Brussels attacks: Airport bombing suspect ‘arrested’

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Najim Laachraoui (C and R) is believed to be the man pictured at Brussels airport (L)A key suspect in the attacks in Brussels has been arrested, Belgian media say, quoting judicial sources.
Some Belgian media say he is Najim Laachraoui, thought to be the man on the right in a CCTV image taken before the Zaventem airport attack. Two of the other attackers have been named in Belgian media as the brothers Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui. Twin explosions at the airport and another at a metro station on Tuesday left about 34 dead and 250 wounded. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning and held a minute’s silence for the victims at midday (11:00 GMT). So-called Islamic State (IS) has said it was behind the attacks and warned that more would follow. There has been no official confirmation of the latest arrest or the identity of any of the attackers. Newspaper La Derniere Heure said Laachraoui was detained by the police’s counter-terrorism unit in the capital’s Anderlecht area on Wednesday. Analysts say Laachraoui is believed to be a key bomb maker, and French media say he also played a major role in the terrorist attacks in Paris in November that left 130 people dead. First victim named Earlier the RTBF broadcaster identified the el-Bakraoui brothers, saying that Brahim was a suicide bomber at Zaventem airport, where about 14 people died, and Khalid was the suicide bomber at the Maelbeek metro station, where some 20 people were killed. It said the brothers were known to police and had criminal records. The broadcaster, quoting a police source, said that Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27, had used a false name to rent the flat in the Forest area of the Belgian capital where police killed a gunman in a shootout last week. It was during that raid that police found a fingerprint of Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the Paris terror attacks of 13 November. He was arrested in a raid in Brussels last Friday and is due to appear before a pre-trial court on Wednesday. Khalid el-Bakraoui is on the Interpol website. It says he is being sought for terrorist activities. RTBF said Khalid was jailed for five years in 2011 for car-jacking while Brahim, 30, was sentenced in October 2010 for firing at police. Brahim el-Bakraoui is believed to be in the middle of the CCTV image taken at Zaventem airport and released by police. He and the man on the left were believed to have been killed in the airport attack. The first of the victims to be named is Peruvian Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 37. She had been at Zaventem airport with her Belgian husband and twin four-year-old daughters, who were unharmed, her brother told Peruvian radio. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Tuesday was “a day of tragedy, a black day”. The country has raised its terrorism alert to the highest level. Source: BBC

10,000 jobs for Ghanaian entrepreneurs soon

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House Ten thousand Ghanaian youth and entrepreneurs are to be employed for the Accra Business Processing Outsourcing [BPO] to be launched by President John Dramani Mahama.
The Centre is expected to lease out spaces for BPO, advancement of software development and IT training services among other services. The initiative is under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications in partnership with Rockefeller Foundation and the World Bank As part of activities to launch the initiative, a stakeholder’s dialogue was held Tuesday in Accra to deliberate on the intricacies of the project and to devise measures to sustain its implementation and practicability. Addressing participants at the forum, the Deputy Communications Minister, Mr Ato Sarpong, commended the efforts of the Rockefeller Foundation and the World Bank in the improvement of IT and its related studies in the country. He stated that the facility commenced from 2011 when the Communications Ministry and an IT enabled service group began the process of actualizing intent of getting a huge BFO centre in Ghana. The Managing Director of the Africa Regional Office at the Rockefeller Foundation, Mr Mamadou Biteye, said his outfit is committed towards the transformation of the health systems in the country to promote universal health coverage. “When I look at the portfolio of programmes of the Rockefeller foundation in Africa, Ghana is the only country all aspects of the foundation’s work are present,” he said. Auguster Boateng|Onua95.1FM

Tigo Digital Change-maker winner equips children with ICT skills

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tigoThe co-winner of 2015 Tigo Digital Change-maker competition, Josephine Marie Godwyll, has embarked on a drive to empower children with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills in a bid to help children utilise technology as a learning tool.
In partnership with Tigo Ghana, the country’s leading digital lifestyle brand, an initiative called ‘Diggie Fair’ was held for over 150 students aged between 5 and 15 years from the True Love School at Agyrigano in Accra. Children were engaged in various activities including Hackathon, digital cinema, virtual reality show, robotics and digital art. Volunteers including Tigo staff also engaged the children in a discussion on ‘How Mobile Technologies Work’. “For this first fair our theme was ‘leading children to unlock the mysteries of digital technology’. We want to shape the mind-set of children to see ICT as a tool for solving problems and not just for playing games,” explained young social entrepreneur Marie Godwyll, who runs an organisation called ‘Young At Heart Ghana’. With her budding organisation, Marie Godwyll hopes to champion a revolution of digital literacy and creativity among Ghanaian children through workshops, digital innovators clubs, and digital innovators fairs to expose children to concepts like robotics, programming, and art with computers. Looking back, says Marie Godwyll, “The Tigo Digital Change-maker competition has given me the needed boost in realizing my dreams of helping children appreciate and enhance their ICT skills. “I can only imagine what the next generation will be able to achieve and the problems they will be encouraged to solve using ICT as a tool, but it all depends on exposing them to its utility at an early age.” A trained Geomatic Engineer, Marie Godwyll was introduced to the computer and its functionalities at an early age of five, and she strongly believes her interest and ability to creatively utilize digital tools as an Engineer were harnessed right from her childhood. Source: tv3network.com|Ghana

Gov’t pledges support for GIJ e-library project

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photoGovernment has renewed its commitment towards assisting the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) with a fully equipped electronic library aimed at offering students sound IT education as demanded of experts in communication field of studies.
Government also promised to support the school financially towards early realization and completion of the school’s ongoing lecture hall complex project at its new site located at Dzorwulu, a suburb of Accra. The Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Julius Debrah, gave the assurance in a speech read on his behalf by Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Minister of State at the Presidency, during GIJ’s graduation ceremony of the first batch of postgraduate students from the newly established School of Graduate Studies and Research. The Ghana Institute of Journalism has trained a dedicated corps of journalists and public relations professionals for the media and communication industry since its inception in 1959. But unfortunately the school is currently faced with infrastructure problems, which the management is trying to solve through the use of internally generated funds. The Chief of Staff in his speech called on the rector of GIJ, Dr. Wilberforce Dzisah, to liaise with the Ministry of Communication, National Communications Authority including GIFEC and other relevant bodies with regard to the E-library Project before keeping his office posted. “In this era of technology, I assure you that government will not relent in supporting the IT needs of this university especially the E-Library Project,” he posited. The School of Graduate Studies and Research (SOGSaR) under the GIJ honoured the first batch of 90 students who successfully completed 15-month master degrees programmes in Journalism, Public Relations, Media Management and Development Communication. The colourful graduation ceremony was highly patronized by an array of government officials, students from other tertiary institutions, friends and families of the graduands as well the general public. The first batch of graduating students was officially admitted to start their programme of study in October 2014 after GIJ had received the nod from the National Accreditation Board on 1st September, 2013. Out of the 99 students admitted, 90 of them have been honoured with postgraduate degrees within their chosen four areas of discipline. Eight of these graduands offered journalism, whilst 15 of them read Media management, Public Relations -27 and Development Communication 30. A total of 53 of these graduands are male whilst 37 are females. Government also lauded the management of the school for the frantic effort made in seeking public private partnership (PPP) to build hostels at the new campus. Delivering his address during ceremony, Dr. Wilberforce Dzisah, Rector of GIJ said: “The catalyst behind the introduction of these specialised fields in communications and media has been the need to fill an intellectual and professional gap identified in our educational and national development. “As we continue to review and critically assess our curriculum and its impact on national development, it dawned on me us that there is a gap to be filled in order to address the inherent weaknesses in media and communications as a useful corollary in national development,” he said. The School of Graduate Studies and Research was established on February 12, 2014 and unveiled by the Chairman of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), Prof. C N. B. Tagoe. The institute has awarded some deserving students who excelled in their chosen fields of studies during the 15-month master degrees programmes. By Joseph Kobla Wemakor|GIJ, Accra|Ghana

Court dismisses Zanetor Rawlings’ no jurisdiction motion

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Dr zanetor rawlingsAn Accra High Court has dismissed a motion filed by Dr. Zanetor Rawlings challenging the court’s jurisdiction in a case where she has been sued over her eligibility to contest the Klottey Korle NDC parliamentary primary.
According to Dr. Rawlings’ lawyers, such constitutional matters should be left with the Supreme Court to interpret. But the court on Tuesday ruled that it has jurisdiction and therefore threw out the motion. The High Court also awarded 2,500 Cedis cost against Dr zanetor for wasting the court’s time. The incumbent Klottey Korle MP Nii Armah Ashitey, who was defeated in the NDC primary, is challenging the propriety of the daughter of former President Rawlings to contest the seat on the ticket of the NDC since she is not a registered voter. The Electoral Commission has confirmed that Dr. Rawlings is not a registered voter in Ghana. Nii Armah Nii Armah Ashitey More soon   Source: TV3network.com | Ghana