The first Nasa mission since 1972 to put humans on the Moon’s surface has been pushed back by one year to 2025.
Few observers expected Nasa to make the previous 2024 date, because of a funding shortfall and a lawsuit over the landing vehicle.
But the space agency’s chief Bill Nelson confirmed the delay in a press conference on Tuesday.
Under its Artemis programme, Nasa will send the first woman and the 13th man to the lunar surface.
A US federal judge recently upheld a decision by the agency to award the contract to build a lunar landing vehicle for this mission to Elon Musk’s company SpaceX.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had contested the decision, in part because he said the contract was supposed to have been awarded to more than one bidder.
However, a funding shortfall from Congress meant this wasn’t possible, according to a rationale published by Nasa at the time of the contract announcement.
The UK’s Supreme Court has rejected a claim that sought billions of pounds in damages from Google over alleged illegal tracking of millions of iPhones.
The judge said the claimant had failed to prove damage had been caused to individuals by the data collection.
But he did not rule out the possibility of future mass-action lawsuits if damages could be calculated.
The case will have implications for similar mass-action lawsuits.
In his judgement, Lord Leggatt said a key issue was that “the claim has been framed in order to try to bring it as a representative action” for many people.
“The claimant seeks damages… for each individual member of the represented class without attempting to show that any wrongful use was made by Google of personal data relating to that individual or that the individual suffered any material damage or distress as a result of a breach,” it read.
“Without proof of these matters, a claim for damages cannot succeed.”
But he added that the case had a “real chance of success” if pursued by the claimant as an individual, instead of as a mass action.
Early trials are under way to test medicinal mushrooms and Chinese herbs to treat COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms.
The first two phase 1 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials have begun at UCLA and the University of California San Diego to treat COVID-19 patients who were quarantining at home with mild to moderate symptoms. A third trial is investigating the use of medicinal mushrooms given after COVID-19 vaccines.
The researchers have also launched a fourth trial testing the mushrooms against a COVID booster shot alone. It looks at the effect in people who have underlying conditions that would reduce their vaccine response. An article in JAMA last week described the trials.
The two mushroom varieties being tested — turkey tail and agarikon — are available as over-the-counter supplements, according to the report. They are a separate class from hallucinogenic or “magic” mushrooms being tested for other uses in medicine.
“They are not even as psychoactive as a cup of tea,” Gordon Saxe, MD, PhD, MPH, principal investigator for the trials, says.
For each trial, researchers plan to recruit 66 people who are quarantined at home with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms. Participants will be randomly assigned either to receive the mushroom combination, the Chinese herbs, or a placebo for 2 weeks, according to the JAMA paper.
Craig Hopp, PhD, deputy director of the Division of Extramural Research at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, told JAMAin an interview that he was “mildly concerned” about using mushrooms to treat people with active coronavirusinfection.
“We know that a cytokine storm poses the greatest risk of COVID mortality, not the virus itself,” Hopp said. “The danger is that an immune-stimulating agent like mushrooms might supercharge an individual’s immune response, leading to a cytokine storm.”
Stephen Wilson, PhD, an immunologist who consulted on the trials when he was chief operating officer of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, says in the JAMA article that a cytokine storm is unlikely for these patients because the mushroom components “don’t mimic inflammatory cytokines.” Wilson is now chief innovations officer at Statera Biopharma.
“We think the mushrooms increase the number of immunologic opportunities to better see and respond to a specific threat. In the doses used, the mushrooms perturb the immune system in a good way but fall far short of driving hyper or sustained inflammation,” Wilson said.
Saxe said the FDA process was extensive and rigorous and FDA investigators also asked about potential cytokine storms before approving the trials.
Cytokine storm is not an issue with a healthy response, Saxe pointed out. It’s a response that’s not balanced or modulated.
“Not a Crazy Concept”
Saxe pointed out that one of the mushrooms in the combo they use — agarikon — was used to treat pulmonary infections 2,300 years ago.
“Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, used mushrooms,” he said. “Penicillin comes from fungi. It’s not a crazy concept. Most people who oppose this or are skeptics — to some extent, it’s a lack of information.”
Saxe explained that there are receptors on human cells that bind specific mushroom components.
“There’s a hand-in-glove fit there,” Saxe said, and that’s one way mushrooms can regulate immune cell behavior, which could have an effect against the coronavirus.
Daniel Kuritzkes, MD, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, , who was not part of the study, says he wasn’t surprised the FDA approved moving forward with the trials.
“As long as you can demonstrate that there is a rationale for doing the trial and that you have some safety data or a plan to collect safety data, they are fairly liberal about doing early-phase studies. It would be a much different issue, I think, if they were proposing to do a study for actual licensing or approval of a drug,” Kuritzkes says.
As yet unanswered, he noted, is which component of the mushrooms or herbs is having the effect. It will be a challenge, he said, to know from one batch of the compound to the next that you have the same amount of material and that it’s going to have the same potency among lots.
Another challenge is how the mushrooms and herbs might interact with other therapies, Kuritzkes said.
Presiding Member of the Tano South Municipal Assembly, Mr Asare Antwi opening the meeting
Tano South MCE, Mr. Collins Offinam Takyi addressing the house
The Municipal Chief Executive for Tano South in the Ahafo region, Mr Collins Offinam Takyi, has observed that the Municipality is relatively calm and, therefore, a good destination for business.
He acknowledged that there are reported cases of stealing, armed robbery, land and chieftaincy disputes, but gave the assurance that the Municipal Security Council is closely monitoring the situation to ensure peace and stability.
“The municipality has being relatively calm and peaceful over the period, except isolated cases of stealing, armed robbery, land and chieftaincy disputes, which the Municipal Security Council is closely monitoring to ensure peace”, he said.
Mr. Offinam Takyi said this at the first General Assembly meeting of the second session of the second Tano South Municipal Assembly at Bechem.
He assured the house, Nananom and other stakeholders that the assembly will do all it takes to support the security agency to enable them perform their core mandate.
He also announced that the Tano South Municipal now has a Ghana Immigration Command and about ten (10) officers have been posted to work in the municipality.
AGRICULTURE
Mr. Offinam Takyi said agriculture remains one of the most attractive and important sectors that engages the attention of government, hence the interventions by government to make the sector more attractive and to ensure economic growth.
The Department of Agriculture, he said, has also successfully assisted farmer based organisations at Mansion, Onwe Nkwanta, Bechem and Derma.
He explained that when there was the prevalence of fall army worm in 2018, the government through the Department of Agriculture gave chemicals to the municipality to spray farms that were suspected to be affected.
He, therefore, entreated the members to inform their community members or farmers to report any suspected case on their farms to the Extension Officers for remedy.
HEALTH
Mr Offinam Takyi said, the government, through the Ghana Health Service and the Municipal Health Directorate has commenced the vaccination against the COVID-19 pandemic, using the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines.
He stressed that the first phase of the exercise is targeted on health workers, adding that more vaccines will be received to cover all communities.
He therefore encouraged assembly members to accept the vaccines as a remedy against the spread of the disease when the Ghana Health Service commences the vaccination.
EDUCATION
He noted that the government introduced the Free Senior High School policy to help increase enrolment by providing equal opportunities for all.
According to him, the policy has made positive impacts on the lives of students who might have missed the opportunity to access senior high education.
GRATITUDE
Mr. Offinam Takyi expressed his utmost gratitude to His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, for re-nominating him, and to the members for confirming him once again.
He also extended his appreciation to Mr. George Boakye, the Ahafo Regional Minister, Benjamin Yeboah Sekyere, the Member of Parliament for Tano South Constituency, Nanamon and Heads of Department in the Municipality for their support for the past years and requested all to work collectively for the development of the municipality.
OPENING ADDRESS
Opening the meeting, the Presiding Member (PM) of the Assembly, Mr. Asare Antwi said the meeting provides the platform for assembly members to reflect on the developmental needs and aspiration of the people, and said by so doing take the right decision that would help in the accomplishment of the aspiration and the needs of the citizenry.
He added that the meeting gave members of the house the opportunity to deliberate on the development agenda of the municipality.
Mr Asare Antwi said the meeting was in fulfillment of the Local Government Act 2016, Act 936 and the model standing orders which empower the members to meet periodically to deliberate on matters of concern and take decisions in the best interest of the people they serve.
Mr. Asare Antwi explained that the meeting should have taken place earlier, but had to delay due to re-nomination and confirmation of the Municipal Chief Executive, as well as the District Performance Assessment Tool (DPAT) exercise which took place on 11th and 12th October 2021.
He urged members of the house to continue to eschew all forms of partisan tendencies that could derail their collective effort in accomplishing the desired goals for the betterment and transformation of the municipality.
MOTORBIKES
According to the PM, he has received a letter from the Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) informing his office about the purchase of motorbikes for the assembly.
“The letter further assured that the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) will soon take delivery of the motorbikes for onward distribution to the assemblies in the region”, he said.
South Africa face a must-win clash in their 2022 World Cup Qualifying campaign when they host Group G rivals Zimbabwe at FNB Stadium today.
South Africa picked up back-to-back wins over Ethiopia in October to remain at the top of the log, though Ghana are just one point behind.
With the Black Stars favourites to win their match, Bafana Bafana will likely be playing to try and reclaim top spot and ensure they take a points advantage into their showdown with Ghana in Cape Coast on the evening of Sunday 14 November.
“We have to focus on the fact that we have to win [the first match against Zimbabwe,” said SA coach Hugo Broos. “If we don’t win the game, what importance can the game in Ghana have? We need to be there with one point ahead, maybe more. Ghana have the pressure to win against us, so we have the pressure to win against Zimbabwe.”
qMr Amissah Arthur, ADA Central Regional Secretary, speaking at the confab
Alliance of Drivers, Ghana, a registered and recognised transport union operating in the country, is calling on the government to remove all toll-booths on our roads and instead introduce toll levy.
According to the group, the toll-booths create inconvenience for motorists and productive time is lost due to the hours drivers and commuters spend at these toll-booths.
Mr Amissah Arthur, Central Regional Secretary of the union, who addressed a news conference at the Kasoa Toll-booth recently, indicated that the introduction of toll levy would also help government to block revenue leakage.
“The toll-booth has become one of the major causes of massive road traffic in the country. As you can see, the Kasoa toll-booth alone is capable of keeping a driver in traffic for more than half an hour.
“The inconveniences created are really unbearable. The petrol we consume in traffic is sometimes overwhelming. We have a strong conviction that when removed, it will tremendously reduce road traffic,” he said.
According to him, reports the group has gathered suggests that some workers at the toll-booths sometimes embezzle funds, alleging “the only body exempted from paying toll per the Toll Roads Act are the emergency services, but many drivers don’t pay when they get to the toll-booth.
“Some drivers also don’t pay road tolls because of familiarity with the toll collectors. Monies collected at the tollbooth are meant for the state and not for private individuals. Hence, we are appealing to you to help us cure this by ending these toll-booths with immediate effect,” he said.
Mr Amissah Arthur contended that aside the inconveniences, drivers are overburdened with the number of toll booths that they have to encounter on their journeys.
“When the toll-booth is removed, it will have a significant reduction on the financial burden of the ordinary driver,” he said, adding that while government is plugging revenue leakages, drivers could also breathe a sigh of relief.
He added that the group has submitted a proposal to the government to consider the toll levy on petrol and take away the toll fees, as it is becoming a burden rather than a relief.
The Secretary also used the occasion to urge the public to be circumspect when discussing issues of fuel pricing at the pump.
In his view, discussions on fuel prices must centre more on proffering solutions to the problem than attacking the government of the day.
“We are deeply saddened by the recent hikes in petroleum prices. Frankly speaking, the current happenings are unbearable, there have been numerous threats of strike action from strong institutions such as COPEC and other driver unions. We honestly don’t wish for this that is why we are calling on all Ghanaians to handle this matter constructively, devoid of politics,” he said
Jean Adukwei Mensa, EC boss and John Dramani Mahama
The 2020 presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, is no more singing the praises of his once darling electoral management body, the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana.
The former President, who ahead of the 2016 election defended the electoral body to the hilt, now holds a different view, following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
Speaking on TV XYZ on Tuesday November 9, he claimed that the Afari Gyan and Charlotte Osei led commission did a better job.
Prior to the 2016 election, Mr John Mahama defended the Charlotte Osei led EC and urged Ghanaians to allow the electoral body to do its work.
When the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party in the 2012 elections took the electoral commission to court to challenge the presidential results, Dr Afari Gyan made an emphatic statement that ‘elections are won at the polling station’.
The above statement made by Dr Afari Gyan was used by the NDC in the 2012 elections against critics of Charlotte Osei.
Mr. Mahama has been on the neck of the Electoral Commission after losing the 2020 presidential election, which result he refused to accept and contested at the Supreme Court.
Yesterday, speaking on TV XYZ, he said “When Afari Gyan and Charlotte Osei were there, we have been the leading electoral commission. When I went to Liberia for election monitoring, after first round there was confusion, ECOWAS sent a technical team led by Charlotte Osei to come and sort out the Liberian EC problems and she came and sorted it out.
“Everything that I say is to make them sit up, they must redeem themselves in 2024, so when I am pointing out their mistakes it is not that I hate them.”
Independent Investigation
Mr. Mahama accepted the challenge thrown by the EC to the police to investigate the vote fraud claim he made.
“That is what I want, they said we should have an investigation, let’s have an investigation. But I don’t know if the police are the best to do that. I don’t know what the police are going to investigate. We want an independent inquiry or let’s go to ECOWAS.
“ECOWAS has an electoral body, let them come and investigate Ghana’s election of 2020. I will welcome it, I will testify. Under oath, I will swear an oath and testify. I won’t run away from the witness box,” Mr. Mahama said.
EC Challenge
The EC in a response to Mr Mahama over his allegation that one million votes were padded in favour of the NPP, asked the Ghana Police Service to investigate claims of criminality Mr. Mahama levelled against the EC.
“The transparency of our processes makes ballot-stuffing impossible. It cannot be done. We call on the former President in the interest of our democracy to provide evidence of the stuffing of the ballot boxes by the EC officials. The police should investigate this as a matter of urgency because its potential can erode our democracy.
“The former President has alleged that the military influenced the declaration and announcement of the election results. This is also false. It never happened. Nowhere did the military influence the declaration and announcement of the results. It is not true, because the 2020 elections were widely participatory,” he added.
The Financial Division of the Accra High Court trying Dr Mac Palm and others for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government, has subpoenaed Dr Joel Paddy, a medical practitioner, to appear before it today, to explain why he is requesting a two day absence from court for Bright Alan Debrah, one of accused persons.
The order followed an application by counsel for Deborah, Kojogah Adawudu praying the court to give his client permission to absent himself from court proceedings for two days, on health grounds.
The court, presided over by justices – Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe, Hafisata Amaleboba and Stephen Oppong – explained that in criminal trials, the moment one person absents him or herself from court, the case cannot continue.
According to the court, this is the reason why it earlier rejected a request by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Dr. Benjamin Kwasi Agordzo to travel to Kenya.
Dr Fredrick Yao Mac Palm (A1), ACP Dr. Agordzo, Colonel Samuel Kodzo Gameli, WOII Esther Saan, Corporal Seidu Abukakar and Corporal Ali Solomon, Donyo Kafui, Bright Alan Debrah, Johannes Zikpi and Sylvester Akankpewu are being tried for allegedly plotting to topple the Akufo-Addo government.
So far, three prosecution witnesses had appeared before the court to give account of how the accused persons planned to oust the government.
The court has also received audios and videos allegedly recorded by the third prosecution witness, Staff Sergeant Awarf Sule.
Defence counsel for A1, E.A. Vordoagu has finished cross-examining the witness over his evidence in chief, the video, audio proof and background.
Rev Father Peter Adu, the assistant parish priest at the Corpus Christi Catholic Church at New Tafo, a suburb of Kumasi, has expressed worry over, what he describes as loss of trust in leadership by the people in the society.
This development, according to him, could be a threat to national or international security and must be of concern to everybody in the country.
According to Rev. Father Adu, absolute trust and humbleness devoid of arrogance and pride on the part of those in leadership positions, is the only way they could gain the trust of the people they lead and entreated leaders at all levels of society not to be carried away by their positions.
He urged them to be humble because humbleness is the mother of trust, stressing that where there is humbleness, there is love.
Speaking to the congregation on the theme: “Ultimate Giving”, Fr. Adu reminded leaders in society to demonstrate the attitude of humbleness, which he says goes with love to the people under their jurisdiction, irrespective of where one finds him or herself to be a leader.
He was of the view that leadership is failing the society, resulting in loss of trust in them, hence the waywardness of children who cannot be controlled by parents.
The Catholic priest emphasised that it is the responsibility of everyone to contribute his/her quota to bring comfort to someone, because God has given everybody something to be given out to the needy.
The Rev. Father urged leadership to always assess their conscience and do the right thing for the people devoid of arrogance to help them regain the absolute trust of the people.
He underscored that in a society where the youth have absolute trust in leadership, the society is conducive and without crime and other social vices.
Rev. Fr. Adu, therefore, urged leaders and parents to do what it takes to gain the trust of the people, while the church plays its role and together build the society.
Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, Minister of Works and Housing
Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, Minister of Works and Housing says work has commenced on the construction of the second phase of the Blekusu Coastal Protection Project. He said the scope of work would entail the construction of 37 armour rock groynes, with land reclamation covering a minimum coastal stretch of 8,000 metres (8 kilometres) to protect beaches and communities against encroachment by the sea.
This comes at the back of a tidal wave that hit some communities in the Keta and Ketu South Municipalities over the weekend, leaving hundreds of residents displaced.
A similar incident occurred in June this year when five communities-Agavadzi, Salakope, Adina, Blekusu and Amutinu-were hit by tidal waves, causing destruction to hundreds of property and displacing more than 1000 residents.
In a press briefing in Accra, the Minister, said the project would ensure the total protection of the people of Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu and other communities within the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region who were occasionally affected by tidal waves.
He said in addition to protecting lives and property, the project would protect the beaches and its environs against encroachment by the sea, arrest the current environmental deterioration, mitigate the social and economic consequences of beach erosion, and strengthen the economic and production base of the area through enhanced fishing activities.
Mr Asenso-Boakye said the Ministry had finalised evaluation of relevant proposals to hit the ground running.
He said the Ministry of Finance was currently engaged to raise the funding for the project, adding that, he was hopeful the project would feature in the 2022 Budget.
The Minister said in April 2021, a technical team from the Hydrological Services Department of the Ministry, upon his directive, travelled to the affected communities to engage the Ketu South Municipal Assembly and some community leaders on the matter of the implementation of the second phase of the project.
Mr Asenso-Boakye said he also visited the communities with the technical team from the Ministry and the Hydrological Services Department in June this year to have a first-hand understanding of the situation.
He appealed to the coastal residents to avoid any practices that exposed them to unexpected changes of the rising sea levels.
“There have been reported cases of sand winning, uprooting of mangrove along the coastal stretch.
The investments by government cannot yield the needed protection if people continue to engage in such practices,” he said.
Meanwhile, National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO)inKeta and Ketu Municipalities told the Ghana News Agency they had assessed the situation and liaising with the national office for support. Source: GNA
