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Tag: Washington D.C

  • Nikki Haley victorious in Republican primary held in Washington D.C

    Nikki Haley victorious in Republican primary held in Washington D.C

    Nikki Haley has won the Republican primary in the District of Columbia, notching her first victory of the 2024 campaign.

    Her victory Sunday at least temporarily halts Donald Trump’s sweep of the GOP voting contests, although the former president is bound to pick up several hundred more delegates in this week’s Super Tuesday races.

    Despite her early losses, Haley has said she would remain in the race at least through those contests, although she has declined to name any primary she felt confident she would win. Following last week’s loss in her home state of South Carolina, Haley remained adamant that voters in the places that followed deserved an alternative to Trump despite his dominance thus far in the campaign.

    The Associated Press declared Haley the winner Sunday night after D.C. Republican Party officials released the results.

    Washington is one of the most heavily Democratic jurisdictions in the nation, with only about 23,000 registered Republicans in the city. Democrat Joe Biden won the district in the 2020 general election with 92 per cent of the vote.

    Haley held a rally in the nation’s capital on Friday before heading back to North Carolina and a series of states holding Super Tuesday primaries. She joked with more than 100 supporters inside a hotel ballroom, “Who says there’s no Republicans in D.C., come on.”

    “We’re trying to make sure that we touch every hand that we can and speak to every person,” Haley said.

    As she gave her standard campaign speech, criticizing Trump for running up federal deficit, one rallygoer bellowed, “He cannot win a general election. It’s madness.” That prompted agreement from Haley, who argues that she can deny Biden a second term but Trump won’t be able to.

    While campaigning as an avowed conservative, Haley has tended to perform better among more moderate and independent-leaning voters.

    Four in 10 Haley supporters in South Carolina’s GOP primary were self-described moderates, compared with 15 per cent for Trump, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 2,400 voters taking part in the Republican primary in South Carolina, conducted for AP by NORC at the University of Chicago. On the other hand, eight in 10 Trump supporters identified as conservatives, compared to about half of Haley’s backers.

    Trump won an uncontested D.C. primary during his 2020 reelection bid but placed a distant third four years earlier behind Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Rubio’s win was one of only three in his unsuccessful 2016 bid. Other more centrist Republicans, including Mitt Romney and John McCain, won the city’s primaries in 2012 and 2008 on their way to winning the GOP nomination.

  • D.C. rapper No Savage charged; pleads guilty to four charges in mall shooting

    D.C. rapper No Savage charged; pleads guilty to four charges in mall shooting

    Rapper Noah Settles, also known as No Savage, from Washington, D.C., has admitted guilt to four charges related to a shooting at a mall in Northern Virginia.

    Per NBC Washington, Settles pleaded guilty to three counts of malicious discharge of a firearm in an occupied dwelling, and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He has been accused of firing a gun three times following a physical fight on June 8 at Tysons Corner Center. A sentencing date has yet to be set.

    No one was injured in the shooting, but in video shown in court Settles could be seen getting into a physical altercation before coming back with a firearm. According to his defense attorney, Settles has maintained that he fired the gun to defend himself from a gang member who he alleged had a firearm. He is facing a mandatory three-year prison term on the firearm in the commission of a felony charge, while he’s facing between two to ten years on the other three charges. 

    While he pleaded guilty, the plea was entered to concede there’s evidence to convict him but does not mean he’s admitted he’s guilty. As part of the plea deal, three other charges against him were dropped. 

    Following news of the shooting last year, Settles turned himself in at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

    In the lead-up to his arrest, he streamed himself walking through a police precinct on his Instagram. He was facing up to 43 years in prison at the time of his arrest, but the guilty plea means he’ll likely face a far shorter sentence than that.

    Source: Complex.com

  • Ignore baseless claims against Tier 2 Pension – Finance Ministry

    The Ministry of Finance has denied rumors that Tier 2 pension investments in government securities would receive a 94% discount.

    The reports were dismissed by the ministry in a statement, which insisted that they were unfounded and meant to erode trust in Ghana’s financial industry.

    In fact, they rather erode investor confidence and add to currency pressures.

    Govemment’s engagements with the IMF, both In Accra and in Washington D.C., on a Programme to restore macro-economic stability, are progressing steadily.

    The Post- Covid Economic Growth Programme is designed to bring growth, stability, and relief to our country.”

    The statement further urged the public to disregard the publications, “which are in no way reflective of the progress of work being done with the IMF.”

    It stressed:”Govemment will continue with this objective and ensure that investors’ best interests are upheld at all times.”

  • Ghana is not alone in facing economic challenges – UK High Commissioner

    The UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson has said Ghana is not alone in facing economic challenges.

    She said in a tweet that there was the need to take the difficult decisions and come together internationally to get through.

    Her tweet comes after the UK’s Minister for Development, Vicky Ford said “Ghana is a great friend of the UK.

    “In my meeting with Hon. Minister Ofori-Atta @MoF_Ghana we discussed the global economic challenges and the support we as the international community can offer Ghana, including a possible new @IMFNews programme.”

    Harriet Thompson tweeted “Ghana is not alone in facing economic challenges. We must be ready to take the difficult decisions & come together internationally to get through. We look forward to welcoming you back to Ghana in your new role@vickyford(& we’re glad to see you love your made-in-Ghana jacket!”

    Ghana is not alone in facing economic challenges. We must be ready to take the difficult decisions & come together internationally to get through 🇬🇭🇬🇧

    We look forward to welcoming you back to 🇬🇭 in your new role @vickyford (& we’re glad to see you ❤️ your made-in-Ghana jacket!). https://t.co/qh9CwLB58p

    — Harriet Thompson (@HCThompson001) October 14, 2022

    Meanwhile, the G7 has asked the World Bank to provide financial support to Ghana and other African countries to enable them deal with the impact of the economic crisis caused by force majeures.

    The decision was taken during a meeting with African Finance Minsters  with the G7 as part of the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Meetings in Washington D.C.

    The G7, an informal grouping of seven of the world’s advanced economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

    Representatives from Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal were all at the meeting.

    Speaking in an exclusive interview with TV3, Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta described the meeting as historic because this is the first time African Finance Ministers have been invited to for such discussions.

    Mr Ofori-Atta said “It was actually quite a historic meeting because for the first time the G7 has called African Finance Ministers to deliberate on the crisis that they see.

    “The trues that these are exogenous factors that have really, even their own economies put it under serious stress and are therefore, looking for ways in which they can add to the capital needs to make sure that things do not deteriorate. So countries such as Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco  were there.”

    He added “The empathy is clear, the need to [introduce] something new and therefore, their interest in encouraging the world Bank to find more resource, tapping into the private sector  so that they will stabilize where things are going.

    “They have reduced growth rate to 2.7 per cent expecting a grim and difficult period, they don’t want to make sure that things deteriorate from liquidly to insolvency to chaos.”

    The meeting brings together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.

    Also featured are seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and many other events focused on the global economy, international development, and the world’s financial system.

  • Ghana – IMF negotiations constructive, more to be done

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has described its second round of negotiation with Ghana for a loan support facility for the country’s homegrown economic programme as constructive.

    The Fund, however, said, the team would advance its technical work including further progress on assessing Ghana’s debt sustainability in the weeks ahead, including discussions at its Annual Meetings in Washington D.C.

    Mr Stéphane Roudet, the IMF Mission Chief to Ghana, at the end of the meeting on Friday, said: “We had constructive discussions on policies aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and laying the foundation for stronger and more inclusive growth.”

    “We reaffirm our commitment to support Ghana in these challenging times, consistent with the IMF’s policies”.

    He expressed the IMF team’s gratitude to the Ghanaian authorities, private sector, civil society, development partners and other stakeholders for their constructive engagement and support during this mission.”

    The second in a series of negotiations dealt with issues including ensuring public finance sustainability while protecting the vulnerable, bolstering the credibility of monetary and exchange rate policies to reduce inflation and rebuild external buffers.

    The discussions also touched on preserving Ghana’s financial sector stability, and steps to encourage private investment and growth, including by improving governance, transparency, and public sector efficiency.

    The IMF team was in Ghana from September 26 to October 7 and discussed policies that could be supported by an IMF arrangement to help the country navigate through the current economic hardship and improve its fiscal balances sustainably.

    They met with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and his Vice, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, as well as the Finance Minister Ofori-Atta, and Bank of Ghana Governor, Dr Ernest Addison and their respective teams.

    The IMF team also met with the Parliament’s Finance Committee, and representatives from various government agencies, the Trades Union Congress, the private sector, civil society organizations, and development partners.