The fountains will be installed in the summer, across London, along busy commuter and shopping routes such as Oxford Street.

Businesses in five areas “with lots of food outlets” will take part in a bottle-refill initiative from February.

The plans are part of a £750,000 scheme to cut plastic waste.

The money will be spent over three years, according to the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s new draft budget, and is part of the mayor’s ambition to send no biodegradable or recyclable waste to landfill by 2026.

Exactly which businesses will take part in the initiative are still being finalised, but the mayor’s policy team is looking for busy areas where water can be offered to people easily, a spokeswoman said.

The participating areas will be announced in February and the scheme will run until the summer initially, before being rolled out across the capital if successful.

Most of the £750,000 budget is expected to be spent on installing the fountains and helping businesses to promote their participation in the refill scheme.

Eventually Mr Khan wants to see more fountains, City Hall has said, while adding that he did not have an exact number in mind.

Mr Khan will answer questions on his draft budget during a London Assembly hearing on Thursday 25 January.

The mayor’s draft London Plan urges local authorities in the capital to identify “appropriate locations” for free water fountains during the planning process.

Network Rail said it was “supportive” of having water fountains in its managed stations.

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Source: BBC

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According to the President, it is possible to “move Africa beyond aid” given the numerous natural resources the continent has at its disposal.

[contextly_sidebar id=”1JkZmgg3S8Wf7uWjyvmoUt4lmltf3waw”]Speaking at an event organised by the Royal Africa Society, Facebook and the Ghana 60 Years on Committee, on the theme “Africa Beyond Aid” on Tuesday, November 21, 2017, President Akufo-Addo said that it was imperative for the countries on the continent like Ghana, to make the most of the “riches” they had been endowed with in order to gradually wean themselves off aid.

“We no longer want to offer the justification for those who want to be rude and abusive about Africa and her people. It is time to build our economies that are not dependent on charity and handouts… We have learnt from long and bitter experience that, no matter how generous the charity, we would, and, indeed, we have remained poor,” he said.

“We can, and we should be able to build a Ghana which looks to the use of her own resources and their proper management as the way to engineer social and economic growth in our country.”

Speaking at an earlier event, the President had spoken of the importance of moving African economies from ones dependent on the export of raw materials to industry-rich ones.

“We are on the path to creating wealth and improving the lives of our people. We’re determined to do that by transforming the structure of our economy. The neo-colonial economy, based on the production and export of raw materials, cannot form the basis of a new era of prosperity for our people,” he said.

The President reiterated this point on Tuesday, referencing Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire,  who despite producing most of the world’s cocoa output, receive less than 10% of the total windfall.

He attributed this largely to a failure to consolidate their influence over the commodity by processing it for export, and instead exporting it in its raw form.

“If we simply ground and sold the cocoa in paste form, instead of selling the cocoa beans, we double our earnings. In much the same way as we would double our earnings from gold, if we sold it refined, than in its raw state. We are determined to process these products,” he said.

Nana Addo added that, if “we, in Africa, must manage our resources well, to generate wealth for our populations.”

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the President, although peaceful changes in government and the people’s representatives were a sign of the country’s strong democratic prospects, it was more imperative that all the citizens are given equal opportunities to succeed.

[contextly_sidebar id=”l2CjzUyAK0o28ylOxBkqK0jVrYeuVLJB”]“The democracy that we seek to build does not end in casting votes and electing a president and a Member of Parliament once every four years. We seek to build a prosperous nation with equal opportunities where all citizens feel they have a stake,” he said.

“Never again should the Ghanaian citizen feel that he has to join the desperadoes that cross the Sahara and drown in the Mediterranean Sea because their own country holds no promise or hope.”

Nana Addo made these comments when he delivered a speech on “Democracy and Development” at the Cambridge Union Society of the University of Cambridge, as part of his 3-day visit to the United Kingdom.

Industrialisation is the answer

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration under Nana Akufo-Addo has consistently spoken of the need for Ghana to move from an economy dependent on revenue generated from the export of raw materials to an industrialized one.

As part of efforts to ensure the move towards industrialization, the government has initiated the one-district, one-factory programme to support local businesses across the country to thrive.

And according to the President, Ghana is well on its way to making this happen with the policies it has initiated.

“We are on the path to creating wealth and improving the lives of our people. We’re determined to do that by transforming the structure of our economy. The neo-colonial economy, based on the production and export of raw materials, cannot form the basis of a new era of prosperity for our people,” he said.

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Last month, Transport for London (TfL) refused Uber a new private hire licence, saying the ride-hailing firm was not fit and proper.

TfL said it took the decision on the grounds of “public safety and security implications”.

The appeal process could take months, during which time Uber can continue to operate in London.

“While we have today filed our appeal so that Londoners can continue using our app, we hope to continue having constructive discussions with Transport for London. As our new CEO [chief executive] has said, we are determined to make things right,” an Uber spokesperson said.

TfL “noted” the appeal but said it would not be commenting before the hearings.

‘Constructive talks’

Some 3.5 million passengers and 40,000 drivers use the Uber app in London.

Earlier this month, Uber’s new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi met Mike Brown, who runs Transport for London.

Uber described those talks as “constructive”, while TfL said the talks “centred on what needs to happen to ensure a thriving taxi and private hire market in London”.

When TfL denied Uber its licence last month it listed four main concerns about Uber’s operation:

• The way it reported serious criminal offences

• Its approach to obtaining medical certificates

• Uber’s procedure for Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for drivers

• The use of software that TfL claims could block the work of regulators

Uber disputed those complaints, saying it had a special procedure for dealing with allegations of criminal offences.

It argued that DBS checks were properly handled by a third party organisation and that TfL’s concerns over its use of software were unjustified.

Uber’s trouble in London adds to a long list of problems faced by the company.

In July, chief executive Travis Kalanick, who helped found the company in 2009, resigned following a series of scandals and criticism of his management style.

In June, 20 staff were sacked in the US after a law firm investigated complaints made to the company about sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation for reporting problems.

Last year, Uber lost a landmark employment tribunal in the UK which ruleddrivers should be classed as workers rather than being self-employed.

–

Source: BBC

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A Transport for London (TfL) spokeswoman confirmed that the meeting will take place next Tuesday.

“Following an approach from Uber and at the mayor’s request London’s transport commissioner will meet with Uber’s global CEO in London next Tuesday,” she told us.

The spokeswoman declined to provide any details of specific talking points for the meeting.

An Uber spokesman also declined to provide steerage on what arguments and concessions Khosrowshahi might be bringing to the meeting.

But a company spokesman told Reuters: “Our new CEO is looking forward to meeting with the commissioner next week. As he said on Monday, we want to work with London to make things right.”

Khosrowshahi has already apologized for “mistakes we’ve made” in an open letter to Londoners following TfL’s decision.

He also tweeted urging the regulator to “please work with us to make things right” — apparently signaling a change in tone for a company which, under founder Travis Kalanick, gained a reputation for being aggressive and abrasive in its approach to regulators and regulation.

Dear London: we r far from perfect but we have 40k licensed drivers and 3.5mm Londoners depending on us. Pls work w/us to make things right

— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) September 22, 2017

Last week Transport for London announced it would not be renewing the ride-hailing giant’s license to operate in a city where Uber claims to have some 3.5 million users and 40,000 drivers.

Its five-year license had been renewed for a further four months in May, as TfL continued to look into criticisms directed at Uber, including concerns about public safety. With no renewal granted, that four-month extension lapses at the end of this month. Though Uber will continue to operate in London while it appeals the decision — a process that could take many months.

Last Friday TfL listed four areas where it said Uber’s “approach and conduct demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility” — including how it reports serious criminal offences. London’s Met Police had highlighted this as a problem in a complaint letter to TfL, accusing Uber of failing to report allegations of serious crimes including sex attacks.

The regulator also said it was not satisfied with Uber’s explanation for its use of its ‘Greyball‘ software in London — software which the company apparently developed to try to block regulatory bodies from gaining full access to its app and to prevent officials from undertaking regulatory or law enforcement duties.

In its statement following TfL’s decision to withdraw licensing, Uber appeared to confirm it has used Greyball in London — though it claimed it has not used the software for the regulation-dodging purposes TfL is worried about. “As we have already told TfL, an independent review has found that ‘greyball’ has never been used or considered in the UK for the purposes cited by TfL,” Uber said last week.

So the next obvious question there is what was Uber using Greyball for in London? Which will presumably be one of the concerns that London’s transport commissioner Mike Brown will be discussing with Khosrowshahi.

The new Uber leader has a heaped plate of corporate crises to deal with — from seeking to reform an internal culture of sexism and bullying, to privacy and security failings so massive Uber agreed to undertake two decades of oversight by a US regulator, to an ongoing legal battle with Alphabet over allegations of IP theft to name just a few — so it’s notable that he feels the London license loss merits him taking a fair chunk of time out from all that firefighting to personally fly to Europe for a sit down with regulators.

In itself, it’s a very large sign that he wants Uber to have a new public face at least. But regulators will want to be sure there are also changes of direction behind the scenes — and not just some high profile virtue signalling out front.

–

Source: TechCrunch

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He accused Mr Khan of offering a “pathetic excuse” for saying there was no reason for people to be alarmed.

Mr Khan had in fact said people should not be alarmed by an increased police presence.

After a vigil for the victims of the attack, Mr Khan said he would not allow Mr Trump to “divide our communities”.

Seven people were killed and 48 others injured in the attack on Saturday.

Mr Trump took issue with Mr Khan’s statement in the aftermath of the attack, when the mayor said: “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. No reason to be alarmed.”

The US president responded: “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!'”

He followed this up with another tweet on Monday, saying: “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his “no reason to be alarmed” statement. MSM [mainstream media] is working hard to sell it!”

The mayor’s spokesman earlier made clear that he was telling Londoners not to be worried about the increased presence of armed police officers in the city.

Speaking to the BBC after the vigil, Mr Khan said: “We’ve got to recognise that some people want to divide our communities, some people thrive on fuelling division.

“That’s not me, that’s not the London I know, and we aren’t going to allow anybody, whether it’s Donald Trump or anybody else to divide our community.”

His spokesperson earlier said he “has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context” the mayor’s remarks.

Calls to withdraw London invite

Mr Trump’s attacks on Mr Khan have drawn condemnation from both sides of the Atlantic.

His critics have accused him of being insensitive and twisting the mayor’s words.

Politicians in the UK on Monday called on the prime minister to withdraw the invitation for Mr Trump’s state visit later this year.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, said: “This is a man insulting our national values at a time of introspection and mourning.”

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Theresa May refused to criticise Mr Trump, simply saying that Mr Khan was doing a “good job”.

British voters go to the polls on Thursday in a general election.

“Try to imagine the UK prime minister attacking the Mayor of NYC the day after 9/11,” said European Parliament cabinet member Simon O’Connor.

US mayors back Khan

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was quick to defend Mr Khan, praising him for “doing exactly the right thing”.

“I don’t understand why Donald Trump is trying to undermine a man who’s trying to protect the people of London. It makes no sense,” Mr de Blasio told the BBC’s Nick Bryant during a press conference in New York on Monday. Trump renews feud with mayor of London

The US Conference of Mayors, representing more than 1,400 American cities, backed Mr Khan.

“He has risen above this crisis of death and destruction, as mayors continue to do, to alleviate fear, to bring comfort to his people of London,” the mayors wrote in a statement on Sunday.

Mr Khan, a Muslim, has previously criticised the president’s plans to temporarily restrict travel to the US from six mainly Muslim countries.

After Mr Trump as a presidential candidate announced his plan, Mr Khan told the BBC he hoped he would “lose badly”, adding that he was a “buffoon”.

He also called Mr Trump’s views on Islam “ignorant”, leading the New York billionaire to challenge him to an IQ test.

In the wake of the London attack, Mr Trump has been tweeting about his stalled travel ban.

Federal courts struck down the first proposal in January. The administration replaced it with a less stringent version order in March, but that also ended up in limbo after legal defeats.

On Monday, the president attacked the Justice Department for revising the original measure, leaving it “watered down” and “politically correct”.

The Trump administration is expected to take the proposal to the Supreme Court next week.

He argues the measure is needed to prevent attacks in the US, but critics say the policy is discriminatory and has little national security justification.

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Source: BBC

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A white van hit pedestrians on London Bridge at about 22:00 BST on Saturday before three men got out and stabbed people in nearby Borough Market.

Police said the three men were wearing fake bomb vests.

One of those hurt is a police officer who was stabbed after going to help. His injuries are not life-threatening.

The Conservatives have suspended national general election campaigning and the prime minister will chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee later.

Theresa May described Saturday night’s events as “dreadful”, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called them “brutal and shocking”.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said it was “a deliberate and cowardly attack on innocent Londoners”, but it remained the “safest global city” and Londoners would not be cowed by terrorism.

More than 80 medics were sent to the scene and the injured, some of them critical, are now being treated in five hospitals across the capital.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said it was currently believed there were only three attackers involved and the explosive vests they were wearing were “hoaxes”.

“We are treating this as a terrorist incident and a full investigation is already under way,” he added.

It is the third terror attack in the UK in three months following the car and knife attack in Westminster in March, which left five people dead, and the Manchester bombing less than two weeks ago, in which 22 people were killed.

The Met Police has set up a casualty bureau on 0800 096 1233 and 020 7158 0197 for people concerned about friends or relatives who may be affected.

‘Very aggressive’
BBC reporter Holly Jones, who was on the bridge at the time of the attack, said the van was “probably travelling at about 50 miles an hour”.

“He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people. He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind,” Ms Jones told the BBC News Channel.

Another eyewitness, Robbie, was sitting in a taxi opposite the Barrowboy and Banker pub on London Bridge.

“I saw about 20 or 30 people rushing to get back into the pub and five seconds later a big white van came screeching down the pavement,” he told BBC Radio 5 live.

“Two or three people jumped out. Initially, I thought it was a road traffic incident and the people had jumped out to see if anyone was injured, but I could tell immediately, they looked very aggressive.”

His friend Josh was coming out of the pub a few seconds later and saw people running up to the bridge from Borough Market.

“A chap ran up and I heard him shout, ‘He’s got a knife, he’s stabbing people.'”

Another witness Gerard told the BBC: “They were running up shouting, ‘This is for Allah.’ They stabbed this girl maybe 10 times, 15 times. She was going, ‘Help me, help me.'”

Gerard said he chased the attackers, who were running into pubs and bars, and threw bottles, chairs and other items to try to stop them.

Gunshots were heard in the area while one social media user posted a photograph appearing to show one of the attackers lying on the ground outside a pub in the food market, with what police now say was a fake bomb vest strapped to his body.

A bomb disposal team was later called to Borough Market and local residents told to leave their homes.

Eyewitness Will Orton was also in a pub close to the scene.

“We didn’t really know what was going on,” he said. “We thought maybe there was a fight or something outside. And then there were almost hundreds of people coming inside.

“The bouncers did a really good job, they shut the doors and locked everyone in. There was panic – it seemed like it was literally outside the door.”

Vilwar Hussein helped carry the injured police officer to nearby Guy’s hospital and recalled seeing a wound in his chest “and blood everywhere”.

Earlier, Vilwar said he saw the white van perform an illegal U-turn on London Bridge before driving back southwards along the pavement.

Transport for London (TfL) said London Bridge had been closed in both directions, while neighbouring Southwark Bridge has also been shut.

TfL said there were further closures in Borough High Street, while on the north side of the river, road closures included Lower Thames Street.

–

Source: BBC

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The programme, which ends on Sunday, June 4th 2017, has two set of Groupe Nduom managers speaking about their products and services on Ahomka FM UK, also a subsidiary of the Groupe.

[contextly_sidebar id=”MvAQ0XLQoEeAljPMHeKy4NDcMSZzMB2l”]One set of Groupe managers is expected to be in London on Thursday, June 1st, 2017 to meet with some Ghanaian communities to share with them the gains and benefits of patronising Groupe Nduom company goods and services.

The London programme coincides with the celebration of Groupe Nduom President & Chairman, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom as the 2017 GUBA Black Star Award winner for Excellence in Business at the Inter-Continental Hotel on Saturday, June 3rd, 2017.

Managers of Digicut Advertising and Production, GN Electronics, GN Logistics, Yorke Properties, First Digital TV, Coconut Grove Hotels started their turn with live telephone interviews on the Ahomka UK Morning Show Monday May 29th 2017. The programme for the home based managers ends Thursday, June 1st 2017.

The London bound group made up of managers of GN Corporate Affairs, Gold Coast – Fund Management, Pension, Brokerage & Portfolio Management; GN Life Assurance; GN Re-Insurance; GN Bank Remittance & Diaspora Services and GN Accounting and Financial Reporting will pick up from their colleagues with live studio interviews at Ahomka UK on the evening of Friday, June 1st through to early morning of Sunday, June 4th, 2017.

The London group will accompany Dr. Nduom to receive the flagship GUBA Excellence award.

The GUBA Awards, now in their sixth year, seek to celebrate exceptional talent and commitment to advancement within the Ghanaian and British community. Dr. Nduom’s award which is being sponsored by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, recognises leading outstanding businesses that best demonstrate exceptional financial returns, strong growth, innovative strategies, and market leadership in their sectors.

Groupe Nduom has businesses in Ghana, some West African countries, the UK and the USA.
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Source: Groupe Nduom Corporate Affairs

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Sure, it’s romantic to believe that fate brings you and a significant other together. More realistically, however, you likely wake up one day and, whether or not you realize it, your heart tells your head that it’s ready to love. Once that happens, someone will unexpectedly walk into your life and he or she will become the person you decide you want.

When I moved across the country a few years ago, I didn’t want a serious relationship with any guy. After I had found a cool job, a kickass roommate and a great group of friends, though, I began to feel differently. Life was good, I was happy, and my heart decided it was time.

I met someone with whom I had a short, intense and unhealthy relationship. I was not happy dating him, but I wanted desperately to make it work. Why? I chose him when the time was right for me.

My heart might have been ready, but his wasn’t — even though he truly wanted it to be. I felt foolish. When I was finally ready to allow someone into my life, I happened to fall for someone who was terrible for me and who made it difficult for me to trust anyone for a long time following our relationship.

If I had met him at a different point in my life — when I wasn’t prepared to be so open with someone — things would have transpired quite differently. I certainly wouldn’t have attached myself to him. Even if he had, in fact, been a great fit for me, or if he felt like he was ready when I didn’t feel the same, love works best — and feels best — when both people are willing and excited to give and receive.

Admitting that you are at a point in your life to offer and accept love is a big deal; it doesn’t always happen when life is sunshine and rainbows.

My best friend started dating someone about one week before her own cross-country move; she was feeling vulnerable and scared and wanted to hang onto something or someone reminiscent of her hometown. She needed someone at that time, and it’s not that she needed the particular someone she chose — he could have been anyone, really — but he happened to walk into her life at the right moment.

Timing is funny like that; it’s a common reason why people stay in bad relationships. We want to believe our hearts are ready and we’ve found a person who is ready, too — whether or not it’s actually the case. We try to make things work that just aren’t meant to work.

One of my good friends did everything he could to make it work with a significant other. It was frustrating for me and for other friends to witness him try so hard only to have her jerk him around. Though, he felt prepared to let someone into his life and he did everything he could to salvage the relationship. Even after months of her hot-and-cold attitude, he wanted her because she was the one he’d decided to let in.

At some point, you’ve probably heard someone say, “It didn’t work out between us because the timing just wasn’t right.” Hell, you’ve probably even said it yourself. However, the timing isn’t “just” one part of it.

Timing is everything.

It’s totally possible that you’re able to recognize how amazing someone else is, or vice versa, but if the timing is off, giving or receiving love will be difficult. It really doesn’t matter how compatible two people are; if the time isn’t right in someone’s life, he or she won’t be able to love completely.

Immediately after graduation, I spent a summer in San Francisco for an arts program. I met someone who ended up being a great match for me — someone who challenged my thinking, opened up me up to new ideas and was equally interested in me. It was exciting, but not only were we both getting out of long-term relationships, he was also still in school on the West Coast and I was returning to New York in the fall.

Now, this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t pursue someone if the timing is wrong. I still had a great time with the guy I met in San Francisco, but to pursue anything more than we did would have ended in a whole lot of sorrow for us both.

So, flirt, hang out and have sex, but don’t disillusion yourself into thinking that you’re going to be able to change another human being’s wants, needs or personal circumstance. Be honest. Be honest with the other person and with yourself. You deserve to be involved with someone who is able to love you completely.

As much as timing can interfere with our desires and even keep us in bad relationships, timing is also why we feel so incredibly fortunate when we have wonderful, healthy relationships. Suddenly, you have found a person who loves and accepts how weird/funny/cool you are, and the timing is right for you both.

Timing makes you infinitely grateful to have found that person at exactly the moment you did.

Source: elitedaily.com

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