chained in the cellar of the family house in Amstetten, Lower Austria State, as his sex slave.
He kept her imprisoned for 24 years, fathering seven children with her.
The Austrian sex monster is set to release a book of memoirs based on letters written in prison (Picture: AP)
Viennese newspaper Heute reports that Fritzl – who now has to use a rollator trolley to walk – wrote: ‘I do understand people who want me to die in jail.
‘But I want to experience freedom one day. I’ve never been afraid of dying.’
Fritzl – who is jailed at Stein Prison in Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria State – has sent several handwritten letters to renowned Vienna lawyer Astrid Wagner.
Now details of the 87-year-old’s latest batch of letters have emerged.
According to Austrian media, the 87-year-old also told Wagner that, after watching King Charles’s coronation on TV he decided he is a ‘pleasant person’.
Fritzl reportedly jokingly described himself as a monarchist in the same letter.
He also expressed sympathy for the Last Generation climate activists.
He told Wagner: ‘I understand those climate campaigners who glue themselves on roads. Everything is going to the dogs these days. You’ve got to take action.’
Earlier this year, the Viennese lawyer published a book called ‘The Abysses of Josef F.’ which she co-wrote with Fritzl.
Reflecting on how the project started, Wagner told Austrian media: ‘Josef Fritzl sent me a letter from his cell. In it, he wrote that he had written his autobiography.
‘He needed help with the publication but also legal assistance. I consented.
‘He then sent me the manuscript and I edited it. I’ve been his lawyer ever since.’
Wagner added: “He is polite and very charming.
‘Josef Fritzl is only human, not a beast. He is a man who has not mastered his inner demons.’
The lawyer and author said: ‘He not only lived a double life but a quadruple life in fact.’
She went on to call Fritzl a ‘master of suppression’ and claimed that his ‘tragic childhood’ would have had an impact on his actions.
Fritzl claims in the publication: ‘Actually, I’m a decent person.’
He also boasts about several illegitimate children abroad and the ‘hundreds of love letters’ he has received.
In June 2022, a court ruled that Fritzl must stay in the high-security prison after judges reversed plans to move him to a softer jail.
Instead, the 87-year-old – who allegedly suffers from dementia – will serve more time in the high-security prison for mentally ill criminals.
It has now been 15 years since Fritzl’s sickening crimes came to light.
They were discovered in April 2008 after he took one of the children born to his daughter to hospital due to a life-threatening illness.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to rape, false imprisonment, manslaughter by negligence and incest in March 2009.
The identities of the victim and her children are now protected.
According to local authorities, they were eighth-grade pupils from Helsinki’s Kalasatama elementary school.
When the bridge gave way, several persons fell a short distance, according to the police.
A temporary pedestrian bridge in Epsoo, about 12 miles from the capital in the Uusimma region, collapsed at around 9:30am, according to the country’s national broadcaster, the Finnish Broadcasting Company known locally as Yle.
The children were from eighth graders (Picture: Jussi Nukari/Shutterstock)
The bridge leads to the Ainoa shopping centre.
The Länsi-Uusimaa rescue service said scaffolding collapsed near the construction site.
Emergency services, paramedics and police officers are at the scene.
Six patients have been taken to Siltasairaila, six to Jorvi Hospital, three to Peijas Hospital and nine to Uuti Children’s Hospital, HUS added.
The US-Mexico border saw an outbreak of gunfire, which is said to have caused numerous casualties.
According to the Mirror, the shooting started on the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, which connects Pharr, Texas, and Reynosa, Tamaulipas, at 3 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
According to local reports, numerous persons died as a result of crossfire.
According to reports, there was a clash between army personnel and armed people; according to an initial count, three alleged criminals were murdered, tweeted the Mexican news outlet Adn40.
A video showed two people hiding behind a truck as gunfire rang out on the road.
Another video recorded from a truck on the bridge appeared to show Mexican army vehicles passing other cars.
Areas along the US-Mexico border are rife with for cartels fighting for control of the flow of illegal drugs into America.
Susan Sarandon, who played Louise in Thelma & Louise, was handcuffed after being taken into custody for demonstrating outside the Albany, New York, state capitol.
The 76-year-old celebrity was in favour of increasing the minimum pay for tip-exempt waitstaff in restaurants.
After New York state legislators revealed intentions to raise the minimum wage to $17 (£13.5) per hour but excluded tipped restaurant workers from benefiting from the new law, she took a stand.
A local reporter for Spectrum 1 Albany – Kate Lisa – shared a video on Twitter that captured the activists at the state Capitol concourse.
They could be heard shouting, ‘One fair wage!’ over and over again.
Susan has been known to attend protests in the past (Picture: Getty Images)She was released after she was processed (Picture: Getty Images)
Apparently arrested for disorderly conduct, the group – that also included former New York lieutenant governor candidate Ana Maria Archila – were seen attempting to spread a huge pink banner across the concourse during which police intervened.
As stated by MailOnline, the actress and her fellow protesters were processed, issued appearance tickets and following which, were all released.
During the protest, the A-lister shared her thoughts and explained why restaurant workers were so important.
The actress marched with writers on strike in New York City (Picture: Getty Images)
She said before her arrest: ‘They are very, very important and need to be treated with dignity, not only for the back-breaking labor that they do, but what they have to do to communicate and understand and be patient and all the things that are linked to a successful business.’
No stranger to walking the streets for what she believes in, days earlier the star joined the picket line in support of the Writers Guild of America strike in New York City.
The Dead Man Walking actress was seen proudly holding a Writers Guild of America East placard while marching outside of Netflix’s New York City headquarters.
Susan has been arrested before for protesting and in June 2018 she found herself being taken away at the Women Disobey protests in Washington D.C.
At that time, she was arrested with 575 other individuals who were all marching against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
The Duke of Sussex has received a “unreserved” apology from The Mirror’s publisher for illegally obtaining material.
A number of prominent people, including Prince Harry, are suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages related to alleged illegal information collecting.
The accusations are disputed by MGN, the company that publishes The Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People, on the grounds that some of them were made too late.
But the publisher’s attorney, Andrew Green KC, “unreservedly apologises” to the duke for one instance of illegal information collection during the trial on Wednesday.
He said the group accepts he was entitled to ‘appropriate compensation’.
MGN admitted that a private investigator was instructed by a journalist at The People to unlawfully gather information about his activities at the Chinawhite nightclub one night in February 2004.
‘Otherwise, the specified allegations are denied, or in a few cases not admitted,’ Mr Green added.
There was a payment of £75 made in February 2004 which Mr Green said: ‘It is admitted that this represented an instruction to engage in unlawful information gathering, and MGN unreservedly apologises and accepts that the Duke of Sussex is entitled to appropriate compensation for it.
‘MGN does not know what information this related to, although it clearly had some connection with his conduct at the nightclub.’
Nikki Sanderson is also bringing a claim against MGN (Picture: Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
An article published in The People that month ‘gave the recollection of a woman Harry spent time with at the club’, but Mr Green added: ‘The Duke of Sussex notably does not claim in relation to this article, so it is not alleged that this instruction led to the publication of his private information.
‘The fee paid, £75, suggests little work was involved.’
Coronation Street actors Nikki Sanderson and Michael Turner, known professionally as Michael Le Vell, and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman are all expected to give evidence during the trial.
The trial, which started on Wednesday, is due to last six to seven weeks.
MGN denies voicemail interception in all four cases and said there was ‘no evidence or no sufficient evidence’.
Mr Green continued: ‘There is some evidence of the instruction of third parties to engage in other types of unlawful information gathering in respect of each of the claimants, save for Mr Turner whose claim is entirely denied, and MGN has made pleaded admissions in respect thereof.
‘MGN unreservedly apologises for all such instances of unlawful information gathering, and assures the claimants that such conduct will never be repeated.’
At the start of the hearing in London, barrister David Sherborne, who represents the duke and others, said the case featured unlawful activities on an ‘industrial scale carried out across three newspapers over a period of about 20 years or so’.
Mr Sherbourne said Harry’s case covered the period 1995 to 2011 as tabloid interest in the royal family increased following the divorce of his parents, now-King Charles and Princess Diana, and her ‘untimely death’ in 1997.
He added: ‘We all remember the images of him walking behind his mother’s coffin.
‘From that moment on, as a schoolboy and from his career in the army and as a young adult he was subjected, it was clear, to the most intrusive methods of obtaining his personal information.’
An MGN spokesman said: ‘Where historical wrongdoing has taken place we have made admissions, take full responsibility and apologise unreservedly, but we will vigorously defend against allegations of wrongdoing where our journalists acted lawfully.
‘MGN is now part of a very different company.
‘We are committed to acting with integrity and our objective in this trial is to allow both the business and our journalists to move forward from events that took place many years ago.’
As per reports, a mysterious “military object” that was discovered in a Polish woodland last month was actually a Russian missile.
In the final week of April, the alleged KH-55 rocket was observed close to Zamo, a town located roughly nine kilometres from Bydgoszcz.
The broadcaster RMF FM described it as an air-to-surface missile that was at least several metres long, lodged in the ground, and missing its head at the time. At the time, rumours regarding its origins circulated on social media.
One of the two Polish media outlets that have claimed that the object was a KH-55 missile today is this one.
Journalists said this was determined in the preliminary findings of Poland’s Air Force Institute of Technology’s investigation.
Polsat News reported the same thing but neither named their sources.
The KH-55, which is referred to as CH-55 in Polish, is an air-launched cruise missile developed by the Soviet Union that is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
It is believed the rocket found last month landed in Polish territory last December, before it was discovered by a ‘random witness’ around three months later.
Poland has been on high alert for possible spill over of weaponry from the war in neighbouring Ukraine.
In November, two people were killed near the border by what Warsaw concluded was a misfired Ukrainian air defence missile.
The area where the object was found is hundreds of miles from the borders with Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
These types of incidents raise anxieties and long-held fears that the Russian war in Ukraine could spill out into Poland, a NATO member.
Metro.co.uk has contacted the Polish government and Poland’s Air Force Institute of Technology for comment.
As reported by Ukraine, thousands of Russian soldiers have left their positions in Bakhmut, the Kremlin’s primary target during its unsuccessful winter onslaught.
Russian units in some areas of the town, according to Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, had withdrawn by up to two kilometres (1.2 miles) as a result of counterattacks.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the renowned mercenary group’s leader, claimed on Tuesday that a Russian battalion had fled, “pissing away” a large area of territory.
The oligarch has been a vociferous critic of the military top brass, saying his fighters have only been supplied 10% of the shells they need to seize control of the town.
His latest expletive-ridden rant appears to contain a thinly veiled – but explosive – reference to Vladimir Putin.
Without naming names, Prigozhin said a ‘happy grandfather’ was convinced that all was going well with Russia’s campaign.
He then added: ‘If he turns out to be right, God bless everyone. But what should the country do . . . if it turns out that this grandfather is a complete asshole?’
Prigozhin has previously poured scorn on Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, but has avoided all personal criticism of Putin.
But the Russian president has often been dismissed as the ‘grandfather in the bunker’ by Kremlin critics, and opposition figure Olga Romanova remarked ‘there aren’t that many alternative’ targets.
Prigozhin’s Wagner units have led a months-long Russian assault on the eastern city – scene of the bloodiest ground combat in Europe since World War Two – suffering heavy losses.
And Ukrainian forces say the offensive is stalling.
In a statement, Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade said: ‘It’s official. Prigozhin’s report about the flight of Russia’s 72nd Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade from near Bakhmut and the “500 corpses” of Russians left behind is true.’
A Russian brigade is typically formed of several thousand troops.
In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy named the Third Brigade and noted its report ‘about the flight of Russia’s 72nd Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade from near Bakhmut’.
The Kremlin said it was in no doubt that Bakhmut ‘will be captured and will be kept under control’.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the Tass news agency as saying: ‘The special military operation continues. This is a very difficult operation, and, of course, certain goals have been achieved in a year.
‘We managed to beat up the Ukrainian military machine quite a bit. This work will continue.’
He said progress had been slow because Russia is not ‘waging war’ in Ukraine.
‘Waging war is a completely different matter – it means complete destruction of infrastucture, it means complete destruction of cities,’ he said.
‘We are not doing this. We are trying to preserve infrastructure and preserve human lives.’
Peskov’s comments did not address the claims about the 72nd Separate Motor-rifle Brigade abandoning their positions.
After a drunk driver slammed into their golf cart during their wedding reception,Samantha Miller is preparing her husband’s Aric Hutchinson burial while she recovers.
The ‘unimaginable’ burden of arranging for her husbands burial now lies in front of the bride whose husband was killed by a drunk motorist as they left their wedding reception.
When Jamie Lee Komoroski allegedly sped down a beach road and struck the golf cart carrying him and his new wife Samantha Miller, who was killed, Aric Hutchinson sustained serious injuries. The golf cart, which also had two injured family members on board, was launched roughly 100 yards.
Hutchinson suffered two broken legs and broken bones in his face, both which were surgically repaired, as well as broken vertebrae’s in his back, brain bleeds and several cuts.
‘She is physically recovering at home while trying to come to terms with the loss of her beautiful husband,’ wrote her mother Annette Hutchinson in an update Monday on her GoFundMe page.
Samantha Miller (right) and Aric Hutchinson (left) were on a golf cart after their wedding when a drunk driver struck them (Picture: Facebook)
‘Now she is doing the unimaginable of planning Sam’s funeral along with her family.’
April 28 ‘started as the happiest day for Aric and Sam ended with a tragedy’, according to Annette.
Komoroski, 25, is accused of driving 65mph on a back road in Folly Beach, South Carolina, while the speed limit on the island is 25mph. Komoroski admitted to cops that she consumed a beer and a tequila drink before going behind the wheel, but refused to cooperate with a field sobriety test. She was not injured in the crash.
She has been charged with reckless homicide as well as three counts of driving under the influence.
‘While our hearts are broken along with the Millers, we never could have imagined how sharing our story would result in the tremendous outpouring of love, support, and overwhelming generosity we have received from friends, family, co-workers, and strangers,’ wrote Annette.
The GoFundMe, which began with a $100,000 goal for medical bills and Miller’s burial, had raised more than $706,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
‘We are missing Sam more than anything, she instantly fit into our family from the first day Aric and Sam met,’ Annette wrote. ‘She was everything to my son and changed him for the better.’
The Nollywood actor Yul Edochie and Rita Edochie, the sister-in-law of his father, appear to be at odds with one another.
According to reports Yul chose to unfollow Rita because she supported his(Yul Edochie) first wife.
Rita Edochie took to her Instagram page to show her unwavering support for May Edochie.
The veteran actress reassured her that she has no rivals adding that no one can take what belongs to her.
She wrote: “IT’S YOUR HOME NWAM. NO WORRIES NO COMPETITION. IT’S A QUESTION OF TIME.”
Following this development, Yul Edochie broke his relationship with the seasoned actress.
A quick check on Rita Edochie’s Instagram shows that Yul has indeed unfollowed her.
Read the comments on Rita’s post below
realucheebere: “God is already on your case my dear, He’s about to wipe your tears no demon can destroy your home”
angelchimapatience: “Aunty @ritaedochie you captured it rightly..it’s a matter of time. Time is a healer and above all God makes all things beautiful in his own time. Dear @mayyuledochie God got your back. Odigonma.”
brownyigboegwu: “Jesus has the final say”
marveloustyna: “Thank you for standing by her. You’re a good mother. She needs all the support she can get. She’s going through a lot.”
A parliamentary aspirant for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Wa Central Constituency has paid medical bills of some constituents.
Hudu Mogtari visited the constituents at the Upper West Regional Hospital on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
Speaking on the motive behind the gesture, he said he is concerned about the well-being of the Wa Central constituency. He further declared his readiness to make the needs of the people his priority.
Mr Mogtari used the occasion to also encourage them not to give up but have hope for a good health.
Speaking to the media after the visit, he assured them he will be visiting every now and then to check up on them.
“I am a true son of the constituency and I understand the needs of our people. That is my utmost reason for this contest. I want to ensure the constituency and its constituents are better off and not the current state it finds itself,” he said.
“I am ready for this and I want the delegates to trust with their power and support so together we can all make it better,” he told the media.
He also pledged to accelerate development in the area, while helping build the capabilities of the youth in the constituency.
Meanwhile, the NDC will hold its primaries on Saturday, May 13, to elect new parliamentary candidates in all constituents ahead of the 2024 general election.
The exercise will also see to the election of a new flagbearer for the NDC, in its quest to annex power from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Popular comedian and actor, Sadik Sulley popularly known as ‘SDK’, has revealed that his new song, ‘Cameraman’, was released due to popular requests from fans.
In an interview with Property FM in Cape Coast, he said he did not intend to create a commercial song, adding that he was only fusing the tune in his skit.
“This was just a video that I did and I thought of fusing the cameraman vibes in there so it’s actually a skit that I did.
“It’s just like the other videos I do and put on social media and so those who saw it loved it and asked me to release it as a song for them to vibe with it,” he remarked.
In an interview with Amansan Krakye the ‘Cameraman’ hitmaker, revealed that this is the first time he is releasing an official track.
“This is the first time I’m doing an official track like this but obviously when you see me singing then maybe in some of my videos,” he answered on the show.
He continued, “So it’s within my skits that you will hear me singing but this is an official or my first time doing an official track which I’ve put out there”.
A mother who threw her child from the balcony of her apartment has admitted to infanticide.
The infant’s body was discovered on December 12, 2020, in a private garden in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
Prior to admitting infanticide, Sarah Jayne Barron had previously denied murder.
Barron, 34, ’caused the death of your kid under 12 months by willful act’ by throwing the youngster over the balcony of his or her flat while still recovering from giving birth, according to evidence presented before Briston Crown Court.
She committed the act on December 4, eight days before her baby’s body was discovered.
Anna Vigars KC, prosecuting, told the court the plea was acceptable to the Crown and a trial will not be necessary.
Barron, whose address has been withheld by the court, was released on conditional bail until she is sentenced on July 14.
The case was adjourned in order for psychiatric reports to be prepared.
Judge Peter Blair KC, Recorder for Bristol, told Barron: ‘The prosecution has indicated today your guilty plea to the alternative charge of infanticide is acceptable and therefore the trial listed for July 17 is to be vacated, as is the further case management hearing on June 15.
‘The sentencing exercise will now be undertaken on July 14 and until then you will be on bail with conditions.
‘The fact you have pleaded guilty will enable the judge to give you credit for your guilty plea and it will be for the judge to decide how much you will be given.
‘Having read what I have read, I suspect considerable credit will be afforded.’
John Dramani Mahama, the former President of Ghana, has pledged to create a favourable environment for anti-corruption institutions to clamp down on corrupt officials if he wins the upcoming presidential election.
Mr. Mahama has stated that corrupt government officials will be discouraged from engaging in corrupt practices during his tenure.
Speaking to delegates in Lambussie in the Upper West Region, he reiterated that corrupt individuals will be punished regardless of their political affiliation under the next National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
Mr. Mahama emphasized that he would allow anti-corruption institutions to function independently and that he would not interfere or shield anyone who engages in corrupt activities.
He stated that anyone who is caught stealing public funds will face the full force of the law, whether they are in his government, past governments, or the previous government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“It doesn’t matter whether you belong to our government or past governments, if you steal the people’s money we will deal with you. If elected as President, I will allow anti-corruption institutions to work. Nobody should come and call me to save them when they catch you. Any person whether in my government or outside my government or in the previous NPP government, if the anti-corruption institutions are dealing with you that is your business because we must save this country,” Mr. Mahama said.
Two gang members who fatally stabbed a 16-year-old Afghan refugee because they thought he was a rival have been sentenced to life in prison.
On November 24, 2021, two 18-year-olds, Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman, stabbed Rishmeet Singh 15 times in a frantic 27-second assault in Southall, west London.
After the Taliban killed his father and attempted to kidnap him in order to force him to convert to Islam, Rishmeet, a Sikh, fled his home country two years prior with his mother and grandmother.
In her remarks regarding the sentence, Judge Sarah Munro KC stated, “They came here to seek a safe life.” That choice to relocate “will haunt Rishmeet’s mother and grandmother for the rest of their lives,” in hindsight.
Balakrishnan and Suleiman, from Hillingdon, west London, were found guilty of murder following an Old Bailey trial in March.
In a televised sentencing at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, Judge Munro handed Suleiman a minimum term of 21 years and Balakrishnan at least 24 years.
Balakrishnan was also detained at his majesty’s pleasure for a minimum concurrent term of four years for a second offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
He had admitted attacking a fellow inmate at a young offender’s institute while on remand, leaving the victim with severe brain damage.
Judge Munro said: ‘This case is yet another tragic example of the needless loss of a young teenager following a violent stabbing on the streets of London.
‘This case is the more tragic because Rishmeet was an entirely innocent victim.
‘He was described as a good person who would not hurt a fly. He was never involved in any kind of violence. It defies belief you two sought him out to kill him.’
The judge said Rishmeet was an ‘entirely innocent victim’ (Picture: PA)
Rishmeet’s mother Gulinder broke down in tears as she spoke outside court with the help of a translator.
She told reporters: ‘I just want to say I do not know what my child has done that they killed him in this way.
‘My son has got proper justice. I do not want these people to come out. I want them to stay inside.’
The court heard Balakrishnan was stopped by police in January 2021 and found to be in possession of a knife.
He was handed a referral order and allocated a social worker who taught him ‘the dangers of knife crime’.
On the night of the killing, Balakrishnan and Suleiman, then aged 17, set out on bicycles armed with two blades, a ‘terrifying’ three-foot long machete and a Rambo knife similar to the one he was stopped with bought online days before.
They both wore Covid masks and put their hoods up to hide their identities before setting out for a ‘glide’ or gang attack on enemy gang territory.
As Rishmeet, who was in a park with friends, headed for home he saw the pair running towards him and turned to warn his group to ‘run, run’.
But he tripped and fell to the floor where he was repeatedly stabbed in a savage attack.
CCTV footage captured Balakrishnan making five seperate stab movements and Suleiman a further 10.
Despite police and paramedics rushing to the scene, Rishmeet died there a short while later.
He suffered stab wounds to his head and chest, including penetrative injuries to his brain, liver and lung, as well as ‘through and through’ wounds to his arms as he desperately tried to fend off the blows.
Judge Munro said: ‘The very same night, you Balakrishnan, having taken your blood-stained knife back to your bedroom, photographed it and posted it on social media.
‘You then wrote drill lyrics glorifying the killing, which included lines such as, “one tripped and fell and he knew it was over, I was swinging my shank, swinging my blade back and forth, trying to turn him off, he tripped and got dipped onto my shank, chasing him with a nank really trying to open his chest apart, trying to push my knife through his lungs”.
‘Those chilling lyrics were found in the very notebook in which you recorded the lessons you’d learned about the dangers of knife crime as part of your referral order.’
Detective Inspector Laura Semple, of Scotland Yard, said: ‘Rishmeet was an innocent, young 16-year-old who had his whole life ahead of him.
‘He had just spent an enjoyable evening with his friends and was making the short walk home when he was callously chased down and knifed to death by Balakrishnan and Suleiman.
‘Between them, they stabbed him 15 times while he was defenceless on the floor.
‘There is never an excuse to murder someone in cold blood, but this case is made even more tragic by the fact that Rishmeet was wrongly targeted by his attackers.
‘Balakrishnan and Suleiman left the flat that day with the intention of ending someone’s life. Poor Rishmeet was simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time.’
Rishmeet’s mother Gulinder said: ‘Rishmeet was my only child, and he had his whole life ahead of him. No words could ever explain or put into context how I have felt since Rishmeet was taken from us.
‘He has been raised with so much love and now he’s gone. I am struggling to understand as to how and why this happened to my baby boy.
‘I feel I have lost everything and my life is over.
‘Rishmeet was attending college completing a public service course and his ambition was to become a police officer, all he wanted to do was to help people.
‘Rishmeet was well loved by all that knew him, he was a faithful boy and was very caring in his nature.
‘His brutal and untimely death has taken away my lifeline as Rishmeet was also my registered carer.
‘I will never recover from this evil act. I have lost my husband and now I have lost my only child, my son. Justice is finally served for Rishmeet but their sentence will never be enough for me. They have taken my whole life away from me and Rishmeet will never come home again.’
Ghanaian students have been granted a scholarship opportunity to attend the renowned University of Memphis in Tennessee, USA, thanks to the efforts of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Under the deal, qualified Ghanaian students will travel to Memphis University to undertake their undergraduate, master’s and PhD.
Up to 70 per cent of the opportunity is reserved for students who will undertake courses in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The Ghana Scholarship Secretariat and the authorities of the University of Memphis last week signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect at the school, sealing the deal that spells out the modalities for the implementation of the scholarship.
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Briefing the Daily Graphic upon his return from the USA, the Registrar of the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, Dr Kingsley Agyemang, noted that the Asantehene last year, as a special guest to the famed Memphis in May Festival, made a request for scholarship for Ghanaian students.
He said although the initial target was for only students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the Asantehene later called for its expansion to cover more Ghanaian students.
“So a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat and the University of Memphis which will allow Ghanaian students to undertake their undergraduate, master’s and PhD at the university. This deal, I must confess, is a blessing for Ghanaians students,” he said.
Dr Agyemang said because the city of Memphis was home to some global brands, the secretariat was working out the possibility for Ghanaian students who got the opportunity to study at the university to undertake their internship there in those industries in a bid to ‘use one stone to kill two birds’.
“It is important to underscore that the city of Memphis is the headquarters of so many globally acclaimed companies such as Fed Ex, Autozone, Sedgwick Jone Incorporated, International Paper, Baptist Memorial Healthcare, First Horizon National Incorporated (NYSE: FHN) and Mueller Industries,” Dr Agyemang said.
“What this means is that academics and industry will gradually be bridged as these companies will provide essential internship programmes for Ghanaian students. Discussions between these companies and the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat have started,” he added.
He said this formed part of the nation’s drive to create the creative, innovative, knowledgeable and experienced human resource that would lead the charge in accelerating the industrialisation agenda to position the nation for accelerated development.
Asked about when Ghanaians students would be able to fly to Memphis to start their studies under this agreement, Dr Agyemang said very soon the opportunity would be advertised for prospective students to apply and those who made it would commence their studies at the Memphis University from September 2023.
Dr Agyemang commended the Asantehene for brokering such a crucial deal for Ghanaian students, particularly for those into the area of STEM, adding that “Otumfuo has shown leadership and demonstrated how he values education. This scholarship is not for just Asanteman but Ghana as a whole”.
“I must also say we are grateful to the former Minister of Education, now Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, for his interest in this scholarship and the necessary inputs he provided us to make it successful,” he said.
After the MoU, the Ghanaian delegation, led by Dr Agyemang, toured the university to inspect lecture theatres, laboratories, hostels and other facilities.
The Ghanaian entourage also included the Head of International Relations & Partnerships, Richard Gyamfi; the Head of Treasury, Ghana Embassy, Washington D.C., Janet Koranteng, and a member of the Scholarship Review Committee, Nana Owiredu Wadie.
The University of Memphis was represented by the Interim Provost, Dr Abby L. Parril; the Executive Vice -President and Chief Operating & Financial Officer, Raaj Kurapati; the Vice Provost, and International Affairs, Dr Balaji Krishnan, and the Executive Director, Centre for International Education Services, Rebecca Laumann.
The legislation that seeks to send immigrants to Rwanda, according to Justin Welby, is “morally unacceptable.”
Speaking in the House of Lords, he claimed that the measure is a “short-term fix” that “risks great damage to the UK’s interests and reputation at home and abroad, let alone the interests of those who need protection.”
Of course, we cannot accept everyone, and we should not do so either, but this Bill has absolutely no understanding of the long-term and global scale of the crisis that the globe faces, according to Mr. Welby.
‘It ignores the reality that migration must be engaged with at source as well as in the channel. As if we as a country were unrelated to the rest of the world.’
Mr Welby added: ‘It is isolationist, it is morally unacceptable and politically impractical to let the poorest countries deal with the crisis alone and cut our international aid.
‘Our interests as a nation are closely linked to our reputation for justice and the rule of law and to our measured language, calm decision and careful legislation. None of those are seen here.
‘This nation should lead internationally, not stand apart’.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick accused Mr Welby of being ‘wrong on both counts’.
He told the BBC’s World At One: ‘It’s important that the House of Lords plays its constitutional function scrutinising legislation but I strongly disagree with some of the comments that have been heard in the House of Lords today. This is the right approach.
‘We have to tackle illegal migration and we have to bring control back to our borders.’
Asked about the archbishop’s comments in the Lords earlier on Wednesday, Mr Jenrick said: ‘Well, he’s wrong on both counts.
‘Firstly, there’s nothing moral about allowing the pernicious trade of people smugglers to continue… I disagree with him respectfully. By bringing forward this proposal we make it clear that if you come across illegally on a small boat you will not find a route to life in the UK.’
He added: ‘That will have a serious deterrent effect.’
House Of Cards author Lord Dobbs also rejected the Archbishop’s criticism, stressing the need to tackle the people smugglers.
The Tory peer and former adviser to the Thatcher government said: ‘They trade in lies, they trade lives.
‘It is our moral obligation to stop them, to bring an end to the unimaginable pain of mothers and fathers watching their children drowning off our shores in the channel.
‘No amount of handwringing or bell ringing is going to do that.’
He is one of the 90 peers expected to raise issue with the proposed bill in its second reading within parliament.
The intervention marked his second major rebuke of the Government’s treatment of migrants and asylum seekers.
The clampdown has been prompted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to ‘stop the boats’ bringing migrants across the English Channel.
More than 6,000 migrants have crossed the channel so far in 2023.
To cope with the numbers, the Government plans to use disused military camps and a barge as accommodation centres.
But critics argue the flagship immigration reforms break international law and threaten modern slavery protections.
The Archbishop, in a speech to the Lords last year, warned against ‘harmful rhetoric’ that treats those arriving in the UK as ‘invaders’.
He has previously called for a better system based on ‘compassion, justice and co-operation across frontiers’.
Downing Street defended the bill as ‘compassionate and fair’ after the proposed legislation was condemned by the Archbishop.
Asked whether the Prime Minister believed Justin Welby’s intervention was appropriate, his official spokesman said: ‘Obviously it’s right that the Lords are able to scrutinise this Bill.
‘The Government for its part will continue to robustly defend it.
‘We think it is about an issue of fairness and it is not right to allow people to be preyed upon by criminal gangs.’
Downing Street refused to be drawn on the Archbishop’s criticism specifically but added: ‘The Prime Minister does not think it is compassionate or fair to allow people who are jumping the queue over some of the most vulnerable people who are seeking to come here through safe and legal routes.’
Asked whether the Bill was morally acceptable, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘We think it is the compassionate and fair thing to do.’
The Bishop of Durham also appeared alongside other peers in the Lords, and quoted Jesus as he urged ministers to ensure migrant children will not be kept in detention for long periods of time.
The Rt Rev Paul Butler said migrant children needed the ‘highest levels of safeguarding written into the letter of the law’ to protect them.
Explaining his worries about the Bill, he told peers: ‘The state will view a child or a pregnant woman first and foremost as individuals subject to immigration control, not as an innocent child or a vulnerable mother due to give birth.
‘We need to ask – what about the Government’s duty to protect?’
The Bishop added: ‘I am reminded of Jesus’ words: It would be better to have a millstone around the neck and be cast into the sea than to cause a little one to stumble.
‘This responsibility needs to bear upon us heavily.’
Ahead of the legislation returning to the red benches, Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk have urged peers not to stand in the way of the ‘will of the British people’ by blocking the UK Government’s migration policies.
Writing jointly for Times Red Box, the two Cabinet ministers said: ‘We urge the House of Lords to look at the Illegal Migration Bill carefully, remember it is designed to meet the will of the British people in a humane and fair way, and back the Bill.’
But in a rare parliamentary move, Liberal Democrat Lord Paddick, a former senior police officer, has proposed a so-called fatal motion to the proposed legislation, aimed at stopping it in its tracks at its first Lords hurdle.
His amendment argues the draft legislation would see Britain fail to meet its international law commitments, allow ministers to ignore the directions of judges and undermine ‘the UK’s tradition of providing sanctuary to refugees’, while failing to tackle the backlog of asylum cases or people-smuggling gangs.
But the blocking bid is destined to fail without the backing of the main opposition.
A Labour source said: ‘We’re not supporting the motion. If successful, which they never are, the Government could just Parliament Act the Bill in the next King’s Speech and peers would lose the opportunity to make any amendments.
‘It is therefore an irresponsible way to deal with legislation that has already gone through the the elected House.’
The two Green Party peers will be among those supporting the fatal motion, with Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb saying: ‘This Bill is illegal because it breaks international law and should be opposed for that reason alone. It is also immoral and plain nasty.
‘It effectively makes all asylum seekers criminals unless they are from a few select countries where the UK has approved pathways and safe routes for immigration such as Hong Kong.’
Lady Jones added: ‘It is hugely disappointing that Labour are failing to oppose this legislation outright, but unsurprising given their recent track record of caving in on Voter ID and the Public Order Bill. If we are to save our democracy, we need an opposition that is up to the job.’
The Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry has placed the blame for the collapse of four ongoing building projects in the country within the past two weeks squarely on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
The Chamber believes that the failure of the MMDAs to effectively assess the work of land developers intending to erect buildings is the root cause of the collapsed structures.
The Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry asserts that some land developers engage quack engineers to supervise construction works and thus cut corners in building projects.
Mr. Emmanuel Cherry, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry, spoke out on the issue in an interview with Citi FM.
He called on authorities to take action against land developers who flout structural integrity rules.
According to Mr. Cherry, the country has advanced technologies that can only be manned by professionals, but developers often hire unskilled workers who cannot provide the quality work needed.
The CEO identified the ineffective assessment of work by some MMDAs as another significant challenge in the industry. He emphasized that until the authorities crack down on these practices, the problem of collapsed buildings will persist.
“There are technologies in the system that are well advanced, that can only be manned by professionals. But what do we see? Developers just fall on any roadside mason, call them to site and give them whatsoever amount of money and then expect them to deliver quality for them. Some of the MMDAs also fail to effectively assess the work of land developers. These are some of the challenges we are having as an industry. So until we crack the whip, it will be very difficult to arrest the menace,” Mr. Cherry said.
Mr. Cherry announced that a stakeholder engagement would be held next week to address the concerns of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry. During the engagement, the necessary observations and recommendations to improve the industry’s practices will be made public.
The CEO hinted that the stakeholders would take responsibility for any faults on their part, including those by government agencies.
The latest incident at the Word In Action Church at old Bortianor is the most recent in a series of collapsed buildings, including the UDS City Campus at Sagnarigu, and the collapse of two separate three-storey buildings at Madina and Adentan in Accra.
Adidas announced that it anticipated an operating loss of $728 million in March. The company reported an increase in shares of 8% on May 5, which was the highest level since August 2022.
The growth comes after sales were predicted to drop by 4% but only dropped by 1%, Reuters reported.
Equity research analyst at Quilter Cheviot, Mamta Valechha, told Reuters that Adidas is managing the expectations of investors. “They are going in the right direction – China is recovering, inventories are still too high, but at least sequentially down,” she said.
Despite the gains made by Adidas, the BBC is also reporting that the company’s sales in North America had decreased by 20% due to cutting ties with Kanye West. CEO Bjørn Gulden admits that cutting ties with Kanye West is “hurting us.”
In 2022, Adidas cut ties with the rapper, now known as Ye, for making a series of antisemitic comments.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the company said in a statement. “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness.”
Both parties recorded financial losses – Adidas lost $540 million in its final 2022 quarter due to West’s unsold Yeezy products. Ye, on the other hand, dropped from his billionaire status – his net worth dropped to $400 million from $1.3 billion.
His deal with Adidas accounted for $1.5 billion of his net worth. “With that gone, Ye is no longer a billionaire,” Forbes wrote when the deal was canceled. “It caps a stunning, self-induced downfall for one of the brashest and most volatile personalities to have graced Forbes’ pages.”
According to Forbes’ latest calculation of his net worth, West, who now goes by the name Ye, saw his net worth surge by $2 million within a month. His fortune moved from $398 million on March 23 to $400 million as of Apr 19, 2023. He had experienced a temporary dip of $2 million in his fortune, Billionaires Africa reported.
Currently, his net worth is estimated at $400 million, as per Forbes estimates, and includes his real estate holdings, cash, a music catalog, and a five-percent stake in Skims, the shapewear company founded by his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
Following Bridgerton actress Adjoa Andoh‘s remarks regarding the Royal Family during its coverage of the crowning, ITV is the subject of an Ofcom investigation, according to the watchdog, which received 4,000 complaints.
The Bridgerton actor, 60, made the following remarks on ITV1 commentary on May 6: “Looking at all those young people, there is a bit of me that has gone from the rich diversity of the Abbey to the terribly white balcony, I’m very struck by that.”
The media watchdog said that it had received the highest complaints thus far in 2023.
A spokesperson for Ofcom said: ‘We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules, before deciding whether or not to investigate.’
Despite the fact that air travel has recovered from its pandemic-induced dip, travellers are not happy about it.
According to J.D. Power’s 2023 North American Airline Satisfaction Study, travellers in North America are dissatisfied with expensive tickets, staffing shortages, and fewer routes.
According to the poll, North American airline passengers are generally satisfied, scoring 791 out of 1,000, which is a decrease of seven points from the 2022 research, which wasn’t exactly a stellar result either.
Michael Taylor, travel intelligence lead at J.D. Power, told CNN Travel that “continued high prices for travel” is the “biggest factor” in passengers’ dissatisfaction.
“This score continues to decline,” he said.
J.D. Power’s survey breaks down passenger satisfaction by cabin, with Southwest Airlines coming out on top for economy passengers for a second year in a row, with 827 points. Delta Air Lines came in second for economy travelers with 801 points, while JetBlue Airways is a close third with 800 points.
Delta Air Lines is number one for premium economy passengers with 848 points, JetBlue Airways is number two for premium economy with 840, while Alaska Airlines rounds out the premium economy top three with 823 points.
For those traveling first class or business, JetBlue topped the charts with a score of 893. Delta Air Lines ranks second for first class and business class travelers with 865 points, while United Airlines comes in third with 848 points.
J.D. Power found that first class and business class passenger feedback was the most positive overall – and notably, upper tier travelers notably rated their flying experience more highly than last year. Taylor attributes this to reinstated business class and first class food and drink services following a pandemic-enforced hiatus.
“In-flight services (food, beverage, entertainment) is the biggest factor for these upper-class cabins. It means more than the price they’re paying for the ticket,” said Taylor. “The ability to ‘get what is expected’ is sort of a rising tide that lifts all factors for these passengers.”
While compiling the survey, J.D. Power quizzed 7,774 travelers who’d flown with a major North America airline between March 2022 and March 2023. As well as considering ticket cost and in-flight services, passengers were asked to rate airlines on aircraft, baggage, boarding, check-in, flight crew and reservation experience.
According to Taylor, the most surprising result was the overall high score for flight crew.
“Being friendly and helpful when planes are jam-packed is difficult,” he said. “Usually, we see a decrease in scores when travel spaces are crowded and busy. Kudos to the airlines’ staff and crew for managing in a difficult time.”
Taylor also has a message for unsatisfied passengers, advising them that aviation is still in an “unusual situation” due to “high demand and lack of crews to man flights” and the landscape will likely shift again.
He also points towards a North American pilot shortage and its knock-on effects.
“Planes will be fuller and there will be fewer options in air travel until more pilots can be trained and qualified,” he said.
Radio host and presenter, Nana Romeo has recounted the ordeal and embarrassment he suffered at the hands of Mark Okraku-Mantey.
Speaking in an interview with Sammy Kay, the controversial presenter indicated that his radio journey has not been an easy one.
He narrated how his journey started as a young man from Sunyani and by the Grace of God, he is now the face of his radio station, Accra Fm.
According to Nana Romeo, when he first had the opportunity to come to Accra years back, Gospel music duo, Tagoe Sisters introduced him to Okraku-Mantey.
Mark was then the programs director at Hitz FM hence, was called upon by the music duo for him to listen to Nana Romeo’s demos on a CD.
The Accra FM presenter said instead of Mark listening to his works on the CD, he rather dumped it in a refuse container right in front of him; a situation he described as very painful.
That notwithstanding, he asserted that despite all these ordeals, God has shown him mercy and also blessed him by making him a household name in the media space in Ghana now.
The award-winning broadcaster admitted his journey into the limelight has been a story of grass to grace.
A day after Israeli military bombings in Gaza killed 10 innocent Palestinians, including men, women, and children, and prompted promises of reprisal, more than 60 rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel on Wednesday.
Just after 2 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the top spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces, reported that over 500,000 Israelis were in or close to shelters.
The rocket firing followed further strikes by the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza on Wednesday that they claimed were directed at members and infrastructure of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organisation.
The suspects on Wednesday were traveling to a rocket launch site in the city of Khan Younis, the IDF said. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said one person was killed in Wednesday’s attack. It named him as Muhammad Yusuf Saleh Abu Ta’ima, 25, and said he was killed in the bombing east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
A CNN producer in Gaza reported explosions in Khan Younis, Rafah and northern Gaza.
Shortly after, he saw at least six rockets fired from Gaza towards Israel. Sirens warning of incoming rockets sounded in the southern Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon and the Lachish area, all near the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said. Sirens later sounded in Tel Aviv, Israel’s main city on the Mediterranean coast, warning of potential incoming rocket fire.
Nine rockets fired at the city of Sderot were all intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, the municipality of Sderot said Wednesday. The city said it had no reports of injuries or property damage.
The nearby city of Ashkelon also said it had no reports of injuries or damage.
One of the three Islamic Jihad commanders killed on Tuesday was working on capabilities to launch rockets from the West Bank toward Israel, IDF chief spokesman Hagari said at the time.
Rockets have never been fired from the West Bank into Israel.
Islamic Jihad confirmed three of its commanders were killed in the overnight operation along with their wives and children.
The commanders killed were Jihad Shaker Al-Ghannam, secretary of the Military Council in the al Quds Brigades; Khalil Salah al Bahtini, commander of the Northern Region in the al Quds Brigades; and Ezzedine, one of the leaders of the military wing of the al Quds Brigades in the West Bank, the group said.
Hagari said the operation had been planned since last Tuesday, when Islamic Jihad fired more than 100 rockets toward Israel following the death of its former spokesman while on hunger strike in an Israeli prison.
But, the IDF did not have the “operational conditions” until overnight Tuesday.
The IDF launched a further strike on Tuesday, saying its air force targeted “a terrorist squad” belonging to Islamic Jihad in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza said two people were killed and two others injured in that attack east of Khan Younis, although they have yet to identify them, bringing the death toll in Gaza to 15 on Tuesday.
The term “Father Bernard ” originated from a video of a lady in despair and grief at the burial of the late Ghanaian Reverend Father Bernard Kofi Ackon.
The Ghanaian woman who became famous for plunging into Father Bernard’s grave and inspiring a viral meme has been located in Saltpond in Ghana’s Central Region.
The lady, identified as Comfort Baaba Basiwaa Jackson, has revealed why she jumped into the grave on that fateful day.
Explaining her relationship with the late Father Bernard, she revealed that the man of God was more like a father to her.
She revealed that she had some issues in her life and Father Bernard had been supporting her with prayers and cash whilst she reciprocates by helping to clean his chapel.
According to her, even when her late father was alive, Father Bernard helped take care of him until he passed.
She said once Father Bernard died, she was so distraught she wanted to follow him to the grave and she even told one of the sisters.
However, she said she had no intention of jumping into the grave but something just came over her.
Baaba says after the video went viral, she has had to be confrontational with some people for them to stop calling her “Father Benard”.
Baaba who has been struggling with some demons in her life says Father Benard was so good to her and helped her navigate life after she was jilted by her first lover who had promised her marriage.
“Father Bernard helped me. I have a problem so he is the one who was my support system. He helped me navigate life after my broken heart. He also helped my father when he was alive. I didn’t know what came over me that day but his death had a toll on me and I did that in his memory,” she told Kofi TV in an interview.
She says the man played a very instrumental role in her life she could not stand the fact that he had died and had to do something sentimental in his memory.
A 25-year-old man, Kofi Oduro, has been jailed for ten years after he stole electric cables worth GH¢27,932 from an uncompleted house in Jachie in the Ashanti Region.
The court presided by Fred Obikyere, sentenced Kofi Oduro to hard labour after he pleaded guilty.
Kofi Oduro is said to have stolen the items from Ebenezer Donkoe, who is a driver at Akropong Esaase on May 5, 2023.
According to the prosecutor, ASP Stephen Ofori, the complainant had gone to his newly built house only to discover someone had invaded his house and stolen all of the cables used to wire the house.
According to the Dailyguide report, a witness in the case, Cosmos Manu told the complainant he saw the accused person leaving the premises with some wires in his hands around 8:00 p.m. on May 7, 2023.
He said after confronting the convict, Kofi Oduro left behind the wires sensing danger and took to his heels.
He added that it was discovered that he had fled with some of the wires that were in his luggage and was arrested.
After an investigation, he was charged and arraigned before the court where he was sentenced.
Prior to his sentencing, the judge bemoaned the growing number of occurrences of cable theft in Jachie and its environs.
The current VGMA23 Rapper of the Year, Amerado, revealed that Eno Barony, who had one of the hardest songs last year, deserved a nomination at the 2023 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA).
He made this known to GhanaWeb’s Paula Amma Broni in a red-carpet interview on May 6 where he encouraged the female rapper to keep pushing.
“I agree 100 percent. I did a very hard song with her, ‘Finish Line’ and I expected it to be in there. You know it is a scheme and I know if she works her way through it, she will come back. She’s won it before and so, she is always good to come back,” he charged.
Eno Barony in March 2023 was quick to express her disappointment in Charterhouse, organizers of the VGMA for failing to nominate her songs which topped charts under the year in review.
In an interview with Doreen Avio, Eno disclosed that she submitted two songs- ‘Finish Line’ and ‘Don’t Judge Me’ for consideration but was snubbed.
“Awards don’t define me; Eno will still be Eno. It hurts because I have worked and I deserve to be recognized but in all, we work harder…my songs have done very well in the year under review. Check the online charts, my songs have topped almost everywhere,” the rapper lamented.
Four persons have been charged with abetment of crime and stealing goods worth over GH$60,000.00 from their employer.
The suspects, according to a report by the Chronicles Newspaper on May 10, 2023, are Pedicta Yeboah, first accused (A1), Charlotte Obamea (A3), Prince Ampomah (A4) and Jacob Oppong (A5) and one Bintu Mohammed (A2).
His Honour Samuel Bright Acquah presided over the court proceedings where the accused individuals – Al, A3, and A4 – were brought before. But pleaded not guilty charges against them.
Obamea and Ampomah were granted bail to the tune of GHC50,000 with two sureties, one should be an income earner and the other, a family member for each.
The prosecution presented evidence suggesting that the other suspect, Pedicta, had opened a fourth shop using stolen goods from her employer.
As a result, the prosecution requested that she be remanded into police custody, fearing that she may interfere with the investigation.
The employer of the accused persons, Vivian Nkansah, is the complainant in the case.
The Prosecuting Officer Chief, Inspector Daniel Danku, explained to the court that the complainant, deals in various cosmetic products and owns shops and warehouses at Agbogbloshie, Okaishie, Teshie and Agbleza.
According to the prosecutor, the accused persons were tasked with transporting the cosmetic products from the complainant’s warehouses to her Okaishie shop for sale. But in August 2022, when the complainant took stock of the goods, she noticed that there were some shortages in the quantities in both the warehouses and the shops.
The Prosecutor, C/Insp Danku, continued that the complainant, Vivian Nkansah, tracked the activities of the attendants for some time to establish that the first accused, Pedicta Yeboah, was retailing the same products as hers.
She reported the case to the police, who arrested her arrested.
Findings from the investigation, suggest that the first accused had opened two other cosmetic shops at Cow Lane and Mamprobi with the items of the complainant.
The prosecutor added an estimated amount of GH$60,352.35, of cosmetic products suspected to be owned by the complainant were retrieved from the shop of the first accused.
The first accused, Pedicta, allegedly admitted stealing from the complainant to stock her shops.
The prosecutor stated that Charlotte, Prince, and Jacob stole products and sent them to Bintu Mohammed for safekeeping, and later Pedicta’s driver would transport them to her shops.
Guinness Ghana Breweries Plc (Guinness Ghana) has confirmed that water supply from Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to its Achimota site was abruptly cut yesterday, Tuesday, May 9.
GWCL disconnected water supply to Guinness Ghana’s site at Achimota in Accra over alleged non-payment of bills.
According to the water distribution company, the beverage company is yet to pay a debt if GH¢6.7 million.
GWCL says it cut supply to Guinness Ghana after several caution letters to get the company to settle its debt failed.
In response, Guinness Ghana accused GWCL of taking the action without recourse to resolutions agreed upon from a meeting on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, chaired by the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources and attended by the Managing Director of GWCL and the leadership of Guinness Ghana.
“The outcome of the meeting was to await the result of the PURC’s investigations and to hold a tripartite meeting between GGBPLC, GWCL and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC). During this period, no disconnection was to be effected,” the company said in a statement.
The beverage company insisted that it has been fully compliant on all bills to GWCL “based on our classification under the industrial rate, pending a resolution of our petition to the PURC on the arbitrary reclassification by GWCL. Guinness Ghana has openly engaged Ghana Water Company Limited, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources on numerous occasions to resolve its concerns following the arbitrary reclassification of the business in the September 2022 tariff adjustments,” Guinness Ghana added.
Speaking in an interview with Sammy Kay, the controversial presenter indicated that his radio journey has not been an easy one.
He narrated how his journey started as a young man from Sunyani and by the Grace of God, he is now the face of his radio station, Accra Fm.
According to Nana Romeo, when he first had the opportunity to come to Accra years back, Gospel music duo, Tagoe Sisters introduced him to Okraku-Mantey.
Mark was then the programs director at Hitz FM hence, was called upon by the music duo for him to listen to Nana Romeo’s demos on a CD.
The Accra FM presenter said instead of Mark listening to his works on the CD, he rather dumped it in a refuse container right in front of him; a situation he described as very painful.
That notwithstanding, he asserted that despite all these ordeals, God has shown him mercy and also blessed him by making him a household name in the media space in Ghana now.
The award-winning broadcaster admitted his journey into the limelight has been a story of grass to grace.
The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) is asking policy makers to place a ban on importation and use of plastic carrier bags and containers in the country.
According to the Commission, the move is the only way the country can make any headway in addressing the sanitation challenges.
Speaking to Starr News on the sidelines of the Ministry for Sanitation and Water Resources and World Vision 2nd executive breakfast conversation on WASH, Director General for the NDPC, Dr. Kojo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa argued countries such as Rwanda and Tanzania have seen marked improvements in sanitation after banning use of plastics and thus Ghana must follow suit.
“If you go to Rwanda for instance, there’s an embargo on the use of plastics and the disposal of it so they don’t have a problem with it. If you go to Kigali, it is a small city but very beautiful. They’ve just done it in Tanzania and you could see the change in Dar es Salaam in the cities. So this is something that must go to the attention of decision makers to reconsider that.
“I have been saying this everywhere I go and I don’t mince words that if we can have a way to enhance and place this embargo, it would change the morphology of our cities and make them more attractive and bring us the resources we expect in terms of tourism and others.
“If you go to Kigali, there’s nothing spectacular apart from the city itself and the terrain and we even have more because we have the beaches and all that. So I think that there’s a high benefit if we can look at that again and I’m a key advocate of that,” the commission said.
Two babies have been rescued alive after they were found near the shores of Lake Kivu, days after deadly floods in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Residents said they were found floating on the debris of houses washed into the lake.
“They were rescued alive. It is a miracle, we were all amazed,” Delphin Birimbi, the head of Kalehe – a civil society group, told the BBC.
Sadly the babies’ parents had died in the floods, he said.
“We are in touch with people who can help us to raise them,” he added.
They were rescued on Monday in different areas – one in Bushushu and another in Nyamukubi, the most affected localities.
Mr Birimbi says around 5,255 people are still missing – and rescue activities are ongoing.
More than 400 people are known to have died in last week’s floods.
According to Kalehe, 200 people are being treated for injuries in local clinics following the floods, which have destroyed at least 1,300 homes and “many schools, health facilities, churches and much water infrastructure.”
Flagbearer aspirant for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Kojo Bonsu is worried about some anomalies which he says exist in the party’s voter register.
His concerns come in the wake of a writ filed at an Accra High Court by Dr Kwabena Duffour indicating that the party failed to provide the required photo album register five weeks ahead of the elections as stated in the party’s rules.
He stated that a partial photo album register was given to his team on May 4, a few days ahead of the elections rather than in March when they had submitted a request for one.
The former Finance Minister asked the party to postpone its upcoming presidential and parliamentary primaries scheduled for Saturday, May 13.
Mr Bonsu shares this sentiment. In an interview on Kumasi-based OTEC FM, the former Kumasi Mayor stated that this will provide ample time to fix the problem in the party’s electoral roll.
“They have to postpone the date of the election and rectify it [the alleged anomalies in the album]”, he said on Tuesday evening.
Per his assessment, the party risks being slapped with more legal actions if it neglects this concern and proceeds with the May 13 poll.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said that its presidential and parliamentary primaries will go ahead as planned on Saturday, May 13, 2023, despite a legal challenge by one of the flagbearer hopefuls, Dr Kwabena Duffuor.
According to Aseidu Nketiah, the party has followed proper procedures and adhered to the constitution throughout the electoral process.
Speaking in an interview with Okay FM, on May 9, 2023, Asiedu Nketiah stated, “Whatever we do, there are measures that we follow, and also the elections are also in accordance with the constitution unless the party decides otherwise for its internal elections. And so far, in all the procedures and measures that we have implemented, we haven’t faulted in any way or gone against any law.”
Responding to complaints about access to the delegate list as earlier reported by one of the flagbearer hopefuls, Dr Kwabena Duffour, he stated that after the vetting process, every candidate was provided with a delegate list, dismissing any claims suggesting that individuals were denied access.
“I heard of people complaining about not getting access to the delegate list, but after the vetting, we gave everyone a delegate list, so all of them have a delegate list… so if anybody claims not to have a delegate list, that is not true,” he said.
He further dismissed any suggestions of postponing the elections due to grievances related to the photo album of the delegates, stating, “For this NDC presidential and parliamentary primaries, people have raised issues about it, and I needed to respond to them. But first of all, I want to assure all Ghanaians and NDC members that the elections will be held on Saturday, May 13, 2023. As I speak there is nothing that restricts the elections so all candidates should prepare for the elections.
“…Nobody can tell us that the photo album that we are doing, which is not even part of the guidelines, he hasn’t received them so because of it we should postpone the elections. You can say such things, but because there is no basis to it, we will also just listen,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Kwabena Duffour, has filed an interlocutory injunction against the primaries slated for Saturday, May 13, 2023.
The lawsuit specifically named as respondents the General Secretary of the NDC, the Director of the Elections Directorate, along with fellow flagbearer hopefuls John Dramani Mahama and another contender, Kojo Bonsu.
According to the writ, the defendants have been commanded to enter their appearance within eight days of being served with the legal documents.
The writ added that failure to comply with the order may result in a judgment being passed in their absence without further notice.
Dr. Duffour alleged certain irregularities in the party’s voter register and concerns regarding the integrity of the upcoming primaries, prompting him to seek legal intervention.
As reported to the judiciary news agency Mizan, two persons who had been given the death penalty for blasphemy in Iran were hanged on Monday.
Because they ran online “anti-Islam groups and channels,” Yusef Mehrdad and Sadrullah Fazeli Zare were detained in May 2020 and given the death penalty in April 2021, according to Mizan.
According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, authorities determined both of them to be members of the Telegram group “Critique of Superstition and Religion,” which led to their convictions.
Members of the Telegram channel allegedly shared opinions insulting Islam. One member allegedly said that they set religious books on fire, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom claimed. Iran’s state-run AlAlam said Mehrdad was filmed burning the Quran.
Zare and Mehrdad were denied family visits and phone calls for eight months after their arrest. Mehrdad reportedly went on hunger strike in February 2022 to protest the authorities’ refusal to allow him to make phone calls, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said.
United Nations experts have previously called on Iran to stop the persecution of religious minorities, under what they described as a policy of targeting dissenting beliefs and religious practices, including Christian converts and atheists.
“Such state-sanctioned intolerance furthers extremism and violence. We call on the Iranian authorities to de-criminalize blasphemy and take meaningful steps to ensure the right to freedom of religion or belief,” the experts said in a statement published in August.
The executions come days after the execution of a dual Swedish-Iranian national, Habib Chaab, who was convicted for leading a national Arab separatist group accused of attacks in Iran.
A joint report issued by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and the France-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) revealed at least 582 executions were carried out last year – a 75% increase from the previous year.
It was the highest number of executions in the Islamic republic since 2015, according to the report released last month.
The report found there was a “surge” of executions in Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September. Amini’s death sparked a months-long national uprising, which was eventually quashed by a brutal police crackdown.
Prophet Nicholas Osei (Kumchacha), the founder and head of Heaven’s Gate Ministries, has advised women to avoid making matters of partner abuse and murder worse for themselves.
According to him, some women have turned themselves into serial cheats and therefore become the victims of such incidents when their partners turn out to be people who cannot exercise restraint.
“Some of the current Ghanaian ladies are a major contributor to the cases of partner killings. I say so because a lot of women are not truthful to their partners. Imagine I am living with you as a wife or a partner and I am responsible for taking care of your finances, why would you cheat on me by going in for another man? Today, if you take 100 Ghanaian ladies, over 80, have multiple partners. It is now a business for the women. There are ladies who have different men for different purposes; some are responsible for paying rent, others buy their wigs while another pays for their expensive phones.
“So, if you cheat on your partner who is spending on you and the person is not Godfearing but rather someone with a cold heart, he will either kill you, ensure you are disabled or abuse you,” Kumchacha said during an interview with Mama Radio.
The past few weeks has seen several incidents of jealous boyfriends killing their partners being recorded across Ghana.
On April 21. 2023, a police inspector, Ahmed Twumasi shot and killed his 27-year-old girlfriend in cold blood.
On May 2, 2023, a 27-year-old jealous boyfriend murdered his 23-year-old girlfriend at Dunkwa-Mfuom in the Upper East Denkyira Municipality.
According to Prophet Kumchacha, women ought to take a cue from the recent incidents and not put themselves in a position that makes them victims of such gruesome and condemnable deaths.
Per a statement issued Wednesday morning local time by police superintendent Tony Hill, a Northland District Commander, rescue workers searching for a high school student who vanished after a school trip in a flooded cave system on New Zealand’s North Island have discovered a body.
Although the body has not yet been formally identified, authorities have finished their search and are providing assistance to the family of the missing student.
Tuesday morning, police initially learned that several high school kids were having trouble at the Abbey Caves in Whangrei, which is around 180 kilometres (112 miles) north of Auckland.
Of the 15 students and two adults in the group, all but one made it out of the cave safely, police said in a statement posted to Facebook.
An initial search failed to find the boy and officials suspended the search around 5 p.m. Tuesday when night fell.
Police said the body was recovered late Tuesday evening, and was made possible by specialist equipment brought in from Auckland which allowed the search to continue longer.
“We acknowledge this event has been very distressing for the school and wider community, and that there are a number of questions the public will have. At the moment, Police’s focus is on supporting those affected, and we remind people to please not make assumptions as to what has occurred,” the police statement read.
The year 11 students from Whangārei Boys High School (WBHS) were caving as part of an outdoor education class when they “encountered a severe weather event,” the school said in a statement.
“In time we will seek to understand how this situation occurred, but for now I ask that we stay united as a WBHS community and provide support where required,” the statement added.
The school said it would open as normal on Wednesday to “maintain a sense of routine” for students and staff.
According to the Whangārei District Council’s website, the Abbey Caves are prone to flash flooding and visitors are warned to check the weather forecast before setting out.
Auckland declared a local state of emergency on Tuesday after a torrential downpour.
The heaviest rainfall occurred on Tuesday between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. local time with rates exceeding 30 millimeters (1.2 inches) per hour.
Auckland was forecast to receive 73.5 millimeters (2.9 inches) of rain by the end of Tuesday, more than half the 120 millimeters (4.7 inches) the city historically receives on average for the month of May.
This is the third significant weather event to hit Auckland since the start of the year.
In February, Cyclone Gabrielle lashed Auckland with relentless wind, rain and waves that killed at least eight people and prompted authorities to order a nationwide state of emergency. And the month before, the city and its surrounding areas were hit by record rainfall that sparked deadly floods.
The speaker of parliament announced on Tuesday that the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka had approved a bill that sought to decriminalise homosexuality. Campaigners praised the decision as a “historic development”
In Sri Lanka, where homosexuality is still punishable by a prison sentence and a fine, LGBTQ+ rights advocates have been fighting for years to reform the legislation. As a result, a private member’s bill was recently introduced in parliament.
Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said the Supreme Court decided it was not illegal after hearing more than a dozen petitions on both sides of the issue.
“The Supreme Court is of the opinion that the bill as a whole or as any provision thereof is not inconsistent with the constitution,” the speaker told parliament.
The decision is seen as a “historic development that has created hope towards real change,” said Kaveesha Coswatte, an attorney-at-law and advocacy officer for iProbono in Sri Lanka, which supported many of the petitions backing the bill.
Activists will still have to lobby for support from the 225 parliamentarians to push forward the proposed legislation through parliament.
Neither the government nor the opposition have made any comment on whether they support the bill, proposed for consideration by an individual member of parliament, so the next steps for it to eventually become legislation, or not, are not yet clear.
“But the door is finally open. This Supreme Court decision is major for the community in terms of any kind of progress they have seen over the last couple of years,” Coswatte added.
Microwaves are multipurpose appliances with a wide range of applications beyond simply reheating cold food.
Use a microwave for more than just leftovers. They can be the main event when it comes to cooking.
We bring you a few unusual uses of the microwave, which will take the satisfaction level of your food to the next level:
Steam vegetables
Forget about elaborate steamers and hot water over the stove, microwave can simply do the job.
Steam your veggies in a covered bowl in the microwave with a little water, and you are good to go.
Bake
While most people usually consider their gas oven for baking, you can actually bake a lot of foods or cakes in your microwave oven.
The versatility of a microwave oven allows you to do all your cakes without needing separate kitchen appliances.
Foam milk
Microwaves can be used to foam milk for all your beverages.
All you need is a small jar. Pour your milk into a jar and seal it. Shake it well for a minute or two until you see all the froth. Immediately microwave it for 30 seconds, and then, your foam milk will be ready.
Making citrus fruits juicier
Another great thing you can do with a microwave oven is to make citrus fruits juicier. So, the next time you take a lemon or orange out of your refrigerator, don’t juice it immediately. Microwave the fruit for just 20 seconds, and you’ll be able to squeeze out a lot more juice.
Rise dough
Instead of waiting for the dough to rise on its own, save yourself a few hours and use the microwave to speed up the process. For a two-rise or three-rise recipe, you can warm up the dough on very low power (10 percent) using the microwave, shape it, and put it back in to rise again. Instead of waiting 45 minutes for a rise, you can achieve the same results in 10 or 15 minutes.
Actress Mercy Asieduhas affirmed her commitment to her marriage, stating that she would remain devoted to her husband even in the event of infidelity.
She believes that it should not come as a surprise if a man has more than one woman, as this practice has been recorded in the Bible.
Additionally, Mrs Agyeman Duah stated that just as she pursued her husband and won him over, anyone else could do the same.
Mrs Agyeman Duah regards her marriage as a lifelong commitment and has no intention of leaving her husband for any reason.
She has dreamed of getting married since childhood and is grateful to her husband for fulfilling that dream. She acknowledges that other women may try to approach her husband, but she has no problem with that as long as they respect their place and do not interfere with her marriage.
She is confident that she can handle any situation that arises and maintain a healthy relationship with her husband.
In conclusion, Mrs Agyeman Duah is aware that other women may show interest in her husband, but she has chosen to trust him completely and is committed to making her marriage work.
She is blind and deaf to any outside interference and is focused solely on maintaining a strong bond with her husband.
On Tuesday, rocket fire from the encircled city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine killed a French reporter for the international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).
According to coworkers who saw the strike, AFP reported on Twitter that Arman Soldin, 32, who served as the organization’s video coordinator in Ukraine, was murdered by a rocket attack on the outskirts of the village of Chasiv Yar, close to Bakhmut.
The killing of AFP video journalist Arman Soldin in eastern Ukraine today has left us in shock, according to AFP. All of our condolences are extended to his family and friends.
Soldin was with four colleagues at the time of the attack, but the other journalists were not injured, the news agency said.
Their reporting team was with Ukrainian soldiers when they came under fire around 4:30pm local time on Tuesday, according to AFP.
Soldin, a French citizen with Bosnian origins, was an experienced reporter who had regularly traveled to the front lines, the news agency said. He had been AFP’s video coordinator there since September 2022 and coveredthe conflict from the early days of Russia’s invasion.
“Our journalists travel regularly to this area to report on clashes in the region, the epicenter of fighting in Ukraine for several months,” AFP said in its statement.
Soldin is one of the several known journalists killed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, including Fox News photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and consultant Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, journalist and documentarian Brent Renaud, and photojournalist Maks Levin.
Born in Sarajevo, Arman was evacuated to France in 1992 as the Bosnian war broke out, and he told AFP in an interview last year that “stories about refugees affect me,” according to the agency’s obituary.
He joined AFP in 2015 in Rome and his first staff posting was in London later that year, according to the news agency.
Following news of his death, there was an outpouring of grief and condolences from his friends and colleagues.
“The whole agency is devastated by the loss of Arman,” said Fabrice Fries, CEO of AFP, according to the news agency. “His death is a terrible reminder of the risks and dangers faced by journalists on a daily basis when covering the conflict in Ukraine.”
Earlier this month Soldin kept his video camera rolling as he and his team of journalists came under rocket fire near the front line.
“Being caught under a rain of Grad yesterday with a bunch of trench-diggers is probably one of the worst things that I’ve experienced since being in Ukraine, with rockets exploding less than 50 meters away,” he wrote. “Pure terror.”
Colleagues who had worked with Soldin in Ukraine described him as a “brave and tenacious journalist” and “full of enthusiasm for life” in comments posted on Twitter.
One video posted in tribute showed him laughing and singing the 80s pop song“Forever Young” while driving with colleagues in April 2022.
In one of Soldin’s last Twitter threads, he posted a series of videos about rescuing a baby hedgehog that the team had found at the bottom of a crater from Russian shelling in Chasiv Yar. Soldin took the hedgehog back to base and hand-fed it back to health.
“Arman was the kind of guy who saved hurt hedgehogs in war zones. He was an incredible and vibrant personality and a great journalist. We miss him. We are mourning him. Rest in peace,” said Jonathan Brown, AFP’s deputy news editor for Moscow and Kyiv, on Twitter.
French President Emmanuel Macron mourned Soldin’s death, saying on Twitter: “We share the pain of his family and all his colleagues.”
“With courage, from the first hours of the conflict he was at the front to establish the facts. To inform us. We share the pain of his loved ones and all his colleagues.”
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya called Soldin a “remarkable journalist” who “paid with his life for his courage.”
“My condolences to his loved ones. Respect for all those who take enormous risks to speak the truth about the horrors of war in Ukraine,” he said.
In their obituary, AFP wrote that Soldin celebrated his 32nd birthday on March 21 from Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.
“A decent bottle had been opened for the occasion and a colleague had got his guitar out,” AFP quoted his colleague Antoine Lambroschini as saying.
Breaking News! Kumasi’s own, Asiedu Stephen aka Kwaku Ice, has just dropped his latest Afro-pop single titled “INSANE”!
The young and talented artist has been making waves in the music industry, with hits like “Sika” ft Dope Nation, “Wosei Mmer3” ft FlowkingStone, and “Pressure” ft Kofi Kinaata all under his record label ANN MUSIC.
Fans have been eagerly anticipating his next move, and Kwaku Ice did not disappoint with his latest track. “Insane” is a perfect blend of catchy beats and smooth vocals that will leave you feeling like you’re in a dreamland.
If you haven’t heard it yet, what are you waiting for? Head over to Kwaku Ice’s social media pages and get ready to be blown away by this fresh tune! Kwaku Ice heats up the music scene with new single “Insane”
The first NATO liaison office to be established in Asia is being considered by Japan, according to the country’s foreign minister, who said in an exclusive interview with CNN on Wednesday that the globe is less stable as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi stated on Wednesday, one week before the Group of Seven summit that Japan will be hosting this year in Hiroshima, “We are already in discussions, but no details (have) been) finalised yet.”
Hayashi explicitly noted Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year as a situation that had effects well beyond the boundaries of Europe and compelled Japan to reevaluate regional security.
“The reason why we are discussing about this is that since the aggression by Russia to Ukraine, the world (has) become more unstable,” he said.
Ukrainians fleeing war find asylum in unexpected Asian country (June 2022)
“Something happening in East Europe is not only confined to the issue in East Europe, and that affects directly the situation here in the Pacific. That’s why a cooperation between us in East Asia and NATO (is) becoming … increasingly important.”
He added that Japan is not a treaty member of NATO, which stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – but that the move sends a message the bloc’s Asia Pacific partners are “engaging in a very steady manner” with NATO.
The opening of a NATO liaison office in Japan would mark a significant development for the Western alliance amid deepening geopolitical fault lines, and is likely to attract criticism from the Chinese government, which has previously warned against such a move.
The Nikkei Asia first reported plans to open the office in Japan last Wednesday, citing unnamed Japanese and NATO officials.
NATO has similar liaison offices in other places including Ukraine and Vienna. The liaison office in Japan will enable discussions with NATO’s security partners, such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, on geopolitical challenges, emerging and disruptive technologies, and cyber threats, Nikkei reported last week.
In a statement to CNN last week, a NATO spokesperson said: “As to plans to open a liaison office in Japan, we won’t go into the details of ongoing deliberations among NATO allies.” She added that NATO and Japan “have a long-standing cooperation.”
CNN reached out to NATO for comment on Wednesday after Hayashi’s remarks.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves through Europe and drove non-aligned Finland and Sweden to abandon their neutrality and seek protection within NATO, with Finland formally joining the bloc last month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to participate in the G7 summit next week, said Hayashi, alongside the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Zelensky is expected to dial in remotely.
“Since we are hosting it here in Japan, so we have to talk about Asia Pacific, Indo-Pacific issues too,” he said, adding that the summit location in Hiroshima — where atomic bombs were dropped in 1945 — was partly chosen because “we would like to talk about nonproliferation and also disarmament,” topics that have come to the fore during the war in Ukraine.
The war has also seen countries like Japan and South Korea draw closer to their Western partners, while presenting a united front against perceived threats closer to home.
Hayashi highlighted what he described as Japan’s “severe and complex” regional security environment, noting that in addition to increased Russian aggression, Tokyo is also contending with a nuclear-armed North Korea and a rising China.
China has been growing its naval and air forces in areas near Japan while claiming the Senkaku Islands, an uninhabited Japanese-controlled chain in the East China Sea, as its sovereign territory. In the face of growing friction, Japan recently announced plans for its biggest military buildup since World War II.
Tensions between Japan and Russia have also been increasing in recent months, fueled in part by Russian military drills in the waters between the two nations, and joint Chinese-Russian naval patrols in the western Pacific close to Japan.
In April, Russian warships conducted anti-submarine exercises in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea – and in March, Russian missile boats fired cruise missiles at a mock target in the same waters. And after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit to Ukraine in March, two Russian strategic bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, flew over waters off the Japanese coast for more than seven hours, Reuters reported.
Despite the growing regional tensions, Hayashi said the potential opening of the office was not aimed at specific countries. “This is not intended…to be sending a message,” said Hayashi.
He added that Japan and other countries still need to cooperate with China on larger issues such as climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, and that Tokyo wanted a “constructive and stable relationship” with Beijing.
China has previously warned against NATO expanding its reach into Asia and responded angrily to previous reports on the possible Japan office.
“Asia is a promising land for cooperation and a hotbed for peaceful development. It should not be a platform for those who seek geopolitical fights,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning in a briefing last week. “NATO’s eastward push and interference in Asia Pacific matters will definitely undermine regional peace and stability.”
Though Beijing has claimed impartiality in the Ukraine war and no advance knowledge of Russia’s intent, it has refused to condemn Moscow’s actions. Instead, it has parroted Kremlin lines blaming NATO for provoking the conflict – further fracturing relationships with both Europe and the US.
And in March, senior Chinese Foreign Ministry officials and influential Communist Party publications accused the United States of seeking to build a NATO-like bloc in the Indo-Pacific, with one official warning of “unimaginable” consequences.
On Wednesday, Hayashi played down concerns that opening a Tokyo NATO office could further inflame tensions, saying: “I don’t feel that’s the case.”
The country has had a pacifist constitution since World War II – which he argued is reflected in this move.
“We are not offending anyone, we’re defending ourselves from any kind of interference and concerns, and in some cases threats,” he said.
Guess who’s back on social media and looking hotter than ever? The one and only Abena Korkor! The mental health advocate has been MIA for a while, leaving her followers wondering what’s up with her. But worry no more folks! Abena has returned with a bang and a video that’s got everyone talking. The former TV3 presenter, who is known for her controversial and revealing posts, has been missing in In the video, Abena shows off her sultry dance moves like she never left. But what’s really got people talking is her shocking weight loss! Yep, you heard that right – Abena’s curves seem no longer so apparent! But let’s be real, she still looks amazing as ever, and we can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next! Some have praised her for looking good and healthy, while others have expressed concern that she may have lost too much weight and lost her curves. Some have also speculated that she may have undergone surgery or used some weight loss products. Abena Korkor has not explained the reason behind her weight loss or how she achieved it. She has also not addressed the controversies that surrounded her before she went off social media. She captioned her video with “ Still I Rise ✨Watch this space for the BEST IS YET TO COME. DM for current advertising and influencer packages. #weightloss #fitgirl #abenakorkor #stillirise #mentalhealthawareness #loveyourself”
As Ghana’s political landscape heats up in anticipation of the upcoming general elections, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are preparing for their internal primaries. With the NDC’s primaries set to take place on May 13, 2023, party members are gearing up for what promises to be a hotly contested race.
However, two long-serving members of parliament have declared that they will not be seeking reelection, signaling a transition in leadership and providing an opportunity for new faces to emerge within the party.
1. Cletus Apul Avoka
The Member of Parliament for the Zebilla Constituency, Cletus Apul Avoka, has expressed his intention to retire from parliament and subsequently did not file to contest in the upcoming primary.
Avoka’s current tenure in parliament marks his final stint in the legislative chamber unless he reverses his decision and contests for the Zebilla parliamentary seat in 2024.
At the close of the nomination period on March 22, 2023, seven individuals from diverse socio-economic backgrounds had submitted their nominations, aspiring to replace Avoka and represent the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 parliamentary elections for the Zebilla constituency.
The seven aspirants who have thrown their hats into the ring are Dr. Simon Batamya Aseno, Bernard Wintimah Azumah, Lawyer Maxwell Ziyerley Agbambilla, Ebenezer Alumire Ndebilla, Nelson Ndebah Ndebugre, Abukura Asumda, and Agbango Simon Ayande.
2. James Klutse Avedzi
The incumbent Member of Parliament for Ketu North is also set to retire from parliament ahead of the 2024 elections. Avedzi has been a prominent figure in the House since the fourth parliament and has won five consecutive terms since then. Edem Agbana, the former deputy national communications officer of the NDC, has filed together with others to contest for the seat.
These retirements reflect a changing landscape within the NDC’s parliamentary representation and present an opportunity for new faces to emerge and contribute to the party’s agenda.
The forthcoming internal primaries will be crucial in determining the candidates representing the NDC in the 2024 general elections.
