A quick catch up on today’s top stories…
1) New increment of transport fares to be kick in from next week – GPRTU
The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has announced that commuters should expect another upward increment in transport fares.
According to the Head of the Union’s Communications, Abass Imoro, “if nothing is being done about this also, then next week of course we have to adjust lorry fares. We did mention in the last upward adjustment with the public that should the 10% threshold keep on its peak, we shall definitely come out with another upward adjustment in lorry fare,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.
2) Meta rolls out parental supervision tools on Instagram
Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc will allow parents to track how much time their children are spending on Instagram and will soon roll out parental supervision features on Quest virtual reality headsets, the company said on Wednesday.
The new parental controls are part of Meta’s promise to protect children using its social media apps, after a whistleblower leaked internal documents that showed the company was aware that Instagram caused body image problems for some teenage girls. The Instagram supervision tools will be available in the United States beginning Wednesday and will roll out globally over the coming months, Meta said.
3) S.Africa’s President Ramaphosa accuses NATO of causing Russia-Ukraine war
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday blamed NATO for the war in Ukraine and said he would resist calls to condemn Russia, in comments that cast doubt over whether he would be accepted by Ukraine or the West as a mediator.
“The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less, instability in the region,” Ramaphosa said, a view also maintained by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
4) CNN ex-host Chris Cuomo fires back with a $125m lawsuit, alleging wrongful termination
Former CNN primetime host Chris Cuomo filed a request for arbitration on Wednesday, seeking $125 million in damages for alleged wrongful termination. The network fired Cuomo in December, following an inquiry into his efforts to help his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had been accused of sexual harassment.
Chris Cuomo maintains that he was transparent with CNN about his role as his brother’s confidant, and had “no reason to believe” that this violated the network’s policies. He also claimed that former CNN chief Jeff Zucker and one-time marketing chief Allison Gollust had themselves provided advice to the former governor.
5) Indonesia to host Grand Prix in its Lombok resort island after 25-year absence
Indonesia will host a sellout crowd this weekend for its first motorcycle grand prix event in a quarter of a century, as MotoGP comes to the resort island of Lombok for the second race of the season.
Indonesia has reassured organisers that the track on the 4.3 kilometre (2.67 mile) Mandalika International Street Circuit is race-ready, with repairs completed following complaints during testing last month about dirt, rocks and cracks putting riders in danger.
