What was believed to be an earth tremor on Wednesday evening was actually an earthquake, according to Ghana Geological Survey Authority. Nicholas Opoku, a senior Seismologist at the Authority, said the earthquake had a magnitude of 4.2 on the Richter scale and described it as a mild earthquake. "This is a small earthquake. If you are moving from 4.5 to 6.0 [on the Richter scale], you are moving into a moderate earthquake. Then from 6.0 going, you are moving into a bigger one," Mr. Opoku explained on the  Citi Breakfast Show . He noted that the epicentre of the earthquake, which was felt outside the Greater Accra Region, was "between Dansoman towards Bortianor." The foreshock of the earthquake was measured at 3.7 on the Richter Scale, the mainshock registered at 4.2 on the scale and the aftershock was the weakest measured at about 3.5 on the scale. In the past few years, environs of Accra have been hit by a series of earth tremors of magnitudes ranging between 2.6 an...

The Ghana Geological Survey Authority has confirmed that many parts of Accra were affected by three earth tremors on Wednesday night, saying the nature of the incidents is an indication of an imminent major earthquake. The tremors were made up of a foreshock, which struck at 10.48 pm and measured 3.7 on the Richter scale, then the main shock which occurred at 10.54pm and measured 4.2 on the Richter scale.  This was followed by the aftershock at 10.57 pm, which measured 3.5 on the Richter scale. Mr. Nicholas Opoku, a senior Seismologist at the Ghana Geological Survey Authority, told GNA in an interview that the source of the tremors was strongly believed to be the coast of the Dansoman Beach, and estimated to be between 200 and 500 meters into the sea. He said it was worth noting that Accra was an earthquake-prone zone with active fault lines. Mr. Opoku said whenever minor earthquakes occurred closely after each other as had been happening since 2018, it meant a major quake was defi...

Venezuela's Administrative Service for Identification, Migration and Foreigners, known as SAIME, plans to accept bitcoin ( BTC ) as a new payment method for citizens seeking a Venezuelan passport. The information was  originally leaked  via a Reddit post on June 23. News of the update soon reached Twitter, with some Venezuelan users abroad confirming the information. Cointelegraph Spanish  managed  to verify this news as well. "I have just verified it personally and it is totally true. #Venezuela, the immigration service, is accepting bitcoin for payments. Renew passport or request an extension,"  wrote  Twitter user, BTCLovera. Similar payments can already be made in the country using Venezuela's own pseudo-cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR). Before now, the only other option was to purchase with bolivares through the national bank. Not available to Venezuelans in Venezuela Surprisingly, the option does not seem to be available to users actually living in Ven...

The Ghana Health Service will continue to count recoveries and discharges for the novel coronavirus together despite concerns of observers who insist they should be kept apart. At a press briefing on Tuesday morning, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye said the current use of the term "discharge" would be more accurately described as a "clinical recovery." "Maybe the word discharge is what is causing confusion. It is a clinical recovery," he noted after a question on the matter. Explaining further, Dr. Kuma-Aboagye said, "if you have malaria and you are treated and you are fine, we can decide to do a test. We can also discharge you because you are symptom-free and the explanation also shows that you are not going to be infectious and those people, having been discharged, are not going to be sick again." "They [those discharged] have all recovered and for the purpose of work and social functions, they ar...

An aspirant in the just-ended New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary primaries at Assin North constituency has gone back for all the bicycles he donated to delegates after an embarrassing defeat. Eric Amankwa Blay had shared 250 bicycles to delegates prior to the election to each of the polling stations in the constituency. Although he campaigned vigorously across the length and breadth of the constituency, his performance was abysmal when the final results were announced on Saturday. He secured 44 votes as against the incumbent MP Abena Duruwa Mensah who polled 389 votes. Obviously disappointed, the results made Mr Blay and his supporters stormed into various houses of delegates across the constituency to retrieve the bicycles shared among party members to cast the ballots in his favour. The defeated aspirant who spoke to Adom News' Alfred Amoh said the motive behind the distribution of the bicycles was for campaign purposes. He said for that matter, failure to endorse his candid...

Rapper Sarkodie has joined the other celebrities to celebrate his father and himself today Father's Day as he announces the arrival of his son Micheal Nana Yaw Owusu Addo Jnr. Sarkodie posted on his twitter celebrating the men in his family as he begins with his father, to himself, and then his son whom he calls 'MJ'. He shared a photo of himself with his father and that of himself with his son looking all adorable and excited as they bond together. His fans were so excited that he has finally announced the arrival of his son confirming all the rumors that he welcomed his second son in the UK.

Ghana’s COVID-19 recoveries have risen to 10,074 following the new discharge protocols. The review of discharge protocols covers patients who do not display symptoms of the virus and patients whose symptoms die down during treatment. For patients who are asymptomatic, they are being discharged 14 days after their initial positive test. For symptomatic patients, if they respond to treatment 14 days after testing positive, they are discharged after a further three days without symptoms. According to the government, the change in policy is in line with revised guidelines by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Following new discharge protocols, the service is now counting recoveries and discharges together. Initially, each infected person had a minimum of three tests. Ghana also recorded its largest daily jump in COVID-19 fatalities with 15 more deaths. In addition to the death count rising to 85, Ghana has seen its case count rise to 13,717 after 514 new cases. No details were provided o...

The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) held its Parliamentary primaries on Saturday ahead of the 2020 general elections. A total of 374 aspirants contested in 168 constituencies. There were 325 men and 51 women contesting. Some of the aspirants, 67, went unopposed and were acclaimed by delegates of the party in the various constituencies. Find the RESULTS below Kumawu Robert Ahomka-Lindsay-52 Dr. Yaw Bannor-60 Edward Kofi Osei-73 Philip Basoah-184 Wa East Godfrey Bayong Tangu – 182 Adam Nasirideen Baduon – 16 Salifu Yakubu – 214 Dr Sorikuon – 140 Note: Incumbent defeated Ejisu John Kumah – 397 Kwabena Owusu Aduomi – 307 Abena Pokua 5 Note: Incumbent defeated Sunyani East Kwasi Ameyaw Cheremeh – 605 Alfred Tuah Yeboah – 246 Suhum Constituency Fredrick Opare Ansah – 272 Kwadwo Asante – 394 Ablekuma North Sheila Bartels-Sams – 518 Nana Akua Afriyie – 315 Kwadwo Barwuah – 88 John Agbotey – 20 Note: Incumbent defeated Dome Kwabenya Mike Oquaye Jnr. – 488 Adwoa Safo – 496 Bantama Asenso-Boa...

La Meme Gang member Kwaku BS has announced his split from the Music collective. The trap music artist made this known via a statement he released on his social media pages. According to him, his decision to part ways with the collective was due to a disagreement between him, the management and other members of La Meme Gang. Kwaku BS who's known for easily switching between English, Twi, Patois, and Pidgin in his lyrics revealed he's entering a new chapter in his music career. Read his full statement below.

Henceforth, people who fail to wear face masks in public would be committing an offence that carries a prison sentence of four to 10 years or a fine of GH¢12,000 to GH¢60,000, or both. This was contained in a new Executive Instrument (E.I. 164) signed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on June 15, 2020, as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID -19). Per E.I. 164, which was gazetted on Monday, June 15, which Graphic Online has seen, the mandatory wearing of face masks shall be in force for three months and shall apply to all parts of Ghana. The E.I. was issued by the President pursuant to the powers granted him under the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012).  Specifics The new E.I. makes it mandatory for people to "wear face masks, face shields or any other face covering that covers his or her nose and mouth completely when the person is in public or leaving or returning to his place of abode." Paragraph 4 (1)...

Ghana has reviewed its COVID-19 discharge policy to ease pressure on health facilities, among others. At a press briefing on Thursday morning, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Aboagye, explained that the review will affect patients who do not display symptoms of the virus and patients whose symptoms die down during treatment. For patients who are asymptomatic, "14 days after the initial positive, we will discharge you without a test." For symptomatic patients "you will do 14 days after testing positive and if you are without symptoms you are discharged after three days without symptoms," Dr. Aboagye outlined. The change in policy is in line with revised guidelines by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The initial WHO policy was a test based strategy. "Initially, because the numbers were few, this was an adequate policy but with an increased number of cases, it brought to the fore some challenges," Dr. Aboagye noted. Each perso...

Suspected thieves on Thursday allegedly broke into the office of  Nima police station and made away with some items. The intruders allegedly took away valuable items including laptops, printers, television sets, and other stationery. The uniforms of some officers who were hanging in the offices have been taken away by the bandits. The theft appears to have puzzled officers at the station who are yet to come to terms with circumstances under which the said thieves entered the fenced premises. No arrest has been made yet.

A bus driver and one passenger have been confirmed dead after two VIP buses crashed in the Eastern Region.  The two buses – headed from Accra to Kumasi to Accra- crashed when they attempted to carry out an overtaking at the Akyem-Adukrom stretch of the Asiakwa-Kyebi road.  According to the Kyebi MTTD Commander DSP Henry Agyemang, the main Bunso – Apedwa stretch of the Accra – Kumasi highway was closed to traffic on Wednesday morning following an accident on Tuesday evening involving a petrol tanker and an Opel Cardet at Asiakwa Junction which blocked the main road.  Police personnel diverted the main Kumasi-Accra road through to Kyebi in order to clear the previous accident and prevent another fatality on the road. In explaining how the accident happened, DSP Agyemang said one of the VIP bus drivers who performed the first overtaking manoeuvre saw a sprinter bus coming from the Kumasi stretch and veered off the road to avoid a head-on collision but the seco...