Ian Foster backed captain Sam Cane but knows New Zealand are “under the spotlight” after they suffered a historic Rugby Championship defeat to Argentina on Saturday.
The Pumas moved to the top of the standings with their first away victory over the All Blacks, winning 25-18Â in Christchurch.
While Michael Cheika’s side were on cloud nine, the All Blacks crashed back down to earth after lifting the gloom with a win over South Africa at Ellis Park.
New Zealand head coach Foster was informed he would keep his job through to the Rugby World Cup in France next year following the win over the Springboks, but questions are being asked about his future again.
Cane has also come under fire and Foster hauled him off after he showed indiscipline to gift Argentinaa penalty by tackling Pablo Matera without the ball 14 minutes from time, with Emiliano Boffelli punishing him by extending the lead to seven points.
Foster said: “Clearly he [Cane] is under the spotlight. We are all under the spotlight when things don’t go well. But behind the scenes, [Cane is] strong.
“I thought a lot of his tackle and work around the breakdown was a big shift up in the last two games, and we are pleased with that.’”
Foster said he would be speaking to Cane about his hit on Matera.
He added: “Yeah, no doubt about that. We will work through all that. It’s probably reflective of a team that’s trying really, really hard and is close and not quite there.”
There was good news for the All Blacks on Sunday, when Brodie Retallick was cleared to join the squad in Hamilton after recovering from a broken cheekbone.
Defeat for holders New Zealand was their fourth in six Tests this year and left them third in the table behind the Pumas and Australia.
Mega-rich Newcastle had been surprisingly restrained before snapping up Alexander Isak on Friday — but the Magpies could still splash more cash before the transfer window slams shut.
Eddie Howe’s men have made an admirable start to the season, drawing 3-3 with reigning champions Manchester City last Sunday to maintain their unbeaten status.
But Iska was just the fourth signing of the summer, joining Nick Pope, Sven Botman and former loanee Matt Targett at St James’ Park.
Ahead of Newcastle’s clash with Wolves this afternoon, we take a look at where they could strengthen in the coming days.
Picky Magpies
Howe has made it clear that Newcastle only intend to make signings that improve the quality of their squad.
He said: “If there’s a player that we can attract that we can afford and all the other things that you need to fall into place, I want to sign the best player I can.
“But it needs to fit. Everything, those are the conditions that we’ve got and are proving quite difficult.
“It’s a small pool of players but not through us not widening the search — it’s because there’s not a huge amount of players that will make our group better and that’s the confidence [we have] in the players we have. I think we’ve got a really good squad.
“Certainly, I’d love to add someone that can make us better but that is very difficult.
“Our search has been high and wide and far-reaching but I don’t expect the pool of players that we have to pick from to change between now and the end of the window.”
Joao Pedro
Despite spending £60m on Isak, the Magpies could yet target further firepower up front.
They have been linked with a plethora of strikers since the beginning of the window, including Hugo Ekitike, Liam Delap and Goncalo Ramos.
The latest target appears to be Watford’s Joao Pedro. The Brazilian, 20, is also capable of operating on the left and Newcastle have reportedly submitted a bid worth up to £30m for the young attacker.
Alongside new man Isak, Howe’s present central striking options are Callum Wilson and Chris Wood — but both are 30 and the former has often struggled with injury issues.
Acquiring another young, energetic alternative would be a smart move by the Magpies.
James Maddison
James Maddison has already struck twice for struggling Leicester this term
An area where Newcastle clearly need quality reinforcements is in central midfield.
Their first-choice trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock and Joelinton has looked bright in the Tynesiders’ opening three games — however, there is not a great deal of depth beyond them, with only the injured Jonjo Shelvey likely to dislodge any of his team-mates upon his return.
The Magpies reportedly made a bid of £50m plus add-ons for Leicester’s James Maddison at the start of the month, signalling their intent to upgrade in the centre of the park.
The 25-year-old’s 12 Premier League goals last season is one more than the aforementioned Newcastle trio managed between them in 2021-22, so he would clearly add firepower to Howe’s armoury.
Jack Harrison
Jack Harrison has started this season in impressive creative form for Leeds
Newcastle already possess a winger of exceptional quality in Allan Saint-Maximin.
But on the opposite side, Miguel Almiron — for all his endeavour and industry — is simply not of the same calibre.
The Paraguayan scored just one Premier League goal in 30 appearances last season and did not register an assist.
Reserve options Ryan Fraser and Jacob Murphy do not represent an obvious step up in quality either — hence the Magpies’ pursuit of a top-class wide man.
They chose to walk away from the hefty-priced Moussa Diaby of Bayer Leverkusen and have since turned their attention to 25-year-old Leeds star Jack Harrison.
The Magpies have reportedly been rebuffed twice in their efforts to land the left-footed winger, though, with bids of around the £20m mark deemed insufficient by the Yorkshire outfit.
Left-back cover
Newcastle would benefit from acquiring another left-back to compete with Matt Targett
Left-back is not a position of immediate concern, given Targett’s loan deal has just been made permanent.
However, the former Aston Villa full-back picked up an injury against Nottingham Forest on the opening day, with Dan Burn called upon to fill in.
The towering defender played in that position frequently for Brighton, though Howe clearly sees him primarily as a centre-back and would prefer to utilise him in the middle.
Despite that desire, Burn has been selected on the left ahead of Matt Ritchie, Paul Dummett and Jamal Lewis — indicating a lack of trust in those options.
If Howe can move some of his fringe players on, finding a capable alternative to Targett may be an avenue he looks to pursue.
According to the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), none of its military camps or bases have ever been burned down, despite media reports to the contrary.
The GAF claimed that an accommodation facility being built by the Bono Regional Coordinating Council at Diabaa in the Dormaa West Municipality to host a Military Detachment and a shelter for personnel of the Forestry Commission was instead destroyed.
A statement issued by the Public Affairs Directorate of the GAF and signed by Naval Captain Michael Addo Larbi, the Director of Public Relations, said, “at the time of the incident there were no military personnel at the location, and it was the Police that successfully brought the situation under control.â€
Reacting to a media report headlined “Youth of Diabaa burn down military camp,†the statement, however, indicated that the GAF would put in all measures to prevent and also take the appropriate action at its disposal, to deal with any miscreant or any other person who would even attempt to burn down any military or national asset, facility or installation.
According to the report, irate youth of Diabaa a farming community set ablaze Military Bay and a metal container providing shelter for staff of the Forestry Commission (FC)/Forestry Services Division (FSD) at a checkpoint in the area as a result of a misunderstanding between the youth and local FC/FSD staff.
â€It must be noted that the Military Detachment is yet to be permanently deployed to that particular location as part of Operation Halt I to curb the illegal logging and lumbering, which has been on the ascendency in the regionâ€, it added.
“GAF wishes to serve notice that it will respond appropriately in instances where its personnel mandated to ensure peace and security in the country and to protect important national assets are attackedâ€.
The statement, therefore, urged the public and the media to support the drive in curbing impunity and also to ensure that well-meaning Ghanaians were free to go about their normal duties smoothly “so that our dear country Ghana continues to enjoy the stability required for her socio-economic developmentâ€.
As part of its ongoing membership drive and restructuring efforts in the Eastern Region, the National Leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) paid a working visit to the Lower Manya and Yilo Krobo districts yesterday, August 26.
The visit follows a recent standoff between local residents and the Energy Company of Ghana (ECG), which led to the latter cutting off electricity to certain districts for a number of weeks.
Having followed developments in the Krobo enclave and interacted with the Chiefs and people of the area, the party has become aware of the longstanding impasse between residents and the ECG over the installation of prepaid meters, which not long ago degenerated into violent protests, leading to loss of lives in process.
The party’s leadership stated they are appalled at how the simple process of installing prepaid meters for residents in these communities has been badly managed by the Akufo-Addo government, the Ministry of Energy and Management of the Electricity Company of Ghana. “We hold the view that the military-backed forced installation of prepaid meters in the area without proper community engagement and sensitization was completely unnecessary,” parts of the statement read.
In the statement, the NDC raised concerns about the consequences of the recent crisis.
“The recent crisis has brought economic activities in the Krobo area to a halt and exacerbated the hardships the people in the area are already reeling under. Hospitals were forced to shutdown leading to loss of lives, while schools, businesses and households all bore the brunt of the nearly one month freeze on electricity supply to these areas,” it said.
“The NDC condemns in no uncertain terms government’s high-handed approach to resolving these issues and the brutalities meted out to innocent citizens in the area by the military. And we sympathize with the residents of these communities who have been at the receiving end of such mistreatment by the government through its agents.
“We call on government to as a matter of urgency withdraw all military personnel who have been deployed to the Krobo area in order to ease the unnecessary tension and give way for citizens to go about their normal lives freely.
“The Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government must change its modus operandi and adopt a humane approach in addressing the “Krobolandâ€- ECG crisis,” the statement added.
Hon. Lariba Zuweira Abudu, deputy minister and minister designate for gender, children, and social protection, has urged all Ghanaians to take up the battle against persistent human trafficking as a shared responsibility.
She said this can be done by showing concerns for people who may look stranded by self acclaimed agents at the exit points such as airports, boarders, beaches etc.
Addressing the media during a capacity building program on human trafficking and migration for law enforcement officers in the Ashanti Region, the minister said 871 human trafficking cases have so far been recorded from January to August this year, as compared to last year, 2021 where the country recorded 531.
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) in collaboration with Expertise France has been organising a capacity building training for law enforcement officers across the country.
This comes on the backdrop of the rising spate at which most people in their quest to secure greener pastures are being deceived mostly by self acclaimed agents, to travel. Whilst some Ghanaians travel to get stranded outside the country, there are some others from other countries who are made to enter Ghana through illegal means.
Human trafficking which has been the unlawful act of transporting or coercing people in order to benefit from their work or service, typically in the form of forced labour or sexual exploitation has created a lot of challenge, thus in Ghana and Africa in general. This worrying canker has almost become a norm, thus both within and outside.
Speaking to Ghanaweb after the Ashanti regional section of the program held at the Noda hotel in Fumasua on Wednesday, the Minister who adds as the Member of Parliament for Walewale constituency said, one of the Ministry’s mandate in implementing the human trafficking national plan of action was to support the security agencies with specialised capacity building trainings to enable the officers have stronger grip on issues of human trafficking, child protection and irregular migration.
She further disclosed that the workshop mainly aimed at enhancing the Police, Migration, Customs, Gender and EOCO officials on how to help fight against human trafficking in Ghana.
According to her, over three hundred and seventy five members have so far been trained for that purpose, and eighty officers have also received an advance level training.
“Officers who have so far received this training will be able to identify stranded migrants who may be attempted to be misled into or outside the country and do the necessary intervention”. She said.
She finally admonished Ghanaians to as a matter of urgency put the ‘see something say something’ mantra into practice.
Meanwhile, some beneficiary officers who attended the capacity building program commended the ministry for such a wonderful initiative. According to them, the program has equipped them to know how to identify trafficking victims, defaulting agents and any other suspected cases of human trafficking.
“We’re very happy with this exercise. Now we can be able to identify and intervene into more of such cases due to the initiative”. Some of the officers said.
He claims that “He’s not doing well, is he?
While the President and his cabinet are actively working to make this country happier and more peaceful, I don’t think he pays attention to advice.
I have no idea why.”
He added; “When you are in such a state, you find a solution to it. You go across board. You meet experts. You meet stakeholders. Look, invite them into your office; sit down with them. The importers we are talking about might be the chief financiers for the ruling party, so don’t go and touch that constituency. Once you touch them, there is trouble but you see if you don’t hold the bull by the horn to take decision that for the next six months because of the current economic situation, there’s not going to be any imports into this country . . .We are in a difficult situation, don’t let us joke about it.”
On Wednesday, 24th August 2022 edition of Peace FM’s morning show ‘Kokrokoo’, Allotey Jacobs explained why he’s hard on the Finance Minister.
To him, Akufo-Addo’s appointees are to work as a team to make the administration successful but because Ken Ofori-Atta is not performing well, it seems the government is underperforming.
“There are some measures that can send shock waves which will yield results at the end of the day… he’s (Ofori-Atta) not discharging his duties diligently… I’ve supported a lot of policies coming from the Ministry of Finance… but it seems Ken Ofori-Atta who is the striker among Akufo-Addo’s appointees, is allowing the ball to pass through his legs,” he lamented.
While in the United States, he met with Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, to discuss Ghana’s economic difficulties.
The IMF chief tweeted on August 26 about their “productive” discussions and included a picture of their encounter.
“constructive discussion about Ghana’s economic issues and the way forward with Finance Minister Ofori-Atta and his colleagues.
We are prepared to contribute to the authorities’ efforts to strengthen growth, stabilize the economy, and assist the most vulnerable people “She wrote the picture’s caption.
President Akufo-Addo ordered Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta via a July 1 statement to present an economic rescue programme to the IMF.
A team from the Fund led by Carlo Sdralevich visited Ghana between July 6 13, meeting with relevant stakeholders.
Reports indicate that government is seeking US$3 billion from the fund to help stabilize the economy. Government has serially blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war for the economic headaches.
Due to his absence from the jurisdiction, Ofori-Atta, according to a Daily GUIDE report was represented by Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen, at a recent meeting with the Council of State.
“Information reaching DGN Online indicates that the Council of State has summoned the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison over the free fall of the local currency, the cedi. The Ghanaian Cedi is currently trading at over GH¢10 to one dollar, sending panic among the business community.
“Chairman of the Council of State, Nana Otuo Siriboe, has asked the council members to cut short their recess to attend the emergency council meeting to meet managers of the economy.
“The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has travelled out for medical review with Minister of State at the Finance ministry Charles Adu Boahen stepping in for him. The Council meeting is tomorrow, Wednesday, August 24, 2022,†part of the Daily Guide online news report read.
The Council has since December, 2018 been unable to hold meetings as the law demands after protracted chieftaincy disputes led to the closure of its office at Enchi and several court actions.
On Thursday, August 25, the first meeting was held at the new office behind the Forestry Commission office at Enchi Kokwado.
“We want to declare to the people of Aowin and beyond that the Aowin Traditional council is officially opened for business,†the Council said after the successful meeting.
“We therefore entreat government and state institutions to deal directly with the Traditional Council and not the unconstitutional Aowin Paramount,â€Â Spokesperson Ketebu Kwame Nkansah II said.
The Aowin Traditional Council is an established act under the Chieftaincy Act 759 and an independent body mandated by law to oversee and administer issues relating to traditions and customs in Aowin Traditional Area in the Western North Region.
The Acting President of the Council is Nana Kojo Sikanta II.
The traditional leaders and residents of Osu have been urged to put their differences aside and work together for the development of Osu by the member of parliament from the Korley Klottey Constituency in Ghana’s Greater Accra Region.
Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings blamed unsolved chieftaincy difficulties for the area’s sluggish development during an interview with Johnny Hughes and Alfred Ocansey on Friday, August 26, 2022, at the forecourt of Oxford Street Mall for the 3FM Unrise in Your Community broadcast.
She observed that chieftaincy issues are driving away investors and developers from the area.
“The basic thing is that there are too many fights that are happening, too many issues within the chieftaincy institution in Osu which are making it difficult for people to bring support because when you come to Osu with the intention of supporting, then they will tell you that the chief is this, or it is this other one†she said.
She further explained that when well-wishers and philanthropists realize that there is no clarity as to who the traditional leaders are, they do not want to be plunged into the chieftaincy issues so they pull back and this affects the community.
“In the case when you have a lot of people who want to support various communities, the difficulty here is that you have an injunction placed on one group, court order placed on the other, and the difficulty of some people being not allowed to go to certain areas during Homowo creates a lack of harmony†Zanetor lamented.
She also emphasized that part of the beauty of Homowo and other festivals is to bring people together and so there is the need to find resolutions to some of these issues within the Korley Klottey Constituency especially in Osu in order to assure people that Osu is ready to receive the support and encouragement of external sources.
The goal of the effort is to provide students with cutting-edge technology so they can meet 21st-century expectations.
It also positions the University of Ghana as a world class research intensive university in the next decade.
The university will retain sole ownership of the devices and as such students who assign for the laptops shall be cleared before they can graduate.
Failure to do so means the student would not graduate.
Students who wish to keep the laptop would however be made to pay at a discount price.
Again students who are dismissed, rusticated,transfered or relocating to another institution are required to return the laptops.
The policy guidelines further shows students who refuse to provide a report on the status of the usage constitutes an offence. Again, students who repair the device outside the university constitutes an offence.
At a ceremony to present the laptops, the Vice Chanellor of the University Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo noted †This initiative is sustainable and we are determined to make it work as it will promote blended learning and enhance learning in a digital age.
The policy shall apply to all units of the university and their respective studentsâ€.
“There will be strict compliance and monitoring of the usage. The policy subscribes to the University of Ghana mission to create an enabling environment that makes the school relevant to national development†she stated.
The Director of the Institute for Statistical Social and Economic Research, ISSER, Prof. Peter Quartey is the Chairman of the Committee overseeing the disbursement of the laptops.
The Sowutuom police in the Greater Accra Region have detained a 19-year-old stepmother and placed her under arrest for allegedly killing her 4-year-old hearing- and speech-impaired son in Santa Maria, an Accra suburb, by severely abusing him.
Belington Hutchful, the boy’s given name, is said to have been the victim of abuse and torture at the hands of Sandra, his stepmother.
According to the landlady, Emelia Dodson, who reported the issue to the Sowutuom police, the severely-beaten boy was dragged on the floor by the stepmother before his death.
She told Accra 100.5 FM’s mid-day news on Friday, August 26, 2022, that in the past, all attempts to rescue the boy by the neighbours resulted in a quarrel with the stepmother.
The landlady said all this happened without her notice until one day she witnessed the maltreatment of the boy herself.
She explained that she was compelled to lodge a complaint against the stepmother at the police station after witnessing how mercilessly the boy was treated.
She said a team was dispatched to the scene to arrest the stepmother.
Also, the victim, who was seriously hurt as a result of the torture, was sent to the Ridge Hospital in Accra for treatment, where the doctor and police discovered several fresh bruises as well as scars on his body, including his genitals.
Some of the co-tenants who also spoke with Accra 100.5FM narrated how the stepmother had been consistently subjecting the boy to both verbal and physical abuse for no known reason.
For his part, Alhaji Yusif Daku, the Santa Maria Zongo chief, who prevailed on the landlady to report the matter immediately to the police, took the opportunity to charge all residents, tenants and landlords to report such abusive acts to the police to protect lives.
Since the event, the suspect had been on the Bawjiase Police’s radar.
On Thursday, August 25, the GNA received word that the suspect had been taken into custody by the Ofaakor Police following a tip.
The Ofaakor District Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Samuel Amfo, confirmed the arrest to the GNA, but said the case was under the jurisdiction of the Bawjiase Police command and was to be handed over to the Ofaakor Police for further prosecution.
The suspect was arrested after a chase by the Police when he failed to stop at a checkpoint at Oklu Nkwanta in the Awutu Senya East Municipality.
The Police during the chase shot the car tyres of the suspect, leading to his arrest.
Agboko allegedly committed the heinous crime on his wife, Ms Comfort Tawiah, last year after she threatened to divorce him.
It has been revealed that the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) detained the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) newly appointed National Deputy Director of IT after he reportedly committed election fraud during a vote at the University of Ghana (UG).
Stephen Forson, a software developer and manager of electronic voting, was arrested by the agency for allegedly tampering with the computer program that was used to conduct the elections, according to a 2015 graphic.com.gh story.
A Systems Analyst Programmer, Yayra Koku, who was hired to look into the 2015 UG election fraud, has said that his investigation of the incident pointed to the fact that the now NPP deputy director of IT manipulated the system in favour of one of the contestants.
In a post shared on Facebook on August 27, 2022, Yayra Koku also alleged that the person the election was rigged for is an NPP member who now works at the National Lotteries Authority (NLA).
“I was hired as a systems analyst and a cybersecurity consultant to help investigate an alleged rigging of Legon SRC elections using an electronic voting system developed by Stephen Forson.
“After 2hrs of interrogations and accessing the system, it was detected that a line of code was put in the system to benefit one guy called Fobi, a member of the NPP and now working at Sammy Awukus’s office. Though Stephen Forson denied ever putting that code there, it was obvious the last update on the file had his laptop credentials.
“I remember asking him to “uncomment†a line in his code and vote for the other contestant. To our surprise, after voting, Fobi rather got the vote,†parts of the post read.
He added that the 2015 election fraud has not been resolved to date.
Background
Graphic.com.gh indicated that the election that Stephen Forson was alleged to have manipulated was the SRC elections held on April 9, 2015, where the election was rigged in favour of one of the candidates for the SRC presidency.
A source from the BNI stated that operatives of the BNI retrieved six laptop computers which were used as servers during the Student Representative Council (SRC) election.
The source added that scrutiny during initial investigations revealed that the results of the election did not show the true outcome of votes entered into the system.
The BNI proceeded to invite the developer of the software, Mr. Stephen Forson, who is the Managing Director (MD) of IPRO Solutions Limited, for questioning on the 14th of April.
“When investigators gave him one of the retrieved computers used during the voting exercise to demonstrate, by adding five names to the voter register and voting for the two SRC presidential candidates, the results came out manipulated.
“Although the given new “voters†voted three for candidate A and two for candidate B, the results as declared by the electronic system gave candidate A, one vote and candidate B four votes,†the source further stated.
Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Henry Kokofu ,has encouraged local contractors to stop hiring  foreign workers to carry out the projects that have been assigned to them.
Mr. Henry Kokofu, speaking on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” programme, noted that it has become a culture for some local businesses which win contracts from government to rather do the projects abroad and bring it into the country under the pretence that they did it themselves, instead of doing it themselves to create jobs for Ghanaians.
As a result, he disclosed that “this year, we won’t award contract for calendar any longer. When you give a contract for calendar hoping that it will be printed here (Ghana) so as to create jobs, once it’s awarded, then they will take and do it from abroad”.
Mr. Kokofu cautioned that this attitude must stop because it doesn’t help the nation.
Despite requests for a reassessment of its most important educational policy, this continues. He stated that this will be accomplished despite the nation’s ongoing economic difficulties.
The FSHS policy has benefited roughly 1.6 million students since it was first implemented.
The approach has, however, come under more public scrutiny recently as a result of allegations of food shortages and a decline in the standard of instruction.
This notwithstanding, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia speaking at the centenary launch of Accra High School said, the policy is the catalyst required to accelerate the agenda of industrial revolution.
“Government is undaunted, and will continue to work hard to fulfill this promise to the people of Ghana. We cannot really afford to disappoint the youth and the future leaders of our country. So far, so good †Dr. Bawumia said.
He also used the platform to rally the general population to support government to sustain the delivery of the policy even in the face of the current economic challenges.
Dr. Bawumia also took time to tout some projects and policies that the administration has successfully carried out and the ones that are yet to be rolled out to make life better for the Ghanaian people.
Accra High School was founded by the late Rev. James Thomas Roberts on 17 August 1923. The School will therefore turn 100 years next year.
This means, all university halls will no longer be electing students as executives from the 2023/2024 academic year to manage hall activities.
The existing governance structure comprising Hall Councils, Hall Masters and Senior Tutors, would continue to operate in the management of the affairs of the Halls.
In addition, Hall Fellows will be appointed and assigned to floors/blocks of the Halls to exercise direct supervision over matters affecting students.
“In the meantime, Hall Week and SRC Week Celebrations have been SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY,” a statement dated August 26, 2022, signed and issued by the Registrar, A.K. Boateng at the end of an emergency Council meeting said.
The University Council had met among others, to discuss the Report of a Fact-Finding Committee, constituted by the Executive Committee of the University, following the recent disturbances arising from the Hall Week celebrations of the University Hall, commonly referred to as Katanga.
In addition to that, the council has recommended the dismissal of all students found to have been involved in last week’s hooliganism, which resulted in the destruction of property and injuries to some students.
At least 12 students sustained injuries from the August 18, 2022 clashes at the campus of the university in Kumasi and were treated at the hospital.
The police also counted 12 damaged vehicles as a result of the incident.
Some students, alleged to be part of the perpetrators have been arrested and arraigned.
After Friday’s emergency meeting, the University Council has also decided that “any student who participates in the organisation of ‘morale’ and/or “procession’ shall be SUMMARILY DISMISSED.”
“Any student/students who is/are caught to be harboring dismissed, rusticated, withdrawn student(s) and/alumnus/alumna in his/her room in any of the Halls of Residence on Campus, shall be sanctioned, appropriately.
“Students who indulge in any act which will warrant dismissal, will have their names and pictures widely published in the National Dailies and on the University Website;
“Students who are rusticated for various offences will have their names and pictures published internally for the attention of the University Community,” it added.
Below is a copy of a statement issued by Secretary to the Council and Registrar, A.K. Boateng
COUNCIL DECISIONS ON DISTURBANCES ARISING OUT OF UNIVERSITY HALL WEEK CELEBRATIONS
COUNCIL of the University at an EMERGENCY MEETING held on Friday, 26th August, 2022, among others, discussed the Report
of a Fact-Finding Committee, constituted by the Executive Committee of the University, following the recent disturbances arising from the Hall Week Celebrations of the University Hall, and decided as follows:
1. With effect from the 2023/2024 Academic Year, the Junior Common Room (JCR) System of Hall Management by students, is ABOLISHED.
This means, there would be no Students’ elections for hall executives.
The existing governance structure comprising Hall Councils, Hall Masters and Senior Tutors, would continue to operate in the management of the affairs of the Halls.
In addition, Hall Fellows will be appointed and assigned to floors/blocks of the Halls to exercise direct supervision over matters affecting students.
In the meantime, Hall Week and SRC Week Celebrations have been SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY.
2. Any student who participates in the organisation of ‘morale’ and/or “procession’ shall be SUMMARILY DISMISSED.
3. Any student/students who is/are caught to be harboring dismissed, rusticated, withdrawn student(s) and/alumnus/alumna in his/her room in any of the Halls of Residence on Campus, shall be sanctioned, appropriately.
4. Students who indulge in any act which will warrant dismissal, will have their names and pictures widely published in the National Dailies and on the University Website;
5. Students who are rusticated for various offences will have their names and pictures published internally for the attention of the University Community.
6. Council vehemently condemned the recent disturbances and supported the ongoing investigations by the Ghana Police Service and the University Authorities.
It was the decision of Council that any person/student found culpable should be dealt with according to the rules of the University and
those requiring further prosecution by the State should be handed over to the Police.
Council wishes to express its profound gratitude to the Ashanti Regional Minister, the Inspector-General of Police, the Regional Police Commander, and the Central Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, for the professional role they played in helping to restore calm and tranquility on the University campus.
Bruno Fernandes’ second-half strike helped Manchester United beat Southampton 1-0 and record their second Premier League win of the season.
Both sides failed to break the deadlock in the first half despite a number of presentable chances, with both Gavin Bazunu and David de Gea called into action in the first 45 minutes.
Early into the second period, however, United took the lead, as Bruno Fernandes volleyed Diogo Dalot’s right-wing cross into the bottom corner.
The Saints pushed for an equaliser but the Red Devils — boosted by Casemiro, who made his debut off the bench — held out for the three points.
Manchester United sat back and looked to hold onto their lead after going ahead
Did you know?
This is United’s first Premier League win away from home since February, having lost their previous seven such games in a row before beating Southampton.
It is also the first time since February that United have won successive league games, winning just two of their last 11 in the competition before this (two draws, seven defeats).
Southampton are winless in their last 12 home Premier League matches against United (five draws, seven defeats) since winning 1-0 back in August 2003.
Southampton have kept just one clean sheet in their last 16 Premier League matches, shipping 38 goals in that time.
Only Mohamed Salah (54), Harry Kane (49) and Son Heung-Min (45) have more Premier League goals than Bruno Fernandes (37) since his debut in February 2020.
Ralph Hasenhuttl has never beaten United in the Premier League with Southampton (four draws, four defeats). They are one of only two sides he’s faced in the competition without winning, along with Cardiff.
Reigning Premier League champions Manchester Citywill be well aware of the threat posed by Crystal Palace when they host the Eagles for a 3pm kick-off on Saturday.
Palace’s record of two wins and a draw from their last four Premier League games at the Etihad speaks for itself and they have already upset the apple cart this season, nabbing a point at Anfield earlier this month.
Pep Guardiola’s men, who showed their mettle when coming from two goals down on Tyneside, can expect to face another couple of deadly dribblers in the visiting Eagles team this weekend, with Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze both starting the season in fine form.
Team news
City’s latest injury problem concerns Kalvin Phillips, who sustained an injury in their midweek friendly with Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
The England midfielder had only played one minute of Premier League football in the first three games of the campaign, but his loss comes at a time when Guardiola would have been looking to rotate more.
Aymeric Laporte remains sidelined after undergoing knee surgery over the summer, while Jack Grealish (ligament) and Nathan Ake (groin) are both doubts.
Ruben Dias, who replaced Ake in the first half against the Magpies last Sunday, is set to be recalled at centre-back — alongside John Stones, Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo in City’s back four.
Patrick Vieira experimented with his formation in Palace’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool two weeks ago, opting for a 5-4-1 at Anfield, and could re-implement the system on Saturday.
That would probably see Odsonne Edouard, one of only two from last weekend’s line-up to start against Oxford in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, dropping back down to the bench.
Zaha would switch back to a roaming role in attack with Nathaniel Clyne returning to a full-back role and Joel Ward moving inside as one of three central defenders.
Edouard’s place is under threat even if Vieira sticks with a 4-3-3 system that was deployed at home to Aston Villa last weekend after fellow striker Jean-Philippe Mateta popped up with a crucial goal off the bench.
On the injury front, James McArthur is doubtful with a groin problem, while James Tomkins (calf), Jack Butland (broken wrist) and Nathan Ferguson (foot) all remain sidelined for the visitors.
The stats
Wilfried Zaha has made a fine start to the season
City have lost just two of their last 54 league games played at 3pm on Saturdays, both of those defeats came against Palace.
City (3.77) and Palace (2.93) finished first and second for the most expected goals created in the division last weekend.
De Bruyne has assisted goals in all three of City’s Premier League matches this term and his 12 chances created is the most of any player in the top flight.
Eze, who has been involved in six goals in his last eight league starts away from home, has recorded the most successful dribbles (14) in the division.
Eagles winger Zaha is off to a flying start in 2022-23, netting three times in three appearances after registering a career-best 14 goals last term.
Prediction
City cannot take anything for granted against the Eagles this weekend and will probably refocus on solidifying their structure after the rare occurrence of them conceding three times last weekend.
Palace’s objective will be to block off all the usual passing lanes that Guardiola’s men are trained to exploit, which is where five across the back will stand them in good stead in defending the wide overloads City love to create.
Zaha could be cut adrift in attack, however, and that will limit their prospects of counter-attacking on City or earning attacking set-pieces from which to score.
The champions could well win this with a clean sheet if it all goes to plan, although they will be made to work hard for their openings.
Liverpool’s fixture list appears to have delivered the perfect pick-me-up with the visit of newly-promoted Bournemouth for a traditional 3pm kick-off at Anfield on Saturday.
The Reds have been off colour so far with only two points taken from three very winnable games – the most concerning performance of the lot being Monday’s meek showing in Manchester.
Jurgen Klopp seemed lost for answers as to why his team have underwhelmed, but the Liverpool boss has had a few days to come up with new solutions ahead of the Cherries’ visit.
Bournemouth boss Scott Parker was the last visiting manager to come away from Anfield with a Premier League victory when he did so with Fulham in March 2021.
The Englishman’s inspiring pre-match team talk that day warned his players of how much they would need to suffer – something Klopp and Liverpool fully intend to make happen.
Team news
Klopp has revealed Naby Keita is not yet ready to return after admitting on Monday that the midfielder’s muscle injury required further assessment.
Curtis Jones remains unavailable because of a calf problem while Thiago Alcantara is still at least a couple of weeks away from a return from a hamstring injury.
Fabinho is likely to come into the Reds midfield after starting on the bench against Manchester Utd with James Milner due a rest.
With Joel Matip and fellow centre-back Ibrahima Konate still absent, Joe Gomez will continue alongside Virgil van Dijk in what is likely to be an unchanged Liverpool back four.
A lack of available options up front because of Darwin Nunez’s suspension and Diogo Jota’s injury means Roberto Firmino is set to continue alongside Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz.
Former Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke could be available to play once more after missing the Cherries’ defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal with an ankle issue.
He could be restored to a two-man attack alongside Kieffer Moore if he comes through Friday’s training session unscathed, although starting him on the bench would be the sensible option.
Junior Stanislas, Ryan Fredericks and Joe Rothwell remain sidelined as a result of their respective injuries.
The stats
Klopp has made seven changes to his starting XI in Liverpool’s first three matches – no other Premier League manager has made more so far.
Milner’s recent inclusion has pushed the average age of Liverpool’s 2022-23 line-ups to 28 years and 163 days old – second only to West Ham in the first three Premier League matchday.
The absence of Thiago appears to be being keenly felt by the winless Reds, given the Spaniard has not finished on the losing side in 27 league matches he has started since March 2021.
Liverpool have averaged 2.6 points per game during that sequence, but just 2.0 per game when he hasn’t started for them with the same time period.
Bournemouth have lost on seven of their last eight visits to Anfield in the Premier League.
The Cherries have recorded only 16 shots so far this season, the fewest of any Premier League club through the opening three games since Huddersfield in 2018-19.
Prediction
History does not favour Scott Parker’s Bournemouth
Liverpool look more vulnerable to a potentially huge home shock than at any time since Parker’s Fulham inflicted their sixth Anfield defeat in a row late in that injury-hit 2020-21 campaign.
Yet it will still take a herculean effort from the Cherries to resist the Reds for 90 minutes, particularly with Klopp looking for a reaction to their defeat at Old Trafford.
Liverpool will take any win right now, whether it is ugly or laced with controversy, just to get their season back on track and it could pay to oppose them in handicap markets.
Bournemouth held the lead briefly before going down 2-1 on their last trip to the red half of Merseyside and something of a similar order might be on the cards this weekend.
Four persons have lost their lives while several others are in critical condition after a Benz Sprinter Bus with registration number CR 577- 21 collided with a commercial Toyota vehicle.
According to some eyewitnesses, the four individuals died on the spot after the accident.
A pregnant woman and others who survived the accident are in critical condition and have been rushed to various hospitals along the stretch.
Meanwhile, the driver of the Sprinter Bus Freeman Yawokpo who was part of the survivors says the Toyota vehicle made a wrongful overtaking which led to the accident.
The Tano South Municipality is one of the fastest developing and most vibrant municipalities in the newly-created Ahafo Region.
Massive infrastructure improvements, particularly those involving educational facilities, have been made in the municipality throughout the years to make up for its infrastructure inadequacies.
Therefore, when the Ahafo Region was established, it was not surprising that the municipality was chosen to house the Ahafo Regional Education Office to coordinate educational operations.
These were discovered when George Yaw Boakye, the Ahafo Regional Minister,visited the municipality for two days as part of his 12-day working tour of the region’s six districts and municipalities.
Inauguration
As part of the visit to the municipality, Mr Boakye inaugurated four different projects in the municipality, inspected projects and subsequently cut sods for the construction of new projects in the area.
The inaugurated projects were a six-unit classroom block, ancillary facilities for the Achiase D/A Primary School and a six-unit classroom block for the Techimantia Presbyterian Primary “B” School.
Others were a two-unit classroom block for the Dwomo R/C Kindergarten School and Techimantia District Police Headquarters at Techimantia to reduce crime in the area.
New projects
Mr Boakye also laid blocks for the construction of another three-unit classroom block with stores and offices for the Ohianimguase D/A Primary School and the construction of an abattoir at Bechem.
In addition, the regional minister also inspected projects such as the Enable Youth One-District-One-Factory Palm Oil Processing Factory at Dwomo, the Regional Education Office project at Bechem and some abandoned projects at the Bechem Presbyterian Senior High School.
Road projects
Other projects Mr Boakye inspected were the 40.4-kilometre Bechem-Techimantia-Akumadan road and the rehabilitation of the 26-kilometre Techimantia-Derma-Asuoso road to facilitate movement in the area.
He told journalists that the road project was dear to the hearts of the chiefs and people in the region and pledged the Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council’s (RCC) support to the contractor for its completion on schedule.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cut the sod for the construction of the 40.4-kilometre Bechem-Techimantia-Akomadan road in September 2020 which is being constructed at the cost of 50 million Euros.
However, the actual construction began in September 2021 and is expected to be completed in August 2023.
On the 26-kilometre Techimantia-Derma-Asuoso road, the Ahafo Regional Director of the Department of Feeder Roads, Edmund Koku Duodu, explained that the concrete works, filling and U-drains had been completed.
He said the road was being funded by the Cocoa Roads Fund, adding that the projects were expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Working visit
As part of the visit, Mr Boakye paid a courtesy call to the Bechem Traditional Council, Dwomo Traditional Council and Derma Traditional Council to officially introduce himself to the chiefs and people in the areas.
He was accompanied by the Tano South Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Collins Offinam-Takyi, and some heads of departments in the newly created region.
At the Bechem Regional Education Office, Mr Boakye said President Akufo-Addo would soon inaugurate the facility and officially hand it over to the Ministry of Education.
He said despite the infrastructure deficit in the region, the various departments had given of their best for the progress of the region.
Appeal
He appealed to the people in the region to pay their taxes to improve the development of the region.
At Dwomo, Mr Boakye appealed to the chiefs and people in the municipality to support the government to develop the region and encouraged the chiefs to continue to monitor government projects to ensure quality and timely completion.
Mr Boakye urged the chiefs and people in the region to be patient, as the government was working hard to bring development to the region.
Bechem town roads
During the courtesy call on the Omanhene of the Bechem Traditional Area, Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II, the chief appealed to the regional minister to facilitate the completion of Bechem town roads.
He said it was unfortunate that the contractor had abandoned the project after initial works which had deteriorated over time.
Nana Akoto II also appealed for the provision of adequate infrastructure at the Bechem Municipal Hospital to enable it to serve the people better.
He said the facility, which was constructed by the chiefs and people of the area, had never seen any infrastructure development by successive governments.
At Techimantia, the Krontihene of the Techimantia Traditional Area, Nana Ampong Kromantang, called on the government to reshape feeder roads in the area to facilitate the smooth transportation of farm produce to market centres.
He again appealed to the minister to help provide accommodation facilities for the police in the area to check increasing crime incidents.
Development
Speaking to journalists after the two-day tour, Mr Boakye said he was impressed with the level of development in the municipality, commenting that “This means that the assembly is making good use of the little resources given to it”.
On the Enable Youth One-District-One-Factory Palm Oil Processing Factory, he said the assembly had completed the physical infrastructure of the facility, while it was in the process of procuring machinery and other tools for their installation.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has raised utility tariffs, and artisans in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region, have protested the increases, saying they will make their current problems worse.
The leadership of the artisans claims that the increase in tariffs, which will go into effect the next month, will exacerbate the already difficult business environment and could finally result in the collapse of firms in the area that are already operating on life support.
“For us hairdressers, we use both light and water. We will use this opportunity to beg government. We are already facing hardship, and we know government is trying its best because of the free education. Sometime back, there was an issue of electricity increment; we pleaded and our plea was heard. In line with that, we continue to beg government and urge it to reduce the prices of items for us… because this will make our work very difficult. Already, we make little profit on our services.”
“We urge the president to help us or we might have to close down our shops. PURC should hold off the increment for now, because things are already difficult in the country. This increment will really affect our work and our families at large,†Ms. Quansah noted.
For the Ghana National Tailors Association (GNTA), they say they are not against the tariff increment per se, but want electricity increased by at most 15 percent.
The Ashanti Regional Chairman for the GNTA, Eric Boakye Yiadom, told the B&FT their work is currently facing several threats due to low patronage.
He further pleaded with government to reconsider the decision and reduce the increment from 27 to 15 percent.
“Government should reduce the proposed tariffs, because we know that things are very hard in the current economy. People do not even come to collect their work from us when it is done. If the tariff is also going to add on, then the hardship will be too much.”
“We are begging; we know they have to increase it, but they should check the percentage for us. For the electricity tariffs, if they can peg it at 15 percent we would be much appreciative. We know they need money for maintenance and to improve on the quality of their work, so we cannot ask them not to increase it,†he said.
From September 1, 2022, households and businesses will face a steep increase in their electricity and water tariffs of 27.15 percent nd 21.55 percent respectively the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has said, adding that tariffs will now see adjustments every quarter.
The increment, the Commission said, was necessitated by an unfavourable exchange rate, rising cost of gas for electricity generation and chemicals for water treatment, among others.
Despite 2021 being another challenging year, the Exchange showed resilience by
recording a solid financial performance with a surplus of GHS31.13million representing an increase of 32% over the same period last year and the highest in the history of the Exchange.
Addressing the gathering, the Chairman of the GSE Council, Mrs. Abena Osei-Poku said: “The year 2021 showed signs of recovery following the easing of restrictions on the economy with the slowdown of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Despite the slow recovery of the economy, the equities market GSE Composite Index, which measures the performance of the entire market, recovered from the negative trends in 2020 to end the year strongly with a positive 43.66% compared to the negative 13.98% recorded at the end of 2020.
“Market Capitalization for all listed securities at the end of 2021 was GHS64.50 billion, which represents an 18.63% increase compared to GHS54.37 billion in 2020. This performance earned the GSE the tag of being the second-best performing market in Africa.”
During the meeting, it was highlighted that GSE continued to embark on strategic
partnerships by implementing some Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with some
Exchanges among other things to share best practices.
The Exchange launched an intensive prospection exercise with some private firms and government agencies to attract more listings, including also signing partnerships with some business associations to groom and prepare them for listing.
Youth investment education programs were rolled out in collaboration with the Young Investor Network to take investment education to our universities and senior high schools.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of the GSE, Mr. Ekow Afedzie said: “The Exchange recorded a remarkable performance amid the challenges occasioned by the post-COVID19 pandemic effects which slowed down economic activities in the economy.
The bond market had its best performing year since its inception, recording a total volume trade of 208.81 billion, which is a 92.62% increase from the 108.41 billion traded in 2020.
He added that the Exchange is very much committed to playing its critical role in the economy by creating the platform for the mobilization of long-term capital and investments.”
GSE will continue to implement its 3-year Strategic Plan to transform from a frontier market to an emerging market; demutualized entity operating at optimal capacity with an innovative and competitive orientation; and become the preferred platform for financing and investment for both public and private sectors.
All of these are aimed at creating a vibrant Exchange to support its mission of providing an efficient securities market in support of national economic development.
A “pink education” phenomenon in Hungary that favours women could endanger the economy, lower birth rates and disadvantage men, a report says.
Women are over-represented in Hungarian higher education, according to parliament’s economic watchdog, seen as close to Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The authors warned that an increase in female graduates could make women less likely to marry and have children.
Mr Orban has sought to boost Hungary’s flagging birth rate.
In 2019 he announced that women with four children would be exempt from paying income tax for life.
The report, by the State Audit Office, was published last month but its findings have only just been picked up by the Nepszava newspaper. Its contents have been criticized by several Hungarian politicians and human rights experts.
Over the past decade, it found that more women than men had enrolled in Hungary’s universities – with the number this autumn at 54.5%. Male students were meanwhile dropping out at a higher rate, and it suggested that the feminization of the teaching profession may have led to 82% of teachers being women.
The report found that “feminine traits” such as emotional and social maturity were favored in Hungary’s education system, which meant that sexual equality would be “considerably weakened”.
The researchers warned that Hungary’s economy could be put at risk if “masculine traits” were undervalued, which they listed as technical skills, risk-taking and entrepreneurship.
The report concluded that this could even impact everyday life with young people at a loss for what to do with “a frozen computer, a dripping tap, or furniture that has arrived flat-packed and there is no one to put it together”.
Hungarian opposition politician Endre Toth criticized the report on Facebook: “It is time to remove your glasses from the last century.” He also called the differentiation of so-called feminine and masculine traits as “total scientific absurdity”.
Lydia Gall of Human Rights Watch tweeted that it was “another blow to gender equality and women’s rights in Hungary”.
Hungary has faced criticism for its gender inequality for some time. After a visit in 2019, Council of Europe rights commissioner Dunja Mijatovic said Hungary was backsliding in gender equality and women’s rights.
Hungary recently elected its first female president, Katalin Novak, but continues to have the lowest share of female politicians in the European Union.
It is currently being sued by the European Commission for a controversial “anti-gay law” that bans the depiction of homosexuality to under-18s.
Viktor Orban, who has repeatedly clashed with the EU over rule of law issues such as press freedom and migration, has described his vision of Hungary as an “illiberal democracy”
UK-France relations are heading for “serious problems” if the nations cannot say whether they are friends or enemies, the French President has said.
Emmanuel Macron reacted to remarks made by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who said the jury was out on whether the French president was “friend or foe”.
Mr Macron insisted the UK remained an ally, despite the occasional error made by its leaders.
And Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Mr Macron was a “good buddy” of the UK.
Senior politicians have accused Ms Truss, who is favourite to succeed Mr Johnson as prime minister next month, of damaging the UK’s relationship with France, a close ally.
Ms Truss – the UK’s top diplomat – was asked about French relations during a Conservative Party event, where she and her leadership rival, Rishi Sunak, took questions from party members.
She said “the jury was out” on whether Mr Macron was a friend or foe, and she would judge him on “deeds not words”, prompting cheers and applause from the audience.
Her comments came at the end of the leadership event – known as a hustings – during a series of “quickfire questions” posed by the host.
When asked the same question, Mr Sunak said Mr Macron was a “friend”.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mr Macron said he would have given a similar response to Mr Sunak’s, had he been asked the same question about the next leader of the UK.
“If the French and British are not capable of saying whether we are friends or enemies – the term is not neutral – we are going to have a problem,” Mr Macron said.
He said the UK was a “friend, strong and allied, whoever its leaders are and sometimes in spite of the leaders and the small mistakes they can make in
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi defended Ms Truss’s comments, calling them “light-hearted”.
While he stressed the importance of the UK’s close relationship with France, he suggested Ms Truss had made the comments with “a touch of humour”.
But Labour’s David Lammy accused Ms Truss of “a woeful lack of judgement”, saying she had insulted one of “Britain’s closest allies”.
One Conservative minister said Ms Truss’s comments had “completely undermined our relationship with France”, calling her a “faux Thatcher”, a reference to the Eurosceptic former Tory prime minister.
In a tweet, former foreign minister Alistair Burt said Ms Truss had made a “serious error” and should have struck a more diplomatic tone.
Former Conservative minister Gavin Barwell also questioned Ms Truss’s comment, saying: “You would have thought the foreign secretary was aware we are in a military alliance with France.”
Another ex-Tory minister, David Gauke, said: “There’s playing to the gallery and then there’s letting the prejudices of the gallery go to your head, especially when now is one of the worst times to try to fragment the West.”
Ms Truss’s comments have been picked up by French media, who have highlighted recent tensions between Paris and London.
The UK and France have clashed over several issues in recent years, including migrant boat crossings in the Channel, a military pact between Britain, the US and Australia, and Brexit measures involving Northern Ireland.
Mr Macron, who was re-elected for a second term earlier this year, has sometimes publicly criticised the Conservative government’s approach.
Last year Mr Macron reacted angrily to Mr Johnson’s public call for France to take back migrants who reached the UK.
The French president accused the prime minister of not being “serious” by making the call on Twitter, though they have since been pictured arm-in-arm at a G7 summit in Germany this year.
More than 33 million people have been affected by historic rains and floods that have swept Pakistan, the country’s climate minister told Reuters.
Since June, more than 900 people have died in monsoon rains and floods that continue to break weather records.
Pakistan’s climate minister said the government was battling with a “climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions”.
The cash-strapped nation has called for additional international aid.
Climate minister Sherry Rehman said the country was now going through its eighth monsoon cycle “while normally the country only has three to four cycles of rain”.
“The percentages of super flood torrents are shocking,” she said.
Since the summer season began, multiple monsoon cycles have lashed Pakistan, causing huge floods that have destroyed over 400,000 homes across the country.
At least 184,000 people have been displaced, and forced to evacuate to relief camps in this time, the UN’s disaster relief agency, OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) said in its own update on Thursday.
It noted a lower figure – of three million people – who had been affected by the natural disaster so far.
However, Pakistan’s Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal had earlier said that around 30 million people – or about 15% of the population – had been affected.
Southern Pakistan has been hardest hit by the rains, particularly the province of Sindh which has received nearly eight times its average August rainfall.
Ms Rehman on Thursday said local authorities there had asked for one million tents to house displaced people.
One woman living in Hyderabad, Sindh’s second-largest city told Reuters news agency: “We are living in a rickshaw with our children because the roof of our mud house is leaking.
“Where can we go? The gutters are overflowing, and our courtyard is filled up with sewage. Our houses and alleys have turned into a floating garbage bin.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) boss, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, has revealed he is unable to send money to his “starving” relatives in Ethiopia‘s war-torn Tigray region.
“I have many relatives there. I want to send them money. I cannot send them money,” he said in a press conference.
“I don’t know even who is dead or who is alive,” he continued.
Since the war began in 2020, the region has been cut off from the outside world, with no electricity or phones.
Ethiopia’s government has been accused of imposing an aid blockade on the region which impeded crucial deliveries – something it blamed on the fighting.
Tens of thousands of civilians have died and millions are in urgent need of food aid. The World Food Programme says that almost half of Tigray’s 5.5m population are in “severe” need of food.
Fighting resumed this week after months of calm following a truce agreed in March between Tigrayan forces and the Ethiopian government to allow aid to get through.
It is not the first time Dr Tedros, a former Ethiopian health minister, has spoken about the war. On Wednesday he said the situation was worse than that in Ukraine and suggested that racism was behind the difference in the global response.
“I can tell you that the humanitarian crisis in Tigray is more than Ukraine, without any exaggeration. And I said it many months ago, maybe the reason is the colour of the skin of the people in Tigray.”
In 2020 he denied an Ethiopian general’s accusations that he had helped procure weapons for the Tigray rebels. “There have been reports suggesting I am taking sides in this situation. This is not true,” he tweeted at the time.
Other Tigrayans have had the same difficulties as Dr Tedros in contacting their relatives.
An economist and researcher who lives abroad, Kibrom Abay, said sending money to Tigray was extremely difficult and costly, which he blames on the suspension of financial services in the region.
“The fact that I cannot help my starving parents, who used to rely on remittances from me, is extremely painful,” he said.
One person living in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa told the BBC they had found someone who would deliver money to Tigray for a 20% commission.
“The plan was to get it to them in a week. It has been more than a month and my family could not receive it… I don’t know about their current status. I could not get in touch with them.”
Others cannot even find brokers to send money to their families because of the lack of transport.
These middlemen sometimes charge around 40%, or even more, to travel to Tigray and bordering areas on foot to hand-deliver money. One of them recently told the BBC their work was done based on “trust”. Some have also used the same methods to send essential medicines.
Fighting is reported to be continuing on Friday, with Tigrayan forces saying the government had conducted air strikes in the region’s capital, Mekelle.
Television affiliated with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) showed images of a destroyed building and said civilians, including children, were killed in the strikes, but the reports cannot be independently verified.
A statement released by the government’s communications office urged people in Tigray to stay away from “areas where TPLF’s military equipment and training facilities are located”. The statement didn’t address the accusations of air strikes but it seems to suggest aerial attacks are imminent.
The TPLF blames the Ethiopian army for the outbreak of fighting, while the government blames the Tigrayans.
TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda told the BBC’s Newsday programme that heavy fighting was still going on and that the people of Tigray were suffering.
“We have people who are starving because of the siege imposed on us by the authorities in Addis Ababa and their partners in crime. We have people who desperately need humanitarian aid,” Mr Getachew said.
“It would be foolhardy for us to start a war when in actual fact our people are in need of humanitarian aid.”
Residents of Kobo, a city approximately 15 miles (25 km) from some of the reported fighting, told the BBC they could still hear the sound of heavy weapons.
“The community is confused and some are fleeing to the nearby city. But most of them are alongside the federal defence force and the Amhara special force to face what is coming,” a man said.
The Tigray war broke out in Ethiopia’s northernmost region in November 2020 – later spreading south to the Amhara and Afar regions.
Thousands were killed, over two million people fled their homes and some 700,000 people were left living in “famine-like conditions”, US officials said.
Moderna said it is suing Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for patent infringement in the development of the first Covid-19 vaccine.
The US biotech company is alleging that mRNA technology it developed before the pandemic was copied.
The lawsuit, which is seeking unspecified financial damages, was filed in the US and Germany.
Pfizer said it was “surprised” by the action and would defend itself against the allegations.
In a statement, Moderna said Pfizer/BioNTech copied two types of its intellectual property. One involved an mRNA structure that Moderna says its scientists began developing in 2010 and were the first to validate in human trials in 2015.
The second alleged infringement involves the coding of the spike protein on the outside of the virus itself.
“We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the Covid-19 pandemic,” Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel said.
Moderna, which was only formed as a company in 2010, was an early developer of the mRNA technology used commercially for the first time in Covid vaccines.
The jabs use a molecule of genetic code called messenger RNA to generate an immune response.
That trains the body to fight off the real virus when it comes into contact with it.
Early in the pandemic, Moderna said it would not enforce its patents to help other drug companies develop their own jabs, particularly for low- and middle-income countries.
But in March 2022 it said rivals such as Pfizer and BioNTech would have to respect its intellectual property rights, though it would not claim any damages for activity before that date.
Patent litigation is not uncommon in the development of new technology and both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are already facing other lawsuits relating to their respective mRNA platforms.
Moderna itself is being sued for alleged patent infringement in an ongoing dispute with the US National Institutes of Health.
In July, German biotech company CureVac filed a lawsuit against BioNTech claiming it violated patents related to the engineering of mRNA molecules and seeking “fair compensation”.
As Europe’s energy costs skyrocket, Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas, according to analysis shared with BBC News.
They say the plant, near the border with Finland, is burning an estimated $10m (£8.4m) worth of gas every day.
Experts say the gas would previously have been exported to Germany.
Germany’s ambassador to the UK told BBC News that Russia was burning the gas because “they couldn’t sell it elsewhere”.
Scientists are concerned about the large volumes of carbon dioxide and soot it is creating, which could exacerbate the melting of Arctic ice.
The analysis by Rystad Energy indicates that around 4.34 million cubic metres of gas are being burned by the flare every day.
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It is coming from a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant at Portovaya, north-west of St Petersburg.
The first signs that something was awry came from Finnish citizens over the nearby border who spotted a large flame on the horizon earlier this summer.
Portovaya is located close to a compressor station at the start of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline which carries gas under the sea to Germany.
Supplies through the pipeline have been curtailed since mid-July, with the Russians blaming technical issues for the restriction. Germany says it was purely a political move following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But since June, researchers have noted a significant increase in heat emanating from the facility – thought to be from gas flaring, the burning of natural gas.
While burning off gas is common at processing plants – normally done for technical or safety reasons – the scale of this burn has confounded experts.
“I’ve never seen an LNG plant flare so much,” said Dr Jessica McCarty, an expert on satellite data from Miami University in Ohio.
“Starting around June, we saw this huge peak, and it just didn’t go away. It’s stayed very anomalously high.”
Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to the UK, told BBC News that European efforts to reduce reliance on Russian gas were “having a strong effect on the Russian economy”.
“They don’t have other places where they can sell their gas, so they have to burn it,” he suggested.
The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the “Water Tower” of Asia, supplies freshwater to nearly 2 billion people. Experts fear that the region could see a near-total freshwater storage collapse by 2050.
By the middle of this century, the entire Tibetan Plateau, also known as the “Water Tower” of Asia, will lose a substantial part of its water storage, a study has revealed. The study is the most comprehensive research on the issue to date, and was published in the Natural Climate Change journal.
The Amu Darya basin — which supplies water to central Asia and Afghanistan — shows a decline of 119% in water-supply capacity. The Indus basin — which supplies water to northern India and Pakistan — shows a 79% decline in water-supply capacity. Combined together, this impacts a quarter of the world’s human population.
A team of scientists from Penn State, Tsinghua University and the University of Texas at Austin found that climate change in recent decades has led to a severe depletion in terrestrial water storage (TWS), which includes all of the above- and below-ground water, to the tune of 15.8 gigatons per year in certain areas of the Tibetan Plateau.
Based on this pattern, the team has predicted that under a moderate carbon emissions scenario — SSP 2-4.5 emissions, the entire Tibetan Plateau could experience a net loss of about 230 gigatons by the mid-21st century.
“The prognosis is not good,” said Michael Mann, professor of atmospheric science at Penn State University.
“In a ‘business as usual’ scenario, where we fail to meaningfully curtail fossil fuel burning in the decades ahead, we can expect a near collapse — that is, nearly 100% loss — of water availability to downstream regions of the Tibetan Plateau. I was surprised at just how large the predicted decrease is, even under a scenario of modest climate policy,” Mann told DW.
Sensitivity to climate change
The Tibetan Plateau’s unique high-elevation terrain and atmospheric circulation dominated by monsoons and upper-level westerly winds generate precious freshwater resources in this region. While the area is relatively undisturbed by human activities, it remains an important regulator of the Asian monsoon system. Despite its crucial role in water availability and supply, the region is highly sensitive to climate change.
“Terrestrial water storage across this region is crucial in determining water availability, and it is highly sensitive to climate change,” said Di Long, associate professor of hydrologic engineering at Tsinghua University.
The study’s findings are particularly important because a detailed look at how climate change has affected the TWS of the Tibetan Plateau had not been conducted before. However, advances in Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite missions have provided unprecedented opportunities to quantify TWS changes on a large scale.
‘Need for bold climate policy’
Earlier, the absence of reliable future projections of TWS limited guidance on policymaking over the climate change hotspot.
“By examining the interactions between climate change and the TWS, this study serves as a basis to guide future research and the management by governments and institutions of improved adaptation strategies,” said researcher Di Long.
The Tibetan Plateau is sometimes called “the roof of the world” and it contains a rich network of streams and rivers that supply drinking water to a large portion of Asia.
“Even in a best-case scenario, further losses are likely unavoidable, which will require substantial adaptation to decreasing water resources in this vulnerable, highly populated region of the world,” said Mann.
Seven river basin systems were studied in the research, supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program.
The Amu Darya basin, Indus, GangesBrahmaputra, SalweenMekong, Yangtze and Yellow rivers were selected for this analysis because of large populations and water demand in the downstream areas. It was found that in the GangesBrahmaputra, SalweenMekong and Yangtze basins, total water demand in the downstream areas can be met by other factors.
However, in the Amu Darya and Indus basins, the changes in the upstream TWS will seriously threaten downstream water availability.
Geopolitical conflicts facilitate crisis
The issue of dam construction over shared water resources, aggravated by climate change, could result in potential conflicts between the countries. Although the latest study informs about the climate-induced water crisis in West and South Asian countries, several studies in the past have documented the impacts of dam building on rivers originating from the Tibetan Plateau.
The Mekong also springs up from the Tibetan Plateau and flows to the South China Sea through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Around 60 million people depend on the river for fishing, farming and transportation. Hundreds of hydropower dams have been built up and down the river since 2010, and most of them are in China and Laos.
“China’s eleven-dam cascade blocks half of the sediment flow in the Mekong — half of the 165 million tons of sediment per year. There is no mitigation that can allow the sediment to flow forward,” said Bryan Eyler, Southeast Asia Program Director at the Stimson Center.
“The dam construction on the main stream of the Mekong has been done without any consultation with the downstream countries. Downstream countries don’t even know when a new dam has been constructed,” Eyler told DW.
A 2020 study from the Lower Mekong Initiative, which used river gauge evidence from the Mekong River Commission and the remote sensing process, suggests that for five months in 2019, China’s dams held so much water that they entirely prevented the annual monsoon-driven rise in river level at Chiang Saen in Thailand.
The water shortages could result in geopolitical conflicts. “We fear there will be a full-scale issue in the coming years between India and China with glaciers melting in the Tibetan plateau. Tibet’s geography and ecological importance should be understood by India and China both,” said Tenzin Lekshey, spokesperson for the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile in India led by the Dalai Lama.
Water could fast emerge as a potential flashpoint between India and China, two of the world’s most populous countries. But it has far-reaching consequences for the entire continent.
Fewer than half of Angola‘s registered voters cast ballots in this week’s election that looks set to extend the MPLA’s almost five decades in power, electoral commission data showed on Friday.
Despite the MPLA’s expected success, Wednesday’s vote was Angola’s most closely fought yet with unprecedented gains for the opposition, who have complained about the counting process.
With more than 97% of the vote counted, the election commission said on Thursday the formerly Marxist People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, or MPLA, was ahead with a 51% majority and its longtime opponent, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA, had 44.5%.
If that breakdown holds, MPLA President Joao Lourenço will secure a second five-year term, extending his party’s uninterrupted rule since independence from Portugal in 1975.
But UNITA, for the first time, will have deprived the MPLA of the two-thirds majority needed to pass major reforms and the ruling party will instead need the backing of other lawmakers.
Election data released on Friday also showed that turnout was just 45.65% of eligible voters.
UNITA has challenged provisional results, saying its initial count of 40% of polling stations showed it only a whisker behind the MPLA, saying it was a small enough margin for it to overhaul the MPLA once all ballots in the capital Luanda were counted..
UNITA posted an image of its leader, Costa Junior on its official Instagram account with the caption: “The President”.
The ruling party has not yet commented on the results, but it posted a video of Lourenço thanking Angolans on social media.
Analysts fear any dispute could ignite violence among a poor and frustrated youth who voted for Junior. The MPLA and UNITA, formerly both anti-colonial guerrilla groups, were on opposing sides of an on-off civil war that lasted 27 years from 1975.
As she watched the news on her phone, 47-year-old Antonia Neto, who works at a coffee shop at Luanda airport, said she was not happy with the results but said there was a glimpse of hope.
“There is a lot of discontentment,” she said. “Maybe things will be better in the next election.”
The MPLA’s Lourenço, 68, has pledged to extend reforms in his second term, including privatising poorly-run state assets. But many Angolans still live in poverty despite his promises of a fairer distribution of wealth in Africa’s second biggest oil producer.
The CEO of E-Cycle Ghana, Robert Nsoh, is concerned about environmental preservation and has developed a brilliant method for producing electricity from waste materials.
The Ghana Police Service has launched a community-based policing strategy that will foster collaboration between personnel of the service and local authorities to enforce law, order and security in metropolises, municipalities and districts across the country.
Such collaboration will also enable the public to identify, prioritise and address pertinent issues of crime in their various communities.
Dubbed: “Enhanced visibility and community policing strategyâ€, the plan will build on past community policing experiences to enhance police operations.
The police will also intensify day and night patrols within small defined areas in various police districts and establish good relations, rapport and trust with residents of those areas.
Also, district police commanders, who will be the main drivers of the strategy, will be required to develop security and crime prevention plans with stakeholders in their respective jurisdictions.
Visibility
The Director-General of the National Patrol Department of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police (COP) Paul Manly Awini, who launched the strategy document in Accra yesterday, said the plan would not only increase police visibility in communities but also ensure that personnel worked more in collaboration with opinion leaders and state agencies to sustain law and order in those areas.
He said over the past decade, the community policing concept had made a significant contribution to the fight against crime in the country, hence the need to further enrich the concept and make it more effective.
“It has become necessary to increase police visibility in zones where the fear of crime still exists and where crime and anti-social behaviour affect the daily lives of members of the public,†COP Awini said.
The strategy, he said, integrated key elements of a community crime fighting and removal of fear of crime initiative, adding: “The launch of this strategy comes at a time when the Police Administration is making efforts to transform the law enforcement agency and make communities safer for the people.â€
It would also enhance crime prevention campaigns, in partnership with neighbourhood watch committees, residents associations, community protection assistants and other stakeholders, he said.
COP Awinifurther said strategies developed by stakeholders at MMDAs would become their road map, an important element of local police accountability.
Commendation
The D-G commended consultants and the technical working group for their efforts at producing the final document for the implementation of the strategy.
He also expressed gratitude to the German Development Agency (GIZ) for providing support and expertise for the Police Service for the development of the strategy.
COP Awini urged the public to support the police in making the strategy effective, saying: “Security is a shared responsibility between the police and members of the public.â€
A research project into food safety and the drivers of food choices in selected cities in the country has established that food is available throughout the year; however, affordability, quality and accessibility are the challenges.
“Food is available; however, factors such as the season, access to food from the farms to bring to the markets and the purchasing power of consumers play a significant role in the choices consumers make in deciding on what to eat,†the report said.
The study also established that although sanitary conditions and infrastructure in the open market were poor, it was the most preferred market for consumers.
That, it said, was due to the low prices of food there, the opportunity to bargain prices, as well as the convenience such markets offered in the form of proximity to offices, homes, lorry parks, among others.
Study, workshop
The study, undertaken during different seasons in 2021, was done simultaneously at major markets in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale in three rounds of consultation with local stakeholders of urban food systems.
It was conducted by the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER)of the University of Ghana, in collaboration with an international project, NOURICITY, and aimed at investigating the structure and dynamics of urban food systems in Africa.
Funds for the research were provided by the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU).
The stakeholders disseminated the findings of the study in a two-day workshop in Accra, during which participants discussed the way forward with the findings.
The workshop also had a partnership component aimed pooling stakeholders, including the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), the Ministry of Health and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), to deliver the recommendations proposed.
Being replicated in South Africa and Uganda, the project is aimed at understanding what motivates people to make the choices that they make when selecting a particular food or vegetable at markets in urban centres.
Findings
Among other findings of the study is the fact that urban-dwelling households are affordability.
The report said that was explained by the types of food consumed by most households, with majority of dishes containing food items from many food groups, meaning that dietary diversity could be high in urban areas.
However, it recommended further studies into the proportions of the different food groups in a dish to consolidate the assertion on high dietary diversity.
Partnership
The immediate past Director of ISSER, Professor Felix A. Asante, who led the team in the presentation of the report, indicated that many non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as hypertension and diabetes, were triggered by the food people consumed, hence the need to inform people to make the right choices.
He revealed that out of the 11 predominant NCDs in the country, six were dietary related.
Prof. Asante said the research would not only help establish the link among health, nutrition and agriculture but also help inform policy choices and decisions in the country.
He explained that the partnership concept was aimed at bringing together stakeholders in urban nutrition to devise and agree on a partnership process for urban nutrition.
About project
The Project Co-coordinator of NOURICITY, Dr Nicolas Gerber, said the project was a collaboration among a consortium of 24 countries, made up of 12 each in Africa and Europe.
He said the €827,000 initiative would also establish how food was handled from the farm to the market.
It would also establish some of the factors which affected food safety and offer possible solutions, he noted.
He said so far there was no credible data on food safety and quality in the value chain and said the research in the three countries would gather such data.
In particular, the project would describe the systemic drivers of food choices by mapping out formal and informal urban food sectors, their interactions and rural linkages and also track urban food sources and their characteristics, Dr Gerber added.
It would also examine individual drivers of food choices; that is, income, access to nutrition-related knowledge or food taste, habits and culture, he said.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), the largest opposition party, has attacked the ruling NPP administration in particular for “mismanaging” the economy and attributing it to COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.
While this is happening, the government is now obtaining a $2 billion loan from the IMF (IMF).
The head of the National Lottery Authority, Sammi Awuku, addressed these issues in a one-on-one interview on Peace FM’s morning program “Kokrokoo,” saying there is hope at the end of the dark tunnel.
He said: “I think we are in extraordinary times but what gives me hope is that this government has not abandoned its beautiful initiatives . . . I trust these managers of the economy to manage us out of the IMF”.
According to him, he’s confident that President Akufo-Addo will turn things around as far as the economy is concerned.
“You’re only a leader when you turn and the people are following you, but when you turn and the people are not following you, you’re only taking a walk,” he added.
Following the government’s failure to successfully negotiate a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), calls for the resignation of Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta have increased.
There have been worries voiced that the country’s economy may continue to suffer as a result of the delay in finalizing the agreement with the Fund.
While in Ghana to check on the status of a program in Accra, the world’s largest investment bank, Goldman Sachs, warned investors that “delayed conclusion poses the possibility of increased deficit monetisation by the BoG, cedi depreciation, and a loss in foreign exchange reserves.”
This, according to Goldman Sachs, implies that “the macroeconomic outlook may deteriorate further in the near termâ€.
Thus, the call for President Akufo-Addo to immediately remove from office Ken Ofori Atta or the minister resigns from the position to allow fresh minds to take over.
Dr Julius Kweku Kattah, an international economist and a fellow at Chartered Economists Ghana, who supported this call, said the reshuffling of ministers was long overdue.
According to him, the delays in effecting the change will not only negatively impact the economy locally, but internationally.
“We have wasted a lot of time. That gap is crucial in the development process. When your economic development is supposed to drive at a certain pace and we, later on, get to know that its implementation has delayed, then we are not going to achieve our target for the period we have designed the budget for,†he said.
Meanwhile, a government spokesperson on Governance and Security, Palgrave Boakye Danquah, had indicated in an interview with TV3 that the Akufo-Addo-led government will by the end of the year 2022 or the beginning of 2023 close its deal with the Fund.
“By the end of the year or early 2023, we should have positive feedback from the IMF,†he said.
Following clashes that left one person dead and two others hurt, a team of police and military personnel has been sent to the communities of Tibongo and Junjoon in the Chereponi District of the North East.
On Wednesday, August 24, 2022, disputes between the two communities are said to have erupted over a claimant’s ownership of a plot of farmland.
Houses were burned as a result of the conflict.
Communal conflicts in the district are delaying the area’s development, according to Chereponi’s District Chief Executive, Hajia Zuweiratu Mada Nashiru, who was speaking to Citi News.
“Change is a difficult thing for people. There is a bit of improvement. It is just that we are not getting it in the way I was expecting to get them to quickly appreciate that we need to be engaging more than fighting.â€
An exile group announced a New York lawsuit against Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Thursday, challenging US authorities to take action against him as he is expected to arrive next month for the UN General Assembly.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran said the suit accused Raisi of torture and murder in a 1988 crackdown on Iranian dissidents.
Echoing similar complaints filed in England and Scotland, the civil lawsuit says that in 1988 Raisi was a member of the so-called “death commission,” four judges who directly ordered thousands of executions as well as torture of members of the opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, known as the MEK.
The MEK is the largest partner of the NCRI.
It is “beyond doubt that as deputy state prosecutor for Tehran province, Ebrahim Raisi, was a member of that death commission,” Steven Schneebaum, the lead attorney in the lawsuit, said in a Washington press conference organized by the NCRI.
The suit was filed in federal court in New York last week in the names of two people tortured at the time and a third person whose brother was executed.
It cites Amnesty International and US sanctions declarations that accuse Raisi of complicity in the 1988 events.
The suit asks for unspecified damages for torture, extrajudicial killings, genocide and crimes against humanity.
The suit challenges the belief that Raisi, who was elected president last year, enjoys immunity under US law as a head of state and also an official foreign representative attending the United Nations annual general meeting at the UN headquarters in New York.
Schneebaum said that, for one, Raisi is not a diplomat officially accredited to the United Nations.
Secondly, he said, while Raisi is president, the real head of state of Iran is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Raisi is not a diplomat…Â and is not eligible for the privileges extended under the Vienna Convention. Nor is he in fact a head of state,” Schneebaum said.
If US authorities accept those arguments, they could serve Raisi with a warrant if he attends the UN meetings beginning September 13.
That would require him to submit a plea withing 21 days, said Schneebaum.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a questions on its view of Raisi’s status.
The service members are in Germany for training on Gepard tanks. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed to send even more heavy weapons to Ukraine in the coming months.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukrainian soldiers in northern Germany on Thursday, expressing his admiration for their “courage.” The service members are in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein for training on German Gepard tanks.
Germany, Scholz said, wants to ensure that the soldiers have the support they need. He praised the Bundeswehr for providing the training.
The chancellor met with the officers heading up the training before inspecting the Gepard tanks and posing for a photo op inside one.
Scholz reiterated that Germany would deliver other heavy weapons systems to Ukraine, namely self-propelled howitzers, multiple rocket launchers and the Iris-T air defense system, which is capable of “performing the defense of the airspace of an entire city.”
Scholz pledges E500 million
The trip marked a stark contrast from the early weeks of the war, when Scholz was accused of dithering about whether to send heavy weapons to Kyiv. Two days earlier, Scholz had promised Ukraine further arms deliveries worth more than E500 million.
Germany is providing modern and effective weapons “because Ukraine has the right to defend its own country, integrity, independence and sovereignty” against Russian aggression, Scholz said.
The PGA Tour reaches its climax this week with a stellar 29-man field battling it out at the Tour Championship for FedEx Cup glory.
Usually, the season-ending event involves the leading 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings, but the field has been cut to 29 following the withdrawal of Will Zalatoris because of a back injury that has also ruled him out of The Presidents Cup next month.
Nevertheless, there will be some top-quality golf at East Lake Golf Club – a par-70 course measuring 7,346 yards which has been the host of the Tour Championship every year since 2004, while it also staged the event in 1998 2000 and 2002.
The unique starting stroke format will again be in operation, with FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler starting the tournament on -10 — two strokes ahead of fellow American Patrick Cantlay and a further two clear of Xander Schauffele.
Tour Championship starting strokes
Scottie Scheffler will start this week’s event on 10-under par, two shots ahead of Patrick Cantlay, who won the BMW Championship last time out. Xander Schauffele will commence his round on six-under par, one shot clear of Sam Burns. Cameron Smith, Rory McIlroy, Rony Finau, Sepp Straka and Sungjae Im will all tee off on four-under par.
Whoever wins this week’s Tour Championship will also be crowned FedEx Cup champion and take home a cheque for $18m.
Thomas in attack mode
Starting the tournament on -3, there is lots of work for Justin Thomas to do if he wants to lift the FedEx Cup for the first time since 2017, but there is enough evidence to suggest he will have a positive week in Georgia.
With the fairways notoriously challenging to hit and thick rough ready to capture any errant shots, there is a premium on accuracy at East Lake, and the world number seven has shown that in spades this season.
The American is third in strokes gained: tee-to-green, 15th in SG: off-the-tee and sixth in SG: approach-the-green on the PGA Tour this campaign, while he is fifth in putting average, third in birdie average and seventh in scoring average.
Not only do those statistics make for good reading, but Thomas has also never finished outside of the top 10 on his previous six East Lake appearances – posting results of sixth, second, seventh, ninth, third and fourth.
Fitzpatrick set to shine on debut
Matthew Fitzpatrick will hope to build on his US Open success this weekendEnglishman Matt Fitzpatrick has added some extra distance to his game this season, which proved crucial in his US Open success at Brookline in June – his maiden Major title.
The 27-year-old has always been a steady player off the tee, consistently finding fairways, and that facet of his game will prove hugely beneficial this week.
It may be a course debut for the world number 10, but there is no reason why he can’t adapt to these surroundings quickly and his PGA Tour statistics this season make for solid reading.
Fitzpatrick is eighth in SG: off-the-tee and fifth in SG: tee-to-green, while he is fourth in SG: around-the-green and third in scoring average.
Starting on -3, the same as Thomas, it would be no surprise to see the US Open champion making a charge up the leaderboard as he aims to reduce the seven-shot deficit to Scheffler.
Dollar General (DG) and Dollar Tree (DLTR) both reported solid increases in sales for the second quarter Thursday. But both companies raised concerns about the impact that inflation may have on future results.
Dollar Tree CEO Mike Witynski said in the company’s earnings release that shoppers are being “pressured by higher costs for food, fuel, rent and more.” Meanwhile, Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos described the quarter as a “period of inflation and economic uncertainty.”
Dollar General seems to be holding up better than Dollar Tree. Overall sales at Dollar General jumped 9% from a year ago, compared to a 6.7% rise at Dollar Tree, which also owns the Family Dollar chain.
Dollar General didn’t cut its outlook, while Dollar Tree issued weaker guidance. That’s likely one of the key reasons why Dollar General shares were down just 1% Thursday morning as Dollar Tree tumbled 9%.
Dollar Tree is also dealing with some customer backlash following last year’s controversial decision to raise prices, a move that spurred some consumers to derisively refer to the chain as “$1.25 Tree.”
But there are cracks beneath the surface at Dollar General, too. The company said in its earnings report that apparel sales plunged more than 20% from the same period last year. Sales of seasonal and home products also were down slightly.
Although those categories make up only about 20% of Dollar General’s overall revenue, they have bigger profit margins than the core “consumables” business of food, beverages and drugstore items that account for the remainder of Dollar General’s sales.
Witynski acknowledged this trend as well during a conference call with analysts Thursday, saying that more of the company’s customers are “gravitating to needs-based consumables, which is impacting our margin.”
“Consumers continue to be burdened by levels of inflation not experienced in decades,” Witynski said, also noting that “our suppliers are being hit by inflation as well.”
Getting products from warehouses to stores remains a problem. Vasos said during Dollar General’s analyst call that there are “ongoing supply chain pressures.” He added that the company is hoping to alleviate this problem by building three new distribution centers in the US.
The rival dollar store chains also announced executive moves Thursday.
Dollar General is promoting chief financial officer John Garratt to president, and retain the CFO role. Dollar Tree announced it hired a new CFO, with Jeffrey Davis taking over for Kevin Wampler. Davis previously worked at Walmart, J.C. Penney, Olive Garden owner Darden (DRI) and Qurate (QRTEA), the parent company of HSN and QVC.
Wampler will stay on as an advisor through April. Dollar Tree had previously announced in June that he would be stepping down as CFO after activist investor Mantle Ridge pressed Dollar Tree for board and management changes.
Despite continued sales momentum at dollar stores, there are growing concerns about the health of the US consumer. Although Walmart (WMT) recently posted better than expected results, the retail giant had warned in late July that it was cutting its outlook for the second quarter and rest of the year.
Walmart rival Target (TGT) recently reported similarly disappointing results. And two other retailers issued poor guidance Thursday morning: apparel retailers Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and Burlington Stores (BURL).
As The Independent reported in mid-August, the famous Lake Garda in northern Italy was “losing 2cm of water a day.” The result is evident in this photo from August 16, showing the peninsula of Sirmione with a dramatically receded Garda shoreline.
The People’s Bank of China cut its five-year loan prime rate (LPR) by 15 basis points to 4.45%, the second reduction this year and the largest on record. Most analysts had expected a cut of five basis points.
China’s LPR is the rate at which commercial banks lend to their best customers. It serves as the benchmark for other loans and the five-year maturity is typically used as a reference for mortgages.
The central bank’s decision to slash the five-year rate is the latest in a series of steps that China has taken to tackle a real estate crisis as Covid lockdowns threaten to push the economy into its first quarterly contraction since early 2020.
Sales of new homes plunged 47% in April from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics earlier this week, while prices in 70 cities dropped for an eighth consecutive month.
“[Friday’s move] signals that the leadership has … decided to rescue [the property sector] as soon as possible,” said Zhaopeng Xing, senior China strategist for ANZ Research. “It also suggests that China is making great efforts to achieve its 5.5% growth target” for 2022, he said.
The Chinese economy could shrink in the second quarter, as Covid lockdowns wreak havoc on activity. Consumer spending and factory output both shrank sharply last month, while unemployment surged to the highest level since the initial coronavirus outbreak in early 2020.
The property sector, which accounts for as much as 30% of China’s GDP, is also in a deepening crisis.
Evergrande — one of the country’s biggest developers — is undergoing a huge restructuring after it defaulted on its huge debts late last year. Analysts have long feared Evergrande’s collapse could have ripple effects across the property industry.
Property sales have slowed since last year, as tight credit policies and a weakening economy damped demand. This year’s Covid lockdowns hit the industry further.
“The Omicron wave and draconian lockdowns in around 40 cities have significantly limited mobility, employment, income and the confidence of Chinese households,” Nomura analysts said.
“Beijing wants to rescue the property markets, which have experienced the worst contraction in many years,” they added.
China’s central bank announced some other measures this week to lift the market. The PBOC said last Sunday that it would cut the mortgage rate for first-time homebuyers.
“What happened in Rostock is a disgrace for our country. Politicians bear a great deal of responsibility for this disgrace,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told a crowd gathered in the northern city of Rostock on Thursday.
The president blamed all of Germany’s political parties for using rhetoric that was laced with resentment in the early 1990s. But after the attack, the country waited a long time for authorities to offer a clear condemnation of the riots, he added.
For four nights in August 1992, a mob of rioters and right-wing extremists attacked a central reception center for asylum seekers and a shelter for Vietnamese workers in the Lichtenhagen district of Rostock, a former East German city. Local onlookers applauded, while the police were completely overwhelmed, and at one stage forced to retreat.
The lessons of Lichtenhagen should be taken to heart, Steinmeier said. The violence of that time, “that trace of right-wing terror, is unfortunately still there,” he warned. “The state must do everything possible at all times to protect each and every citizen against attacks.”
He thanked all those who for decades, often against great opposition, worked with the victims and remember the xenophobic attacks.
One of them is Hajo Graf Vitzthum von Eckstädt of Rostock’s anti-racism initiative “Bunt statt braun” (“Colorful instead of brown”) which fights against right-wing extremism and its breeding ground.
“I was shocked,” he recalls. “It was one of those excesses waiting to happen. The federal and state governments had failed.”
Rostock-Lichtenhagen was the first pogrom after the end of the Nazi reign of terror. For Vitzthum von Eckstädt, it’s clear that politicians in Rostock at the time didn’t just look the other way: “Politicians used the event,” he says.
Times of upheaval
Germany experienced turbulent times in the early 1990s. Helmut Kohl had ruled West Germany for ten years and then continued heading the government of reunited Germany. After the euphoria of German reunification in 1990, came the collapse of the East German economy. And then that of the entire East German society. At the same time, the country experienced a sharp increase in immigration. With the fall of the Wall, the Iron Curtain of the Cold War also fell: hundreds of thousands of people from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe subsequently moved to Germany.
But the atmosphere was heating up. Right-wing extremists — “skinheads” — were on the streets in both the West and the East. There were violent xenophobic attacks all over the country. “There was a lot of skepticism at the time against foreigners and immigrants, against Sinti and Roma,” recalls Hajo Graf Vitzthum von Eckstädt. “And the politicians at the time just let that boil over — because it was in their own interests.”
Helmut Kohl’s conservative government had been working for some time to drastically tighten German asylum law. This had been crafted after the Nazi dictatorship and World War 2 with a view to offering permanent and unrestricted protection to politically persecuted persons. And this was enshrined in the constitution.
Political observers speculated even then that the conservative federal government wanted to use the riots and protests to put pressure on the opposition center-left Social Democrats (SPD) to agree to a constitutional amendment restricting the right to asylum. The calculation was that the SPD would fear losing support and bow to mob hatred and political pressure from the streets.
Calculated racism?
In Rostock, politicians stood back and watched events unfold. In the months before the pogrom, Sinti and Roma from Romania were stranded in front of the reception center for asylum seekers in the Lichtenhagen district, in front of the Sunflower House, where Vietnamese workers lived.
The authorities were overwhelmed by the numbers, leaving the new arrivals to camp on the lawn in front of the facility. Hygiene was lacking, nobody set up mobile toilets, and the police attitude towards the Romanians was hostile.
Mehmet Daimagüler, the Federal Government Commissioner for Antiziganism, says the situation in Rostock-Lichtenhagen followed a tradition of discrimination against the Sinti and Roma in Germany. Also, he said, the murder of hundreds of thousands of them by Germans during the Nazi era had at the time never really been recognized. “Their persecution continued in other forms after the Nazi era.”
Reunification — not for migrants
Mehmet Daimagüler has been fighting racism and right-wing extremism for years. As a criminal defense lawyer, book author, and publicist. He, too, was shaken by the pogrom in 1992. “It cast a shadow over the joy of reunification.”
He experienced what many Germans from immigrant families reported: That the nationwide jubilation over reunification went hand in hand with a new quality of racism and hatred against the immigrants in society. “The reunification was by Germans for Germans, and we migrants were not part of it. We didn’t sit at any of the round tables — neither in the West nor in the East. We were treated the way we were seen: We were irrelevant.”
Immigrants in 1992 were still mostly labeled “foreigners,” even if Germany had long been their home and they had even been born here. Only those with German parents were seen as German. Daimagüler speaks of “blood law,” the ancient “ius sanguinis,”. Blood and soil (Blut und Boden) was the slogan expressing Nazi Germany’s ideal of a racially defined national body (“blood”) united with a settlement area (“soil”).
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged China’s wealthiest provinces to “bravely take the lead” to bolster growth and employment, a day after official data painted a gloomy picture for the world’s second largest economy.
Li — the No. 2 in the hierarchy of China’s ruling Communist Party — has been vocal this year about China’s sputtering economy, and has repeatedly stressed the need to stabilize the “complex and grave” job situation. A combination of Covid-19 lockdowns, a real estate crisis and now extreme weather threaten a perfect storm.
“At present, we are at the most difficult point of economic stabilization,” Li said at the meeting, according to a Xinhua article posted on the central government’s website. “We must cement the economic recovery with a sense of urgency as time waits for no man.”
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum WEF, via video link at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, July 19, 2022.
The six provinces are the “pillars” of China’s economic growth and must “bravely take the lead and play a key role in stabilizing the economy,” Li told the officials.
The provinces he was referring to — Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Henan and Sichuan — account for 45% of China’s GDP and 40% of the country’s employment, according to Li.
Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, is China’s most important export hub and manufacturing powerhouse, with a provincial GDP of $1.9 trillion.
China cuts rates as lockdowns and a real estate crisis take their toll
The appeal came just a few days after officials in Sichuan, a major center for lithium mining and electronics manufacturing, ordered factories across the province to close for a week to maintain dwindling power supplies to residential users.
It also follows evidence that the broader economy was already beginning to lose steam again in July after picking up pace when Covid restrictions were eased in June.
Retail sales grew 2.7% in July from a year ago, slowing from June’s 3.1% growth, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Monday. Industrial production was up 3.8% in July from a year earlier, down from the 3.9% growth in June.
Unemployment for those aged 16 to 24 soared to a new record high at 19.9%, up from June’s 19.3%. Property investment by developers contracted 6.4% in the first seven months of this year, and new home prices in 70 major cities dropped for an 11th consecutive month in July.
Analysts widely attribute the broad weakness to renewed Covid lockdowns in many cities and the deepening property downturn in the country.
China’s worst heatwave in 60 years is forcing factories to close
China is also suffering its worst heat wave in six decades, which has caused a power crunch and forced the shutdown in Sichuan. The extreme heat and drought have also damaged crops in many key farming areas and sent vegetable prices soaring.
On Tuesday’s meeting, Li urged the six major economic provinces to step up policy support for businesses in their regions and ensure smooth supply chains.
He also asked them to provide jobs for rural migrant workers and spur consumption demand among local populations, especially for big ticket items like cars and housing.
China has unveiled 19 new measures to shore up its economy and “secure drinking water” supply as the country continues to struggle with its worst heatwave in 60 years and rigid Covld lockdowns.
The new measures announced by China’s cabinet on Wednesday amount to more than 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) in funding to improve infrastructure, ease power shortages, and tackle drought, including money to secure rice production.
“The current economic recovery has a weak foundation,” the statement said, adding that the new funding was aimed at stabilizing the economy. Premier Li Keqiang hosted the cabinet meeting.
Beijing has tried to boost investment and consumption in the world’s second largest economy more than once this year. In May, the government announced 33 measures to revive growth.
Despite these interventions, the Chinese economy has deteriorated in recent months because of Covid lockdowns and a deepening property downturn. Analysts are also concerned about the impact China’s record-breaking heatwave and drought will have on growth. Already, several international businesses, including Tesla (TSLA) and Toyota (TM), have faced disruption at factories due to power outages.
Several major investment banks, including Goldman Sachs and Nomura, downgraded China’s economic growth forecasts for 2022 to 3% or under, as the heatwave hit industrial heartlands. This is way below 5.5% growth target that the Chinese government had set earlier this year.
With the central bank’s support, state development banks can lend out $44 billion to finance infrastructure projects, the statement said. That’s on top of $161 billion already committed in June.
Local governments will also be permitted to issue $73 billion in debt to fund the building of roads, railways, airports, affordable housing and energy projects. That’s in addition to 3.5 trillion yuan ($511 billion) of bonds they were given permission to issue for the same purposes earlier this year.
China’s No.2 admits economic recovery is at ‘most difficult point’
Li also urged all government departments to “do a better job” in battling the drought and mitigating its impacts. He called for more wells to be drilled, and more drought-resistant water sources to be developed, in addition to seeding clouds, which China resorted to earlier this month to bring more rainfall to the Yangtze River.
“Priority should be given to ensuring people’s drinking water, and to transport and deliver the water when necessary,” Li added.
The central government will also take 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) out of its reserve fund for drought relief, focusing on securing rice production during the key mid-season harvest for rice in the southern region.
“[We should] do everything possible to ensure agricultural irrigation water and help farmers fight the drought and protect their autumn crops,” Li said.
The government will support research into measures to promote a “bumper harvest” for late-season rice in the fall, he added.
China turns back to coal as record heatwave causes power shortages
Analysts weren’t optimistic about the impact of the new economic stimulus on the economy.
“These measures could help offset the sharp contraction in government revenue and support infrastructure investment growth to some degree in coming months,” said Goldman Sachs analysts in a note late Wednesday.
But they still expect overall growth to remain sluggish during the rest of this year, “barring major policy easing measures,” as a “very weak” property sector and headwinds from Covid lockdowns will continue to drag on the economy.
Trouble in the property sector — which accounts for as much as 30% of China’s GDP and was already suffering from a prolonged cash crunch — is exerting significant pressure.
The crisis has snowballed since sprawling developer Evergrande defaulted on its debt last year. Property prices have been falling, as have sales of new homes. Angry homebuyers across the country have threatened to stop paying their mortgages on unfinished homes, jolting markets and prompting businesses and authorities to take action to defuse the crisis.
Nomura analysts said the new stimulus measures wouldn’t be a “game changer.”
“The zero Covid policy continues consuming a large amount of local governments’ fiscal resources,” they said, adding that he property sector is “still in deep trouble.”
With climate change threatening crops, the Philippines government has made boosting agriculture one of its top priorities. But this may not be enough to avert the farming crisis.
The Philippines’ government announced more money to fight the agriculture crisis, raising the funding by 40% in comparison to last year. Around €3.3 billion ($3.3 billion) will be allocated for agriculture, which has been designated one of the government’s five top budget priorities alongside education, infrastructure, the health sector, and social protection.
The country’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., aims to transform agriculture “from being an economic laggard to one of the main drivers for growth and employment,” officials said in a statement. In June, the new president named himself agriculture minister.
Experts welcomed the funding hike with cautious optimism, pointing to devastating losses suffered by the Philippines’ farmers owing to natural disasters. These loses have worsened in recent years due to climate change.
Climate is key
According to economist Jan Carlo Punongbayan, the way to help agriculture is to fight the climate crisis.
“Unless the government puts climate change mitigation and management to the fore, agriculture will continue to be in the doldrums in decades to come,” Punongbayan told DW.
Situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines is one of the of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. The country experiences an average of 20 typhoons each year.
According to government data, the country’s agricultural output shrank last year by about 2.6% due to a decline in crops caused by adverse weather conditions. This comes against the background of international experts, such as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warning that stronger typhoons and longer dry spells are likely to massively disrupt agriculture worldwide and cause chronic food insecurity.
Harvest ‘literally washed away
Speaking to DW, environmentalist Ryan Bestre lamented that farmers in the Philippines do not get adequate government support in the form of subsidies and insurance to recover from natural disaster
“Their harvest and everything they have worked so hard for is literally washed away. Before they can even recover, another typhoon comes,” said Bestre. The activist is the founder of ‘I am Hampas Lupa’ — an organization that advocates for elevating the stature of farming by addressing the links between agriculture, climate change, and mindful food consumption.
“Our farmers, among the poorest of society, are the ones continuously whipped by the effects of climate change over and over again. Where is the justice in that?” asked Bestre.
Bestre and other environmental advocates are calling for “climate justice” and demanding accountability from big corporations they say are responsible for climate change.
“Climate justice is when Filipinos and other climate impacted communities around the world are protected with laws and that corporations responsible for climate change are held accountable,” said Virginia Benosa-Llorin from Greenpeace Philippines.
“Filipinos are at the front lines of a climate emergency,” she said.
Last May, the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights released a report on their inquiry on the effects of climate change on human rights. In the report, they called for enacting laws to curb corporations and businesses from committing human rights abuses.
“The impacts of climate change are cross-cutting among sectors and on the whole gamut of human rights, such as the rights to life, health, water, sanitation, education, and healthy environment,” said Roberto Cadiz, former CHR Commissioner who headed the inquiry.
“The issue of climate change is also an issue of climate justice, where those who contribute least to it are affected most by it,” Cadiz told DW.
Philippines running out of farmers
Agriculture in the Philippines also faces another issue — its image. The average Filipino farmer is 57-59 years old. Last year, the Department of Agriculture warned that declining employment in the agricultural sector combined with the ageing of farmers would contribute to a critical shortage of farmers in just 12 years.
But there are also youth groups who want to change the image of farming so that it doesn’t appear to be only for the old and the poor.
“The climate crisis is the defining crisis of our generation,” Antonio Flores from Farm Lab told DW.
Flores’ NGO works with farmers on implementing techniques that are less damaging to the environment.
“Agriculture and our farming communities will be the hardest hit but it also has immense potential to regenerate the earth,” he added.
Youth sector infusing hope in agriculture
Other activists, such as Norhaya Vasquez Demacaling, focus on raising a young generation of what they call agri-entrepreneurs — a new kind of Filipino farmers.
Demacaling is campus director for School for Experiential and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED) which aims to train thousands of students at three locations across the Philippines by 2024.
The 29-year-old told DW climate change has impacted the sustainability of farming as a job.
“The loss of income from farming contributes to the lack of confidence among local growers. Their children, who are expected to replace them, are avoiding agriculture-related careers because they see it as a one way ticket to poverty,” Demacaling said.
With a population of around 110 million, government data shows that in 2018 the number of Filipinos working in the agriculture sector sank to 9.9 million, the lowest since 1995.
“Through agri-entrepreneurship, we can make farming and agriculture fun, sexy, exciting and profitable,” said Demacaling.
Layoffs are on the rise in the midst of crypto winter
Assuming no redemptions, the combined company will be valued at $755 million, including debt, with an equity value of $885 million and up to $170 million in cash proceeds from the deal, according to a statement.
High rates of shareholder redemptions and regulatory concerns have dissuaded companies seeking to go public through the SPAC route stifling dealmaking in the sector which took wall Street by storm in the past two years.
Among companies that have recently scrapped their agreements to go public via SPACs include telecom services firm Syniverse Technologies, 3D printing firm Essentium Inc and travel technology platform HotelPlanner. read more
The deal, expected to close by the first quarter of next year, is being advised by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. The combined company will list on Nasdaq under the symbol ‘BTM’.
Angolans in the streets of Luanda remain hopeful after yesterday’s elections, saying they hope the ‘true’ results will soon become available. They say the young went out in large numbers to vote and chose leaders that will be ready to lead the next generation of Angolans but are discouraged by early predictions of a win for João Lourenço
Ballot counting began after polls closed on Wednesday in the oil-rich nation, where multi-party elections were only introduced in 1992.
Preliminary results published overnight by Angola’s electoral commission gave the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) 60.65 percent of the vote with 33 percent of ballots counted.
The main opposition group, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by charismatic leader Adalberto Costa Junior, was at 33.85 percent.
The MPLA has ruled Angola for nearly 50 years after the country gained independence from Portugal.
Residents in Luanda reacted with mixed feelings to the preliminary count that was given ample coverage by local media, with state newspaper Jornal de Angola’s front page on Thursday saying: “MPLA leads the count.”
Preliminary results published overnight by Angola’s electoral commission gave the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) 60.65 percent of the vote with 33 percent of ballots
“I voted for UNITA, and I do not believe in these results,” said Jorge, a 40-year-old mechanic who did not give his surname, accusing the electoral commission of being in cahoots with the ruling party.
“I feel really bad. The country is not going to change, it’s always the same story.”
Lourenco, a Soviet-educated former general who had promised a new era for the southern African nation when he succeeded veteran leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos five years ago, has trumpeted a list of achievements.
He is credited with making far-reaching reforms, including boosting financial transparency and efficiency in parastatal organizations, fighting sweeping nepotism and corruption, and promoting business-friendly policies to lure foreign investors.
“I am happy, the MPLA has given young people opportunities, there is more work and transparency,” said 27-year-old shopkeeper Madalena Antonio commenting on the early results.
“The government did what it could do. Things will get better.”
But UNITA’s deputy leader Abel Chivukuvuku said the party’s own tally showed it was ahead.
“Our poll counting centres… give us clear provisional indication of a winning trend for UNITA in all provinces of the country,” he told a live streamed night conference. “We are confident, calm and tranquil.”
The MPLA traditionally wields a grip over the electoral process, and state media and opposition and civic groups have raised fears of voter tampering.
Results in past elections have been contested, in a process that can take several weeks.
More than 14 million people were registered to vote.
The election has been overshadowed by Angola’s many woes — a struggling economy, inflation, poverty and drought, compounded by the death of a former strongman president.
Angola is Africa’s second largest crude producer, but the oil bonanza also nurtured corruption and nepotism under dos Santos, who died in Spain last month.
The low-key, night-time repatriation of his remains in the final leg of campaigning has added a macabre touch to the election.
Dos Santos will be buried on Sunday, which would have been his 80th birthday.
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