US President Barack Obama has said NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who refused to stand for the US national anthem, was exercising his constitutional right to make a point. Speaking in China, Mr Obama said the player had raised legitimate issues. Kaepernick stirred controversy when he sat during the national anthem to protest against racial injustice. … Read more
Nigeria has emerged as one of the countries at greater risk of Zika virus transmission. According to a new study published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, many countries across Africa and Asia-Pacific may be vulnerable to Zika virus outbreaks, with India, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Bangladesh expected to be at … Read more
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “A man who has never gone to school may steal a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railway”. In our case, they steal the freight car, the railway and the land as well. Over the past years, corruption has been one of the … Read more
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s allies have urged her to change course on refugees after her governing CDU party was beaten in a regional election by an anti-immigrant party. The right-wing AfD party, formed only three years ago, came second in the chancellor’s home state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, polling 21%. Mrs Merkel has defended her policies … Read more
A new generation of anti-China activists have won seats on Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo), preliminary results indicate. Among them is Nathan Law, one of the young leaders of the mass pro-democracy demonstrations of 2014, who is now on course to win a constituency seat. It is the first taste of real political power for … Read more
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Brazil to demonstrate against the government. Organisers said 50,000 people – a record number – turned out in Sao Paulo alone for a seventh day of protests against the new President Michel Temer. Mr Temer took office after Dilma Rousseff was removed from the … Read more
The US and China – together responsible for 40% of the world’s carbon emissions – have both formally joined the Paris global climate agreement. After arriving with other leaders of G20 nations for a summit in the city of Hangzhou, Mr Obama said: “History will judge today’s effort as pivotal.” CO2 emissions are the driving … Read more
This week, the threat of the imminence of a major irreversible water crisis in Ghana resurfaced. The emphasis, this time, has been on the contribution of galamsey activities to the pollution of our water-bodies. This column returns to the issue not because the writer has any hopes of attracting attention and action from the powers … Read more
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the China Development Bank (CDB) are to enhance their cooperation towards yielding mutual dividends in the development of transport and maritime infrastructure, energy, agriculture and health. Conferring with a delegation from the CDB at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, on Wednesday, the ECOWAS Commission’s President, Marcel … Read more
The US and China – together responsible for 40% of the world’s carbon emissions – have now both ratified the Paris global climate agreement. After arriving with other leaders of G20 nations for a summit in the city of Hangzhou, Mr Obama said: “History will judge today’s effort as pivotal.” CO2 emissions are the driving … Read more
A glass-bottomed bridge in China that was heralded as a record-breaker when it opened just 13 days ago has closed. Officials said the government was planning urgent maintenance work in the area and the bridge closed on Friday, with a re-opening time to be announced. But the US CNN network said a spokesman told them … Read more
Gases from thermal plants seen released into the atmosphere China’s top legislature has ratified the Paris global climate agreement, state news agency Xinhua reports. The country is the world’s largest emitter of harmful CO2 emissions, which cause climate change. China and the US are expected to jointly announce ratification at a bilateral summit later on … Read more
The Ghanaian attitude to time and late attendance to programmes of national importance received a backlash from the Korean Ambassador and a team of Korean engineers at a workshop in Accra yesterday. Lyeo Woon-Ki, the Ambassador, criticised the conduct of the officials of the Ministry of Transport after waiting for almost one hour at a … Read more
Complain about the lack of jobs in Ghana these days and an NDC official is likely to respond with something along the lines of “We have completed an unprecedentednumberof infrastructure projects, and the jobs will come”. For the NDC government, infrastructure projects have become a substitute for prudent economic policies that ensure that businessesflourish. To … Read more
Libreville (AFP) – Gabon’s president Ali Bongo was set to be declared winner of last weekend’s contested election, electoral commission members said Thursday, in a result that risks inflaming tensions in the Central African nation. Bongo, whose father held onto power for four decades, sought relection after winning a first term in 2009 in a … Read more
Tsingtao Brewery, China’s second-biggest beer maker, has reported a sharp fall in profits. In the six months to June, net income fell by 11% from a year earlier to 1.07bn yuan (£123m; $160m), its weakest first-half profit since 2012. An economic slowdown has hit consumer spending in China and beers sales were also dampened by … Read more
Theresa May is to chair a meeting of her cabinet at Chequers to discuss the UK’s approach to leaving the EU and its objectives in future negotiations. The prime minister and senior ministers are gathering to debate the way forward amid reports of tensions and diverging priorities among key figures. Those present will include David … Read more
A suspected suicide car bomber rammed the gates of the Chinese embassy in the capital of Kyrgyzistan, Bishkek, according to authorities. Local medics said the driver was killed while two embassy staff and a woman were wounded in Tuesday’s blast. “As a result of the explosion, only the suicide bomber terrorist died. Security guards were … Read more
Lack of credit support and investment guarantees from the Russian government and financial institutions have been cited as the major impediments for Russian companies willing to invest in the African continent. These setbacks have culminated in the world’s biggest country by size lagging behind such economic powerhouses as the United States and China in expanding … Read more
The Chinese on Sunday appeared to spoil Japan’s big publicity from the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad) in Nairobi, when Beijing’s head of delegation questioned Tokyo’s ability to fulfil the promises made during the summit. Mr Zhang Ming, China’s Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, was in Nairobi in what he said was to “gain … Read more