COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – This Sunday night, sky conditions permitting, we will be in for a real astronomical treat. A total lunar eclipse lasting 62 minutes will be visible on the night of Jan. 20-21 across North and South America, including throughout the United States and parts of western Europe and Africa. The Wolf Moon — a full moon in January — will be a “super blood moon” that reveals a vivid reddish tint for a couple of hours, centered around midnight. The coppery coloration or cast is due to the bending of some sunlight (refraction) around the fringes of Earth, causing shorter-wavelength light to be scattered by the atmosphere while leaving us with longer-wavelength red-orange-yellow beams. A total lunar eclipse requires the sun, earth and moon to fall to be perfectly aligned, placing the entire moon in Earth’s dark interior shadow (umbra), an event that we will not witness again until May 2021, according to NASA. On Jan. 31, 2018, we were captivated by a rare “super blue blood moon” seen from the U.S. for the first time since 1866. A blue moon is the second full moon of a month. We see a blue moon every few years, but had two in 2018, separated by two months. The 2019 total lunar eclipse will begin at 11:41 p.m. ET on Jan. 20 and peak at about 12:16 a.m. ET on the 21st. (The longest eclipse in history lasted 1 hour and 46.4 minutes on July 16, 2000). We could not see the July 27, 2018, eclipse in the United States. Making the upcoming astronomical show special is that we will also have a supermoon, which occurs when a full or new moon is closest to Earth in its orbit (perigee), which can make it appear about 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than a typical moon nightly, although the difference is not all that evident. The moon will come within 225,558 miles of Earth at perigee. The Wolf Moon moniker dates back to a time when Native American tribes went hunting at night and had to fend off wolves in the middle of winter. The various names for the full moon were a way to keep track of the seasons. Source: wishtv.com
Winklevoss Twins: Bitcoin Needs Regulation so Investors Don’t Get Burned
The crypto market hasn’t fully recovered from the effects of 2018’s “crypto winter,” with the Bitcoin price dipping below the $3,500 mark on Sunday before making a minor recovery. However, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of crypto exchange Gemini, are sticking with their optimistic outlook for the market. Speaking in an interview with Fortune, the Winklevoss twins spoke on their opinion concerning the entire cryptocurrency industry. Their insights included comparisons of Bitcoin to gold. They also shared a validation of the increasing usage of stabelcoins in the crypto industry. Clarifying Gemini’s Viral Ad Campaign The interview comes just a week after the brothers launched a massive advertising campaign that raised eyebrows in the community. Last week, bus stops, taxi tops, buses and much more all over New York began carrying Gemini ads.Messages such as “Crypto Needs Rules” and “The Future of Money” were displayed, adding to an outcry for crypto regulation. Reactions included conversations on the state of crypto regulations and the prospect of moderating the sector without hindering its growth.View image on Twitter Rules like mathematics? Sure. Crypto needs that. Rules like "KYC AML licencing taxation Patriot Act bitlicense bullshit?" No. Crypto doesn't need that. pic.twitter.com/8azzqCKlwa — Nick Foley (@BookofNick) January 4, 2019 Concerning the demand for regulation, Tyler Winklevoss said: The idea is that companies that build on top of things like Bitcoin should have a regulation that’s thoughtful and that doesn’t stifle innovation[…] People believe in the dream of crypto. They just don’t know how to engage in it without getting burned. We’re here to say Gemini’s a place you can do that. Tyler stressed that dollar-pegged stablecoins such as Gemini’s GUSD, which are supposed to be less volatile than non-fiat collateralized digital assets like Bitcoin, could be used to issue dividends for tokenized securities. Cameron pointed out that 60% of $100 bills are held overseas. He believes stablecoins can simplify the international flow of reserve currencies like the dollar. He claimed that stablecoins such as the Gemini Dollar act as “dollars on the blockchain” and can be used for various functions including payments for crypto services. Bitcoin is a Better Gold The conversation also touched on Bitcoin’s “digital gold” debate. Cameron claimed that the divisibility and fungibility of the largest cryptocurrency mean that it will overtake gold as a store of value in the future. Summarily, he said, “The only thing gold has over Bitcoin is a 3000-year head start.” The brothers’ assessment of Bitcoin follows the sentiment shared by Lou Kerner, partner and strategist at Crypto Oracle. In an interview last December, Kerner stated that Bitcoin, which has a $62 billion market cap, is on its way to becoming an even better store of value than gold. Source: ccn.com
Google Workers Have a New Plan to Fight Forced Arbitration
A group of Google workers is ramping up the fight to eliminate the tech industry’s use of unfair forced arbitration agreements. In 2018, we saw workers bravely and impressively organize and stand up totheir leaders and decisionmakers, calling for change. Activism among tech employees hit a dramatic climax in early November, when thousands of Google workers held what may be the largest collective tech demonstration to date, issuing a number of demands, including an end to forced arbitration agreements. Now, a campaign that kicks off this week aims to eradicate those agreements across the tech industry. Googlers for Ending Forced Arbitration, a group dedicated to ending forced arbitration spearheaded by organizers of last year’s Google Walkout, will launch a social media blitz on Tuesday, the group announced in a Medium post today. Every hour on Twitter tomorrow from 9am to 6pm ET, the group will share facts about the effects forced arbitration has on tech workers, as well as firsthand accounts of people impacted by forced arbitration and interviews with experts every half hour on Instagram. Forced arbitration requires a worker to settle a dispute privately behind closed doors rather than in a public trial. This practice, which is not uncommonacross the tech industry and only recently saw any slight changes due to mounting public pressure, is a powerful mechanism employers can use to keep internal issues under wraps. The November 1 Google Walkout followed the New York Times reporting that several high-level executives, including Android co-creator Andy Rubin, were accused of sexual misconduct but still received exorbitant exit packages. After the walkout, Google said it had eliminated forced arbitration—but only for sexual harassment claims. That change doesn’t include discrimination cases, and it doesn’t apply to Google’s sprawling contractor workforce. The company also still prohibits employees from pursuing class-action lawsuits. According to the activists, there may not have even been much improvement at all. “The change yielded a win in the headlines, but provided no meaningful gains for worker equity, nor any actual change in employee contracts or future offer letters,” Googlers wrote in the Medium post on Monday. They also claim that, at the time of writing the post, Google still included its old arbitration policy in offer letters. In December, Google employees published a statement calling for an end to forced arbitration agreements industrywide. We’ve reached out to Google regarding the organizers’ claim that the company continues to send out offer letters with the forced arbitration clause included and for comment on the activists’ campaign. Tanuja Gupta, a lead organizer from the Google walkout and one of the women spearheading the movement to end forced arbitration, told Gizmodo in an email that she, along with Google staff linguist Vicki Tardif, received a lot of questions around how the practice works from colleagues and other tech workers in their cities. They, along with Google software engineer Tory Voight, “started strategizing long distance with other leads in other cities” about launching an education campaign around forced arbitration, she said, “because the worst time to learn about arbitration is when you suddenly have to use it after having experienced discrimination and harassment in the workplace.” Source: gizmodo.com/
ALIBABA OFFERS DIGITAL KNOWHOW TO RWANDAN OFFICIALS
A dozen high-ranking officials from Rwanda visited Alibaba’s global headquarters in Hangzhou last week to witness first-hand the transformative power of technology on China’s economy and see how the African country can best shape its own digital future. The four-day program at Alibaba’s Xixi campus is part of Alibaba’s ongoing commitment to offer capacity-building training to Rwandan officials and policy makers how to build and sustain economic growth in the digital era. In Kigali last October, Alibaba founder Jack Ma and President Paul Kagamehighlighted their robust collaboration plans, which include Alibaba’s pledge to work with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB). The goal was to help Rwandan SMEs export their products, such as coffee and handicrafts, to Chinese consumers through Alibaba’s online marketplaces, like Tmall Global, a platform of over a half-billion users. Ambassador Charles Kayonga checks out the Rwanda coffee beans sold at Freshippo, Alibaba’s high-tech grocery store. Rwandan beans are also available on Tmall and Taobao. It was Ma’s second trip to Rwanda after his initial visit to Africa in 2017. During those visits, Ma had said he was impressed by the country’s young entrepreneurs and local businesses and pledged to support the growth of the digital economy in Africa. “We are here to experience and learn from Alibaba’s development and understand how its ecosystem is able to provide solutions and opportunities to millions of Chinese SMEs in this digital age,” said George William Kayonga, the chief executive officer of NAEB, who also served as the head of the delegation. Kayonga added the bilateral cooperation will increase the competitiveness of Rwandan entrepreneurs as they get new ideas and inspirations by engaging with more consumers from around the world through the Alibaba platforms. “Our young entrepreneurs and SMEs are full of energy and eagerness to introduce their high-quality products to the consumers in China and rest of the world. By working with Alibaba, they can have a direct exposure to the Chinese market and they can also learn valuable lessons from Alibaba’s own transformation from an e-commerce company to the technology giant that it is today,” Kayonga added. Brian Wong, a vice president at Alibaba, said Rwanda, like many African countries, is well on track in carving out its own mark in global cross-border trade, thanks to the growing number of homegrown entrepreneurs and support from the public sector, who understand the importance of digitization and technology in this day and age. “The enthusiasm of these budding entrepreneurs and support from the public sector means Africa has an immense potential to leapfrog in the technology space,” he said. One of tools put in place to propel Rwanda into the digital era is its recent admission to the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), a private sector-led initiative proposed by Ma in March 2016 to provide SMEs with operational infrastructure, such as e-commerce, logistics, cloud computing, mobile payments and skills training. The aim of eWTP is to extend to local small businesses and companies the chance to access the advanced tools that are traditionally more available to large multinationals. Such aim is aligned with Alibaba’s core mission of making it to do business anywhere. Rwanda is the first African country to pilot the eWTP platform. The platform has also been implemented in Malaysia and Belgium. As part of the Rwanda eWTP collaboration, Alibaba Business School will also conduct the first Alibaba Netpreneur Training program in March. The program is designed to boost the digital knowledge and know-how of entrepreneurs who are currently operating in the Rwanda, or in the process of expanding into there. The Alibaba also offers an entrepreneur training program called the eFounder Fellowship in partnership with the United Nation Conference and Trade and Development. To date, 52 fellows from Africa and 75 from Southeast Asia and Pakistan have completed the program since the inaugural class in November 2017. Source: alizila.com
EC sued over Ayawaso West-Wuogon by–election
A Ghanaian citizen, Bismark Aborbi-Ayitey, has filed a suit at the Supreme Court, challenging the Electoral Commission’s decision to hold the Ayawaso West-Wuogon by–election on January 31, 2019. According to the plaintiff, per Article 112 (5) of the 1992 Constitution, a bye-election is supposed to be held 60 days after a seat is declared vacant. It is his contention that following the death of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Parliament formally declared the seat vacant and informed the EC on November 26, 2018. In view of this, his argument is that the bye election is, therefore, supposed to be held before or on January 26, 2019 and not on January 31. The plaintiff is being represented by Dr Dominic Ayine, a former Attorney –General. Meanwhile, the EC has given its consent to Madam Lydia Alhassan of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Mr Delali Kwasi Brempong of the National Democratic to contest the by-election. Source: graphic.com.gh
2 dead as military force ‘clash’ with youth at Alavanyo
Police in the Volta Region have confirmed to Joy News the death of two residents of Alavanyo Dzogbedze who were caught up in a crossfire between the military and some unknown assailants. Narrating the incident to the AM Show on MultiTV, Volta regional police commander, DCOP Francis Doku said the police got wind that some persons were hoarding ammunition in the town. “Knowing the area to be conflict-prone, the local SWAT organised themselves and moved in to search for the arms about 3: 00 pm on Sunday,” the police commander said. He said the assailants might have gotten wind of the police operation because as the SWAT team entered the town, they were attacked by some youth who successfully wrestled an AK-47 rifle from the outnumbered police. The police team retreated, DCOP Doku noted. According to his narration, the police informed the military in the area who decided to retrieve the AK-47 rifle. The military went to the traditional ruler in Alavanyo Dzogbedze to inform him about their intended operation with the hope that he will prevail on his subjects to surrender the arms. “The chief promised the military that he will personally bring the rifle to the barracks at 10: 00 am on Monday,” DCOP narrated. But as the soldiers departed from the chief, they were attacked by the assailants who fired shots at them. As the soldiers shot back at the attackers, two residents suspected to be unrelated to the attacks were caught up in the crossfire and have been reported dead. Six others are injured and are on admission at the Margret Marquart Catholic Hospitalin Kpando. DCOP Doku said the police are preparing to go for the bodies of the two dead persons. He added that an emergency Regional Security (RECSEC) meeting will be organised to the town to help in investigations. Source: myjoyonline.com
Two MPs sue Minerals Commission, 35 mining companies
Two National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament, Alhassan Suhuyini and Ernest Henry Norgbey, have dragged 35 mining companies, the Attorney-General and the Minerals Commission to the Supreme for allegedly violating Ghana’s constitution. According to Suhuyini, who is the MP for Tamale North and his colleague, Ernest Norgbey, MP for Ashaiman, the 35 mining companies which include Newmont, Anglogold Ashanti, Golden Star Resources, Ghana Bauxite Company, among others, have effectively been engaging in illegal mining without the ratification of their leases, while the supervising authorities looked on unconcerned. They argue that all the 35 companies violated article 268 of the 1992 Constitution by carrying on mining operations at a time when Parliament had not ratified their mining leases in accordance with article 268 of the constitution. The Plaintiffs argue that, unless and until Parliament ratifies or gives approval to a mining agreement, the holder of the mining agreement cannot carry on any mining activity, hence the 35 mining companies acted illegally and in breach of the supreme law of the land, when they carried on mining before Parliament approved their licences. Suhuyini and Norgbey among other reliefs want the Court to order Anglogold, Newmont and the other mining companies to refund all monies or financial benefits that have accrued to them as a result of illegally mining Ghana’s natural resources. “A further declaration that all revenues and financial gains (proceeds) made by 3rd to 37th defendants pursuant to carrying out the exploitation of mineral rights and other natural resources in violation of the provisions of article 268 of the 1992 Constitution, must be declared and accounted for to the government of the Republic of Ghana, from the date when they respectively started such exploitation of minerals and natural resources.” They also want the court to restrain the mining companies from carrying on with their operations until the necessary ratification is done. “An order of perpetual injunction restraining 3rd to 37th defendants from carrying on any exploitation of minerals or other natural resources unless and until their respective transactions, contracts and undertakings with the government of the Republic of Ghana, are ratified or exempted from ratification by the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana, in accordance with the provisions of article 268 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana,” they added in their writ. Exton Cubic woes over lack of ratification It will be recalled that somewhere in 2017, the government of Ghana seized some equipment of Exton Cubic Group Ltd, a mining company, which wanted to prospect in the Tano Offin Forest Reserve, on the basis that it mining lease had not been ratified by Parliament. Exton Cubic subsequently sued the government at the time. The company argued among others that, the industry practice permits mining companies to carry on operations before ratification, but government rejected their claim. Meanwhile, an Accra High Court quashed the decision by the then Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, to revoke the mining lease of Exton Cubic Group Limited, to prospect in the Nyinahini bauxite concession of the Tano Offin Forest Reserve. According to the court, the Minister, Peter Amewu, exceeded his powers by withdrawing the license of the mining company, which has affiliations with Ibrahim Mahama’s Engineers and Planners (E&P). Source: ghanaweb.com
Confirmed: NAM1 nabbed in Dubai more than one month ago
It has emerged that Ghana’s most wanted man, Nana Appiah Mensah, has been in the custody of Dubai police for at least one month. The fugitive was arrested on December 7, 2018, a police statement said. This is even before an Accra Circuit Court issued a warrant for his arrest January 9, 2019 and also alerted Interpol which has presence in 194 countries. Nana Appiah Mensah is wanted for defrauding by false pretence and alleged money laundering. This was after his company Menzgold failed to pay thousands of clients’ returns on their investments. There has been agitation from clients since September 2018 when the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered his company to shut down its so-called gold trading operation. At Menzgold, clients buy what is now known as fake gold from another company owed by the embattled businessman, Brew Consult and deposit the collectibles with Menzgold. They are promised 7% to 10% monthly returns described by investment experts as risky and unsustainable. Menzgold after months of hesitation, is now being called a Ponzi scheme. The emboldened description of the once-glamourous brand has set frightened customers fearing their investments have gone down the drain. State security arrested Nana Appiah Mensah or popularly, NAM1. But even this arrest was not known until news of his escape broke last week. NAM1 was on a self-recognizance bail but still managed to elude security to travel to Dubai – a feat that has fed fledging conspiracy theories. The arrest in the United Arab Emirates, a member of Interpol, is however for a different incident albeit the same gold-trading business. It is alleged the socialite and high-flying businessman was engaged in a “business gone bad” in Dubai. In essence, NAM1 has also been accused of a criminal offence in another jurisdiction. According to the police statement, Ghanaian officials have paid the suspect a visit in Dubai. But the statement makes no comment about whether the visit was before the warrant was issued or after. The news is expected to raise serious questions about Ghana’s intelligence-gathering services and how a public man-hunt for a Ghanaian businessman was outmoded at birth. Source: myjoyonline.com
Police find sperms on murdered GPHA staff; houseboy arrested
Police have discovered sperms in the pelvic region of the public affairs manager of the Ghana Ports and Habours Authority who was found murdered Sunday at her home in Afienya near Tema. A police report sighted by 3news.com read in part: “There was a fresh cut on the right eye brow, a suspected bullet hole at the back of her head and sperms at her private part region.” Christian Agyei, who was serving as a houseboy to the deceased, Mrs Josephine Asante, has been picked up by the Police to assist in investigations into the crime. He is said to have admitted to burying a wristwatch belonging to the deceased, together with 340 cedis behind the window of the boys’ quarters where he sleeps. The items which were freshly buried were discovered by the Police investigation team. “We have taken into custody the houseboy,” DSP Joseph Benefo Darkwah who is the Tema Regional Police Public Affairs Director told our correspondent Josephine Frempong Monday. He would however not confirm or deny the discovery of sperms in the private part of the deceased, except to say the Tema Region has reached out to the homicide department at the Police headquarters to assist in investigating the case. But Christian in his caution statement said he saw a man in black T-shirt and a jeans running out of the house. Meanwhile, the police report, which was authored based on information from the first Police responders said “foot and finger prints of the suspect” has been taken. The report said no fired bullet shell was found at the scene and “no bullet exit at the front portion of her head”. It said inspection of the scene revealed the doors and windows to the bedroom were all locked. “The key to the bedroom and the remote control to the main door were found at the entrance to the house close to the boys quarters,” the report stated. The deceased was found stabbed to death on Sunday dawn at her residence at the Emef Estate in Afienya near Tema. The 49-year-old mother was said to to be living in her house with her son and a houseboy at the time of the incident. Public Affairs Manager of Tema Port killed in her room The deceased was in a pool of blood in her bedroom Sunday dawn. Her 12-year-old boy called for help when he woke up and found the mother motionless not responding to calls to wake up. Source: ghanaweb.com
GES suspends PTA dues in SHSs
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has suspended the collection of levies under the auspices of parent-teacher associations (PTAs) in all public senior high schools (SHSs) and technical/vocational institutions (TVETs). The directive is to enable the GES to streamline and review all such PTA levies in all public SHSs/TVETs. In an interview in Accra last Friday, the Director-General of the GES, Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwa, noted with serious concern “the proliferation of various levies under the guise of PTA levies”. “These levies are defeating the objective of the government in removing cost as a barrier to secondary education in Ghana,” he stated. Some heads of SHSs are said to have circulated letters to parents, stating in part that their children would not be allowed to attend classes if they did not pay their PTA dues. Role of PTAs Prof.Amankwa explained that the management of the GES acknowledged the important role PTAs were playing in the running of schools but insisted that PTAs were associations, just like all other groupings, such as old students associations, and should, therefore, not use the school system to collect their levies. He said the GES was not against the activities of the PTAs but that they should be able to find innovative ways of collecting levies, instead of using the school system to send letters to parents through the students. Suspension Prof.Amankwa stated that the suspension would be enforced, “pending the streamlining and review of all these levies”. “It is the expectation of the management that heads of schools and PTA executives will cooperate in this exercise to ensure that the free SHS programme is successfully implemented,” he said. Sanctions In a related development, the Council Chairman of the GES, Mr Michael Nsowah, has warned that the management of the GES would sanction heads of SHSs/TVET who meddle in PTA activities. “Heads of SHSs are once again warned that in no circumstance are they to get involved in the collection of PTA dues and levies,” he warned. He expressed concern about the situation where some heads of SHSs still wanted to control the funds of PTAs and asked parents to ignore any PTA dues circulated to them on the letterheads of their children’s schools. MrNsowah asked all students to report to school without reference to PTA activities such as dues and levies. He said all heads of SHSs were aware of the guidelines on PTAs, insisting that the PTAs were mature organisations which should be able to operate on their own, without using the students. Mr Nsowah tasked all regional and district directors of education to monitor the activities of all second-cycle schools, with particular reference to levies and fees for students. Source: myjoyonline.com
