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Demand dualization of major roads in Ghana -Consultant urges Ghanaians

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 A development consultant, has appealed to Ghanaians to make the dualization of the country’s major international and regional routes a central theme of political engagement for the 2020 elections.

     
Mr Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, described the single-lane international and interregional roads, which had been accepted as a national standard, as “a crime against humanity and an indictment on our collective leadership conscience as a country”.
     
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi, he said the frequent head on collision on the major roads like Accra-Cape Coast-Takoradi, Accra-Kumasi, Kumasi- Kintampo-Tamale, Accra-Aflao and others, was a national disgrace which needed to be changed.
     
He bemoaned the fact that in the face of consistent statistics of despicable bloodshed on these primary integrated major trade routes, which commands some of the highest average daily traffic volumes, and devouring the cream of the country’s breadwinning population, none of the forth republican regimes had demonstrated any compelling vision and commitment to address such a dreadful national blood-shed traffic monument.
     
Mr. Azongo said it was time Ghanaians, particularly the media, traditional leaders and civil society organizations, made the dualization of these routes the central theme of political engagement in election 2020.
   
“This should be a primary demand from political leadership to unveil a compelling vision as an urgent necessity to dualize these international and interregional routes to curb preventable blood sheds of the country’s economic population.
   
He noted that the pace and scale of Ghana’s development vision and planning had been infinitesimal and uninspiring.
   
Mr Azongo pointed out that the population factor, a crucial ingredient in planning, had been pushed to the backburner, especially against the background that the next 30 years would bring almost a doubling of the country’s population.
   
He appealed to the people to ask the politicians questions that would help elicit the commitment of politicians to expand the country’s infrastructure, especially on roads and transport.
 
By Kwabia Owusu-Mensah, GNA

EPA/CDA undertake nationwide training to control LPG explosion

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with the Communication for Development and Advocacy (CDA) Consult has scaled up pragmatic measures to control the explosion of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) at Pump Filling Stations in the country.
 
   
The two organisations with support from key stakeholders and relevant institutions are undertaking nationwide technical training for LPG operators to promote and enhance safety at the pump stations.
 
 
The training targets pump attendants, managers and supervisors from the 12,000 LPG filling stations in the country.
 
Mr. William Kwaku Hayfron-Acquah, the Acting Director, Field Operations of the EPA, announced this on Monday when he addressed the opening session of a training workshop for LPG operators underway in Sunyani.
 
     
The three-day workshop is being attended by about 200 LPG attendants, supervisors, managers and owners drawn from the Bono and Ahafo Regions.
 
     
Mr. Hayfron-Acquah who represented Mr. Henry Kwabena Kokofu, the Executive Director of EPA stressed the Agency’s determination to protect and improve the safety environment at the various pump filling stations.
 
     
He said the EPA would soon undertake an exercise to close down all LPG stations which had no licenses and also did not meet operational requirements.
 
     
This, he explained had necessitated the training to empower LPG operators to adhere to the safety standards and improve on the work environment as well
 
       
As a follow-up to ensure compliance with safety regulations by operators, Mr. Francis Ameyibor, the Executive Director of the CDA Consult said evaluation and assessment would be conducted at the LPG stations.
 
     
He said similar training had been held in Accra and Kumasi and added certificate of participation would be provided to the participants.
 
By Dennis Peprah, GNA

Renewed state of emergency comes into force in Czech Republic

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epa08705080 Czech Health Minister Roman Prymula wears protective face mask while attending the National Saint Wenceslas pilgrimage in Stara Boleslav, Czech Republic, 28 September 2020 (issued 29 September 2020). The Czech Republic had registered a spike in cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in recent weeks. EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK

Another national state of emergency came into effect in the Czech Republic at midnight on Monday.

 
The government under Prime Minister Andrej Babis decided to declare a state of emergency because of a “rocketing rise” in coronavirus infections.
 
The government is now able to restrict residents’ freedom of assembly, and courts will be able to levy higher fines for violations of medical safety guidelines.
 
The state of emergency already applied from mid-March to mid-May, however this time the borders are to remain open.
 
For events and assemblies, the maximum number of participants is 10 indoors and 20 outdoors. Professional sport has to be played without spectators.
 
Businesses, stores and restaurants are not affected by the rules.
 
A new peak in daily coronavirus new infections was reached on Friday with 3,792 cases.
 
According to the EU authority ECDC, an average of 303.3 people per 100,000 inhabitants were infected with the virus in the Czech Republic in the last 14 days. Only Spain has performed worse on this metric, with an average of 319.3.

Israeli police clash with ultra-Orthodox Jews opposed to lockdown

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Israeli police officers seen in the ultra orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Meah Shearim as they close shops and disperse public gatherings following the government decisions in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus. March 22, 2020. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** מאה שערים משטרה ירושלים קורונה
Israeli police trying to enforce coronavirus lockdown regulations clashed violently with ultra-Orthodox Jews in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak on Sunday night. 
 
Police tried to break up hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered at a synagogue, and scuffles erupted as they tried to drag away those who refused to disperse. Footage showed a policeman chasing a man into a building.
 
Another policeman was filmed throwing a bucket at a teenager, after stones were thrown at the forces in the crowded ultra-Orthodox area.
 
At first 13, and then late another four, ultra-Orthodox protesters were arrested, police said. 
Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai meanwhile charged that “the police are being turned into a political tool” by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
 
“This is not enforcing the coronavirus law. This is crushing the demonstrations,” he told Channel 12 television, referring to confrontations during protests in central Tel Aviv the previous night.
 
The demonstrations in Tel Aviv were at first peaceful, with most keeping social distancing and wearing masks, he said. 
 
“Suddenly someone gave an order – I saw it – to undercover policemen within the crowd to start dragging people away.” 
 
Police said they arrested 38 people, most of them in Tel Aviv, during Saturday night’s protests on squares and junctions throughout Israel against the “failed” rule of the “corrupt” Netanyahu. 
 
They expressed outrage at a contentious ban pushed through by Netanyahu on the democratic right to demonstrate beyond a 1-kilometer radius of their homes.
 
Since June, thousands and tens of thousands have gathered every Saturday night, mostly outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem. Now barred from travelling, scores gathered in their hometown centres throughout Israel instead.
 
The protesters demand that Netanyahu step down until he proves his innocence in the corruption trial that started against him in May.
 
They also condemn his handling of the second wave of the pandemic.
 
Israel on Wednesday reached yet another record high – over 9,000 – for coronavirus infections in one day, despite being almost two weeks into a nationwide lockdown.
 
The country of 9.2 million inhabitants now has a total death toll of 1,707. Under 900 patients with Covid-19 are defined as in serious condition, of whom 215 need help breathing. 
 
Netanyahu has argued that a second lockdown was inescapable.
 
It took effect on September 18, the start of the three-week Jewish holiday season that began with the Jewish New Year.
 
The season ends on October 10 with Simchat Torah, which marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah or Bible readings and the beginning of a new cycle. But his cabinet has voted to extend the lockdown by another four days and is expected to extend it yet again.
 
The protesters charge that Netanyahu acts out of a conflict of interest and seeks to curb the protests not because they are in his words “coronavirus breeding grounds,” but because he wants to survive politically despite the trial against him.

Death toll rises after weekend storms across Europe

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Several people were killed as devastating storms and heavy floods hit regions in France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland over the weekend, inundating homes and sweeping away cars and bridges.
 
Italian media on Sunday raised the death toll to seven. Five bodies had been found in on the coast in Liguria. It is believed they could have been swept into the sea by swollen rivers. One of the victims could even come from France.
 
Most people who had been reported missing – up to 20 at times – have been found as of Sunday, but authorities continue to warn of flood hazards.
 
Cities in the Piedmont region were especially hard hit, with the mayor of Limone Piemonte in the Cuneo province speaking of a “catastrophic situation” in his city overwhelmed by flooding.
 
In parts of north-western Italy, the amount of rainfall between Friday and Saturday hadn’t been seen in some 60 years.
 
In Venice, the new Mose flood defence system faced its first real test and seemed to have worked: Despite high water levels, St Mark’s Square, in the heart of the city, stayed dry.
 
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro spoke of a “historic day” for the lagoon city. “In the presence of a tide that would have flooded the city … we have shown that Mose works,” he said in a statement.
 
South-eastern France also felt the effects of the storms, with people in the hinterland of the city of Nice cut off from the outside world. Residents were being provided food and water.
 
French Prime Minister Jean Castex said Saturday that the army has been deployed to help and expressed worry about “the final balance” as at least eight people were said to be missing. Late Sunday, helpers found one man dead in his car, the AFP news agency reported.
 
In Austria, a 4-year-old child died when she was hit by a falling tree.
 
Heavy rains in Switzerland forced the closure of a major motorway on Saturday.

New Jersey doing contact tracing on 200 people from Trump event

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Health authorities in New Jersey were given a list of 206 individuals who attended events with President Donald Trump the day he tested positive for the new coronavirus, and authorities in the north-eastern US state are doing contact tracing.

 
The Department of Health said it “has reached out to these individuals to make them aware of possible exposure” and recommend isolation, if they were in close contact with the president or key staff. People will also need to get tested.
 
“The contact tracing process is ongoing,” the department said on Sunday. “New Jersey officials have been informed that the federal government is also conducting contact tracing.”
 
The state, which neighbours New York, was particularly hard hit in the first months of the pandemic.
 
Trump held fundraisers at his golf resort in New Jersey on Thursday and flew back to Washington the same evening.
 
The White House says Trump first tested positive after the fundraisers.
 
The president’s travels are in sharp focus, as he was constantly on the road and meeting with people in the days leading up to his positive test, when he may have been contagious.
 
It remains unclear when the White House learned that a top aide to the president, Hope Hicks, tested positive. Hicks was with Trump on a number of days last week.
 
Last weekend, Trump held a mass gathering at the White House to announce his pick to fill a Supreme Court vacancy.
 
A number of people who attended that event have since tested positive for the new coronavirus.
 
Trump held campaign events last week and also took part in a presidential debate with Joe Biden, the Democrat running to unseat Trump in November.

Trump campaign adviser attacks Biden over mask use

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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden delivers remarks in the parking lot of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 951 while campaigning Oct. 2, 2020 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Biden said he tested negative twice Friday for the coronavirus after it was reported that U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/TNS)

President Trump is in the hospital for Covid-19, but that didn’t stop one of his top campaign staffers from taking a shot at Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden over his use of masks.

 
“With regard to Joe Biden, I think too often he’s used the mask as a prop,” Trump’s senior campaign adviser Jason Miller said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
 
“A mask is very important, but even if he’s – he could be 20, 30 feet away from the nearest person and still have the mask on,” he continued. “That’s not going to change anything that’s out there.”
 
The jaw-dropping comments came as the president was in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the third straight day Sunday. Trump’s doctors said the president’s condition had “improved,” but divulged that he had to be put on oxygen over the weekend and received a steroid.
 
“With Joe Biden, I mean, we can’t all just stay in our basement for the rest of our lives,” Miller ranted. “We have to get out there and live our lives and take this on, develop the vaccine, develop more therapeutics, and defeat it.”
 
Biden didn’t have any campaign activity scheduled Sunday.
 
The candidate tested negative for Covid during the week, and one of his advisers said Sunday the campaign isn’t concerned about his health.
 
“What I want to communicate is we are not concerned because we are being safe,” Symone Sanders said on CNN.
“On the debate stage, President Trump mocked Vice President Biden for his wearing of a mask,” she added. “Many folks have mocked our events, our 6-feet circles … those are there to keep folks safe.”
 
Asked whether the campaign has a plan for if Biden tests positive, Sanders dodged the question, saying the candidate plans to keep following federal guidelines.

Diplomats make new push for peace in Libya after Berlin summit

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Diplomats meet on Monday for a digital follow-up to this year’s Berlin conference on Libya, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas set to attend the talks.
 
Representatives of the 16 states and international organizations that took part in the summit in the German capital in January will meet online at 1330 GMT in a fresh push to get Libya on the path to peace.
 
At the talks nine months ago, the powers involved had pledged to bring about a lasting ceasefire, implement a UN arms embargo and end foreign interference in the war that erupted in 2011.
 
Since then, the peace process in the North African country has faltered while the fighting continues. Earlier this year UN Libya envoy Stephanie Williams described the arms embargo as a poorly enforced “joke.”
 
Libya has been in turmoil since the 2011 overthrow of dictator Moamer Gaddafi and has become a battleground for rival proxy forces that has drawn in foreign powers.
 
The oil-rich country has two main competing administrations: the UN-backed Government of National Accord in Tripoli and a government based in the eastern city of Tobruk, allied with military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who leads forces in the country’s east.
 
Representatives of the rivals held political talks in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Hurghada last month. Other meetings have recently been held in Morocco and Switzerland.
 
Monday’s talks are co-hosted by Germany and the United Nations. European countries have been trying to mediate a solution as chaos in Libya has provided ideal conditions for people-smugglers to operate in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Changing Lives Through Prayer – Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams

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“Prayer Changes Things.” That is a statement that many of us are familiar with. My aim is to help us to learn how to pray prayers that will change lives. Learning to pray can change our lives. However, for that to happen, you will have to apply the information that I share with you to your life. In other words these messages must become part of your daily life. We live in a time where lives need to be changed for the good of mankind and to the glory of God. Sinners need to become Saints and Saints need to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ with each passing day.

In this passage of scripture, we will see a prayer Paul prayed for the Colossians Christians. Listen to Paul’s words.

For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make [special] request for you, [asking] that you may be filled with the full (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things.

That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition].

[We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy,

Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God’s holy people) in the Light.

[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins Colossians 1:9-14 (AMP).

The most powerful thing anyone can do for someone else is to pray for them. Through prayer you and I can touch the heart of God who in turn can touch anyone, anywhere regardless of circumstances. The power is not in the prayer itself, but in the power that God releases in response to the prayer. Let me ask you. Is there someone in your life you are praying for everyday? Or is there someone you began praying for but lately you have slacked off in your prayers for them? Do you believe God is going to change someone’s life because you are praying for him or her?

As we look at Paul’s prayer, I believe it is possible to learn how to pray a prayer that can change the lives of others for their good and to God’s glory. Our prayers to see people’s lives changed should not be motivated by selfish reasons. Sometimes when we pray for some ones life to be changed, it is more for our benefit than theirs. Prayer has nothing to do with your vocabulary. It does not matter if you use good grammar. And it has nothing to do with how well you feel about your ability to pray.

To my knowledge, nowhere in God’s word are we instructed to pray eloquent prayers. Effective praying has nothing to do how with how eloquent we pray. Effective praying involves praying the scriptures mixed with faith that God will honour His word. When we pray the scriptures, we are in fact praying God’s word. That is telling God that we are more interested in His will for our lives than we are our wills.

From Paul’s prayer we can learn to pray the kind of prayers which release God’s power into our lives and the lives of those that we are praying for. Paul’s prayer is the kind of prayer specifically suited for everyone who reads it, understands it and who hears it. #ChangingLivesThroughPrayer #ArchbishopNick #TheScriptures

Blessings!

Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams

Trace partners with Molotov Solutions to develop its OTT platform worldwide

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Trace (www.Trace.tv), the international media group dedicated to empowerment and entertainment of afro-urban people, has entrusted Molotov Solutions to develop and operate the new version of its OTT platform, TracePlay. 

Using the Molotov platform, TracePlay will offer more than 25 live TV channels, 100 radio channels and some 1,000 hours of on-demand content. The platform will be distributed in 180 countries (a first for Molotov), notably in Africa, Europe, Caribbean and North and South America. When it launches early Q2 2021, it will be available in French, English and Portuguese.

TracePlay will benefit from Molotov Solution’s full application suite which has already attracted about 12 million users in France. Molotov’s technology will allow TracePlay to empower its audiences to connect with Afro-urban culture seamlessly using:

  • A video platform in the cloud with Live, Replay and On Demand;
  • A complete back office suite with interface control, content editorialization, users and offers management, and data analysis;
  • A flexible and robust API that seamlessly interconnects with third party applications (CRM, analytics, payments) and telecom operators to promote Trace’s content offerings on STBs and to propose a SSO login and carrier billing to users;
  • Mobile and tablet applications (iOS and Android), responsive browser-based web application and on large screens with Chromecast, Android TV and Apple TV ;
  • A proprietary video player compatible with ABR (adaptive bitrate streaming), multilingual and integrating features such as pause/resume, Start Over (return to the beginning of the current live program in 1 click), fast forward and rewind, channel hopping;
  • Flagship features such as multi-language, delinearization of streaming programs, radio and podcasts, personality tracking, “Watch List”, In-App-Purchase, parental control, and many more.

“The digital and non-linear consumption of TV and radio channels and content continues to grow, especially among young and urban audiences who particularly enjoy Trace. We chose Molotov Solutions for the quality of its technical platform and the expertise of its team. Together, we will build the most beautiful audiovisual experience of afro-urban entertainment”, said Olivier Laouchez, CEO of Trace.

“We are very pleased to support Trace in the strategic acceleration of its OTT services. This is a very comprehensive and global project, which demonstrates the scope of Molotov Solutions’ services and the capabilities of its team in France and internationally”, said François Le Pichon, COO of Molotov Solutions. 

 

SOURCE
Trace TV (PTY) Ltd

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