Fire gutted the underground warehouse of the City Gold Jewelry shop at Makola Number 2 on Friday morning.
According to sources, the fire was triggered by power fluctuation in the area.
However, personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service quickly intervened to prevent the fire from spreading.
More soon
A Florida church is drawing attention for a weekly service welcoming some unusual parishioners — dogs.
Father Albert Cutie, rector at St. Benedict's Episcopal Church in Plantation, said the facility has been holding "dog-friendly" 6 p.m. Saturday services forabout 10 years.
"Can you really pray and leave a loved one behind?" Cutie told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
He said the canine congregants are remarkably well behaved while sitting in the pews with their owners.
"We sometimes have 10 to 12 dogs at a time," Cutie said. "You never really hear them much — unless they encounter each other after Communion and then they begin to bark at each other. But everybody expects that."
Cutie said the services are particularly attractive to people who live alone with their pets.
"What I love about this service — and I think that's the reason that we have it — is that many of our people do live alone," Cutie said. "They are elderly, they've lost their spouse or they've lived alone for a long time. And their dog really does become their companion in every way and their closest family member."
He said other types of pets are welcomed into the church once a year for a Blessing of the Animals service.
"Why wouldn't they be welcome in God's house?" he said. "They're God's creatures."
upi
Former Education Minister, Mr Lee Ocran is dead.
Family sources told Graphic Online that the former High Commissioner to South Africa and ex-Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro passed on shortly before midnight Thursday at his residence in Accra.
A National Democratic Congress (NDC) stalwart, Mr Ocran was said to have battled with ill health in the days leading to his passing away.
More soon
Graphiconline
The Ashanti Regional Police Command has banned the use of motorbikes at all voting centres in the NDC’s flagbearership election on Saturday.
A statement from the Police said motorbikes, whether registered or unregistered, found at the voting centres will be impounded and their owners arrested.
The decision comes few days after the shooting incident at the NDC’s Ashanti Regional Office which led to the death of one person and left another severely injured.
The statement signed by the Assistant Public Affairs Officer of the Command, ASP Godwin Ahianyo said the decision which was taken in consultation with the Party is to maintain maximum security throughout the election.
It said the busing of Party taskforce members to polling centres shall also not be entertained.
It says even though the Police has formed a task force to arrest all motorbikes that will be loitering around the voting centres, all persons who have nothing to do at the centres and are there just to observe must stay at least 50 meters away from the centres.
Ghana | Atinkaoanline.com
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has announced the closure of the border with Brazil as a row over foreign humanitarian aid continues.
The embattled leftist leader went on TV to say that he was also considering shutting the border with Colombia to stop the opposition bringing in relief.
He denies any crisis and calls the aid delivery plans a US-orchestrated show.
Opposition leader Juan Guaidó is leading a convoy from the capital, Caracas, to the Colombian border.
Later on Friday, a huge concert will be held on the Colombian side of the border to raise money for Venezuela.
At the same time, Mr Maduro's government will hold its own event, reportedly just some 300 metres away.
Mr Guaidó declared himself interim leader during anti-government protests last month and is recognised by dozens of foreign states, including the US and most Latin American countries.
Scuffles broke out and tear gas was fired when the convoy of buses and cars was briefly stopped by security forces on a road near Mariara, west of Caracas, but they later moved on.
Meanwhile, after Mr Maduro's announcement that the border would be closed indefinitely on Thursday night, many Venezuelans rushed across the frontier to the Brazilian city of Pacaraima to stock up on supplies, Brazilian news portal G1 reported.
The crossing usually closes at night and would normally have opened at 08:00 local time (12:00 GMT) on Friday.
Mr Guaidó and his allies hope to collect food and medicine in defiance of President Maduro.
The Venezuelan military has so far managed to block shipments of US aid from coming across the border with Colombia.
Despite denying there is any humanitarian crisis, Mr Maduro announced this week that 300 tonnes of aid would be shipped to Venezuela from its ally Russia.
More than three million Venezuelans have fled in recent years as the country grapples with hyperinflation and shortages of essentials like food and medicine, the UN says.
Mr Maduro, in power since 2013, has been criticised at home and abroad for his handling of the economy.
BBC
Ghana | Atinkaoanline.com
Manhyia palace has placed a ban on funerals in Ashanti Region ahead of the 20th anniversary celebration of Asantehene, Otumfour Osei Tutu II.
The ban on funerals which is in accordance with the Asante customs and traditions, will commence Monday April 8 to Monday, April 29 2019.
The ban was announced in a statement signed by the Chief of Staff at the Manhyia Palace, Kofi Badu.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com
The World Bank has approved a US$40 million grant to support the Tourism Ministry and its agencies to help upgrade tourist facilities, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.
According to him, Ghana has not been able to attract as many visitors to the country despite how often Ghana has been in the news for good reasons.
Speaking at the 2019 State of the Nations Address (SONA), he said , “We are making a special effort from now onwards to attract tourists into our country.”
President Akufo-Addo also made it known that Under the See Ghana, Eat Ghana, Wear Ghana and Feel Ghana campaign, the Ghana Tourism Authority recorded a 20% growth since its launch to over six hundred thousand visitations to various tourist sites.
Touching on the ‘year of return’, President Akufo-Addo said, “In September 2018, in Washington D.C., in front of the Congressional Black Caucus of the United States Congress, I proclaimed 2019 as the "Year of Return”, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first 20 West African slaves in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in what was to become the United States of America.”
He stated that Ghana will use the commemoration to re-unite Africans, persons of African descent and all well-wishers and lovers of freedom in order to strengthen the commitment to ensuring that Transatlantic Slave Trade and slavery never reoccur.
“In response to this proclamation, some seventy (70) African-American Hollywood celebrities visited Ghana in December 2018. The year-long campaign, being coordinated by the Ghana Tourism Authority, is expected to increase arrivals considerably,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo indicated that training across the entire tourism sector was also receiving priority, adding that the Hospitality Training Institute has been renovated, and re-opened in July 2018 to provide needed training in the hospitality and tourism sectors.
Under a Tourism Attractions Upgrade Project, he said that several tourist sites, including Elmina Heritage Bay, Axim Fort St. Antonio, Assin Manso Slave River, Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm, Bunso Arboretum, Kintampo Water Falls, were undergoing upgrades.
“A draft Legislative Instrument (LI) on Sites and Attractions is currently undergoing final stakeholder consultations. This will ensure world-class standards are set and maintained at all our tourism sites and attractions,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo noted that although Ghana had castles and forts, waterfalls, some dramatic mountain ranges, nice beaches, and historical sites that will attract visitors, the greatest attraction of our country was the welcoming attitude of its people.
“We should never forget that we all have a responsibility to make visitors to our country feel welcome,” he said.
“In this “Year of Return”, when we have invited the world to visit, I would urge each one of us to make a special effort to make a visit to our country a memorable one. Our music, our foods, our clothes and the quintessential akwaaba smile will make a visitor to our country come back again and again,” he added.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com
One of Ghana's hottest female artist, Wendy Shay, could not keep her calm when one of Ghana's most talented artist, Kuame Eugene showed up at her 23rd birthday party.
The two, at the event hugged each other passionately while Kuame Eugene kissed his colleague, Wendy Shay in front of the cameras.
Onlookers at the scene were also in shock, inquiring from Kuame Eugene if he was already in love with Wendy Shay.
Although the two are found themselves in the same music industry, they might have had something under their sleeves since it is not the first time spotting them in a compromising state.
Earlier last year, in a video that circulated on social media, the two singers seemed to have been closer than perceived by Ghanaians, although there was no news about their love relationship.
Till now, none of the two has come out to accept there is a relationship but their videos have spoken in a language which all Ghanaians, especially their fans will understand.
follow link below for video
https://youtu.be/me_45x7lYq4
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
Ghana has concluded its programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and will soon sign out, President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo has said.
Delivering the 2019 State of the Nations Address (SONA) on Thursday, he said that with the continuing discipline, Ghana will exit the programme in order to manage its own economic affairs.
The IMF programme which has ended served as an anchor to orderly economic adjustment and a positive signal to the market and has so far helped Ghana’s economy to stabilize.
The signing out of the programme, implies that government will be able to employ more qualified persons into the various sectors without any external restrictions, aside expanding its budget scope to carry out developmental projects.
Touching on the economy of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo was of the belief that it is the success of the economy that will guarantee an improvement in the quality of the lives of Ghanaians.
“I believe we are all now agreed that the fundamentals have to be sound if the economy is to flourish. We have just concluded a Programme with the IMF, and, with continuing discipline, we shall sign off from the deal in April,” he said.
According to him, the IMF programme which ends in April 2019 was the seventeenth time Ghana has had to go to the IMF in the sixty-two years of her independence.
“We cannot make the progress we all desire unless we are consistent and disciplined in the management of our economy. The yo-yo nature of the boom and bust has not helped us achieve our goal of sustained prosperity, and lift us out of poverty. We have gone through another round of painful impositions to get to where we are today with healthy fundamentals,” he said.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com
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