The US government wants to execute a white man who killed 10 people in a racist shooting in 2022.
The US government, under President Biden, approved the death penalty for the shooter because of the impact on the victims.
Last year, 20-year-old Payton Gendron was given a life sentence in prison for the shooting in Buffalo, New York.
Gendron confessed to killing people that day because of their race.
The justice department explained why they think the death penalty should be used in a court paper on Friday. President Joe Biden does not want to give the death penalty. This is different from the government before him.
The agency said in court that Gendron deserved the sentence because he purposely targeted the victims based on their race when he shot at a grocery store on May 14, 2022.
Ten black people were killed in a shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo. The people who were hurt were between 32 and 86 years old. They included eight people who were shopping at the grocery store, a security guard at the store, and a church deacon who drove people to the store.
The person who shot people that day had planned it and wanted to hurt Black people because he didn’t like them.
Merrick Garland, the person in charge of the justice department in the US, stopped federal executions for a while in 2021. He wants to check the procedures first. This document says that the review is finished.
New York state doesn’t have the death penalty, but the shooter is being charged with hate crime and gun charges in a different federal case. In those federal cases, the government can ask for the death penalty.
Even though New York doesn’t use the death penalty, Governor Kathy Hochul supports that choice.
“This follows the rules set by the Department of Justice for what is considered a crime eligible for the death penalty,” Ms. Hochul said at a press meeting on Friday.
The lawyers representing the victims and their families in the shooting case are glad that the Department of Justice wants to seek the death penalty.
The lawyers said that the decision made by the Department of Justice today will help the victims and their families feel some relief and a sense of closure. “They have been asking for fair treatment for almost two years, and today they are getting closer to it. ”
The person who shot people was 18 years old. They drove more than 320km to a mostly black area and then attacked.
He says he is a fascist and believes in white supremacy in a long document he wrote before the shooting. He admitted to committing murder and terrorism in 2022.
At his punishment, the judge told the shooter that his hateful and evil ideas have no place in our society.
Judge Susan Eagan from Erie County said that there will be no compassion, no tolerance, and no opportunities for a second chance for you. “You will never be a free man and see the sun again. “
Tag: US Government
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US wants gunman in racist shooting to get death sentence
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171 Boeings grounded by US regulators due Alaska Airlines jet incident
The US government has told some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to stop flying because a part fell off one during a flight.
The FAA has said it will inspect 171 planes.
On Friday, an Alaska Airlines plane had to land suddenly after taking off from Oregon.
United Airlines checked some of its 79 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes as required by the FAA.
The airline said that taking some airplanes out of service was going to make about 60 flights canceled on Saturday.
Before, the FAA said it would “force certain Boeing 737 Max 9 planes used by US airlines or in US territory to stop flying for a while”.
They said that each aircraft needs to be inspected for about four to eight hours.
Turkish Airlines has called back five planes to make sure they are safe.
On Friday, the Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California, was at 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) when it started to quickly descend because of an emergency.
The plane landed safely in Portland with 177 passengers and crew on board.
The person in charge of the National Transportation Safety Board said on Saturday that no one was sitting next to the part of the transport being looked at.
“We are very lucky that this didn’t turn into something more sad,” Jennifer Homendy said.
She said the door that came off the plane might be in Cedar Hills, Portland. She asked anyone who finds it to call the police.
At the same time, the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK said there were no 737 Max 9 planes registered there.
“We have sent letters to airlines from other countries asking if they have done safety checks before flying in UK airspace,” a message said on X, which used to be called Twitter.
Pictures sent to news sources of the damaged area showed the night sky visible through a hole in the airplane, with insulation material and other stuff also visible.
The reason for the building problem is not known yet, and no one got hurt.
Evan Smith, who was on the plane, heard a loud bang and air masks came down from the ceiling.
“They said a kid’s shirt was pulled off and blown out of the plane, but his mother held onto him so he wouldn’t go with it. ”In a recording, the pilot asks air traffic control to change course.
“We need help right away,” she said. “We need to go back because we are losing pressure. ”
Based on pictures, the damaged area was at the back of the plane, behind the wing and engines.
The part of the airplane body that was damaged could be used as an extra emergency exit by some airlines, but not by Alaska.
Terry Tozer, who used to be a pilot, said that the part should have been fastened in place if it wasn’t being used as an emergency exit.
He said to BBC News that the passengers wouldn’t have known it wasn’t a real window from inside the plane.
If this part had been lost, it may not have changed how the plane flew, but it would have been very dangerous for anyone sitting close by.
Alaska Airlines’ CEO Ben Minicucci said that 65 planes will be kept on the ground for now. They will only fly again after they have been checked and fixed to make sure they are safe.
A recent update mentioned that over 25% of those planes were checked and they are safe to fly because no problems were found.
Boeing said it agreed with the FAA’s choice. and was working with the National Transportation Safety Board to understand what happened with Alaska Airlines.
“We care a lot about safety and we feel really sorry for how this event has affected our customers and their passengers,” Boeing said.
This is the newest issue with Boeing’s most popular airplane. It was not allowed to fly for nearly two years after crashes in 2018 and 2019. -
Three methods to put an end to uncertainty surrounding US Republican Speaker
One day after being selected as the Republican party‘s choice to be Speaker of the House of Representatives, Steve Scalise has decided not to continue in the competition. What is happening currently.
After defeating a conservative politician named Jim Jordan to gain the support of his political party, Mr. Scalise saw his support decrease rapidly on Thursday.
Even after a whole day of convincing people on Capitol Hill, he still didn’t have enough support from the majority in the House. He told reporters that it was not going to happen.
He stepped down, and there is no definite person to take his place, so there is still a gap in leadership at the top of the US government.
It has been 10 days since the Speaker’s chair was left empty, stopping the lower chamber of Congress from doing its most important tasks.
The obstacles for Scalise.
His attempt to become Speaker was troubled by the same problems that troubled former Speaker Kevin McCarthy before he was removed from power last week.
The Republican party has control over the House, but they have only a small advantage in terms of numbers.
To win a floor vote, Mr. Scalise needed 217 out of 221 Republican representatives (House members) to vote for him. Only a few rebels were enough to ruin his hopes of becoming a leader.
The people who did not agree with the decision gave different reasons. Some disagreed with the policies, while others just didn’t want to support what some people called “the current situation. ”The ways to get out of a place 1. One more Republican gets 217 votes.
After Scalise withdrew, some people in Congress and those who watch Capitol Hill said that Mr. Jordan might have a chance to become the new nominee.
It is not clear if Mr. Jordan can get enough votes. In the private vote where Mr. Scalise was chosen as the candidate, Mr. Jordan got 99 votes while Mr. Scalise got 113 votes.
At that time, some Representatives were hesitant to vote for Mr. He is a very conservative person supported by former President Donald Trump.
More names might be suggested in the next few days. Meanwhile, some Representatives have expressed that they are confused or unsure about something.
“I don’t have any idea at all,” Mark Alford from Missouri told NBC.
We’re like a boat that can’t steer at the moment. And I’m very unhappy with how things turned out. And I hope that we discover something with the help of God. 2. Someone who speaks for a short period of time
Another idea suggests that Patrick McHenry, who is currently acting as Speaker of the House, would be given more authority for a certain amount of time.
This would let the House work properly and prevent the government from stopping in a month, while they find a more permanent solution. Democrats would need to work together to figure out the specifics.
Ohio Representative James Joyce said that it is crucial for us to focus on managing the affairs of our country again.
However, some lawmakers are against finding a temporary solution.
I believe that a. (rest of the sentence needed to complete the rewrite) “I don’t think members are interested in caretaker, and I agree with that. ”
He said that he thinks a speaker who is only there for a short time would not do a good job while negotiations on the budget and other things are still happening. 3: Democrats are coming to help.
Another choice that Republicans could consider is to come to an agreement with Democrats on a candidate that both parties can support.
This choice would involve giving in to some demands of the smaller group. Democrats want to get rid of a new rule that was put in place in January. This rule allows any member to bring a vote to the floor in order to remove the Speaker.Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Thursday that we are ready, willing, and able to find agreement that both political parties can support. But he said it needs Republican partners.
This means working together to open up the government again so that the needs of the American people can be met. And making new rules that were introduced in January that give more power to their most extreme members.
A few politicians, like Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, have said that five Republicans might change their minds and support Mr Jeffries as Speaker.
It is unclear if regular Republicans will support this, but it is highly unlikely.
There might be a car accident.
There is a job opening for a very important position in the US government, and it has happened at an unfortunate time.
If there is no speaker, the chamber can’t pass any bills or approve requests for emergency aid from the White House. This means providing support to Israel as they continue to fight with Hamas.
When there is no leader in the House, it means that Congress cannot pass any bills that would help the government avoid a shutdown in November.
On Thursday, some people in the House said it is unlikely that we will find a solution until early next week.
It is still not clear about what it actually looks like. -
US moves its troops stationed in Niger ‘as precaution’
The US government has started moving its soldiers in Niger after the coup on July 26.
A spokesperson from the US Pentagon named Sabrina Singh said that some staff members will be transferred from Air Base 101 in Niger’s capital, Niamey, to Air Base 201 in Agadez, which is located further north.
American soldiers are safe and there is no danger or violence happening. “Ms Singh said during a briefing at the Pentagon that this is just a preventive measure. ”
The United States has around 1,100 soldiers located at two air bases in Niger.
The Air Base 201 in Agadez is a large area where drones are operated. It cost $110 million and is 1. 9 kilometers long It is located 920 kilometers away from Niamey.
The US military went to Niger to help the country fight against terrorism and improve its military strength.
The relationship between Niger and its western partners has gotten worse since Niger’s military removed President Mohamed Bazoum, who was chosen by the people in a fair election.
This week, France started talking to Niger’s military leaders about taking out some of its 1,500 soldiers from the country. -
Pentagon questioned following launch of UFO tracking website
The US government made a new website where people can learn about their investigations into strange and unknown things. They will also let people report any strange things they see soon.
But, as per the Department of Defense, the data that is available will only be about UAP causes that have been solved.
During a meeting, Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder, who is a spokesperson for the Pentagon, announced the launch of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office’s new website. He explained that this website will share details, pictures, and videos of cases involving Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) that have been solved and approved for the public to see.
The website also has information about trends and common questions that people ask. There are also links to official reports, transcripts, press releases, and other resources that the public might find helpful.
The data on the website shows that almost half of the UFO sightings are described as being shaped like an orb or a round sphere. The second most common thing that happens is when the sensor contact is unclear.
The US government is being questioned about what it knows about UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) after David Charles Grusch, a whistleblower, claimed in June that it was hiding physical proof of alien vehicles that are still in one piece or partly intact.
Politicians and the media put pressure on Mr. Grusch after his claims, which caused a congressional hearing last month. In that hearing, Mr. Grusch and two other former military personnel talked about their experiences with UAPs.
Former F-18 pilot Lt Ryan Graves said that Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) are something that many fighter pilots know about but don’t openly talk about. He described a situation where he had to quickly move his aircraft to avoid hitting an object that looked like a dark grey cube inside a clear sphere. Strangely, this object didn’t move even though there was wind blowing.David Fravor, a retired commander, talked about some strange objects, called UAPs, that he saw in the Persian Gulf. One of them was a well-known UAP called the ‘Tic Tac’. It was a small, white object that disappeared from the radar and then showed up again 60 miles away just a minute later.
The Department of Defense said that they promise to be open and honest with the American people about AARO’s work on UAP. The new website will also be a place where people who have served or are currently serving in the military can share their experiences of seeing unidentified flying objects (UFOs) since 1945.
The DoD will soon announce a way for people to share their sightings with the public, but it’s unclear if this will be for everyone around the world or just for people in the US.
During his statement, Mr. Grusch expressed worries about how UFO sightings are reported, and mentioned that he faced negative consequences for speaking out about it. He claimed that people had been hurt to hide the truth.
When asked about the evidence Mr. Grusch collected and if AARO would share it, Brig Gen Ryder said: ‘AARO is happy to receive any information to investigate UAP claims, and if that information is given to us, we will definitely examine it. ‘
I don’t know if this person gave their report to AARO or not.
AARO’s director, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, wrote on the new website that they have been working to improve how they collect data, make reporting requirements the same for everyone, and reduce any potential dangers to safety and security caused by UAP.
‘We are excited to use this website to keep the public informed about AARO’s work and findings, and to offer a way for UFO sightings to be reported. ‘
The Department of Defense said that they have created a website where you can find all the information about AARO and UAP that is available to the public. They will update the website regularly with new information when it is approved for release to the public. -
Evidence of alien spaceships may ‘change the world’ – UFO expert
The world could alter as a result of the evidence presented at today’s congressional hearing on unexplained aerial phenomenon (UAP), according to renowned UFO expert Nick Pope.
An oversight committee will hear testimony from three former intelligence and military officers who will discuss their encounters with UAPs.
David Charles Grusch, one of the three, gained notoriety in June when he claimed that the US government was concealing tangible proof of “intact and partially intact” alien vehicles.
He further claimed that information regarding the cars was being withheld from Congress and that he had faced reprisals from officials after providing Congress with sensitive information about the vehicles.
He will say this today: “In a time of division and strife, our investigation into the UAP issue seems to connect with an urgency and fascination that cut through political, social, and geographic borders.
newest information from the UFO Congress hearing“A democratic process must be followed when analysing the data, and it is our collective duty to make sure that public participation is promoted and respected.”
Before the hearing, Mr. Pope declared: “Today’s hearing is historic.” Under oath, witnesses will appear before Congress, including military pilots who have seen UFOs and a former member of the US government’s UAP Task Force.
These folks are respectable, qualified specialists, and by emphasising the consequences of the phenomenon for defence, national security, and aircraft safety, this will help the process of bringing this hitherto taboo subject into the mainstream.
Former UK Ministry of Defence employee Mr. Pope is a journalist and broadcaster. While there, he oversaw the government’s UFO programme, which looked into UAP sightings.
All eyes will be on former intelligence officer David Grusch, who asserts that the US has found ships and bodies connected to what he calls a “non-human intelligence,” according to Mr. Pope.
The main issue will be if he can provide Congress with any information that will enable US lawmakers to validate his assertions. These assertions are not new, but they frequently originate from unnamed or dubious sources.
“Grusch is a real insider who took part in the US intelligence community’s research and examination of UAP,” says one source.
If his statements are accurate, the world will alter.
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Pentagon Papers leaker who exposed US war crimes in Vietnam War dies
An American military expert who revealed US government deception by leaking the “Pentagon Papers” about the Vietnam War has passed away.
At his Kensington, California, home on Friday, Daniel Ellsberg passed away from pancreatic cancer, according to his wife and kids. He was 92.
In March, Ellsberg sent an email to his ‘close friends and allies’ informing them of his diagnosis of incurable pancreatic cancer and his decision to forgo chemotherapy. He stated that he only had three to six months left to live.
In 1971, Ellsberg disclosed volumes of top-secret history of American deceit and lies around the Vietnam War, which became known as the Pentagon Papers. The 7,000 pages of papers revealed that US presidents bypassed Congress, overstepped their authority and misled the public on the controversial war.
Daniel Ellsberg leaked volumes of top-secret history of US government deceit and lies around the Vietnam War (Picture: Shutterstock) The US government then embarked on an illegal campaign to discredit Ellsberg and stop the leaks. The series of crimes came to be known as the Watergate scandal and prompted President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974.
In addition, Ellsberg’s leaks led The New York Times to publish the Pentagon Papers and the Nixon administration to allege it was espionage that put national security in jeopardy. The Supreme Court in a landmark decision upheld the freedom of the press.
Ellsberg was charged with crimes including espionage and conspiracy and faced a federal trial. A judge threw the case out over government misconduct just before the jury began deliberations.
The Vietnam War began in the 1950s to contain communism in Indochina and concluded with the US withdrawing in 1973, after more than 58,000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians died.
‘When I copied the Pentagon Papers in 1969, I had every reason to think I would be spending the rest of my life behind bars,’ Ellsberg wrote in the email message on his cancer diagnosis.
‘It was a fate I would gladly have accepted if it meant hastening the end of the Vietnam War, unlikely as that seemed.’
Ellsberg grew up in the Midwest and earned his PhD in economics form Harvard University and was also educated at the University of Cambridge in the UK. After college, he served in the Marine Corps and later worked as a Defense Department official, Rand Corp military analyst and State Department consultant.
He wrote books including Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers in 2002 and The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner in 2017.
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Putin confirms Belarus received its first nuclear weapons
Vladimir Putin claims that Russia has already placed a first wave of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
They would only be used if Russia’s state or territory was in danger, the president of Russia stated at a seminar.
There is no indication, according to the US government, that the Kremlin will attack Ukraine with nuclear weapons.
After Mr. Putin’s remarks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated, “We don’t see any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.”
Belarus is a key Russian ally and served as a launchpad for Mr Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
Mr Putin said transferring the tactical nuclear warheads would be completed by the end of the summer.
Answering questions after a speech at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russia’s president said the move was about “containment” and to remind anyone “thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on us”.
When asked by the forum’s moderator about the possibility of using those weapons, he replied: “Why should we threaten the whole world? I have already said that the use of extreme measures is possible in case there is a danger to Russian statehood.”
Tactical nuclear weapons are small nuclear warheads and delivery systems intended for use on the battlefield, or for a limited strike. They are designed to destroy enemy targets in a specific area without causing widespread radioactive fallout.
The smallest tactical nuclear weapons can be one kiloton or less (producing the equivalent to a thousand tonnes of the explosive TNT). The largest ones can be as big as 100 kilotons. By comparison, the atomic bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was 15 kilotons.
The Russian leader is due to meet African leaders in St Petersburg after they visited Kyiv on Friday as part of a peace initiative they are presenting to both countries.
However while they were in the city it came under Russian missile attack.
Image caption, The African leaders are due to meet Mr Putin on Saturday South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called for de-escalation on both sides and negotiations for peace.
“We came here to listen and recognise what the people of Ukraine have gone through,” he said.
But Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said instead of making diplomatic overtures to Russia it should be frozen out diplomatically to send a message that the international community condemned its invasion.
Kyiv would not enter negotiations with Moscow while it still occupied Ukrainian territory, Mr Zelensky said.Media caption,
‘The road to peace is not an easy one,’ said President Cyril Ramaphosa in Ukraine
Mr Putin also repeated his claim that Ukraine stood no chance of succeeding in its ongoing counter-offensive.
The Ukrainian military was also running out of its own military equipment and would soon only be using Western-donated equipment, he said.
“You can’t fight for long like that,” he said, warning that any F16 US fighter jets given to Ukraine “will burn, no doubt about it”.
Ukraine has previously dismissed similar remarks, asserting they are making progress in recapturing territory in both eastern and southern Ukraine.
On Friday, Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said in the south of the country units had advanced 2km in all directions.
The BBC cannot independently verify battlefield claims.
The Russian leader also addressed economic themes, claiming that Western sanctions on Russia had failed to isolate it and instead led to an expansion in its trade with “the markets of the future”.
He praised new deals with countries in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America – calling them “reliable, responsible partners”.
More on this story
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Whistleblower claims US has alien technology
The US government is allegedly concealing tangible proof of “intact and partially intact” alien vehicles, according to a former US intelligence officer.
Whistleblower David Charles Grusch told numerous news organisations this week that the government has UFO proof but is hiding it from the public.
Information about these vehicles was being unlawfully hidden from Congress, according to Grusch, who oversaw the research of unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAP) at a US Department of Defence office.
He added that when he turned over classified information about the vehicles to Congress, he suffered retaliation from officials.
Grusch, 36, left the government in April after a 14-year career in US intelligence with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
He served as the reconnaissance office’s representative to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force from 2019-2021. From late 2021 to July 2022, he was the NGA’s co-lead for UAP analysis and its representative to the task force.
Claims of the existence of ‘exotic materials’ was confirmed by Jonathan Grey, a current US intelligence official at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (Nasic), who told the the Debrief ‘We are not alone’.
The news follows last week’s public presentation by Nasa’s UFO taskforce where footage of an unidentifiable ‘spherical orb’ UFO flying through the Middle East was released.
However, the group of experts was able to conclusively identify many of the aerial phenomena they have studied over the past year.
In 2021, the US government released a nine-page report reviewing 120 incidents recorded by the military, which sent shockwaves through the alien-hunting online community.
Grusch spoke to The Debrief journalists Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal, who previously exposed the existence of a secret Pentagon program that investigated UFOs.
In the interview, he said the US government had been recovering fragments of non-human craft, and in some cases entire craft, for decades.
‘We are not talking about prosaic origins or identities,’ said Grusch. ‘The material includes intact and partially intact vehicles.’
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged a reporter’s question concerning extraterrestrial life, referring the query to the Pentagon during a White House press briefing.
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US donates $100 million to coastal West Africa’s fight against terrorism
The US government has pledged to give five countries in West Africa $100 million to help fight potential extreme terrorism.
The countries include Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Guinea, and Togo.
This is in line with the US initiative to boost it eliminate violence and propel stability in areas vulnerable to conflict.
US commits $100m to help combat terrorism in coastal West AfricaThis was announced by US Vice President Kamala Harris during her visit to the Jubilee House in Accra.
She was hosted by President Akufo-Addo where they both held pertinent discussions of mutual interest.
“Today I am pleased to announce $100 million in support of Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo,” she said on Monday.
“Last week President Joe Biden announced a strategic plan for coastal West Africa as part of the United States strategy to prevent conflict and promote stability.”
She expressed hope that the funding will help implement the policy outlined by US President Joe Biden in the strategic plan.
US commits $100m to help combat terrorism in coastal West AfricaMadam Harris is currently embarking on a one-week tour which will see her visit Ghana and two other African countries – Tanzania and Zambia.
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US has not granted my wife and kids asylum – Madina MP
Francis Xavier-Sosu, the member of parliament for the Madina Constituency, is seeking an apology and an urgent retraction from a media organization that said that the American government had given asylum to his spouse and four children.
According to the MP, the Thursday, March 23, 2023, publication by Mynews.com.gh with the headline “Madina MP’s Wife and 4 Children Granted US Government Visa Asylum Over Anti LGBTQI Threats,” is not only untrue but maliciously targeted at his reputation.
The MP through his lawyers, FX Law & Associates has thus demanded an immediate deletion of the said story as well as a retraction and apology for its publication.
“In the said publication, you allege that ‘the wife and four (4) children of our client were granted asylum status by the US government following the alleged threats of harm received by the Human Rights lawyer and his family over his opposition to sections of Ghana’s Anti-Gay Bill.
“We have further instructions that the above allegation is false and publication of same is made maliciously without justification and is calculated to injure the hard-earned reputation of our client and expose him to hatred, ridicule and contempt.
“Accordingly, we have firm instructions of our client you remedy the situation immediately by pulling down the said false and malicious news story publication and causing a retraction and apology to be made within six hours on receipt of this letter and giving the retraction and apology the same publicity and prominence as the false and malicious publication made on Thursday, 23rd March 2023,” the letter from the lawyers read in part.
According to the lawyers, the have the instruction of their client to institute a five million cedis defamation suit against the media house if it fails to heed to their demand.
“We have further instructions from our client to commence legal action against you for damages of Five Million Ghana Cedis (GH₵5,000,000.00) to protect our client’s image and reputation from false and malicious publication made on your news portal should you fail to heed to the demands of our client,” the letter said.
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African agribusinesses should get strategic US investment, the trade minister urges
As part of comprehensive efforts to economically empower the African continent, Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, Ghana’s Minister of Trade and Industry, has argued for extensive investment in the agricultural sector.
The industrial expert made this declaration at the recent US-African leaders’ meeting, which took place in Washington, DC, from December 13–15, 2022.The shared goals of developing new economic engagement, reaffirming the U.S. and African commitment to democracy and human rights, and reducing the effects of COVID-19 and upcoming pandemics served as the foundation for the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit.
It also focused on working collaboratively to strengthen regional and global health; promote food security; advance peace and security; respond to the climate crisis; and amplify diaspora ties.
African Trade Ministers used the opportunity to stage a round table discussion with US Members of Congress and other high-ranking officials led by Ambassador Katherine Tai, the US Trade Representative.
They also used the platform to discuss continental matters with an emphasis on the industrialization agenda as exposed by recent external shocks that threaten to ground most economies in Africa.
Speaking on behalf of the US Government, Ambassador Tai highlighted the importance of the U.S. – Africa economic relationship in addressing current financial challenges and building a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive future. Ambassador Tai reiterated the need for the two sides to work together to fulfill AGOA’s promise to boost the productive capacity of the continent and to pursue equitable growth for all segments of both societies.
Central among the many areas discussed was the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which is set to expire in September 2025.
Hon. Kyerematen, in his speech at the roundtable, called for the need for enhanced US investment in selected strategic sectors such as Agriculture and Agribusiness, oil and gas, blue ocean economy and investment in light manufacturing industries, support for the development of infrastructure including roads, rail, port infrastructure, and renewable energy.
The longest serving Trade and Industry Minister in Ghana urged African leaders and the United States to identify key areas whose transformation will be felt by the average African amidst the global economic meltdown.
Hon. Mr. Kyerematen also joined President Akufo-Addo to attend a series of high-profile meetings and events including the meetings with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the President of the World Bank Group.
He represented the President of the Republic at the National Black Chamber of Commerce Business Forum as well as the US Chamber of Commerce and Corporate Council on Africa’s Presidential Dialogue all in Washington DC.
The Ghana delegation has since returned home.