Ghanaian-Canadian model Ayshia Akua Miller is a fashion model and our woman crush Wednesday.
The stunning model and retired Jamaican sprinter, Asafa Powell, went viral with their celebrity wedding in 2019 after their first meeting in 2012.
The couple arrived in Ghana on February 28, 2023, to tour and witness the 66th Independence Day celebration.
1. Ghanaian model Alyshia Powell and her Jamaican husband, Asafa Powell
The power couple celebrated their wedding couple with a gorgeous photo. The supermodel wore a black spaghetti top dress with a thigh-high design. She looked classy in unique earrings that matched the embellishment on her high-heels.
The 40-year-old retired sprinter wore a black tee shirt, trousers, and a stylish jacket.
2. Ghanaian model Alyshia Powell slays in a halter-neck dress
The mother-of-two handsome boys flaunted her perfect body in a stunning green dress while posing at the beach. She rocked her natural curly hairstyle and a simple earring for this photoshoot.
3. Ghanaian model Alyshia Powell shows off her flat tummy
The supermodel looked magnificent in a kimono with billowing sleeves and high-waisted trousers. Alyshia Powell wore mild makeup that matched her skin tone and a fluffy hat for the photoshoot.
5. Ghanaian model Alyshia Powell models in stylish corporate wear
Alyshia Powell looked breathtaking in corporate wear for an editorial shoot for a popular magazine. The makeup artist opted for bold makeup and natural hair styling for the everyday woman.
Famous Ghanaian comedian, Ras Nene, has been captured on camera trying to hold back his tears.
This comes after news of the death of his three-month-old, baby was announced on Tuesday, February 28, 2023.
In the video, Ras Nene was recorded standing still with his arms folded as he kept a straight face. His eyes were red as he tried to hold back his tears.
Another woman dressed in black and blue clothe stood a few metres away from him as she wept bitterly and wiped her face.
Watch the video of Ras Nene trying to hold back his tears.
A video of Ghanaian media personalities Serwaa Amihere, Nana Aba Anamoah, and Ghanaian musician Keche dancing inside Bola Ray’s office has surfaced online.
The video comes at the back of CEO of media conglomerate, EIB Network Group, Nathan Kwabena Anokye Adisi, popularly known as Bola Ray, marking his 46th birthday on March 1, 2023.
As part of the celebrations, his employees Nana Aba Anamoah and Serwaa Amihere and Keche stormed his office as they displayed incredible dance moves.
Bola Ray beamed with a smile as they made him laugh with their energetic and beautiful dance steps.
However, in the video that has since gone viral, Serwaa Amihere stole the show as she removed her heels and continued dancing.
Watch the video of Serwaa Amihere, Nana Aba Anamoah and Keche displaying incredible dance moves for Bola Ray on his 46th birthday.
Curvacious award winning Ghanaian songstress, Sista Afia has said that marriage is not as attractive as it used to be so she might not marry.
According to the Sista Afia, life has so many angles and doesn’t necessarily revolve around marriage.
The Jeje hitmaker in an interview with Doreen Avio on Daybreak Hitz said, “I don’t see life to be all about marriage and having kids. Life is a beautiful thing and it has a lot of angles.”
She added, “If I don’t get married, it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do better in life. Marriage doesn’t define me,” she said on Hitz FM.
The singer also disclosed that when she was young, she had the dream of getting married and having children at an early age.
“I was a young girl and I remember telling myself that I would get married at the age of 21; I’d have twins at the age of 24, and another set of twins later.”
“I was very young and I was very naïve and I didn’t know much about marriage and life, but now I do I’m not in a rush.”
“It’s my dream to have a kid, but if I don’t even get married, it’s fine but for a kid it’s something I would want to have.”
She concluded, “Married people these days… it is crazy. Considering this generation… Because we have social media, people do not see the importance of so many things anymore.”
The Sika hitmaker concluded by saying, “If you’re a woman, whatever you want to do, be it marriage, you can go ahead and do it, but for me, I’m just being me and I don’t regard marriage.” She then advised women to do what was good for them and that societal pressures should not influence their stance on marriage.
Odarky Andy of TV3 Mentor fame has disclosed that he almost joined a drug cartel after he became famous in the music space.
According to Odarky Andy, after he came out as the first runner-up for TV3 Mentor, he was approached by an unnamed Big man who wanted to be his producer.
Odarky Andy made this disclosure during an interview on Accra-based OKAY FM disclosed how a man contacted him after he got his number from TV3.
Andy said that from the interaction with the man’s driver, he was told about transporting cocaine from Ghana to Germany for the cartel the man leads by his driver.
From the interaction with the man’s driver, he was told about transporting cocaine from Ghana to Germany for the cartel the man leads by his driver.
“After mentor, a man approached TV3 that he wants to be my producer. He took my number and reached out to me. He said he wanted to make me travel. We met four times and all the days we met, he gave me Ghc2,000. He used to point to luxurious cars he owns and made me aware that he can change my life.”
He continued while speaking to Abeiku Sanatana “the man didn’t mention what he wanted me to do but just said he wanted me to travel. From a conversation I had with his driver, I was told it was cocaine he wants me to take to Germany”.
“But for an elderly man whose advice I sought, I would have ended up transporting cocaine and if I get caught that would have been the need for me. Being famous is challenging and pushing people into all manner of things”.
Gospel musician Celestine Donkor has admonished young women to enter marriage with complete faith in their future spouses.
She believes that trust is crucial in marriage and that women should enter marriage with complete trust because having trust issues in marriage can lead to a lot of complications.
Speaking in an interview on Neat FM, on March 1, 2023, Celestine Donkor asserted that women shouldn’t enter into marriage believing that their husbands will cheat on them because there are some faithful men out there.
“In everything, there are possibilities of faithful people and those who have the tendency to cheat as well. Trust is important in marriage… I will say every human is bound to sin. Our flesh is full of sins, so any human being at all can sin.
“Even those that we don’t suspect, even Roman sisters sin…so I will say there are faithful people and there are people who are just like that.
“So, having the perception that your husband will cheat on you, means that you’re already going into the marriage with a lack of trust, which is already a problem.
“And it will make you suspicious for no reason. So, I think you should rather go into marriage with a lot of confidence,” she said.
Following the announcement of Bola Tinubu as the president-elect of Nigeria, some celebrities have taken to their respective social media accounts to react to the news.
The Independent National Electoral Commission chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu on Wednesday, March 1, declared Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 general election.
Tinubu beat Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, his major contenders, to emerge as the winner.
However, some celebrities have since taken to social media to share their thoughts on the development.
Kumawood actor, Collins Oteng, popularly known as Okomfo Kolege, has called on colleague actors to console, support, and/or commiserate with colleague actor and skit maker, Dr Likee, over the death of his three-month-old baby.
It was reported on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 that Ras Nene, known in real life as Ebenezer Akwasi Antwi has lost his three months old baby girl.
Although the cause of death is unknown, Kumawood actor Okomfo Kolege and colleague actor Kyinkyinaa Twaan announced it on social media.
The two, along with a few other friends, were seen consoling their friend, also known as Ras Nene, in the video shared by Zionfelix.
While consoling his friend, Komfo Colleague expressed his sadness over the death of the baby and how painful it was to lose a loved one, having been through a similar situation in November 2022 when he lost his wife.
“Today is a black Tuesday, we did not hear any good news; our brother has lost his three-month-old baby, and I encourage all of us, especially our brothers in the movie industry, to console him as you did for me,” he said.
Kwame Godlove Yeboah Prah, formerly professionally called Shy, a member of the Hiplife duo Nkasei, has shared that their hit ‘Tuabodom’ destroyed their career and made them flee Ghana fearing for their lives.
The song was released in the early 2000s and was named after a Bono East town in Ghana.
In the four minute song, Shy and his partner Isaac Mensah, alias Naa K, singing and rapping told a story about students from Tuabodom visiting a city, Kumasi, for the first time and being mesmerised by its advancements such as tarred roads, fridges, TVs, fans and entertainment centres.
Nkasei, in the satirical Hiplife piece, performed in the Bono language and accent, also blundered calling Jinijini, an independent traditional area, the capital of Tuabodom.
The Appietus-produced song enraged the people and traditional leaders of the said town and the Bono area as they regarded the song as an unbridled ridicule of their language and peoples. The song’s controversy came up on the floor of Parliament also.
Speaking to CTV’s Sammy Flex on the Class Showbiz programme, Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Shy, now known asHerven Tayles, detailed how the song put he and his mate’s life in danger and truncated their career as music makers.
“The radio stopped playing the song,” he said. “Because they tried to put… like a ban on it to make sure that they’d stop playing the music.
“Due to the fact that the song was not playing anymore and it was surrounded by negativity, we did not gain what was due us by performances and things like that. We didn’t get a lot of that,” he said.
“It cut short our plans concerning the project. We couldn’t do a lot of things,” he added.
He explained that ‘Tuabodom’ was the lead single for their album.
The rapper revealed that Nkasei was counting on the success of ‘Tuabodom’ to release other songs on the album and project them all into the limelight.
“Since all the attention was given to ‘Tuabodom’,” and the controversial hit song’s success was truncated, “we couldn’t make those decisions [moves],” he said.
He admitted, however, that “within a short period of time, in terms of sales,” the song made them money that “the rest of the albums could not.”
Despite this, ‘Tuabodom’, unlike the other songs, did not bring “much [bookings for] shows and other things,” he stated.
He insinuated that if the song had not received much opposition, it would have brought in more money.
He also admitted that the group was well aware of how touchy the song was from creation to promotion.
However, they thought “it was old news and they would not take it too seriously. We thought it’d be interesting to make a song out of it and probably people would take it as a mere song, and sheer entertainment.
“We thought they’d vibe to it and everybody would be happy and we’d probably make a few quid [money] out of it.”
He revealed that Nkasei received “a lot of” threats because the song angered some people.
“Even now in the UK,” he added. “Ghanaians living in the UK who are from the Brong and Ahafo areas. They didn’t take it lightly.” He confessed that if the group had known this was going to be the consequences of the song, they would have shelved it.
He, however, stressed that the song had no malicious intentions but “it was just entertainment. We thought everybody would be happy about it.”
Sammy asked if the backlash affected the group’s career.
“It has greatly,” he responded. “After ‘Tuabodom’ nothing really went on for us.”
“After ‘Tuabodom’, nothing really really moved. After ‘Tuabodom’, we then had to leave the country, and through that, we separated and so on and so forth,” he stated, adding that the group, partially, fled the country for fear of their lives.
“We thought maybe being out there would be slightly safer for a while and then we can probably come back later and then continue with our career and stuff,” he also said.
The group would soon discover that “nowhere is safe for you especially where there are Ghanaians that come from BA [Brong and Ahafo Regions],” he indicated.
Ghanaian high-life musician Dennis Nana Dwamena, known in showbiz as Kidi, has disclosed his plans to tattoo the names of all his music projects on his skin.
The ‘Odo’ hitmaker stated that his tattoos represent things that are important to him and described all his tattoos as distinct representations of things he cherishes immensely.
“A few times here and there, things that will mean something to me on a deeper level, I like to represent them on my skin.” he indicated.
He revealed in an interview on ‘Pulse Uncut’, a digital interview segment, that he has ten to eleven tattoos currently and described a few of them, their meanings, and how they relate to his personality.
Zane, his son, his five constant moods (represented by the demon emoji, sad emoji, sleepy emoji, shaded eyes emoji, and rock on emoji), and the three tattooed rings around his left arm to mourn the death of his relatives who have passed away are just a few examples.
“All my projects are going to go on my skin.” Kidi hinted at and has two tattoos of his music projects so far, which are ‘Sugar’ his first album, and the “Blue EP,” which helped lighten the mood of many during 2020’s pandemic with ‘Say Cheese’ and four other breath-taking tunes.
The 2020 parliamentary candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, John Dumelo has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to call off events earmarked for the observance of Ghana’s 66th Independence Day celebrations.
The actor in a Twitter post sighted by GhanaWeb premised his call on the current state of economic affairs in the country. According to him, calling off the celebrations and marking the day with a televised address from the president will help the country save money.
“Greetings @NAkufoAddo, respectfully we are in hard times, can you please cancel all state, regional and district Independence Day celebrations? You can do your usual ‘fellow Ghanaians’ broadcast on tv. This will save us millions of cedis. Thanks so much,” he requested.
Ghana’s 66th Independence Day celebration falls on Monday, March 6, 2023.
The day is scheduled to be marked with a national and regional activities including with the main ceremony to held in the Volta Regional capital of Ho.
President Akufo-Addo is expected to be at the event where he will deliver an address.
Nigeria held its presidential and national assembly elections on February 25, 2023, which was hotly contested and marred by allegations of vote buying, voter suppression, and other electoral malpractices.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Bola Tinubu, the ruling party candidate, won the presidential election with 37% or nearly 8.8 million of the total votes cast, while Atiku Abubakar, the main opposition challenger, secured 29% or 6.98 million votes, and Peter Obi, a first time presidential candidate, popular among the youth, garnered 25% or around 6.1 million votes.
Tinubu is now President-elect
Per Nigeria’s electoral law, a candidate can be declared a winner if they win more votes than their rivals, provided they bag 25 per cent of the vote in at least two-thirds of the 36 states and the capital city Abuja.
The aftermath of the elections
Nigeria had high expectations for the elections, with many supporters of Peter Obi, impressed by his youthful exuberance and belief that he is the best candidate to alleviate the hardships Nigerians face.
Despite being projected as the fairest and most transparent contest in the country’s history, there have been accusations of foul play from opposing parties.
Although the candidates have not issued an official reaction, loyalists of the defeated parties have expressed their dissatisfaction with the declared results, alleging various forms of electoral malpractice.
All information has been verified for accuracy, and the grammar and content have been reviewed to meet industry standards for online news platforms.
Julius Abure, Chairman of Obi’s Labour Party, has called for the scrapping of the presidential elections, describing the results as a “sham,” while Abubakar’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the main opposition party, has backed the demand for a revote, along with the small African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The Labour Party has called on the INEC to conduct fresh elections within the window period provided by the electoral act.
Furthermore, there are indications that the electoral process was fraught with challenges owing to new technology that did not function well and seemed to overwhelm Nigeria’s notoriously inadequate communications network. This has been cited as a reason for the main opposition parties’ rejection of the results as fraudulent.
The future of Nigeria now lies in the hands of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has held a press conference declaring his acceptance of the election results and thanking the other parties for participating in the elections. It remains to be seen whether the opposing parties will drag the Electoral Commission and the President-elect to court or whether this will just remain one of the associated challenges with every election.
There were reports of Children voting in Kano state during Saturday’s elections. There were also several reports of seizing and vandalising of ballot boxes in Edo state and Lagos.
Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, during a press brief also acknowledged a similar incident in Abuja. According to him some BVAS machines were snatched from electoral officials.
Following these activities, which compromised security in some states, there were delays in the voting process.
Additionally, he mentioned that polling units in Niger, Delta and Katsina states were attacked by thugs and eight BVAS were snatched by thugs, noting that three of the BVAS machines were later recovered.
There were also reports of people being murdered during the election process. On Dipolubi Street in the Surulere area of Lagos, for instance, a woman, Efidi Bina Jennifer, was allegedly stabbed by thugs loyal to a political party at the polling unit.
She, however, came back to cast her vote after being given first aid treatment and wearing heavy bandage on her face and dripping with blood. A pregnant woman identified as Ruth Osah, and a member of a local security outfit, Mark Orduize, were allegedly killed at a polling unit in the Ubimini community, Emuoha Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Hoodlums suspected to be supporters of a political party in Akwa Ibom State inflicted machete cuts on two voters before carting away a Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation Machine System machine for units 11 and 12 at the West Ward I in the Onna Local Government Area of the state. All these incidents disrupted the elections.
Will this be enough grounds for the opposing parties to drag the Electoral Commission and the President elect to court or this will just remain one of the associated with every election?
During the hurried search for Constance Marten and Mark Gordon’s kid, a baby’s body was discovered.
After the couple went missing on January 5 and their child was delivered in a car in Bolton, an investigation was started.
On fire and abandoned, their car was discovered close to the M61.
By paying for everything in cash and hiding their faces when caught on camera, the two were able to elude the authorities for 54 days.
It’s believed they were living rough in a tent amid cold temperatures, and they were spotted in Liverpool, Essex, south London and East Sussex.
Police became increasingly concerned as they believe the child hasn’t received medical attention since their birth.
Marten and Gordon were finally located in Brighton on February 27 after a tip-off from a member of the public.
Constance Marten is thought to have given birth in a car in January (Picture: PA)Mark Gordon was on the run for two months with his partner (Picture: PA)A police search team works their way through a field on the desperate search (Picture: Getty Images)Police officers and officers from London Search and Rescue (LONSAR) in woodland at Wild Park Local Nature Reserve, near Moulsecoomb, Brighton (Picture: PA)
Their baby was not with them and they were arrested on suspicion of child neglect.
Immediately after, around two hundred officers launched an urgent hunt covering some 90 square miles to find the child.
Metropolitan and Sussex police used helicopters, sniffer dogs, thermal imaging cameras and drones, and worked through the night.
The following day, the parents were further arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
Police warned that they believed that the child must have ‘come to serious harm’.
Marten comes from an aristocratic family with royal connections.
On Tuesday her father, Napier Marten, expressed his immense relief that she had been found, but said he remained alarmed that the baby was missing.
Peter has a bright future if he and his Party go back to the drawing board and heal the fractures in the party and put correct processes in place because he was able to poll 6,101,533 against the President-8,794,726. elect’s
30% of the more than 80 million eligible voters actually cast ballots, which is the lowest turnout since 1999.
For being able to advance in a hot state like Lagos and even defeat Tinubu, who served as governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, Peter must be applauded from the rear.
The benefits of this is that, you get people(House and Senate Candidates and his Team) on grounds to campaign for you in your absence. These same people will help resolve issues so that party faithful will be happy in campaigning.
Secondly, these are the people (Candidates for House and Senate) you will be working with should you win the election, so it will be good to get more of your people in the House and in the Senate to help you succeed.
The Labour Party failed here because out of 109 seats in the Senate, Peter Obi’s Labour Party had only 80 candidates contesting which gives a deficit of 29 seats here.
Again, out of 360 in the House of Representatives, his party had only 208 candidates contesting. Again a deficit of 152 seats which is unacceptable.
So even if Peter Obi had won the Presidential election, he would not have had the numbers from both the Senate and the House of Representatives to run his Government.
The bottom line is Peter wasn’t well cooked to win.
To add to these analysis, there were pockets of misunderstanding among the Labour Party in the North and the National Executives including the Presidenial Candidate, Mr Obi.
The chairmen in the North felt marginalised in everything the Party does to the extent of claiming that they never received any funds when the Party is disbursing funds to Executives and alleged that disbursement was done based on tribe.
This was said barely 48 hours to voting during a press conference led by Sani Abdulsalam, the Gombe state Labour Party chairman and co-ordinating chairman for the 36 states.
“As of tonight, no alert has been received by any state chairmen and information reaching us confirmed that money was paid based on ethnic and religious consideration because only persons of a particular ethnic group currently run the campaign of Mr. Peter Obi in cohort with the national chairman, Mr. Julius Abure, has polluted the party.”
Accompanied by Mohammed Alkali, the national vice chairman, northeast, Ibrahim Bukar, the Yobe state chairman, amongst others, the leader of LP states chairmen alleged that money meant for the mobilisation of polling agents was withheld by the national chairman, Julius Abure.
“I speak on behalf of 36 state chairmen of our party in my capacity as the coordinating chairman. We have never been respected by the party leadership and also our presidential candidate has no respect for our party executives at state levels because Peter Obi deliberately mismanaged our good will with the imposition of his members and other support groups that decamped with him in May 2022 to our party”.
“To our surprise, the national chairman Julius Abure said the presidential candidate Peter Obi has no confidence in all the 36 state chapters’ leadership but would rather choose to work with their cronies and support group that came with him”.
As members of the Labour Party National Executive and National Working Committee (NWC), it is our considered opinion and informed conclusion that Peter Obi cannot win this election since all party executives have been sidelined. He is not ready and is grossly ill-prepared for the Presidential race.”
Why should it be so when you have a running mate who is from the North? This running mate was supposed to pull his region along no matter what the grievancesaid are. He should be a unifier and not just to occupy space.
This clearly means Mr. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed failed his Boss Peter and his Party in this regard.
PeterObi
Peter Obi, a business man, a Banker and a politician. He was the governor of the Anambera State and became the running mate to Atiku Abubakar in the 2019 election but broke away. He is now the leader of Labour Party. He seems to have galvanized enough support from the youth and alot of entertainers. He has always maintained that it’s time for Nigerians to take their Country back. The youth believed he is the one to break the APC and PDP jinx and bring in new style of governance which will be people centered. Many people say he is a Nollywood president and will remain so.
We believe that, Mr Peter Obi stands a better chance in the next Election if he puts his house in order.
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
The speaker of parliament has indicated that courage is not a criteria for appointing a minister of state or deputy minister to serve for the country.
According to him, there are very important factors that are considered for one to be appointed in governance leadership.
His comment comes after the deputy minority leader questioned Afenyo-Markin if he had held a ministerial or deputy ministerial position after the latter said he (Emmanual Armah Kofi-Buah) was not courageous and honourable.
Emmanuel Buah who had an exchange with Afenyo-Markin said; “…Afenyo-Markin will have the courage to tell me, honourable Kofi Buah, a four-term member of parliament who has worked 20 years in the cooperate world, who has served as deputy minister properly vetted, served as a minister of state that I don’t have the courage. I am a courageous man that is why I served this country honourably. Have you ever been a deputy minister in this county since I have been here? You?” Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah fumed.
In reaction to this, the speaker of parliament said “…we don’t appoint deputy ministers, ministers of state based on their courage. So that one is not a good bases to say that because you serve as a deputy and minister for state you have courage. Courage is something else oo,” Alban Bagbin said.
With Europe previously having been by far the largest market for Russian oil, that narrowed the nation’s pool of buyers dramatically. It also meant the barrels had to be discounted at the point of export to compensate for relatively high delivery costs.
The Dreamville team announced the full music lineup via social media on Tuesday.
Superstar Nigerian singers, Burna Boy, Ayra Starr, and Victony have been billed to perform alongside other artists at the 2023 Dreamville Festival.
The festival is put together annually by J. Cole, the American rapper.
The Dreamville team announced the full music lineup via social media on Tuesday.
The festival will be held at Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Park in North Carolina between April 1 and 2.
On day one, Victony will perform alongside Usher, Lil Durk, Ari Lennox, City Girls, Seun Paul, Earthgang, Jessie Reyez, Key Glock, Lute, Omen and Marqus Mae.
Burna Boy and Ayra Starr will join other international acts like Summer Walker, J.I.D, Glorilla, Bas, Waka Flocka Flame, Mario, Baby Tate, Cozz, Jordan Ward and Reuben Vincent to entertain the crowd at the festival on the closing date.
Ghanaian artiste Sista Afia is in search of a new management and record label after parting ways with BK Records.
BK Records, led by Mr. Emmanuel Arhin (Bossu Koule), handled the songstress since she got into the music industry in 2015.
In a Graphic Showbiz report, Sista Afia expressed her appreciation to BK Records for giving her career a firm footing over the years.
“I parted ways with my old management, and I am working on a deal to get some new managers on board. I have set some very high standards for myself in the near future, and I am poised to achieve them,” she said.
According to Sista Afia, she is now focused on taking her career to the next level and would want to work with a record label that is geared towards her aspirations.
Meanwhile, she says she is ready to serve her fans with quality music.
“My fans have been very supportive over the years, and I have some good music for them this year. My duty is to serve them with the best of rhythms, and I will certainly make my fans proud,” she said.
Sista Afia is currently promoting her new single ‘Carry Go.
In the meantime, Clinton Selorm Owulaku, popularly known in showbiz as Kofi will be her personal manager.
During the election, Chioma alleged that she was “abused and beaten” after thugs had disrupted the process at her polling unit in Eti-Osa LGA, Lagos.
Georgina, however, tackled Chioma, saying she has no right to complain.
She also alleged that during the 2019 election, Chioma warned her against sharing posts on people lamenting about rigging and violence at polling units.
Georgina said it led to a now 4-year-old rift between the pair. She also referred to Chioma as a “cow shouting” over electoral violence.
But in a fresh altercation between the actresses, Chioma described Georgina as an “enemy within” in an Instagram post.
Chioma dared Georgina to provide evidence of payments she allegedly received from politicians to campaign for them in 2019 or face legal action.
She also shared a screenshot of the messages she sent to Georgina four years ago.
“The enemy within,” she wrote.
“I am using this medium to ask Georgina Onuoha to present evidence that any politician on the face of the earth DEAD OR ALIVE paid me to campaign for them 4 years ago and even this year as she has constantly insinuated. Failure to do so, she will be hearing from my lawyers. God bless Nigeria.
“My correspondence with her from 4 years ago will be in my next post.”
“You can feel or fool people who just got to know you today, yesterday or they know your social media handle and they don’t know the real you. You are a grifter. You are very supercilious,” she said.
“I’ve always known you to be a lover of money. You have character and integrity hence I redefine our friendship.
“You are only loyal and care for people or others when it is financially beneficial to you. We call that Social climbing. I bet I have known you way better than anyone you are hanging around with today.
“They will have a taste of the real you someday.
“I will advise against bringing in family, kids, and marriage, it will not go well for you as many people know you well before this repackaged Chioma.
“Thank your God my old account was hacked, the world would have known what a callous person you are.”
Ghanaian musician Albert Apoozore, popularly known as King Ayisoba, decided to use his craft to soothe the aching hearts of mourners at the family home of the late Christian Atsu.
In a video that has since gone viral, the ‘I Want To See My Father’ hitmaker was spotted playing his traditional guitar, called the kologo, as he sang a melodious song for guests and family of Atsu.
He was accompanied by another colleague who played the calabash and danced while Ayisoba sang.
Former Member of Parliament for Kwadaso Constituency, Samiu Kwadwo Nuamah, has asserted that the ‘One District, One Factory’ (1D1F) concept put forth by the former Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, was a major factor in the ruling New Patriotic Party’s victories in the 2016 and 2020 national elections.
Speaking in an interview on Wontumi TV on February 27, 2023, he claimed that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s plan for the free SHS introduction had no influence on the Ghanaian electorate’s decision to vote for the NPP in the 2008 and 2012 elections, but Alan’s One District, One Factory ultimately helped the elephant party win in 2016 and 2020.
“In 2008, we went for elections with a free SHS message, but we lost. In 2012, we also went with the same free SHS message and still lost.
“But in 2016, when Alan Kyerematen brought the 1 District, 1 Factory message, what happened? We won the elections. So, if they’ve forgotten, that is what Alan did,” he said.
He added that Alan Kyerematen has contributed immensely to the development of the country as trade minister, adding that he is ready to offer his support to the former minister to ‘break the eight’ for the party.
The former minister officially declared his intention to run for president in 2024 on January 10, 2023.
Addressing the nation on January 10, 2023, days after resigning from the government, Alan Kyerematen thanked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and announced that he would run for the position of flagbearer when the NPP officially opens nominations.
According to Alan Kyerematen, to ensure economic stability for the country, a new plan ought to be put in place, one he intends to introduce.
Describing this plan as the Great Transformational Plan (GTP) of Ghana, he said it will span from 2025 to 2030 when given the chance as president.
He said, “Fellow countrymen and women, let me now provide a brief synopsis of the Great Transformational Plan (GTP). The GTP will be anchored on the following key pillars:
“A Strong Macroeconomic Environment: The success of the GTP will depend primarily on strong macroeconomic fundamentals, which will include, among other things, a stable currency, low inflation, sustainable debt levels, revenue optimization and tight expenditure control to guarantee fiscal balance, low competitive interest rates, strong external reserves backed by high levels of liquidity to support the financial sector.”
Ghanaian songstress, Sista Afia has said that marriage is not as attractive as it used to be so she might not marry.
According to the Sista Afia, life has so many angles and doesn’t necessarily revolve around marriage.
The Jeje hitmaker in an interview with Doreen Avio on Daybreak Hitz said, “I don’t see life to be all about marriage and having kids. Life is a beautiful thing and it has a lot of angles.”
She added, “If I don’t get married, it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do better in life. Marriage doesn’t define me,” she said on Hitz FM.
The singer also disclosed that when she was young, she had the dream of getting married and having children at an early age.
“I was a young girl and I remember telling myself that I would get married at the age of 21; I’d have twins at the age of 24, and another set of twins later.”
“I was very young and I was very naïve and I didn’t know much about marriage and life, but now I do I’m not in a rush.”
“It’s my dream to have a kid, but if I don’t even get married, it’s fine but for a kid, it’s something I would want to have.”
She concluded, “Married people these days… it is crazy. Considering this generation… Because we have social media, people do not see the importance of so many things anymore.”
The Sika hitmaker concluded by saying, “If you’re a woman, whatever you want to do, be it marriage, you can go ahead and do it, but for me, I’m just being me and I don’t regard marriage.” She then advised women to do what was good for them and that societal pressures should not influence their stance on marriage.
Westminster Abbey‘s coronation chair is being restored by conservator Krista Blessley
The ancient chair King Charles will be crowned on has some brand-new ornamental embellishments.
This throne has witnessed the coronations of Henry VIII, Charles I, and Queen Victoria. It last saw use in 1953 for the late Queen.
Although having a 700-year history, it was notably covered in graffiti in the 18th and 19th centuries by students and tourists who wrote their initials or names.
One visitor carved ‘P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800’ on the seat. Slithers of wood were also cut off as souvenirs.
Detail of graffiti on the chair, which is being restored ahead of the upcoming coronationTourists used to carve their initials or names in the 18th and 19th centuries
Krista Blessley, paintings conservator at Westminster Abbey, was tasked with the cleaning and preservation of the gliding.
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But she believes she has found a previously overlooked part of a figure during the work.
She said: ‘I think they are previously undiscovered toes in the punch-work gilding on the back of the chair.
‘So there are areas of drapery where you can tell there would have been a figure.
It is thought the chair was made in 1,300 out of oak
‘It might be they are figures of kings or it might be a figure of a saint, because so much is lost we cannot tell at the moment but will do some further investigation.’
Estimated to have been made in around 1,300 for King Edward I, the throne was used to house the coronation stone.
Constructed from oak, decorated with coloured glass, and gilded with gold leaf, it is ‘a complex layered structure’.
Ms Blessley, who has been working on the chair for months ahead of the May 6 coronation, said it is ‘a real privilege’ to be conserving a historic object central to the life of the nation.
Detail of a golden lion on the throne
‘It is so important to our country’s history and in the history of the monarchy, and it is really unique as a conservator to work on something that is part of a working collection and still used for the original function it was made for,’ she said.
She has been meticulously preserving the flaking gilding and cleaning the chair’s surface using sponges and cotton swabs.
Ms Blessley added: ‘It has a very complex layered structure, which means it is very prone to the gilding on it flaking.
‘So a large part of what I have been doing is sticking that gilding down to make sure it is secure, and then I will surface clean it and that will improve the appearance a little bit.’
Odarky Andy of TV3 Mentor fame has disclosed that he almost joined a drug cartel after he became famous in the music space.
According to Odarky Andy, after he came out as the first runner-up for TV3 Mentor, he was approached by an unnamed Big man who wanted to be his producer.
Odarky Andy made this disclosure during an interview on Accra-based OKAY FM disclosed how a man contacted him after he got his number from TV3.
Andy said that from the interaction with the man’s driver, he was told about transporting cocaine from Ghana to Germany for the cartel the man leads by his driver.
From the interaction with the man’s driver, he was told about transporting cocaine from Ghana to Germany for the cartel the man leads by his driver.
“After mentor, a man approached TV3 that he wants to be my producer. He took my number and reached out to me. He said he wanted to make me travel. We met four times and all the days we met, he gave me Ghc2,000. He used to point to luxurious cars he owns and made me aware that he can change my life.”
He continued while speaking to Abeiku Sanatana “the man didn’t mention what he wanted me to do but just said he wanted me to travel. From a conversation I had with his driver, I was told it was cocaine he wants me to take to Germany”.
“But for an elderly man whose advice I sought, I would have ended up transporting cocaine and if I get caught that would have been the need for me. Being famous is challenging and pushing people into all manner of things”.
Members of the Minority caucus in Parliament have disputed Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s assurance to release funds to the National Identification Authority (NIA) to register more Ghanaians for the Ghana Card.
The NIA is said to owe its suppliers GHȼ117 million, which has resulted in the curtailment of its work in registering and issuing the Ghana Card.
The Electoral Commission wants to recognise the Ghana Card as the only source of identification for registering prospective Ghanaian voters, and has consequently proposed a Constitutional Instrument before Parliament to make it the law, however the Minority have vehemently opposed the move on the grounds that it may disenfranchise many.
The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission was in Parliament on Tuesday to defend and justify the CI, and urged parliament to approve it as it would ensure the integrity of future elections in Ghana.
The NIA has been unable to print the cards for over three million registrants as a result of the lack of the cards, and has restricted its registration activities largely to rendering premium services at a fee, currently at GHȼ280.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was in parliament also on Tuesday, and told the house the Ministry had just released funds to clear the GHȼ100 million of the GHȼ117 million debts owed by the National Identification Authority so it can proceed with its work.
And according to JoyNews’ Parliamentary Correspondent, Kwaku Asante, the Minority says it will be risky to trust in the assurances of the Minister.
They spoke at a press conference addressed by Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson.
Nigerians have criticized Davidoon social media for what they believe to be an assault on the Obedient movement.
The musician reportedly enjoyed a video that activist Deji Adeyanju shared in which she claimed that the Labour Party was also involved in the rigging of the election.
In a video he posted over the weekend, Adeyanju alleged that some people were tampering with the results on the ballots, just like the APC and PDP.
Checking Davido’s Twitter account revealed that he had liked the message, which infuriated his supporters, many of whom are Obedient movement members.
Those who hauled him found his actions even more troubling because he had never previously concealed his allegiance to the Peoples Democratic Party
Probably sensing danger, Davido unlike the post shelve himself from any blame but did not stop angry fans from venting their spleen on him.
A tweep known as @itzbasito expressed surprise because he thought the DMW boss had stayed off social media since last year.
“Thought they said Davido is offline?” he wrote.
@Finesse77481538; When will 30BG be happy?? This our idol is making life hard for us !!! @davido I thought u will not be active on social media till March, what now happened? Useless man!!!
@big_keed9; .. person wey don m@d So na even PDP Davido dey support chai .. na why e no talk anything about election cause Dem go too drag am
@Lil_mizzy10; So Davido is online? Wahala don start, dragging don start
@TweetInspector0; …and to think that Post was even Fake Story……
Everybody is just again Peter Obi & the Obidients movement cus they know a Win for Peter Obi is a win for Nigerians and a pathway to start breaking the structure of Criminality
@Afeez311600641; Lmao.30BG go talk say na mistake e take like the tweet now. Dey watch
@grimeboy4; Everybody Dey craze no worry wizkid Davido burna all of them!
@Charles_Mecon; Davido dn rush unlike the post …baba de online since
@debola_szn; I thought I saw it too. He don remove am now.
@rubysugary; No wonder he’s silent. All of them are the same. Period. Useless artistes!
@AustinWire_Wire; is in support of this evil government that’s why he’s been silent all this while. @1_ezekwueche come and see for yourself oo.
Dr Kwabena Duffuor has promised to install a real-time vote compilation system for the National Democratic Congress in the 2024 elections so the party can monitor the results as they trickle in instantly.
The former Bank of Ghana Governor, who is one of four flag bearer aspirants of the NDC, told journalists during his presidential declaration event that he intends to change the party’s vote-monitoring and results-compilation system during general elections.
Asked how he plans to do that, the former finance minister said: “Real-time”.
“You know real time?” he asked his questioners, explaining: “As you vote, we’ve a system that’ll pick it”.
In December last year, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the then-general secretary of the party, who was aspiring to the national chair slot at the time, revealed to some party delegates in the Ashanti Region during his campaign for the internal polls that the biggest opposition party was unable to collate results in the 2020 polls because an IT system installed by the Chairman at the time, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, who lost his re-election bid, crashed after just five regional results were entered into it for processing.
In a leaked audiotape, Mr Nketia is heard telling his audience: “I totally understand if anyone says I’m partly to blame for the collation fiasco because all those people undertaking the process were reporting to me but the bit of it is that there were people tasked to do that job”.
He continued: “Mr Ofosu-Ampofo’s so-called ‘robust’ and ‘strong’ IT system he had installed for the collation of results crashed after just five regional results were entered into it for processing”.
“So, that is the truth of the matter”, Mr Nketia noted.
Following the mishap, Mr Nketia said: “We then decided to manually collate the pink sheets”.
Again, he said “the Chairman took over the whole process and brought in some university students to put some documents together”.
However, he recalled: “When it was time for me to mount the dock, it was clear the results they gave me to back our case in court would have brought me nothing but shame and disgrace”.
“We could not have gone to court with those documents as evidence”, he asserted.
“We then carried those same documents to Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, the lawyer, for perusal.
After studying the documents, he called us the following day to say if that was the evidence we were taking to court then he wouldn’t be part of the case and suggested we find a different lawyer to represent the party in court since there was no way he was going to be part of it”, Mr Nketia recounted.
“That is why I told the court we didn’t bring any results when I was asked to produce the evidence”, Mr Nketia explained to his audience.
The Supreme Court, eventually, threw out the petition and upheld the results declared by Electoral Commission Chair Jean Mensa.
Mr Nketia promised that should he become the next chairman of the NDC, “I intend to make sure this collation fiasco never happens again”.
According to the FBI’s director, the Covid-19 virus “most likely” came from a Wuhan laboratory.
According to Christopher Wray, who spoke to Fox News, “the FBI has judged that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a probable lab mishap in Wuhan for quite some time now.”
On Tuesday, China rejected the claim once more, claiming it had been “open and transparent” in its investigation into the origins of the virus.
Mr Wray said he couldn’t share many details of the agency’s assessment because they were classified.
He accused the Chinese government of ‘doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate’ efforts by the United States and others to learn more about the pandemic’s origins.
While some scientists are open to the lab-leak theory, others continue to believe the virus came from animals, mutated, and jumped into people — as has happened in the past with others.
Experts say the true origin of the pandemic may not be known for many years — if ever.
Virologist Shi Zheng-li, left, works with her colleague in the P4 lab of Wuhan Institute of Virology (Picture: Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Mr Wray’s comments follow a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday that the US Energy Department (DOE) assessed with low confidence the pandemic resulted from an unintended lab leak in China.
Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that the pandemic was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided, the Journal reported.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Monday the US government has not reached a definitive conclusion and consensus on the pandemic’s origins.
‘There is not a consensus right now in the U.S. government about exactly how Covid started,’ he said. ‘There is just not an intelligence community consensus.’
China’s foreign ministry, asked to comment on the Wall Street Journal report, which was confirmed by other US media, referred to a WHO-China report that pointed toward a natural origin for the pandemic, rather than a lab leak.
Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, said she isn’t sure what new intelligence the agencies had, but ‘it’s reasonable to infer’ it relates to activities at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
She said a 2018 research proposal co-authored by scientists there and their US collaborators ‘essentially described a blueprint for Covid-like viruses’.
‘Less than two years later, such a virus was causing an outbreak in the city,’ she said.
The Wuhan institute had been studying coronaviruses for years, in part because of widespread concerns — tracing back to SARS — that coronaviruses could be the source of the next pandemic.
No intelligence agency has said they believe the coronavirus that caused Covid-19 was released intentionally.
The unclassified 2021 summary was clear on this point, saying: ‘We judge the virus was not developed as a biological weapon.’
Ms Chan, who co-authored a book about the search for Covid-19’s origins said: ‘Lab accidents happen at a surprising frequency. A lot of people don’t really hear about lab accidents because they’re not talked about publicly.’
Such accidents ‘underscore a need to make work with highly dangerous pathogens more transparent and more accountable’.
Last year, the WHO recommended a deeper probe into a possible lab accident. Ms Chan said she hopes the latest report sparks more investigation in the United States.
China has called the suggestion that Covid-19 came from a Chinese laboratory ‘baseless’.
Canadian singer/songwriter, Justin Bieber had postponed the tour several times, telling fans last summer that he was suffering from facial paralysis, after a diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS).
The 29-year-old singer has cancelled the remaining dates of his Justice World Tour over ill health.
The 29-year-old singer had postponed the tour several times, telling fans last summer that he was suffering from facial paralysis, after a diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS). He said in September 2022 that he wanted to make his “health a priority”.
On ticket company Ticketmaster’s website, all concerts in the US, Ireland, France, Poland, Australia, the US, Denmark and the Czech Republic are also shown as cancelled. The same goes for Bieber’s show in Bangkok, Thailand, according to event organizer Live Nation Tero. He is yet to give a reason for the cancellation.
It was also announced on Tuesday, February 28, that ticket holders would receive a refund. Fans in London, where Bieber was originally scheduled to perform in February, received an email from events company AXS on Tuesday stating:
“We regret to inform you that the Justin Bieber shows planned to take place at The O2 arena have been cancelled.
“We understand you will be disappointed and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
A Toyota Hilux pick-up belonging to the Prestea Government Hospital has run into a stationed Man Diesel trailer injuring four passengers on board.
The man diesel trailer with registration number GT-2054-13 which had developed fault for about four days was stationed on a hill at Coboldkrom on the Bogoso road.
The pick-up with registration number WR-1493-15 which was from Tarkwa heading towards Bogoso accidentally crushed into the stationed trailer on the night of Monday, Feb 27, 2023.
The accident happened on a straight three-lane road on a hill where the trailer was on the outer lane and that makes people believe that the driver of the pickup might have been sleeping because he had two other lanes available for him to swerve in order not to run into it.
A visit to the accident by GhanaWeb indicates that a warning triangle to warn road users of the spoilt trailer was crashed by the pick-up driver an indication that he did not see any sign of the spoilt trailer.
A passenger James Morkeh who had gone to Accra and was returning to Bogoso said “I nearly had an accident on that road because of that trailer. This morning I was going to Tarkwa, and to my surprise when I got there, there was a car under the trailer”.
“This needs the urgent attention of authorities of the Prestea Huni Valley Municipality to find ways and means of towing the truck from the road in order save souls of road users,” he added.
Life for us is split into “before” and “after” the war.
In reality, we were aware of Russia’s plans as early as November 2021. After that, the possibility that they would invade Ukraine was frequently mentioned in the media and on social media, which made me feel worried and anxious.
I had a hard time getting ready for it.
A common expression among friends and family was the ‘anxiety suitcase’, which was the bag you kept ready in case of invasion. People often discussed how they might get out from under rubble if the worst happened.
‘Nothing is off the table’ when it comes to support for Ukraine says Sunak
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But I – like most Ukrainians – did not believe that war would actually come.
The night before it happened, I was in my home in the western part of Ukraine – the city of Lviv – choosing gifts for my birthday in early March and planning the celebration. In just a few hours, that all lost relevance.
Each of us has a frozen image in our head of that terrible morning, which was accompanied by the sounds of explosions and sirens.
For me, that day began with calls from my friends and the dreadful phrase: ‘The war has begun.’ All my subsequent actions were chaotic.
I ran to the pharmacy because I wanted to buy first aid medicine and pain relief, but when I got there at 9am, there were already long queues and empty shelves.
It was safer in Lviv, but of course not completely (Picture: Iryna)
Still not understanding the seriousness of the situation, I went into work that day – as a manager of a national cheese-producing company – by public transport, which was crowded with passengers carrying large suitcases and confusion in their eyes.
Even though all my colleagues came in that day, it was not productive at all – we just kept reading the news. When it was time to clock out, we received a message from our manager saying that he understood if people needed to leave Ukraine because it was too dangerous to continue living in Lviv.
Several people confirmed they were resigning, but I was not one of them. I was not ready to go anywhere and leave my parents. My dad could not leave the country because he was of military age.
In the first few weeks, I was afraid to go to bed so as not to miss the air raid sirens. The fear was so strong that I got under the covers in my clothes and was always ready to run.
I continued to go to work, but my daily routine changed a lot – there were no more catch-ups with friends in cafes, trips to the cinema, or other pleasant things. Some of my friends lost their jobs, while others had to relocate.
Over the last year, the Ukrainian people became very strong (Picture: AFP PHOTO / HANDOUT / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE)
It was safer in Lviv, but of course not completely. There was no respite anywhere in Ukraine as rockets would fly into my city. In fact, one morning, I woke up to see my house shaking from an explosion nearby, which absolutely terrified me.
After Russia was pushed out of cities such as Bucha and Irpin in April, we saw terrible photos of murdered civilians and people tortured to death. It felt like a horror movie had come to life.
But in the middle of this pain, something appeared that I don’t think we had before – all the people in the country became one.
We were all united by grief and a common goal. We volunteered, wove camouflage nets – green nets that the army needed to mask military equipment – pensioners gave all their savings to the army, and children made jewellery and sold it.
Everyone worked together and no one was left behind.
I arrived in England on 19 December (Picture: Iryna)
In this terrible situation, I was impressed not only by the Ukrainians, but also by the British. We heard the incredible news that they were opening their homes to Ukrainians and were ready to host us.
I understand the worries that British people could feel inviting complete strangers to their home with different values and culture, but this did not stop them.
So after 10 months of war in Ukraine, I decided to save my mental health and use the sponsorship programme.
Finding a sponsor and compiling all the relevant documents was very simple. However, the physical road to the UK was difficult because there are no planes flying from Ukraine – I had to get to Poland first.
Rockets would fly into my city (Picture: REUTERS/Andrii Gorb)
Leaving home was very sad and painful because I didn’t know if something would happen in Lviv and I’d never see my relatives again. All my relatives are still in Ukraine because they believe we’ll win the war soon.
I arrived in England on 19 December.
From my experience, I can say that the British are people with incredible empathy, kindness, and their help is not limited to providing housing – they do much more for us.
I live in Tonbridge, Kent, with a young couple, Jamie and Molly.
In addition to providing housing, they’ve given me moral support. In the early days, they were always there for me to help with documents, but also invited me to celebrate a British Christmas with their families.
How can you not believe in a miracle after that?
I found a job in Kent that packs and ships stationary, so I work with a great team. I’m glad to be safe but I don’t know what my future will look like and we don’t know when the war will end so I can’t make any plans.
Over the last year, the Ukrainian people became very strong.
We began to appreciate every day because we saw how quickly and suddenly it can be taken away from us. We looked death in the eye, but we continue to believe in the victory of good over evil.
A female prison guard who had a “romantic and personal” relationship with a dangerous prisoner was sentenced to prison.
As Raymond Abraham, a convicted robber and kidnapper, was serving a 10-year term at HMP Guys Marsh, Rachel Martin, 25, had an extramarital relationship with him.
Thousands of sexual audio, video, and text messages were sent between Martin, who was 23 at the time, and Abraham despite the fact that prisoners were not permitted to use mobile phones.
She also sent him explicit photos of herself in a state of undress and gifted him her sexy underwear which he hid in his cell.
Martin received more than £12,000 from 40-year-old Abraham during their four-month affair which she spent on bills, designer clothes and electrical goods.
The relationship came to light when Martin was subjected to a random search on February 3, 2021, and a remote control vibrator was found in her jacket pocket.
Abraham’s cell was searched and prison officers found a mobile phone, two USB sticks and an SD card, which contained photos of Martin in her underwear.
They also found women’s underwear under Abraham’s pillow.
Martin claimed she was ‘groomed’ by Raymond Abraham
Despite being sacked, Martin continued her relationship with Abraham, even contacting two other prisoners on illegal mobile phones to try and contact her lover.
Martin admitted nine offences of misconduct and was jailed for 16 months.
Mittell, prosecuting, said: ‘Martin wilfully neglected to report that Mr Abraham had a phone and engaged in a series of communications with him knowing it was a criminal offence for a prisoner to have such a device.
‘The phone work conducted revealed the volume of messages – between November and February there were about 1,900 WhatsApp messages declaring their love for one another in December, messages of an explicit nature and messages indicating the desire to perform certain sexual acts on one another.
Claire Mawer, defending, said her client was groomed by Abraham, who allegedly took advantage of her vulnerability.
She was jailed for 16 months (Picture: DorsetPolice/BNPS)
She became involved with a work colleague and experienced bullying and harassment, all of which left her feeling vulnerable and she was signed off work sick for a week at one point due to stress.
Abraham approached her with a piece of paper with his telephone number and contact began, leading onto the relationship as he made her feel wanted.
Ms Mawer said: ‘She was a young girl, naive, suggestible, who lacked maturity and was also very vulnerable.
‘It would have been clear to everyone on the wing where she worked she was in a vulnerable position.
‘This was a much older man with a significant criminal history. He approached Miss Martin, he initiated contact and was persistent in encouraging contact.
‘It is clear, the providing of Miss Martin with cash to buy clothing and other items, it is the classic hallmark of grooming. Targeting a younger woman, identifying vulnerability and exploiting that.’
Judge Stephen Climie told Martin: ‘His grooming of you was effective and resulted in not only a degree of intimacy between the two of you, but also involved you agreeing to convey items.’
Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has accused the Minority in Parliament of fueling mistrust against the Electoral Commission.
This comes after the Minority rejected the justifications given by the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) for the new CI seeking to make Ghana card the only identification for voter registration.
Chairperson for the EC Jean Mensa on Tuesday February 28 2023 told Parliament the new CI is to safeguard the sanctity of the electoral process devoid of foreign interference.
Mrs. Jean Mensa also justified the scrapping of the guarantor system. When questioned about the existence of the same system for Ghana card registration, the EC boss argued that system is more robust.
Addressing the media, Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson asked the EC to adopt the NIA system following the claim of the chairperson.
“We are quite sure many of you followed and reported on events in the Chamber last night, which showcased our opposition to an attempt by the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission to introduce a Constitutional Instrument before Parliament. The said C.I, the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Instrument, 2022, seeks to make the Ghana Card the sole document for the registration of voters onto Ghana’s electoral roll.
“What Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution requires, is evidence of citizenship and not evidence or proof of identification. Any evidence of citizenship should therefore qualify a person to be registered. That is why under the current C.I 91 as amended by C.I 126, Ghanaian Passports and guarantor system are allowed as evidence of citizenship,” Mr. Forson stated.
He continued: “Clearly, the proposed C.I which makes the Ghana Card the sole requirement for voter registration serves as a restraint on citizen’s right to register and exercise their franchise in elections. It is important to remind the Electoral Commission headed by Madam Jean Mensah that the Commission is enjoined by the constitution to advance the right to vote and not introduce any law that seeks to curtail same.”
Chairman for Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Dr. Dominic Ayine argued there is not need for a new CI since the existing one used for the 2020 registration is still very potent.
Bawku Central MP Mahama Ayariga berated majority leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu for arguing nobody can stop government business such as the laying of the CI from taking place. He questioned why EC business has become government business
Bolgatanga Central MP Isaac Adongo asked the EC to first wait for the NIA to issue cards to every qualified Ghanaian before tabling the idea of a new CI.
The Minority in Parliament has rejected the justifications given by the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) for the new CI seeking to make Ghana card the only identification for voter registration.
Chairperson for the EC Jean Mensah on Tuesday February 28 2023 told Parliament the new CI is to safeguard the sanctity of the electoral process devoid of foreign interference.
Mrs. Jean Mensah also justified the scrapping of the guarantor system. When questioned about the existence of the same system for Ghana card registration, the EC boss argued that system is more robust.
Addressing the media, Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson asked the EC to adopt the NIA system following the claim of the chairperson.
“We are quite sure many of you followed and reported on events in the Chamber last night, which showcased our opposition to an attempt by the Jean Mensah-led Electoral Commission to introduce a Constitutional Instrument before Parliament. The said C.I, the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Instrument, 2022, seeks to make the Ghana Card the sole document for the registration of voters onto Ghana’s electoral roll.
“What Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution requires, is evidence of citizenship and not evidence or proof of identification. Any evidence of citizenship should therefore qualify a person to be registered. That is why under the current C.I 91 as amended by C.I 126, Ghanaian Passports and guarantor system are allowed as evidence of citizenship,” Mr. Forson stated.
He continued: “Clearly, the proposed C.I which makes the Ghana Card the sole requirement for voter registration serves as a restraint on citizen’s right to register and exercise their franchise in elections. It is important to remind the Electoral Commission headed by Madam Jean Mensah that the Commission is enjoined by the constitution to advance the right to vote and not introduce any law that seeks to curtail same.”
Chairman for Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Dr. Dominic Ayine argued there is not need for a new CI since the existing one used for the 2020 registration is still very potent.
Bawku Central MP Mahama Ayariga berated majority leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu for arguing nobody can stop government business such as the laying of the CI from taking place. He questioned why EC business has become government business.
Bolgatanga Central MP Isaac Adongo asked the EC to first wait for the NIA to issue cards to every qualified Ghanaian before tabling the idea of a new CI.
Constance and her partner Mark Gordon are still being held in custody, according to Mr. Basford, and detectives have requested a 36-hour extension to keep them in detention for additional interrogation.
He told reporters in Brighton: ‘This is a hugely difficult and painstaking search operation, covering a vast area of some 90 square miles.
‘We’re using every resource we have at our disposal to find the baby.’
Constance and her sex-offender partner Mark Gordon were arrested in Brighton on Monday.
They were detained on suspicion of child neglect and remain in police custody after nearly two months on the run.
Hundreds of police officers have been scouring a large area between Brighton and Newhaven to try to find the infant, who has not had any medical attention since birth in early January.
This morning, officers from London Search and Rescue could be seen in orange hi-vis jackets searching Moulsecoomb Wild Park.
The wooded nature reserve is around a mile from where Marten and Gordon were arrested.
Yesterday a pair of pink earmuffs – which it is unknown whether they belong to the child – were also found in woodland nearby.
Marten, who is from a wealthy aristocratic family was arrested with her partner in BrightonGordon was restrained on the floor on Monday night.An urgent search operation is underway to find the missing baby of Constance Marten.
Police: It’s time to give baby back
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Scotland Yard said the pair were located and arrested by officers from Sussex Police in Stanmer Villas (Picture: metro.co.uk)
A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘Whilst we hold hope that the baby is still alive, we agree that the risk to the baby is extremely high.
‘More than 200 officers have been engaged in the search and officers arrived within 6 minutes after the 999 call yesterday that led to the arrests of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon.’
Police have also searched every shed at the Roedale Valley Allotments near where Marten and Gordon were arrested and will remain on site for some time.
An entry on the allotments society Facebook page said officers had forced entry to outbuildings as the hunt for the two-month-old baby continues.
Timeline since Constance Marten’s disappearance
Here is a timeline of events in the disappearance of Constance Marten, Mark Gordon and their baby:
– January 5 – an investigation is launched by Greater Manchester Police after the couple’s car is found on fire and abandoned on the hard shoulder of the M61 in Bolton. Investigators discover the family walked away from the car to the Anchor Lane Bridge.
– January 6 – they take a taxi to Liverpool and then onto Harwich, Essex, at around 3.30am.
– January 7 – they are seen by a member of the public in Harwich at around 9am. Later that day, they are caught on CCTV near London’s East Ham station between 10.30am and 12.30pm. From there they take a taxi to Whitechapel road, getting dropped off just before 6.15pm. It is here that Mark Gordon goes into a branch of Argos alone and buys camping equipment including sleeping bags and a two-person tent.
Photo issued by the Metropolitan Police of a CCTV image of Mark Gordon with Argos bags (Picture: PA)
The couple walk around the area for a few hours unsuccessfully trying to flag down taxis. Shortly before midnight they dump their buggy near Brick Lane, east London, and take a taxi to Haringey in north London.
– January 8 – At 1.25am the couple take another taxi from Allison Road, Haringey, all the way to Newhaven ferry port in east Sussex, where they are dropped off at 4.56am. They walk to where the A259 crosses over the B2109, and are seen sheltering from the rain under an overpass at around 6am.
At around 6.15am they walk along Cantercrow Hill into the fields beyond, carrying a number of bags and their blue tent.
– January 9 – Essex Police briefly take over the investigation due to the sightings in Harwich.
– January 12 – the Metropolitan Police take over the investigation once it is confirmed the couple travelled to east London.
– January 18 – the force makes a public appeal for help finding the family, revealing that Mr Gordon is a convicted sex offender who served 20 years in a US jail for rape and battery. They also say the couple have enough cash to live off-grid as they avoid the police.
– January 19 – Ms Marten’s father Napier Marten appeals through the Independent newspaper for his daughter to hand herself in, saying: ‘I beseech you to find a way to turn yourself and your wee one in to the police as soon as possible so you and he or she can be protected.’
Napier Marten, father of Constance Marten (Picture: Facebook)
– January 24 – Police repeat their concerns for the safety of the baby, saying they believe the couple are sleeping rough in freezing temperatures.
– January 31 – A £10,000 reward is offered by the Metropolitan Police for information leading to the family being found safe.
– February 7 – Constance’s mother Virginie de Selliers publishes an open letter to her daughter, pledging to support her and telling her ‘you are not alone’.
– February 21 – the Metropolitan Police make the latest in a number of public appeals to find the family, including a plea from midwife Shereen Nimmo to Ms Marten to get her baby medical attention.
– February 27 – 9.30pm the couple are arrested in Brighton on suspicion of child neglect after a tip-off from a member of the public.
The couple had avoided police since the infant was born in early January.
They moved around the country, paying for everything in cash and covering their faces when on CCTV.
But a tip-off led to them being detained at around 9.30pm on Monday by officers from Sussex Police in Stanmer Villas.
CCTV footage had showed Marten and Gordon walking past a row of houses in Brighton, both with their hoods up, prior to their arrest.
A neighbour told The Sun the ‘suspicious’ couple walked by her house at 8.40pm with no shopping bags, then returned at 9.25pm carrying two bags of food from a shop.
Walking behind Marten, Gordon can be seen carrying what appears to be a large metal pipe, and can be heard ‘shouting’ at her.
The aristocrat’s daughter whose family had links to the Royals
Ms Marten, 35, comes from a wealthy aristocratic family, while Mr Gordon, 48, is a sex offender who served 20 years in US jail for rape and battery.
The couple are understood to have lived an isolated life since meeting in 2016, with then-drama student Ms Marten cutting off ties with family and friends.
She grew up in Crichel House, a Dorset estate, as part of an eminent family who had links to the Royals.
According to the Sunday Times, her grandmother was a playmate of Princess Margaret, while her father Napier Marten was a page to Queen Elizabeth.
The newspaper reported that the family put the Dorset estate on the market in 2010 for £100million, before its sale to an American buyer.
Photo released by police of Constance Marten (Picture: PA)She and Mark Gordon spent nearly two months on the run (Picture: PA)
Last September, Ms Marten and Mr Gordon began moving around the country, renting AirBnBs for brief periods.
On January 5, they were on the M61 when their car broke down and caught fire near junction four at Farnworth, Bolton.
Each time Ms Marten and Mr Gordon were seen on CCTV, they covered their faces or looked away, and kept the baby covered up.
Both her parents had pleaded for Ms Marten to contact police, saying they were ‘deeply concerned’ for their grandchild’s safety.
In an audio appeal, made through The Independent, Mr Marten said: ‘Darling Constance, even though we remain estranged at the moment, I stand by, as I have always done and as the family has always done, to do whatever is necessary for your safe return to us.
‘I beseech you to find a way to turn yourself and your wee one in to the police as soon as possible so you and he or she can be protected.
‘Only then can a process of healing and recovery begin, however long it may take, however difficult it may be.
‘I would like you to understand that the family will do all that is needed for your wellbeing.
‘And I also wish you to understand you are much, much loved, whatever the circumstances.
‘We are deeply concerned for your and your baby’s welfare. The past eight years have been beyond painful for all the family as well as your friends, as they must have been for you, and to see you so vulnerable again is testing in the extreme.’
Ms Marten’s parents both pleaded with her to come forward (Picture: Facebook)
In an open letter, her mother Mrs de Selliers wrote: ‘I know you well enough; you are focused, intelligent, passionate and complex with so much to offer the world. So many of your friends have come forward to say such positive things about you, assuring us of their warmest love and support for you and your family.
‘You have made choices in your personal adult life which have proven to be challenging, however I respect them, I know that you want to keep your precious new-born child at all costs.
‘With all that you have gone through this baby cannot be removed from you but instead needs looking after in a kind and warm environment.
‘I want to help you and my grandchild. You deserve the opportunity to build a new life, establish a stable family and enjoy the same freedoms that most of us have.
‘Constance, I will do what I can to stand alongside you and my grandchild. You are not alone in this situation. We will support you in whatever way we can.
‘I am ready to do what it takes for you to recover from this awful experience so you can thrive and enjoy motherhood. I love you and miss you, Mum xx.’
Kaylea Titford‘s death led to the sentencing of Alun Titford and Sarah Lloyd-Jones.
A crippled girl who died after getting morbidly obese and residing in conditions “unfit for an animal” had her mother and father imprisoned.
When Kaylea Titford passed away in October 2020 in her home in the Welsh town of Newtown, she weighed 22 stone and 13 lbs.
According to Mold Crown Court testimony, the 16-year-old was discovered lying in bed linen and dirty clothing.
Her father, Alun Titford was today jailed for seven years and six months, while her mother, Sarah Lloyd-Jones was jailed for six years at Swansea Crown Court.
Her parents spent more than £1,000 on takeaways in her final months, the court was told, in what a judge called a ‘shocking and prolonged neglect over lockdown’.
Sarah Lloyd-Jones, 39, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence last year but Kaylea’s father, denied the offence along with an alternative charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.
A jury later found the 45-year-old guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.
Asked during his evidence why he had let his daughter down so badly, the removals worker said: ‘I’m lazy.’
The court heard that Kaylea, who had spina bifida and used a wheelchair, died after suffering inflammation and infection from ulceration, arising from obesity and immobility.
Kaylea died in October 2020 after being left to lie on soiled puppy mats, unable to use the toilet unaided. Her parents ignored her desperate messages to clean her ‘leaking’ legs and stop the flies from landing on her (Picture: PA)Alun Titford was sentenced to seven years and six months in jail today Sarah Lloyd-Jones was sentenced to six years behind bars for neglecting Kaylea so badly that she died, with ulcers on her body that went down to the bone (Picture: PA)
Inside squalid home where 23-stone girl died after being left to lay in her own filth
Emergency service workers, who were called to the house after she was found on October 10, described feeling sick due to a ‘rotting’ smell in her room.
During the opening submissions during the sentencing today Caroline Rees KC, prosecuting, said: ‘By the time of her death between October 9-10, Kaylea Titford was living in conditions unfit for any animal, let alone for a vulnerable 16-year-old girl who depended on others for her care.
‘Kaylea lived and died in squalor and degradation.’
Ms Rees told Swansea Crown Court how Kaylea Titford, who had spina bifida, had not returned to school in Newtown since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, and had not seen a doctor for at least six months.
She said: ‘Because of the lockdown, Kaylea’s exposure to those outside her family was extremely limited.
‘This allowed both defendants to avoid the scrutiny of the outside world.’
Kaylea’s parents did not seek medical help for their daughter despite what must have been the obvious health issues she was suffering, the court heard.
Kaylea’s cluttered bedroom was described as ‘more like a dumping ground than an appropriate environment for a teenage girl’ and a police officer who entered the room described the smell as ‘like a decomposing body.’
Ms Rees said: ‘Kaylea had suffered severe physical neglect by those who had a duty to care for her.’
The court was told how Kaylea Titford’s skin was ‘severely inflamed and ulcerated, so deeply in areas that the fat was exposed’.
Maggots were observed on her ‘filthy’ body that were said to have been there ‘in life, as well as death’, Caroline Rees KC said.
Ms Rees said that when the teenager was moved from where she had died: ‘Police officers then observed her bed and saw maggots in various stages of development crawling over the bed.’
The court heard that her bedsheets were soiled and she was lying on sodden puppy toilet training pads.
Her room was said to be dirty and cluttered, with bottles of urine and a chip fryer with drips of fat down the side, as well as a full cake in a box.
Alun Titford was jailed today after he was found guilty of gross negligence of his daughter Sarah Lloyd-Jones was said to have shown ‘no remorse’ after the death of her daughter a judge saidKaylea was said to be ‘funny and chatty’ by staff at her school Kaylea was living in disgusting conditions at her family home
Kaylea had attended Newtown High School, where she was described as ‘funny and chatty’ by staff, but did not return following the coronavirus lockdown in March 2020.
Titford, who had six children with Lloyd-Jones, said the family would order takeaways four or five nights a week and he thought Kaylea had put on two or three stone since March.
In total they spent more than £1,000 on fast-food in her dying months. Ms Rees revealed the below figures.
62 fast food / takeaway purchases in July 2020 – costing £277.87
82 in August – costing £363
93 September – costing £394.29
It was heard that £1,035.76 was spent on takeaways in the last three months of Kaylea’s life.
The prosecution alleged that Kaylea had not used her wheelchair, which became too small for her, since the start of lockdown.
Caroline Rees KC, prosecuting, asked Titford: ‘She hadn’t been out of bed, had she?’
But he claimed he had seen her in the kitchen of the house in her wheelchair during that period, despite telling police in interview that he had not seen her out of bed.
The court heard that Kaylea had been discharged from physiotherapy and dietetics services in the years before her death and had last been seen by a social worker at home in 2017.
Takeaway boxes could be seen in the disabled toilet that Kaylea had installed in her home – but had become unable to use unaided. Her parents instead left her to soil her own bed Kaylea was sleeping in a bed that she had soiled and it was reported she was found with maggots eating her body (Picture: PA)
Titford claimed Lloyd-Jones, who was a community care worker, was responsible for looking after Kaylea.
He said he used to take her to medical appointments and care for her but stepped back when she reached puberty as he was not ‘comfortable’.
Passing sentence on Sarah Lloyd-Jones and Alun Titford at Swansea Crown Court, Mr Justice Griffiths said they had committed ‘shocking and prolonged neglect over lockdown’.
‘(Kaylea) would not allow people so much as to push her wheelchair or open a door for her. Everything she could do for herself, she did,’ the judge said.
‘But she died just after her 16th birthday.
‘You, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, her mother, and you, Alun Titford, her father, caused her death by shocking and prolonged neglect over lockdown.
‘Which you, by your guilty plea, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, and the jury by a unanimous verdict, Alun Titford, have proved to be gross negligence manslaughter on your part.
‘For those crimes, I now pass sentence.’
An NSPCC Cymru spokesperson said: ‘This is an incredibly distressing case.
‘The conscious, prolonged neglect of Kaylea Titford by her parents, Sarah Lloyd-Jones and Alun Titford, ultimately caused the teenager’s death.
‘People will be asking how any child in our society could suffer like this without anyone intervening to prevent such a tragedy.
‘The forthcoming Child Safeguarding Practice Review must leave no stone unturned in establishing what more could have been done to protect Kaylea so other children do not suffer such appalling neglect unnoticed.’
An accident at Gomoa Odumase near Anteadze on the Kasoa Cape Coast Highway of the Central Region has left 21 persons injured.
The accident involved a Benz Sprinter bus with the registration GW 9678-12 from Ajumako going to Accra and VW Jetta GT 8661-09 traveling in the opposite direction.
The accident occurred Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at around 4:30 AM.
The Apam District Fire Service Commander, ACFO Adolf Ankomah Nuamah, told Kasapa News’ Yaw Boagyan that the driver of the VW Jetta made a wrongful overtaking and in the process lost control and crashed into the sprinter Benz bus.
The huge impact of the crash resulted in the injury of 21 passengers receiving treatment at Apam St Luke’s Catholic Hospital.
Within the last 24 hours, 45 passengers have been injured in a fatal accident with two deaths recorded on the Kasoa Cape Coast Highway.
Families of care home residents who passed away after using Covid have expressed their “sickness” and “appallment” at the allegations. In the beginning of the pandemic, Matt Hancock rejected the advise of testing specialists.
Professor Sir Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, requested that testing be done for “everyone moving into care facilities,” according to a cache of more than 100,000 hacked WhatsApp messages.
However, it appears from the released conversations that Mr. Hancock ultimately disregarded the advice, telling an assistant that doing so only “muddies the waters,” and only instituted required testing for patients arriving from hospitals as opposed to the general public.
He was also said to have expressed concerns that expanding care home testing could ‘get in the way’ of the target of 100,000 daily coronavirus tests he was desperate to hit.
The former health secretary was considering legal action over the claims in the Daily Telegraph, which his spokesman dismissed as being ‘flat wrong’ because he was told it was ‘not currently possible’ to carry out the tests.
The aide alleged the messages leaked by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who was handed them by Mr Hancock while she worked on his Pandemic Diaries memoir, have been ‘spun to fit an anti-lockdown agenda’.
Jean Adamson, a founding member of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, lost her father in a care home in April 2020.
She told Good Morning Britain of the reports: ‘I’m appalled quite frankly, sickened, but I’m not surprised. I’m not surprised at all.
‘This just provides further evidence and confirms what we suspected and feared all along, that the then-health secretary Matt Hancock lied his way through.
‘He was more focused on meeting his targets at the time rather than the welfare of our most vulnerable members of society.’
A family hug as they look at names on the National Covid Memorial wall in London (Picture: AP)
The organisation called for ‘an immediate and serious police investigation’ to run alongside the public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Spokesperson Lindsay Jackson, whose mother died from Covid-19 during the first lockdown after contracting it at a care home, said: ‘This looks like evidence that Matt Hancock refused to follow the scientific advice and test everyone going into care homes in case it set back his arbitrary target of “100,000” tests a day which he thought would make a good headline.
‘What is certain is that the failure to protect care homes led to thousands of unnecessary deaths, like my mum’s, and meant hospitals became even more overwhelmed and even longer lockdowns were required to prevent further loss of life.
‘The consequences of this could not be more horrific and there needs to be an immediate and serious police investigation in parallel with the inquiry.
‘We have long questioned whether the former health secretary followed scientific advice – it’s one of the many reasons we campaigned so hard for the Covid inquiry.
‘Sadly, the inquiry has so far been incredibly disappointing. These revelations show why it must allow families like mine to be heard in the hearings and for our lawyers to cross-examine key people like Matt Hancock, so we can get full answers to our questions in the right setting instead of having to relive the horrors of our loss through exposés.’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has defended the official coronavirus inquiry as the ‘right way’ to scrutinise the handling of the pandemic and urged people not to focus on ‘piecemeal bits of information’.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer called for Mr Sunak to ensure the inquiry had all the support it needed ‘to report by the end of this year’.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended the official coronavirus inquiry as the ‘right way’ to scrutinise the handling of the pandemic
The Labour leader added: ‘Families across the country will look at this, and the sight of politicians writing books portraying them as heroes will be an insulting and ghoulish spectacle for them.’
Mr Sunak responded: ‘Rather than comment on piecemeal bits of information, I’m sure the honourable gentleman will agree with me the right way for these things to be looked at is the Covid inquiry.
‘There is a proper process to these things, it is an independent inquiry, it has the resources it needs, it has the powers it needs and what we should do in this House is to let them get on and do their job.’
Health minister Helen Whately went further to criticise the ‘very selective information’ that has been published, adding that ‘selective snippets of WhatsApp conversations give a limited and at times misleading insight’.
Allies of Mr Hancock said that was because a lack of testing capacity meant it was not possible to check everyone entering a care home.
A spokesman said: ‘These stolen messages have been doctored to create a false story that Matt rejected clinical advice on care home testing. This is flat wrong.’
Mr Hancock ‘enthusiastically accepted’ the advice from Sir Chris on April 14.
But ‘later that day he convened an operational meeting on delivering testing for care homes where he was advised it was not currently possible to test everyone entering care homes, which he also accepted’.
‘Matt concluded that the testing of people leaving hospital for care homes should be prioritised because of the higher risks of transmission, as it wasn’t possible to mandate everyone going into care homes got tested,’ the spokesman said.
‘He went as far as was possible, as fast as possible, to expand testing and save lives.
‘This story categorically shows that the right place for this analysis of what happened in the pandemic is in the inquiry.’
The former health secretary was ‘considering all options’ in response to the leak, with a source close to him adding: ‘She’s (Ms Oakeshott) broken a legal NDA (non-disclosure agreement). Her behaviour is outrageous.’
Mr Hancock’s spokesman said the ‘story spun on care homes is completely wrong’ (Picture: AFP via Getty)
Lord Bethell, a health minister during the pandemic, said the Government had been ‘desperately’ trying to scale up testing at that point of the crisis but that, at the time, it was necessary to prioritise who was swabbed due to the available capacity.
‘The reality was there was a very, very limited number of those tests,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
People who were coming out of hospitals had the highest rates of transmission, therefore ‘it was sensible and right to prioritise those’ first, he said.
He told the Today programme: ‘The formal decision-making is done through official paperwork, and we don’t have that in front of us.
‘That’s why this partial glimpse into the decision-making is so unfortunate, because it gives a misleading impression.’
Ms Oakeshott, who has described lockdowns as an ‘unmitigated disaster’, said she was releasing the messages because it would take ‘many years’ before the end of the official Covid inquiry, which she claimed could be a ‘colossal whitewash’.
‘That’s why I’ve decided to release this sensational cache of private communications – because we absolutely cannot wait any longer for answers,’ she said.
The spokesman for Mr Hancock said: ‘It is outrageous that this distorted account of the pandemic is being pushed with partial leaks, spun to fit an anti-lockdown agenda, which would have cost hundreds of thousands of lives if followed. What the messages do show is a lot of people working hard to save lives.
‘The full documents have already all been made available to the inquiry, which is the proper place for an objective assessment, so true lessons can be learned.’
Who Wants To Be Millionaire? has apparently been fired as a result of Jeremy Clarkson’s deplorable remarks regarding Meghan Markle.
Following its publication, the column—in which the broadcaster claimed to have dreamt of seeing Markle paraded through British towns and humiliated in front of the public—became Ipso’s most complained-about story, garnering more than 25,100 complaints.
In a later apology, Clarkson called his words “disgraceful” and expressed his “deep regret” for the article. The piece was taken off from the internet after The Sun apologized and expressed remorse over its publishing.
It had previously been said that Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? would continue, with head of ITV Carlyn McCall, stressing last month that Clarkson’s views were ‘in no way endorsed’ by the broadcaster, while the network’s boss Kevin Lygo added: ‘I would say what he writes in a newspaper column… We have no control over what he says.’
However, Clarkson’s time on the show has now come to an end.
McCall confirmed to Variety that the upcoming season of the game show will be Clarkson’s last as host.
The upcoming season will be Clarkson’s last as host Clarkson said he dreamed of Markle being paraded through British towns and publicly shamed (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
‘We have a contract. We’re contracted to this [season], so we will do that,’ she said.
‘And then we have no future commitments. And we haven’t made any statements about that.’
In Clarkson’s original article, he said that he hated the Duchess of Sussex on a ‘cellular level’.
‘At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, “Shame!” and throw lumps of excrement at her,’ he wrote at the time.
Clarkson later apologised to the Duke and DuchessClarkson wrote that he ‘hated’ the Duchess on a cellular level
Following widespread backlash, the 62-year-old said that he emailed Markle and Prince Harry to apologise on Christmas Day.
‘I really am sorry. All the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head. This is me putting my hands up. Its a mea culpa with bells on,’ he said in his lengthy statement.
He also added: ‘I was mortified and so was everyone else. My phone went mad. Very close friends were furious. Even my own daughter took to Instagram to denounce me.’
In response, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess said: ‘On December 25, 2022, Mr Clarkson wrote solely to Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. The contents of this correspondence were marked Private and Confidential.’
They continued: ‘While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr Clarkson, what remains to be addressed is his long standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny.’
A spokesperson for ITV told Metro.co.uk: ‘As we have said before, ITV has a further series of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? contractually commissioned {which has now recorded}, and no further commissioning commitments beyond that currently’.
Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has disclosed that over 10 million trees will be planted this as part of the Green Ghana Initiative.
He said government has reduced its target for the Green Ghana Initiative this year, to enable it devote attention to nurturing to the already planted trees across the country.
The Minister revealed this when he announced government’s intention to plant 10 million more trees this year.
Government, despite its target to plant 20 million trees in 2022, planted some 22,671,696 million trees across the 16 regions of the country instead.
According to the Lands Minister, this year, the target was reviewed downwards as government wants to give more attention to nurturing the already over 30 million planted trees over the two years.
This is to ensure the tress reach maturity.
Speaking to journalists, on Tuesday, 28 February 2023, the lands Minister urged Ghanaians to own the initiative by government.
“This year the president of the republic has decided that we lower the target to 10 million trees,” Mr Jinapor stated.
“This is to enable us devote much attention to nurturing over 30 million trees already planted to ensure that all of them reach maturity,” the Minister added.
The Minister further disclosed that his Ministry is partnering with the departments of parks and gardens and the urban roads to implement a Green Street Project.
Under the Green Street Project, trees are being planted in the medians of streets and avenues of major roads in the various cities across the country to beautify the cities at the same time fight climate change.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced the Green Ghana Initiative to rally Ghanaians for a nationwide tree-planting exercise.
The Minister for Lands in March 2021, launched the maiden greening project as part of activities to mark the International Day of Forests on 21 March.
Government set to plant 10 million seedlings in 2023 for the green Ghana initiative
Government set to plant 10 million seedlings in 2023 for the green Ghana initiative
The Herald is receiving conflicting information regarding the true owners of the 600,000 tonnes of Russian fuel that Bloomberg, an international business news network, has revealed were brought to and kept in tanks in Ghana.
While some have connected the shipment to Platon, a Tema-based corporation, others have sought to link it to the Ghanaian government, claiming that Platon lacks the capacity to accept delivery of such a sizable shipment because it can only refine a meager 20,000 tonnes.
The Herald’s checks on the current position of Theseus, the Crude Oil Tanker carrying the huge consignment said, it is “at West Africa reported 8 days ago by AIS. The vessel is en route to GH TEMA, sailing at a speed of 12.7 knots and expected to arrive there on Feb 24, 12:00. The vessel THESEUS (IMO: 9304825, MMSI 341750000) is a Crude Oil Tanker built in 2006 (17 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of St Kitts & Nevis– an island country and microstate located in the West Indies.
But the development has raised concern on the claim that Deputy Energy Minister, Agyapa Mercer, had recently announced that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) was going to start refining crude oil, hence the fuel is being linked to the government as what the minister talked about.
However, industry players who have sought to link the owners of the 600,000 tonnes of Russian fuel consignment to Platon which has been linked to both the Chinese, as well as some Eastern European countries, are of the view that even if TOR does not own it, it will eventually be refining and selling it in Ghana since it has the capacity to do.
There are, however, questions being thrown around as to why Ghana will be taking delivery of Russian fuel although President Nana Akufo-Addo, has openly spoken against Russia’s military operations in Ukraine with Ghana voting twice at the United Nations (UN) in disapproval of the Russian.
The second question is what will be the reaction of Western countries to Ghana over 600,000 tonnes of fuel from Russia, especially so when the country is begging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a US$3 billion bailout. Many believe there could be sanction if it’s established that Ghana had received the fuel, which is yet to be pumped out of the Theseus.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union and US barred fuel imports from the former Soviet leader.
Bloomberg reports that its tanker tracking data show that “The last signal from the vessel was on Sunday evening, by which time unloading had not begun. Its cargo was due to be pumped into storage tanks in Tema”.
This comes on the back of the Ghana Government’s controversial gold-for-oil policy.
Bloomberg, had reported that “a cargo of Russian oil is heading for storage tanks in Ghana, a nation that exports crude itself and is on the doorstep of two regional supply powerhouses.
The development suggests that traders could be scouring the market for new buyers of Russian barrels after the European Union stopped almost all seaborne imports from the country in December.
The bloc’s measures made Moscow hugely reliant on Chinese and Indian purchases.
The tanker Theseus arrived in Ghana’s territorial waters on Friday carrying about 600,000 barrels of Russian oil from a port in the Black Sea, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
Its cargo was due to be pumped into storage tanks in Tema, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The last signal from the vessel was on Sunday evening, by which time unloading had not begun.
Russia is under pressure to sustain its oil revenue after the Group of Seven and the European Union imposed punishing sanctions on the country’s energy industry.
Almost all European Union companies are prohibited from buying Russian crude and petroleum products or providing important services such as insurance to nations that buy such exports above a capped price.
In December, Russia’s petroleum revenues dropped nearly 20 percent from the previous month after the price cap triggered big discounts on the nation’s crude, according to the International Energy Agency.
The crude will be stored in tanks at the Tema Oil Refinery, the people said. The firm didn’t respond to requests for comment.
When the tanker was en route to the country, the CEO of Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority CEO said the shipment would be blocked if it was bound for the country. The NPA didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment after it reached the West African nation’s territorial waters.
The shipment to Tema would be the first time Russian oil has been delivered to a West African country since at least October 2018, tracking data show.
Ghana itself is a small oil exporter, shipping an average of about 140,000 barrels a day over the past six months, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s also next to Nigeria and Angola, the two biggest suppliers in sub-Saharan Africa.
After sanctions were imposed on Russia, the nation directed crude exports toward China and India, upending global oil flows and the maritime industry.
With Europe previously having been by far the largest market for Russian oil, that narrowed the nation’s pool of buyers dramatically. It also meant the barrels had to be discounted at the point of export to compensate for relatively high delivery costs.
The Ashanti Regional Directorate of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has vowed to tackle incidents of illegal fee collection associated with the scheme.
Incidents of extortion and illegal payments from National Health Insurance Scheme members (NHIS) were noticed to be occurring at some health provider sites in the Ashanti Region.
According to the Ashanti regional director of the National Health Insurance Authority, Kwadwo Dwomoh, the situation nearly eroded the confidence the public had in the scheme.
Given this, a co-payment committee has been set up to investigate and tackle the running illegality.
Speaking at the National Health Insurance Authority, Ashanti Region end of the year 2022 performance review, he cautioned health facilities and health workers to desist from the practice.
“There was some huge uproar and anxiety from the NHIS members regarding extortions and illegal payments at some health provider sites which nearly eroded the confidence the public had in the scheme. As a result of this unfortunate situation, a National Co-Payment Committee was formed and inaugurated by the Chief Executive to fight this canker to restore the enviable image of NHIS.
“And it is on the strength of this that, I encourage every one of us to rigorously fight against the notorious co-payments and illegal fee collections at some provider sites. I urge all health facilities in the Region to desist from such practices which tend to reduce the confidence of the populace in the NHIS,” he said.
The end of the year will assess the authorities’ performance for 2022 and outline its commendation plan this year.
The authority 2022 generated GHC 300,518 for its flagship Project 1000K for health strategy, which court support from interested individuals to pay and underwrite subscription fees for children under 18.
Ashanti Region registered and renewed a total of 2.954 million members representing 53% of the population of Ashanti and 17.22% of the total number of NHIS Active Members in Ghana.
The Authority targets universal Health coverage in the region and the country at large by 2030.
Director of Middle Belt National Health Insurance Authority, Kwadwo Tweneboah-Koduah charged workers to ensure 80 % enrolment to satisfy Ghana’s quest to attain Universal Health Coverage.
“The work of NHIA can be equated to the service to humanity. Working to make sure that the poor and vulnerable are well catered for.
If we can get everybody registered or get over 80 to 90% registration, then Ghana would have achieved Universal Health Coverage in terms of membership. And it is dependent on us to make it happens. We need to up our game,” he said.
The authority is hopeful that, it will surpass its target at the end of 2023.
Police who are looking into the claims, as well as the lady’s own family, have rejected the assertions made by a Polish woman that she is Madeleine McCann.
Due to similarities in their ages and appearances, Julia Faustyna, 21, also known as Wendell or Wendlet, gained notoriety after posting on Instagram and Tiktok that she might be the missing Brit.
But, family members argued that “it’s evident Julia isn’t Maddie” and accused her of having attention-seeking tendencies after gaining over a million followers under the handle @iammadeleinemccann.
And now 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’.
Madeleine McCann vanished from holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal in 2007 Faustyna has pinpointed supposed similarities in their appearance
A private eye linked with the McCann case also cast doubt on the extraordinary claims.
Speaking to Spanish newspaper El Independiente, investigator Francisco Marco said: ‘Without knowing thee details in depth, it does not add up to me.’
Faustyna’s account started posting photos earlier this month, pointing out how she supposedly bears a distinctive spot in her right eye and beauty mark on her cheek which resemble Maddie’s.
She also claims to have post-traumatic amnesia stemming from childhood abuse at the hands of a German paedophile.
Madeleine McCann: A timeline of key dates and developments
2007
May 3: Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, leave their children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal while they dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.
Nothing is amiss when Mr McCann checks on the youngsters just after 9pm, but when his wife goes back at about 10pm she finds Madeleine missing.
Jane Tanner, one of the friends dining with the McCanns, reports having seen a man carrying a child earlier that night.
The apartment block in Portugal where the three-year-old disappeared (Picture: AFP via Getty)
– May 14: Detectives take an Anglo-Portuguese property developer in for questioning and make him an ‘arguido’, or formal suspect, but this is later withdrawn.
– August 11: Exactly 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, investigating officers publicly acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.
– September 7: During questioning of Mr and Mrs McCann, detectives make them both ‘arguidos’ in their daughter’s disappearance.
– September 9: The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.
2008
– July 21: The Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the ‘arguido’ status of the McCanns and the property developer.
Kate and Gerry McCann are seen during an interview with the BBC’s Fiona Bruce at Prestwold Hall in Loughborough (Picture: AFP via Getty)
2011
– May 12: Mrs McCann publishes a book about her daughter’s disappearance, on Madeleine’s eighth birthday.
Scotland Yard launches a review of the case after a request from Home Secretary Theresa May, supported by then Prime Minister David Cameron.
2012
– April 25: Scotland Yard detectives say they believe Madeleine could still be alive, release an age-progression picture of how she might look as a nine-year-old, and call on the Portuguese authorities to reopen the case, but Portuguese police say they have found no new material.
2013
– July 4: Scotland Yard confirms it has launched its own investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine’s disappearance two years into a review of the case. It has ‘genuinely new’ lines of inquiry and has identified 38 people of interest, including 12 Britons.
– October 24: Portuguese police confirm that a review of their original investigation has uncovered new lines of inquiry, and they reopen the case.
2014
– January 29: British detectives fly to Portugal amid claims they are planning to make arrests.
– June 3: Sniffer dogs and specialist teams are used to search an area of scrubland close to where Madeleine went missing.
– December 12: Detectives begin questioning 11 people who it is thought may have information on the case.
2015
– September 16: The Government discloses that the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine has cost more than £10 million.
– October 28: Scotland Yard cuts the number of officers working on the inquiry from 29 to four.
2017
– April 30: The McCanns prepare to mark 10 years since their daughter’s disappearance with a BBC interview in which they vow to do ‘whatever it takes for as long as it takes’ to find her.
2019
– May 3: Local media reports say Portuguese detectives are investigating a foreign paedophile as a suspect in the abduction of Madeleine.
2020
– June 3: Police reveal that a 43-year-old German prisoner, later named as Christian Brueckner, has been identified as a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance.
– June 4: Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange, which had received £12.3 million in funding up to April 2020, is still a missing person inquiry as detectives have no ‘definitive evidence whether Madeleine is alive or dead’.
It has been more than 15 years since she vanished (Picture: AFP via Getty)
2021
– May 4: Kate and Gerry McCann post a statement on the official Find Madeleine campaign website saying they still cling to the hope of seeing their daughter again as they prepare to mark her 18th birthday on May 12.
2022
– April 21: Christian Brueckner is made an ‘arguido’, a formal suspect, by Portuguese authorities.
– May 3: The McCann family say it is ‘essential’ they learn the truth of what happened to their daughter on the 15th anniversary of her disappearance.
– October 11: Brueckner is charged with three counts of rape and two charges of child sex abuse, unrelated to Madeleine’s disappearance.
Sharing a photo of the police sketch of a suspect witnesses reported seeing carrying a young child in the Portuguese resort of Praia de Luz on the night Maddie disappeared in May 2007Julia said: ‘I recognise this person..it looks very similar to my abbuser [sic].’
But in a statement released through the Missing Years Ago organisation in Poland, her family said they were ‘devastated’ by the media attention her claims have attracted.
‘The internet won’t forget, and it’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie,’ they said.
‘We are devastated at this current situation. We’ve seen it all and we’ve tried to prevent it, to explain, we’ve asked her to stop.’
With more than a billion users, Instagram is no longer just a social media platform. It has become a tool for businesses, influencers, and celebrities to make a living. Celebrities are able to use their followings on the platform to promote their own products, sponsored content, and other advertisements. These posts help increase their personal income exponentially. With all this in mind, have you ever wondered which celebrities make the most from Instagram?
A study carried out by Hopper HQ, gathered data to see how much different celebrities earn from their Instagram posts. The study showed that celebrities, such as Ariana Grande and Kylie Jenner, are among the top earners on the app.
Not only did the study show who makes the most, but it also gave insight into how much they charge. Celebrities with over two million followers charge over $1 million dollars per post, while celebrities with up to 100,00 followers charge anywhere from just under $50,000 to almost $100,000 per post.
With all these numbers in mind, it’s no wonder that celebrities are flocking to Instagram as an extra source of income.
Check out which celebrities make the most money off of Instagram and how much they charge per post below.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards took place in Los Angeles on Sunday, honouring some of the year’s best performances in television and film.
A whole host of stars walked the red carpet. Here are a few of the winners, nominees and presenters who posed for photographs.
Image caption, Euphoria star Zendaya was nominated for best female actor in a drama seriesImage caption, Till star Danielle Deadwyler (left) and George & Tammy actress Jessica Chastain, who won best female actor in a TV movie or miniseriesImage caption, Dead To Me star Christina Applegate, who announced in 2021 she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, walked the red carpet with her daughter Sadie Grace LeNoble. Earlier this month, Applegate told the Los Angeles Times the SAGs would probably be her last awards show as an actorImage caption, The stars of Everything Everywhere All At Once celebrated their win in the main category, best motion picture castImage caption, British actors Andrew Garfield and Eddie Redmayne (who was nominated for The Good Nurse) joked around together on the red carpetImage caption, Wednesday star Jenna Ortega (left) and The Woman King’s Viola Davis, who was nominated in the leading actress categoryImage caption, The Banshees of Inisherin star Barry Keoghan was nominated for best supporting actor, while The Whale’s Brendan Fraser was named best leading actorImage caption, Cate Blanchett, who appears in Tár, has been sweeping the leading actress category so far this awards season, but lost out at SAG to Michelle YeohImage caption, Two Michelles: The Fabelmans actress Williams (left) and Everything Everywhere All At Once star Yeoh were both nominated for best leading actress, with Yeoh ultimately winningImage caption, Colin Farrell, Kerry Condon and Brendan Gleeson were all nominated for their performances in The Banshees of InisherinImage caption, Austin Butler has already won several awards for his performance as Elvis Presley in the biopic Elvis, but he lost out to Fraser at SAGImage caption, US actress Angela Bassett did her thing in yellow, while British actor Bill Nighy opted for a more traditional black tux on the red carpetImage caption, Actress Ariana DeBose won a SAG Award last year for her performance in West Side Story and went viral last week with her performance at the BaftasImage caption, The Dropout star Amanda Seyfried and British actress Sheila Atim, who appears opposite Viola Davis in The Woman KingImage caption, Bob Odenkirk (pictured with his wife Naomi, a US film producer) was nominated for his leading role in TV drama Better Call SaulImage caption, Other TV stars nominated included Ozark and Inventing Anna star Julia GarnerImage caption, Irish actor Paul Mescal and Cuban-American actress Ana de Armas were nominated in leading categories for Aftersun and Blonde respectivelyImage caption, Jennifer Coolidge won best female actor in a drama series for her performance in satirical TV drama The White LotusImage caption, Rooney Mara (left), who stars in the SAG-nominated Women Talking, and British actress Emily BluntImage caption, Adam Sandler, nominated for his performance in Hustle, attended the ceremony with his wife Jackie
Los Angeles County has agreed to pay nearly $29m (£24m) to NBA superstar Kobe Bryant’s widow after police shared graphic images of his fatal helicopter crash two years ago.
Bryant and his daughter Gianna died along with seven others when the aircraft crashed in the LA area.
His wife, Vanessa Bryant, sued, saying first responders photographed human remains as tradable “souvenirs”.
Lawyers for LA County called the settlement “fair and reasonable”.
“Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct,” lawyers for the plaintiff said in a statement on Tuesday.
“She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice.”
Image caption, Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others died in the helicopter crash
In a statement, Mira Hashmall, the lead trial counsel for Los Angeles County in the case, said all county-related litigation from the crash had been resolved.
She said the $28,850,000 settlement included the $16m awarded by a federal jury in August 2022 to Mrs Bryant in her invasion of privacy lawsuit against Los Angeles County.
“We hope Ms Bryant and her children continue to heal from their loss,” Ms Hashmall said.
Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter also died in the 26 January 2020 crash, separately settled with the county for nearly $20m, attorneys told US media on Tuesday.
In March 2021 Mrs Bryant shared the names of four sheriff’s deputies she said had distributed “gratuitous photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches”, who had been travelling to a basketball game.
She said the pictures, including those of her 13-year-old daughter Gianna, were taken and shared “for no reason other than morbid gossip”.
Mrs Bryant testified at the trial that she had read in media reports how photos of the crash were shown at a pub by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy.
“I live in fear of my daughters being on social media and these popping up,” she told the court.
California has since passed a state law prohibiting first responders from taking unauthorised pictures of people who die at the scene of an accident or crime.
The aircraft in the crash that killed Bryant – a Sikorsky S-76B – went down into a hillside outside the city of Calabasas.
Conditions were foggy when the flight took off, and local police had grounded their helicopters due to the poor weather.
Teenagers will also receive a weekly notification that includes a summary of their previous week’s screen time.
For users under the age of 18, TikTok has announced that it will soon automatically cap daily screen time at 60 minutes.
The new limitations are a part of a suite of standard features that the Chinese-owned social media behemoth is introducing to enhance the wellness of the app’s youthful users.
‘Every account belonging to someone below age 18 will automatically be set to a 60-minute daily screen time limit,’ said TikTok.
‘If teens decide to turn off this new default limit, and spend more than 100 minutes on TikTok in a day, we’ll prompt them to set a daily screen time limit for themselves,’
TikTok said that in first month of testing, this approach increased the use of its screen time management tools by 234%.
Teens will also get a weekly notification with a recap of their screen time for that week.
Since managing screen time on TikTok is a problem for most people, everyone will soon be able to set up customised screen time limits for each day of the week and a schedule to mute notifications.
TikTok has also updated its ‘Family Pairing’ feature introduced in 2020, giving parents the ability to set a custom daily screen time limit for their teens.
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A screen time dashboard will provide caregivers with summaries of time spent on the app, the number of times TikTok was opened, and a breakdown of the total time spent during the day and night.
Parents can also set a custom schedule to mute their kids’ TikTok notifications.
Pop Star Melanie Brown has said she would not call the police to report domestic abuse because it might not be taken “seriously”.
Mel B, one of the Spice Girls, told BBC Newsnight she would only report it if “the whole entire system” of justice was reformed by the government.
She became a campaigner for domestic abuse victims after leaving what she described as an abusive relationship.
She said police needed better education about spotting “tell-tale signs”.
“I wouldn’t [call the police], because I wouldn’t know if they would take it seriously,” said Ms Brown, who became a patron for domestic violence charity Women’s Aid in 2018.
She called for a “redo” of the justice system, and said police officers needed better education about spotting the “tell-tale signs” that someone is a victim of abuse.
“Like if I’m living here and I want to report it to the police, I don’t know if I can trust the police. I don’t know if they’re going to take my allegations seriously,” she said.
The singer made her name as Scary Spice in the 1990s.
She received an MBE for services to charitable causes and vulnerable women last year, and dedicated her award to “all the other women” dealing with domestic violence.
In October, she spoke at a Conservative party conference to appeal for more support for domestic abuse victims, and said she was in an abusive relationship for a decade but kept it a secret.
The latest crime survey for England and Wales shows nearly 2.5 million people – 1.7 million women and almost 700,000 men – experienced domestic abuse in the year to March 2022.
Speaking to Victoria Derbyshire, Ms Brown described domestic abuse as an “epidemic” and praised those who collected statistics on it which allows victims to “openly talk”.
“When I brought my book out, nobody wanted to talk about it. It was like a taboo topic. It was something that everybody knows about but nobody talks about it.”
She said it was impacting “younger and younger” people” including “kids as soon as they start some kind of intimate relationship”.
“It’s just your average person who just wants to be loved and cared for,” she added.
If you’ve been affected by domestic abuse or controlling behaviour, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line.
Justin Bieber has cancelled the remaining dates of his Justice world tour, following health issues.
The 29-year-old singer has postponed the tour several times, telling fans last summer that he was suffering from facial paralysis, after a diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS).
He said in September 2022 that he wanted to make his “health a priority”.
The tour’s official Twitter page posted on Tuesday that ticket holders would receive a refund.
The singer had been due to play shows in the US, Australia and Europe, including a date in Manchester this Saturday (4 March).
Justin Bieber has officially CANCELLED the remaining dates of his “Justice World Tour”. Check in with your point of purchase for refunds for your show dates. pic.twitter.com/vMZ2RsdlyR
However, some of Bieber’s fans have previously expressed their dismay about not receiving refunds for scrapped dates on the tour, which has reportedly grossed $55m (£46m).
The Grammy-winning Canadian artist’s last album, featuring the likes of Burna Boy, Chance the Rapper and Khalid, brought him more success, reaching number one in the US and number two in the UK chart in April 2021.
But he has since said that shows in Europe had “taken a real toll on me” and that he needs more time to “rest and get better”.
What is Ramsay Hunt syndrome?
Image caption, The singer revealed the effects of his facial paralysis in June
RHS is when a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near someone’s ears, resulting in paralysis of parts of the face.
It cannot be passed from one person to another, but it is a complication from Shingles, which is linked to the chickenpox virus that many people can get when they’re children.
According to the charity Facial Palsy UK, if the immune system becomes depressed and is less able to fight off infection, the body can become vulnerable to a reactivation of the chickenpox virus.
It says stress is often a trigger as it can weaken the immune system, and people who are stressed are more likely to suffer from infections.
Today is a special day in the life of ace Ghanaian TV and radio personality Nathan Kwabena Adisi, popularly known as Bola Ray, as he’s celebrating his birthday.
The Chief Executive of Africa’s fastest-growing media group, EIB Network, turned 46 years Wednesday, March 1, 2023, and he is not holding back any joy today.
As he turns a year older, Bola Ray shared a slide show of photos reflecting on his achievements in his 25-year media career.
He also spotted a stylish look in some of his best outfits in his wardrobe as he marked the occasion.
In a post, shared on Instagram, Bola Ray wrote, “As I turn a year older today, I am most thankful to God, my family, the people around me and the gift of being alive.
“I am grateful for surging all the challenges through the last 365 days. I am not holding back any joy today, I will love every minute of today and laugh as much as possible because today is my day.
“This new age should be nothing short of great times and a new year fuller with prosperity, good health and success.
