News & Announcements

President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana has been sworn in for the second term on Thursday, a day after scuffles broke out between rival politicians in parliament.

According to a BBC report, authorities had to briefly deploy soldiers after the unusual scenes in one of Africa’s most stable democracies.

Various media outlets reported on Thursday that mayhem erupted after a lawmaker from the ruling party tried to seize the ballot box during the vote for parliament speaker.

The ensuing clash lasted several hours until the army moved in, with national television broadcasting the scuffles live.

The tight December elections saw the country’s Electoral Commission announces that incumbent 76-year-old Akufo-Addo, flag-bearer for the centre-right New Patriotic Party had won 51.6% of the votes.

His rival John Mahama, who was president of Ghana from 2011 to 2016, rejected the official results in both the presidential and parliamentary elections.

According to the Africa Report, the Electoral Commission announced that Mahama won 47.4% of the total, but he claimed that the commission had failed to respond to his party’s questions about what he said were mistakes in voter collation.

Mahama also said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won 140 seats in the 275-seat parliament, giving it control of the legislature.

At least five people were killed during the elections, which were otherwise relatively peaceful.

On Tuesday, Akufo-Addo delivered the State of the Nation Address (Sona) in the country’s capital Accra before the dissolution of the seventh parliament.

In his speech, Akufo-Addo pledged to build on his achievements towards advancing the well-being of all Ghanaians.

The president called on members of parliament to be more accommodating in the next parliament, which has an almost equal strength on both sides, bearing in mind the challenges the country faces, including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic writes Ghana News.

World leaders and governments expressed shock and outrage at the storming of the US Capitol in Washington by supporters of President Donald Trump.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday she was “furious and saddened” by the events and said Trump shared blame for the unrest, reports AFP.

“I deeply regret that President Trump has not conceded his defeat, since November and again yesterday,” she said.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called on Trump supporters to “stop trampling on democracy”.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Twitter condemned the “disgraceful scenes in U.S. Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power”.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab added in his own tweet: “The US rightly takes great pride in its democracy, and there can be no justification for these violent attempts to frustrate the lawful and the proper transition of power.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the “rampage at the Capitol yesterday was a disgraceful act and it must be vigorously condemned.”

“I have no doubt that… American democracy will prevail. It always has,” added Netanyahu, who has repeatedly called Trump Israel’s best-ever friend in the White House.

The EU’s foreign policy chief condemned an “assault on US democracy”.

“In the eyes of the world, American democracy tonight appears under siege,” Josep Borrell tweeted.

Calling the action an “assault on US democracy, its institutions and the rule of law”, he added: “This is not America. The election results of 3 Novembermust be fully respected.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said: “We will not give in to the violence of a few who want to question” democracy.

In a video posted on his official Twitter account, he added: “What happened today in Washington is not American”.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also condemned “a serious attack on democracy”.

Russian officials pointed to the storming of the US Capitol as evidence of America’s decline, with Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Russian upper house’s foreign affairs committee, saying it showed US democracy was “limping on both feet”.

“The celebration of democracy has ended. It has, unfortunately, hit rock bottom, and I say this without a hint of gloating,” Kosachyov said in a post on Facebook.

His counterpart in the lower house, Leonid Slutsky, said “The United States certainly cannot now impose electoral standards on other countries and claim to be the world’s ‘beacon of democracy’.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda, a close Trump ally who did not congratulate Biden on his victory until more than a month after the election described the events as “an internal issue for the United States”.

“Poland believes in the power of American democracy,” he added on Twitter.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the chaos unleashed on the US Capitol “shows above all how fragile and vulnerable Western democracy is”.

“We saw that unfortunately, the ground is fertile for populism, despite the advances in science and industry,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast by state television. “I hope the whole world and the next occupants of the White House will learn from it.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: “Canadians are deeply disturbed and saddened by the attack on democracy in the United States, our closest ally and neighbour.”

Australian PM Scott Morrison condemned the “very distressing scenes” in the US.

“We condemn these acts of violence and look forward to a peaceful transfer of Government to the newly elected administration in the great American democratic tradition,” he tweeted.

Jacinda Ardern tweeted: “Democracy – the right of people to exercise a vote, have their voice heard, and then have that decision upheld peacefully should never be undone by a mob.”

The PM added her country’s thoughts were with everyone “devastated” by the events in Washington, adding: “what is happening is wrong.”

“Shocking scenes in Washington, DC,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg tweeted. “The outcome of this democratic election must be respected.”

“Horrible images from Washington D.C. Dear @realDonaldTrump, recognize @JoeBiden as the next president today,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Twitter.

The plain-speaking Rutte once during a visit to the White House in 2018 interrupted Trump with a loud “no” when Trump made an assertion about EU-US trade.

Irish premier Micheal Martin, who has invited the Irish-American Biden to visit his ancestral homeland early in his presidency, tweeted his condemnation.

“The Irish people have a deep connection with The United States of America, built up over many generations. I know that many, like me, will be watching the scenes unfolding in Washington DC with great concern and dismay,” Martin said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Trump ally who has heaped praise on the outgoing US president in the past, said he was “distressed to see news about rioting and violence” in Washington.

“Orderly and peaceful transfer of power must continue. The democratic process cannot be allowed to be subverted through unlawful protests,” the Hindu nationalist leader tweeted.

“Extremely troubled by the violence and horrible events taking place in Washington D.C. American democracy is resilient, deeply rooted, and will overcome this crisis,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a tweet.

“We are following with concern the internal developments happening in the US,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We call on all parties in the US to maintain restraint and prudence. We believe the US will overcome this internal political crisis in a mature manner.”

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in a tweet that “this is an unacceptable assault on democracy. A peaceful and orderly transfer of power must be ensured.”

“The looting and violence at the US Senate are not a good example for countries where democracy is fighting hard for a place in the sun,” Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said in a tweet. “Given the emotions sparked by the US presidential election, we could expect today’s session to be far from ordinary. Where were the police and the Senate bodyguards…?”

“Extremism, violence, polarization, and violence is never the way forward. Terrible pictures from Washington. May democracy be brought back to working again,” Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Facebook.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted that “Yesterday’s attack on the Capitol has only succeeded in reaffirming the principles we share. Spain will work with the United States for a more just world and the triumph of democracy over extremism.”

Slovenia’s right-wing Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who backed Trump and who has yet to congratulate Biden on his victory, tweeted: “All should be very troubled by the violence taking place in Washington D.C.”

“We hope American democracy is resilient, deeply rooted, and will overcome this crisis. Democracy presupposes peaceful protest, but violence and death threats —from Left or Right— are ALWAYS wrong.”

Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama — who led a coup in 2006 and was accused of assaulting an opposition lawmaker in 2019 — added his condemnation.

“The violent scenes we saw in Washington today are an affront to democracies around the globe. True and genuine democracy is a precious treasure that no nation should ever take for granted,” he tweeted.

Sudan signed the “Abraham Accords” paving the way to normalizing ties with Israel on Wednesday, alongside an aid deal to access $1 billion annual World Bank financing, during an unprecedented visit by the US treasury chief.

The deals were signed less than a month after Washington removed Khartoum from its “state sponsors of terrorism” blacklist, following Sudan’s agreement to normalize ties with Israel in October.

They are the culmination of efforts by Sudan’s transitional civilian-majority government — which took power after the April 2019 ouster of President Omar al-Bashir — to forge closer ties with the US.

The US embassy congratulated Sudan’s civilian-led transitional government on signing the deal, saying it would “help further Sudan on its transformative path to stability, security, and economic opportunity.”

“The agreement allows Sudan, Israel, and other signers of Abraham Accords to build mutual trust and increase cooperation in the region,” the embassy said a tweet.

Wednesday’s signing made Sudan the third Arab country to ink the “Abraham Accords” after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain last year. Morocco has agreed a “normalization” with Israel that restores past relations.

Sudan said in October that its own deal with the Jewish state will come into force after its approval by a yet-to-be-formed parliament.

The accords were signed by Sudan’s justice minister Nasredeen Abdulbari and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

“We welcome the great closeness between Israel and other neighbouring countries in the region, as well as the start of diplomatic relations,” Abdulbari said at the signing ceremony. 

“We will also work in the near future to strengthen and expand these relations.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi welcomed the agreement.

“Sudan’s signing of Abraham Accords is an important step in advancing regional normalization agreements in the Middle East,” Ashkenazi wrote on Twitter, thanking the US administration for “its constant efforts to promote peace and stability” throughout the Middle East.

“I hope that this agreement will soon bring progress in the dialogue and normalization between Israel and Sudan and promote the development of relations between our two countries,” he added.

Mnuchin will be heading to Israel after his stop in Sudan.

During his one-day visit, Mnuchin met with the head of state General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. 

In a tweet, Hamdok said the US treasury chief’s visit comes as part of “concrete steps” toward strengthening relations.

Their talks focused on Sudan’s deteriorating “economic situation, US aid to Sudan and debt relief,” Khartoum’s government said.

Sudan’s removal from the US terrorism blacklist last month has opened it up for aid, debt relief, and investment.

Sudan’s acting finance minister Hiba Ahmed and Mnuchin “signed a memorandum of understanding in Khartoum to provide a same-day bridge financing facility to clear Sudan’s arrears to the World Bank,” her office said.

“This move will enable Sudan to regain access to over $1 billion in annual financing from the World Bank for the first time in 27 years,” the finance ministry said in a statement. 

The ministry said such international financing will help support “major infrastructure and other development project throughout Sudan.” 

Sudan has been undergoing a rocky transition since the army toppled Bashir in 2019 following months of mass protests against his rule.

It is struggling with a severe economic crisis exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, with chronic hard currency shortages and galloping inflation.

Its external debt is estimated at some $60 billion.

On Wednesday, the US treasury chief also met with Sudan’s water minister to discuss the long-running dispute with Egypt and Ethiopia over Addis Ababa’s gigantic Nile dam.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday expressed shock at the recent massacre of civilians by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), his spokesman said.

Guterres strongly condemned such violence against the civilian population and urged that the perpetrators of these atrocities be brought to justice.

He offered his condolences to the families of the victims and to the government of the DRC, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN chief, in a statement.

The secretary-general reiterated his call for a global cease-fire and called on all armed groups to lay down their weapons.

He encouraged the authorities in DRC to take concrete steps to address the drivers of conflict in the eastern part of the country, the statement said.

Guterres reiterated the determination of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC to continue to do its utmost to protect civilians in accordance with its mandate and to support national efforts to consolidate peace and stability in the country, it said.

Dozens of civilians have been killed by the ADF in the past two weeks in the DRC’s troubled east.

Indonesian aircraft has been declared missing shortly after taking off from the country’s capital.

“A Sriwijaya (Air) plane from Jakarta to Pontianak (on Borneo island) with call sign SJY182 has lost contact,” said ministry spokesman Adita Irawati.

The Sriwijaya Air lost contact with one of its Boeing 737 passenger plane shortly after takeoff from the capital Jakarta, the country’s transport ministry announced on Saturday.

Irawati said: “It last made contact at 2:40 pm (0740 GMT).”

It was unclear how many passengers and crew were aboard the Boeing 737-500, which has a capacity of about 130 when it took off from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta international airport.

The usual flight time is about 90-minutes.

The budget airline said only it was investigating the incident.

Indonesia’s search and rescue agency and the National Transportation Safety Commission were also investigating, Irawati said.

In October 2018, 189 people were killed when a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet slammed into the Java Sea about 12 minutes after take-off from Jakarta on a routine one-hour flight.

That crash — and a subsequent fatal flight in Ethiopia — saw Boeing hit with $2.5 billion in fines over claims it defrauded regulators overseeing the 737 MAX model, which was grounded worldwide following the two deadly crashes.

American celebrities have taken to their Twitter accounts to express their reaction over the permanent suspension of President Donald Trump’s Twitter account. 

The company banned the @realdonaldtrump account for good on Friday, citing ‘risk’ that the president would incite further violence. 

Twitter first locked Trump out of his account on Wednesday for inflammatory posts after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, but the company lifted the suspension the following day, usatoday.comreports. 

“After a close review of recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” read a company statement late Friday.

Many stars cheered the decision in the wake of the company’s announcement.

Supermodel and cookbook author, “Chrissy Teigen simply tweeted, “AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHA…”

“What the (expletive) took you so long @jack?” asked Julia Louis-Dreyfus, addressing Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Mark Ruffalo thanked Twitter, while Mark Hamill asked, “And how is YOUR day going?” along with a screenshot of the president’s suspended account.

“The year is looking up again,” wrote Jameela Jamil.

The View co-host Meghan McCain retweeted Twitter’s announcement and added a warning: “He’s gonna burn the White House to the ground.”

Comedian Sarah Cooper questioned the president’s state of mind following the ban.

“Uhm,” she wrote. “Anyone worried he might lose his mind. Who the hell is going to explain to him that his precious Twitter followers are all gone.”

Popular actress, Whoopi Goldberg just wrote, “Finally,” and comedian Wanda Sykes called for Twitter to suspend more accounts.

“FINALLY!” she wrote. “Can we put them on a family plan? Don Jr, Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, Jared, you too Melania…Shut all of them down!”

According to author Stephen King, Twitter “finally got fed up with Trump’s lying (expletive) and took away his megaphone.”

“Good. Makes me proud to be a twitterhead,” he added. 

Hillary Clinton called back to one of her past tweets during the 2016 election in which she ran against Trump for the presidency. 

At the time, she tweeted at Trump, “Delete your account.” On Friday, Clinton resurfaced her old tweet with a checkmark emoji. 

“Twitter finally banned Trump!” wrote Sacha Baron Cohen, who has called for Twitter to ban the president in the past. “We did it!”

Others, however, took up issues with the suspension as they sided with the president.

“If you’re on the right or not woke or want to raise questions about the integrity of our electoral system, you’re next,” wrote Megyn Kelly.

User @ozzygutierrez1 replied to Kelly that “there is a difference between raising questions about the integrity of our electoral system and actively undermining our institutions and advocating for violence as he did.”

Twitter shut down President Donald Trump’s account Friday, booting him from the global service to prevent another attack on the US Capitol building.

Trump had fervently used @realDonaldTrump for proclamations, accusations, and misinformation unchallenged for his entire time in office.

Twitter’s decision to permanently suspend Trump is considered overdue by critics who argue he has gotten away with abuses but has inflamed members of the far-right who equate fact-checking with stifling free speech.

“After a close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account,” Twitter said in a blog post explaining its decision, “we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”

Twitter late Friday blocked efforts by Trump to sidestep the ban.

He fired off tweets from the official presidential account @POTUS, accusing the company of conspiring with the “Radical Left.” The social network quickly deleted the tweets.

Trump also tweeted from the @TeamTrump campaign account, which was soon suspended.

“Using another account to try to evade a suspension is against our rules,” Twitter told AFP.

“We have taken steps to enforce this with regard to recent Tweets from the @POTUS account.”

Twitter blocked Trump temporarily after the deadly attack on the US Capitol Wednesday, warning the suspension could become permanent.

He was suspended Friday after a pair of tweets: in one, Trump vowed that none of his supporters would be “disrespected.” In another, he said he would not attend successor Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, as is customary.

“These two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks,” Twitter said.

“We understand the desire to permanently suspend him now,” said ACLU senior legislative counsel Kate Ruane.

“But, it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield the unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions.”

Trump has a press team and can easily turn to sympathetic outlets such as Fox News, while other people who could be shut out by the social networks don’t have that luxury, Ruane noted.

Social media companies such as Twitter have the right to decide what appears on their platforms and set standards for appropriate content. The First Amendment right to free speech prevents governments from stifling expression and does not apply to private businesses.

Twitter said it also factored in that plans for more armed protests have been proliferating on and off the service, including a proposed second attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17.

Trump’s tweeted statement about not attending the Inauguration has been received by some supporters as his continued rejection of the election’s legitimacy and a sign that the event would be a “safe target” since he won’t be there, according to Twitter.

Supporters also viewed the tweets’ wording as praise for those involved in what has been described as a coup attempt and indication he does not plan to yield power to President-elect Biden, Twitter said in the post.

“We are living Orwell’s 1984,” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted from his account. “This is absolute insanity!”

Trump, who at 81.7 million followers had one of Twitter’s 10 most popular accounts, preferred using the platform to get out his message without submitting himself to questions from reporters.

But the US leader has been at war with his favoured social media platform since the presidential election after Twitter took the unprecedented decision to fact-check some of his tweets.

Twitter confirmed Friday that several hundred employees signed a letter to chief executive Jack Dorsey saying they were disturbed by the “insurrection” carried out by Trump supporters, who had been rallied by the president.

The employees called for Twitter to assess the role its platform played in Wednesday’s events.

Twitter also removed the accounts of Michael Flynn and other high-profile Trump supporters who promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory.

“The accounts have been suspended in line with our policy on Coordinated Harmful Activity,” Twitter told AFP.

“Given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behaviour in the coming days, we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content.”

Flynn has met with Trump at the White House to collaborate on how to overturn the presidential election results.

Facebook also has banned Trump from the platform “indefinitely” due to his efforts to incite violence at the US Capitol, according to chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg said a one-day ban imposed on Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram was extended because of Trump’s “use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.”

The announcement came after the outgoing president was locked out of all major social media platforms due to his false claims about the legitimacy of his loss to Biden, and for inciting the angry mob that stormed the US Capitol.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a global body with the aim of championing the course of pen pushers around the world, has called for the immediate releases of a popular Zimbabwean journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono, who was rearrested by the country’s police on Friday.

CPJ said: “Zimbabwean authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and cease efforts to intimidate and harass him,” the committee said in a statement.”

On Friday afternoon, police arrested Chin’ono at his home in Harare, the capital, and took him to the city’s central police station, according to a tweet by the journalist and two of his lawyers, Doug Coltart and Harrison Nkomo, who spoke to CPJ over the phone.

Authorities said they planned to charge Chin’ono with “communicating falsehoods” over a tweet covering alleged police abuse, according to the journalist.

“Zimbabwean authorities should immediately release journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, drop all efforts to prosecute him, and cease these flagrant intimidation tactics,” CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo said in Nairobi.

“Press freedom requires that journalists be able to work without fear of criminal sanction. This basic condition is something Hopewell Chin’ono and other journalists in Zimbabwe continue to be denied,” Mumo said.

If convicted of “publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state,” Chin’ono could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine, according to section 31 of Zimbabwe’s Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. Coltart told CPJ that Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court previously ruled parts of that law to be unconstitutional.

In 2020, Chin’ono was arrested, prosecuted, and repeatedly detained over his reporting, according to CPJ research, the committee statement said.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa has reached 2,854,971 as of Tuesday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement that the death toll from the pandemic had reached 67,986 as of Tuesday afternoon.

The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU) Commission, also said that a total of 2,361,900 people infected with the virus have so far recovered.

The most affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Ethiopia, figures from the Africa CDC showed.

South Africa has the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases at 1,113,349. The country also has the highest number of deaths from the disease at 30,011 according to the Africa CDC.

Last week, the AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat called on the African continent to ensure economic recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic as the new year begins.

“As we mark the end of the year 2020, we also mark the end of one of the most extraordinary and challenging years in living memory,” the chairperson of the 55-member pan-African bloc said in a statement.

Mahamat warned that “the challenging task of protecting our health and livelihoods, while ensuring recovery of our economies, still lies ahead as we begin a new year”.

Spain’s capital Madrid and much of the neighbouring region of Castilla-La Mancha were on high alert on Friday for what meteorologists expect to be the heaviest snowfall in decades, brought by the Storm Philomena.

Such events are rare in the region and tend to be disruptive to daily life and mobility, coming at a time when people are returning home after Christmas and New Year holidays. This year, however, there is less traffic than usual due to restrictions to curb the coronavirus pandemic.

As heavy snow started falling, authorities said large parks in Madrid, including the famous Retiro next to the Prado museum, would be closed from Friday afternoon as a precaution.

With up to 20cm of snow forecast in 24 hours and temperatures expected to hover around zero centigrade for much of the day, the south of the Madrid region, including the capital, is on its highest level of alert for the first time since the system was created in 2007.

Ruben del Campo, a spokesman for the State Meteorological Agency, said the city was probably facing the heaviest snowfall at least so far in the 21st century.

“Perhaps we would have to go back to the snowfall of February 1984 or to that of March 1971 to find similar precedents if the forecasts we are expecting are correct,” he added.

Light snow already blanketed Madrid on Thursday, a day after Spain registered the lowest temperature ever recorded on the Iberian peninsula, of -34.1C, in the Pyrenees in the north.

The storm Philomena is advancing through Spain after hitting the Canary Islands with strong winds and rain.

In Gran Canaria, a ferry with 59 passengers and 17 crew ran aground on Thursday night due to the strong winds when entering the port of Agaete.

On Friday the coastguard was towing the ferry to the port, with passengers and crew still on board, unhurt.