Shaqs

  Saudi Sleeping Prince marks 36th birthday. Prince Al-Waleed, a member of the Saudi royal family, has been in a coma since a car accident in 2005 while he was studying. Even though doctors said there was little hope, his father chose to keep him on life support, believing that he might wake up one day. Prince Al-Waleed of Saudi Arabia, known as the ‘Sleeping Prince’, has been in a coma since a 2005 car accident while studying at a military college. Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal, a member of the Saudi royal family widely known as the "Sleeping Prince", marked his 36th birthday on April 18, 2025 Despite medical advice to end life support, his father declined, holding on to hope for recovery. Prince Al-Waleed, the great-grandson of Saudi Arabia's founder King Abdulaziz, continues to receive life support in Riyadh. His family remains hopeful. The Prince remains unaware of the years gone by, tethered to life through machines at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh. D...

  Pope Francis has died, the Vatican has announced in a video statement. The first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died at the age of 88 at 7:35 am (0535 GMT) on Monday 21st April 2025, said Cardinal Kevin Farrell in a statement published by the Vatican on its Telegram channel. Francis had suffered various ailments in his 12 year papacy, with severe complications in recent weeks after a bout of double pneumonia for which he spent five weeks in hospital. His death comes one day after a brief appearance before thousands of Catholic pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Vatican’s open-air Easter Sunday mass.

  When a pregnant woman had her blood sampled back in 1972, doctors discovered it was mysteriously missing a surface molecule found on all other known red blood cells at the time. After 50 years, this strange molecular absence finally led to researchers from the UK and Israel describing a new blood group system in humans. In 2024, the team published their paper on the discovery. "It represents a huge achievement, and the culmination of a long team effort, to finally establish this new blood group system and be able to offer the best care to rare, but important, patients," UK National Health Service hematologist Louise Tilley said last September, after nearly 20 years of personally researching this bloody quirk. While we're all more familiar with the ABO blood group system and the Rh factor (that's the plus or minus part), humans actually have many different blood group systems based on the wide variety of cell-surface proteins and sugars that coat our blood cells. Our...

  Burkina Faso’s President Rejects Democracy as Path to Development Burkina Faso's President, Ibrahim Traoré, has stated that "no country can develop under democracy," arguing instead that his nation is undergoing a "popular, progressive revolution." In his remarks, Traoré questioned the widespread belief that democracy is a prerequisite for development. He emphasized the role of revolutionary change in driving meaningful societal transformation. Under his leadership, Burkina Faso has taken a more self-determined approach to development. Notably, his administration turned down an offer from Saudi Arabia to build mosques, choosing instead to focus on infrastructure projects that directly benefit the population.

  The government has unveiled a new agriculture initiative dubbed "Feed Ghana Programme" to facilitate a transformation of the country's agricultural sector. The initiative seeks to boost agricultural production to feed the population, provide raw materials to feed agro-processing factories and create jobs for the teeming youth. It involves sub-projects on vegetables, grains, poultry, oil palm, tubers and other import substitutes to reduce the country’s reliance on imports and transition into an export-heavy economy. Launched by President John Dramani Mahama in Techiman in the Bono East Region last Saturday, the agriculture intervention is expected to play a crucial role in transforming the country's agricultural landscape, providing support to farmers to increase production and boost the country’s food systems. President Mahama explained that the initiative was crucial because it would reduce the country's over-reliance on food imports, which currently exceeded $...

  The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Mr Sam George, has announced key interventions aimed at improving the quality of telecommunications services across the country, amid rising complaints from consumers over poor network performance. Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, the Minister acknowledged widespread public frustration over the deteriorating quality of service by mobile network operators. “I have noted several complaints about the quality of service of almost all the network providers in the country,” he said. To address the situation, Mr George disclosed that the government has taken decisive steps, including the approval of technology neutrality for MTN Ghana. This move allows the telecom giant to deploy existing spectrum bands more flexibly to enhance network performance Additionally, the National Communications Authority (NCA) has been authorised to provide more spectrum resources to both MTN and Telecel Ghana. “I hav...

 Donald Trump has threatened China with an extra 50% tariff on goods imported into the US if it does not withdraw its 34% counter-tariff, as global markets continue to fall. Beijing retaliated on Sunday, following last week's decision by Trump to slap a 34% tax on Chinese imports as part of his "Liberation Day" that set a minimum 10% levy on nearly all of America's trading partners. In a social media post on Monday, Trump gave China until Tuesday to scrap its countermeasure or face the 50% tax. In response, the Chinese embassy in the US accused Washington of "economic bullying", and said that Beijing "will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests". If Trump acts on his threat, US companies could face a total rate of 104% on Chinese imports- as it comes on top of 20% tariffs already put in place in March and the 34% announced last week. There are fears that this could deepen a trade war between the world's two biggest economies and g...

  Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have introduced a 0.5 per cent tariff on goods imported from countries outside the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). In January, the three Sahel nations announced their withdrawal from the regional body – Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – to form the AES, citing its perceived colonial influence. Despite their departure, they will temporarily retain access to ECOWAS privileges, such as the free movement of people and goods, until the terms of separation are finalised through ongoing negotiations Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso impose tariff on goods from ECOWAS niger, burkina faso, mali Leaders  Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have introduced a 0.5 per cent tariff on goods imported from countries outside the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). In January, the three Sahel nations announced their withdrawal from the regional body – Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – to form the AES, citing its perceived colonial influence. De...