Author: Krobea

Women in Bangladesh are no longer required to declare if they are virgins on marriage registration forms, the country’s top court has ruled. The high court ordered that “virgin” be replaced with “unmarried”. The other two options on the form – “widow” and “divorced” – remain unchanged. Women’s rights groups – who had argued the word “virgin” was humiliating – welcomed Sunday’s verdict. Separately, the court said grooms now also must declare their marital status. Marriage laws in the Muslim-majority Bangladesh have been criticised by women’s rights groups as restrictive and discriminatory. Many girls in the country are forced into…

Optimists are more likely to live longer than those who have a more negative approach to life, a US study has found. Positive people were more likely to live to the age of 85 or more. The theory is that optimists may find it easier to control emotions and so be protected from the effects of stress. And researchers said pessimists could benefit from doing things like imagining a future where everything turns out well. The study used two existing groups of people recruited for different studies – 70,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study and 1,500 men in the…

Minister for Railways Development Joe Ghartey has challenged the various Chambers of Commerce in the country to collaborate with their foreign counterparts to consider developing lands along railways in readiness for the business opportunities a revitalize sector will bring. The Minister explained that already government and its development partners have commenced a programme to develop associated infrastructure to go along with the revitalization efforts. “If you go to Eshiem now, it is becoming a new hub. There is a tile factory, Dangote factory and other large scale industrial activities. “If you go towards Shama, there is the Black Ivy championing…

Energy analyst Kojo Poku Nsafoah has alleged that there is “a lot of rot” at the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST), therefore petitioning government to intervene to sanitize the state-owned company According to him, BOST was becoming an issue due to the varying conflicts of interest. He said that is making it difficult for any appointed officer to salvage the image of the company. BOST had suffered successive scandals leading to the resignation or dismissal of two of its managing director in three years. Edwin Provencal was on Monday, August 26 appointed the new Managing Director though…

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is embarking on a project to reduce the votes of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Tamale North Constituency. This was disclosed by sitting member of Parliament Alhassan Suhuyini on TV3’s New Day on Tuesday, August 27. He beat his contender, Kessie Ibrahim, on Saturday to retain his candidature of the NDC for next year’s elections. He told host Johnnie Hughes that victory is certain for him next year except that they want to slash the votes the NPP got in 2016. “It is a project we will work on,” he stressed. Alhassan Suhuyini…

Serena Williams made the perfect return to the US Open after last year’s controversial final by thrashing her long-time rival Maria Sharapova. Williams, 37, won 6-1 6-1 in a first-round meeting which ended up lasting just 59 minutes. Twelve months ago, Williams called the umpire “a cheat” and “a liar” during her loss to Naomi Osaka. But the mood was rather different as she beat the 32-year-old Russian for the 19th time in a row. Eighth seed Williams, who is bidding for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title and a first since returning from giving birth two years ago, broke…

Two people have been arrested by the Assin Fosu Police Command in connection with the shooting of five executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and six residents of Assin Aworoso in the Assin South District of the Central Region. The two are a 42-year-old man who gave his name as ‘Teacher’ and a 45-year-old Kofi Yevu. The two are expected to be taken to court for prosecution on Wednesday, August 28, after police investigations. The Central Regional Police Public Affairs Director, DSP Irene Oppong, who confirmed this to Ouna FM’s Yen Sempa on Tuesday, explained that “we have gotten one person,…

Former President John Dramani Mahama will embark on a Thank You tour of three new regions in the north, from Tuesday, August 27. The 2020 flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will spend six days on the tour. He is expected to start in the Savannah Region before travelling to the North East and Oti regions. “I will be interacting with the Chiefs, opinion leaders, community members and executives of the NDC in the various constituencies,” he stated on his official Facebook page on Monday. The tour comes two days after his party elected a majority of its parliamentary…

The Brazilian government has said it will reject an offer of aid from G7 countries to help tackle fires in the Amazon rainforest. French President Emmanuel Macron – who hosted a G7 summit that ended on Monday – said $22m (£18m) would be released. Brazilian officials gave no reason for turning down the money. But President Jair Bolsonaro has accused France of treating Brazil like a colony. His defence minister said the fires in the Amazon were not out of control. Commenting on the G7 offer of aid, Mr Bolsonaro’s chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, told the Globo news website:…

The Functional Executive Committee of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will meet on Tuesday, August 27 to review the parliamentary primaries held last Saturday. The meeting will seek to also look into allegations of vote-buying peddled by some aspirants, 3news.com has gathered. Aside losing aspirants making those allegations, the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) also alleged same while congratulating the NDC. NDC displayed opulence, profligacy & exhibited violence in primaries – NPP claims The meeting will consider the various reports filed by national executives, who were deployed nationwide to monitor the polls. The party elected 157 candidates out of 275…