A quick catch up on today’s top stories…
1) Facebook-owner Meta says it will pay new $2m UK fine
Britain’s competition regulator said on Friday it had fined Facebook-owner Meta 1.5 million pounds ($2 million) over fresh issues regarding its purchase of Giphy, a sanction that the U.S. firm said it would accept.
The CMA ordered Meta to sell animated images platform Giphy, which it acquired for a reported $400 million in May 2020, after it decided the remedies offered by the U.S. company did not answer its concerns over the impact to digital advertising.
It said on Friday that Meta had failed to comply with certain aspects of its requirements in regard to the handling of Giphy, with the U.S. firm failing to notify the UK regulator that key staff had left Meta.
2) [Apiate explosion] Identification of dead bodies opened
The Welfare Sub-Committee of the Apiate Disaster Relief Committee has announced for the public to identify bodies of their relatives who unfortunately died in the explosion that occurred at Apiate near Bogoso in the Western Region.
The exercise started on Thursday, February 3, and is expected to end today Friday, February 4. “This has become necessary as the committee is ready to start the Pathological process to make way for internment of the affected,” a statement said on Friday.
3) One dead, 16 migrants missing off Spain’s Canary islands
At least one migrant drowned and 16 were missing after their dinghy capsized in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday night some 35 km (22 miles) off the Spanish island of Fuerteventura, a government official told reporters on Thursday.
Emergency services rescued and transported about 41 people from the semi-sunken dinghy. The Coast Guard found one dead body at sea.
Teresa Mayans, deputy head of the central government’s representation on the Canary Islands, told a news conference that some survivors had reported on arrival that 16 of their fellow travellers were missing at sea.
4) Two jailed 30 years for robbing chef of GHC440 at knife-point
Two out of three persons who attacked a chef at knife point and made away with his mobile phone and bag at the Ako Adjei Interchange have been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment each by an Accra Circuit Court.
The phone, bag and its content were all valued at GHC440.00. Charged with conspiracy to commit crime and robbery, Appiah and Kodua pleaded not guilty.
The court, presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah, after the trial, found the accused guilty and sentenced them accordingly.
5) Klay Thompson passes Kobe Bryant on 3-pointer list
Klay Thompson passed Kobe Bryant on the all-time list with the sixth of his seven 3-pointers Thursday night as the Golden State Warriors used a long-distance assault to thump the Sacramento Kings 126-114 in San Francisco.
Thompson finished with a team-high 23 points, Stephen Curry had 20 and Jonathan Kuminga 18 for Golden State, which won its league-best eighth in a row en route to becoming the NBA’s second 40-game winner. The Warriors trail only the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference and league standings.
