The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has announced that it will commence a joint exercise with the Ghana Police Service to remove all abandoned vehicles on roads across the country, on Wednesday, April 4, 2023,
According to the authority, the abandonment of vehicles on roads is an offense under Clause 21 of the Road Traffic Act, 2004 (Act 683) of the 1992 Constitution.
In a release sighted by GhanaWeb, the NRSA added that owners or caretakers of vehicles abandoned on roads will be liable to a “summary conviction to a fine of not more than two hundred and fifty penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than twelve months or to both”.
“The Authority announces for the notice of all owners of motor vehicles or trailers that with effect from 5th April 2023, the Authority, will liaise with the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, to compulsorily remove or cause the removal of any broken-down motor vehicle or trailer left on a roadway or in a circumstance that poses danger, or that is likely to cause an accident or injury to any other person using the road, to a safer location and surcharge the owner or person in charge of the motor vehicle or trailer with the cost of removal and storage for immediate payment prior to release of the motor vehicle or trailer to the owner or person in charge in accordance with Regulation 102 (1) and(l0) of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2180),” parts of the release read.
The authority, therefore, urged the public to take the needed steps to remove their abandoned vehicles from the road to avoid losing them or being fined.
The business community in Ghana have registered their displeasure with Members of Parliament for passing three new revenue bills; Income Tax Amendment Bill, Excise Duty Amendment Bill, and Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill last Friday.
According to the President of Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr Joseph Obeng, though there were stiff opposition against the passage of the aforementioned bills by Ghanaians, especially the business community, parliament turned deaf ears to the calls.
Speaking on behalf of the trading community at a joint business consultative forum in Accra, he described the passage of the bills as unfortunate.
“The business community has protested vehemently petitioned the government against the bills but parliament failed to listen to the concerns and pleas of the people and rather listened to themselves. Forgetting that they represent the interest of their constituents including the Ghanaian business community,” he said.
He therefore called on parliament to hold on with the passage of the three revenue bills into law.
According to government, about GH¢4 billion would be raked in if the passage of the three revenue bills are implemented.
The Growth and Sustainability Levy is expected to raise approximately GH¢2.216 billion in 2023, while the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which amends the Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896) is expected to yield revenues of approximately GH¢1.29 billion.
The Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2022 amends the Excise Duty Act, 2014 (Act 878) and is expected to yield approximately GH¢455 million.
The Ugandan Parliament has pronounced sentences for persons found guilty of LGBTQ+ and its related activities.
The sentences are to serve as deterrents to persons with intentions to engage in the act, following the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023, which was passed on March 21, 2023.
A statement announcing them said: “The Parliament of Uganda has unanimously considered and passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 with maximum penalty of death sentence and imprisonment for other offenses.”
According to the statement, persons convicted of aggravated homosexuality will face a death penalty. Secondly, persons who commit the offense of homosexuality will face a 20-year sentence.
Additionally, a person convicted of promotion of homosexuality will be subjected to a jail term of 20 years.
A person recruiting children into homosexuality will face a 20-year jail sentence, if found guilty.
Persons who are convicted of attempted aggravated homosexuality will face a 14-year jail sentence.
Under the new law, persons convicted of attempted homosexuality will face a 10-year jail sentence.
Also, the owner of the premises that promote homosexuality will face a jail term of 10 years.
Children have not been left out in this as Uganda has pronounced sentences for children such that a child found guilty of homosexuality will be jailed 3 years.
Media houses that publish materials that promote homosexuality will be fined 1 billion shillings and also have their licenses revoked for 10 years.
About the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023
The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023 is a Ugandan parliamentary bill that restricts freedom of speech on LGBT topics and criminalises homosexuality. Parliament assented to the bill, which was then sent to President Yoweri Museveni, on 21 March 2023.
The bill has been condemned by the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and the European Union, as well as several local and international NGOs.
Dr Bernard Tuckson, Lecturer at the Department of Herbal Medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, who made the call, said the importance of herbal medicine in the management and treatment of diseases, could not be over-emphasized.
There is, therefore, the need for manufacturers to do the right things, so that users of such products would not abuse them.
“The fact that we are using herbs to manufacture medicine does not mean we should abuse them,” he stated, at the opening of herbal medicine fair in Kumasi.
“Researchers at the Department of Herbal Medicine are available to collaborate with industry to ensure such works are done well so that there will be products for diseases on the market,” he stated.
The fair which was organized by the Kumasi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in collaboration with some herbal medicine manufacturing companies in the Ashanti region, was under the theme “exploring healthcare through the healing power of nature.”
The aim was to team up with the industry players and policy makers to explore herbal medicine and identify resources available in the Ashanti region.
It was also to facilitate partnerships between local and foreign herbal medicine industry, attract foreign direct investment to the sector and promote product and services of businesses and trades.
Dr. Tuckson pointed out that regarding herbal medicine analysis, the role of researchers was crucial to ensure quality, safety, and efficacy of products.
He used the occasion to appeal to the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Ghana Standards Authority to develop their own mechanisms to test local herbal products.
This, he argued, would help most Ghanaians to have confidence in the quality, safety, and efficacy of herbal products on the market.
Mr. John Laryea Odai-Tettey, Ashanti Regional Head of the FDA, indicated that the Authority was readily available to offer technical assistance to all players in the herbal medicine products value chain.
He said it was important for manufacturers and retailers of herbal products to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) so that their products would not only remain in Ghana but be exported to other countries.
Mr Odai-Tettey cautioned players in the industry to register their products before selling and have advertisements approved before airing to avoid regulatory sanctions.
The private sector, they say is the engine of every economy but this sector has in the past years complained of unfavourable working environment in the country.
Amidst the high cost of doing business in Ghana, the introduction of taxes are some of the major problems of the trading community.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, the President of Ghana Union of Traders Association, Dr Joseph Obeng, called on government to rescind its decision to trade the survival and development of the private sector to the Bretton Woods institution as part of the US$3 billion bailout programme.
He averred that the efforts of the IMF to support the growth of the Ghanaian economy will amount to nothing if it ends up destroying local businesses.
In his view, government should rather create an enabling environment for the private sector businesses to grow.
“The private sector is the engine of growth of every economy, therefore, its importance cannot be over emphasized so the government should create an enabling environment that will ensure the growth and sustainability of the private sector, rather than over-taxing businesses out of their effectiveness,” he said.
“The government should not sacrifice the survival and development of the private sector for the sake of the IMF programme. The efforts of the IMF to support our national economy will amount to nothing if it ends up destroying local businesses,” Dr Joseph Obeng added.
It would be recalled that government on July 1, 2022, announced its decision to engage the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $3 billion financial bailout programme.
Subsequently, a team from the IMF arrived in the country from July 6 to July 13, 2022 to engage Ghanaian authorities for a possible economic support programme.
A staff-level agreement between Government of Ghana and IMF was however reached in December 2022.
The IMF programme, according to government is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and safeguarding debt sustainability among many others.
Meanwhile, the IMF has assigned Leonard Chumo as Resident Advisor to Bank of Ghana.
Finland has become the 31st member of the Nato security alliance, doubling the length of member states’ borders with Russia.
The Finnish foreign minister handed the accession document to the US secretary of state who declared Finland a member.
Then in bright sunshine in front of Nato’s gleaming new headquarters, Finland’s white-and-blue flag joined a circle of 30 other flags.
Finland’s accession is a setback for Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
He had repeatedly complained of Nato’s expansion before his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said by attacking his neighbour, the Russian leader had triggered exactly what he had sought to prevent.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Russia would be “watching closely” what happens in Finland, describing Nato’s enlargement as a “violation of our security and our national interests”.
A military band played Finland’s national anthem followed by the Nato hymn. Beyond the perimeter fence a small group of protesters waving Ukrainian flags chanted “Ukraine in Nato”, a reminder of why non-aligned Finland had asked to join along with Sweden in May 2022.
Image caption, Finnish military personnel raised their country’s flag at Nato headquarters for the first time
Finland shares a 1,340-km (832-mile) eastern frontier with Russia and after the war in Ukraine began Helsinki chose the protection of Nato’s Article Five, which says an attack on one member is an attack on all.
In effect, it means if Finland were invaded or attacked, all Nato members – including the US – would come to its aid.
Russia’s invasion prompted a surge in Finnish public opinion towards joining Nato to 80% in favour.
“It is a great day for Finland,” said Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, proclaiming a new era for his country. Finland would be a reliable ally and its membership would not be a threat to anyone, he said. “Security and stability are those elements which we feel very strongly; if people can live in secure stable circumstances that’s the basic element of happy life.”
“This will make Finland safer and Nato stronger,” said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg earlier, describing it as a proud day for him and the alliance.
“President Putin had a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to get less Nato along its borders and no more membership in Europe, he’s getting exactly the opposite.”
Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD/AFP
Finland will get an iron-clad security guarantee. Article 5 – our collective defence clause “One for all and all for one” – will now from today apply for Finland
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was “tempted to say this is maybe the one thing we can thank Mr Putin for, because he once again here has precipitated something he claims to want to prevent by Russia’s aggression”.
Finland brings with it a well-equipped and trained, active armed force of about 30,000. It can also call on 250,000 reserves.
It also provides a challenge for Nato to help keep its long border with Russia secure, but it is already being included in Nato’s latest defence plans to keep the alliance secure.
Image caption, Finland has a highly trained military and a very big reserve force
Sweden’s application has for now become stuck, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing Stockholm of embracing Kurdish militants and allowing them to demonstrate on the streets. Hungary is also yet to approve Sweden joining.
As he handed over the accession document to Mr Blinken, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said he had a very important initial task: “The task is to give to you for the deposit also our ratification for Swedish membership.”
Mr Stoltenberg said the most important thing was that Sweden joined as soon as possible and the Finnish president said he looked forward to welcoming his Nordic neighbour at Nato’s next summit in Lithuania in July.
Helsinki’s journey to accession has lasted less than a year, and Tuesday’s ceremony coincides with the 74th anniversary of Nato’s founding in 1949.
“Finland’s a terrific ally, very capable, shares our values and we expect a seamless transition into its proper seat at the table,” US ambassador to Nato Julianne Smith told the BBC.
The Kremlin said that Russia was being forced to take counter-measures to ensure its own security, tactically and strategically, but pointed out it had never had disagreements with Helsinki in the way that Ukraine had become “anti-Russian”.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Russia’s short-range Iskander-M ballistic missile system had been handed over to Belarus and was capable of carrying nuclear as well as conventional weapons. Some Belarusian fighter jets were also capable of carrying nuclear weapons, he said.
Jens Stoltenberg said Nato had not yet seen any changes to Russia’s nuclear posture that would require any change by the alliance. He added there would be no Nato troops stationed in Finland without the consent of the government in Helsinki.
Nato will now have seven members on the Baltic Sea, further isolating Russia’s coastal access to St Petersburg and its small exclave of Kaliningrad.
Mr Peskov told the BBC that Russia would be watching closely how Nato used Finnish territory “in terms of basing weapons systems and infrastructure there which will be right up close to our borders, potentially threatening us”.
“Based on that, measures will be taken,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
Robert Jenrick, the minister of immigration, has been prohibited from driving for the ensuing six months after exceeding the speed limit by about 30 mph.
At a court hearing on Tuesday, Mr. Jenrick was also assessed a total fine of £1,639 pounds.
He previously acknowledged doing 68 mph in a temporary 40 mph zone on the southbound M1 on August 5 of last year between junctions 18 and 17.
The case was dealt with through a Single Justice Procedure at Northampton Magistrates’ Court, which allows a magistrate to rule on criminal cases seen as minor in a closed court, meaning the public and press cannot attend.
Mr Jenrick was fined £1,107 after being caught speeding (Picture: PA)
They also allow defendants to plead guilty or not guilty in writing which meant that Mr Jenrick, 41, did not have to attend court in person.
Mr Jenrick has been approached for comment.
The MP for Newark, in Nottinghamshire, was travelling after an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions at Wakefield Cathedral when he was caught by a speed camera in his Land Rover at around 11.30pm on August 5, the London Evening Standard reported.
The Evening Standard had previously said Mr Jenrick was fined £307 and handed three penalty points in March, for speeding on the A40 in west London in August 2021.
He was fined £1,107, and ordered to pay a £442 victim surcharge and £90 in costs.
The National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine’s secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, thinks Russia is already disintegrating.
The West is terrified of Russia‘s fragmentation, he told The Times, and neither side knows what Russia is like. Yet, this process is already in motion.
He continued by saying that Kyiv thinks Russia will disintegrate in a “spectacular” way within the next years.
‘It is a historic process and you can’t stop history,’ Mr Danilov added.
But he thinks China may attempt to take territory in Russia following the fallout – especially in Siberia, where there are significant Chinese populations.
‘Letting China take Russian territory will be dangerous for the West because by unlocking one problem they will create another. There needs to be initial steps by the West now.
‘China is a big country and will be a mighty rival to the Anglo-Saxon world. Now it’s the owner of Russia.
‘Russia will no longer undertake any important action without them. Russia fully lost its sovereignty. That’s a fact.’
Mr Danilov pointed to the fact that although Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping declared friendship ‘without limits’ in their recent summit, China did not offer to provide weapons to the war effort.
He suggested the meeting in fact just demonstrated ‘weakness’ within the Kremlin.
He further claimed China was ‘acting in its own interest’ when refusing Western sanctions on purchasing Russian oil and gas, and thinks China’s hand has been strengthened by this.
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine seems to have come to a standstill recently, with the war centring around the city of Bakhmut, near the Donetsk region.
Neither side appear to be making significant gains, but the cracks are beginning to show following a leak of secret documents revealing Putin’s cyberwar tactics and two of his cronies were caught calling him a ‘dwarf’ and ‘Satan’ in a leaked recording.
Over the weekend Mr Danilov outlined the steps the Ukrainian government would take after the country reclaims control of Crimea, including dismantling the bridge linking the Black Sea peninsula to Russia.
Ukraine’s military is currently preparing for a spring counter-offensive in hopes of making new gains and ending the war, which has now continued for more than a year.
Finland is also set to officially join Nato today, which will finally secure its place in the Western military alliance.
According to Sergei Shoigu, the minister of defense for Russia, some jets from Belarus can currently transport nuclear bombs.
The action is thought to be a reaction to Finland’s anticipated NATO membership, which is expected to be confirmed later today.
On a conference call at the military department, Shoigu stated that “some of the Belarusian ground attack planes have achieved the capability to strike against enemy targets with nuclear-armed weapons.”
He also confirmed that a number of Iskander rocket systems had been transferred to Belarus, which could be used to carry conventional or nuclear missiles.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the move on the same day Finland joins Nato
Meanwhile, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said Finland’s accession to Nato later on Tuesday will be a historic event and a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the Scandinavian nation and neighbouring Sweden to submit a joint application to the bloc.
‘President Putin had as a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to get less NATO,’ he told reporters ahead of a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers.
‘He is getting exactly the opposite… Finland today, and soon also Sweden will become a full fledged member of the alliance,’ he said.
Sweden’s application has for now become stuck, with Turkish President Erdogan accusing Stockholm of embracing Kurdish militants and allowing them to demonstrate on the streets.
Hungary is also yet to approve Sweden’s application.
Elsewhere, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met with the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin to speak of ‘unbelievable threats.’
In an address to the Belarusian people on March 31, Lukashenko claimed that Nato countries were preparing for an imminent invasion of the country.
During a press conference, he said: ‘Taking into consideration various developments going on in the world, and not the last factor here is fight against terrorism, we see that the special military operation of the Russian Federation prompted us to have a scrupulous look at law enforcement, military and security services.
‘As I often say, had this not happened, we would have had to come up with something else to spur ourselves to take action. Thus we had to get the ball rolling.
‘Yet, threats are very serious, sometimes unbelievable.’
He also claimed that in addition to nuclear support, Moscow had been working to bolster Belarus’ intelligence services.
‘All sorts of b******s come to the surface in our country and yours [Russia], and they side with foreign terrorists,’ Lukashenko told Naryshkin.
‘I cannot define them otherwise. This is not intelligence, not counterintelligence, these are our enemies,’ he added.
Russia has long threatened to bolster its defences along the Finnish border if Nato provides any military assistance its Scandinavian neighbour.
Finland shares an 832-mile land border with Russia, the largest in Europe, and its entry will more than double the size of Nato’s border with Russia.
The move is a strategic and political blow to Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about Nato’s expansion towards Russian territory.
According to rumors, the Kremlin wants to replace the infamous Wagner Group with a different group over which Vladimir Putin has more sway.
Putin has allegedly grown concerned about his own position as a result of an apparent conflict between the Russian Defense Ministry and the mercenary group.
In light of rumors of a power struggle between significant Russian officials, the Russian president is said to be concerned that the Wagner Group has grown excessively influential.
However, no other known Russian group comes close to Wagner’s military size or combat power, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
The British defence experts said the desire for a replacement group shows the Kremlin still wants to use mercenaries in Ukraine.
This is because they are less constrained by limited pay levels and the inefficiency that hampers Russia’s regular army.
The military leadership believe heavy casualties among a replacement group would also be more tolerated by Russian society, compared to regular military losses.
The Wagner Group – made up of ex-convicts – has played an important role in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The Wagner group does not actually exist as a legal entity (Picture: Reuters)
But in February, Wagner’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was ordered to reduce his 50,000-strong army, and replace them with 300,000 ordinary soldiers.
Putin reportedly fears Prigozhin’s influence in Ukraine could soon outstrip his own and make him vulnerable if a leadership bid was launched.
Fears of a power struggle between Putin and Prigozhin may also explain the Kremlin’s determination to replace the Wagner Group.
While the group is notorious, feared and dangerous – it does not actually exist as a legal entity, and analysts are still debating how to define it.
It instead operates more like a network of different, overlapping groups in various parts of the world.
The group is seemingly run beyond the law in Russia and is linked to neo-Nazism and far-right extremism.
Operatives have committed war crimes in Ukraine and other locations, including rape and robbery of civilians as well as torturing accused deserters.
When Ailish Walsh’s lover Liam Taylor killed her, she was 22 weeks pregnant.
A drunken brute who interrupted his drug binge by killing his pregnant girlfriend with a pair of scissors has admitted to killing her.
On the evening of December 15, Liam Taylor, 37, became enraged when Ailish Walsh, 28, who was only four months away from giving birth, attempted to eject him from her Hackney, east London, apartment.
Then Taylor, who was aware that she was carrying their child, snatched the object with a blade and stabbed her 40 times before departing the scene.
Ailish’s dad called 999 after arriving an hour later and finding his daughter – who was unconscious, covered in blood and draped with a hi-vis jacket – but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 28-year-old, of Irish origin, is thought to have left behind four young children.
Taylor still had cocaine, cannabis and alcohol in his system when he was arrested at his home the next morning.
As he was taken away, he quipped: ‘It’s crazy how one moment of madness can change your whole life.’
Latest London news
Jurors at the Old Bailey were shown CCTV footage of the 37-year-old entering Ailish’s block of flats at 8.36pm on the evening of her death and leaving at 9.14pm.
The expecting mum also alerted a friend after texting her to say she was trying to get Taylor out of the flat because he was taking drugs.
The court heard how the pal phoned Ailish five minutes before Taylor was shown to have left and heard screaming in the background.
His bank card was found in the victim’s pocket, added the prosecution, who described the attack as ‘exceptionally brutal’.
After Taylor admitted murder, the court was told he had previously been jailed for a year for assaulting his own mother with a metal pole and was cautioned for headbutting his sister when he was 16.
The defendant, of Hornsey, east London, was remanded into custody ahead of his sentencing next month.
A lady who gained notoriety after claiming to be Madeleine McCann performed a DNA test.
The missing child who disappeared from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 is thought to be 21-year-old Julia Wendell.
She claimed on Instagram and Tiktok that she might be the missing British woman because of similarities in their ages and appearances.
Julia, a guest from Poland, was recently asked to elaborate on her statements during an appearance on the Dr. Phil show.
She said that Julie had reportedly suffered a skull fracture as a child which had erased part of her memory.
The brain injury – which happened when she was eight – had initially left her unable to speak or walk.
Julia told Dr Phil: ‘I have some single memories since eight, nine years old.
Dr Fia Johansson (left) has been granted power of attorney over Julia Wendell (Picture: @juliawendell_official)
‘And before eight, I have only this one memory with beach and water, like sea or ocean, and there were turtles and children trying to catch the turtles and take them in their hands.
‘And I remembered light-coloured buildings, like white or very light colours, sunlight on this building.’
Dr Johansson, who is also a medium, has been granted power of attorney over Julia, the show was told.
She has dispelled any possibility Julia could be missing Maddie.
She told RadarOnline.com: ‘She is absolutely 100 percent from Poland. She is a small percentage of Lithuanian and Russian but the test results show she is Polish.
‘We learned a few things, one being that Julia’s mum is in fact now believed to be her mum, so she is not Madeleine McCann.’
DNA testing into who Julia’s father is is still ongoing.
Relatives of Maddie previously insisted ‘it’s obvious Julia isn’t Maddie’ and blamed mental health issues and a lust for attention after gaining more than a million followers under the handle @iammadeleinemccann.
Detectives have similarly ‘ruled out’ her account, with Pawel Noga, a spokesman for the police in Wroclaw telling Gazeta the investigation ‘contradicts the version presented by this woman’.
Julia’s account started posting content in February. In one video she points out how she supposedly bears a distinctive spot in her right eye and beauty mark on her cheek which resemble Maddie’s.
The clip has now been viewed over 1.3 million times.
A description below the video read: ‘Help me, I need to talk with Kate and Gerry McCann.
‘I think I can be Madeleine. I need DNA test.
‘Police investigators from UK and Poland try to ignore me.
‘I will tell my story in posts here. Help me.’
Met Police has spent over £13 million on Operation Grange in a desperate bid to find her, alongside international searches.
Christian Brueckner, who is currently in a German prison for a number of sex and drug offences, was named by prosecutors in the country as a chief suspect in June 2020.
However investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas found that there was no solid evidence linking the 45-year-old to the disappearance as he researched a documentary that was broadcast in May last year.
A young man, identified as Richard Osita, has called out his female friend, Bella Nwoko, who falsely accused him of rape.
According to Richard, his longtime friend, Bella, had on two occasions threatened to accuse him of raping her.
He said he and Bella grew up together, and he had always seen her as a little sister, but despite their closeness, Bella threatened to ruin his reputation by accusing him of rape.
According to him, she first threatened to accuse him of rape in 2021 when he turned down her sexual advances.
This didn’t end there, as he disclosed once again that she threatened to accuse him of rape just recently, after he asked her to pay back some monies owed him.
To corroborate his claim, he took to his Instagram page, @your_young_king, to share a video of Bella apologizing for “accusing him of rape.”
Sharing the video which has since gone viral, he wrote
“THIS WOMAN ACCUSED ME OF RAPE BECAUSE I TURNED HER DOWN, ALL FALSE RAPE ACCUSERS SHOULD SERVE THE SAME JAIL TERM AS ACTUAL RAPISTS. SHE TRIED TO RUIN MY LIFE AND I WANT THE NIGERIA POLICE FORCE TO DO THE RIGHT THING @nigeriapoliceforce
MANY INNOCENT MEN ARE IN PRISON BECAUSE OF WOMEN LIKE THIS, I NEED HER IN JAIL!! BECAUSE IF THE TABLES WERE TURNED ID BE IN FUCKING PRISON RIGHT NOW. FUCK YOU BITCH”.
The post has since been featured on various Nigeria blogs with tons of comments from netizens.
Jamie Meah has been identified as the kid who was fatally stabbed in Leeds after being stopped in his cab by someone in another vehicle.
Following the incident, which happened in Leeds’s Armley neighborhood on Friday night, the 18-year-old passed away in the hospital.
At the intersection of Hall Lane and Brentwood Terrace, he and another 16-year-old passenger in the taxi were ambushed by three suspects in a separate vehicle.
According to West Yorkshire Police, the two were brought out onto the street and attacked with a “bladed weapon.”
The 16-year-old suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries, and he remains unnamed.
Detectives arrested a 30-year-old man on suspicion of murder at the weekend, and he was released on bail pending further inquiries.
Detective Chief Inspector Damian Roebuck said: ‘I can promise that all necessary resources are being employed to investigate the murder of Jamie and the attack on a 16-year-old.
‘I would like to renew our appeal for anyone who has information about the attack or footage which could assist our investigation to contact us.
‘A number of wide-ranging inquiries remain ongoing into this very serious offence by detectives and I want to thank residents who have come forwards with information so far.’
Caption: Police have released an update after 18-year-old Jamie Meah was stabbed to death in Leeds last week. Jamie was stabbed in Armley on Friday, March 31, at the junction between Hall Lane and Brentwood Terrace. A boy, 16, who was with him also received serious but non-life threatening injuries. Provider: Yorkshire Live/MEN MEDIA Source: Yorkshire Live/MEN MEDIA (Credits: Yorkshire Live/MEN MEDIA)
He added: ‘If you saw the attack on the victims, have footage of it or of suspects arriving at or leaving the scene then please get in touch with detectives here at the Homicide and Major Inquiry Team.’
Anyone who believes they may be able to help is asked to contact the police by calling 101 or using the live chat facility on the West Yorkshire Police website, and quoting log 1331 of March 31.
Twitter‘s recognizable blue bird logo was replaced with the trending Doge meme in what appears to be a delayed April Fool’s joke.
Many expressed their astonishment on Twitter on Monday after discovering a Shiba Inu dog on Twitter’s homepage and loading screen in place of the blue bird logo.
In 2010, a picture of a dog became viral and later used as the logo for the well-known cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
Elon Musk, the founder of Twitter, acknowledged the shift by posting a meme.
The reason behind the change is unclear, with some users speculating that it was an April Fool’s Day prank that wasn’t done on time as key employees had been laid off.
The timing of the change is still suspicious as it comes days after Musk petitioned a court in the US to dismiss a lawsuit filed against him by Dogecoin investors for $258 billion over an alleged pyramid scheme.
The change also caused an instant boost the value of the memecoin. In just 30 minutes, Dogecoin prices increased by 30%.
Who or what is Doge?
Doge is a popular internet meme that consists of a picture of Kabosu, a Shiba Inu dog, accompanied by multicoloured text in Comic Sans font.
Last year, Musk was sued for $258 billion (£209 billion) for allegedly running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency.
In Friday’s hearing, Musk’s lawyers said the investors never explained how Musk intended to defraud anyone or what risks he concealed, and that his statements such as ‘Dogecoin Rulz’ and ‘no highs, no lows, only Doge’ were too vague to support a fraud claim.
‘There is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion,’ Musk’s lawyers said. ‘This court should put a stop to plaintiffs’ fantasy and dismiss the complaint.’
US Vice-President Kamala Harris who is on a tour of three African countries – Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia – has drawn criticism over her support for LGBTQ rights.
In Ghana, in a speech calling for “all people be treated equally” she appeared to criticise a bill before the country’s parliament which criminalises advocacy for gay rights and proposes jail terms for those that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
The country’s Speaker Alban Bagbin later called her remarks “undemocratic” and urged lawmakers not to be “intimidated by any person”.
In Tanzania, a former minister spoke against US support for LGBTQ rights ahead of the visit and in Zambia some opposition politicians have threatened to hold protests.
Where is homosexuality still outlawed?
Some countries, including several in Africa, have recently moved to decriminalise same-sex unions and improve rights for LGBTQ people.
In December 2022, Singapore’s parliament repealed a controversial law which banned sex between men.
In the same month, the high court in Barbados struck out laws that criminalised gay sex.
In July last year, the courts in Antigua and Barbuda declared a law criminalising same-sex acts between consenting adults unconstitutional.
In February 2021, Angola’s President Joao Lourenco signed into law a revised penal code to allow same-sex relationships and ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
In 2020, Gabon reversed a law that had criminalised homosexuality and made gay sex punishable with six months in prison and a large fine.
Botswana’s High Court also ruled in favour of decriminalising homosexuality in 2019. Mozambique and the Seychelles have also scrapped anti-homosexuality laws in recent years.
But there are countries where existing laws outlawing homosexuality have been tightened, including Nigeria and Uganda.
Uganda’s parliament recently passed a law to crack down on homosexual activities, prompting widespread condemnation.
Image caption, Campaign against LGBTQ rights in some African countries has intensified in recent weeks
And in some countries, efforts to get the laws removed have failed.
In May 2019, the high court in Kenya upheld laws criminalising homosexual acts. In February his year Kenya’s highest court ruled that it was wrong for authorities to ban the gay community from registering a rights organisation. but it stressed that gay sex remains illegal.
Colonial legacy
Many of the laws criminalising homosexual relations originate from colonial times.
And in many places, breaking these laws could be punishable by long prison sentences.
Out of the 53 countries in the Commonwealth – a loose association of countries most of them former British colonies – 29 have laws that criminalise homosexuality.
Although the original British laws applied only to men, countries that criminalise homosexuality today also have penalties for women who have sex with women.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (Ilga) monitors the progress of laws relating to homosexuality around the world.
It says the death penalty is the legally prescribed punishment for same-sex sexual acts in Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and in some northern states of Nigeria.
In five countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia, and the United Arab Emirates – there is no legal clarity and the death penalty could be applied.
Image caption, An Indian gay rights activist protests against a court ruling in 2013 upholding a law which criminalises gay sex.
Sudan repealed the death penalty for consensual same-sex sexual acts in 2020.
Some observers note that the risk of prosecution in some places is minimal.
For example, a 2017 report on Jamaica by the UK Home Office said that Jamaica was regarded as a homophobic society, but that the “authorities do not actively seek to prosecute LGBT persons”.
Activist groups say the ability of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) organisations to carry out advocacy work is being restricted.
Changing trend
There is a global trend toward decriminalising same-sex acts.
So far, 33 countries in the world recognise same-sex marriages, and 34 others provide for some partnership recognition for same-sex couples, Ilga says.
In Africa, same-sex marriages and civil unions are only legal in South Africa, and the French Islands of Mayotte and Reunion.
Ghanaian comedian Funny Face has opened up about his struggle with mental health and how it has affected his life.
Speaking on Hitz FM, he revealed feeling shy and embarrassed when watching videos of himself during that time, calling out for help from friends and family.
He emphasized the importance of taking mental health seriously in Ghana and around the world.
“When I sit back and I watch some of the videos, I feel shy about it…I cannot even watch them. That is why we have to take mental health seriously in this country,” he said.
In the past,Funny Face faced backlash from the public after launching vicious attacks on people he felt were a threat to his success, including his friend Emmanuel Adebayor and the mother of his children, Vanessa.
However, his family was able to get him the help he needed by taking him to a psychiatric hospital, where he received care and treatment from the nurses.
During his stay, Funny Face learned to control his emotions and became more aware of his mental health.
“Now I control my emotions. Unless I don’t see them. They told me I don’t have a problem but I should focus on my emotions” he added.
He shared that the nurses urged him to focus on himself to get better and that he now controls his emotions unless he sees them.
He stressed the need for people to take mental health seriously and the significant impact it can have on one’s life and those around them.
Nigeria has been battling cholera for so many years. It is highly contagious and occurs in places without safe water and proper sanitation. It causes profuse diarrhoea and vomiting, and without treatment can quickly lead to severe dehydration followed by death .
At about 6:40 pm on 17 January 2023, Gift Sunday-James, (35 years) shouts for help as she approaches the Primary Health Centre (PHC) located in Ovomum, Obabura Local Government Area (LGA), in Cross River State.
Her brother Emmanuel Sunday-James, conveyed in a taxi, had been stooling and vomiting continuously and was now dehydrated and could not move.
“As a farmer, my usual practice was to drink water from the stream near my farm” says Mr Emmanuel.
On that fateful day Mr Emmanuel fell ill, he recalled drinking water from the stream.
“I was passing watery stool and vomiting for about four hours after getting home. I felt like I was dying, and I am grateful for the quick intervention I got at the health facility, he says.
At the clinic, Mr Emmanuel was placed on Intravenous Fluid (IVU) and subsequently on oral rehydration solution.
Furthermore, a Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) was conducted on his stool sample and it tested positive for cholera.
Mr Emmanuel has since been discharged and now advises people to drink purified water either by boiling or using water purifiers.
“I don’t want anybody to experience what I went through,” he says.
Interrupting the outbreak transmission
Aside from Mr Emmanuel. many people have reported cases of stooling and vomiting in other LGAs (Abi, Biase and Obabura, and Ikom,Etung). While some got better after being hospitalized, some died from the disease particularly those who reported late for treament.
An epidemiological report from the State Ministry of Health shows that 638 suspected cases and 17 deaths have been reported between December 2022 and February 2023 in the affected LGAs.
To stop further fatalities, the state government, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners, set up a Rapid Response Team (RRT) comprising experts to coordinate the interruption of the disease,” says Dr Janet Ekpeyong, the Cross River State Commissioner of Health.
“With support from partners, we increased the capacity of existing cholera treatment centres (CTC) in the hotspot LGAs. The government is committed to taking action to ensure residents of the state have access to safe drinking water and sanitation services to reduce the incidences of cholera and other waterborne infectious diseases.
Commending WHO for its prompt support, Dr Ekpeyong says “WHO is a dependable lead partner providing technical guidance, coordination and also donated medical commodities for the emergency cholera intervention in the state.
Part of WHO’s support to the state included the donation of Rapid Diagnosis Test (RDT) cholera kits, and Cary Blair medium for transporting stool samples for culture testing for effective diagnosis of the patients.
In addition, 2000 intravenous fluids, cannula and oral rehydration salts and Infection Prevention Control (IPC) commodities were donated.
“The donated medical commodities eased testing and case management, says the WHO State Coordinator in Cross River State, Dr Yewande Olatunde.
Dr Olatunde explains that WHO further supported the replenishment of testing and treatment commodities at the 29 cholera treatment units (CTU) in three hotspot LGAs.
“To enusure all cases receive prompt care at the facilities, WHO conducted an extensive training for health professionals on treatment, and increasing infection prevention and control (IPC) measures,” she adds.
Robust community engagement Further working with community leaders and volunteers from the affected communities, WHO partnered with the state to promote educational risk messaging on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and conducted decontamination of homes of active and recovered persons, health facilities attending to cases and providing IPC materials to volunteering community members.
The WHO-trained volunteers from the affected communities conducted house-to-house (H2H) awareness campaigns to stop the spread of the disease.
From December to January, 4811 households were covered, and 88 607 residents were educated about WASH and IPC control measures in the three hotspot LGAs of the state.
Base on the integrated support and coordinated response, there has been a decline in the number of cases reported since January. ( 69% decline between Epi-weeks 3 and 7, 2023). Other partners involved in the response are Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), UNICEF, Medicine San Frontier (MSF) and Save the Children, who donated commodities to strengthen the Cholera response.
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD ) has indicated that, the inability of the institution to pay cocoa farmers their desired price for their farm produce is not enough justification for some farmers to enable and facilitate the smuggling of cocoa beans to neighboring countries.
In a one-on-one interview with Daniel Oduro on the Lowdown show on GhanaWeb TV, Fiifi Boafo, Head of Public Affairs, acknowledged that the inability of COCOBOD to meet the price demand of cocoa farmers for their beans is a significant factor for which some farmers smuggle cocoa beans to neighboring countries, however, the reason is not defensible since farmers and the state lose a lot of revenue when cocoa is smuggled.
The Public Relations Officer questioned farmers on where they expected government to generate revenue from to meet their projected price if they encourage cocoa smuggling.
“If we spend resources to buy facilities and finance all the other initiatives to increase productivity and they are smuggled out of the country, where do you expect us to get money to pay for all these services and match up the price?” Fiifi Boafo asked.
Fiifi Boafo added that relatively, Ghanaian cocoa farmers although are paid less for their produce are more privileged than farmers in Cote D’Ivoire. He explained that, farmers in Cote D’Ivoire are not provided fertilizers and other incentives by the government but in addition to the competitive price paid for cocoa, Ghanaian farmers are provided with fertilizers.
He explained, “We buy fertilizers, insecticides and provide other incentives for farmers to enable them carry on with their activities, but farmers in Cote D’ Ivoire do not enjoy such privileges, they are paid and they must cater for such needs by themselves.”
When Donald Trump comes in court tonight, one of his attorneys has predicted that he will enter a “very loud and proud” not-guilty plea.
When he is taken into custody on Tuesday, the first former president to be indicted, he will be informed that he is charged with 34 felonies for falsifying company records.
On the eve of the 2016 election, hush money payments were made to Stormy Daniels, a porn star, and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, who both claim to have had affairs with Trump.
In a historic move before of the election in 2016, he will be led out Trump Tower by Secret Service personnel to be officially charged, fingerprinted, and photographed.
In an email to supporters of his 2024 campaign, Trump mourned ‘the loss of justice in America’.
He wrote: ‘Today is the day that a ruling political party ARRESTS its leading opponent for having committed NO CRIME.
‘As I will be out of commission for the next few hours, I want to take this moment to THANK YOU for all of your support.
‘Our nation is becoming a Marxist Third World country that CRIMINALIZES dissent and IMPRISONS its political opposition.’
He added: ‘We are a nation that declared its independence from the world’s biggest empire, won two world wars, and landed the first man on the moon.
‘Resilience is in our blood. Our movement has overcome so much. And there is no doubt in my mind that we will prevail once again and WIN the White House in 2024.’
Asked how Trump will conduct himself during the short appearance, Joe Tacopina told CNN’s State of the Union he will ‘very loudly and proudly say “not guilty”’.
The lawyer said he would also deny any lesser charges, even if it would bring an end to the case.
Mr Tacopina said he does not believe the case will ever reach a jury, but conceded: ‘Really, there’s a lot of mystery here because we’re doing something that’s never been done before.’
Speaking to ABC’s Good Morning America, he said: ‘I think there will be a typical processing, which does not take long, 20-30 minutes. There won’t be handcuffs.
‘But, yeah, he’ll be processed the way anyone else would be — to a degree.’
Trump is expected to be released following the hearing as thee charges against him do not require bail to be set.
He is due to return to Mar-a-Lago in Florida this evening to hold a rally in which he is set to be joined by supporters as he seeks to use the criminal charges as a boost to his 2024 campaign.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has blasted the investigation as part of a years-long ‘witch hunt’ aimed at damaging his candidacy.
The judge could issue a gag order barring him from speaking about his indictment on the campaign trail, but such directions are usually made at the request of the defendant and Trump is said to be relishing the attention.
His campaign team claims he raised $8 million in the less than a week since the indictment.
Trump has assailed the Manhattan district attorney, egged on supporters to protest and claimed without evidence that the judge ‘hates me’ — something his own lawyer has said is not true.
Today, when Donald Trump makes his court appearance as the first former US president to be charged with a crime, history is likely to be made in a New York courtroom.
A judge will take his photo, take his fingerprints, and bring the guy who oversaw one of the most powerful nations in the world for four years to court.
It happens after he formally began his 2024 presidential campaign.
But what specifically is the issue? Let Metro guide you through it.
Adult film star Stormy Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump back in 2006, the year after he married his third wife Melania who had just given birth to their son Barron.
When the 2016 election came around, she was planning on selling her story, so Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 (£105,000) for her silence.
Trump is believed to have reimbursed Cohen more than double the original amount, but has continued to deny the affair.
Hush money is not illegal but court documents claim that the former Apprentice star falsely listed his former lawyer’s reimbursement as ‘legal services’.
Given that it allegedly happened as Americans went to the polls, there’s a chance it could also violate laws about payments that help an election campaign.
In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to nine federal charges, including campaign finance violations, and was sentenced to three years in prison.
What about Donald Trump and Karen McDougal?
The new investigation into Trump is said to also be probing a second alleged payment of $150,000 (£120,000) made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claims to have had an affair with Trump beginning in 2006.
The parent company of the National Enquirer agreed to pay McDougal $150,000 (£120,000) for the rights to her story.
But the tabloid never published her account, a practice known as ‘catch and kill’. Trump has also denied having this affair.
It is not immediately clear whether this is definitely part of the criminal case, which remains under seal.
What charges will Donald Trump face?
Two sources have claimed the indictment includes multiple charges of falsifying business records, including at least one felony offence.
But we don’t actually know yet – and we’ll hopefully find out tonight.
To prove that Trump committed a fraudulent offence that rises above a misdemeanour, prosecutors need to present evidence that his records were intentionally falsified – and were done so with the intention of committing, aiding or concealing another crime.
The 76-year-old is expected to be released by authorities because the charges against him do not require that bail be set.
Unless his attorneys succeed in using pre-trial motions to get the case dismissed before it reaches a jury, there will be a trial where the billionaire can make his case.
So what will happen with Donald Trump today?
Trump is predicted to arrive at a Manhattan court at around 6.30am local time (11.30am UK time).
He is expected to be be fingerprinted and have a mug shot taken before investigators complete arrest paperwork.
Following this, he will appear before a judge for his arraignment at around 2.15pm US time (7.15pm UK time).
The charges will be read and Trump will be asked to enter a plea.
If he says not guilty, as expected, the judge will set a court date for a further hearing or a trial.
The former US leader is due back at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, at 8.15pm local time (1.15am UK time on Wednesday) where he will give a speech.
Could Donald Trump go to jail?
Technically, yes. The charge of falsifying business records in the first degree is a low-level felony carrying up to four years in prison.
But first-time offenders rarely go to prison on violent, low-level felonies.
The most likely outcomes are a fine, community service, or probation.
If this is the case, it doesn’t mean the trial won’t matter in the long run though.
Trump is facing a number of other criminal investigations which carry a risk of more serious criminal charges. A defendant’s prior criminal record can have an impact on sentencing.
What has Donald Trump said about the hush money case?
Trump is expected to plead not guilty and has warned of potential ‘death & destruction’ if he faces criminal charges.
He believes the New York grand jury indictment – and three additional pending investigations – are politically motivated and intended to weaken his bid to retake the White House.
Writing on his Truth Social media site, he said: ‘What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?’
The former reality-TV star has been hyping that narrative to his political advantage, raising millions of dollars since the indictment on claims of a ‘witch hunt’.
He has personally assailed the Manhattan district attorney, egged on supporters to protest, and claimed without evidence that the judge presiding over the case ‘hates me’ – something his own lawyer has said is not true.
Can Donald Trump still run for president?
Yes. There is nothing in the US Constitution that stops Trump from running to become president again.
Even if he did go to prison, he could still – in theory – run.
To qualify, you have to be born in America, to have been a resident for 14 years and be over 35.
But the case is likely to become a huge distraction amid his campaign.
Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has joined the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, to inaugurate the Christina Akua Brago Diawuo Library and Technology Hub in honour of her mother.
Speaking at the state-of-the-art edifice’s inauguration in Akim Oda in the Eastern Region, Dr. Bawumia said digitalisation is critical to the country’s future.
The Vice President said this initiative will undoubtedly shape the community’s future, complementing government’s mission to digitise all sectors of the economy by equipping the youth with ICT skills.
“Digitalisation is the future of the globe. Hence, there is a need to equip our youth to be prepared for the competition ahead,” Dr. Bawumia said. “The government of Ghana has prioritised education and deliberately made efforts in motivating girl-child education.”
The facility comes with a Huawei Idea Hub, and will serve as a valuable resource for local schools by providing students with access to virtual learning experiences and allowing them to connect with other students from different parts of the world.
The facility is funded by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Huawei Ghana, MTN Ghana and the Ghana Library Authority.
On his part, the Administrator of GIFEC, Prince Ofosu Sefah, said the project will significantly reduce disparity in access to ICT between urban and rural populations in Ghana.
“It will also ensure that the impact of ICT is felt in every facet of citizens’ lives; in education, health, commerce, agriculture and even entertainment, as ICT remains a key factor in the economic and social development of countries because it has positive effects on economic growth, productivity and employment,” he said.
GIFEC, since its establishment, has provided innovative solutions to ensure universal access and digital inclusion in the country’s remotest parts and to all marginalised communities through three main programme areas: infrastructure development, equipment and resource provision, and capacity building.
Again, in an attempt to provide basic and intermediate skills to enable students use digital technologies in more meaningful and beneficial ways, GIFEC has since 2017 to date equipped ICT laboratories for over 947 basic and senior high schools to improve teaching and learning of ICT, with 91 in the Eastern Region alone.
Through this initiative, a total of about 17,000 citizens from various backgrounds have been trained in various ICT programmes across the country. It has also facilitated the Girls in ICT Programme, which has trained about 8,000 girls and 800 teachers.
Its Digital Transformation Centres Programme (DTC), implemented in partnership with the ITU, CISCO and NORAD, has also trained 10,000 citizens across the country.
Brian Wulang, Director of Enterprise Business, Huawei, expressed the company’s excitement to be part of “this incredible initiative aimed at promoting digital literacy and empowering individuals, especially the youth, to unlock their full potential”.
“The youth are our future, and the onus lies on us to ensure that they have the right tools and skillset to excel in the future. As the world is on a digital quest to advance and transform societies, we believe that technology should be available and accessible to all,” said Wulang.
For many years, Huawei has been at the forefront of technological innovation and is passionate about leveraging technology to improve people’s lives.
We lament the loss of justice in America today, Donald Trump wrote in an email to supporters of his Trump 2024 campaign.
He states: “The day has come when the political party in power APPRESSES its main rival despite the latter having done NO CRIME.
“I want to take a moment to thank you for all of your support because I will be unavailable for the upcoming few hours.
“Our society is turning into a Marxist Third World country, criminalizing dissent and imprisoning its political opposition.”
He goes on: “We are a nation that declared its independence from the world’s biggest empire, won two world wars, and landed the first man on the moon.
“Resilience is in our blood.
“Our movement has overcome so much.
“And there is no doubt in my mind that we will prevail once again and WIN the White House in 2024.”
Trump wants hearing moved
We have heard from the former president for the first time today – a post on his own social media site in which he renews his attack on the judge and calls for the hearing today to be moved.
In a treat for fans of capitalised communication, the former president describes Judge Juan Merchan as from a family of “Trump haters”.
He says the Manhattan court is in a Democrat area – which, he suggests, is unfair…
Trump may speak outside courtroom
Donald Trump may speak to the media both before and after his New York court appearance, it has been reported.
Chris Kise, one of Trump’s lawyers, said he met the former US president last night at Trump Tower, CNN reported.
“The president is resilient, upbeat, and is as determined as ever to fight off drivers of injustice,” Mr Kise said.
CNN also reported that Trump is “eager to speak publicly about his indictment, according to multiple people familiar with his thinking”.
Despite not being scheduled to speak until he gets back to Florida later, he is weighing up “saying something while still in Manhattan”, the news outlet reported.
However, advisers have apparently urged him to hold off until he is back among friends and supporters at Mar-a-Lago.
Where is the courtroom in relation to Trump Tower, where the ex-president is currently?
Anti-Trump protester ushered away from small gathering that has turned out in support
US correspondent James Matthews is outside the Manhattan court where Donald Trump will appear later and his team have shot this…
Trump has lost $700m thanks to social media platform – Forbes
Donald Trump has lost $700m (£560.9m) thanks to his social media platform Truth Social, according to Forbes.
The news outlet has reported that the former president’s fortune has dropped from an estimated $3.2bn (£2.5bn) to $2.5bn (£2bn).
In its report, the American magazine said the 76-year-old’s social media business had the potential to boost his fortune by billions, but the hype surrounding it never lined up with reality.
As soon as he announced the plan, shares in Trump’s Truth Social’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) shot up from $10 (£8) to $175 (£140) in two days, Forbes said.
Yesterday, they were 92% off their highs, trading at $14 (£11).
“Truth Social will not hit its projected 81 million users until 2086. By that point, Trump would be 140 years old. A more likely outcome: Truth Social will join Trump Steaks, Trump University and GoTrump.com in the graveyard of failed Trump ventures,” it wrote.
Still a ‘lot of mystery’ surrounding Trump’s case, says his lawyer
There is still a “lot of mystery” surrounding how Donald Trump’s case will play out today, one of his lawyers has said.
Speaking to Good Morning America, Joe Tacopina said the former US president’s legal team are “doing something that’s never been done before” and it’s hard to tell how that will go.
He also explained that there is no indication that a gag order – a legal order that prevents people from talking about the case to the public – will be implemented.
“Here you have something uniquely different. The defendant is the leading Republican candidate for the office of the president of the United States and will be campaigning,” he said.
“Hard to put a gag order when he’s going to be fielding questions about his current legal situation.”
Trump is set to appear in court later today on charges related to falsifying business records in a hush-money investigation.
The 76-year-old has denied any wrongdoing, and has repeatedly called the indictment a “political persecution”.
‘Hillary Clinton’ arrives at the courthouse
Hillary Clinton, who battled Donald Trump for the White House in 2016, has turned up close to the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse building.
She has a sign saying: “Lock him up.”
Okay, so it’s a cardboard cutout, but as symbolism goes, it’s pretty potent.
There was clearly little love lost between the candidates when they jostled for the top job.
The following year, in 2017, Mrs Clinton said Trump’s presence next to her during the presidential debates made her so uncomfortable her “skin crawled”.
She also said she had to resist shouting: “Back up you creep, get away from me.”
All three of Trump’s lawyers will be in court
All of Donald Trump’s lawyers will be in the courtroom with him today, a member of the former US president’s legal team has said.
Speaking to our US partner network NBC News, Joe Tacopina confirmed he will be joined by Susan Necheles and newly appointed lawyer Todd Blanche this afternoon.
Trump is due to appear in front of Judge Juan Merchan at around 2.15pm US time (7.15pm UK time).
It’s here the 76-year-old will be told the charges he is facing, and asked to enter a plea.
Manhattan district attorney arrives at court
Manhattan’s district attorney has arrived at court ahead of Donald Trump’s arraignment later today.
Alvin Bragg could become the first prosecutor anywhere to bring a criminal case against a former US president.
Prosecutors, led by the 46-year-old Democrat, are expected to unseal the former US president’s indictment by a grand jury.
This is when Trump and his defence lawyers will get a glimpse of the precise allegations against him.
The six legal steps that could lead Trump to sentencing
Trump told he’s been charged with 34 felony counts – reports
Donald Trump has been told he will be charged with 34 felony counts for falsifying business records, according to leaked information.
The details reported by Yahoo News revealed he will not be placed in handcuffs, have a mugshot taken, or placed in a jail cell – typical procedures for defendants.
The charge of falsification of business records can be prosecuted in New York state as a misdemeanour.
But a source told the news site that the District Attorney’s office bumped up the charges to the lowest level of felonies on the grounds that the conduct was intended to conceal another underlying crime.
The crime carries a potential jail term of up to four years but, according to the media outlet, a New York law enforcement official has said first time offenders don’t get “jail time”.
Sky News has not seen the leak, and Trump’s indictment remains sealed, as is standard in New York before an arraignment.
It’s coming up to 8am in New York and journalists have been queuing through the night
It’s coming up to 8am in New York now, and many journalists have been queuing through the night for a chance to get into court for Donald Trump’s appearance.
Judge Juan Merchan has barred the use of digital devices in the 76-year-old’s hearing, meaning cameras will not be inside to film it.
Some photographers will be allowed to snap pictures before the arraignment begins, but after that, mobile phones and laptops will be banned from the courtroom.
As a result, a limited number of journalists will be able to access the actual hearing.
Congresswoman organises protest against Trump’s ‘political persecution’ opposite court
A Republican congresswoman has organised a protest against Donald Trump’s “political persecution” opposite the court he is appearing in.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent Trump supporter, called for people to gather at Collect Pond Park in Manhattan this afternoon.
“Wear your MAGA hats,” she urged, referring to the caps many Trump fans wear that feature his popular 2016 presidential campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again”.
Alt-right political activist Jack Posobiec and podcast host Graham Allen are also due to attend the rally, along with Republican representative George Santos.
On an event page for the protest, a message reads: “Join us in peaceful protest of Alvin Bragg’s heinous attack on President Donald J. Trump.”
Mr Bragg is Manhattan’s first black district attorney and could become the first prosecutor anywhere to bring a criminal case against a former US president.
Earlier today, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, urged Trump supports to keep themselves under “control” while in the area.
He also singled out Ms Taylor Greene, telling her: “While you’re in town, be on your best behaviour.”
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The party needs Trump as much as Trump needs the party
Donald Trump inspires loyalty today for the same reasons that he attracted winning numbers in the 2016 election, writes Sky News US correspondent James Matthews.
He has an appeal to the predominantly white working and middle classes who have felt the US culture and economy drifting away from them.
His politics are polarising. He plays on anger, resentment – has always defined himself as a man of the people taking on the establishment.
He drove a tribalism through his years in power that continues to exist today and entrenches support for him.
His opponents say it’s a cult-like following.
Whatever it is, it’s a substantial chunk of the Republican Party, and, for that reason, more moderate Republicans tiptoe around Trump and issues related to him.
They are reluctant to lose those members, over whom he has influence.
The party needs Trump as much as Trump needs the party.
Today’s judge presided over previous Trump case
Judge Juan Merchan, who will be presiding over the courtroom that Donald Trump is due to walk into later, also oversaw a criminal trial of the Trump Organization.
Last December, the real estate company was found guilty of running a criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities for 15 years.
The scheme included avoiding paying personal income taxes on perks such as rent-free apartments and luxury cars.
The former US president was not personally charged in the case.
Nevertheless, he has lashed out at Judge Merchan on social media.
On Friday, he claimed on Truth Social that the judge “hates” him. He also claimed he was “biased”, a comment labelled foolish by a legal expert (see 9.59am post).
The judge did not reply to a request from Reuters for comment.
The Trump Organization trial is not Judge Merchan’s only recent encounter with people close to the former president.
He is also presiding over a criminal case involving former Trump campaign and White House adviser Steve Bannon.
Judge Merchan has been a Manhattan criminal court judge since 2009.
Two NYT newspapers, two very different approaches
Two major New York newspapers have taken strikingly different approaches to the story of Donald Trump’s court appearance.
The tabloid New York Post covers the whole of its Tuesday front page with developments, adding some alliteration to its headline with: “Day of the Don.”
The broadsheet New York Times, on the other hand, does not splash on the story, confining it to a single column on the right hand side, including a small square picture of the former president.
Polarised opinions outside Trump Tower
Supporters and denigrators of Donald Trump have gathered outside Trump Tower in New York.
Unsurprisingly, there is little consensus – very few shades of grey.
On one side are those who want the former president back in the White House.
On the other are people who think he should be under lock and key.
If Trump goes to prison, his secret service agents will go with him
Were Donald Trump to go to prison, his secret service agents would go with him, a retired US judge has told Sky News.
Joseph Cosgrove, from the Court of Common Pleas of the 11th Judicial District, said that later today, when the former president appears in court, he will be “surrounded by his own armed guards – namely the secret service of the United States”.
Judge Cosgrove added: “No matter where he goes, he will have secret service protection, which creates just this bizarre image.
“Let’s assume the worst for Mr Trump: if he were sentenced to some sort of confinement, he would be confined with his secret service agents.
“They are ordered under federal law to protect him at all cost.
“So we are wading into territory that is just bizarre – (that’s) the only way I can describe it.”
Donald Trump has accused the judge in his case of being “biased”.
The former president made the allegation on social media.
Judge Cosgrove described that comment as “not a good thing to do”.
He went on: “Judges don’t appreciate that sort of accusation.
“First of all, in this case, it is completely untrue. That’s the furthest thing from anyone’s mind except Donald Trump’s.”
The judge continued: “It’s not a good thing to step into the courtroom when the one person who’s in charge, the adult in the courtroom, is the judge.
“This is really a foolish thing on Mr Trump’s part.
“His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, walked that back the other day saying that, no, the judge is certainly not biased and that’s a smart thing to do.”
‘Unprecedented territory’: Trump could be fighting court case in middle of White House election campaign
Donald Trump’s case could return to court in the middle of next year while the fight for the White House is in fill swing, former British ambassador to Washington, Lord Darroch, has told Sky News.
He predicted that the former president’s lawyers will “find lots of legal processes to delay things”.
Under that scenario, when the case does get back to the courtroom, Trump may have been chosen as the Republicans’ candidate for the presidency.
“This is unprecedented territory,” Lord Darroch said.
“I don’t know what happens then – I’m not sure Americans know exactly what happens then, but we will be seeing something we’ve never seen before.”
On whether the legal case could boost Mr Trump’s chances of returning to the White House, Lord Darroch said the first Republican presidential primary is not until January 2024. So, there is a long way to go.
And Lord Darroch pointed out that while Trump was eight points ahead of Florida governor Ron DeSantis a week ago, and that lead is now up to 26 points, it does not necessarily hold that such a figure would win an election.
He added: “You need to win over independents, floating voters. He didn’t in 2020. And it’s not clear to me that what’s happening to him actually helps him with floating voters for 2024.”
Lord Darroch lost his job in Washington after a diplomatic note he wrote about Mr Trump became public.
He described the then president, who had been in office for about six months, as “dysfunctional” and “inept”.
Asked if he stood by those comments, Lord Darroch replied: “Of course.”
A Stormy Daniels candle, anyone?
Stormy Daniels’s alleged encounter with Donald Trump in 2006 appears to have boosted her finances.
Following his indictment last week, the adult film star tweeted that “merch orders” were “pouring in” and she was trying not to spill her champagne.
Her hashtag is #Teamstormy and people have been asking for autographs, too, she tweeted.
“Thank you to everyone for your support and love! I have so many messages coming in that I can’t respond.”
Customers were advised to allow a few extra days for shipment.
As an example of the “merch”, she has some handmade candles for sale which “smell wonderful and cleanse the space of negative energy”.
Daniels – real name Stephanie Clifford – is married to a fellow adult film star and has a young daughter and a horse farm, according to her social media profiles.
She grew up with a single mother in Louisiana, telling Vice News in 2021: “We were just trash, and my mom was a trainwreck, and my clothes didn’t fit, and I was poor and I smelled.”
But she said she did well at school, edited her high school newspaper and started stripping to support herself.
Ghanaian social media influencer, Hajia Bintu, who gained popularity for her curvy physique and dance videos, has made a statement regarding a song composed by popular Ghanaian musician Shatta Wale, which featured her name.
Speaking on The Delay Show, Bintu disclosed that she had no prior knowledge of the song, and Shatta Wale did not inform her before using her name in his lyrics.
According to Bintu, she had met Shatta Wale on a few occasions, but they were not close friends.
“Shatta Wale didn’t tell me before using my name to compose a song. I have met Shatta Wale before, but he wasn’t my friend,” she said.
Bintu also addressed rumours that she had a romantic relationship with Shatta Wale, stating that the claims were false.
She maintained that she did not have any intimate relationship with the musician and that they were only acquaintances.
Shatta Wale’s song, titled “Hajia Bintu” features the influencer’s name repeatedly in its lyrics and has gained massive popularity in Ghana and beyond.
The song’s catchy beat and Shatta Wale’s rap lyrics have made it a fan favourite, with many fans creating dance videos inspired by the song.
Elon Musk has changed the Twitter logo, bidding goodbye to the signature bird logo, and replacing it with a doge meme. When you open the Twitter web, the loading screen will show the new Twitter logo of Kabosu, the Shiba Inu that inspired the Doge meme. The display picture of Twitter’s homepage is also replaced by the same.
Elon Musk announced the new logo on Twitter by posting a screenshot of a conversation with the caption “as promised”. The screenshot shows a conversation between Musk and a Twitter user “Chairman” with handle “@WSBChairman” where he suggested “just buy twitter” and “change the bird logo to a doge”. To this, Musk responded saying “Haha that would sick”.
It is speculated that this could be an April Fools’ joke that showed up two days late or it could be much bigger than that. With this little stunt, the price of cryptocurrency Dogecoin has gone up by 10 percent. However, it is still lower than its peak price in May 2021.
Notably, Musk is facing a $258 million racketeering lawsuit that accused him of operating a pyramid scheme to promote Dogecoin.
A new logo with new checkmarks
In other news, Musk announced that all the legacy accounts on the platform will lose their blue checkmarks starting April 1. While the verification sign has vanished for many, reportedly Musk does not have enough staff to get done with the procedure faster.
Given that there are allegedly “those out for revenge,” the murderer of Olivia Pratt-Korbel will reportedly be kept in isolation for his own safety.
In a failed attempt on rival drug dealer Joseph Nee in Liverpool in August of last year, Thomas Cashman, 34, killed the nine-year-old and injured her mother Cheryl, according to a verdict handed down last week.
Upon learning that the prosecution team had sang in celebration of his conviction as he was sentenced to 42 years in prison yesterday, he refused to face Olivia’s family.
Cashman’s shooting shocked the nation, but it appears it also made him a target for gangsters who ‘placed a £250,000 bounty on his head’.
They reportedly fear he could implicate them in other unsolved murders in exchange for a cushier life in prison.
‘Cashman will be in isolation for a period of time for his own sake. It’ll be easier for all involved,’ a source told The Sun.
‘There’s fears he will grass to get an easier life in prison as an informer. And also there’s people out for revenge. Cashman is a real target. The £250,000 bounty will entice people.’
Olivia was struck in the chest by a stray bullet intended for Cashman’s target Joseph Nee (Picture: PA)
Cashman’s barrister revealed the killer had become upset that prosecutors sang ‘We Are the Champions’ after the jury returned its verdict.
John Cooper KC told the court: ‘He has been spoken to and been given certain advice but he is concerned that the matter is turning into a circus.’
Ruling the sentencing could go ahead, Mrs Justice Yip slammed Cashman’s absence as ‘deeply disrespectful’ to Olivia’s grieving family.
His antics caused several minutes of delay to proceedings and meant Cashman – unlike the vast majority of criminals in the UK – did not have to listen to victim impact statements read out in court.
In her statement, Mrs Korbel, 46, said Olivia was planning to donate 12 inches of her hair to the Princess Trust, which creates wigs for sick children.
Olivia had been due to have her ponytail lopped off five days after she was murdered.
In his statement, Olivia’s dad, John Pratt, said: ‘Each day I feel completely overwhelmed and I don’t know how I’ll cope. I can’t stay at my home. It’s a constant reminder of the loss of Olivia.
‘I want to visit Olivia and sometimes sit outside the cemetery. If I go inside, it will all seem real. My heart is broken every time I hear Olivia’s name on the television.
‘Olivia will never call me dad again. All I want is my baby back and roasting marshmallows as I promised her on the last time I saw her.
‘I will never get to keep this promise or give her the Christmas presents I bought her. She will never get the opportunity to fall in love and have her own children.
‘I will never get the opportunity to see my daughter on her wedding day. Most of all, I’ll never get to see her grow into the beautiful woman she was destined to become.
‘We have been robbed of her future and the amazing teenager and adult she was destined to become. She will be forever nine.’
Full-size self-driving buses will hit the road next month in what is believed to be a world first.
Stagecoach has announced the ground-breaking service over Scotland‘s Forth Road Bridge will start on May 15.
It will cover a 14-mile route between the Ferrytoll park and ride in Fife and the Edinburgh Park train and tram interchange.
Five single-decker autonomous buses will run to a frequent timetable with capacity for about 10,000 passenger journeys per week.
The vehicles have sensors enabling them to travel on pre-selected roads at up to 50mph.
A safety driver will sit in the driver’s seat to monitor the technology, and a so-called bus captain will help passengers with boarding, buying tickets and queries.
Image: The vehicles have sensors enabling them to travel on pre-selected roads at up to 50mph
The UK government believes this will be the world’s first, full-size, self-driving, public bus service.
Kevin Stewart, transport minister for the Scottish government, said: “This is an exciting milestone for this innovative and ambitious project, and I very much look forward to seeing Project CAVForth take to the roads next month.
“Our trunk road network can provide a wide range of environments as a diverse testing ground, and the ground-breaking and globally significant Project CAVForth will really help Scotland establish its credentials on the world stage.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Sky News’ Thomas Moore tested out one of the first autonomous motorcycles back in 2018.
Stagecoach UK managing director Carla Stockton-Jones added: “We are excited to introduce the UK’s first autonomous bus fleet in east Scotland which is also home to our headquarters and where it all began over 40 years ago.
“We are proud to be at the forefront of transport innovation with this project that marks a significant milestone for public transport and we look forward to welcoming our customers on board in the coming months.”
As part of calls at ensuring a robust agricultural and food system in Ghana, Prof. Fr. Godfrey Nzamujo, Founder of the Songhai Centre in Benin, has called for the exploration of solar as an alternative source of energy for conventional agricultural practices.
This, he said, will help achieve food security in the country.
Prof. Fr. Nzamujo, who doubles as a computer engineer, made this call in Kumasi, while speaking on the theme: “Transforming Ghana’s agriculture using home-grown solutions for food security.”
According to him, the present agricultural systems are ineffective and pose major threats to food security, thus, there is the need to re-look at the approach to address the current food challenge.
He also stressed the need to harness these approaches, to fully integrate the ecological system in the industry where everything is interdependent.
“We must recognise that conventional agriculture is inefficient due to the low utilisation of solar energy in the conventional system,” he said.
Prof. Nzamujo also said that the current climate crisis and the negative impact on the current conventional food and agricultural system are existential threats to food security in Africa.
Hugh Jackman has disclosed that he had two biopsies as a result of a recent skin cancer scare.
The Hollywood star has been treated several times for a form of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma, having first had cancerous cells removed in 2013.
In a new video shared on social media, Jackman, 54, said he would receive his biopsy results in the next few days.
Wearing a plaster on his nose, the Australian actor, known for films including The Greatest Showman, Les Miserables and the X-Men series, urged his 31m followers on Instagram and 15m on Twitter to always wear sunscreen.
“I wanted you to hear it from me, just in case someone sees me on the street or whatever,” he said. “I’ve just had two biopsies done.”
Jackman’s “awesome” doctor saw “little things”, he continued. “Could be or could not be basal cell. In her opinion, she doesn’t know. I’ll find out in two or three days and as soon as I know, I’ll let you know.”
He went on to assure that basal cell is usually easy to treat, but urged his fans to protect themselves from the sun’s rays.
“Just to remind you, basal cell in the world of skin cancers is the least dangerous of them all,” Jackman said. “However, if I can just take this opportunity to remind you, summer is coming.
“For those of us here in the Northern Hemisphere, please wear sunscreen. It is just not worth it. No matter how much you want a tan. Trust me.”
The star, who has a home in New York, said his cancer was a result of “stuff that happened 25 years ago [that] is coming out now”, and added: “Put some sunscreen on. You’ll still have an incredible time out there. All right. Please be safe.”
Captioning the video, Jackman said: “I know you’ve heard me talk about my basal cell carcinomas before. I’m going to keep talking about them, if need be. And if it reminds even one person to put on sunscreen with a high SPF, then I’m happy.”
What is basal cell carcinoma?
Basal cell carcinoma usually appears as a small, shiny pink or pearly-white lump with a translucent or waxy appearance, according to the NHS website. It can also look like a red, scaly patch, sometimes with brown or black pigment within it.
The lump slowly gets bigger and may become crusty, bleed or develop into a painless ulcer.
However, basal cell carcinoma does not usually spread to other parts of the body. It is known as a non-melanoma cancer – melanoma can be more serious.
Basal cell carcinoma starts in the cells lining the bottom of the skin’s outermost layer and accounts for about 75% of all skin cancers.
Surgery to remove the cells is usually the main treatment and at least nine out of 10 non-melanoma skin cancer cases are successfully cured, the NHS says.
The National Lottery Authority (NLA) is to generate GH¢31 million royalties in 2023 from Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire from the use of Ghana’s lotto platform for the drawing of raffle in the two countries.
Nigeria for instance has been using Ghana’s lotto draw numbers over the past 25 years for free. But has now agreed to pay for using it.
After engagements with the management of Ghana’s NLA, Nigeria has now agreed to pay GH¢18 million while Cote d’Ivoire would pay GH¢13 million to the authority in 2023.
The amounts would be paid through KGL, a digital lotto marketing company which operates lotto on behalf of the NLA as the two countries would draw Ghana’s games online.
Explaining the new revenue stream at a press briefing on Monday in Accra (April 3, 2023), the Director General of the NLA, Samuel Awuku, said the NLA has also started engagements with Burkina Faso and Niger to trade Ghana’s games and collaborate with the NLA.
Mr Awuku explained that the move was part of the NLA’s agenda to generate more revenue to the state for national development and social responsibility activities.
Additionally, he said the board and management of the Authority had renegotiated its partnership agreement with KGL Group to pay GH¢65 million to the authority in 2023.
Mr Awuku said, the KGL Group’s contract with the Authority was GH¢25million in 2021 but the NLA governing board renegotiated the partnership deal to GH¢55 million in 2022 with an additional contribution of GH¢3 million and GH¢2 million into a stabilisation fund and a good course foundation operated by the authority.
According to Al-Jazeera, the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has shut down a women-run radio station for playing music during the fasting month of Ramadan.
The only radio station in the nation that is run primarily by women is named Sadai Banowan, which translates to “women’s voice” in Dari. Six of the eight employees are female.
The station was shut down as a result of playing songs and music during Ramadan, according to Moezuddin Ahmadi, the Taliban‘s director for communication and culture in the province of Badakhshan. He claimed that the station had broken multiple “rules and regulations of the Islamic Emirate.”
The station’s head, Najia Sorosh, denied that there was any violation, saying there was no need for the closure and called the action a “conspiracy”.
The Taliban “told us that you have broadcast music. We have not broadcast any kind of music,” she claimed.
Reports indicated that, local Afghan journalists who refuse to comply with the Taliban’s policies have been arrested, and put behind bars with some reporting abuse and torture after their release.
According to the Afghan Independent Journalists Association, many journalists in Afghanistan have reportedly lost their jobs after the Taliban takeover in August 2021 and many Media outlets have been closed over lack of funds or because their staff left the country.
The Taliban-led government has prevented women from most forms of employment and education beyond the sixth grade, including university; something which has continued to generate wider condemnation by global key players who are promoting girl child education in especially developing countries.
The latest sanction imposed by the Taliban regime on the Sadai Banowan is viewed by many human rights activists as a deliberate attempt to muzzle the press in Afghanistan.
Around 12:09 PM today, the Damyns Hall airport incident received a call for emergency services.
Almost 40 firefighters and six fire engines were dispatched to the location.
Crews managed to save one passenger from the crashed aircraft, and they are currently working to save the other man.
A man and a woman were injured after the light aircraft crash landed shortly after take-off (Picture: UKNIP)
It is reported that they both suffered minor injuries including broken ankles.
Crews from Hornchurch, Wennington, East Ham and Dagenham were called to the incident.
Latest London news
Last year a pilot sustained serious injuries after crashing during a training session with a display team at the aerodrome.
Station Commander Jeremy Davies, who is at the scene, said: ‘Firefighters are working with partners to release a man trapped inside a lightweight aircraft near the aerodrome.
‘Crews have released a woman who is being treated on scene by London Ambulance Service crews.’
A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘Police were called at 12.12hrs today to reports of a light aircraft that crashed shortly after take-off, in the area of Aveley Road, Upminster.
‘We and LAS are in attendance. A man & a woman were located. Neither assessed as having life-changing or life-threatening injuries.’
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called today (Tuesday 4) at 12.06pm to reports of an incident at the aerodrome in Aveley Road, Upminster.
‘We sent numerous resources to the scene including three ambulances, a medic in a response car, two incident response officers and members of our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART).
‘We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.
‘We treated a man and woman at the scene and took them to hospital.’
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), may rescind the provision of fertilizers, insecticides, and other incentives they provide cocoa farmers should the smuggling of Ghana’s cocoa beans to neighboring countries continue despite attempts to clamp down on the menace.
Fiifi Boafo, the Public Relations Officer of COCOBOD made this known in an interview with Ghanaweb.
According to him, the cocoa regulator cannot continue to raise revenues to supply cocoa farmers with fertilizers, insecticides, and other incentives to facilitate farming only for cocoa beans to be smuggled out of the country by some farmers.
He added that should cocoa smuggling continue despite efforts to stop smuggling, the institution would be left with no other choice but to consider canceling the provision of such incentives to cocoa farmers.
He explained, “If it (cocoa smuggling) continues, then COCOBOD would have to take a decision, because if you spend all that amount of money buying fertilizers, buying insecticides and all that to support the farmers and it is smuggled out of the system, where would we (COCOBOD) be able to have the money to pay for all these services?”
“…This is because these services are funded by revenue from the industry so if such revenue goes out of the country, then it will be difficult to support such services,” he continued.
Although Fiifi Boafo acknowledged that, the government’s inability to meet the desire price for cocoa is a major factor for cocoa smuggling, he was quick to add that it is not a justifiable reason since cocoa smuggling leads to loss of revenue to both farmers and the state.
The Nordic country’s border with Russia has doubled as a result of its formal entry into the largest security alliance in the world.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Finland and Sweden together applied to join Nato.
Although Sweden are still awaiting approval, Finland’s membership represents a major change in Europe’s security landscape.
Finnish flags will be raised at the organisation’s headquartrs in Brussels to mark the occasion (Picture: AP)
The country adopted neutrality after its defeat by the Soviets in the Second World War, but its leaders signalled they wanted to join the alliance just months after Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sent fear through Moscow’s neighbours.
The move is a strategic and political blow to Mr Putin, who has long complained about Nato’s expansion toward Russia and partly used that as a justification for the invasion. The alliance says it poses no threat to Moscow.
Finland shares an 832 mile land border with Russia- the largest in Europe.
The process was formalised this afternoon when Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto handed over signed accession documents to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Following their accession, the length of Russia’s border with Nato member states has now doubled.
Rishi Sunak has welcomed Finland becoming the newest member of the Nato defence alliance.
The Prime Minister said: ‘This is an historic day for Finland and for Nato. Their accession has made our alliance stronger and every one of us safer.
Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto signed the documents and presented them to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken this afternoon (Picture: Emmi Korhonen/Shutterstock)
‘All Nato members now need to take the steps necessary to admit Sweden too, so we can stand together as one alliance to defend freedom in Europe and across the world.’
Russia warned that it would be forced to take ‘retaliatory measures’ to address what it called security threats created by Finland’s membership.
It has also warned it will bolster forces near Finland if Nato sends any additional troops or equipment to its 31st member country.
Earlier today, Russian defence minister Segei Shoigu announced that a number Belarusian jets had been fitted to carry nuclear warheads in response.
Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels that ‘there will be no Nato troops in Finland without the consent of Finland’.
But he refused to rule out the possibility of holding more military exercises there and said that Nato would not allow Russia’s demands to dictate the organisation’s decisions.
‘We are constantly assessing our posture, our presence. We have more exercises, we have more presence, also in the Nordic area,’ he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Finland’s membership reflects the alliance’s anti-Russian course and warned that Moscow will respond depending on what weapons Nato allies place there.
‘We will closely monitor what will be going on in Finland and how Nato will use the territory of Finland for the deployment of weapons, equipment and infrastructure next to our border that would potentially threaten us. Measures will be taken dependent on that,’ Mr Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
But Mr Peskov also sought to play down the impact, noting that Russia has no territorial disputes with Finland.
It is not clear what additional military resources Russia could send to the Finnish border. Moscow has deployed the bulk of its most capable military units to Ukraine.
Mr Stoltenberg said that Finland will benefit from Nato’s ‘iron-clad security guarantee” under which all member countries vow to come to the defence of any ally that comes under attack.
‘By (Finland) become a full-fledged member, we are removing the room for miscalculation in Moscow about Nato’s readiness to protect Finland, and that makes Finland safer and stronger, and all of us safer,’ Mr Stoltenberg said.
In connection with the explosion that killed war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky on Sunday, a Russian lady has appeared in court and been charged with terrorism.
It is alleged that Daria Trepova gave the pro-Kremlin writer the explosive that caused his death and the injuries of 32 other people at a St. Petersburg cafe.
She was taken into custody yesterday after being taken into custody by the FSB and Investigative Committee.
Prior to her arrest, there were rumors that she had been “on the run,” and pro-state media outlet Shoot reported that when she was arrested, her first words were “I was set up.” Just being used of me.
Footage from a street in Russia’s second-largest city allegedly shows Trepova, 26, carrying a box towards the cafe where the explosion later happened.
Tatarsky, who had more than 560,000 followers on Telegram and was one of the most prominent bloggers reporting on the conflict in Ukraine, is said to have been handed a gold bust by a woman.
Russian news reports suggest the statuette depicted Tatarsky himself, and hid the bomb inside.
Authorities said 10 of the 32 people who were injured in the blast are in a critical condition.
Suspected Daria Trepova entering cafe with a box
Darya Trepova and her partner have maintained she was ‘set up’ (Picture: Reuters)
Talking to Russian site SVTV News, Trepova’s husband Dmitry Rylov acknowledged she was against the war in Ukraine but said ‘she would never kill’ and that she was ‘framed’.
He is reported to have said: ‘I am 100% sure that she would never have agreed to such a thing if she had known.’
A video appearing to show Trepova confessing was released by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the circumstances in which it was filmed are unknown.
Trepova with her husband Dmitry Rylov (Picture: Social media/e2w)
Her flat has been searched and some reports say her mother was arrested.
A second suspect was earlier named as Maria Yarun, 40, who was born in Ukraine and is said to be in hospital in St Petersburg.
St Petersburg restaurant explosion kills military blogger
Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, previously appeared in a video vowing the destruction of Ukraine, which has faced devastation since Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded last February.
‘We’ll conquer everyone, we’ll kill everyone’, he boasted. ‘We’ll loot whoever we need to, and everything will be just as we like it.’
After receiving cancer diagnoses for both her husband and daughter, a mother explained how her family had to fight the sickness again.
Dad Last August, Richard Brown was happy to see Mabel, his five-year-old daughter, finish her leukemia treatment, but he was actually receiving radiotherapy for his own disease on a separate ward of the same hospital.
Richard, 46, was identified as having glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer with a 12- to 18-month life expectancy, in May of last year.
While Mabel has finished treatment and is now attending primary school, Richard continues his fight and has been undertaking cutting-edge immunotherapy treatment in Germany since last November.
Mum Holly, 43, from Dorking in Surrey, said: ‘Finding out Richard had an inoperable brain tumour while Mabel was still receiving cancer treatment was beyond comprehension.
‘Our entire world turned upside down once again.
‘For cancer to strike our family twice like this was devastating and frightening.
Richard Brown with daughters Evie, left, and Mabel, centre (Picture: Brain Tumour Research/SWNS)
‘It is shocking how starkly differently Mabel and Richard’s journeys have been – based on the type of cancer they have.
‘He was told to go away and live the best life he could with whatever time he had left.
‘I cannot believe how ineffective brain tumour treatments are, or that they haven’t changed in over two decades.’
Richard, who works in communications for an engineering firm, had an unexpected seizure last May and an MRI scan revealed a mass on his brain.
He had an awake craniotomy, which is where surgeons remove part of the bone from the skull to access the brain, and he had to keep talking to surgeons during the op to reduce the risk of damaging healthy parts of his brain.
The family – including Richard’s eldest daughter, Evie, 10 – had been planning a summer of celebration after Mabel’s successful treatment.
But these plans were scuppered when Richard began suffering sudden full-body seizures and was told treatment might buy him time, but wouldn’t cure him.
After exhausting NHS treatment options including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Richard’s tumour kept growing and talk turned to palliative care.
But Richard refused to accept his prognosis and in November he started immunotherapy treatment in Germany – and his tumour has started shrinking.
What is a glioblastoma?
Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common primary brain tumour, which usually spreads quickly to other parts of the brain.
Because of this, the tumours are difficult to treat and are likely to come back.
They are more common in older adults and affect more men than women.
The average age at which glioblastoma is diagnosed is 55, and symptoms can often begin abruptly.
Complete surgical removal is very difficult, says the NHS, as the tumour tends to infiltrate within healthy brain tissue.
Radiotherapy rarely cures glioblastoma, but studies show it doubles the median survival of patients compared to supportive care alone.
Holly added: ‘Starting immunotherapy was an incredibly positive step for Richard.
‘For the first time, he felt as though he was taking some control of his treatment.
‘Eight weeks later we got the most amazing news – the tumour was getting smaller.
‘The immunotherapy treatment in Germany was working and we were blown away – this was beyond all expectations of his doctors at home.
‘Sadly, brain tumours are so fundamentally under-funded and under-researched in this country, so Richard’s only option is to travel to Germany every month to access this treatment and it is extremely expensive.’
The immunotherapy treatment, on top of medication and travel expenses, costs the family £9,000 every month.
The family can only afford this thanks to a GoFundMe page which to date has raised more than £125,000.
Holly said: ‘We could not possibly afford this treatment ourselves.
‘We are relying on the generosity of others to afford this treatment and save my husband’s life.
‘With more funding and research into brain tumours, promising treatments, such as immunotherapy, would be available in this country today.’
Dr Karen Noble, from the Brain Tumour Research charity, said: ‘We’re so sorry to hear about Richard’s diagnosis, especially during what should have been such a time of relief for the family.
‘No cancer is easy to deal with, and it’s heart-warming to know Mabel has successfully beaten leukaemia.
‘It just goes to show the stark difference in survival rates between cancers.
‘Just 12% of all brain tumour patients live beyond five years, compared with an average of 54% across all other cancers.
‘That has to change, but it will only be achieved with more research into this devastating disease.
‘We as a charity cannot bear the brunt of that alone. The government must step-up and invest in brain tumour research.’
Sadly the Brown family isn’t the only one to have multiple generations suffer with cancer.
Claire Cordiner lost her mum and her sister to a glioblastoma a year apart, and now her teenage nephew is on end-of-life care with the same health problems.
A leading member of the New Patriotic Party’s communication team, Emmanuel Tetteh, and an aspiring assemblyman for the Mampong Electoral Area, in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region, has been detained by the Odumase-Krobo police for allegedly engaging in illegal power connection.
On Monday, March 27, 2023, a team from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) disconnected the meter of Emmmanuel Tetteh at his sachet water factory, located at Nuaso-Newtown.
However, a report by citinewsroom.com indicated that after the disconnection, he illegally reconnected power to his sachet water factory.
Following his failure to report to the district office of the ECG, the police arrested him on Monday, April 3, 2023.
In a related story, as part of measures to increases revenue collections and to recover debts owed the power supply company, engineers from the Electricity Company of Ghana from Monday, March 20, visited 2,344 customers to recalibrate electric meters and correct illegal electrical connections.
Speaking on behalf of the Tema Region of ECG, Sakyiwaa Mensah, the Public Relations Officer of the power distribution company, explained that the customers’ reluctance to give engineers access to their meters continues to remain a major challenge in the mobilization exercise.
“310 of the customers have been disconnected from the national grid. These customers are made up of individuals, small-scale and large-scale organizations. Some are from illegal connections while some are debt issues,” she is quoted to have said.
The Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, has allayed the fears of members of the Association of Ghanaian Industries (AGI) that the widening of the tax net will collapse businesses.
In the view of the minister, the focus should rather be on the benefits the country will derive from the tax collection and how it will prepare the country to revive the economy.
The Ofoase Ayirebi Member of Parliament (MP) also explained that the government is not increasing the tax rate but ensuring that persons who were not captured in the bracket of taxpayers, are identified and made to pay.
This, he stressed, is part of measures to widening the tax net.
“I also have a business and I will also pay the taxes. But the question we need to ask ourselves is, are we going to benefit from these new measures, if the answer is yes then we will feel the pinch and the pain, and if we can bear the pain, then there will be a brighter tomorrow,” he told the morning show host of Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV.
Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah’s comments come on the back of agitations that have met the passage of the revenue bill.
According to the umbrella body for Ghanaian industries, AGI, local industries are already under severe pressure from several challenges.
“Electricity tariffs shot up significantly on two occasions, totaling a whopping 56.5%, within less than six months. How could our beverage sector absorb water tariff increment of over 300% in a single tariff review and now excise duties slapped on locally produced beverages,” the AGI statement said.
But the Minister of Information has argued that the data available to government officials does not suggest that businesses will collapse.
“It’s not like businesses will automatically shut down because of the widening of the tax net. Some people have suggested that businesses will collapse but those who have done the mathematics and checked the viability of this move disagree with the suggestion that industries will collapse. Not too long ago, some people equally opined that businesses would collapse due to some measures taken by the government. An example is when the government decided to open schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There were fears that our children were going to die, you remember the Accra girl’s situation where parents besieged the schools’ gate over a small outbreak but no one died. So, it’s not always the case that when a section of the populace say businesses will shut down it does,” he reassured.
He further added that, “We really appreciate the challenges of the AGI and all those who have expressed reservation over the tax measures. What’s important is that we abide by the law and do what is right now, but as we progress, should there be the need government to withdraw it because of its dire consequences, we will do so. People should just keep faith with the Akufo-Addo administration.”
One of the ride-hailing companies, Uber, in an e-mail to its customer noted that a new fee will be applied and it will be set at GH¢1 per trip.
In addition to this, a booking fee of GH¢2 will also be applied for every trip ordered via the ride-hailing companies.
The DTF will be displayed as a separate line item on your receipt for transparency.
Last year, as part of measures put in place by the government to ensure that the country’s tax net is broadened, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) announced that it was targeting the e-commerce, e-sports, and gaming sector.
According to the Chief Revenue Officer at the Investigative Unit of the GRA, Clement Amankwah-Bonsu, the revenue arm of the government is poised to leverage the e-commerce, sports, and gaming sector to generate revenue for the country.
Speaking at the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition dialogue on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, he stated categorically that it’s about time that people who trade on various digital platforms are taxed.
“We can say now there is e-commerce and gaming all over and so the GRA can tap or leverage on e-commerce and gaming and rake in more revenue for the country. So, we need to up our game here and ensure that all those activities that go on on the various digital platforms are also taxed,” Amankwah-Bonsu said.
However, in 2019, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) announced plans to rope in Uber drivers to pay taxes to the state.
Although the Solution Developer at the GRA; Patrick Frimpong Danso noted that the module to use was still under preparation, the authority has announced it wanted the payment of Vehicle Income Tax (VIT), Personal Income Tax, and e-tax stamp via mobile phones in order to widen the tax net.
With the Uber driver’s tax payment plan, Mr. Danso stated operators of the service; Uber Ghana will retain a percentage of the earnings of the driver to honour his or her tax obligation.
The move also became necessary because other commercial drivers like taxi and ‘trotro’ drivers point out that while they are compelled to pay tax, their Uber counterparts work and earn money yet do not have tax obligations.
Kumawood actor, Samuel Nana Yaw Dabo has revealed that he has stopped paying his tithes to avoid attracting curses from God.
The diminutive actor claims that worshiping God involves understanding certain ideologies before joining the church. As a result, in order to pay tithe, one must be truthful to God, which he is unable to accomplish and, thus, has stopped doing so.
In an interview with Zion Felix, Yaw Dabo admonished believers to uphold Christian teachings in their pursuit of salvation to prevent being cursed by God.
“If you go to church every day and you pay your tithe…If you don’t take care, you might take a curse from paying your tithe, yes you can attract curses by paying your tithe.
“For me, I have stopped paying my tithe because I have been lying about it, and for tithe, anytime you lie about your tithe then you are bringing curses upon yourself rather than receiving blessings. And also paying an offering in church for fun is also a curse upon oneself.
“Worshipping God is a principle, if you don’t understand you might take curses instead of blessings,” he said.
Spike Lee is an American movie director and producer with over 35 films to his credit. The college professor, writer, and actor first made his debut as a movie director with “She’s Gotta Have It” in 1986.
Since then, Lee, who was born Shelton Jackson Lee in Atlanta, Georgia, has produced films like “Do the Right Thing,” 1989, “Jungle Fever,” 1991, and “Malcolm X,” 1992.
His venture into filmmaking was influenced by his family background. His father, William, was a jazz musician and composer. Lee attended Brooklyn’s John Dewey High School, and Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta. While in college, he made his first student film, “Last Hustle in Brooklyn.”
After graduating with a B.A. in Mass Communications, he continued to New York University, where he obtained his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1978. Although “Last Hustle in Brooklyn” was his first student film, his independent film, “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads,” was the first student film to be showcased at Lincoln Center’s New Directors/New Films Festival.
His active film career started in 1985 when he shot a movie in under just two weeks with a budget of $175,000. However, the movie grossed more than $7 million at the U.S. box office.
In 1989, he released a film called “Do the Right Thing,” which later garnered him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The movie, which was shot with a budget of just $6 million, generated nearly $40 million at the box office. However, his next movie, “Mo’ Better Blues” will generate controversy over its antisemitic undertones. Lee later released another film, a documentary called “4 Little Girls,” which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.
According to thethings, one of Lee’s most recent films, BlacKkKlansman, garnered $87 million worldwide at the box office. Spike made the movie on a budget of just $15 million.
His most financially rewarding film was his 2006 movie titled “Inside Man,” which reportedly made a whopping $187 million worldwide, Refinery29 reported.
Lee’s influence is not only limited to film. He has directed commercials for giant brands like Levi’s, Nike, Converse, Taco Bell, and Ben & Jerry’s. He also starred in a Capital One commercial with Charles Barkley and Samuel L. Jackson. Additionally, he was reportedly paid $200,000 by the NYPD to consult on a new policing campaign in 2016.
Lee is also a heavy investor in real estate. He is said to own a townhouse on the Upper East Side, a property he acquired in the 1990s for $16 million, and a mansion in Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard.
He also owns a production company, Forty Acres and a Mule, which is headquartered in Brooklyn; according to Refinery29, he acquired the building for $820,000.
Her video with Don Jazzy in Nigeria in 2022 went viral with some wondering how the Ghanaian socialite met the Nigerian music executive.
The Ghanaian influencer, known in private life as Naomi Asiamah, was clad in red and was spotted dancing with Don Jazzy as Ghana’s FBS music that featured Mr. Drew was heard in the background.
Speaking on The Delay Show aired on April 2, 2022, Hajia Bintu disclosed that Don Jazzy first sent her a directed message via Instagram, leading to their meeting.
“He’s my friend. I met him on Instagram. He DMed me,” said Hajia Bintu.
Having established a relationship with Don Jazzy, she visited the business mogul when she went to Nigeria. According to her, the short video which captured both having a good time was shot when she was in Nigeria for a shoot.
“I went to Nigeria on the invitation of Mr Macaroni for a skit. After that, I went to see Don Jazzy,” said Hajia Bintu.
Meanwhile, she has addressed concerns that she bought a Benz after meeting Don Jazzy.
“I saved the money I earned from social media influencing, and whenever I received more deals, I put the extra money aside. One can accumulate enough savings from these deals to purchase a car,” she stated.
“Whenever I post instant ads on Snapchat, I typically spend around 500 cedis, and I can post between five to ten ads per day. If you imagine how much that adds up to in a week or a month, it’s a significant amount,” she added.
“I presently own the Mercedes-Benz. I swapped my Jaguar for it,” she revealed to Deloris Frimpong Manso.
Two Just Stop Oil protestors were convicted guilty of creating a public disturbance after they used cables to shut down the Dartford Bridge last year.
On October 17, Marcus Decker and Morgan Trowland scaled the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which connects the M25 in Kent and Essex.
The two were found guilty today of public nuisance, which is a behavior that impedes, harms, or inconveniences the community, by Basildon Crown Court.
As the protesters ascended 200 feet above the road, they unfurled a “huge Just Stop Oil banner” and “rigged up hammocks,” according to the prosecution.
This caused ‘gridlock for miles’, prosecutor Adam King said.
‘It was because of the disruption that the incident made national news,’ he said.
‘Morgan Trowland, while up there, arranged interviews with the press and posted on social media from a Just Stop Oil account.
Traffic delays as Just Stop Oil protesters climb Dartford bridge
‘One post was a video of him setting out the group’s demand that the government immediately stop issuing oil licences.’
The bridge was closed from 4am October 17 to 9pm the following day, Mr King added.
Trowland, a civil engineer, and Decker, a teacher, stepped down from the bridge with the help of police and a cherry picker at around 5.30pm.
Mr King told the court: ‘Small businesses lost, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of pounds, people missed loved one’s funerals, children were left on the side of the road waiting for buses.’
Trowland had said in evidence: ‘We climbed it (the bridge) to deliver a warning message, to put up a banner saying Just Stop Oil and to speak that message through interviews with journalists.’
He said the climate change group are hoping the Government will stop licencing oil and gas production, ‘which is putting fuel on the fire of climate change,’ he said.
Trowland, of Islington, north London, and Decker, 34, of no fixed address, denied causing a public nuisance.
They were found guilty by a jury following more than two hours of deliberations.
The two will be sentenced on April 13 with Judge Shane Collery KC remanding them in custody.
‘This court is considering custodial sentences,’ he said, adding: ‘We’re dealing with significant nuisance that’s been caused.’
Decker said at the time of the stunt: ‘Too many people in this country simply don’t know the scale and intensity of climate breakdown as the scientists describe it.
Accusing the political system of ‘betraying the people of this country’, he added: ‘Why isn’t the most existential threat that humanity has ever faced on the news every day?’
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has slated November 2023 for its congress to elect a flagbearer who will lead it into the 2024 polls
This decision was arrived at after a crunched closed-door meeting of the National Council of the party Monday evening at Alisa Hotel in Accra, MyNewsGh.com has confirmed.
The decision is in line with Article 12 of the party’s election guidelines on electing a presidential candidate.
It states that “The election of the Party’s Presidential Candidate shall be held not later than twenty-four (24) months from the date of the national election. The date and venue for the election shall be decided by the National Council, provided, however, that the National Council may, on an appropriate occasion, vary the date…”
Clause 2 of the article further indicates that “Not later than six (6) months prior to the holding of the election, the General Secretary shall give notice inviting applications from Members for nomination as the Party’s candidate to contest for the office of the President of the Republic.
The Notice shall be displayed in a conspicuous place in the Party’s Constituency, Regional and National Offices and shall specify the closing date for application, which shall not be more than five (5) months to the holding of the election…”
Meanwhile, there will be a special Congress that will be held in August ahead of the flagbearer elections.
The Director for Creative Arts at Ghana’s National Commission for Culture, Mr. Socrate Safo, has thrown his weight behind Fred Nuamah, in his bid to contest in the upcoming NDC Parliamentary Primaries, scheduled for May 13, 2023.
Ghana Movie Awards CEO cum actor, Fred Nuamah, has filed his forms to contest the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary seat on the ticket of the NDC.
Fred would be battling his former best friend, John Dumelo, and one other individual, for the mandate to represent the party in the constituency.
However, social media, particularly, the showbiz fraternity has been divided over the two candidates.
It appears that the colleagues of these two actors have chosen their favourites. On the back of this, Socrate Safo has publicly declared his support for Fred Nuamah.
Sharing goodwill messages to Fred as part of his closing remarks on United Showbiz, Socrate said: “Fred Nuamah all the way. Even if they steal your votes, forcefully take your mandate from you, or try to sabotage you, we shall go independent.”
Fred Nuamah and John Dumelo ‘fight’ over NDC primaries, Ayawaso Wuogon seat
John Dumelo and Fred Nuamah have seemingly not looked ‘eye to eye’ since they both announced their bid to contest in the 2023 elections on the ticket of the NDC at the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency.
Earlier in a discussion on the United Showbiz, Fred Nuamah stated that he was surprised Dumelo decided to join the Ayawaso race again, claiming that the actor had told him he was picking forms to contest at SALL in the Volta Region.
He also claimed his friend(Dumelo), gave him his blessings and approval to contest in the NDC primaries at Ayawaso West Wuogon.
However, in a later interview, John Dumeo denied all the claims, emphasizing that Fred Nuamah knew he (Dumelo) would contest to represent the constituency once again in the 2024 election but he (Nuamah) went to pick the forms anyway.
John Dumelo noted that despite Mr. Nuamah’s decision, he would still contest and win the NDC primaries to vie for elections in 2024.
Fred Nuamah had also expressed confidence that he will emerge victorious, adding that 80% of respondents in a recent poll conducted, have tipped him winner against John Dumelo who pulled just 20% of the endorsements from the constituents.
His prayer videos, which are watched and followed by over a million viewers on the platform, have earned him a reputation as one of the highest-earning YouTube creators in Nigeria.
Data from his YouTube channel shows that Eze has amassed a whopping 1,300,000 subscribers.
He is a household name among digital-savvy and prayer-seeking Nigerians and others in and outside the country.
He earns millions of naira daily from views, chats, and comments on his YouTube videos posted on his channel.
Eze has earned close to 30 million views on his channel in the last seven days, averaging 71,500 views daily.
He has made over 1,000 live streams on his channel, which gets his subscribers hooked, and he sometimes conducts overnight services. Talk about the digital church.
Eze, a graduate of International Relations from Abia State University, is well-known among Christians in Nigeria who follow his prayer channel keenly.
However, they probably do not know he is a multi-millionaire courtesy of their views on his channel.
Pastor Eze creates an average of 1,500 videos weekly which is the honeypot for his subscribers.
One of his videos has been viewed over 200,000 times, had 6,000 reactions, and grossed nearly N2 million in revenue.
The father of two is from Bende in Abia State and holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Abia State University and a postgraduate certificate in Business Administration from Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT) He was a communications specialist on a World Bank project on HIV/AIDS and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Eze is smiling at the bank with millions in his kitty for people saying yes to his prayers.
After receiving 270 hours of unpaid labor, a guy who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in a park while he was a teenager was allowed to leave court.
Judge Lord Lake informed Hogg, who is now 21 years old, that he would not be imprisoned because he did not think it would “help to his rehabilitation.”
The sentence has been described as ‘worryingly lenient’ by the boss of Rape Crisis Scotland.
According to court papers, Hogg, of Hamilton in South Lanarkshire, threatened his victim and pulled down her clothing, before seizing her by the wrists and forcing her to commit a sex act.
He was found guilty by a jury at the High Court in Glasgow, and appeared for his sentencing yesterday.
Lord Lake said: ‘Rape is one of the most serious crimes and that is why it is tried at the High Court.
‘Looking at the circumstances, her age and vulnerabilities are aggravating factors. For the level of seriousness, I have to consider your liability and have regard to your age as a factor.
‘This offence, if committed by an adult over 25, you attract a sentence of four or five years.
‘I don’t consider that appropriate and don’t intend to send you to prison.
‘You are a first offender with no previous history of prison; you are 21 and were 17 at the time. Prison does not lead me to believe this will contribute to your rehabilitation.’
New guidelines for sentencing people under 25, making rehabilitation rather than punishment a primary consideration, were introduced in Scotland in January 2022.
Sandy Brindley, the chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, said: ‘This is an extremely serious case and we are shocked this perpetrator has not received a custodial sentence.
‘Given the gravity of this crime and the fact it was tried at the High Court, this sentence appears to us to be worryingly lenient.
‘Our thoughts are with the survivor of this crime. For survivors of any sexual violence, it can be very difficult to see reports of convicted perpetrators walking free from court.’
Leading Scottish advocate Tommy Ross KC told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio show: ‘It is an extraordinary sentence.
‘I have been working in the high court for around 20 years and I have never seen anybody avoid prison for rape until yesterday.’
Hogg was also put under supervision and placed on the sex offenders register for three years.
A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: ‘As with all cases, the Crown will consider the sentence and give consideration to whether it might be unduly lenient.’
Donald Findlay KC, defending, told the sentencing that an appeal is planned.
In a contest to be the party of law and order on both the red and blue sides of Parliament, Labourhas committed tocombat vandalism.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, promised to place 13,000 more police and community support officers in local communities, filling positions she claimed the Conservatives had “decimated.”
The promise was deemed “weak” by minister of police Chris Philp, who also said Labour is “soft on crime and soft on criminals.”
However, the opposition is pointing to falling charge rates under successive Tory governments, with arson and criminal damage down from 7.9% in 2015 to 3.9%.
Some 41,550 offences of ‘criminal damage to a building other than a dwelling’ were recorded by police in the year ending September 2021.
The latest figures show it has risen to 54,487 – 150 incidents each day.
Ms Cooper said: ‘Under the Conservatives, our town centres are being hit by growing levels of vandalism, with people smashing shop windows, graffitiing public spaces and trashing our high streets, yet nothing is done.
‘Neighbourhood policing has been decimated under the Tories and as result criminals and vandals are getting away scot-free while communities are being let down.
‘The next Labour government will put 13,000 police and PCSOs in neighbourhood roles because everyone deserves to feel safe.’
Crime-fighting plans are playing a central role in both Labour and Tory campaigns ahead of the local elections next month.
Keir Starmer said anti-social behaviour is a ‘huge’ problem and accused the government of pretending it is ‘low level’.
‘I think it’s about prevention and cure and that’s why our proposal to have 13,000 new neighbourhood police officers is so important, because they have dual functions,’ he said.
‘They are part of their local community. They know the people that they’re working with. So that’s the prevention bit, but then if it does require enforcement, they’re there, they know what’s going on.’
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak has pledged to tackle grooming gangs, including a consultation on mandatory reporting for adults working with children.
He pledged to ‘stamp out this evil’ on a visit to Rochdale where a grooming scandal was uncovered in 2012.
The Ghana Union of Traders (GUTA) has lamented that the current harsh business conditions in Ghana have negatively impacted the import and export community.
According to GUTA’s Public Relations Officer, Joseph Paddy, activities at Ghana’s harbour have slowed because businesses are unable to import and export.
He also claimed that the approval of the three new taxes would exacerbate the plight of importers and exporters.
He warned that this could deprive the government of much-needed revenue.
“When you go to the harbour, nobody is importing or exporting. You are aware the majority of revenue generated is from the harbour, but activities at the harbour have slowed, and it has affected revenue mobilisation. The new taxes could make things worse,” he added.
Joseph Paddy slammed the MPs, labelling them selfish.
Speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, he said MPs ignored the difficulties and poor living conditions of their constituents while passing new taxes.
“We had petitioned the committee and the Speaker to reject the amended bills. We contended that the country’s current economic situation did not lend itself to the imposition of new taxes. Traders are having trouble obtaining loans. The policy rate has now reached 29%.
“We pay an interest rate of 40% on loans. This is not good for business. Our cumulative tax rate at the harbour is around 51%. If you import goods worth $10,000, you must pay a $5,000 duty. These things are wreaking havoc on businesses. So it was not prudent or wise for them to impose these new taxes,” he stated.
“What we have discovered is that parliamentarians are working in their own interests rather than the interests of Ghanaians. The GUTA was not the only organisation to petition the House.
“The Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturers Association, and AGI all spoke out against the new taxes, but parliamentarians supported them. We are dissatisfied. The various trade unions would hold a press conference and express our concerns to the government.”
