Gates, others launch $US500 million maternal, newborn health fund, bucking aid cuts trend
London, UK Reuters A group of philanthropies including the Gates Foundation has set up a fund backed with nearly $US500 million to help save the lives of newborn babies and mothers in sub-Saharan Africa, standing out against a bleak global health funding landscape. The Beginnings Fund was launched on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the home […]
UN trade agency urges US to exclude poor states from tariffs
United Nations Reuters The UN Trade and Development agency urged US President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday to exclude the poorest and smallest economies from reciprocal tariffs because it “would have minimal impact on United States trade policy objectives.” Trump imposed steep import tariffs from 11 per cent to 50 per cent on 57 trading […]
At least seven people killed by army at Ghana’s AngloGold Ashanti mine
Accra, Ghana Reuters A Ghanaian small-scale miners’ association on Sunday said soldiers killed nine unarmed people at an AngloGold Ashanti mine on Saturday night, while the army said seven illegal miners had been killed in a firefight. Kofi Adams, local chairman of the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners, told Reuters that nine people […]
Ghana’s former President Mahama wins election
Accra, Ghana Reuters Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama has staged a political comeback by winning the West African nation’s presidential election after his rival Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia conceded defeat on Sunday. The result of Ghana’s general election is another blow to a ruling party in a region where voters, hit by economic hardship, […]
Ghana counts votes amid hopes for better times
Accra, Ghana Reuters Ghana voted in a presidential and parliamentary election on Saturday amid hopes for an economic revival after the worst financial crisis in a generation, which led to a major debt default in the West African nation. President Nana Akufo-Addo is stepping down next month after serving the two terms allowed by the […]
Ghana’s presidential frontrunners in last-minute rally for votes
Accra, Ghana Reuters Ghana’s two main presidential contenders staged rival rallies in the capital, Accra, on Thursday evening, courting voters in a final push ahead of the world’s second biggest cocoa producer’s legislative and presidential election set for Saturday. National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate and former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama arrives to address […]
In Ghana, Sahel jihadis find refuge and supplies, sources say
Nairobi, Kenya/Accra, Jordan Reuters Islamist militants fighting in Burkina Faso are discreetly using Ghana’s north as a logistical and medical rear base to sustain their insurgency, seven sources told Reuters, a move that could help them expand their footprint in West Africa. The sources, who include Ghanaian security officials and regional diplomats, said Ghanaian authorities […]
Debt burden threatens poor countries’ development goals, UN official says
Hamburg, Germany Reuters The world’s poorest countries are having to prioritise debt service over investments, United Nations Development Programme administrator Achim Steiner said on Monday, scuppering progress towards their Sustainable Development Goals. Speaking at an event in Hamburg, Steiner said the financial crunch meant countries worldwide were struggling to meet the goals – a set […]
US Black Baptist organisation gets $US1 million megachurch donation to aid African girls
United States RNS A Baptist missions organisation has received a $US1 million donation from a Virginia megachurch, boosting its efforts to help girls in Africa. Lott Carey, a predominantly Black organisation long known as the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Society, has traditionally had fundraisers as part of its annual gathering, which this year occurred […]
Year of elections: How polls around the world are set to reshape global politics
MARK JOHN, SUMANTA SEN and ANAND KATAKAM, of Reuters, report on some of the key issues at play in elections taking place around the world this year…