The Minister of Transport is expected to hold a crunch meeting with private transportoperators today, December 15, 2022.
The focus of the meeting will be to deliberate on the way forward with regards to how the latter can reduce transport fares following a decrease in fuel prices.
Sources close to Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, told the Ghana News Agency that the meeting had become necessary amid persistent calls from the public for a reduction in transport fares following “significant” decline in fuelprices in the last few weeks.
Fuel prices have declined by about GHS5.00 per litre since transport fares were increased about six weeks ago. At the time, petrol was selling at an average of GHS17.99 while diesel traded at an average of GHS23.49 per litre.
Currently, petrol and diesel are trading at an average of GHS15.16 and GHS18.78 respectively.
In Ghana, most commercial vehicles run on diesel.
In spite of the downward decline in prices of petroleum products, transports operators have refused to reduce transport fares, claiming that prices of other variables, including spare parts and lubricants have not decreased.
The situation has sparked public outcry as commuters continue to demand a reduction in transport fares to correspond with the decline in fuel prices.
Some have argued that the decline in petroleum products would be “meaningless” to the suffering masses if transport fares remained the same.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the GNA, Mr Abass Imoro, Head of Communications, GPRTU, said the Union would reduce transport fares if fuel prices declined further.
“We have not pegged any figure yet but we will reduce when prices go down further,” he said.
Mr Imoro confirmed that the Union would meet the Transport Minister on Thursday to discuss the way forward, adding that the transport operators are looking forward to a fruitful deliberation on the issue.
In an earlier interview with the GNA, Mr Kofi Kapito, Chief Executive officer of the Consumer Protection Agency, described the decision by the transport operators not to reduce transport fares as worrying.
He said transport operators “are short-changing passengers” and appealed to the Government to intervene to bring relief to consumers.
“I think it is fair for the transport unions to come back to the table and see what they can do for passengers who use their transport.” Mr Kapito said.
Market analysts have projected that prices of petrol and diesel could drop further in the coming days to about GHS 13 and GHS 16 per litre respectively, in the wake of the cedi’s appreciation against the dollar, and a decline in prices of petroleum products on the international market.
Camille Herron has called it a “unicorn moment” for the sport of ultrarunning – a performance that expanded the notion of what women can achieve in endurance events.
When Herron crossed the finish line at Jackpot Ultra Running Festival’s 100-mile race in Henderson, Nevada in February, she did so as the outright winner – even beating all the male competitors– and in world record time.
Completing the race in a staggering average pace of seven minutes and 37 seconds per mile, Herron’s time of 12 hours, 41 minutes and 11 seconds was almost a minute and a half faster than the 100-mile record she set in 2017.
But her efforts now appear to be in vain, at least as far as the record books are concerned.
In October, after remeasuring the course – which looped around Henderson’s Cornerstone Park – officials from USA Track and Field (USATF) deemed that it was short by 716 feet (about 218 meters).
For Herron, the news was as infuriating as it was upsetting.
“I definitely want it to count [as a record] because I put my heart and soul into that performance,” she tells CNN Sport. “It was such an historical moment for the sport.”
More than nine months on from the race, Herron remains adamant that she ran at least 100 miles that day. It’s a view also shared by her husband and coach, Conor Holt.
“It was a public park on the day, she was having to weave around people,” Holt tells CNN Sport. “There are people out walking their dogs, there are baby strollers – the park was full.”
Ken Rubeli, the co-race director of this year’s Jackpot Ultra Running Festival, says the course was remeasured by a USATF course measurement official on February 27 and certified as 100.00396 miles.
In a letter sent to Nancy Hobbs, chairwoman of the USATF Mountain, Ultra and Trail Committee, Rubeli said the remeasurement took place because a record had been broken, and also because of a change he made to a turn in the course three years ago for safety reasons.
Eight months later, without Rubeli present, the course was remeasured once more by USATF officials and yielded the distance shy of 100 miles.
“We strongly believe this measurement [from February 27] is the most accurate as it was done with a sense of urgency as close to the race as possible,” Rubeli said in a statement released last month.
“We are disappointed the USATF wait[ed] 8 months to perform this critical measurement and did so without our knowledge or involvement and did not share the same urgency we displayed to address the issue.”
The USATF told CNN that the record was “extensively and thoroughly reviewed by expert officials” before being ruled as invalid.
In a statement sent to CNN, David Katz, chair of the USATF Road Running Technical Council (RRTC), said that on the day of the race, one of the USA’s top World Athletics race measurers, who had a family member competing in the Jackpot 100-miler, noticed the course was different to the one certified.
The measurer was instructed by USATF to remeasure the course twice on consecutive days while at the event, then again eight months later, according to Katz. All those measurements yielded a short course.
Katz said the record was not ratified “because the course was changed from what was certified” and added that the measurement report was shared with Herron and Holt on November 6.
However, there is still frustration with the way the situation has been handled by USATF.
In his statement, Rubeli raised safety concerns over two bikes – one a “large bulky electric bicycle” – entering the race in February to take a measurement, questioning “why the USATF felt it was appropriate to measure a course while an event was still in progress.”
Road courses are measured with a Jones Counter, a device that attaches to the front wheel of a bicycle and records distances based on the revolutions of the bike’s wheel.
Herron and Holt, meanwhile, are disappointed by the perceived lack of communication from USATF.
“It’s frustrating for me as an athlete because we try to cross our T’s, to dot our I’s – make sure everything is in place,” says Herron. “It’s really stressful to think that I set the world record and then find out that they did this other measurement and say that the course is short.”
Neither Herron or Holt is giving up on the cause.
“A remeasurement, that’s all we’re asking. Just get out there with the race director,” says Holt. “We want the truth to come out,” he adds, “we want a remeasurement of the course. I think that’s the least USATF can do for us.”
Herron is competing in another 100-mile race, the Desert Solstice Track Invitational in Phoenix, Arizona on December 10. That race takes place on a 400-meter track, while the race in February was run on roads and doubled up as the US road championship competition.
Running a record time in Phoenix might allow Herron to put some of the pain from the fallout of February’s race behind her.
But with ultrarunning – which refers to any distance longer than the 26.2 miles of the marathon – opportunities to race over such huge distances can be few and far between.
“I’m 40 years old,” says Herron. “I’m in the window of my prime of my running career right now, so I’m trying to make the most of those opportunities.
“I mean, it’s 100 miles. It’s not like I could just bounce back super quickly and go for it again. I need time to recover and to have other things align correctly to be able to go for a world record.”
Herron also holds the women’s ultrarunning records for the greatest distance run in 12-hour and 24-hour time frames – 149.130 kilometers (92.665 miles) and 270.116 kilometers (167.842 miles).
The Oklahoma native attributes her success in the sport to her relentless drive and rangy physique. It’s not uncommon, she says, for her to win ultramarathon races outright by even beating all the male competitors – as she did at the Jackpot 100-miler.
“There’s this theory that as the distance gets longer, the difference between men and women gets smaller,” says Herron. “I don’t know the number of races I’ve won outright, beating all the men, but it’s happened several times.
“I’m also an outlier in the sport. For me to be breaking world records like I am – I have a gift, I have a genetic talent.”
While aggrieved by the circumstances around the Jackpot 100-miler, she also wants to focus on what lies ahead.
“I feel empowered by what I can do,” says Herron. “I’ve got huge plans for the future. It’s a really exciting time for my running career.”
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has entreated its members to pay their membership dues for 2022 by January 15, 2023.
Payment of dues may be lodged into the GJA bank account with the National Investment Bank, Osu branch with the account name, Ghana Journalists Association and account number; 1112037799401.
Members may also pay dues directly at the Accounts Office at the Ghana International Press Centre.
In a statement to notify members, signed by its General Secretary, Mr. Kofi Yeboah, the GJA said its constitution mandates it to publish names of members who fail to pay their dues by the first quarter of each year after they have been given a thirty-day notice.
The statement added that “Article 12(b) also provides: Any member who does not pay membership dues by the end of the financial year, and fails to pay after 30 days notice by the General Secretary shall lose his/her membership, subject to re-application”.
The Association has also granted a moratorium to members who have not paid their dues for a year or more or may have lost their membership status to clear their arrears by January 15 next year so they can regularise their membership status.
Members who pay their dues are required to present the pay-in-slip to the Finance Office at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra for receipt covering payment.
Per Article 9 of the GJA Constitution, “members who have paid their dues regularly for the past ten years and are sixty-five (65) years and above” are exempted from payment of dues.
French rugby chief Bernard Laporte has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence and a 75,000 euro (£64,000) fine for corruption, nine months before the country hosts the World Cup.
Hours after the verdict the FrenchRugby Federation president stepped down as vice-chair of World Rugby.
The world governing body has referred the matter to its ethics officer.
Laporte was also banned from holding rugby posts for two years, but that is suspended pending an expected appeal.
“World Rugby notes the decision by World Rugby Vice-Chairman Bernard Laporte to self-suspend from all positions held within its governance structures with immediate effect, following his conviction by the French court in relation to domestic matters and pending his appeal,” World Rugby said in a statement on Tuesday night.
“While acknowledging Laporte’s self-suspension and right of appeal, given the serious nature of the verdict World Rugby’s Executive Committee has referred the matter to its independent ethics officer for review in accordance with its integrity code.
“World Rugby will not be making further comment until the conclusion of the independent process.”
French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera earlier said the sentence was an “obstacle for Bernard Laporte to be able, as it stands, to continue his mission in good conditions” as federation president.
Oudea-Castera called for a “new democratic era to allow French rugby to rebound as quickly as possible and sufficiently healthy and solid, with a governance by the federation that will have the full confidence of the clubs”.
According to French news agency AFP, the court ruled that Laporte had showed favouritism in choosing France’s shirt sponsor.
In March 2017, Laporte awarded a 1.8m euro (£1.5m) shirt sponsor contract to close friend Mohed Altrad, the billionaire owner of Top 14 champions Montpellier.
Altrad was given an 18-month suspended sentence and 50,000 euro (£42,800) fine. Both men deny any wrongdoing and Altrad’s lawyer said he would study the decision before deciding on whether to appeal.
In February 2017, Laporte signed a 180,000 euro (£154,000) deal with Altrad group for his image reproduction rights and prosecutors claim Laporte did not deliver the services paid for.
Altrad’s logo still features on France’s shirts, with Laporte, 58, negotiating a follow-up deal in 2018.
Laporte, who coached France to the 2003 and 2007 World Cup semi-finals, was also found guilty of intervening with disciplinary action against Altrad’s club Montpellier. He was convicted of helping to reduce a fine against the club from 70,000 euros (£60,000) to 20,000 euros (£17,000).
In November, financial prosecutors searched the headquarters of France’s 2023 Rugby World Cup organisers as part of a government inquiry into the management of the organising committee.
‘Laporte’s rugby future thrown into doubt’ – analysis
BBC rugby union correspondent Chris Jones
Laporte is one of the most powerful men in world rugby and was set to be a prominent figure at next year’s World Cup in France, but this verdict throws his future involvement in the sport into serious doubt.
Even though Laporte is expected to appeal, his position at World Rugby is untenable with the governing body referring the matter to their independent ethics officer, who was appointed earlier this year after a governance review in 2021.
Laporte’s charges are not connected to World Rugby or Rugby World Cup activities, but it is nonetheless an unwanted episode for the governing body given his influence both in France and on the global stage.
Morocco’s Ines Laklalech has become the first golfer from North Africato qualify for the LPGA tour, having been inspired by the coach behind her country’s World Cup run in Qatar.
Laklalech, 25, earned a spot on the premier tour in women’s golf despite shooting her worst round on the final day of the qualifying event in the United States.
The Casablanca resident fired a one-over par 73 in the final round at Highland Oaks in Dothan, Alabama on Sunday.
Yet she finished on 19 under par at the end of the eight-round tournament and shared 12th place – good enough to claim a much sought-after spot on next season’s tour.
“I’m a big fan of the Moroccan national team so I’m super, super happy,” Laklalech said. “It definitely gave me an extra boost on the course.”
The Atlas Lions have become the first African side to reach the semi-finals of football’s World Cup, and Laklalech has been using the positive attitude of Morocco coach Walid Regragui, when speaking about his squad, while out on the course.
“I’ve been watching very closely what the national coach is saying about the team because it’s history,” she said.
“His words really gave me confidence that everything is possible, because that’s their mindset right now. I think it’s all connected and related because I’ve been watching videos of the press conferences every single day.”
On Saturday, Laklalech took a big step towards securing her tour card when she made four birdies in the last four holes and posted her best round of the event, a six-under par 66, just as the country’s footballers were upsetting Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-finals.
Success on the world stage may be a new experience for Morocco’s men’s football team, but Laklalech is no stranger to making history.
In September, she won the Lacoste Ladies Open de France on the Ladies European Tour (LET) to become that tour’s first Moroccan, Arab and North African winner.
With four other top-10 finishes on the LET this season, her success in qualifying for the most high-profile tour in women’s golf is the latest chapter in a stellar year for sport in North Africa.
In July, Morocco reached the final of football’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Rabat, where they lost 2-1 to South Africa, and Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali won steeplechase gold at the World Athletics Championships in the United States.
Meanwhile, Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur became the first North African to reach the singles final of a Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon in July – before impressively repeating the feat a few months later at the US Open.
The 28-year-old finished as runner-up on both occasions, but ended the season with the WTA’s Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award, voted for by her peers and announced on Sunday, for “demonstrating conduct befitting of a professional sports figure and observing the rules of fair play”.
Africa Education Watch (otherwise known as Eduwatch) is unhappy about the budget allocation for the GETFund. It thus has petitioned Parliamentto reject the allocation of ₵1.8 billion made to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).
According to Eduwatch the allocation of ₵1.8 billion raises serious concern about the formula used in capping the GETFund in the 2023 budget, and whether it is in accordance with the Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment Law.
The ₵1.8 billion GETFundallocation forms only 39% of the GETFund levy accruals which are meant to be used to finance education projects and activities.
This a sharp decline from the previous year’s 81% allocation.
“Going by the 25% capping under the Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment Act, 2017 (Act 947) and the history of allocations in line with same, we estimate that, at least ₵2.7billion, representing 60% of the total 2022 GETFund Levy accruals of ₵4.6billion should be allocated to the GETFund for 2023,” Eduwatch said in a statement to Parliament.
They added that the continuous decline in the allocation to GETFund, amidst consistent increment in the GETFund Levy, has remained a significant issue of worry for stakeholders concerned about the widening infrastructure gap in the education sector, particularly at the basic education level.
Parliament has approved a whooping GHC1.2 billion for the TransportMinistry and its associated agencies to carry out activities for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023.
This happened on Wednesday, December 14, 2022.
on Wednesday approved GHC1.2 billion for the Transport Ministry and its agencies to carry out activities for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023.
The amount represents a 33.06 per cent increase over the 2022 initial budgetary allocation of GHC921,483,000.00.
The 2022 fiscal year amount was subsequently revised to GHC832,028,321.00, and, as of September 2022, the Ministry had expended GHC461,824,396.84.
The Transport Ministry, in 2023, plans to undertake activities such as operationalising the “Ghana Airlines” as the home-based carrier for the country and deliver 55 intercity buses to Metro Mass Transit Limited to augment its fleet.
Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, the Minister of Transport, moving the Motion for the approval in Parliament, said the Keta Port construction was a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project that the Government was embarking upon.
He said feasibility studies had been completed, which came out that the project was viable.
The Government had made available an initial five million dollars for the administration, and by the first quarter of 2023, the construction of the Administrative Block of the Keta Port would start, he said.
As regards the Airport Passenger Service Charge (APSC), Mr Asiamah said other airports in the country, apart from Accra and Kumasi, did not generate income.
He said the revenue from the two airports were used to administer the rest of the airports in the country.
There was the need for an economic rate for the APSC, which would enable the airports to recover the investments made in them to avoid becoming a burden on the Government, Mr Asiamah said, and assured the House that the Ministry would consult the House in all its dealings.
Mr Kennedy Nyarko Osei, the Chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee, said the Committee observed that the current charges pertaining to the APSC were not competitive.
The Ministry brought to the attention of the Committee the need for the APSC to be reviewed to enable the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) to generate revenue to complement Government’s efforts in implementing the Ministry’s programmes.
The Ministry had programmed to complete the construction of the Boankra Integrated Logistics Terminal (BILT) in 2023, he said, but there was the need to connect it to the Tema Habour to ensure it functioned optimally.
Mr Osei said the Committee, therefore, urged the Ministry of Transport to collaborate with the Railways Development Ministry to ensure that rail lines were extended through the BILT to the Tema Port.
Mr Governs Kwame Agbodza, the Deputy Ranking Member of the Roads and Transport Committee, in seconding the Motion, said the road carnage in the country had not changed, though the situation this year appeared slightly better than last year.
Touching on Aviation, he said the Ministry informed the Committee that it had selected an entity to operate Ghana Airlines as a home-based carrier; “that is to fly the flag of Ghana”.
“Mr Speaker, some of us are quite surprised that the entity that had been selected has no record in operating an airline, it is not merely a matter of recruiting former pilots and other things, I mean aviation business is quite a risky business,” Mr Agbodza said.
“Yes, we are happy that a local group will be part of this, but if they have no record of doing this, it is difficult to understand why we are doing this.”
Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, has expressed concerns over the alarming rate of pollution, especially with the country’s water bodies.
According to hum, nineper cent of the 0.84 million metric tonnes of plastic waste generated in Ghana annually, leak into the ocean.
He said the plastic waste recovery rate for flexibles (pure water waste) was 73 per cent, while that of the high density polyethylene (rigid/furniture) was 79 per cent, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was 10.3 per cent.
Additionally, the plastic waste recovery for shopping bags and low micron bags were 0.00 per cent and 0.001 per cent, respectively, he said, citing statistics from the Ghana Plastics Manufacturers’ Association.
Dr. Afriyie made this known in a speech read on his behalf, in Accra, at the inception workshop of the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded Project dubbed, ‘Establishing a Circular Economy Framework for the Plastics Sector in Ghana.’
According to the Minister, applying the principles and practices of circularity throughout the full life cycle of the plastics value chain represented the safest way to manage the plastic menace.
This is in respect of its design and production, through its consumption, disposal and to its processing into secondary materials for circular production.
The GEF-funded project has the objective of strengthening the national capacity of Ghana to transition to a circular economy within a framework that addresses plastic leakage into the country’s oceans and waterways.
It is also to facilitate sustainable plastic management through operationalising the National Plastic Management Policy (NPMP) and National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP), and ultimately end marine plastic pollution.
Dr. Afriyie said the Ministry was working in partnership with stakeholders to advance the NPAP National Action Roadmap – a locally-designed ambitious plan that provided a clear set of actions for Ghana to achieve zero plastic leakage into oceans and waterways by 2040.
The intention was to brainstorm and apply technology to address plastic pollution, waste management and efficient resource utilisation.
Mr. Oliver Boachie, Special Advisor to the Ministry, giving a presentation of the draft annual work plan and budget for 2023 in respect of the Project, said some of the expected outcomes of the initiative were to avoid the emission of persistent organic pollutants and create 746 direct jobs and 9, 864 indirect jobs.
The United States of America has once again declared support for Africa.
US President Joe Biden has announced billions of dollarsin new funding for Africa at a summit of dozens of heads of state in Washington.
“The United States is ‘all in’ on Africa’s future,” President Biden told the over 40 African leaders attending the summit.
He also spoke optimistically of improved links with Africa during a summit in which he announced $55bn (£44.4bn) in new funding for the continent over the next three years. This included $100m for clean energy projects.
He told the gathering in Washington that when Africa succeeded, so too did the United States.
Mr Biden spoke of the importance of good governance, healthy populations and affordable energy.
The summit of heads of state is seen as an attempt by America to re-assert its influence in Africa at a time when China, Russia and Turkey are deepening their involvement.
It’s the first such gathering hosted by Washington for eight years.
The biggest nursing protestever is set to start this morning as nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will go on strike from 08:00 on Thursday in the largest action of its kind in NHS history.
Staff will continue to provide “life-preserving” and some urgent care but routine surgery and other planned treatment is likely to be disrupted.
The Royal College of Nursing said staff had been given no choice after ministers refused to reopen pay talks.
The UK government said the RCN’s 19% pay rise demand was unaffordable.
The action will involve nurses in around a quarter of hospitals and community teams in England, all health boards in Northern Ireland and all but one in Wales. Nurses are not striking in Scotland.
Under trade union laws, the RCN has to ensure life-preserving care continues during the 12-hour strike.
Chemotherapy and kidney dialysis should run as normal, along with intensive and critical care, children’s accident and emergency and hospital neonatal units, which look after newborn babies.
Beyond that, it will be up to NHS boards and trusts to negotiate services on a local level, with discussions likely to come down to the circumstances of some individual patients.
The biggest impact is likely to be in pre-booked treatment such as hernia repair, hip replacements or outpatient clinics.
The NHS has said it is “vital” people continue to come forward for emergency care during the strikes and anyone not contacted to reschedule an appointment should attend as planned.
The RCN balloted more than 300,000 nurses across individual NHS trusts and boards rather than in a single, national vote.
This means some nurses are not entitled to take industrial action, because the turnout in their local area was too low.
In England, the first round of strikes will go ahead in 51 of 219 hospitals, mental-health trusts and community services.
Strikes are also going ahead in all of Northern Ireland’s health boards and all but one in Wales, the Aneurin Bevan.
Most GP services will be unaffected, as nurses working directly for practices were not entitled to take part in the vote, but the strike will include district nurses working in people’s homes or community settings.
A second day of strike action will go ahead on 20 December, unless there is a breakthrough in talks.
In England and Wales, most NHS staff have already received a pay rise of roughly £1,400 this year – worth about 4% on average for nurses.
The political situation in Northern Ireland meant there was a delay in processing the increase – but nurses should receive backdated payments before the end of the year.
The RCN wants a larger rise, of 5% above the RPI inflation rate, which currently stands at 14%, saying its members have received years of below-inflation pay increases.
England’s Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, said further pay rises would mean taking money away from other front-line services.
“I’ve been working across government and with medics outside the public sector to ensure safe staffing levels – but I do remain concerned about the risk that strikes pose to patients,” he said.
Mr Barclay added that the government had followed the recommendation of the independent NHS Pay Review Body, which said in July NHS staff should receive the £1,400 increase, with slightly more for the most experienced nurses.
The body, made up mainly of economists and human-resources (HR) professionals, had been asked to base that recommendation on a range of factors, including:
the need to recruit staff
the funds available to the NHS
the government’s 2% inflation target
Welsh ministers said they were unable to enter pay talks without extra funding from the UK government.
In Scotland, the RCN’s strike action has been “paused”, after ministers made a fresh offer worth just over £2,200 a year for most NHS staff. Nurses have been asked to vote on that deal, with results due next week.
Union bosses have offered to suspend strikes if the UK government agrees to reopen serious discussions over pay.
But a face-to-face meeting earlier this week broke down, with the RCN accusing Mr Barclay of “belligerence” and having “too little to say”.
This will be only the second time RCN members have walked out in its 106-year history. Until 1995, the union had a formal no-strike policy in its rulebook.
In 2019, nurses in Northern Ireland went on strike over pay. And in 2014, those in England who were members of Unison walked out – also over pay.
This winter, a number of other major health unions, including Unison, the GMB, Unite the Union and the Royal College of Midwives, have also voted to strike in different parts of the UK, with a series of walkouts planned over Christmas and the new year.
The Bekwai Policehave arrested a 40-year-old man for allegedly killing his wife.
Stephen Appiah, the suspect, was said to have hit the head of the wife, Afua Abrefi, multiple times against a wall, leading to her death instantly on Monday.
He then wrapped the body and dumped it in a bush after the act.
However, family members and friends became suspicious about the conspicuous disappearance of Abrefi and alerted the police, who arrested Appiah yesterday.
The suspect, when arrested, confessed to the killing of the wife and led the police to where he had dumped the body and it was retrieved.
The body has since been deposited at the mortuary after the necessary inventories were taken.
It was not known what really pushed the suspect to commit the act.
A police source at Bekwai, which confirmed the incident, said investigations had started.
According to the source, the incident took place at Ofoase Kokoben in the Bekwai Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
At the time of filing this report, the police were preparing to put the suspect before the court.
In another tragic incident, a 22-year-old unemployed man, Godknows Tamakloe, has been remanded in police custody for allegedly aiding the murder of one David Korbla Klutsey, also aged 22 at Agbozume in the Ketu South of the Volta Region.
Godknows, a resident of Agbozume, on October 20, 2022, allegedly aided his stepbrother, a suspect, Remember Tamakloe (now at large), to stab the victim during a scuffle over GH¢30.
David later died on October 23 while receiving treatment at a hospital.
Police Chief Inspector Esperance Agbo, prosecuting, told the Agbozume Magistrate’s Court, presided over by Mr Issah Iddrisu, that Remember sold a mobile phone to Klutsey at a price which Klutsey had made part-payment, leaving a balance of GH¢30.00.
He said Remember and Godknows went to Klutsey for the money and a fight ensued between them during which Klutsey slapped Godknows, who fell to the ground.
Chief Inspector Agbo said God knows, managed to grab Klutsey from behind and Remember stabbed him.
Prosecutor said Remember managed to escape from the scene but Godknows was arrested and sent to the police station, while the victim was rushed to the hospital, where he died after a few days.
Godknows, who was initially arraigned on October 23, 2022, is expected to make his fourth court appearance on December 20.
Meanwhile, the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Sacred Heart Hospital morgue, Abor, pending autopsy.
The national chairman hopeful of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has mounted a spirited counteraction against the leaked tape that has gone viral on social media.
In the said leaked tape, the current NDC General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, was heard confessing to some party delegates in the Ashanti Region that the NDC had to contest the 2020 election results in the Supreme Court without the collated results because its Information Technology (IT) system crashed.
According to Mr Asiedu Nketia, what was contained in the leaked tape is no news.
“These are matters I have spoken about from time immemorial as the party’s General Secretary,” he forcefully said.
Mr Nketiah defended the content of the tape while speaking on Accra-based TV XYZ and later played on Accra 100.5 FM’s mid-day news on Wednesday, December 14, 2022.
“This is nothing new except the people want to make a political meal out of it,” he said.
He warned people who intend to take this tape to town to rethink their decision.
He was of the view there was nothing inside that tape saying “I told the Supreme Court the same thing when I mounted the witness box in the 2020 Election Petition.”
“When I was asked about the NDC’s collated results I said I have none, besides, it is not the business of the NDC to collate results,” he argued.
“It is the EC’s job to collate results,” he said, adding that the NDC can only collate results for its internal purposes.
“We compile results for internal consumption not for the EC and the court’s consumption,” he said.
He narrated that it was the NDC’s quest to challenge the EC’s collated results because the EC collated multiple results using the wrong procedures.
“Go and check what happened in Techiman South Constituency,” he challenged, adding that: “The figures are not consistent.”
The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Johnson AsieduNketiah, has explained why he did not attend the 10th Women and Youth Conference of his party in Cape Coast.
Speaking in an interview on XYZ TV monitored by GhanaWeb, Asiedu Nketiah said that he could have attended the conference to encourage the youth of the party, but he did not have any official function to perform there.
He added that he did not see the need to go there and campaign like others did because he was approaching the delegates in person to ask for their support.
“I didn’t go there (the conference); I was on the field working. I could have gone, but my absence spoils nothing. Because it was the youth who were going to have their elections, I could have gone there to encourage them, but there was no specific responsibility for me to go and discharge there.
“Some people were thinking it was an opportunity to campaign. But I see no need for that. The people who went to the conference I am already been meeting them in their constituencies. So, it is a matter of style that somebody wants to meet them in a jamboree,” he said.
The NDC General Secretary is speaking out for the first time since the leakage of audiovisuals of him saying that the party didn’t have concrete evidence during the 2020 election petition to the Supreme Court.
On the tape recording that has gone viral, Asiedu Nketiah, affectionately called ‘General Mosquito’ who appeared to be talking to some NDC members in a closed-door meeting, could be heard accusing and blaming the chairman of the party, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, for the party’s shoddy work in relation to the election petition.
He stated categorically that he denied having the results when he stood in the dock during cross-examination at the Supreme Court, because the NDC had no evidence to back their claim, and if he hadn’t denied it, he would have been disgraced.
Asiedu Nketiah further revealed that lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata, who defended the party, had earlier refused to stand for the NDC because of the lack of concrete evidence but decided to defend the party after the petition was reviewed.
A couple accused of conspiracy to commit crimeand defrauding by false pretense has been granted bail by an Accra Circuit Court.
Madam Rita Agyapong, a 36-year-old trader, and Mr. Michael Narh, self-employed, are on GH¢150,000 bail each, with three sureties each.
The court ordered that one of the sureties should be justified with any property worth the bail sum.
They were jointly held for conspiracy to commit crime and defrauding by false pretence, an offence they pleaded not guilty to.
The court presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah adjourned the case to December 22, 2022.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Coleman Afesi, prosecuting, told the court that the complainant, Mr Emmanuel Agyapong, was the Operational Manager of the National Investment Bank (NIB), Dansoman branch, while the accused persons were a married couple, and both lived at Amomole, near Ablekuma.
The prosecutor said about seven months ago, Madam Agyapong persuaded her friend, Doris Boafo, to open an account at NIB and register for mobile banking for easy access to loans to which she agreed.
He said the couple requested her to bring the details to them to enable Mr. Narh to teach her how to operate it.
ASP Afesi said on June 21, 2022, William Asare (at large) deposited at the Ghana Commercial Bank (GBC) a cheque with a face value of GH¢72,530.00 into Boafo’s account to be processed as express.
He said the bank decided to reverse the transaction, but it did not go through due to system failure.
The prosecutor said on June 22, 2022, between 3 a.m. and 5:10 a.m. an amount of GH¢29,000.00 was withdrawn from the accounts through mobile banking applications, to wit, fast link, and web link, and disbursed on various mobile numbers.
He said within the same month, Boafo received an amount of GH¢5,000 in her mobile money account without knowing the source.
The prosecutor said she went to Madam Agyapong and discussed the matter with her.
ASP Afesi said Madam Agyapong later told Boafo that it was her husband who sent the money to her as a gift.
The prosecutor said on August 27, 2022, Boafo was arrested and cautioned to that effect and on November 15, 2022, investigations led to the arrest of the couple.
Ghanaian president, Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, this week received a standing ovation after delivering a speech in the United States of America.
The president was addressing the opening ceremony of the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit held in Washington DC.
Drawing inspiration from Jamaican reggae star Peter Tosh, Nana Akufo-Addo, charged Africans in the diaspora that they remain an important part of the quest to change the African story.
“Let us remember that the destiny of all black people no matter where they are in the world is bound up with Africa. We should never forget that famous admonition of the celebrated Jamaican reggae star Peter Tosh and I quote don’t care where you come from, as long as you are a black man, you are an African.”
It is on this premise that Nana Akufo-Addo, charged all blacks in the diaspora to help make Africa a place for investment, progress, and prosperity and not where the youth flee with the mirage of a better life in Asia of the Americas.
Nana Addo said the time had come for all Africans both home and abroad to help change the African narrative. He said the characterization of Africa as the home of diseases, hunger, poverty and illegal mass migration must end.
Nana Addo used the Chinese diaspora and how they helped China’s resurgence into a global manufacturing giant through direct forex investments as a test case.
According to the president of Ghana, this will help the continent attain the respect it deserves on the global stage.
He added that this agenda is what has driven his government to rally Africans in the diaspora to come home as part of the “Beyond the Return campaign’.
“If we stop being beggars and spend African money inside the continent, Africa will not need to ask for respect from anyone, we will get the respect we deserve. If we make it prosperous as it should be, respect will follow,” the president said.
Describing the people of Africa as resilient, the president further called for solidarity amongst countries within the continent to attain their shared aspirations.
“Africans are more resilient outside the continent than inside. We must bear in mind that to the outside world, [there’s] nothing like Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya, we are simply Africans. Our destiny as people depends on each other,” he said.
According to the president, the continent possesses the needed skill and manpower but requires a concerted political will to “work”.
A number of African leaders have travelled to Washington to join a discussion aimed at strengthening the continent’s cooperation with the US amid concerns about Chinese and Russian influence.
Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs want the Finance Ministry to as a matter of urgency address all outstanding issues relating to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and increase budget allocation for the OSP.
The Committee deems the allocation of GH₵129.5 million to the OSP insufficient for recruitment and the effective running of the office.
Out of the budgeted total amount of ₵129.5 million, ₵68.9million is to be used as compensation and about ₵34million is to be used for goods and services while ₵26 million is budgeted for stationery for the work of the OSP.
According to JoyNews Parliamentary Affairs Correspondent, Kwaku Asante the Office of the Special Prosecutor in a meeting with the Committee complained that the funds allocated are insufficient as it intends to recruit more lawyers and other personnel.
He added that officials of the Finance Ministry are expected to be in the House on Wednesday, to brief Parliament on why such an amount was allocated to the OSP.
Parliament has so far not approved any estimate allocated for any Ministry, Department or Agency in the 2023 Budget.
Meanwhile, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, has warned that Ministers of State who absent themselves from Parliament will not have their budgets approved.
The Minority insists the Ministers must be present during the debate.
“I further warn that ministers who want their budgets’ approval must appear in person. If you delegate your deputy we will delegate your money for you some other day after appropriation. If they send emissaries to come for approval of budget estimates, we will send their approval to them the day they are available. So whip, make sure you have your estimates ready,” he said on the floor on Wednesday.
US-based Ghanaian singer, FritzOakley says many Ghanaian event organisers are disorganised when it comes to putting up events.
Speaking on the USA series of E VIBES with Becky, Fritz was of the view that the brand of an artiste may go down just because a promoter or organizer did not do their job well.
“Ghanaian event organizers are so disorganized. Extremely disorganized. One of the reasons why an artiste like Sarkodie is very successful. He has a team and you know of course you might have a team that is organized but you the artiste have to place a demand on what you want. Sometimes I am too hard on my team not because I want to be rude if I want people to love me, I have to take my craft seriously,” he added that need to pay more attention to their core job.
He added that “it also hurts the artistes because sometimes the artistes have done everything they could. But some disgruntled event promoter organiser will do the thing in a shabby way that will dim the light of the artiste.”
Fritz, at age 19, began his musical career when he emerged as the winner of the maiden edition of the Voice Factory music reality show in 2009.
After a 12-year hiatus from the Ghanaian music scene, Fritz rebranded as a gospel musician under the name Oakley.
Fritz enjoyed fame when he launched his music career with many songs including ‘Me do wo’ featuring Guru.
The E-Vibes show strives to evoke memories through the setting of the interview and their rise, the memories they made on their way to the top with the hope that their unique stories will help shape the younger generation.
It is different from your regular day-to-day interviews. This show is carefully designed to provide some quality time with selected personalities.
National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, has accused the party’s re-elected Youth Organiser of hiring members from their biggest contender, the NPP, to openly vilify and attack him.
According to him, Pablo, whose mandate as National Youth Organiser was renewed last Saturday, held a meeting with NPP communicators last night and fed them with narratives to malign his person.
Speaking on Accra-based Onua TV on Wednesday morning, he explained that some of the NPP communicators who Pablo met last night, later called him to leak Pablo’s dubious intentions.
He said those communicators wondered why Pablo, a national executive of the NDC would want to stab a fellow executive, in the person of Sammy Gyamfi.
The NDC spokesperson however refused to mention the names of his informants, but tressed that George Opare Addo, popularly known as ‘Pablo’, was behind the scheme to have his name soiled.
“He met them (NPP communicators) last night and fed them with false narratives”, he stressed in the local Twi dialect.
However, the campaign coordinator for George Opare Addo, Abubakar Mutiu-Rahman, has refuted the said allegations by the NDC’s National Communications Officer.
In a statement shortly after Sammy Gyamfi’s claims on Onua TV on Wednesday morning, Mutiu-Rahman said Pablo has not met any NPP communicator as Sammy Gyamfi alleged.
He said Pablo is committed to the cause of the NDC and would not embark on any such treacherous move to destroy the party.
“The claim that Pablo met with NPP Communicators yesterday is false, at no point has Pablo met any NPP communications team, not previously or yesterday.
Mr Gyamfi must prove when and where this meeting took place as well as who the participants were”, the statement emphasised.
“There is no greater insult than the claim of being a traitor to one’s party; we will not countenance any more of such allegations from Sammy Gyamfi and his ilk. We will allow this to slide but let no one mistake it for cowardice.
Pablo is very much committed to leading a united front for the NDC Youth Wing. He’s willing to work with all and sundry to ensure HE John Dramani Mahama is elected President, so we can rescue this nation”, the statement concluded.
The comments by both parties come in the wake of the outcome of the NDC’s recently held National Youth and Women’s Congress.
At the said Congress, the incumbent National Youth Organiser, George Opare Addo, retained his seat in a keen contest again former Ashanti Regional Youth Organiser, Brogya Genfi.
However, the supporters of Pablo as well as himself believed that Brogya Genfi was supported by Sammy Gyamfi and other bigwigs in the NDC; including close associates of former President, John Dramani Mahama.
This has subsequently created a feud between Sammy Gyamfi and Pablo and his allies.
Speaking on Asempa FM yesterday, Pablo said he is disappointed in the schemes that were orchestrated by Sammy Gyamfi to remove him.
Meanwhile, the NDC’s National Communications Officer says he supported Brogya Genfi based on his rapport with him; adding that he did not go on rampage to attack Pablo during the contest.
Speaking on Onua TV, Sammy Gyamfi also denied the allegations that close associates of Mahama, such as the former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, were all behind Brogya Genfi.
He further discounted Pablo’s claims that he had spoken about his health during the campaign period.
A 31-year-old Nigerian woman has been sentenced to a five-year jail term by a Circuit courtfor human trafficking.
Blessing Favour pleaded guilty to human trafficking and forced prostitution and was convicted on her plea.
Blessing had earlier pleaded for mercy and told the court she had regretted her action, adding that she was a single mother.
The judge, His Lordship, Alexander Oworae ignored her plea and sentenced her to five years to serve as a deterrent to others who are engaged in similar acts.
The suspect collapsed in the dock after the judge pronounced his judgement.
The culprit on Monday, December 5, 2022, pleaded guilty to charges of human trafficking and forced prostitution after she was arrested.
She had trafficked young women from Nigeria under the guise that they were coming to work in Ghana but ended up in a brothel in Tamale, the Northern Region capital and “Dollar Power” a mining community in the Savannah Region.
On Sunday, December 4, 2022, one of the victims who was pursued by Blessing Favour when she tried to escape coincidentally fell into the hands of the Police.
The victim saw the Police while she was being chased and raised an alarm leading to the arrest of the suspect.
Inflationwent up by 9.9% to 50.3% in the month of November 2022, according to latest figures from the Ghana Statistical Service.
This is the highest figure recorded in 27 years.
The increment was expected because of fuel price increases and the cedis’ depreciation during the month under review.
However, the trend may halt or reverse in December 2022 due to the recent improvement in the value of the cedi to the dollar and fall in fuel prices.
According to the figures, food inflation hit 55.3%, from October’s rate of 43.7%.
Non-food inflation also shot up by 7.2% to 46.5% in November 2022.
Inflation for locally produced items also stood at 48.3%, whilst inflation for imported items was 55.1% in November 2022.
Five groups – Housing, water, gas, electricity and other (79.1%); Furnishings, household equipment (65.7%); Transport (63.1%); Personal care, social protection and miscellaneous services (56.3%) and Food and Non-alcoholic beverages (55.3%) registered inflation rates higher than the national average.
For food inflation, eight sub-classes recorded inflation rates higher than the national average.
They include water (93.2%); milk, other diary products and eggs (75.4%); fruit and vegetable juices (73.1%); sugar and confectionary and desserts (70.0%).
Eastern region records 63.3% inflation in November 2022
For the regions, Eastern region recorded the highest inflation rate of 63.3%.
It was followed by the Greater Accra region with an inflation rate of 61.6% and Bono region with a rate of 53.6%.
The region with the least inflation rate is Upper West with a rate of 35.6%.
Dance-hall artist Shatta Wale has released a lot of hit songs.
When Shatta Waleon the occasion of his 38th birthday released a single titled ‘Cash Out’, some music lovers claimed that the song sounded like one of Burna Boy’s tracks.
Others claimed that the Ghanaian Dancehall giant sampled Burna Boy’s hit song ‘Las Las’.
Reacting to the allegations that led some critics to mock Shatta Wale, the man in question explained that there is nothing wrong with sounding like the musician he described as his brother.
It would be recalled that the two artistes had an enviable relationship back in the day. This birth a collaboration between Shatta and the Nigerian artiste.
However, things went sour as Shatta Wale and Burna Boy went after each other in a series of tweets in late December 2021.
Shatta in his recent interview with Sammy Flex on CTV addressed Burna Boy’s song sampling allegation. To the surprise of many, he passed a joke about the situation to confirm that there is no bad blood between them.
“You have seen two people that are brothers and one is singing like the other. Have you seen a family that doesn’t look alike? He is my brother so if he has sung and I have sung, he takes left and I take right…we are tired. There are a whole lot of artistes in Ghana who are singing like somebody.
“People are not blaming them, me that I have a brother that I am singing like my brother you’re saying…I will continue to sing, I will record another one,” said Shatta who was all smiles in white addressing the issue.
Blakk Rasta has disclosed his intentions to give back all the trophies presented to him at the RTP Awardsover the years.
This comes after reports that the RTP Awards CEO, Prince Mackay, had asked the radio presenter to return all the plaques he won at various editions, following claims that he doesn’t believe in a “voting to win” scheme.
In a video shared on Instagram, Blakk Rasta said Mackay once alleged that he (Blakk Rasta) was pained because he wasn’t winning any awards.
“I heard the CEO of RTP Awards, my very good friend, Mackay, say that Blakk Rasta was so happy when he was winning the awards but now he wants to collapse the award. I am one of those who actually gave him the name. Well, Mackay with all respect and with all love. You know that I will never do anything to destroy anything positive that you have started, with all respect Mackay, the thing that you said maybe you said them out of anger. You said Blakk Rasta if you don’t want us to nominate you anymore, bring back the award you gave back to you, wait I am bringing them to you. Show me where your office is, and I will make sure you get all of them. These are all of them,” he said.
Blakk Rasta said one of the awards he received in the past was broken, however, the fixing wouldn’t be needed anymore since he will be giving it all back.
“Remember I told you earlier several years ago that the pole that was holding this one got broken, it was the only one that I had and you promised to replace them. Now you wouldn’t need to replace it. I am returning everything. It’s a matter of principles. Mackay said that when you were winning you didn’t complain, but now that you are not winning, you are getting angry. No! Bossu, it’s not about when I was winning it. I am the best Reggae man on the radio whether you like it or not, I don’t need any endorsement. The fans have already endorsed me, time and again. In the whole of Africa, I don’t see anyone who does Reggae on the radio like me,” he added.
Blakk Rasta, however, seized the moment to heap praises on himself.
“It’s confidence, it’s not called boasting. People who listen to me from those times till now will tell you that this guy has no peers. I took my time to learn the trade and by the spirit of God I have been able to move. I am the only Reggae presenter in the whole of Africa that does prime-time radio for four hours.
“Mention one more, nobody. In Ghana, those who use to hold the fourth are now relegated to dawn time or late at night when people are asleep. I have no disrespect for them, I love them. That is where they are right now. Let us even push them more, but Blakk Rasta continues to be here from when I started,” he boasted.
Ghanaian comedian, Derrick Kobina Bonney popularly known as DKB and actor Prince David Osei have expressed opposing views over the recent appreciation of the Ghana cedi against the US dollar and other major currencies.
As of Wednesday, December 14, 2022, the US dollar experienced a gradual drop in value, thereby, trading against the cedi at a buying price of GHC10.3948 and a selling price of GHC10.4052.
Identifying that this was a good sign, the actor took to Twitter to express excitement over the development.
A pleased David Osei also rescinded his decision to protest the poor state of the country’s economy as declared earlier.
“Hallelujah the Cedi is appreciating remarkably. 9.56ghc to a 1$. The economy is gradually getting back on track!! Now we need to see the effect in our daily lives, goods and services.. God bless ????????,” Prince David Osei’s Twitterpost captured.
But DKB believes that the development isn’t worth celebrating if prices of goods and services are still stagnant.
“A reducing exchange rate with no correlating reduction on food prices and fuel prices is useless,” he responded to the actor’s post.
In what seemingly graduated into an exchange, Prince David Osei did not let things slide as he took to Twitter with a reply to DKB.
The actor said DKB should learn to appreciate the little changes and be hopeful that things get better instead of criticizing.
“So would you have preferred the cedi went up to 20ghc per $ before the end of the year? We know we have issues as a country but let’s be hopeful for the small changes we seeing?”
It did not end there as DKB retweeted Prince David Osei’s post and threw jabs at the actor who once campaigned for the ruling New Patriotic Party.
“You have no option but to celebrate small victories because you have committed to them and you owe allegiance. I don’t owe allegiance to any party, I talk for Ghanaians. Until prices reduce and cash burden on us goes down, we won’t celebrate any damn small Victories! Tueh!
The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah is reported to have made some damning comments about the 2020 election petition filed by former president John Mahama in a leaked audio-visual recording.
In the video, the male figure alleged to be Mr Asiedu Nketiah is heard saying that, the NDC had no substantial evidence to battle out it case at the Supreme Court.
The video goes on to tout that the NDC had no collated results.
As a result, Mr Asiedu allegedly said Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata, who represented the party at the apex court, had hesitated to take over the case.
Mr Tsikata rejected the first set of documentation which the party was seeking to rely on to challenge the Electoral Commission’s declaration in Court, per the video.
“So we consulted Tsatsu Tsikata on the matter. The following day, he returned our documents; stating that if this is what we have, then we have no case and that he cannot represent the party, so we should look for another lawyer”, the supposed “Asiedu Nketiah” revealed.
The collated results allegedly supervised by the party’s National Chairman Samuel Ofosu Ampofo was poorly done, parts of the video stated.
The collated results, which were given him as a witness to the case “was nothing to write home about. If I had presented it to any court, I would have been embarrassed”.
The male figure in question blamed the party’s defeat in the 2020 election on the Mr Ampofo.
He said the system Mr Ofosu-Ampofo brought was not effective, and broke down midway into the collation.
The truth is, we couldn’t collate the 2020 election results.
There was no way we could have provided evidence to back our court Case~ Aseidu Nketiah admits
Sammy Gyamfi will not be happy 😂 pic.twitter.com/U7zkUYuR9l
— Emmanuel Debrah Drafor Amicable (@EmmanuelDrafor) December 13, 2022
Background
Former President John Mahama sought a redress at the apex court after the electoral Commission declared President Akufo-Addo as the winner of the fiercely 2020 general elections.
Nana Akufo-Addo who contested the election on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won with 6,730,413 votes which represents 51.295 percent of the total valid votes cast.
Mr Mahama who rejected the outcome of the result by the EC, alleged that the election was marred with several anomaly.
He alleged that vote padding and other errors complained of by the petitioner affected the outcome of the Presidential Election results of 2020.
The Supreme Court in March 2021 ruled that although it finds the accusation of vote padding very serious, it observed that this allegation was not proven by the petitioner.
The Chief Justice said that the judges are therefore settled in their minds that even if there was vote padding, it did not in any way affect the outcome of the election results.
Leonard Cohen’s children are in a dispute with Cohen’s lawyer over the control of the late Canadian singer’s assets, according to the NY Post.
Adam Cohen and Lorca Cohen have been fighting to remove attorney Robert Kory as a trustee to the Leonard Cohen Family Trust for over a year in Los Angeles Superior Court. Before his death, Leonard Cohen had appointed Kory to oversee the estate and handle the royalties. Cohen died in 2016.
The trust currently holds numerous assets including millions of dollars in royalties for Cohen’s music, poetry, novels, and photos, as well as 243 journal notebooks, per the Post.
A court document wrote that Cohen had come “to appreciate in his waning days that he had made a grave error by allowing Kory to insinuate himself into Leonard’s affairs and take control over virtually every aspect of Leonard’s finances and legacy.”
Adam and Lorca claim Kory had been avoiding updating them about his attempts at further monetizing Leonard Cohen’s estate, including the posthumous release of his novel, “A Ballet of Lepers,” which came out in October.
Cohen’s children hired attorney Adam Streisand who also alleged that Kory had forged documents in 2005 in an attempt to seize control of Cohen’s assets.
Streisand added that two versions of the trust document Cohen had signed existed. One version benefited the children and designated Lorca, Adam, and Anjani Thomas—who the Post notes is Cohen’s former partner and Kory’s former wife—as trustees to the estate. Streisand further explained that once Lenoard Cohen had passed, a lawyer “swapped out […] the page that added Lorca, Adam, and Anjani Thomas with a new page that designated Kory as the trustee to the estate.
Lawyer Reeve Chudd wrote, in a letter made accessible through court documents, that Leonard Cohen instructed him to “change the successor trustee to Mr. Kory.”
“[Cohen] was concerned that his children didn’t have a sufficiently comfortable relationship to work together upon the complexities of the artist’s estate.”
Kory, Chudd, as well as Adam and Lorca Cohen all denied the Post’s attempts to contact them for comments.
A U.S. soccer journalist died after collapsing during a World Cupmatch, and days later a second journalist has lost his life while covering the global event.
The Doha-based Gulf Times reports Khalid al-Misslam, a photojournalist for local sports outlet Al Kass TV, passed away on Saturday.
“Al-Misslam, a Qatari, died suddenly while covering the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. We believe in Allah’s mercy and forgiveness for him, and send our deepest condolences to his family,” the Gulf Times wrote on Twitter.
The details surrounding al-Misslam’s death are unclear.
Grant Wahl, an American who’s written for CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated, died in Qatar after collapsing during the Argentina-Netherlands match. Wahl was 48.
Keir Radnedge, a columnist at World Soccer magazine, told CNN Saturday that Wahl was treated in the stadium “for about 20-25 minutes” before he was transported to a local hospital.
“This was towards the end of extra time in the match. Suddenly, colleagues up to my left started shouting for medical assistance. Obviously, someone had collapsed. Because the chairs are freestanding, people were able to move the chairs, so it’s possible to create a little bit of space around him,” Radnedge said.
The U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed the news in a statement on Twitter.
Mississippi State University head football coach Mike Leach has died at the age of 61, his familyannounced on Tuesday.
In a statement, Leach’s family thanked fans and university officials for their support following his hospitalization earlier this week. According to MSU, Leach died at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson due to complications from a heart condition.
“Mike was a giving and attentive husband, father and grandfather,” the family said on Tuesday. “He was able to participate in organ donation at UMMC as a final act of charity. We are supported and uplifted by the outpouring of love and prayers from family, friends, Mississippi State University, the hospital staff, and football fans around the world. Thank you for sharing in the joy of our beloved husband and father’s life.”
Widely revered as one of the all-time great coaches in college football history, Leach’s extended run of accolades includes twice being named national coach of the year, as well as being a key figure behind the hugely influential air raid offensive scheme.
As Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum pointed out on Tuesday, Leach’s death “underscores the fragility and uncertainty” of life. Mere weeks ago, Keenum added, he and Leach were celebrating together after a “hard-fought victory” in Oxford.
“Mike Leach truly embraced life and lived in such a manner as to leave no regrets,” Keenum said, adding that this marks “a worthy legacy.”
Earlier this week, the university said that Leach had been hospitalized and was in critical condition after experiencing “a personal health issue” at home.
Michelle Obama had a few thoughts for the woman who called her husband Barack Obama“fine as a motherfucker” during a recent rally before the midterms.
The video was shown to Michelle during her latest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where she stopped by to promote her new book The Light We Carry. Michelle had apparently never seen the viral clip before, which involved a woman complimenting her husband while he was on the campaign trail at the Detroit Renaissance High School in Detroit, Michigan, prior to the Midterm elections.
The 61-year-old former president said in the clip, “Sometimes going on a campaign trail feels a little harder than it used to not just because I am older and grayer….”
An audience member then called out, “You still fine as a motherfucker.”
As the audience laughed, along with Obama, he chimed in, “I’m not gonna tell Michelle you said that…Although Michelle does agree, she knows.”
“I hadn’t seen that,” Michelle told Kimmel at the 10-minute mark of the video above. “I heard about it. He came home that was the first thing he said. I said, ‘How’d it go?’ He said, ‘Somebody said I was fine. I was like, ‘Oh really? That’s so sweet.”
The late-night host then asked Michelle if she would ever share stories like that with her husband, to which she shook her head. “He doesn’t need to know all my business,” she said.
Barack has previously showered his wife with similar compliments. After the couple’s post-presidency portraits were unveiled at the White House in September, Barack said the artist Sharon Sprung had perfectly captured the fact his wife was “fine.”
“I want to thank [artist] Sharon Sprung for capturing everything I love about Michelle. Her grace, her intelligence, and the fact that she is fine,” Obama said during the unveiling of the portraits in the East Room as people clapped and cheered.
“She is. Her portrait is stunning,” Barack added before Michelle thanked him for his “spicy remarks.”
Elsewhere in her interview with Kimmel, Michelle spoke about her new book, which she said wasn’t quite a self-help book, but was meant to inspire since so many people have asked her for advice over the years.
“Dealing with fear, feeling invisible, how do you find your voice, people are trying to figure out how to get through life and not everybody has a mentor,” Michelle said. “People don’t always have parents they can get that kind of advice from. So what this book is, is just my offering of the tools that I’ve developed over my 58-years that have helped me.”
Stephen “tWitch” Boss, the famed DJ on Ellen Degeneres‘ talk show, is dead … and TMZ has learned it appears to be a suicide.Law enforcement sources tell us Stephen’s wife Allison Holker ran into an LAPD station Tuesday, and she was frantic because she said Stephen had left home without his car — something that was not like him at all.We’re told, a short time later — around 11:15 AM — paramedics got a call for a medical emergency at an L.A. hotel … and they found Stephen there, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
12/11/22
Instagram / @allisonholker,sir_twitch_alot
Holker tells TMZ, “Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”She continues, “He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans. To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt. I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory.”Concluding, “Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you.”Stephen started DJing on Ellen’s show in 2014, and was with her until the show ended in May 2022. He had become an executive producer on the show in 2020.He really got his big break in showbiz in 2008, when he was runner-up on “So You Think Can Dance.”He went on to do some acting, landing several roles where he could show off his dance skills. Stephen played Jason in the ‘Step Up’ movie franchise, and he was also in “Magic Mike XXL.”
9/7/22
TMZ.com
The last time our photogs got him out around L.A. was back in September, and he talked to us about life after ‘Ellen’ … sounding pretty happy to have more time with his family.Stephen hosted several reality shows … most notably, he and Allison hosted “Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings” together on Disney+.
The couple met on the all-star season of ‘SYTYCD” — they were both competing — and they got married in 2013. Allison and Stephen had just celebrated their 9-year anniversary this past Saturday.They had 3 kids. Stephen was 40 years old.RIPIf you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
Blakk Rasta has disclosed his intentions to give back all the trophies presented to him at the RTP Awards over the years.
This comes after reports that the RTP Awards CEO, Prince Mackay, had asked the radio presenter to return all the plaques he won at various editions, following claims that he doesn’t believe in a “voting to win” scheme.
In a video shared on Instagram, Blakk Rasta said Mackay once alleged that he (Blakk Rasta) was pained because he wasn’t winning any awards.
“I heard the CEO of RTP Awards, my very good friend, Mackay, say that Blakk Rasta was so happy when he was winning the awards but now he wants to collapse the award. I am one of those who actually gave him the name. Well, Mackay with all respect and with all love. You know that I will never do anything to destroy anything positive that you have started, with all respect Mackay, the thing that you said maybe you said them out of anger. You said Blakk Rasta if you don’t want us to nominate you anymore, bring back the award you gave back to you, wait I am bringing them to you. Show me where your office is, and I will make sure you get all of them. These are all of them,” he said.
Blakk Rasta said one of the awards he received in the past was broken, however, the fixing wouldn’t be needed anymore since he will be giving it all back.
“Remember I told you earlier several years ago that the pole that was holding this one got broken, it was the only one that I had and you promised to replace them. Now you wouldn’t need to replace it. I am returning everything. It’s a matter of principles. Mackay said that when you were winning you didn’t complain, but now that you are not winning, you are getting angry. No! Bossu, it’s not about when I was winning it. I am the best Reggae man on the radio whether you like it or not, I don’t need any endorsement. The fans have already endorsed me, time and again. In the whole of Africa, I don’t see anyone who does Reggae on the radio like me,” he added.
Blakk Rasta, however, seized the moment to heap praises on himself.
“It’s confidence, it’s not called boasting. People who listen to me from those times till now will tell you that this guy has no peers. I took my time to learn the trade and by the spirit of God I have been able to move. I am the only Reggae presenter in the whole of Africa that does prime-time radio for four hours.
“Mention one more, nobody. In Ghana, those who use to hold the fourth are now relegated to dawn time or late at night when people are asleep. I have no disrespect for them, I love them. That is where they are right now. Let us even push them more, but Blakk Rasta continues to be here from when I started,” he boasted.
6ix9ine has been banned from a luxury apartment complex in the Miamiarea, at least according to a new report.
TMZ, citing sources “familiar” with the situation, said on Tuesday that 6ix9ine has been barred from the SLS Lux Property-owned facility in question due to the behavior of his armed security detail. As the report explains, 6ix9ine is alleged to typically stay with YouTube personality SteveWillDoIt when he’s in the area. However, the SLS Lux Property legal team is alleged to have recently sent him a letter outlining why 6ix9ine is no longer welcome on the property.
According to the report, the letter states that a guard working for 6ix9ine at one point left “his assault weapon unattended on his bag” on the property. Additionally, the letter is said to highlight how 6ix9ine’s current situation (namely “provocative antics” and what they say is “the bounty placed on 6ix9ine’s life”) could equate to an unsafe environment for all involved.
Complex has reached out to SLS Lux, as well as to a rep for 6ix9ine, for comment. This story may be updated.
6ix9ine has remained in and out of headlines since being released from prison in 2020 following a widely discussed Nine Trey court case in which he ultimately pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors, as discussed at length in Shawn Setaro’s book Dummy Boy.
In October, court documents revealed that a lawyer had claimed 6ix9ine owed his firm “approximately $400,00 in unpaid legal fees” in connection with separate cases. Weeks earlier, 6ix9ine publicly addressed claims that he was attacked at a nightclub in Dubai, criticizing the presentation of the story in question as “fake news.”
Nigeria’s controversial crossdresser, Bobrisky has revealed how much his wigs cost.
The socialite who is known for his flashy lifestyle claims that he spends as much as N100 million on wigs alone while noting that the amount could buy a house Lekki, Lagos.
He said due to this, he finds it amusing when some Lagos big girls think they are on the same level as him.
The 30-year-old transvestite wrote: “All my hairs alone can buy a house in Lekki. Have spent over 100million on hair so I laugh when dis Lagos girls wanna compete with me.
“Men check ur wife hair and my hair even you wey be guy know i rock better than dis b!tches.”
Ghanaian artiste and radio personality Blakk Rasta has solidified his years of preaching against “voting to win” at awards with an announcement.
The radio show host said he would return every trophy he received over the years from various award schemes in a video posted on Instagram.
“I hardly do a thing like this but once in a while we just need to answer a few questions, you know. I have said time and again that I do not want to be part of any award scheme that has to do with voting to win.
“For me, it’s a way of buying votes. Now, if you have an award scheme, you nominate some people and then you ask the fans of these people that you have nominated to vote so that their favourite artiste can win then you go ahead and tell them that the more you vote, the more you place your artiste on a higher pedestal of winning and if the artiste doesn’t win, the biggest excuse they normally give is your people didn’t vote,” he shared.
He noted that in the past, he had been blind to the reality that these awards were bought and that deserving individuals were deprived of their achievements and recognition.
According toBlakk Rasta, he prays that people will come to the same consciousness as him with time.
“So it becomes a vote to win an award, it’s not about merits anymore. You can be the best, but as long as your people do not vote, you will be the worst. So I decided that I will not be part of this anymore. It’s done, it’s dusted.
“In the past, we were part of it. But when consciousness hit us, we decided that it was all over, and we will not do it again. Many people haven’t come to that consciousness yet. I don’t fault them, everybody has their time. Their time will come,” he added.
When Shatta Wale on the occasion of his 38th birthday released a single titled ‘Cash Out’, some music lovers claimed that the song sounded like one of Burna Boy’s tracks.
Others claimed that the Ghanaian Dancehall giant sampled Burna Boy‘s hit song ‘Las Las’.
Reacting to the allegations that led some critics to mock Shatta Wale, the man in question explained that there is nothing wrong with sounding like the musician he described as his brother.
It would be recalled that the two artistes had an enviable relationship back in the day. This birth a collaboration between Shatta and the Nigerian artiste.
However, things went sour as Shatta Wale and Burna Boywent after each other in a series of tweets in late December 2021.
Shatta in his recent interview with Sammy Flex on CTV addressed Burna Boy’s song sampling allegation. To the surprise of many, he passed a joke about the situation to confirm that there is no bad blood between them.
“You have seen two people that are brothers and one is singing like the other. Have you seen a family that doesn’t look alike? He is my brother so if he has sung and I have sung, he takes left and I take right…we are tired. There are a whole lot of artistes in Ghana who are singing like somebody. People are not blaming them, me that I have a brother that I am singing like my brother you’re saying…I will continue to sing, I will record another one,” said Shatta who was all smiles in white addressing the issue.
Shatta Walereacts to ‘Las Las’ song sampling claim
West Midlands Police have confirmed the deathof three boys—aged 8, 10, and 11—who fell into a frozen lake at a park in Solihull.
A fourth boy, aged 6, remains in a critical condition at Birmingham Children’s Hospital after being rescued by emergency services, including an officer who attempted to punch through ice.
Witnesses, who initially jumped into the water, reported seeing “children falling into a frozen lake” at Kingfisher Country Park, in Kingshurst, at around 2.40pm on Sunday.
Upon approaching the scene within minutes of the first call, Superintendent Richard Harris said all police entered the lake with no care for their own safety or with any special clothing. He added officers were still trying to establish the details of the incident and could not say how long the trio had been in the water before emergency services arrived.
“The boys’ deaths are a tragedy beyond words,” Richard Stanton from the local fire and rescue service said at a news conference, adding: “Yesterday’s incident is a stark reminder to us all of the dangers of open water, especially during the winter months.”
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it was “devastating news for the family and friends” of the boys. “This is a tragic incident,” he said.
“The Prime Minister’s thoughts are with them and obviously he passes his thanks to the emergency services who are continuing to work and provide support.”
Today I passed by the restaurant where we first met and instead of cringing, I actually smiled when I remembered how sweet the beginning was.
It’s always sweet in the beginning until the bitterness seeps in. Today I remembered how naive I was thinking we could have made it work.
Today I remembered our story and how I would always rewrite our ending because I didn’t want to accept that you and I won’t end up together.
Today I remembered how for the longest time I thought you were the one that got away. I lived in this story and made everyone I meet not good enough, not like you, not the same chemistry or the same vibes.
Today I remembered why I never wanted our story to end, I was afraid of losing that girl that loved so passionately, the girl that would forgive even the gravest mistakes, the girl that would give a hundred extra chances and the girl that would take you back no matter how long it has been.
I thought that this version of me will only exist with you and I didn’t want to lose that. I didn’t want to try with someone else half-heartedly or with a broken spirit. I thought that this version of me was the best version of me.
But when I finally got over you, I outgrew that version of me because as much as I admire how passionate and loving she was, she was weak.
She didn’t know her worth. She put up with a lot more than she could handle. She forgave you when you weren’t sorry and she made you her whole book when she was just a chapter in yours.
I outgrew that version of me that thought loving someone else more than herself is the ultimate sign of maturity and kindness. She didn’t pay attention to herself or her needs and she ended up paying the price.
Today I smiled because I’m not that girl anymore and you don’t mean anything to me anymore. Today I smiled because I’m not the girl who would let another person cause her that much pain again or cry over losing someone who never loved her.
I finally outgrew you. I finally outgrew our story. I finally outgrew the kind of love that I had for you. The unhealthy, childish, hot and cold, possessive kind of love. I finally outgrew the version of me that fell in love with someone like you.
Because that’s the best part about getting over someone, you see them for who they really are not who you want them to be and when you finally do the inner work to heal and love yourself, you will never again wait for someone to come back or cry over the one that got away or dwell on the past.
The best part about getting over someone is that everything that used to make you cry now makes you laugh because you’re not hurting anymore, they’re not on a pedestal anymore and you finally see how you’re so much better off without them.
The best part about outgrowing someone is the moment you realize that you love yourself and your life a little bit more without them and that you don’t miss them. Now, they’re just a chapter in your book or maybe just a page.
Three former players of the Drummondville Voltigeurs junior hockeyteam have been accused of sexually assaulting a minor in the fall of 2016, according to Radio-Canada.
The Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Quebec (LHJMQ) issued a release Tuesday morning addressing the allegations, according to the Montreal Gazette.
“Both the league and the Drummondville Voltigeurs have just been made aware of the incident that allegedly occurred in 2016. The LHJMQ and its teams will co-operate with the police investigation and the legal process if they are called upon to do so,” the release reads.
Two of the three players were also minors at the time of the alleged assault but the third, Noah Corson, was an adult. Corson is the son of former Montreal Canadiens player Shayne Corson.
Corson waived his right to a preliminary hearing and is slated to appear in court in Drummondville in June 2023.
Étienne Lafleur, Corson’s agent, declined to comment further than denying Corson’s implication in the alleged assault.
The other two alleged assailants cannot have their identities disclosed due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act. However, they pleaded guilty in court last year after being charged with sexual assault.
The accuser, whose name is protected under a publication ban, said she tried to erase the incident from her memory and that she suffered trauma after the attack.
She recognized the alleged assailants several weeks after the incident at a Voltigeurs game when she saw the photos of the team members on one of the walls.
“I identified just like that, otherwise I would have never known they were hockey players,” she explained in French in the Radio-Canada article. “I started crying right away. After I realized that they were there and that I had cheered them on, it’s like everything came up all at once.”
Éric Verrier, the president of the Voltigeurs denounced the players’ behaviour and denied knowing anything about it before the allegations became public.
“Never, and I mean never, has anyone in the organization been made aware of the incident. I was shocked, I still can’t believe it,” he said. “This goes against the organization’s values. We denounce situations like these and we will collaborate with the investigation if necessary.”
The allegations come at the same time as Hockey Canada tries to manage its own series of sexual misconduct scandals following the revelation of a May 2022 settlement regarding sexual assault allegations that took place in 2018.
The ever-expanding, reliably readable world of Are Reportedly DatingNow articles bagged another hit this week.
Indeed, as this article’s headline and carefully spliced images have already made clear, Jack Harlow and Dua Lipa are indeed (reportedly!) involved in a dating capacity now. That’s the word from the tabloid titillators over at Page Six, who reported on Monday night that Lipa, in their words, became “quite smitten” with Harlow after meeting him at a Variety event in Los Angeles last month.
Following that meeting, the report further alleges, Lipa and Harlow have been engaged in what sources claim is “constant communication.” More recently, Harlow is said to have taken a trip to NYC to see Lipa after her Z100 Jingle Ball commitments this month, followed the next day by the publication’s self-described “spies” having seen Harlow and Lipa doing the whole let’s-arrive-separately thing at a restaurant in the city.
For good measure, Complex has reached out to reps for Jack Harlow and Dua Lipa for comment on all of this, though it’s unlikely anything will come of that.
As fans will note, Harlow’s latest album—this year’s Come Home the Kids Miss You—features a track by the name of “Dua Lipa.” Speaking with The Breakfast Club back in May, Harlow revealed he had actually played the track for Lipa prior to its release.
“I wanted to get her blessing so I FaceTimed her and played it for her because I didn’t want her to be blindsided by that or feel creeped out or anything,” he said at the time.
It looks like whoever wins the heart of Gambian actress Princess Shyngle will be one step closer to Heaven.
The Ghana-based actress has come out with a new set of dating rules, even though she already had some, like letting her man cheat if he wants to.
She said before that her man could cheat on her once he paid all her bills and took care of her, but now she says that she is willing to give him money.
In a post on Instagram on Monday, December 12, the award-winning actress said she will give her credit card to her lover so he can spend her money however he wants.
“I can’t wait to spoil my man; give him my card too so he can buy whatever he wants.” “It’s going to decline, though, but it’s the thought that counts,” her post reads.
The actress was recently in the news because she gave her potential suitor some crazy dating rules.
Princess Shyngle made it clear, among other things, that she didn’t want any man to propose to her, say “I love you,” or even introduce her to his friends or family.
Megan Thee Stallion has described in emotional courtroom testimony her “shock” as fellow rapper Tory Lanez allegedly opened fire on her.
“I can’t believe I have to come here and do this,” she told a jury in Los Angeles.
The Grammy-winning rapper said she was shot in the feet after leaving a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s house.
Jurors heard she insulted the accused and demanded to be let out of a luxury car before he fired five rounds at her.
The rapper, whose real name is Megan Pete, 27, testified that her alleged attacker became enraged after she disparaged his musical talent.
She said the 30-year-old defendant, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, had told her to “dance” before opening fire in the incident in the Hollywood Hills on 12 July 2020.
He denies multiple gun and assault charges relating to a dispute with the Savage artist. If found guilty, he faces up to 23 years in prison.
“I’m in shock. I’m scared. I hear the gun going off, and I can’t believe he’s shooting at me,” she told the court on Tuesday, the second day of the trial, according to the LA Times.
She became tearful on the witness stand, expressing regret for ever having come forward about the incident.
“I wish he would’ve just shot and killed me if I knew I was going to have to go through this torture,” she told the court.
Tory Lanez has denied shooting Megan after the party (Getty Images)
The WAP rapper left a trail of blood at the scene, before getting back into the vehicle, which was stopped minutes later by police.
A gun that was still warm to the touch was found on the floor near where Mr Peterson had been sitting, prosecutor Alexander Bott said in his opening statement.
Megan Thee Stallion testified that the Canadian hip-hop artist had offered her $1m to keep quiet about the attack because he claimed to be on probation for a weapons offence.
She initially said to police that she had cut her feet on glass.
But she told the court on Tuesday she had lied because of concerns about how the police would react, especially amid nationwide racial justice unrest in the summer of 2020.
“At the time, we are at the height of police brutality,” she testified, “I felt like if I said this man has just shot me, they might shoot first and ask questions later.”
Minutes after the shooting, a female friend who was in the car texted Megan Thee Stallion’s security detail, saying: “Help… Tory shot meg.”
Several bullet fragments were removed from her feet, but some remain and she told investigating officers that she had difficulty walking in certain shoes.
In a phone call, Mr Peterson had “profusely apologised for his actions” and claimed he was “just too drunk”, prosecutors said.
His lawyer, George Mgdesyan, said the jury needed to keep an open mind and he would prove the accusations were lies.
The self-proclaimed “certified love boy” has apparently thought of proposing marriage not once, not twice, but 42 separate times. At least, that’s what he’s claiming with his new jewellery piece.
Drake is either the world’s most hopeless or helpless romantic.
Created with jeweller Alex Moss, Drake’s “Previous Engagements” chain boasts a total of 42 diamonds, each meant to represent a time the rapper considered popping the question.
Moss debuted the impressive diamond necklace on his Instagram this week, describing it as “42 engagement rings, 351.38 carats in diamonds.”
Per the voiceover in the video, each stone was chosen “to only suit perfection” and “for all the times he thought about it, but never did.” But what does that mean exactly?
It’s no secret that Drake loves his diamonds. Three years ago, he purchased a $400,000 diamond-encrusted iPhone case, and earlier this year, he bought a $1,898,000 diamond necklace from Homer, the luxury company founded by Frank Ocean.
Maybe the “Previous Engagements” labelling is just a way for him to justify purchasing a 42-diamond necklace. Even Drake has a budget, right?
According to reports, the former BBNaija contestant has been promising people slots in coming BBNaija editions while collecting huge sums of amount from them.
Earlier this year, a young singer identified as Baby C called out Eric for scamming her with a fake BBNaija slot. The victim disclosed that Eric, ex-BBNaija housemate duped her out of millions of naira.
According to the reports, Baby C paid N5.3m to the ex-BBN housemate to help her gain entry into the BBNaija house; A deal which never worked out.
Speaking in an interview with Legit.com, Baba C said, “Eric was my friend. We were in the same department at Unilag, and we were close to an extent. When he got the final confirmation that he was going to be in the house, I was one of the first people he called and asked me to support him. I formed a group and raised funds for his campaign.”
In a new development,reports say that Eric has been arrested after he arrived from the UK.
A $35.9 million grant package has been set aside by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to guarantee food security in Ghana.
Smallholder farmers, especially women and young people, as well as out growers, buyers, processors, and exporters would benefit from the Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity Project.
They would have access to small-scale farmers, and others would have access to a financing amount between $5,000 and $25,000 for various projects under the Grant Facility, which is expected to take effect in the first quarter of 2023.
The package is expected to be utilized over a five-year period to increase the production of foodstuffs such as maize, shea, and beans, among other essential food crops, to help in the fight against food insecurity in Ghana.
According to Team Leader for Agribusiness and Financial Services at MSR Activity Ghana, Mr. Raymond Denteh, the grant project, which was launched on Monday, December 12, aims to ensure resilience and inclusivity in the Ghanaian market system.
A roadshow would also be organized in the northern sector to educate prospective applicants on eligibility requirements, the application process, and the nature of the grant.
He added, “The project is to support and strengthen the agricultural market system for increased efficiency, productivity, and investment to drive economic growth and increase the incomes of households in catchment regions,” adding that women, young people, and people with disabilities are the main focus of the project.
Monitoring and evaluation manager for the Ghana MSR Activity, Mr. Eric Sunu, also said that the grant would target private sector businesses and NGOs, noting that applicants whose projects best aligned with the goals of the project would benefit.
The grant will primarily benefit NGOs and private sector companies, according to Mr. Eric Sunu, the monitoring and evaluation manager for the Ghana MSR Activity. Applicants with projects that are most in line with the project’s objectives will receive funding, he added.
He, therefore, encouraged applicants to ensure that they took part in the roadshows to acquaint themselves with the application processes and requirements to benefit and affect the lives of others.
A team of graduate students at China’s Wuhan University recently unveiled an innovative “invisibility cloak” that circumvents AI-powered security cameras.
China is one of the world’s most heavenly surveilled countries, with AI-powered cameras being used for everything from monitoring employees’ toilet habits to students’ attention in classrooms. But as advanced as these surveillance systems may be, they are not perfect. A group of Chinese graduate students recently showcased an intriguing invention that they claim is essentially an invisibility cloak against surveillance cameras powered by artificial intelligence.
Called ‘InvisDefense’, the rather regular-looking camouflage coat can allegedly allow anyone wearing it to get past AI-powered surveillance cameras without being spotted. The customized camo prints fool the cameras during the day-time, and embedded thermal devices that emit different temperatures throw off the surveillance cameras’ infrared thermal imaging sensors at night.
“We spent a lot of energy preparing for this, including this product’s design and development,” Wei Hui, the computer science graduate student who designed the coat’s core algorithm, told VICE World News. “We had to use an algorithm to design a least conspicuous image that could render camera vision ineffective.”
The students, who won first prize at the Huawei Cup, a cybersecurity innovation contest supported by Chinese technological giant Huawei, said that one of the biggest challenges of the InvisDefense project was creating a system that could fool both the human and the AI eye. To do this, they worked extensively on devising custom camouflage patterns.
While InvisDefense sounds like a way to fight against the Chinese government’s oppressive camera surveillance system, Wei Hui and his colleague made it very clear that their invention is just the opposite.
“The fact that security cameras cannot detect the InvisDefense coat means that they are flawed,” the young inventor said. “We are also working on this project to stimulate the development of existing machine vision technology because we’re basically finding loopholes.”
Interestingly, the InvisDefense coat reportedly costs only 500 yuan ($71), which is a ridiculously cheap way of rendering state-of-the-art surveillance systems obsolete.
In the words of a pretty young Nigerian woman, the only motivation for her to enter into the institution of marriage is money.
For this reason, she proudly announced on social media that she wants to marry a wealthy man. The unidentified woman boldly stated in a video that she will undoubtedly get married to a wealthy man for money in order to provide for her future children.
She said she would do so so that her children would have the option to choose to marry for love rather than money, just like she had done. ”Definitely marrying for money so my children can marry for love,” she captioned the video shared on IG.
See a few reactions to her post below;
hero_jooshua wrote; So without men you no fit make em for life. Omo eh una thinking dey upside down.
kapish_fx; She should pray the man doesn’t marry for looks
father_murph; What if the rich guys with the money ain’t interested in getting married to u nko?
decency_irene; Fr tho as it’s going cos ehn
jj_success; I’m sure that Same thing your mom said now you see yourself
International rating agency, Fitch, has announced that the declining global and domestic shocks would weaken the credit drivers for African banks in 2023.
Fitch believes that while these may increase operational environment risks, modest GDP growth, the absence of a major African economy entering a recession, along with banks’ demonstrated resilience over the last two years, will preclude a more serious negative scenario.
Adding that, “Weakened African sovereigns and significant contagion risks to banks play a large part in our deteriorating sector outlook for 2023.”
“Political risk will remain high and could bring further market uncertainty. Asset quality risks will return and be more prominent, with households and businesses continuing to be hit by high inflation, rising rates, currency depreciation and US dollar shortages.”
Fitch, however, only expects a slight rise in the ratio of problematic loans.
The agency also indicated that high commodity prices will support the operating environments of many African economies and banks, but a key risk to asset quality would come if there was a sharp decline in commodity prices caused by a global slowdown, especially with economic developments in China, a significant trading partner.
It was emphasized that mild increases in credit costs will be mitigated by rising interest rates and continued, desirable loan growth (above GDP growth) for banks.
According to a statement from Fitch, “Capitalisation, funding and liquidity remain comfortable, with the latter, in particular, underpinning banks’ Independent creditworthiness.
The biggest threat to the financial profile of African banks is sovereign debt turmoil.
“Sovereign downgrades could result in more bank rating downgrades in 2023.”
“We are most concerned about potential sovereign defaults with many African governments facing very high and increasing debt servicing burdens exacerbated by rising interest rates, US dollar strength and unfavourable external funding conditions. The Ghana debt restructuring will affect domestic as well as regional banks,” it added.
Ghanaian actor, Prince David Osei, has expressed excitement over the gradual appreciation of the Ghana cedi against the dollar.
As of Wednesday, December 14, 2022, the US dollar experienced a gradual drop in value, thereby, trading against the cedi at a buying price of GHC10.3948 and a selling price of GHC10.4052.
Prior to this, the dollar was selling at GHC14.00, weeks ago.
The development has seemingly shot up expectations from netizens who believe that it could be a sign of relief from the country’s current economic woes.
Prince David Osei who believes in the same assertion took to Twitter to share his excitement.
“Hallelujah the Cedi is appreciating remarkably. 9.56ghc to a 1$. The economy is gradually getting back on track!! Now we need to see the effect in our daily lives, goods and services.. God bless ????????.”
Earlier in October 2022, the actor in a bid to chastise the government for the country’s poor economic state took to social media to threaten a protest.
“The Youth of this nation are not smiling, it pours, but we are still sweating.. If things don’t change by December, we will mobilize the youth of this country and hit the street irrespective of party affiliations, whether NPP, NDC, CQQ, PNC whatever, doesn’t matter now, we are all in this together”.
In a long post on social media, Prince David Osei who campaigned for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during the 2016 general elections said he had regretted his actions.
“I decided to give you and your government the benefit of the doubt, I reckon I was wrong!”
However, the actor has seemingly swallowed his words following the gradual rise of the cedi.
“No more demonstrations. remember I gave an ultimatum for December.”
A Chinese woman recently divorced her husband of 10 years, because of his addiction to fishing, a hobby he often put before his family.
According to a divorce case filed with the Juye County People’s Court in Shandong province, the woman, surnamed Zhang, claimed that she had had enough of her husband’s fishing addiction. She claimed to take care of all the house chores and their two children, while he sits on the sofa looking at his smartphone and going out to fish with his friends after dinner every evening. After repeatedly asking him to spend more time with her and the children than with his fishing buddies, Zhang decided that divorce was the only viable option.
“I get up before 6 am every morning to prepare breakfast. I send the two kids to school before I go to work. Every day it’s me who washes the dishes, cleans our home, picks the children from school, and helps them with their homework… I am exhausted,” Zhang explained in her court filing.
“But my husband gets up after I prepare breakfast, and after work, he just lies on the sofa and plays with his mobile phone,” the woman added. “After dinner, he goes straight out to fish, often spending the whole night fishing.”
Fed up with his wife’s complaining, the man, surnamed Sun, agreed t dissolve their marriage (probably because that meant even more time for fishing). After attempts at mediation between the spouses failed, the judge approved the divorce application, but not before calling Sun, who had forgotten about a recent work hearing and going fishing instead…
“Fishing is not a bad thing, but there’s a line for everything. Once you’re married, you have to take on the responsibility of being a husband or wife, and a parent. Don’t put fishing before family,” Judge Fu Honglian scolded Sun, who didn’t appear too affected.
A 26-year-old man wound up with facial paralysis after wasting several nights watching the WorldCup football games for an entire week.
The World Cup is always an exciting time for football fans all over the world, but keeping up with the action is a huge challenge, especially during the group stages, and even more so when the host country is in a very different time zone. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t die-hard fans out there who will sacrifice sleep for nights in a row to make sure they don’t lose a single game. Unfortunately, that can take a terrible toll on one’s body, as a 26-year-old man in China recently learned at his own expense.
Mr. Cao, a Chinese football fan from Wuhan, in Hubei province who lost not one night but an entire week’s worth of sleep trying to watch all World Cup games, wound up in the hospital with facial paralysis. Even though China didn’t even qualify for this year’s World Cup, Cao would make it a priority to drive straight home after work and watch the games from around 6 pm to 6 am, and then go to work a couple of hours later.
The 26-year-old man was fine for a few days, but it wasn’t long before he started noticing that the lack of sleep was taking a toll on him. And by that time it was already too late.
“On November 30, I slept for two hours after watching the match, and when I woke up, I felt extremely tired,” the man told reporters. “I didn’t think much about it and decided to rest for a bit in the office, but after a while, my condition didn’t seem to improve and it was affecting my work progress.”
Sadly, the worse was yet to come. At one point, Cao felt his lips suddenly tilting to the side, and became unable to move his eyelids. He didn’t panic, thinking that it was only temporary, but the symptoms only got worse and started interfering with his work, so he finally decided to go to the hospital.
Mr. Cao was diagnosed with facial paralysis and needed to undergo specialized treatment to mitigate the symptoms, but he is expected to eventually make a full recovery.
Doctors believe that the accumulated lack of sleep, coupled with cold weather and a strong breeze caused the paralysis and advised other football fans not to follow Cao’s example.
12/11/22
9/7/22
