Your entire health is directly related to your ability to maintain a nutritious diet. Before you can begin to lose weight, you must first be in shape and maintain a nutritious diet.
Your eating habits have a significant influence on your weight loss or weight gain, according to a study. In order to get the benefits of your workouts, you must supplement them with the necessary minerals and vitamins that your body requires.
The inclusion of meals that will not have an influence on your weight loss will increase the likelihood that your meal plan will be effective.
Food Satiety Index
The satiety index is an indicator of how satisfied a meal makes you feel, which may help you eat less and burn more calories overall. Certain foods, when ingested in big amounts, contain less calories than others because of their lower energy density and weight.
Protein-rich diets may also help you lose weight. A high protein intake is required by those who participate in regular physical exercise due to the fact that it helps them feel full while also helping them to put on muscle.
India’s Supreme Court will hold a hearing on a petition challenging the release last week of 11 Hindu men convicted of the gang rape of a pregnant Muslim woman during Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002 in the western state of Gujarat.
Dozens of women in Mumbai protested on Tuesday against their release and carried placards demanding justice for the victim, who said last week she had not been told the men would be freed and that it had shaken her faith in justice.
Her 3-year-old daughter was among those killed during one of India’s worst religious riots. More than 1,000 people died during the violence, most of them Muslims.
The petition has been brought by a group of women including Subhashini Ali, a politician and member of the Communist Party of India; Revati Laul, an independent journalist; and Mahua Moitra, a member of parliament from the opposition Trinamool Congress Party, attorney Kapil Sibal said.
Sibal said the court had agreed to hear their public interest litigation petition demanding the men serve their full life sentences. No date has yet been set for the hearing.
Critics contend that freeing the convicts contradicts the government’s stated policy of supporting women in a country with numerous, well-documented instances of violence against them.
Authorities in the Panchmahals district of Gujarat released the men last Monday after considering the time they had served after their conviction in 2008 and their behaviour while jailed.
A senior Gujarat state official overseeing the release said the convicts had completed 14 years in jail and were allowed free after the Supreme Court directed authorities to consider their plea for leniency under a 1992 remission policy.
The months-long riots were triggered after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims caught fire. Hindus accused Muslims of setting the fire in which 59 pilgrims died, but Muslims said the train attack was part of a conspiracy to target their community. Several Muslims were convicted for the attack on the train.
Current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Gujarat’s chief minister at the time of the riots and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party continues to rule the state.
The final three places in the Champions League group stage will be confirmed on Wednesday.
Scottish giants Rangers travel to PSV Eindhoven with their tie finely poised at 2-2, while Bodo/Glimt hold a narrow 1-0 advantage over Dinamo Zagreb and FC Copenhagen lead Trabzonspor 2-1 after the first game.
All six teams will feel they have a chance of making it into the group draw for Europe’s elite club competition, while the losers will drop into the group stage of the Europa League.
PSV Eindhoven vs Rangers (Wednesday, 8pm)
Last week’s Ibrox showdown ended all square when PSV equalised with 12 minutes to go through Armando Obispo and the Eredivisie side will now believe they can progress to the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2018-19.
Rangers are hoping to end a 12-year absence as they look to follow up on their fantastic run to last season’s Europa League final.
The stats
PSV have won their first two league games in the Netherlands in impressive fashion, kicking off with a 4-1 home victory over Emmen and then hammering Go Ahead Eagles 5-2.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side have had a week to prepare for the second leg and will hope to see off Rangers after edging out Monaco in the third qualifying round 4-3 on aggregate.
The Gers dropped their first points in the Scottish Premiership at the weekend when they were held 2-2 by Hibernian to make it 10 points from a possible 12 at the start of the campaign.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men progressed past Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in the previous round thanks to a stunning 3-0 second-leg win at home to wipe out a 2-0 first-leg deficit.
Prediction
Van Bronckhorst has left Alfredo Morelos out of his squad, reportedly due to concerns about his fitness and attitude after the striker was sent off against Hibs on Saturday.
His absence makes what was already a difficult task even harder for the visitors, who will be wary of a PSV side who have hit 20 goals in their six competitive games so far this season.
Rangers have managed 15 goals in their seven games in all competitions and have Antonio Colak in fine form with four goals in his last five matches, so they should at least be able to get on the scoresheet in what may be a narrow overall defeat.
Dinamo Zagreb vs Bodo/Glimt (Wednesday, 8pm)
Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt won the first leg 1-0 on home soil but Croatian opponents Dinamo Zagreb will be aiming to hit back in the return leg at the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb.
The stats
A first-leg goal from Amahl Pellegrino separates the sides and means Bodo/Glimt are dreaming of securing a place in the Champions League group stage for the first time in their history.
They have made it this far thanks to wins over KI Klaksvik, Linfield and Zalgiris in the three qualifying rounds and they sit third in the Norwegian top flight, seven points off the top.
Kjetil Knutsen’s side have won six of their last seven league games — the only slip-up in that spell coming at the weekend when they were held to a 2-2 draw by HamKam.
Kjetil Knutsen’s Bodo/Glimt have made a fantastic start to the season
Dinamo Zagreb sit at the top of the table in Croatia, having won five of their first six games this season, and beat Osijek 5-2 at the weekend.
Ante Cacic’s side have made it to the play-off round after beating Shkupi and Ludogorets in the earlier qualifying rounds and are aiming to return to the Champions League group stage for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
Prediction
Bodo/Glimt’s run through the qualifying rounds has been eye-catching but they come up against an in-form Dinamo side who have won their last four home games in all competitions, scoring at least four goals on each occasion.
The visitors have relied on home form to get them this far, losing two of their three away qualifiers and another defeat on the road seems likely to end their Champions League group stage hopes.
Trabzonspor vs FC Copenhagen (Wednesday, 8pm)
Danish champions Copenhagen hold a 2-1 advantage in this tie thanks to goals from Viktor Claesson and Lukas Lerager and now Jess Thorup’s side will look to finish the job in Turkey.
The stats
Copenhagen have not been in the Champions League group stage since 2016-17 while Trabzonspor’s sole appearance in the main draw came back in 2011-12.
Copenhagen are fifth in the Danish Superliga after picking up a disappointing nine points from their first six games, while Trabzonspor won their first two domestic league matches before going down to a 5-2 defeat to Antalyaspor at the weekend.
Prediction
With a slender advantage to defend, the visitors can progress but it could be a nervy and dramatic night in Trabzon.
Copenhagen won 3-0 last time out in the Danish top flight at Lyngby and have scored at least two goals in five of their last six matches overall, so they clearly have the firepower to edge past the hosts in what could be a high-scoring second leg.
Voters in the oil-rich African nation of Angola will go to the polls on Wednesday to decide who will lead the country — the party that has been in power for nearly five decades, or an opposition promising a fresh start especially for disaffected youth.
Lourenço wrapped up his campaign on Monday, claiming to have built “a new Angola.”
“There have been exactly five years since the moment we started this mandate that is ending now,” he said at a campaign ceremony at the weekend. “We worked during this mandate to make Angola a new Angola, an Angola that is better accepted by the Angolans but also by the international community.”
Angola is the second-biggest oil producer in Africa but the country’s vast oil wealth does not trickle down to many of its impoverished citizens.
A former Portuguese colony, Angola emerged from the wreckage of a 27-year civil war to become one of the continent’s major economic players.
Lourenço was the hand-picked successor to dos Santos, who ruled the country for 38 years and made himself and his family enormously wealthy.
His daughter Isabel dos Santos became very powerful during his reign and at one point was the richest woman in Africa.
The anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International in 2017 said that “nepotism and cronyism” under dos Santos had “stopped ordinary Angolans from benefiting from the country’s natural resource wealth, especially when oil prices were high.”
The former President dos Santos died last month while in Spain and his funeral will be held at the end of the tense election period.
Lourenço vowed to improve the economy but the World Bank says that in rural parts of the country, more than half of the population lives in poverty.
Angola’s capital, Luanda, is also one of the most expensive cities in the world, with a large expat population working in the country’s oil and gas sector.
“We are not content or happy with the government actions, we await more from them,” Luanda resident Pedro Simao told CNN, while street vendor Madalena Mondole said she sees no benefit in voting.
“If you ask me to vote I have no one to vote for, because even if I vote no one will help my son in life,” Mondole said.
The outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Wednesday, marking six months since Russia begun its full-scale invasion of the country which also falls on Ukraine’s Independence Day.
Announcing the visit on Twitter, 10 Downing Street shared an image of Johnson speaking to Zelensky outside the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv and added Johnson’s message was: “Ukraine can and will win this war.”
Johnson has been one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine as it tries to defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked assault and the trip on Wednesday was his third visit to the Ukrainian capital since the war started in late February.
He became one of the first foreign leaders to make the precarious trip to the Ukrainian capital in late April, then returned on another surprise visit in June.
Johnson has forged a close relationship with Zelensky, who said he was sad to see the British PM leave office when the ruling Conservative Party forced him to resign in July.
On Wednesday, Zelensky presented Johnson with a parting gift, awarding him the Order of Freedom for “the work that Boris has been doing for our country and all of Europe.”
The UK has poured more than £2.3 billion ($2.71 billion) into military and financial aid to Ukraine since the invasion began, according to a statement from Downing Street.
On Wednesday, the UK government announced it will provide Ukraine with mine-hunting vehicles, drones and loitering munitions worth £54 million ($63.5 million).
On August 23, 2022, he said in a statement to GhanaWeb on the sidelines of a National Tax Forum: “We need to pay taxes. We can’t hold the government accountable if we don’t pay taxes. Because that is our responsibility as good citizens. That being said, I know we say that government must account for the taxes better.
“Government is responsible for that, but at the end of the day, we need to pay our taxes. Because if we don’t pay our taxes, we don’t have the right to make certain demands from the government,” Yofi Grant stated.
Speakers at the tax forum stated that Ghanaians must pay their taxes to aid developmental projects in the country.
They called on the government to address the loopholes in the tax system instead of imposing more taxes.
Officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the military deployed to insatll prepaid meter at Nuaso Old Town in Kroboland have been asked to halt their operations.
This comes after some residents of Nuaso in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipalityof the Eastern Region accused the deployed military officials of assults.
The aggrieved residents, while recounting their ordeal, stated that some military officials deployed to assist the ECG officials to install prepaid metres unleashed attacks on residents who refused to comply.
Following, this incident, Madam Sakyiwaa Mensah stated that the ECG and Military officials experienced some resistance at Nuaso Old Town during the prepaid meter installation at Krobo in the Eastern Region, she said, adding that; “A woman threatened to pour hot oil on the ECG personnel and the Military as well.â€
She said a crowd started amassing around one of the team, during which the Military was able to retrieve a cutlass from a man.
Ms Mensah said there had been reports of constant verbal abuse and attacks on the personnel undertaking the installation at Nuaso Old Town, however the exercise was going on smoothly in other parts of Krobo land, including Nuaso Newtown.
She said the Company condemned the alleged attacks and called for peace and calm for its officials to discharge their duties.
She expressed its appreciation for the collaboration of its customers and the public in the area to ensure the success of the prepaid metering exercise.
According to him, this will enable these contractors to move quickly and meet their deadlines.
“We (government) will not shy away from cancelling or terminating any contract which is not going very well,” he said.
“This is a project where we have at least given at least 10 percent mobilization to all the contractors who have started work and I believe they should start mobilizations to get enough materials and work very fast,†he added.
Agenda 111 project falls under government’s plan to build 111 districts and regional hospitals across the country.
An amount of $100 million was set aside for the commencement funding for the project.
The Gunners are said to be in the market for a new forward ahead of the transfer deadline next week, with Neto reportedly lined up as a target to replace Nicolas Pepe said to be closing in on a loan move to Nice.
Lage is not surprised the London club may want Neto, but has not been told there is an offer on the table.
“I have heard that but nothing has come to us,” Lage said.
“It’s normal now, with the good players that we have. Teams are looking for good players in the same way we are looking for [Goncalo] Guedes, Matheus [Nunes], [Nathan] Collins. No one told me anything about any proposal.”
Neto signed a five-year contract with Wolves in March, but Arsenal are said to be have held talks over a transfer with agent Jorge Mendes, who represents Neto and has close ties to Wolves.
Pedro Neto has a fight with and inflatable man and manages to ð’…ð’“ð’‚ð’˜?
According to renowned broadcaster Kwasi Kyei Darkwa, often known as KKD, the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, is receiving directives from some people in the Presidency.
KKD asserted that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has not been able to sack appointees who are failing in their duties and those who are engaging in all forms of corrupt activities because the chief of staff is being influenced.
The broadcaster in an interview on Onua Tv, added that what is happening under Frema Osei-Opare will never happen under the Chief of Staff of ex-President John Agyakum Kufour, Kojo Mpiani.
“My uncle Kojo Mpiani told President Kufuor that he had to sack his brother Richard (an appointee at the Ministry of Health). Kufour pleaded on behalf of Richard, saying that he has helped the country with the work he has done at the Ministry of Health, but Mpiani insisted that he had to be sacked for impregnating a woman at a conference he attended.
“He (Richard) was a good friend of Kufuor, but he was sacked because he (Kufuor) had a Chief of Staff who had power. But look at what is happening now.
“Frema is not a bad person but is she given a chance to do her job, or are some people beneath her instructing her on what to do? The Chief of Staff is supposed to fire appointees of the president if they fail in their duties or are engaging in corrupt activities,” he said in Twi.
KKD made these remarks as he was criticizing President Akufo-Addo for his failure to achieve his promise of protecting the public purse.
He questioned why the president, who seems to have good intentions, surrounded himself with corrupt people.
He added that the president has also failed in his promise not to make his government an avenue to enrich themselves.
The event’s organizers, Guzakuza, claim that women are making significant contributions to agriculture and that it is time to acknowledge and recognize their efforts.
On Tuesday, August 23, at the kickoff in Accra, Akosua Duah, the program coordinator for Women in Agribusiness Week, said, “We feel that women are achieving a lot, especially when it comes to agribusiness.
To recognize and honor the accomplishments of outstanding women in the agriculture community who have gone above and above and paved the way for others to follow, we have been administering an award program for the past year.
“Last year, five women who are leaders in African agribusiness were awarded for their achievements in the following categories: Agtech Innovation, Covid 19 Agribusiness Resilience, Dare to defy, sustainable green innovation, and the role model excellence.
“We have new and revised categories this year to appeal to a wider range of trailblazers from the various points of the agric value chain and network. Today, we will be unveiling 35 categories,” Ms Duah added.
She noted that agriculture plays a vital role in the African economy, yet they often go unnoticed
The Women in Agribusiness Awards is part of a week-long celebration that comes off from October 24 to October 29 in Greater Accra, Ashanti and Northern Regions.
The Ghana Mines Workers Union has called on the Government to beef up security around concessions of legal mining operators in mining areas across the country.
The call was necessitated by the growing insecurity and attacks on the legal mine workers.
According to him, to continue to engage in the mining business, the disgruntled miners have resorted to invading the concessions of legal miners leading to threats and attacks.
Mr Gbana while highlighting that also called for a government review of the contract with foreign mining companies to increase local participation.
“We should relook at the 90:10 per cent agreement and shift from tax regime to value addition for greater benefits.
The narrative should change because Ghanaians must be directly involved. This requires capacity building and state intervention and support,†he stated.
He made the calls when the union met with the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources in charge on Mines, George Mireku Duker, in Accra.
The Minister on his part assured that the government was reviewing most of the contract agreements to increase local participation.
“We would ensure increased local content participation, not only for the welfare of workers but also outsourcing of some production activities and technology transfer to Ghanaians†Mr Mireku Duker said.
Vladimir Putin will “increase his disruption” in the West as he gets “deeper into trouble” in Ukraine, former British ambassador to Russia, Sir Roderic Lyne, has said.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Lyne said: “I think he will try to encourage more conflict in the Balkans. I think we may well see the Russians being even more active in the east and in north Africa.”
The ambassador also said that he thought the Russian leader would “at some point” offer some kind of a ceasefire in return for recognition of annexation of four western provinces of Ukraine.
“I think he’s going to use a range of tactics as the situation on the ground in Ukraine becomes more and more difficult for his troops,” he continued.
Mr Lyne also said Ukrainian troops would not surrender their freedom and the conflict would most likely continue at a “much lower intensity”.
He said: “The intensity is going to go down as both sides are pretty exhausted, pretty depleted. And I think we’re heading into a sort of stalemate with intermittent fighting across the line of control and a long, drawn out war of attrition.”
The ambassador went on to say that Mr Putin had a “total obsession” with Ukraine and believed “pummelling” will allow him to win the war.
“There’s really no end in sight. It’s not just the last six months. This war has been going on for eight and a half years. And Putin has a total obsession with Ukraine,” he said.
“The Ukrainians are now fighting for their survival. They’re fighting for their freedom, fighting for their territory, and they’re not going to give up.
“We’d all love this horrible stop tomorrow. I’m afraid it’s not going to do so because Putin thinks that he can win a war of attrition.
“He thinks that if he goes on pummelling Ukraine, he rebuilds his military forces, that eventually and I do mean a long way down the road that he can win.
“I don’t believe he can, so long as Western support holds up for Ukraine.”
As Ukraine marks its independence day, here is a timeline of the main events in its political history since it won independence from the Russian-dominated Soviet Union in 1991 (it is also worth noting that the country we now call Ukraine was independent from Russia before the Soviet Union).
1991: The leader of the Soviet republic of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, declares independence from Moscow. In a referendum and presidential election, Ukrainians overwhelmingly back independence and elect Mr Kravchuk president.
1994: Mr Kravchuk is replaced by Leonid Kuchma and Ukraine also agrees to relinquish its nuclear arsenal inherited from Soviet times – in return for security assurances.
2004: Pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovich is declared president but allegations of vote-rigging trigger protests in what becomes known as the Orange Revolution, forcing a re-run of the vote. A pro-Western former prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, is later elected president.
2005: Viktor Yanukovich takes power with promises to lead Ukraine out of the Kremlin’s orbit, towards NATO and the European Union.
2013: Mr Yanukovich’s government suspends trade and association talks with the EU in November and opts to revive economic ties with Moscow, triggering months of mass rallies in Kyiv. Mr Putin accuses the West of inciting and supporting the protests.
2014: The protests, largely focused around Kyiv’s Maidan Square, turn violent and dozens of protesters are killed. In February, the parliament votes to remove Mr Yanukovich, who flees.
Within days, armed men seize parliament in Crimea and raise the Russian flag. Moscow annexes the territory after a 16 March referendum which shows overwhelming support in Crimea for joining Russia.
April 2014: Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region declare independence. Fighting breaks out and continues sporadically into 2022, despite frequent ceasefires.
July 2014: A missile brings down passenger plane MH17 over eastern Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board. Investigators trace back the weapon used to Russia, which denies involvement.
2017: President Petro Poroshenko, a pro-Western billionaire businessman in power since May 2014, clinches an association agreement with the EU on free trade of goods and services. Ukrainians also gain the right to visa-free travel to the EU.
2019: Former comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy defeats Mr Poroshenko in an April presidential election on promises to tackle endemic corruption and end the war in eastern Ukraine.
2021: Mr Zelenskyy appeals in January to US President Joe Biden to let Ukraine join NATO.
2022: Vladimir Putin signs agreements to recognise the breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.
Russian troops then invade the country on 24 February.
Footage of the arrest showed Mr Roizman, former mayor of the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, telling reporters that he was being investigated under a law against discrediting the armed forces as he was taken away by law enforcement officials.
Mr Roizman said he was being arrested “basically for one phrase, the invasion of Ukraine’”.
Asked where he had used the phrase, he replied: “I’ve said it everywhere and I’ll say it now.”
State news agency TASS cited Yekaterinburg security services as confirming the reason for the arrest, saying Mr Roizman was being investigated for “discrediting the Russian army”.
The offence, which was introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, carries a prison sentence of up to five years.
Mr Roizman, an outspoken supporter of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, became one of Russia’s most prominent opposition figures in 2013, after he was elected mayor of Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth largest city.
He said: “Putin’s main priority is to rebuild the Soviet empire and Ukraine is a very important puzzle in his plans.
“Right now we’re fighting for our independence. We are fighting also for you, for everyone . We are fighting for our values, for democratic values and for a democratic future.”
He also said Ukraine wanted to “build a European country” with “democratic values, human rights, and press freedom”.
“This is not accepted from Russian Federation,” he added.
Mr Klitschko also urged Western countries to stop trade relationships with Russia.
“If you send money to Russia, they will not use it for the economy and won’t invest this money for their population,” he said.
“If you send money to Russia, it is bloody money and the blood on this money is Ukrainian blood. Please stop trade relationships with Russia.”
These images show destroyed Russian military vehicles located on a street in Kyiv as the country marks its independence from Soviet rule today.
Authorities in the capital have banned large-scale gatherings until Thursday, fearing the national holiday might bring particularly heavy Russian missile attacks.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the public to be vigilant.
Speaking at his weekly general audience, the pontiff said: “I hope that concrete steps will be taken to bring an end to the war and to avert the risk of a nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia.”
The religious leader also condemned wars as “madness” and referred to the death of Darya Dugina, the daughter of prominent Russian ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin, who was killed in a car bombing near Moscow on Saturday.
“Innocents pay for war, innocents,” he said.
On Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it would visit the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant within days if talks to gain access succeed.
Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of firing at the facility, the largest of its kind in Europe, after Russian forces seized control of the plant earlier this year.
Merseyside Police said the 35-year-old man, suspected to have been the target of the shooting, has been detained in hospital on a prison recall after breaching the terms of his licence.
He will be recalled to prison to serve the remainder of his licence. He will be further questioned in connection with the murder and remains in a stable condition, the force added.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel was killed by a masked attacker who had chased a man into her terraced home in Kingsheath Avenue, in the Dovecot area of the city, on Monday night.
Her mother had opened the front door after hearing a commotion outside, and a man being pursued forced his way into the house in an attempt to get away from the shooter.
Olivia’s mother Cheryl Korbel, 46, was shot in the wrist as she tried to close the door on the gunman, who fired indiscriminately into the house.
The youngster was fatally shot by the same bullet as she stood behind her.
The man who had entered the family home suffered gunshot wounds to his upper body and, as Olivia lay dying, was picked up and taken to hospital by friends driving a dark-coloured Audi which has since been seized by police.
Officers arrived and found Olivia with a gunshot injury to her chest
They took Olivia to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where she later died.
Mrs Korbel, who was taken to another hospital by paramedics, is recovering from her gunshot wound.
Police have been conducting house-to-house enquiries and reviewing CCTV footage.
The gunman was described as wearing a black padded jacket, a black balaclava with a peak, dark trousers and black gloves.
He fired shots at two men as they walked along Kingsheath Avenue, causing both to run away – one of them into Olivia’s house.
The country‘s opposition parties brought forward a case that Mr Prayuth has overstayed his term in office.
Thailand’s constitution limits prime ministers to eight years in office.
Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power in a military coup in 2014, and retained office in 2019 under a military government-guided election.
A final ruling is still due, but the court ordered Mr Prayuth’s suspension while it considers the case.
It comes as he has over the past few years been facing growing opposition, though he survived a no-confidence vote against him last month.
Protesters had earlier gathered outside parliament buildings in the capital, Bangkok, demanding his resignation.
Opponents and activists pushing for Mr Prayuth’s removal had argued his term began when as junta leader, he seized power in the May 2014 coup and was appointed the prime minister of the new military government in August 2014. Thus his term, should end this week, they argued.
However his supporters say his term only began in 2017 – when a new constitution came into force- or even after a general election in 2019 that saw him elected into power.
Under these terms, he could technically continue serving until 2027 – if he wins an upcoming general election.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, 77, also a former army chief, will likely become the interim prime minister, according to the cabinet line of succession.
The Chairman of the Council of State, Nana Otuo Siriboe, has reportedly requested all members to cease their vacation and show up to the meeting that is due to take place today, August 24, 2022.
They will have the chance to learn about the economic issues, particularly the devaluation of the cedi, at the meeting so they can advise President Akufo-Addo in accordance with their constitutional obligations.
“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 report read.
The economy has in recent times been experiencing a downturn, with citizens lamenting the increased cost of living.
Ghana’s inflation rate for the month of July was 31.7% per data put out by the Ghana Statistical Service.
The recent developments prompted the government to initiate contact with the International Monetary Fund for a programme.
Amid the downturn, international rating agencies such as Fitch and Standards and Poor have downgraded Ghana’s economy. The Cedi as well has also been experiencing a free fall, with the exchange rate pegged at GH₵10 to a US dollar at some forex bureaus.
Everton manager Frank Lampard has stated that nothing has changed on the future of Anthony Gordon amid strong links of a move away from Goodison Park.
It has been reported that Chelsea could be ready to pay up to £60million to take the 21-year-old to Stamford Bridge, while Tottenham and Newcastle United have also apparently been interested.
After the departure of last season’s top goalscorer Richarlison to Spurs and the injury to striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, it has fallen on Gordon to lead the line at the start of this campaign.
Gordon started on the bench for Everton’s EFL cup game with Fleetwood Town on Tuesday and Lampard opted not to bring him in on in the 1-0 victory, amid rumours that Chelsea are preparing a new bid having reportedly already seen multiple offers exceeding £40m rejected by Everton.
But Lampard says that nothing has changed yet, telling talkSPORT: “He’s our player and the latest is the same as what I said after the game against Nottingham Forest.
“He’s our player and he’s got three years left on his contract. We’re aware of the interest of Chelsea as the world is now.
“This situation has to be right for Everton Football Club and for me as the coach of the team so we’re in the same position that we were a few days ago.”
India‘s government has sacked three air force officers for the “accidental firing of a missile” into Pakistan in March.
The incident had escalated tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations.
Delhi had blamed the “deeply regrettable” incident on a “technical malfunction” during routine maintenance.
Islamabad warned Delhi to “be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence” and to avoid a repeat.
The officers responsible for the 9 March incident have been terminated from service, the Indian Air Force said in a statement on Tuesday.
It added that an investigation had found that “deviation of Standard Operating Procedure” by the officers had led to the accidental firing of the BrahMos missile.
The BrahMos is a nuclear-capable cruise missile, jointly developed by Russia and India.
Pakistan’s air force said the missile travelled at Mach 3 – three times the speed of sound – at an altitude of 12,000m (40,000ft) and flew 124km (77 miles) in Pakistani airspace before crashing.
The military said that the missile had “endangered many passenger and international flights in Indian and Pakistani airspace” as well as “human life and property on the ground.”
India’s Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, had said after the incident that India prioritised the “safety and security” of its weapon system and that shortcomings found in the system would be rectified after an inquiry.
India and Pakistan share a hostile relationship, with both countries wanting to claim stake over Kashmir, though they control only parts of it.
The two nations have fought wars over the disputed territory in the past, and Delhi has frequently accused its neighbour of backing separatist militants in Kashmir – an accusation Islamabad denies.
Dozens of people were left stranded for hours inside the Channel Tunnel after a train from Calais to Folkestone appeared to have broken down.
Footage emerged showing Eurotunnel Le Shuttle passengers being evacuated through an emergency service tunnel after having to abandon their vehicles.
They were eventually transferred to a replacement train and taken to the Folkestone terminal in Kent.
A Eurotunnel spokesman said services were now back to normal.
Le Shuttle said Tuesday night’s incident began when the train’s alarms went off and this needed to be investigated.
A spokesman said such incidents were unusual but not exceptional – far more common on trains carrying lorries than those with private cars.
“The Shuttle was brought to a controlled stop and inspected. As a precautionary measure, for their safety and comfort, we transferred the passengers on board to another shuttle, via the service tunnel (which is there for exactly that purpose),” the spokesman said.
“We brought them to the passenger terminal building, where food and drinks were available, and then slowly brought out the original shuttle and reunited them with their vehicles.”
Sarah Fellows, 37, from Birmingham, told the PA news agency she found the service tunnel “terrifying”.
She added: “It was like a disaster movie. You were just walking into the abyss not knowing what was happening. We all had to stay under the sea in this big queue.
“There was a woman crying in the tunnel, another woman having a panic attack who was travelling alone.”
Another passenger, who did not want to be named, said: “Several people were freaking out about being down in the service tunnel, it’s a bit of a weird place… We were stuck down there for at least five hours.”
All those on board the train were transferred at 20:22 BST (19:22 GMT) “in line with safety procedures and as a comfort measure”, Le Shuttle said.
A passenger contacted the BBC before 17:45 saying they were on the train which had stopped. The passenger complained of poor communication, with the public address system not working properly.
A Le Shuttle spokesperson later said that passenger traffic was light on the Folkestone side.
Four additional trains were laid on overnight from Calais to Folkestone to deal with the backlog from the incident.
But customers travelling from Calais were advised not to travel to the terminal on Tuesday night.
“Due to the earlier train fault, we advise you not to travel to the terminal tonight,” Le Shuttle added. “Please arrive after 6am tomorrow.”
The service transports passengers and their vehicles between Folkestone and Calais.
At 37.9 kilometres (23.5 mi), it has the longest underwater section of any tunnel in the world.
There were about 100 vehicles on the halted shuttle.
Le Shuttle said all passengers would be contacted individually to arrange compensation.
Since moving to England for £51 million (€60 million) from Borussia Dortmund, Haaland has established himself well, scoring three goals in as many Premier League games for the league leaders.
In the race to sign the Norway international, City beat out some of the biggest clubs in the world, including defending LaLiga and Champions League champion Real Madrid.
Madrid talisman Benzema played an instrumental role during their successful 2021-22 season, top-scoring in both competitions along the way, while he recently surpassed Raul (323) as the club’s second-leading marksman of all-time behind only Cristiano Ronaldo (450).
The 34-year-old appears certain to be in the running for the top prize at this year’s Ballon d’Or awards, and his recent exploits have provided inspiration for a player 12 years his junior.
“I don’t know what will happen, but it must always be about learning, about developing,” Haaland told FourFourTwo. “You can never stop looking for new ways to become better.
“Look at Karim Benzema at Real Madrid. He’s 34 now and suddenly, he’s developed into an even better player over the last couple of years that’s insanely good. I want to always do that.”
The Council of State has reportedly invited Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, over the cedi’s depreciation.
According to a Daily Guide newspaper report, the Chairman of the Council of State, Nana Otuo Siriboe, has asked all members to halt their recess and attend the meeting scheduled for today, August 24, 2022.
The meeting is to afford them the opportunity to be briefed on the economic challenges, particularly the cedi depreciation in order to advise President Akufo-Addo per their constitutional mandate.
Meanwhile, it is expected that the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen, will attend the meeting owing to the non-availability of Ken Ofori-Atta.
“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 report read.
The economy has in recent times been experiencing a downturn, with citizens lamenting the increased cost of living.
Ghana’s inflation rate for the month of July was 31.7% per data put out by the Ghana Statistical Service.
The recent developments prompted the government to initiate contact with the International Monetary Fund for a programme.
Amid the downturn, international rating agencies such as Fitch and Standards and Poor have downgraded Ghana’s economy. The Cedi as well has also been experiencing a free fall, with the exchange rate pegged at GH₵10 to a US dollar at some forex bureaus.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainians in an emotional speech marking 31 years of independence on Wednesday that their country had been “reborn” when Russia invaded and that it would never give up its fight for freedom from Moscow’s domination.
In a recorded speech aired on the six-month anniversary of Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, Zelenskiy said Ukraine no longer saw the war ending when the fighting stopped but when Kyiv finally emerged victorious.
“A new nation appeared in the world on Feb. 24 at 4 o’clock in the morning. It was not born, but reborn. A nation that did not cry, scream or take fright. One that did not flee. Did not give up. And did not forget,” he said.
The 44-year-old wartime leader delivered the speech in combat fatigues in front of central Kyiv’s towering monument to independence from the Russian-dominated Soviet Union that broke up in 1991.
Zelenskiy underscored Ukraine‘s hardening war stance that opposes any kind of compromise that would allow Moscow to lock in territorial gains, including swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine captured over the past six months.
“We will not sit down at the negotiating table out of fear, with a gun pointed at our heads. For us, the most terrible iron is not missiles, aircraft and tanks, but shackles. Not trenches, but fetters,” he said.
He vowed that Ukraine would recapture lost territory in the industrial Donbas region in the east as well as the peninsula of Crimea that Russia annexed in 2014.
“What for us is the end of the war? We used to say: peace. Now we say: victory,” he said.
Ukrainians are bracing for a prolonged war – and a brutal winter of energy shortages – after pushing back Russian forces at the start of what Moscow describes as a “special military operation” and preventing the fall of Kyiv.
Western military sources now say Russian forces are making little headway in their offensive operation in Ukraine’s eastern and southern territories, comparing the fighting to the slow, bloody, attritional fighting of World War One.
The streets of central Kyiv were unusually empty on Wednesday morning following days of dire warnings that Russia could launch fresh missile attacks on major cities. An air raid siren rang out in the capital at 0740 GMT.
The United States will turn over to Nigeria $23 million taken by former military ruler Sani Abacha, officials said at an event to sign the agreement on Tuesday.
Nigeria has reached several agreements to return stolen cash in recent years. Abacha ruled Africa‘s most populous nation and top oil exporter from 1993 until his death in 1998, during which time Transparency International estimated that he took up to $5 billion of public money. He was never charged.
U.S. Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard said the cash was in UK accounts but was identified and frozen by U.S. officials. She added that including the latest deal, the United States had agreed to repatriate more than $334.7 million linked to Abacha.
Attorney General Abubakar Malami said the funds would be used for infrastructure projects, including the Abuja-Kano road, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the second Niger bridge under the supervision of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).
“The president’s mandate to my office is to ensure that all international recoveries are transparently invested and monitored by civil society organizations to compete for these three projects within the agreed timeline,” Malami.
The U.S. Justice Department has previously said that Nigeria must use money repatriated from funds looted by Abacha on agreed public projects or be forced to “replace” it https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-nigeria-corruption-idUSL8N2CI8QA.
The Ghana Mines Workers Union is worried about what it describes as growing insecurity and attacks on mine workers in mining areas. The Union claim the attacks and insecurity were being perpetrated by some disgruntled and displaced small-scale illegal miners. They, thus, want Government to address the trend which appears to be gaining grounds.
Mr Abdul-Moomin Gbana, Secretary to the Union, made the allegations during a meeting with Mr George Mireku Duker, a Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, in-charge of Mines, in Accra.
He said since the illegal miners were displaced, they had devised a plan of invading the concessions of legal mining operators, thus resulting in frequent threats and attacks.
Mr Gbana pleaded with the government to beef up security in those areas, by deploying the police or the military to halt such attacks on its members.
He also asked the Ministry to investigate the conditions of service of local mine workers since most of them did not have well-defined employment contracts.
He noted that most of the mine workers were engaged on a temporary basis by the large-scale foreign mining firms without any proper employment contract and job security.
Mr Gbana underscored the need for a review of the contracts with some foreign mining firms to increase local participation and welfare.
“We should relook at the 90 to 10 per cent agreement and shift from tax regime to value addition for greater benefits.
“The narrative should change because Ghanaians must be directly involved. This requires capacity building and state intervention and support,†Mr Gbana stressed.
The Deputy Minister indicated that the Government was reviewing most of the contract agreements it had signed with the mining companies to improve the benefits to Ghanaians.
“We would ensure increased local content participation, not only for the welfare of workers but also outsourcing of some production activities and technology transfer to Ghanaians,†he said.
Twitter is exceptionally vulnerable to exploitation by foreign governments in ways that threaten US national security, and may even have foreign spies currently active on its payroll, according to Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, the whistleblower at the center of a massive public disclosure effort reported Tuesday by CNN and The Washington Post.
A combination of weak cybersecurity controls and poor judgment has repeatedly exposed Twitter to numerous foreign intelligence risks, according to Zatko, who was Twitter’s head of security from November 2020 until he was fired in January.
From taking money from untrusted Chinese sources to proposing the company give into Russian censorship and surveillance demands, Twitter execs including now-CEO Parag Agrawal have knowingly put Twitter users and employees at risk in the pursuit of short-term growth, Zatko alleges.
CNN sought comment from Twitter on more than 50 distinct questions in response to the overall disclosure, along with specific questions on the allegations outlined in this story. Twitter did not respond to CNN’s questions on foreign intelligence risks, but a company spokesperson has said Zatko’s allegations overall are “riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and lacks important context.”
The national security allegations are part of an explosive, nearly 200-page disclosure to Congress, the Justice Department and federal regulators that accuses Twitter’s leadership of covering up critical company vulnerabilities and defrauding the public.
Zatko, a longtime cybersecurity expert who has held senior roles at Google, Stripe and the Defense Department, submitted his disclosure to authorities last month after what he described as months of trying unsuccessfully to sound the alarm inside Twitter about the dangers it faced.
While the disclosure to Congress is edited to omit sensitive details pertaining to the national security claims, a more comprehensive version with supporting documents has been delivered to the Senate Intelligence Committee and to DOJ’s national security division, according to the disclosure.
Peiter Zatko, known as Mudge in the computer hacking community, poses for a portrait on August 22.
Among its accusations, the whistleblower disclosure claims the US government provided specific evidence to Twitter shortly before Zatko’s firing that at least one of its employees, perhaps more, were working for another government’s intelligence service. The disclosure does not say whether Twitter acted on the US government tip or whether the tip was credible.
The whistleblower disclosure could further inflame bipartisan concerns in Washington about foreign adversaries and the cybersecurity threat they pose to Americans.
 In recent years, policymakers have worried about authoritarian governments siphoning US citizens’ data from hacked or pliable companies; leveraging tech platforms to subtly influence or sow disinformation among US voters; or exploiting unauthorized access to gather intel on human rights critics and other perceived threats to non-democratic regimes.
Twitter’s alleged flaws could potentially open the door to all three possibilities.
In response to the disclosure, the Senate Intelligence Committee’s top Republican, Marco Rubio, vowed to look further into the allegations.
“Twitter has a long track record of making really bad decisions on everything from censorship to security practices. That’s a huge concern given the company’s ability to influence the national discourse and global events,” Rubio said. “We’re treating the complaint with the seriousness it deserves and look forward to learning more.”
In the months before Russia invaded Ukraine, Agrawal — then Twitter’s chief technology officer — seemed prepared to make significant concessions to the Kremlin, according to Zatko’s disclosure.
Agrawal proposed to Zatko that Twitter comply with Russian demands that could result in broad-based censorship or surveillance, Zatko alleges, recalling an interaction he had with Agrawal at the time.
The disclosure does not provide details about exactly what Agrawal suggested. But last summer Russia passed a law pressuring tech platforms to open local offices in the country or face potential advertising bans, a move western security experts have said could give Russia greater leverage over US tech companies.
Parag Agrawal, CEO of Twitter, at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 7 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Agrawal’s suggestion was framed as a way to grow users in Russia, the disclosure says, and while the idea was ultimately discarded, Zatko still saw it as an alarming sign of how far Twitter was willing to go in pursuit of growth, according to the disclosure.
“The fact that Twitter’s current CEO even suggested Twitter become complicit with the Putin regime is cause for concern about Twitter’s effects on U.S. national security,” Zatko’s disclosure says.
Twitter is also in a compromised position in China, the disclosure to Congress claims. The company has allegedly accepted funding from unnamed “Chinese entities” who now have access to information that could ultimately unmask people in China who are illegally circumventing government censorship to view and use Twitter.
“Twitter executives knew that accepting Chinese money risked endangering users in China,” the disclosure says. “Mr. Zatko was told that Twitter was too dependent upon the revenue stream at this point to do anything other than attempt to increase it.”
Zatko’s 80-page disclosure outlining his allegations, along with nearly two dozen additional supporting documents, is becoming public just two weeks after a former Twitter manager was convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia. The former employee had allegedly abused his access to Twitter data to collect information on suspected Saudi dissidents, including their phone numbers and email addresses, and allegedly fed that information to the Saudi government.
That security breach, first uncovered in 2019, underscores the gravity of Zatko’s allegations, which describe Twitter as an extremely porous organization with alarmingly lax cybersecurity controls compared to its corporate peers.
In order to do their jobs, roughly half of Twitter employees have excessive permissions granting access to live user data and the active Twitter product, according to the disclosure, a practice Zatko says is a significant departure from the standards of other major tech companies where access is tightly controlled and employees largely work in special sandboxes isolated from the consumer-facing product.
“Every engineer” at the company, Zatko alleges, “has a full copy of Twitter’s proprietary source code on their laptop.”
Twitter has told CNN its handling of source code does not fall outside of industry practices, and that Twitter’s engineering and product teams are authorized to access the company’s live platform if they have a specific business justification for doing so.
The company also said it uses automated checks to ensure laptops running outdated software cannot access the production environment, and that employees may only make changes to Twitter’s live product after the code meets certain record-keeping and review requirements.
The disclosure alleges Twitter has trouble reducing its cybersecurity risks because it can’t control, and often doesn’t know, what employees may be doing on their work computers.
Data Zatko disclosed from Twitter’s internal cybersecurity dashboards shows that four in 10 employee devices — representing thousands of laptops — do not have basic protections enabled, such as firewalls and automatic software updates.
Employees are also able to install third-party software on their computers with few technical restrictions, the disclosure says, which on multiple occasions has allegedly resulted in employees installing unauthorized spyware on their devices at the behest of outside organizations.
In its responses to CNN, Twitter said employees use devices overseen by other IT and security teams with the power to prevent a device from connecting to sensitive internal systems if it is running outdated software.
Twitter has internal security tools that are tested by the company regularly, and every two years by external auditors, according to a person familiar with Zatko’s tenure at the company.
The person added that some of Zatko’s statistics surrounding device security lacked credibility and were derived by a small team that did not properly account for Twitter’s existing security procedures.
John Tye, founder of Whistleblower Aid and Zatko’s lawyer, told CNN “we absolutely stand by the contents of Mudge’s disclosure.”
A person using Twitter.
Undue access and limited oversight of employee conduct creates opportunities for insider threats such as the Saudi operative, but the Saudi government wasn’t the only one to seek greater access to Twitter’s internal systems, Zatko alleges.
The Indian government has successfully “forced” Twitter to hire agents working on its behalf, the disclosure says, “who (because of Twitter’s basic architectural flaws) would have access to vast amounts of Twitter sensitive data.” Twitter has withheld that fact from its public transparency reports, the disclosure adds.
In the past year, the Indian government has pushed to expand its control over social media within its borders, clashing with Twitter over content removals, forcing tech platforms to hire legal and law enforcement liaisons in the country and even conducting raids on Twitter’s local offices.
The person familiar with Zatko’s tenure said the Indian government agents the disclosure refers to were in fact the legal and law enforcement liaisons required under Indian law.
Many tech platforms are global enterprises, and in some cases, as with Russia’s attempt to force tech companies to open local headquarters, their employees can become unwitting points of leverage for governments wanting to exert pressure on the companies.
Corporate and user data stored on, or accessible by, employee computers can be at risk of being accessed or seized by local authorities. The employees themselves, or their families, may be at risk of being threatened or coerced.
But Twitter’s unique cybersecurity vulnerabilities has meant that its local offices have become particularly sensitive targets, Zatko alleges. India, Nigeria and Russia have all “sought, with varying success, to force Twitter to hire local [full-time employees] that could be used as leverage,” the disclosure says.
Twitter’s business practices don’t just undermine the United States’ interests but those of all democratic nations, the disclosure alleges, citing the company’s handling of a Nigerian government decision to block Twitter for months last year over a presidential tweet that was widely interpreted as a threat against some Nigerian citizens and subsequently removed by Twitter.
Nigeria lifted its ban on Twitter in January, after the government said the social media platform had agreed to all of its conditions. The conditions include adhering to Nigerian laws on “prohibited publication.”
Despite Twitter’s claims to have been in negotiations with Nigeria after it suspended the company, those talks never actually occurred, Zatko alleges.
Twitter’s alleged misrepresentations about engaging the Nigerian government not only harmed the company’s investors, the disclosure says, but it also gave Nigerian officials cover to demand far greater concessions from Twitter than the company otherwise would have given.
The concessions, according to Zatko’s disclosure, have “harmed free expression rights and democratic accountability for Nigerian citizens.”
The Central Region‘s fufu pounders have vowed to go on strike if their pay is not raised.
The GH15 they are paid for their daily labor by members of the Central Regional Fufu Pounders Association has been described as “extremely terrible.”
The workers warned that if their employers don’t raise their pay, they will boycott the job in the upcoming days, according to a 3News story seen by GhanaWeb.
“The work is hard but the pay is not good. So right now, we want to tell our leaders to help us to demand an increment. If we were working in Accra, we would be getting GH¢50 or GH¢70 every day but here, we are paid GH¢15. It is not good. If they increase it for us, we will work for them very well. We want them to increase it to GH¢60 or GH¢70,†members of the association told journalists in Twi.
They did not state exactly when the strike will happen.
As a result of numerous unsuccessful attempts to recover their investments with the company, he claimed on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm that these members passed away from depression, anxiety, and other causes.
He said that some of these people had been interred by the group, but others were waiting for their last rites at the mortuary.
According to Mr. Binob, some other people are unable to pay their wards’ tuition, leading some of them to withdraw their wards from school, with some of those wards now walking our streets.
The CEO and founder of the defunct company, Nana Appiah Mensah, was not going to be prosecuted, according to Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, the head of the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO). He was responding to her.
According to her, they are also having difficulty prosecuting NAM 1 because they cannot find the specific law that allows them to do so.
But Timothy Binob says it sounds strange that the EOCO boss made such unfortunate comments.
He argued that it made no sense for the state to have closed down the company when it ho evidence to prosecute NAM 1.
Mr. Binob suggested that the government owed them an apology because what it did was terrible, deprived them of their livelihood, and led to depression, anxiety, pain, and the death of some members.
To compensate them for what had happened, they want the government to pay them their investments since the government confiscated the assets of the embattled CEO, who is currently standing trial.
“If you had no evidence, why did you seize his assets and shut down his business on the grounds that he lacked a license to operate?†This is unacceptable, and the government must come out and apologize to the Menzgold members who have been wronged,†he added.
“We never said NAM 1 was above the law. We stated that the government should have considered the customers before collapsing the company.”
“The government had no regard for the customers and went berserk in closing down the company,†he said.
Herbert Krapa, the deputy minister of trade and industry, has revealed that Ghana will start trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area, along with seven other nations (AfCFTA).
The Customs Union is one of 46 African nations who have already presented their tariff bids under the AfCFTA, which has been signed by 54 African nations thus far.
In phase two negotiations on investment, intellectual property rights, competition policy, women and youth in trade, and digital trade, Herbert Krapa reported that 87.7% of tariff lines had been reached agreement on.
Speaking at the Export Trading Company Seminar in Accra, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry said, “Actual trading is starting between Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania, Tunisia and Ghana. In the coming weeks, the dream of our forebears will be off the ground, and historic as the moment may be.â€
He further commended Afrexim Bank for setting up export trading companies across Africa to facilitate trade across the continent.
AfCFTA was introduced in 2018 and it aims at creating a single market for Africa, as well as, ensuring the free movement of goods and services on the continent.
This implies that goods will be sold at a relatively cheaper price because of the increase in production which will, in turn, create both direct and indirect jobs for the teeming unemployed youth.
The free trade area also allows traders and/or importers to stay competitive.
Businesses when conducted in a free and safe environment will help reduce poverty in member states as well as create sustainable development.
Barca have targeted defender Foyth after missing out on Cesar Azpilicueta, who decided to stay at Chelsea.
Villarreal vice-president Jose Manuel Llaneza warned the Catalan giants they would have to meet the €42million release clause in order to sign the Argentina right-back.
Emery reiterated that former Tottenham full-back Foyth is not looking to leave, but the Villarreal head coach accepts there are no guarantees he will stay.
“Barca’s interest is real,” Emery told Cadena SER’s ‘El Larguero’. “It’s a position they need and it fits for them. The issue is whether the player wants it or not, he has always told me that he is very happy.
“He does not contemplate leaving and wants to stay. From here, I don’t know to what extent circumstances will go one way or the other.
“He’s an important player for us and he’s grown a lot in recent years. I don’t rule out that at any given moment the surprise will be against us, but the most normal thing is that he stays at Villarreal.”
Emery is hoping to add to his squad by signing striker Edinson Cavani, who is also wanted by Valencia.
The former Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal boss said: “I spoke to Edinson Cavani we have a good relationship, he wants to come to Spain. It’s possible.”
Ruud van Nistelrooy is hopeful PSV can ward off Manchester United’s interest in winger Cody Gakpo, as he praised the Netherlands international for maintaining his focus amid widespread transfer speculation.
United have brought in Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Tyrell Malacia and most recently Casemiro during a busy transfer window, but reports suggest Erik ten Hag is looking to his homeland in his attempts to add a winger.
Ajax’s Antony who was left out of their squad for a 1-0 win at Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday and PSV star Gakpo are both reported targets.
Gakpo scored 21 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions for PSV last season and has been tipped to provide competition for Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho should he join United.
But PSV coach Van Nistelrooy, who himself scored 95 Premier League goalsin a successful five-year spell at Old Trafford, is desperate to keep the 23-year-old.
“There have been rumours for a long time. It is clear that we would like to keep him,” Van Nistelrooy said.
“I have been working with him for eight weeks now and have not seen a single moment that he shows different behaviour. That is very nice for someone his age.”
PSV face Rangers in the second leg of their Champions League qualification play-off on Wednesday, having rescued a 2-2 draw in last week’s first meeting at Ibrox.
The technical operator of the trade facilitation tool, the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), Ghana Link Network Services (Ghana Link), won five awards at the fifth Ghana Shippers Awards, which were held on Friday, August 19, 2022, demonstrating its position as a leader in the trade facilitation industry.
According to the organizers of the awards, the activities of Ghana Link Network Services Ltd have led to improvement in the clearance of goods and increased government revenue at the ports through digital technology.
“They have helped us to identify which areas which should make improvements to, and they have brought suggestions on how we should streamline the processes. Because of that collaboration, it helped for us to overcome all the challenges that have come across the period that we have implemented our solutions,†he said.
He added that Ghana Link will continuously improve its processes to achieve the desired results.
“Our goal is to ensure that on a very constant basis, we are improving our processes at the ports just to ensure that when it comes to trade facilitation in the sub-region there is no country comparable to us.â€
Meanwhile, Mr. Amaglo was quick to add that the operators of the ICUMS, Ghana Link will continue to ensure that its processes are efficient to bring about a reduction in cost at the various ports of entry and also see that there is a reduction in time of doing business.
The awards program which is in its 5th year running is to reward those who have played defining roles in moving the shipping industry in Ghana forward and have demonstrated achievement across a wide variety of domains including sustainability, operational excellence, and innovation.
Speaking at the awards the CEO, of the Ghana Shippers Authority, Benonita Bismarck said her outfit will continue to promote and protect the interest of shippers.
But speaking on behalf of the Minister of Transport, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Frederick Obeng Adom revealed that the government has taken action to find lasting solutions to shipper complaints including arbitrary charges and exchange rates used by some service providers.
“It is my fervent hope that consensus would be built to deal with these matters as quickly as possible to help not only support your operations but also accelerate economic growth,†he said
Qatar has deported migrant workers who protested about unpaid wages, as the country prepares for the football World Cup in November.
At least 60 workers rallied outside Al Bandary International Group’s Doha offices on 14 August – some reportedly had not been paid for seven months.
A number of protesters were detained and some were deported, although it’s not known how many.
The government said those who were deported had “breached security laws”.
Since Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010 – sparking a wave of construction of stadiums and infrastructure across the country – its treatment of migrant workers has been questioned.
The Al Bandary International Group company is predominantly a construction and engineering company.
It is not known whether the workers were involved in the World Cup preparations, and the organizing committee declined to comment.
But in a statement to the BBC, the Qatari government confirmed that a number of workers who took part in the rare protest in Doha had been detained for breaching public security laws.
It is understood that a minority of those “who failed to remain peaceful” face deportation, and rights groups say some have already left the country.
The Qatari government said it would pay all delayed salaries and benefits to the affected workers.
The government said the Al Bandary group was already under investigation for not paying its workers, and further action is being taken after a deadline to settle payments had been missed.
The workers’ case was highlighted by Equidem, a human rights organization specialising in labour rights.
Its head, Mustafa Qadri, told the BBC: “Have we all been duped by Qatar and FIFA?
“They’ve been telling us there’s no moral quandary about holding the World Cup in Qatar, in a country which still punishes people for speaking their minds.”
The workers who protested were from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Egypt and the Philippines, according to Mr Qadri.
Mr Qadri – who has been in touch with several of workers – said some police officers told the protesters that, if they can strike in hot weather, they can sleep without air conditioning, too.
“Can you imagine how desperate the workers must have been to protest in 42 degrees? They aren’t political actors, they just want to be paid for their labour,” Mr Qadri added.
Earlier this year, BBC Arabic reported allegations that Qatar is under-reporting the number of migrant workers who have died of heat stroke.
FIFA, the organisation for international football, was earlier this year urged to set up a compensation fund of at least $440m (£350m) for migrant workers who have suffered “human rights abuses”
A spokesperson for the government’s World Cup organising committee declined to comment on the Al Bandary protest. The Al Bandary group did not respond to a request for comment.
The Qatari government said 96% of eligible workers in Qatar are covered by a wage protection system, which obliges employers to transfer all wages through Qatari banks within seven days of their due date, and that gaps in the system were being identified.
The Ghana Union of Traders Association has announced that all stores will be closed on Monday, August 29, 2022, as a formal protest against the cedi’s sharp decline.
The group claimed that the cedi’s up to 30% devaluation in the last six months has had an impact on their operations.
Dr. Joseph Obeng, the president of GUTA, laid forth a wide range of difficulties during a news conference on August 22, 2022, claiming that despite ongoing complaints about the effects of the cedi’s depreciation, the situation has only become worse.
GUTA thinks that the nation is capable of taking action to deal with these problems.
The President of GUTA stated, “By the directives of the trading community, we declare the closure of shops in Accra, on Monday, August 29, 2022, to formally demonstrate these concerns to the government.
The quick and ongoing devaluation of the cedi, the ongoing increase in interest rates, and the high inflation rate, among other factors, have all contributed to the agitations of GUTA.
According to the association, we are “always ready to be of assistance to the government in its search for solutions to these plethora of challenges.”
As many as 40 million children are “one disease” from catastrophe as the Horn of Africa and Sahel experience the worst drought in four decades, according to UNICEF.The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has warned that children in the Horn of Africa and Sahel regions “could die in devastating numbers unless urgent support is provided.”
That’s as the number of drought-stricken people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia — without access to adequate supplies of water — rose from 9.5 million to 16.2 million in the space of just five months, according to the relief agency.
“When water either isn’t available or is unsafe, the risks to children multiply exponentially,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “Across the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, millions of children are just one disease away from catastrophe,” she added.
Twin threat of drought and conflict
UNICEF said drought and conflict in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria were driving up water insecurity, resulting in 40 million children facing high to extremely high levels of water vulnerability.
According to UNICEF’s figures, 2.8 million children in the Horn of Africa and Sahel regions are already suffering from severe acute malnutrition, meaning that they are at risk of dying from waterborne diseases at a rate 11 times higher than well-nourished children.
Nearly two-thirds of children affected are under the age of 5. The organization said that as natural water sources dried up, the knock-on effect was significant increases in the price of water. In parts of Kenya prices had risen by as much as 400% while in parts of Somalia increases of up to 85% were reported.
The worst drought in decades
Climate change and extreme weather events have increased natural disasters over the past 50 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The rainy season for much of sub-Saharan Africa is April through June. Not enough rain fell during that period.
This year would be the third consecutive year where the East African and Horn of Africa regions have not received enough rain.
Although droughts are common in this region, they have become more severe. There is growing scientific evidence that climate change has exacerbated the effects of droughts.
Due to a present shortage of inorganic fertilizers, farmers have been recommended to employ organic fertilizers to increase productivity.
According to Mr. Obrien Nyarko, the planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program provides farmers with organic fertilizers, which are also sold on the open market. He is also the Dean of the Conference of Regional Directors of Agriculture (CORDAG).
In an interview at a CORDAG conference in Koforidua, Mr. Nyarko stated that extension agents were using demonstration farms in some of the districts to teach farmers how to utilize organic fertilizers.
The Conference was on the theme: “Sustaining Effective Agriculture Extension Delivery in the Decentralized System, Role of the Regional Director.â€
Mr Henry Crentsil, the Eastern Regional Director of Agriculture, said the Conference was to devise strategies to sustain the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) programme to ensure the consolidation of the gains.
He said one of the key components of the MAG programme was to support agriculture research and extension services, which are the heartbeat of agriculture, adding “Conference will look at ways to concertedly expand the extension services even as the MAG project ends.â€
The MAG is a five-year programme, which began in 2017, and one of its main components is to strengthen extension services as well as improve agriculture productivity, among other objectives and would end in 2022.
Nigerian gang leader has accepted a truce offered by authorities in the northwestern state of Zamfara, which has been wracked by years of deadly violence, a local official said Monday.
Band leader Bello Turji has agreed to end attacks and kidnappings for ransom, Zamfara state deputy governor Hassan Nasiha told a news conference broadcast on local stations.
“We have reached a peace agreement with Turji, and in the last six weeks not a single person has been killed in the areas he controls,” Nasiha said. He said Turji is now fighting with other gangs that have refused to lay down their arms.
Heavily armed bandits have been terrorizing communities in the area for years, looting villages, killing and abducting people and burning houses.
In exchange for laying down their arms, the deputy governor said the bandits had demanded an end to extrajudicial killings of members of their ethnic community and the release of gang members arrested by law enforcement.
Many of the bandits are pastoralists, and among the conditions of the truce, they also demanded the restoration of water points and grazing reserves and the return of their farmland seized as loot by local communities.
The local authorities agreed to all the demands, despite several previous attempts at peace agreements with bandits that did not last.
According to Bulama Bukarti, an analyst at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Turji himself has violated peace agreements in the past.
“Turji never paid for his atrocities… This is a deal made in a hurry by desperate politicians to score points before the next elections,” he said on Twitter.
The 2021-22 Ukrainian Premier League (UPL) season was due to resume for the second half of the campaign on February 25, but games were suspended after Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine the day before.
Due to the ongoing conflict, the season was officially ended in late April with no teams having played more than 18 matches.
It was then announced in July that the UPL would start again on August 23, coinciding with Ukraine’s National Flag Day and on the eve of the country’s Independence Day.
Shakhtar, who were top of the table when last season was suspended, began the new term against promoted Metalist 1925 in an empty Olympic Stadium in Kyiv.
Neither side had played a competitive game for nine months, with Shakhtar’s previous top-flight game being a 2-1 win at Oleksandria on December 11, 2021 just before the winter break.
Matches in the new UPL season will only be played at stadiums with air raid shelters and every game will take place behind closed doors.
Air-raid sirens remain common in the country but no such alarms were heard during Tuesday’s game.
Prior to kick-off, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the players via video link, and the national anthem was played live in the stadium.
Mykhailo Mudryk went closest to scoring in the stalemate, with the Shakhtar talent hitting the crossbar in an otherwise uneventful contest.
Shakhtar will now turn their attention to Thursday’s Champions League draw, which they will enter by virtue of being top when the 2021-22 season was stopped.
They will play their Champions League games in Warsaw this season.
The latest rate rise has some business owners in the Northern Region worried that their companies may fail.
Utility rate increases were recently announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), with electricity increasing by 27.15 percent and water by 21.55 percent, both of which will take effect on September 1.
Some of the business owners told the Ghana News Agency in Tamale that the adoption of the levy would make their predicament worse because they already had decreasing profit margins for their goods and services.
Mr Mohammed Yushaw Adarkwa, the owner of Moshawdarkwa Company Limited, a sachet water producing company in Tamale, said since 2020 utility bills had overwhelmed his business, making him run into losses.
He noted that he paid a minimum of GHc1,000 monthly as a water bill, depending on the number of sachets water produced, adding that sales were lower compared to the amount designated to utility cost.
Mr Adarkwa stated that utility tariff increment, coupled with the increased cost of production materials, posed a threat to the survival of sachet water production businesses.
He called on the authorities to reconsider their decision and reduce the percentages to make it a bit easier for businesses to keep running.
Afa Imrana Haruna, the owner of a washing bay at Fuo in the Sagnarigu Municipality, said the high fuel prices had already slowed patronage at washing bays because motorists preferred washing their vehicles to save money for fuel.
He said his business would be unable to thrive with the hike in utility bills and make it difficult to pay employees to meet the rising cost of living.
Households and individuals, who do not operate businesses, also shared their reservations over the increment with the GNA.
Miss Jane Andoh, a resident of Kalpohin, said a house of four tenants was billed over GHc150.00 monthly for water, which was too much since some tenants were unable to make full payment.
She said tenants who were not informed about the new utility tariffs might not comply and appealed to the government to support the citizens during these hard times.
The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has announced a ban on flights to Ghana for an aircraft operated by Delta Airlines with the registration N195DN.
GCAA, in a letter dated August 19, 2022, and addressed to the “Accountable Manager” at Delta Airlines, said, “following the events of August 13 2022, when your aircraft with registration N195DN was forced to return to the gate due to a technical problem, a team of Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) inspectors were tasked to conduct an investigation on the circumstances surrounding this occurrence.”
The letter continued; “The investigation revealed that:
1. The crew reported a fuel imbalance issue with the left main tank.
2. The inbound crew experienced this same issue on the flight leg to Accra, i.e., on July 31, 2022.
3. This was the same aircraft that had to return to JKF on July 25, 2022, a few hours after take-off from JFK, and which was widely reported on in various media outlets.
“It was expected that after such a negative reportage, Delta Air Lines would have thoroughly investigated the issue to arrive at the root cause of the failure before dispatching the aircraft on flights. Rather, the aircraft was flown within the United States a number of times and then dispatched again to Accra, only for the problem to reoccur.
“The Authority finds this unacceptable. Therefore, with immediate effect, Delta Air Lines is being advised not to dispatch the B767-332 with registration number N195DN for flights to Accra.â€
“As your ageing 0767 fleets are of much concern to Ghanaian travellers, Delta Air Lines must put in place a plan to change the type of aircraft on the JFK-ACC-JFK route as soon as practicable. Kindly communicate this date to the undersigned in your response. Please be advised accordingly,” the letter signed by Charles Kraikue, Director-General, GCAA, concluded.
Some passengers recently petitioned the Aviation Consumer Protection Office of the US Department of Transportation over the conduct of Delta Air Lines Incorporated.
According to them, their flight from the US on July 24, 2022, was inexplicably delayed.
The flight was then rescheduled, cancelled and rescheduled without sleep arrangements for passengers.
The complainants contend that this inconvenience was on the “flimsy ground that one of its pilots had not reported for work.”
9 year old Olivia Pratt-Korbel killed in Liverpool forced his way into her house. As her mother struggled to close the door, she was also injured.
Police have described the moment a gunman shot into the house of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, injuring her mother and fatally wounding the child.
The primary school pupil was killed shortly after 10pm on Monday night after a 35-year-old man, being chased by another man with a gun, forced his way into her house.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen said: “We now believe that around 10pm two men were walking along Kingsheath Avenue from the direction of Finch Lane.
“At that time they were approached by a lone person – potentially a male – who was wearing a black padded jacket, a black balaclava with a peak, dark pants, and black gloves. This individual was approximately 5ft 7ins tall and of slim build, and they were carrying a handgun.”
He said this person shot at the two men, causing them to run away.
After hearing gunshots on the street Olivia’s mum, Cheryl, opened the door to the family’s house. The man being chased then pushed his way into their home.
The gunman followed, putting his hand through a gap and opened fire, shooting blind around the door. Cheryl was shot in the arm and Olivia fatally injured where she stood at the bottom of the stairs. The pair were at home with Olivia’s two older siblings at the time.
There were two further shots at the 35-year-old inside the house, hitting him in the body before the attacker made off on foot.
Friends of the man who forced himself into the house picked him up from the streets in a dark Audi and took him to hospital “while Olivia lay dying”, said Chief Constable Serena Kennedy. The vehicle they traveled in has now been seized.
Police were called to a house on Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, following reports an unknown male had fired a gun inside.
Olivia was taken to Alder Hey hospital in critical condition, where she later died.
The man and her mother are being treated in hospital for their injuries. The 35-year-old hasn’t spoken yet as a result of his injuries.
The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has discredited reports that the union has a deal with waste management company, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, to impose a towing insurance service on members of the union.
Denying the reports in a statement issued on August 19, 2022, Zoomlion noted that: “we have no interaction with Zoomlion in connection with our life-saving and innovative towing insurance, and never will.
Indeed, we are aware that Zoomlion’s business is waste management, and so our connection with them is purely waste collection and nothing else,” the statement stated.
A statement issued and signed for the General Secretary of the union, Godfred Abulbire, last Friday, said the said allegations must have originated from “ignorant and treacherous” individuals.
It added that persons who were behind the false publications were only engineering the “wild allegation in an effort to spark an unnecessary uproar within our rank and file”.
Retraction
The union called for an unqualified apology and a complete retraction of the allegation by any individual or media organisation who originated the publication to bring peace and encourage people to support the towing initiative.
“All such people and media organisations should apologise and retract what has been said, or we will advise ourselves,” the union stressed.
The GPRTU added that it had done broader consultations among its members and got the approval of the National Executive Council (NEC) before rolling out the initiative.
“Over the years, we have taken decisions that have kept our union together without membership ballot.
It is, therefore, unfortunate that someone would want to stir the settled mud within our rank and file for his personal aggrandisement even when it is obvious we meant well for every Ghanaian,” the statement added.
Towing service
The union observed that against the backdrop of 1,300 persons being killed in road accidents in Ghana between January and June this year, it found the towing service a good step to reduce the crashes.
The union noted that some of those crashes were largely associated with stationary vehicles on the road, as reported by the National Road Safety Authority.
It added that the fact that 8,000 people sustained various degrees of injuries during the same period added to the compelling evidence for a road towing service.
The union stressed that because of the seriousness it attached to the towing project, members would not be allowed to load from their stations if they failed to subscribe.
“We have launched an app to aid our members easily get access to towing vehicles in times of need at anytime and anywhere, and the over 2.6 million vehicles operated by our members shall subscribe to the initiative through the app, with details of their vehicles,” the union stressed.
Background
The GPRTU launched a new digital vehicle towing policy last week to promptly remove breakdown vehicles from the road.
The union directed that effective October this year, all of its drivers were required to subscribe to the mandatory vehicle towing system.
The new towing system, which is being rolled out in partnership with the Road Safety Management Service Limited (RSMSL), a private entity, allows drivers to subscribe to an online application to deliver the service.
The contractual agreement between the GPRTU and RSMSL requires vehicle owners to pay annual subscription fees depending on the type of vehicle.
Per the payment regime, taxis will be charged GHC50; trotros, GHC80; long buses, GHC300; and articulated trucks, GHC500.
Portable Practical Educational Preparation(PPEP), a Non-Governmental Organisation(NGO) that focuses on health care education has embarked on a free health screening exercise for residents of Ga Mashie in central Accra. More than 200 residents benefited from it.
The beneficiaries were screened for hypertension, diabetes and other health conditions by a medical team from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Some of the beneficiaries who were diagnosed of various conditions were counselled and referred to health facilities for further medical care.
Quality health careÂ
The Project Co-ordinator of PPEP, Anita Annan, told the Daily Graphic that the exercise was part of efforts to ensure quality healthcare delivery in the area.
“Our NGO has been organising health outreach programmes to educate people nationwide on the prevention of diabetes and hypertension on a daily basis to help the public to improve on their wellbeing,” she said.
Mrs Annan noted that many people did not undertake regular check-ups due to funds and resources, for which reason the foundation and its partner conducted the screening exercise to offer access to free medical treatment from specialists.
She, however, advised the public to regularly visit health facilities for check-ups to improve on their health.
Diabetics
The matron of the Korle-BuDiabetic Centre, Eunice Boafo, said reported cases of diabetes were on the increase at the centre.
“About 70 to 80 people, aged between 40 and 60, report daily at the centre with diabetes,†she stated.
She said about 80 per cent of the residents within Ga Mashie who were screened showed symptoms of hypertension.
She, therefore, advised the public to adopt healthy lifestyles by exercising and eating balanced diets.
The Country Director of the NGO, Edem Walter, said they had undertaken several development projects in some needy communities nationwide.
The Ghana Navy has embarked on a maritime counter-terrorism simulation exercise at Nungua in Accra.
The exercise dubbed “Exercise Sea Hawk†was in line with the navy’s operational readiness to protect and prevent terror attacks within the country’s maritime domain.
The exercise also sought to test and enhance the operational readiness of officers of the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) Unit of the Ghana Navy to conduct maritime interdiction operations to secure the country’s maritime space.
The exercise featured personnel from the unit who staged an interception scene on a cargo container purported to be smuggling arms and ammunition within Ghanaian waters.
The team also demonstrated how to foil the trans-shipment of the arms and ammunition by feeder vessels that could be used by armed gangs in such operations.
The event was observed by the Chief of the Defence Staff, Vice-Admiral Seth Amoama; the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Issah Adam Yakubu, and other high-ranking officials from the Eastern Naval Command and the Ghana Air Force.
Security consciousness
Addressing journalists after the exercise, the Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, emphasised calls for the public to be security conscious and volunteer information to the security forces in the face of the difficulties associated with terror attacks facing the West African region.
He said the prevention of terror attacks on the country by the security agencies would be hugely influenced by the availability of information from the public.
Mr Nitiwul pointed out that while the leaders of West Africa were determined to rid the region of difficulties it continued to face as a result of insurgencies, the menace could only be curbed if citizens became willing partners in the scheme.
“Please join government to fight the menace since you can never know who a terrorist is if you fail to report suspicious activities within your communities,” Mr Nitiwul appealed.
Retool
Ghana, Mr Nitiwul indicated, was an import-dependent nation, and that it would be important to safeguard the security of the country.
He commended the three arms of the Ghana Armed Forces for initiating the exercises at all levels to enhance the country’s security, and gave an assurance that the government would ensure that the forces were adequately resourced to ensure that Ghana remained a peaceful nation within the sub-region.
The Defence Minister also warned members of the public to be cautious of threats to avoid rushing to take photographs of suspected explosions just to share on social media.
“When there is an explosion like what we just witnessed with the simulation exercise, the best thing to do is to move away from the scene as the first option so you do not endanger your life.
“The death toll we saw in the mining town of Appiatse when a vehicle carrying explosives caught fire was as a result of people rushing to take photos and videos.
“If we are all aware of the dangers of any form of explosions and take the precautionary measures, we can protect precious lives,” Mr Nitiwul said.
Dr. Ishmael Yamson, an economist, has lamented how quickly the jobless rate is rising while the local economy is expanding at a more tortoise-like rate.
He called it a major problem and said the government needed to check for and fix the problems.
He said, “The unemployment rate is expanding faster than the economy, that is not something you should chuckle about, that is something you should be extremely serious about,” on TV3’s Ghana Tonight broadcast on August 22, 2022.
We should cease playing politics, I argue because of this.
In the meantime, the Presidency stated in a tweet that the government is doing everything in its power to implement the YouStart program and assist the private sector’s growth.
This, the Presidency stated, will increase employment rates in the country which will help boost the local economy.
“Government is determined to support and boost the private sector to increase employment rates in the country through the #YouStart programme, which will result in new businesses championed by the vibrant youth of our country,†the presidency tweeted.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Amenfi West, Eric Afful, suspects the mining license issued to Akonto mines to undertake small-scale mining in the Tano Nimiri Forest is not valid. He, thus, wants a full-blown investigation to be launched into the issuance of a mining license to the mines.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC)
Such investigation, he said, could stop the wanton destruction of the forest and its natural cover, river bodies, farmlands and plantations.
The Tano Nimiri Forest lies between Amenfi West and Aowin municipalities in the Western and the Western North regions, respectively.
In a statement issued last Friday, Mr Afful said, “I have been informed about these vicious characters purporting to have acquired legal documents from the Minerals Commission to engage in small-scale mining in the forest.
“I vehemently reject the claim that the Minerals Commission granted the purported license to such an exploitative company to destroy the forest reserve,” he said.
Improper act
The MP said to the best of his knowledge, Tano Nimiri Forest was a concession granted to Samartex Timber and Plywood Company Limited by the Forestry Commission.
He, therefore, considered it improper for the Minerals Commission to authorise a small-scale mining company to destroy the same forest and its natural cover, river bodies, farmlands and plantations managed by Samartex Timber and Plywood Company Limited.
“My concern has been amplified owing to the fact that Samartex is likely to lay off more than half of its employees, if such activities are not curtailed,†Mr Afful said.
“Moreover, there is the real likelihood that conflict may ensue between the security guards of Akonta Mines, forest guards of the Forestry Commission, security guards and employees of Samartex which may subsequently destabilise the peace we enjoy in the municipalities involved,†he said.
He, therefore, requested a full-scale investigation into the matter by all stakeholders including the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, the National Security Minister, the chief executive of the Forestry Commission and the Minerals Commission.
He also mentioned the regional ministers of Western and Western North regions, municipal chief executives of Amenfi West and Aowin municipalities, Wassa Amenfi and Aowin paramount chiefs, management of Samartex Timber and Plywood Company Limited and Akonto Mines as those who should take part in the investigation.
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