Exim Bank resets to intensify Ghana’s export capacity

Nineteen persons have been arrested in a special anti-crime operation conducted by the IGP Special Operations Team at Alaba and Thinker in the Kumasi metropolis.

The operation, carried out on March 25, 2026 was led by DSP Bawah Abdul Jalil and ASP Samuel Mustapha Abenzuo as part of ongoing efforts to clamp down on criminal activities, particularly drug peddling and substance abuse within the metropolis.

The exercise formed part of a routine patrol aimed at tackling robbery, stealing, rape, violent attacks on commuters, drug trafficking, as well as the sale and possession of illegal firearms and ammunition, which police say continue to pose serious threats to public safety.

A total of 111 police personnel were deployed for the operation, supported by ten service vehicles, including a Black Maria for conveying suspects and an armoured carrier to ensure officer safety.

The team conducted extensive patrols across several townships within the city, including areas around the Manhyia Palace enclave, with special attention to identified crime hotspots.

Acting on intelligence, the team moved to Alaba and Thinker, locations noted for drug peddling and substance abuse. Officers conducted systematic searches on pedestrians and shop operators within the area.

During the operation, one Madam Ola Ruth, a shop operator, was arrested after a search of her premises led to the retrieval of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp.

Police later arrested eighteen additional suspects who were allegedly engaged in the peddling and use of illicit substances, bringing the total number of persons arrested to nineteen.

Exhibits retrieved during the operation included quantities of white substances suspected to be heroin or cocaine, dried leaves believed to be Indian hemp, opioids, and other items commonly used for drug consumption.

All the suspects were transported to the Suntreso Police District Headquarters, where they remain in custody pending further investigations and possible prosecution. The seized substances have been handed over to the appropriate investigative units for forensic examination and evidential purposes.

Police say the operation was conducted professionally and in accordance with established procedures, adding that intelligence-led operations will be intensified to dismantle criminal networks in the Ashanti Region.

The IGP Special Operations Team assured the public of its continued commitment to maintaining law and order and ensuring the safety of residents through sustained patrols and community collaboration.

Sunyani Manhene demands crackdown on Health Workers dodging rural postings

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March 27, 2026

Odeefour Ogyeamansan Boahen Korkor II, Paramount Chief of Sunyani

The Paramount Chief and President of the Sunyani Traditional Council, Odeefour Ogyeamansan Boahen Korkor II, has issued a fiery call for the withdrawal of professional certificates of doctors and nurses who refuse postings to rural communities. He described the practice as a betrayal of national duty.

Addressing the 2025 Annual Performance Review Meeting of the Bono Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service in Sunyani on Thursday, March 26, 2026, the visibly concerned traditional ruler charged the Ministry of Health and the top hierarchy of the health service to enforce strict punitive measures to compel medical and nursing graduates to serve wherever they are posted.

Dr. Osei Kuffour Affreh, Bono Regional Health Director

His remarks, which drew massive applause from participants, come against the backdrop of a worsening staffing crisis in the Bono Region, where urban facilities are choked with health personnel, while rural communities are left to suffer without a single doctor or nurse.

“It is only in Ghana that employees dictate where they want to work. People are dying in rural areas because doctors and nurses prefer to overcrowd themselves in the cities. There must be deliberate punitive measures against such health personnel,” he fumed.

The Chief’s concerns were strongly reinforced by shocking statistics presented by the Bono Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Osei Kuffour Affreh.

According to him, out of seven doctors who accepted postings to the region in 2024, only two remained at post. In 2025, although about 30 doctors initially accepted postings, only 12 stayed on, largely due to special motivation packages introduced by the Directorate.

The figures paint a grim picture of a system under strain, where critical healthcare delivery in deprived areas continues to suffer due to refusal of postings by trained professionals.

While advocating sanctions, Odeefour Ogyeamansan Boahen Korkor II, also called for improved conditions of service for health workers, but stressed that beneficiaries of public-funded education must honour their obligation to serve all Ghanaians, especially those in rural communities whose taxes support their training, allowances, and salaries.

In a further alarming revelation, the Omanhene expressed deep concern over rising maternal and infant mortality rates in the Bono Region.

The Regional Health Directorate’s report indicated that maternal deaths nearly doubled in 2025 compared to 2024. It was revealed that 38 pregnant women died in the Bono Region within the year under review.

In response, the Directorate, The Chronicle gathered, has set up a Regional Maternal Mortality Audit Taskforce to probe the underlying causes and recommend urgent interventions.

The Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Osei Kuffour Affreh, who assumed office a few months ago, assured to do everything possible in collaboration with all stakeholders to reverse the unfortunate trend.

By Edmond Gyebi

Shakira To Wrap Up World Tour With Madrid Residency

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March 27, 2026

Pop superstar Shakira will wrap up her record-breaking world tour with a concert residency in Madrid at a custom-built venue, promoter Live Nation said Monday.

The six-night residency runs September 18-20 and September 25-27, with more dates possibly added depending on ticket demand.

The shows will be held at a temporary venue to be built in southern Madrid dubbed the “Shakira Stadium” with a capacity for roughly 50,000 people, the president of Live Nation Spain, Pino Sagliocco, told a news conference.

Shakira’s Madrid concerts will be a “celebration of life” and Latin culture, he added.

“Spain is where we’re really going all out. The show’s going to be something people have never seen before. I’m really excited,” Shakira said in an interview published Sunday in daily Spanish newspaper El Pais.

The concerts will mark her first performances in Spain in eight years, and her first since reaching a 2023 settlement with Spanish prosecutors to settle a tax fraud case.

Credit: channelstv.com

Kim Kardashian shares family snaps from Tokyo vacation with Lewis Hamilton

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March 27, 2026

Keeping up with Kim Kardashian’s vacation.

The reality star gave a glimpse of her and Lewis Hamilton’s Tokyo trip with her kids via Instagram on Wednesday.

The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” alum, 45, filmed daughter Chicago, 8, and sons Saint, 10, and Psalm, 6, having fun at a museum.

She posed for playful selfie videos with the little ones, as well as with Khloé Kardashian’s 3-year-old son, Tatum.

While Hamilton, 41, did not appear in the social media uploads, he is in Japan with Kim.

The F1 driver and Saint were spotted in a fan video Monday shopping together at SNKRDUNK, a store retailing shoes, clothing and rare Pokémon cards.

Hamilton and Kim were caught on camera arm-in-arm while out with Khloé, 41, and friends.

The Skims creator was all smiles during the weekend outing in a skintight gray dress and black heels.

Kim and ex-husband Kanye West‘s eldest child, 12-year-old daughter North, was noticeably absent from the family getaway.

Hamilton’s secret romance with Kim first made headlines in February.

At the time, the duo jetted off on a slew of lavish trips, with vacations in the Cotswolds, Paris and more.

The pair made their public debut at the Super Bowl LX.

They went on to spend time together in Lake Powell, Ariz., earlier this month, posting similar shots of the scenery via Instagram.

Credit: pagesix.com

Russia bans Oscar-winning film ‘Mr Nobody Against Putin’

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March 27, 2026

A court in Russia has banned the documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin from three streaming platforms on the grounds that it “propagates extremism and terrorism”.

The feature, which won an Oscar earlier this month, documents the ramping up of war propaganda in a Russian school following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

It is based on footage collected by Pavel Talankin, a school events coordinator who later fled Russia.

Prosecutors argued that the documentary expressed a “negative attitude towards the [war in Ukraine] and the current government”, according to Russian media.

The deputy prosecutor also said the film featured the flag of a “terrorist organisation”, referring to the white-blue-white flag which has been used by anti-war protesters.

The ruling was issued by a court in the city of Chelyabinsk, not far from the town of Karabash, where Talankin’s school is located. It will require the film to be removed from three online video platforms.

Earlier in March, a Russian governmental human rights body condemned the documentary for using footage of children collected without their parents’ consent and said it would appeal to the Academy that awards the Oscars to launch an investigation.

Mr Nobody Against Putin charts the Kremlin-mandated indoctrination of Russian schoolchildren, including lectures on the need to “denazify” Ukraine, speeches by war veterans, and lessons on how to spot mines and handle guns.

The documentary also features stories of Talankin’s former students joining the army and dying in Ukraine, as well as his own acts of resistance.

In his Oscars acceptance speech, Talankin said: “For four years we have looked at the sky for shooting stars to make a very important wish… But there are countries where, instead of shooting stars, bombs fall from the sky and drones fly,” he concluded.

Credit: bbc.com

Jay-Z explains why he refused to settle sexual assault lawsuit

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March 27, 2026

Jay-Z is ready to talk about the fallout of the sexual assault lawsuit brought against him.

“It was hard. Really hard. I was heartbroken,” Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, told GQ in a wide-ranging interview published on Tuesday.

In the civil lawsuit, filed in December 2024, an anonymous woman alleged Jay-Z had raped her when she was 13 at the MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000 alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs. The Jane Doe plaintiff then voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit in early 2025, according to legal documents obtained by Entertainment Weekly at the time.

Jay-Z always maintained that the allegations against him were false, calling them “frivolous, fictitious and appalling” in a statement to EW following the case’s dismissal. Attorneys for the plaintiff did not immediately respond to EW’s requests for comment at the time.

“I’m glad we got right to that so we could just get that out the way,” the 56-year-old added to GQ. “Like I was really heartbroken by everything that occurred. We’re in a space now where it’s almost like consequence is not thought about enough. Because everything is so instant, you know what I’m saying?”

As for why he refused to settle the lawsuit before it was dismissed, Jay-Z said, “It ain’t in my DNA.”

“I know the weight that this is going to bring on our family. I can’t do it. I would die,” Jay-Z recalled of his stance on the matter, admitting how hard it was to tell his wife of nearly 20 years, Beyoncé Knowles, about the lawsuit.

He continued, “If I settled—make that thing go away. And for me, it would’ve been cheaper? Yes. Cheaper, quicker, move on with your life. I knew what was coming. I wasn’t naive. I called—again, after my family—my partners. They were like, ‘What do you need to help? Don’t even worry.’ In a phone call. Not even a: ‘I got to go to the board with this.’ It was like a testament because people know me. Like: ‘ know who you are and that’s impossible. Not only are we standing by you, but what do you need?'”

Jay-Z shared that his and Knowles’ eldest daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, defended him in her own way, wearing a jersey with “Jay-Z” on the back to school.

Credit: yahoonews

Venezuela’s Maduro set to again appear in US court

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March 27, 2026

Law enforcement officials move abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January

Nicolas Maduro, the former leader of Venezuela who was removed by United States forces on January 3, is set to appear in a US court for only the second time.

In the weeks since he was abducted to the US, Maduro’s defence has offered only a preview of how it will approach the extraordinary case on Thursday. In his first court appearance, in January, Maduro maintained he was not a traditional defendant but a “prisoner of war” and “kidnapped” president.

Many questions surrounding Maduro’s prosecution remain unanswered in the run-up to Thursday’s hearing: how Maduro may deploy a carousel of legal arguments to challenge the case; what evidence prosecutors will present to support their claims of “narco-terrorism” and drug trafficking; and ultimately, what would happen in the event federal prosecutors prove unsuccessful.

While the US has a history of enforcing its domestic law against foreign individuals, the prosecution of sitting and former heads of state has been exceedingly rare.

The most recent examples include the prosecution of Manuel Antonio Noriega, then the leader of Panama, in 1989, and more recently, the prosecution of former Honduran leader Juan Orlando Hernandez in 2024, explained Renato Stabile, who served as the court-appointed defence lawyer for Orlando Hernandez.

“We’re in largely uncharted territory,” Stabile told Al Jazeera.

Credit: aljazeera.com

Russian officials meet US counterparts as Moscow denies aiding Iran

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March 27, 2026

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says Russia seeks to revive talks with the US

A delegation of Russian officials has arrived in ‌the United States for meetings with their American counterparts.

The visit, which began on Thursday, marks the first such trip since ⁠relations strained over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We hope that these first tentative steps will, of course, make their contribution to the further revival of our bilateral engagement.”

He said President Vladimir Putin had set the “main directives” for the trip and would be “thoroughly briefed” on the meeting.

The visit comes as US-brokered talks seeking a deal to end the war in Ukraine are in effect frozen.

Several rounds of negotiations since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year have failed to break the deadlock, with the Kremlin ruling out compromises to halt its years-long offensive.

Russia, a close ally of Iran, has also been cited by Western intelligence officials as one of the backers of the Iranian government, as Tehran fights a war launched by the US and Israel.

A report in the United Kingdom-based Financial Times newspaper on Wednesday alleged that Russia was close to completing a shipment of drones to Iran.

Responding to questions about the report, Peskov said, “There are so many lies being spread by the media … Do not pay attention to them.”

Russia this week carried out one of the largest aerial attacks since the start of its war on Ukraine, launching 948 drones in 24 hours as it moved troops and equipment to the front line.

Credit: aljazeera.com

European Parliament gives conditional approval to EU-US trade deal

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March 27, 2026