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The group of children will finally arrive in Scotland on Wednesday A group of 52 children from orphanages in Dnipro, Ukraine can travel to Scotland later after their paperwork was completed. The children and their guardians were supposed to leave Poland on Monday, but a vital document from the Ukrainian government was not sent in time. A Virgin plane has landed in Warsaw and is expected to return to London later. A stay in London has been cancelled and the group will instead go directly to their temporary home in Callander. The charity Dnipro Kids, which was set up by Hibs FC fans, enabled many of the children to flee Ukraine for Poland. A second group of children were accompanied by Sally Becker, founder of Save a Child.The Edinburgh-based charity has made arrangements for the children, who range from infants to older teenagers, and their seven legal guardians to stay in a hostel while they acclimatise to life in Scotland. Mr Blackford said it had taken time to get the paperwork

Marzia had been happy and hopeful when she heard schools were reopening Early this morning, at her home on a hilltop in the west of Kabul, 15-year-old Marzia packed her bag for school, for the first time since the Taliban took power last August. "I became so, so happy when I heard school was restarting," she told the BBC. "It makes me hopeful about the future again." Around 200 other girls had also made their way to the Sayed ul Shuhada school, far fewer than usual, as pupils and their families debated whether or not lessons would actually start and whether it would be safe for them to attend. Since August, in most of Afghanistan, only girls' primary schools have remained open, along with all boys' schools.Today as a new academic year began, girls' secondary schools were finally expected to re-open along with other institutes."The first suicide bombing happened very close to me," says Sakina, as her eyes fill up with tears. "There were

Mr Chubais was made a special representative to Mr Putin in December 2020 Anatoly Chubais has stepped down from his role as an international envoy for President Vladimir Putin, the most senior official to resign since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russian reports said he was currently in Turkey with his wife. Mr Chubais was given the job of coordinating Russia's sustainable development goals internationally. After the war began he posted a picture of a murdered opposition figure, in what was seen as a critical gesture. There was no comment to accompany his Facebook photo of Boris Nemtsov, on the anniversary of his killing in view of the Kremlin. He has also made no comment yet on his resignation.A source told the Tass news agency that he had left Russia as well as resigning as a special representative to President Putin. "Yes, Chubais has resigned of his own will. But whether he has left [Russia] or stayed, that's his personal affair," said Kremlin spokesman

Ukrainian troops are counter-attacking Russian forces in some areas of the country, with reports that they have gained ground near the capital, Kyiv. Local authorities in the town of Makariv, west of Kyiv, said Ukrainian flags were flying there once more. A US defence spokesman said Ukrainians were also reversing momentum in some parts of the south. In the small southern town of Voznesensk, Russian forces were pushed back and an armoured convoy destroyed. And in Kherson, close to the Crimean peninsula and the first city to fall to Russia, Ukrainian forces are also trying to recapture territory.A UK defence analyst told the BBC the fightback could force Moscow to change its tactics.However, the latest assessment from the UK Ministry of Defence says Russian troops in Ukraine are moving in from the north and south to "envelop Ukrainian forces in the east of the country". The note says "Russian forces are likely reorganising before resuming large-scale offensive operati

A Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) officer stationed at the Hamile Border post in the Upper West Region has been shot dead by unidentified persons. Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 (AICO I) Michael Ekow Otoo who was with the Hamile detachment of Operation Conquest Fist was shot at about 5AM on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 in Kokoligu-Bekyiiteng, a community in the Nandom Municipality. He met his untimely death while on night duty patrolling the border with Burkina Faso. Preliminary investigations revealed that the officer had six gunshots from the rear by his attackers largely suspected to be smugglers. His family which got the news of his death on social media is demanding justice for Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 Otoo. The family is in a dilemma about breaking the news to Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 Otoo’s wife, Abigail who was hospitalised two days before the sad incident and is yet to be informed.Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 Otoo and the wife h

Formal Senior Governance Advisor at the United Nations (UN), Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah has suggested to government to scrap teachers' and nurse’s trainee allowance. Speaking in an interview with Starr FM, Mr. Agyeman-Duah indicated that amid the current economic challenges facing the country, government must consider reviewing several of its policies. According to him, if there is no money to cater for teachers' and nurse’s trainee allowance, then the government must take a bold step to scrap it although it was a campaign promise. “It was scrapped and introduced again so I think now it has to be scrapped. Yes, it was a political promise and now we can’t sustain it financially. As we are spanning nurses' education it means the financial support will have to be widened,” Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah shared. The formal Senior Governance Advise further charged the media to hold politicians accountable for promises made to Ghanaians when seeking power. Looking at the current

The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah has lambasted Members of Parliament, particularly those who continually absent themselves from sitting. Last Friday, the house could not approve a €20 million agreement between the government of Ghana and the German Development Bank Group, Frankfurt, due to the lack of quorum. During proceedings, talks on the agreement were concluded for a motion to be filed for its approval. With more than 120 MPs reportedly absent that day, the motion for the approval of the agreement had to be dropped. Taking to his social media page today, Sulemana Braimah has lashed out at MPs insisting that they must stop playing with the future of this country. According to him, MPs must know that they were not elected to go to parliament to serve their partisan interests. "Our MPs must stop playing with Ghana's future. We didn't elect them for narrow partisan interests. How can a House of 275 MPs not have

The Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) has commenced investigation into the circumstances leading to the assault of a suspect by personnel of the service. This follows a viral video footage in which a suspect, in handcuffs is captured being assaulted by personnel of the Police Service. According to the Police, the investigations will allow it to initiate disciplinary action against persons found culpable. “We would like to state unequivocally that the Police abhors the maltreatment of suspects and therefore outrightly condemn the treatment of the alleged suspect,” a statement by the Police administration noted. It further reminded personnel of the Police Administration to “always be guided by the fundamental human rights of all persons and act in accordance with the law.” In the video footage, the swollen-faced suspect, Stephen Gyedu is seen in handcuffs sitting on the floor and being tortured by Police personnel. The suspect is alleged to have conspired with one other p

The leadership of the Majority Caucus in Parliament has dispelled rumours that they have an agenda against fellow MP Sarah Adwoa Safo, who has failed to be present in the House for more than two months. According to Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the leadership of the Caucus has nothing against the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection to warrant her refusal to pick up their phone calls or respond to their numerous text and WhatsApp messages. Mr Annoh-Dompreh, who is the MP for Nsawam-Adoagyire in the Eastern Region, revealed, for instance, that Adwoa Safo was the first to call to congratulate him on his appointment as Majority Chief Whip and, so, he harbours no ill feelings against her. “Annoh, you deserve it”, the Majority Chief Whip recalled Adwoa Safo saying, adding: “This is how far Adwoa Safo and I have come” and, so, “there is no way I will have anything against her person or her office”. Mr Annoh-Dompreh said he, therefore, finds it very befuddling t

Ghana has said it will fine airlines $3,500 for each passenger who arrives in the capital’s international airport without being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Under new measures taking effect on Wednesday, air carriers will also be penalised the same amount for travellers who did not fill out a health declaration form before boarding their flight to Kotoka International Airport in Accra, the state-owned Ghana Airport Company said. While Ghanaians who fly in without meeting the requirement will be allowed to enter the country and undergo a 14-day quarantine, foreigners may be refused entry, the airport authority said. The measures are just the latest taken by Ghana, which has introduced some of the strictest coronavirus-related restrictions in West Africa. The new penalties come a day after the country began requiring all passengers over the age of 18 to provide evidence of full vaccination against COVID-19, saying that about 60 percent of the total new cases recorded in the count

Lagos State police have arrested the driver of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bus in which a 22-year-old Oluwabamise Ayanwole was allegedly kidnapped. “Runaway driver of the BRT bus has just been arrested by the police,” a police source told The Guardian. The police source disclosed that “the arrested driver is currently in DSS custody.” Details later.

A bus driver was confirmed dead in an accident at Nkwelle Junction on Onitsha -Nteje Expressway in Anambra on Friday, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), said. Mr Adeoye Irelewuyi, Commander of the FRSC in the state, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka. Irelewuyi said the accident which occurred at about 7.a.m., could be attributed to wrongful overtaking. “The fatal crash involved a commercial Mark Tanker with registration number: ENU224YY and a private Toyota Hiace Bus with registration number: GWA25TM. “According to eyewitness account, the bus driver overtook wrongfully without knowing there was a broken down pick-up vehicle ahead. While trying to dodge the pick-up, he rammed into the tanker and crashed The crash involved three male adults and the FRSC rescue team from Nteje Unit Command rushed the victims to Chira Hospital, Awkuzu where the bus driver was confirmed dead. “His body has been deposited at wisdom mortuary, Awkuzu,” he said. The Sect

The Federal Government yesterday, announced a five-year extension for the validity of operators’ licences in free trade zones across the country. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, explained that the move was to mitigate challenges hindering operators in the zone, noting that the directive is also coming on the heels of the Federal Government’s ease of doing business mandate. Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) tagged “Streamlining free zone operations for global competitiveness,” the Minister urged the operators to take advantage of the extension, but ensure they file their yearly returns. In his words: “With regards to the validity period of licenses, I understand that is one of the major challenges of operators at the free trade zone, I have directed that the validity period of licenses to be for five years, however, returns should be made every year and we want to assure that before the en

Tokyo Olympics long jump bronze medalist, Ese Brume, and five other athletes will fly Nigeria’s flag in this year’s World Athletics Indoor Championships holding in Belgrade, Serbian. The Belgrade 2022 World Indoors will hold from March 18 to 20. Nigeria will contest in three events, including women’s long jump, triple jump and 4×4 relay for men. Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Samuel Onikeku, told The Guardian yesterday that the invited athletes will leave their base in the United States for Belgrade next week. While Brume will fly Nigeria’s flag in the women’s long jump, Ruth Usoro will contest in the women’s long/triple jump. Team Nigeria’s athletes for men’s 4X400m relay are Sikiru Adeyemi, Ifeanyi Ojeali, Samson Ogehewegba Nathaniel and Timothy Emeogene. The standard of the competition is expected to be extremely high as many Olympic champions are set to compete in Belgrade. Meanwhile, athletes from various parts of the country will converge on t

Troops have neutralised 100 Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province terrorists while 174 have surrendered to the Nigerian military. Director, Defence Media Operations (DMO), Maj-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, disclosed this, yesterday, at a briefing to update newsmen on military operations across the country. His words: “Over the past weeks, the armed forces of Nigeria and other security agencies have continued to tackle the various security challenges facing the country. The briefing covered February 24 to March 10, 2022. “Troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), within the last two weeks, sustained aggressive posture by conducting clearance operations in the fight against terrorists and other criminal elements in the theatre of operations.” MARAUDING herdsmen have, again, killed six persons in Guma Local Council of Benue State. The Chairman of Guma, Caleb Aba, confirming the tragedy to newsmen, yesterday, said there was no provocation. He said: “Four people were killed at Iye in Uvir co

  Russia  expanded its military offensive in Ukraine  Friday, hitting targets further west from the air as its ground  forces maneuvered to encircle the capital , Kyiv, and pressure  besieged cities across the country like Mariupol . Moscow’s troops have  struggled to make progress  against fierce resistance in more than two weeks of war. But their assault has left civilians trapped and bombarded in worsening conditions, creating a humanitarian crisis that has horrified much of the world. President  Joe Biden  was set to call for an  end to normal trade relations with Moscow , a senior administration official familiar with the matter told NBC News, a move that would allow the West to raise tariffs on Russian products as it  seeks to isolate  and punish Moscow   for the invasion of its democratic neighbor.

  Long before the first shot was fired, diplomats the world over have been trying to find a way to broker some sort of peace between   Ukraine   and Russia. After two grueling weeks of bitter combat, that goal is more elusive than ever.

  I leave Moscow angry and sad. It feels like a passage out of darkness to light, but left behind are friends trapped in  one man's tunnel vision. Russian President Vladimir Putin isn't just destroying Ukraine, but two nations, condemning Russians to an isolation they didn't necessarily choose. Over the past couple of months while I've been reporting from Moscow, I've met many people who have been horrified, shocked and numbed by Putin's wanton aggression. Some of them believed him when he said he wouldn't invade Ukraine. Some even knew players in the Kremlin inner circle and thought they understood the President's red lines, but now that trust is blown and they fear he has no limits at all. What makes Putin's actions all the more galling is how he executed his plot in plain sight. Distracting with one hand, transfixing attention on diplomacy, even while insisting falsely that his massed troops were carrying out exercises on Ukraine's borders. Or

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