Today’s wigs can be made from the finest strands of human hair, and many have features that make them ultra-comfortable for those with sensitive scalps caused by chemotherapy or alopecia areata.
No matter the cause of your hair loss, here are eight sure-fire tips for choosing your first synthetic or human hair wig.
1. Learn about wig terms and features
What exactly do the terms lace front, wefted, synthetic, Remy, feather-light, and silk cap mean? Now is a good time to learn about the various wig features and how they could be beneficial to your type of hair loss. You can also study up on why certain wigs have higher prices than others.
2. Be natural
A good tip for first-time wig wearers is to mirror your natural hair when it looked best. You can save new and different styles for your next wig purchase. For now, choose a wig that looks healthy and natural.
3. Go for a wig fitting
A number of wig shops offer ladies wigs online, and once you have a good idea of what to look for and what works for you, this can be a great option. For now though, book a wig fitting to try on different styles and see how each one feels on. Those in the wig trade are often very well versed in the world of wigs and hair loss, and can help you determine which wig will be best for you.
4. Consult a friend
Bringing a trusted friend or relative to your wig fitting can be a huge help. It’s always good to have someone there to support you and give you honest feedback. Share some laughs, shed some tears – you’ll have someone there with you through thick and thin.
5. Don’t assume that more expensive means better
Don’t just assume that a higher-priced wig will be the best one for you. Wig technology and cutting-edge designers have produced a number of inexpensive options that are very natural looking.
6. Know that you can keep seeing your hair stylist
A human hair wig can be cut and styled much like your normal hair, so you can still visit your stylist for a new look once in a while. Some wigs actually benefit from a proper haircut that takes your face shape into consideration.
7. Consider additional wigs and headwear
What will you wear while your wig is being washed? Will you wear it around the house as well as outside? Many women are comfortable going wig-less at home, but you may want to have a soft cap or turban to wear to bed, or just to stay warm. Scarves, hats, or a combination of the two can also be used on days when you don’t feel like wearing your wig. Also, keep in mind that wigs can take up to 24 hours to fully dry after washing, so you may want a backup wig or headwear for use during that time.
8. Learn the difference between synthetic and real hair wigs
Human hair wigs can be cut and heat-styled, they can be parted in different ways, and most often have lace-fronts, making for a natural hairline. Synthetic wigs have less natural hairlines and often can’t be parted or re-styled (i.e. what you see is what you get). They dry more quickly after being washed (6-7 hours versus up to 24 hours) and require special wig shampoo. They also tend to be cheaper than real hair wigs.
With the right considerations in mind, buying your first wig doesn’t have to be nerve-wracking. Choose one that makes you feel confident and is comfortable for your scalp and type of hair loss.
A BBC investigation has found that Thailand, a country known for its hospitality to tourists, routinely arrests and detains asylum seekers. Many are Pakistani Christians who have fled religious persecution in their own country. Some are children. And they are held despite being UN-registered asylum seekers, whom the UN is under a duty to protect.
The sound of the faithful in prayer and song bursts out of a small rented room where a congregation of more than 100 people have gathered for Sunday mass.
They would be risking their lives to worship like this in their homeland, where Islamist extremists force Christians to convert, or even kill them.
Leading the prayers is Pastor Joshua, a Christian from Lahore, in what is officially known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Along with thousands of other Christians, he’s had to flee to Thailand and still fears the people in Pakistan who punished him for converting from Islam to Christianity.
“My bone was broken – the one right above the heart. And they tried to cut my arm off,” he says.
“My sister was murdered, she was burned alive, just because she spoke the word ‘God’. They hate the word ‘God’ so much. She was burned for this reason alone.”
The Pakistani Christians head to Thailand because it’s easy to enter the country on a short-term tourist visa and in Pakistan’s hostile neighbourhood there are few safe options closer to hand.
But there is hardly a welcoming committee in Thailand. The country doesn’t want asylum seekers from anywhere. It is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention, and anyone without a valid visa or a work permit risks being arrested, charged with illegal immigration and jailed.
Thailand has allowed the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, to step in and investigate the credibility of those claiming to flee persecution – a process with two possible outcomes, either repatriation or relocation to another country. But many of these families say they’ve been waiting years to be assessed by the UN and they have no access to work, education or healthcare.
As they await the outcome of their case, thousands of Pakistani asylum seekers set up temporary home in dingy rooms in a network of tower blocks on the outskirts of Bangkok. People who were once comfortably-off professionals arrive with just a few possessions, their rent and food paid for by local Christian charities.
And they live in constant fear.
The Thai immigration police have lost patience with the UN’s failure to process asylum cases in good time, one young father tells me, holding a 25-week-old baby in his arms.
“They are taking people out of the rooms from everywhere, they can strike at any time, there is always tension,” he says.
I hear that the immigration police are raiding a block of rooms close by, so I go straight there and find dozens of women crying and clutching their children.
The police have just broken down the doors and taken away all their husbands. Women and children were also taken from other blocks. All told, more than 50 Pakistani asylum seekers have been arrested.
I find them at the local court, where they are handcuffed, charged with illegal immigration, fined 4,000 Baht (£90) and then sent to Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Centre.
This isn’t supposed to happen. All registered asylum seekers are issued with a UN document, which certifies them as an “internationally recognised UN person of concern”. This means they should not be arrested or detained for seeking asylum while the UN investigates their case.
Earlier I met one man called Sabir, who fled Pakistan two years ago with his wife, Laila, their two daughters, Laila’s parents, and her siblings and grandparents. They shared a small, sparse room with no kitchen or toilet, all 10 of them – until Laila was arrested two months ago.
Image caption Sabir in the block of flats he rarely leaves
Sabir hasn’t seen her since and sobs that he is lost without her. He doesn’t regret leaving Pakistan though, where he says a gang threatened to kill his family if they didn’t convert to Islam. “Over here, the only fear we have is of the immigration police, nothing else,” he says.
But the UN won’t investigate his asylum case until 2018. He says he’s been told there is a backlog.
In a statement to the BBC, the UNHCR admits it is struggling. “Amid the context of today’s acute global humanitarian funding crunch, it is correct that at present we are facing long delays in the processing of asylum claims with funding for Thailand at only a third of the level needed.” But it adds that it has managed to prevent the arrest of more than 400 “people of concern to UNHCR” in the last six months, by insisting on their status as registered asylum seekers.
Meanwhile the Thai government complains the UN’s inactivity is “creating far-reaching impacts on its security” – a reference to Thai fears that immigrants from Pakistan could be involved in terrorism – “leading to a number of arrests of illegal immigrants in the past year”.
Anyone arrested – Sabir’s wife, for example – is taken to Bangkok’s filthy and overcrowded immigration detention centre.
Journalists and cameras are not allowed inside but volunteers delivering much-needed fresh water and food for inmates are, and that is how I enter, with other members of the BBC crew. Wearing search-proof hidden cameras we nervously pass through security checks and hand over our water and food to be checked by the guards.
We are led to a large, stiflingly hot room, crammed with hundreds of asylum seekers pressing their faces against a wire-mesh internal barrier. They are nearly all Pakistani Christians. For one hour a day, some of the 200 asylum seekers held here are let out of their cells to see visitors.
The men are semi-naked. Unaware we are BBC journalists, they tell us it’s the only way to keep cool in the overcrowded cells they’re kept in. The women cradle their children and babies. Many complain their children are suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting because of poor sanitation and dirty drinking water. The room gets noisy as the inmates cry out to the visiting charity workers for their help to get released, but food and clean drinking water are all they can offer. One mother tells me she has been here for three months with her children. “The youngest is three and the eldest is 10. They are finding it very difficult being here, they are getting so ill,” she says.
The Thai government says parents “often choose to have their children with them while in detention”.
Yet the country has signed up to a number of UN international laws governing the humane treatment of prisoners and outlawing the imprisonment of children – particularly in centres holding adults.
None of the detainees I speak to have received legal assistance from the UNHCR since their arrest.
“We have no faith in the United Nations,” 19-year-old Nazeem tells me, as she holds on to her baby cousin. “We only have faith in God. He will bring us freedom.”
Their only way out of detention is for local charities to request bail from the Thai authorities. It costs about £900 ($1,250) to release one person, so they do this only for those deemed most vulnerable.
There are no official figures for the numbers arrested, but campaigners say it amounts to hundreds every month. It’s alleged that 132 Pakistani Christians were arrested on one day alone in March last year. Altogether there are an estimated 11,500 Pakistani asylum seekers in Thailand, more than from any other country except Myanmar.
Suddenly I come across a young woman I was hoping to meet. There on the other side of the security cordon is Laila, Sabir’s wife. It’s an emotional meeting – she is obviously desperate to see her family. “I miss them, bring my daughters here so I can see their faces,” she pleads. But the only way she is likely to see children for the foreseeable future, is if they are arrested too.
In its statement to the BBC, the UNHCR says it is working with the Thai government to find a solution. “Better and more humane management of the situation must be found in accordance with international legal norms,” it says.
The Thai government insists that it strives “to provide the best possible care… based on international humanitarian principles.”
Yet it inflicts an even worse fate upon some Pakistani Christians and their children. Those who are unable to pay the 4,000 Baht fine after they are arrested are thrown into one of Thailand’s notorious jails.
This happened last year to a group of 20 Pakistani men, women and children. Separated from the women, the men’s heads were shaved, and their ankles and hands placed in shackles.
“We had a lot of problem sleeping, sitting, standing up and walking,” says one. “The chains weighed about 4kg or 4.5kg, and we used to have injuries on our ankles. We were in a lot of pain. It was very difficult for us.”
One of his cellmates, Daniel, bursts into tears when he describes how the men were searched. “All we had to wear for clothing was a small piece of cloth,” he adds.
The people charged with assuring the protection of these UN-registered asylum seekers were nowhere to be seen.
It was a local missionary who eventually bought their freedom.
But remarkably, Daniel is still able to invoke his faith’s humility and forgiveness.
“Jesus said to us, ‘If someone troubles you, don’t ask for curses for him, instead, you should ask for blessings for him.’ So, we ask for blessings for the UNHCR.”
National Democratic Congress Parliamentary candidate for Shai Osuduku, William Desmond Ocloo, and one other died on the spot Thursday night when his car collided with a mini bus on the Accra-Kumasi Highway.
Police say it’s unclear as to what caused the two vehicles to collide at a spot in Atwedie near Juaso in the Ashanti Region at about 8:00pm. Mr Ocloo was returning from Kumasi when the accident happened. Investigation into the cause has since commenced.
The GMC four-wheel drive vehicle which was being driven by Mr Ocloo was mangled and had to be cut open to retrieve his body.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the 46-year old aspiring MP who was a former Chief Accountant of MDC, a subsidiary of AngloGold Ashanti in Obuasi, and the driver of the mini bus have been deposited at a private mortuary in the area.
He left behind a wife and five children.
The deceased aspiring MP polled 4,350 votes to beat his closest contender, Dr Kpessah Whyte, who secured 3,189 votes in the NDC primaries to run the November poll on the ticket of the ruling NDC.
Mr. Ocloo had his secondary education at Ghanata Secondary School between 1989-1993 and obtained his diploma in Accounting from 1995. He sat for ACCA Part 1. He held a Master’s degree in Business Administration (Finance) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
He worked in a number of institutions in Ghana. Between 1995-2004, he was the Accountant at Ghanata Secondary School. He was the head of accounting department at the Action Progressive Institute between 2004-2006.
He was very active in his political carrier and most of the activities in the constituency.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar has released a surprise eight-track album, Untitled Unmastered, comprising outtakes from the Grammy-winning To Pimp A Butterfly.
Filled with jazz solos and politically-charged lyrics, it appers to be a companion piece to Butterfly, rather than a standalone record.
All of the tracks are untitled, save for the date they were recorded.
Strangely, its appearance seems to have been prompted by basketball star LeBron James.
The sportsman tweeted Lamar’s record label boss Anthony Tiffith following the rapper’s incendiary Grammy Award performance – in which he debuted a verse that alluded to the 2012 death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin – demanding “you have to release those untitled tracks ASAP!”
Tiffith replied he would think about it and, earlier this week, hinted at the release in an Instagram post: “I’ve decided to drop a project one day this week. I won’t say what day or who.” He later posted that fans should thank James for the new release.
‘Chamber of material’
Untitled Unmastered appeared at around 04:00 GMT on all major streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play.
It features a cameo from singer Cee Lo Green, while Alicia Keys’ five-year-old son Egypt allegedly produced the sprawling, eight-minute Untitled 07, which ends with a lo-fi recording of Lamar improvising lyrics to amuse his friends.
“I got a chamber of material from the album that I was in love with where sample clearances or something as simple as a deadline kept it off the album. But I think probably close to 10 songs that I’m in love with that I’ll still play and still perform that didn’t make the cut.”
Fans will already be familiar with some of the songs, which Lamar has performed on US TV. Among them is Untitled 03, originally unveiled on late-night chat show The Colbert Report, which deals with religion, success and the exploitation of his music.
Curiously, the studio version fades out before the song’s original, angry coda, written as a response to the Black Lives Matter movement: “What the Black man say? Tell em, we don’t die / We multiply.”
But the album doesn’t shy away from political commentary, with Lamar chanting: “The government mislead the youth / And welfare don’t mean well for you.”
The Compton-born performer was the most-nominated artist going into this year’s Grammys, shortlisted in 11 categories.
He took home five prizes on the night – including best rap album – but lost out on the main prize, album of the year, to Taylor Swift’s 1989.
To Pimp A Butterfly also had some high profile fans, including US President Barack Obama who named the song How Much A Dollar Cost, a parable with parallels to the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan, as his favourite song of 2015.
Mrs Diana B. McBagonluri, an author, has called on the Ghana Education Service to re-design its curriculum for basic schools to include reading as a front role subject.
She said it is important to give reading the needed attention in the educational curriculum.
Mrs McBagonluri said this at the launch of 10 books she authored for pupil’s in basic schools.
The publisher of the books are the EPP publishing Group.
Mrs McBagonluri said when basic schools are equipped with reading books for children, it would help widen their knowledge and improve their performance at the junior high school level.
Mrs McBagonluri appealed to parents to encourage their children to read books to broaden their horizon and knowledge.
Mr Faisal Ibrahim Cisse, Territorial Manager of EPP, said it is good to publish books meant for the children, adding that the books would help children in many ways to improve on their knowledge.
He called on stakeholders in the educational sector, especially authors to write books that would help children improve their reading skills at the basic level as it is the foundation of their development.
Mr Imoro Awudu, Chairman of the occasion, called on parents to ensure that their children read extensively to open their minds and help them improve their pronunciation of words.
Mrs McBangonluri holds a Master of Arts in English Literature from the Rosemont University, Pennsylvania, USA; a Bachelor of Arts in English Education from the University College of Education, Winneba; and a teacher Certificate from the St. Monica’s Training College, Ashanti-Mampong.
She is also a graduate from St. Francis of Assisi Girls Secondary School, Jirapa.
Spain’s Princess Cristina has testified for the first time at her trial for alleged tax fraud, answering only the questions posed by her own lawyer.
She told the court in Mallorca that she had never asked her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, how he ran a property company they jointly owned.
Mr Urdangarin is accused of using his royal connections to generate business income they used for private spending.
Both deny any wrongdoing. Fifteen other defendants are also on trial.
Princess Cristina, the 50-year-old sister of King Felipe, could face a maximum of eight years in jail if found guilty.
She denies knowledge of the alleged embezzlement scam that also involves her husband and 16 other defendants.
Asked by her lawyer during the 20-minute appearance why she never talked with her husband about what the company did, Princess Cristina said they “weren’t issues that interested me”.
“At that time my children were very small and we were very busy. He was in charge of the family expenses. I didn’t get involved in that,” she added.
The case was launched in 2010 and has become highly symbolic of perceived corruption among Spain’s elites, including the royal family.
Last year, King Felipe stripped his sister and her husband Inaki Urdangarin of their titles, the Duke and Duchess of Palma de Mallorca.
Princess Cristina now lives in Switzerland, but remains the sixth in line to the Spanish throne and is the first member of the royal family to go on trial.
The princess’s lawyers argued that as public prosecutors had refused to press charges against her, the counts should be dismissed.
But the three judges agreed to continue with the prosecution using the evidence filed by the the anti-corruption group Manos Limpias, meaning “Clean Hands”.
The charges relate to the real estate company Aizoon that she owned with her husband, a former Olympic handball medallist.
She is accused of making personal use of Aizoon funds for paying for clothes and dance lessons for the couple’s children, as well as work on the couple’s Barcelona mansion, which reduced the firm’s taxable profits.
Her husband is alleged to have used the non-profit Noos Institute sports foundation he ran as a vehicle to win falsely inflated contracts from regional government bodies, before channelling the money to personal accounts via tax havens.
Noos is alleged to have received more than €6m (£4.4m; $6.5m) of public money, most of it from the Balearic Islands and Valencia regional governments.
European Council President Donald Tusk is due to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try to strengthen their joint approach to Europe’s migration crisis.
Mr Tusk has raised the idea of “shipping back” migrants who arrive in the Greek islands from Turkey.
He said on Thursday that it could break the business model of people smugglers.
Mr Tusk has been engaged in intense diplomatic activity ahead of an EU-Turkey summit to be held on Monday.
French President Francois Hollande is also hosting the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris on Friday to discuss the migration crisis.
Thousands of refugees and migrants are continuing to arrive on the Greek islands every day after setting off from the Turkish coast.
They aim to reach Germany and other countries in northern Europe but are finding their way blocked by increasing border controls.
More than 25,000 are now stranded in northern Greece on the border with Macedonia, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis.
BBC Europe Correspondent Chris Morris says Mr Tusk’s talks with President Erdogan on Friday are crucial if the flow of migrants to Europe is to be stemmed.
On Thursday, Mr Tusk warned illegal economic migrants against coming to Europe.
“I want to appeal to all potential illegal economic migrants wherever you are from: Do not come to Europe,” he said after talks in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. “Do not believe the smugglers. Do not risk your lives and your money. It is all for nothing.”
Later, after meeting Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara, Mr Tusk said the number of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey to EU states remained “far too high”.
He said it was for Turkey to decide how best to achieve such a reduction but added: “To many in Europe, the most promising method seems to be a fast and large-scale mechanism to ship back irregular migrants arriving in Greece.
“It would effectively break the business model of smugglers.”
Mr Davutoglu said the flow of Syrian refugees would lessen if the cessation of hostilities in the conflict held.
The crisis has threatened the future of Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone as countries reinstate border controls to stem the flow of people.
Sources in Brussels say the EU will unveil a “roadmap” on Friday outlining a plan to restore the zone to full force by November.
A draft seen by AFP news agency includes strengthening Greece’s external borders and quickly creating an EU coastguard system.
The International Organization for Migration says 120,369 migrants have arrived in Greece from Turkey so far this year and at least 321 have died en route.
On Thursday, a group of migrants blocked a railway line on the Greek side of the border with Macedonia in protest at restrictions stopping them moving north.
The restrictions were imposed after several Balkan countries decided only to allow Syrian and Iraqi migrants across their frontiers. Austria also decided to limit numbers.
The move effectively barred passage to thousands of people seeking to reach western Europe, including Afghans as well as some more likely to be regarded as economic migrants.
“I know the border is closed but I want to go to Germany,” said Mohamed, an Egyptian.
“I will try, try, try. Egypt is bad, there is no work.”
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister of Education in-charge of Tertiary Education, has said Government decision to print text books for the country’s educational sector was in the right direction.
This, he said, will create about 1,400 jobs in the country’s publishing industry for the unemployed youth.
Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa said this when he toured Buck Press, Type Press, Graphic Communications Press and Colour Planet Press houses.
The printing press industry which has the capacity of printing at least 20,000 to 40,000 books daily are to be considered for the printing of text books for the country’s educational sector.
He said it was clear that Ghana has no excuse in sending printing jobs outside the country when printing press houses have capacity to do the same jobs.
He said the printing press he visited has the capacity to print and are currently working below 40 per cent of their capacity and that the 60 per cent was the 1,400 jobs that will be created in the industry.
He said the President John Dramani Mahama has also granted a tax waiver for raw materials and equipment imported meant for the publishing industry to help sustained the industry.
Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, Managing Director of Graphic Communications, said his outfit installed its KBA Press in 2011 and has added a quarter fold on it specifically because of the text books works with the capacity of printing 40,000 sections of books.
He said Ghana has more than the capacity needed for the printing of books and that this will also build the human resource of the country’s publishing industry.
Mr Cobby Asmah, Managing Director of Type Press, expressed their readiness to print the text books as they have put in place the right infrastructure more than four years now awaiting the contract.
He said it was a good initiative by Government adding that a taskforce was needed to be created to monitor the printing activities.
The Deputy Minister, who was accompanied by Mr Aruna Nelson, Procurement Director of the Ministry, was taken through the printing processes at all the press houses visited.
KCNA said Mr Kim was speaking at a military exercise on Thursday, which is thought to be when the projectiles were fired.
He said North Korea “must always be ready to fire our nuclear warheads at any time” because enemies were threatening the North’s survival.
“At an extreme time when the Americans… are urging war and disaster on other countries and people, the only way to defend our sovereignty and right to live is to bolster our nuclear capability,” he was quoted as saying.
Analysts still doubt whether North Korea has the ability to make a nuclear bomb small enough to put on a feasible missile, but Kim Jong-un’s announcement brought a swift response from the US.
“We urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions that aggravate tensions and instead focus on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments,” Pentagon spokesman Commander Bill Urban said.
The US and South Korea began talks on Friday on the possible deployment of a US missile defence shield in the South.
Initial talks will focus on the costs, effectiveness and environmental impact of installing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, among other issues, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) has intensified activities to revive the patronage and usage of e-zwich cards.
Patronage of the electronic payment system has dipped over the years because most customers are constrained in accessing point of sale devises to put their cards into use.
GhIPSS has therefore partnered First Allied Savings and Loans Limited and other banks to make the product easily accessible to customers in Kumasi under the 2016 tagline of “Adoption and Usage”.
“We have realized over the years that, we have given out the cards but customers do not really know where to go and use it,” acknowledged Clara Arthur, General Manager of GhIPSS in-charge of Projects and Business Development.
“We want to make sure that people pick their cards and use it conveniently wherever they find themselves”.
She pointed out the relevance in using the e-zwich card in financial transactions, which include security and convenience.
Mrs. Arthur has also appealed to Ghanaians to promote and use “what is ours” and also promote domestic payments.
She assured the public GhIPSS is committed to building confidence in the efficient management of the electronic payment system.
E-zwich was introduced in Ghana in 2008 with high patronage but the biometric smart cards have since remained mere plastics in the wallets and purses of some patrons because of difficulties in using them.
The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System’s road show for mass e-zwich registration in the Ashanti region would be replicated in other parts of the country.
Source: Ibrahim Abubakar | tv3network.com |Ghana
The Executive Director of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Yaw Akrasi Sarpong, has called for the need to reform drug addicts specifically smokers rather than jailing them when arrested.
According to him, apprehending such smokers who are found holding on to just a “roll” of cigarette or marijuana in public and private places by security forces is not the way to go for a country which is seeking to expedite its growth and development.
The development, he said, is placing a huge strain on state resources since such persons would be required to receive support to maintain their upkeep and wellbeing while being kept under lock and key.
Furthermore, he indicated that throwing such persons into cells rather worsens the situation since such personalities cultivate deviant practices such as armed robbery and murder whilst in jail. He attributed the rise in crime and other abnormal practices in the country to this development.
The NACOB boss was speaking at a function organized to launch the 2015 annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board (NICB) in Accra today. The function, which was attended by security forces and stakeholders in the Narcotic industry, gave participants the platform to brainstorm on the intricacies of drug abuse and trafficking and finding appropriate remedies to curb the practices.
Speaking more on the intricacies of the issue, Mr Sarpong questioned why the prominent personalities who import such hard drugs into the country are left to walk about freely whilst the “victims” of their acts are rather held liable.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Interior, Mr Prosper Douglas Bani, revealed that Africa still remained a key transit point for drug trafficking, a development he said is causing an increase in drug abuse on the continent.
He expressed worry over the prevention and treatment of drug abuse in Africa although it is part of the main provisions of the international drug control conventions, adding that “in Africa only an estimated 1 out of 18 people suffering from drug use disorders or drug dependence receives treatment each year.”
He, therefore, called for a collaborative effort between the agencies aligned to fighting illicit manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs and the citizenry, to help nip the menace in the bud.
Three final year students of Adventist Senior High School in Kumasi have been stripped of their boarding status for stealing a goat on campus belonging to one of their housemasters, authorities say.
The goat was to be “used by the housemaster for the Christmas festivities”. The three Arts students were said to have threatened to steal the goat on the day it was brought to the school’s campus. And the goat disappeared the next day.
The students, who were said to have admitted to the offence, have since replaced the stolen goat with a “skinny goat”. Notwithstanding, the authorities want them to pay for the cost of the stolen goat before they are allowed entry into their various classrooms to take lessons.
However, the authorities failed to state the cost of the goat in the memo signed by the school’s Headmaster, Ernest Kofi Gyimah. It gave the name of the three students as Edward Kwarteng, Kwabena Afriyie Osei and Davis Owusu Osei.
“The above named students had the impudence and stole the goat of a housemaster. The goat, on the day it was brought and tied up, the students remarked that the goat would not see the next day. True to their words, the goat never saw the following day,” the memo stated.
A source within the school’s top hierarchy confirmed the incident to TV3 Online but declined to answer further questions. A copy of the memo, which was posted on the notice board, has since been removed.
The school’s notice board
Investigation by TV3 Online has revealed the incident took place during the end of last term and it was upon resumption of school this academic term that authorities announced their decision in the memo
As their punishment, the memo said the three students have been withdrawn from boarding house, and that “if they are seen anywhere near the boarding house without permission, they will be given indefinite suspension”.
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|tv3network.com|Ghana Twitter @steviekgh
Syria has suffered a massive power blackout across the country due to “unknown reasons”, state media said.
Officials were cited as saying power had been cut in all provinces and teams were trying to determine the cause.
The electricity ministry said power was being restored and service would resume by midnight (22:00 GMT), TV reported.
In most parts of war-torn Syria, electricity is already available only two to four hours a day, if at all. However, nationwide blackouts are rare.
Meanwhile, the UN’s special envoy said a partial truce that began on Saturday was holding but remained fragile.
Staffan de Mistura told reporters in Geneva that violence had been “greatly reduced”, despite incidents in the provinces of Homs, Hama, Latakia and Damascus. “Success is not guaranteed but progress is visible,” he added.
Both the opposition and the government have accused each other of violating the cessation of hostilities agreement brokered by the US and Russia, which does not include the jihadist groups Islamic State (IS) and al-Nusra Front.
Mr de Mistura also said that while he planned to reconvene talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict in Syria next Wednesday, their format was flexible and some parties might turn up days later.
UN humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said progress had been made in getting aid to besieged areas of Syria, and that there would be further attempts at air-drops of aid over the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, where 200,000 people are surrounded by IS militants, within days or weeks.
Internet services ‘halted’
The official Sana news agency cited a source at the ministry of electricity as confirming that “there is a power cut in all provinces of Syria”.
“Engineers and technicians are working on finding out why this sudden power cut happened in order to fix it promptly and restore electricity in the next few hours,” the source added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the Syrian conflict through a network of sources, also reported power cuts in the “vast majority” of provinces, while Damascus residents told the AFP news agency that there had been a cut in the capital since 13:00 (11:00 GMT).
Sana also quoted the state-owned Syrian Telecommunication Establishment as saying internet services were partially halted “as a result of sudden damage to one of the network hubs and repair teams have been sent to fix it”.
The government has blamed previous blackouts on rebel attacks, while the UN has also noted that access to electricity has been restricted as a weapon of war.
Hospital attacks
Earlier on Thursday, Amnesty International said Russian and Syrian government forces appeared to have been deliberately and systematically targeting health facilities in the northern province of Aleppo in the past 12 weeks.
The human rights group reported that it had gathered “compelling evidence” of at least six deliberate attacks on hospitals, medical centres and clinics.
They killed three civilians, including one medical worker, and injured 44 others.
Amnesty said the attacks, which it said were flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, appeared to be aimed at paving the way for government ground forces to advance in the weeks before the cessation of hostilities took effect.
“Hospitals, water and electricity are always the first to be attacked. Once that happens, people no longer have services to survive,” one doctor in the town of Anadan was quoted as saying.
Flagbearer of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Ivor Kobina Greenstreet has called on government to return confiscated assets of the party or pay compensation for using them.
He said the party rightfully acquired the assets through contributions of its members and should not be treated as state properties.
“We believe these properties should be returned to us or compensation paid thereof or whatever it is that will put us in the same position if we had maintained the properties for so many years”, he said.
Addressing the media in the Eastern region as part of his ‘Thank you’ tour, Greenstreet registered the party’s displeasure with President Mahama for failing to address the issue of the party’s confiscated assets in the state of the nation address delivered February 25.
He said they had hoped the President would tell Ghanaians about the “status of advise” provided by the Attorney-General, but was surprised it was not mentioned.
Touching on some parts of the state of the nation address, Greenstreet said both the NPP and the NDC explain their achievements in job creation in terms of figures but “ordinary Ghanaians are complaining of not feeling it.”
He said the way both parties run the economy remain the same and that Ghanaians should consider the CPP as a compelling alternative in the coming election.
He reiterated CPP’s commitment to use the state as the engine of development.
Greenstreet said the CPP will empower industries and ensure that things are done differently.
“Things cannot remain the same. We cannot bring NPP back or we cannot also allow NDC to remain. The only alternative is the CPP”, he said.
Greenstreet further said the CPP will react to the President’s state of the nation address at the appropriate time.
The Electoral Commission says it will in future conduct a thorough background checks on persons before being selected to serve on the newly created National Election Steering Committee that has in the last weeks triggered controversy.
The decision comes on the back of criticisms over the composition of the 18-member committee whose credibility has been questioned based on claims that two members of the National Democratic Congress have been selected as members.
According to the Commission, it did not investigate the political background of the current members, noting that task was the sole responsibility of the institutions from which the members of the committee originated from.
Speaking on Onua FM’s ‘Ghana Dadwen’current affairs show, Director of Public Affairs of the Commission, Christian Owusu Parry, said considering the public discourse on the composition of the current committee, the Commission will consider conducting its own background in the next committee that it will put in place.
He said:“it might become necessary for the EC to undertake its own background investigations on people selected to be on the steering committee in future”.
Admitting that the EC did not carry out any investigation on the political background of the current 18 member Committee, he explained that the institutions were to select people who were not affiliated to any political party.
Meanwhile, he said the Commission would hold a meeting to assess all the allegations leveled against some members of the current members on the Committee for the necessary steps to be taken.
Mr Owusu Parry noted that the presence of the Ghana Police Service on the committee demonstrated that issues with security on elections would be well handled, adding, “the role of the members is purely collaboration and coordination, they will not handle election because that is the mandate of the EC”.
Throwing more light on the establishment of the Committee, he stated that the Electoral Commission ACT, 1993 (ACT 451) gives the Commission the mandate to set up committees to enable them discharge their functions.
He, therefore, condemned the assumption that the setting up of the Committee is unconstitutional.
Flagbearer of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Ivor Kobina Greenstreet has called on government to return confiscated assets of the party or pay compensation for using them.
