Europe Media Port (EMP) has announced that it is providing key services from its Greek teleport to Gateway Communications for its newly launched operations on AfricaSat-1 into Africa. EMP is a Cyprus-based global provider of transmissions services. - EMP is furnishing IP Transit and uplink & downlink for IP services for Gateway on Africasat-1 to and from Africa enabling the broadband service provider to best leverage its multiple C-band transponders on the satellite. The capacity will further develop the pan-African service provider’s market leading position in the provision of high quality, secure and reliable voice, data and Internet access to its 1,200 corporate customers ac…

Nigerian soldiers killed five gunmen after exchanging fire in the waterways of the oil-producing Niger Delta, a military spokesman said. Navy vessels encountered the gunmen in three speedboats while on patrol in the Cawthorne Channel, an area in Rivers state that is a known hotbed for violence. - Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, a spokesman for the military taskforce in the Niger Delta, said the "chance encounter resulted in the killing of five militants." There were no military casualties, he added. The fighting is the second major incident in the heart of Africa's biggest oil and gas industry since the region's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of …

Police prosecutors in Ghana have been given a 14-day ultimatum to renew the expired warrants of remand prisoners or face disciplinary action. The ultimatum, which takes effect from October 22, 2008, was jointly given by the Attorney-General and the Inspector-General of Police of that country. - The warrants for more than 300 remanded prisoners at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison alone have expired, with some of the prisoners having been on remand for several months without any court appearance. According to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Joe Ghartey, his outfit would take steps to ensure that remand prisoners were released on bail if police prosecutors did not take steps …

Uganda has been elected to occupy a non-permanent seat of UN Security Council when delegates cast their votes to the international body's powerful for 2009-10 term. The country, which was already assured of a seat from a unanimous regional backing, has been joined by Japan, Turkey, Austria and Mexico. - Iran, which is under UN sanctions over its nuclear programme, and Iceland, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, were defeated in the vote on Friday, a decision that some western powers said was a lesson, especially for Iranians. Japan received 158 votes as favourate and has already served nine terms on Security Council. Among European nations, Austria and Turkey won places on counc…

The ongoing financial crisis could imperil US aid available to Africa after 2010 and could deter private investment in the continent. "It's a question that's concerning many of us who work on Africa," said Jendayi Frazer, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. - "The question is whether the next team... will reauthorise the Millenium Challenge programme for future years,” he added. Pledges through 2010, including grants made through the Millenium Challenge Account programme, are unlikely to change, but commitments by the U.S. after that could be vulnerable -- even as Chinese investment and trade ties continue to grow. Sub-Saharan Africa sa…

SA's Robben Island museum will be closed while authorities cull a colony of rabbits that has invaded the site where Mandela was jailed. Authorities said the museum, popular with tourists wanting to see the cell, would be temporarily closed while the rabbits were killed to protect plant life and historical buildings. - "The current population is so large that it threatens to permanently damage the island's sensitive vegetation, and poses a serious threat to other fauna species," Seelan Naidoo, the museum's acting chief executive said in a statement. He said the exact number of rabbits was unknown.The culling would be followed by a sterilisation programme to sustain…

Ghana is taking steps to secure its recently discovered oil in the Western region of that country. The Western Regional Minister, Anthony Evans Amoah has therefore suggested to the Ghana government to use the region as what he terms "a growth pole" in the wake of oil find there, by developing the region. - He said the benefits of the intervention measures would spill over to other regions with time. Mr. Amuah made the suggestion at an oil forum organized for Senior Military Officers, the media, traditional rulers, the police and civic society groups in Takoradi in the Western region of Ghana. Since the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the region last year, there hav…

The Electoral Commission of Ghana has exhibited the voters' register for this year's elections in that country. The exhibition exercise to clean the voter's register lasted for six days. The EC said it was embarking on the exercise to correct what it described as a bloated register in the up-coming polls. - The Chairman of the EC, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Djan, in an earlier appeal called on Ghanaians to help clean the register because it could be a recipe for a chaotic situation come December 7. Prospective voters were expected to check their names, sex, age and where necessary request for the correction of errors in their particulars in this exercise. Voters also had the right to…

Ghanaian shippers have appealed to the ministry of Ports, Harbours, and Railways to reduce the number of taxes they pay at the ports and land entry points. They said such taxes are unbearable. The shippers said at the moment, they pay about twelve different taxes at the ports, excluding Value Added Tax. - They are therefore calling on the Ministry to publish a list of all goods which are tax exempt to serve as a guide to them. They also request the Ministry to make public the exact charges imported containers attract at the ports and the criteria for extra charges and the conditions under which they can be confiscated to the state. The sector Minister, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi, res…

Children in Ghana will benefit from a free medical care to be provided by the country's public health facilities. The exercise is part of activities lined up by the Ghana Health Service to mark this year's Maternal and Child Health Campaign. It would be a-three-day exercise for children under five. - The Western Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Linda Vanotoo said services that would be rendered to the children within the period are immunization against the killer diseases, de-worming, provision of treated mosquito nets and weighing. This year's celebration which is on the theme:"Healthy Mothers and Children Make a Better Ghana" calls on the media to assis…

The Ghanaian parliament will soon come out with a law to regulate susu collection in that country. Susu collection is a loans and savings scheme in Ghana where clients contribute regularly to a savings company for a time and are at liberty to benefit from their contribution anytime possible. - There are over 400 individual susu collection companies across the country. And yet there are people who have had bitter experiences from some of the companies in the past. There is the problem of most of the companies folding up overnight and vanishing into thin air, without clients tracing their where about. It is to check some of these anomalies that the Bank of Ghana started arresting and closin…

The Ghana Tourist Board and the Tourists Clubs Association of the Western Region have undertaken a tree planting exercise at the Sekondi Sports Stadium to mark the celebration of World Tourism Day. This year's celebration was on the theme: "Tourism-Responding to the challenges of climate change." - The Sekondi Sports Stadium is one of two newly constructed international standard stadia built by the Ghana government for the hosting of the MTN CAN 2008 football tournament which took place in January this year. Organizers of the tree planting exercise said it is aimed at replacing the vegetation that was cleared to pave way for the construction of the stadium. Additionally, th…

Herdsmen in Kenya have turned to an age-old contraceptive device, the "olor", to protect their precious goat herds from an ongoing drought. The olor is made from cowhide or a square piece of plastic, and is tied around the belly of the male goat. It prevents the bucks from mating with the female goats. - The herdsmen who are mainly from the Maasai community are using the device to limit the goat population and ensure there are not too many animals grazing on sparse vegetation. "We don't want them to breed in this drought," Ole Ngoshoi Kipameto, a goat owner in Kajiado district said, according to the BBC. Vital assets The area, which is 80km (50 miles) from the…

The Ghana Association for the Deaf has expressed its anger at the way some people use the name of the association to solicit funds. They are calling for the arrest and prosecution of people who use their letter heads and fake identity cards to solicit for financial assistance for their personal upkeep. - "We call on the media to assist us to expose beggars who are using fake identity cards, letter heads and rubber stamps of the association to solicit for financial assistance for their personal gain and non-existent projects,"the association said. The association is also calling on the public to report such beggars to the nearest police station. The National Vice-President of the…

Three cell inmates outwitted police officers at the Agona Nkwanta Police Cells of the Western region of Ghana to escape. In a well-rehearsed plan, one of them complained of stomachache and when Sergeant Eric Sekyi came to his aid, they poured powdered pepper into his eyes. - Sources at the police station say, three of the inmates who know about the plan bolted in the process, leaving the blinded police officer wailing in pains. An eyewitness who spoke to AfricaNews said he chance-met the scene while seeing a friend off on Tuesday dawn. The officer has been rushed to the Dixcove Hospital, the only health facility which is about 20km away from the district capital for medical attention. Doc…