President of the Federation of Associations of Ghanaian Exporters (FAGE), Davis Korboe

The President of the Federation of Associations of Ghanaian Exporters (FAGE), Davis Korboe, has called for a clear and robust policy framework to support Ghana’s export sector and agribusiness industry.

He warned that without such a framework, exporters will continue to struggle amid ongoing economic pressures.

Speaking during a panel discussion on TV3’s Business Focus on May 12, 2025, Korboe emphasized the need for a “special purpose vehicle” to cushion exporters, particularly within the agribusiness value chain.

He noted that despite efforts by financial institutions such as EXIM Bank and the Ghana Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL), the current support system is insufficient to absorb the economic shocks facing exporters.

“Our exporters are crying; this is the time for our banks to step up. There should be a special purpose vehicle for export and agribusiness in general. Once that is in place, these shocks will be absorbed,” he said.

Korboe also addressed the challenges surrounding the Ghanaian cedi’s performance against major foreign currencies, cautioning against a rushed approach to managing its value.

“There’s too much stress on the cedi, and that hurts our exports. There should be some allowance for depreciation, but it shouldn’t happen overnight. Stability is good, but we need to understand the difference between stability and appreciation,” he explained.

His remarks come ahead of the Ghana Horticulture Expo 2025, one of the most anticipated agribusiness events in West Africa, scheduled for June 11–13 at the Accra International Conference Center.

Under the theme “Innovate, Transform, Sustain: Driving Growth in Ghana’s Horticultural Sector,” the expo aims to spotlight the potential of horticulture to drive economic growth and attract investment.

Korboe highlighted that the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has consistently supported horticultural actors in accessing regional and global markets through the organization and participation in key international trade exhibitions.

GEPA partnered with FAGE to host the maiden Horti Expo last year and, recognizing the sector’s vast potential, is once again collaborating with FAGE for the second edition.

The event will bring together producers, exporters, investors, researchers, and policymakers to explore strategies for innovation, sustainability, and market access in the horticulture space. It will also address issues such as climate resilience, regional trade integration, and inclusive participation, particularly among youth and women-led agribusinesses.

Ghana’s horticultural sector, known for high-value crops like mangoes, pineapples, coconuts, and vegetables, has been gaining international attention. Stakeholders say stronger policy direction and financial backing will be critical to sustaining this momentum and expanding market reach.

AM/KA

#TheAdutwumFactor! Watch as Yaw Osei Adutwum declares intent to contest NPP flagbearership for 2028

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May – 14 – 2025 , 05:50

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The Minority in Parliament says it is considering initiating impeachment proceedings against President John Dramani Mahama.

The group has strongly condemned what it describes as a flagrant violation of the 1992 Constitution, following the simultaneous absence of the President, Vice President, and Speaker of Parliament from the country—without an Acting President being sworn in.

In a press release issued on Monday, May 12, 2025, the Minority noted that all three top government officials were abroad at the same time, which they claim contravenes Article 60 of the Constitution.

According to the Constitution, the Speaker of Parliament must be sworn in to act as President when neither the President nor the Vice President is available.

At the time of the statement, Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman was in the UK for medical treatment, and President John Dramani Mahama was attending the African Union Debt Conference in Togo. The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who should have assumed the role of Acting President, was also out of the country.

Furthermore, the Chief Justice—who is constitutionally expected to assume presidential responsibilities when all three officials are unavailable—is currently under suspension. Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo’s suspension, the Minority noted, rendered her unable to step in.

The Minority accused the government of treating the Constitution as “an inconvenience rather than a binding framework,” describing the situation as a “deliberate and calculated” breach.

Speaking in an interview with Joy News on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, the Minority’s Legal Counsel, John Darko—Member of Parliament for Suame—called on Ghanaians to condemn the president’s actions. He emphasized that the Minority is prepared to invoke constitutional provisions to remove President Mahama from office if necessary.

“As people of Ghana, we must all fight against this act of the President,” Darko said. “The problem is that at the time the President was leaving, the Speaker of Parliament had already left. So when the President chose to travel, he knew—or at the very least ought to have known—that his departure would create a vacuum and constitute a breach of the Constitution. But Emperor Mr. President decided, ‘I am the President and I can do whatever I like—damn the consequences,’ and left the country.

“Is that why we voted for the President—to violate our Constitution? We will keep bringing this up, and at the appropriate time, if we must invoke the impeachment provisions, we will do so. We will not sit idly by while the Constitution entrusted to us is violated without consequences.”

The Minority in Parliament says it is considering impeachment proceedings against President John Mahama. The NPP accuses him of orchestrating what they call an egregious constitutional breach that has left the country without an acting President. #JoyNews pic.twitter.com/pzYFaz27Gk

— JoyNews (@JoyNewsOnTV) May 13, 2025

KA

Meanwhile, watch why #SaveTheJudiciaryDemo is trending on GhanaWeb TV below

President John Mahama and Elle Ama

Ellen Ama Ofosuaa Daaku, a member of the Communications Team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has warned President John Dramani Mahama, calling for the dismissal of the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, following a viral video in which Gyamfi is seen handing out US dollars to a repentant priest, Evangelist Patricia Asiedua Oduro Koranteng, popularly known as Nana Agradaa.

According to her, she perceives Gyamfi’s action as a breach of the NDC’s newly launched Code of Conduct.

“Just last week, Mahama launched the NDC’s Code of Conduct. And for you, Sammy [Gyamfi], everyone in this country knows you are Mahama’s favorite. Not just his favorite, you’ve actually worked hard for that position,” she said while speaking in an interview on Angel TV on May 13, 2025.

However, Daaku warned that Sammy Gyamfi risked being made a scapegoat.

“If Sammy Gyamfi doesn’t take care, he’ll be used as a scapegoat… because barely two weeks after launching the Code of Conduct, this is happening,” she added, without specifying the offense.

Drawing a comparison to past disciplinary actions within the NDC, Daaku referenced Victoria Hammah, a former Deputy Minister, who was dismissed during Mahama’s first term after a leaked recording suggested she would quit politics if she had access to $1 million.

“There was a lady called Victoria Hammah who said that if she had $1 million, she would stop politics. She was sacked, and to this day, she hasn’t recovered from the incident. Unlike Sammy Gyamfi, who now has the dollars and is allegedly dashing them out,” Daaku alleged.

She added, “If Mahama doesn’t sack Sammy Gyamfi, I, Ama, am ready. By next week, if we come and Sammy Gyamfi is still at post, he will have me to contend with.”

Fantastic submission 👌

Infact, Sammy must go! pic.twitter.com/E4CaRvYSZA

— Harrydarling💖 (@AcheampongHarry) May 13, 2025

AM/KA

#TheAdutwumFactor! Watch as Yaw Osei Adutwum declares intent to contest NPP flagbearership for 2028

Tullow Ghana, lead operator of the Jubilee Field has resumed gas exports to the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant following the successful resolution of a technical issue on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah (KNK).

In a statement issued by the company on Tuesday, it noted that gas exports were temporarily suspended over the weekend after the offshore premier production platform experienced a gas system trip, and a technical team has been working to identify the root cause of the situation.

However, Tullow says corrective measures have since been implemented, enabling the safe and efficient resumption of operations.

“As of Monday, 12 May, we resumed exporting approximately 100 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas to the Atuabo gas processing plant, which will contribute to supporting Ghana’s domestic energy needs,” the statement said.

The resumption of gas supply is expected to enhance power generation and reduce pressure on other sources of energy for the country.

Tullow Ghana plays a key role in the country’s upstream oil and gas sector, with the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah serving as a central production hub in the Jubilee oil field.

The FPSO Kwame Nkrumah is a floating production, storage and offloading vessel operating in the Jubilee oil fields offshore Ghana.

Named after Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, it has been a vital part of the country’s oil production infrastructure since its inception in 2010.

The FPSO Kwame Nkrumah has the capacity to produce 120,000 barrels of oil per day, and produces 160 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

The company reiterated its commitment to maintaining safe and reliable operations that contribute to Ghana’s energy security.

Earlier this year, Tullow Ghana and its partners announced a 16-day maintenance shutdown of the Jubilee Oil Field to enhance production efficiency, upgrade key operations, and minimize operational risks in the offshore field.

To lessen the impact of the shutdown on Ghana’s energy supply, Tullow Ghana reached an agreement with the government to temporarily source gas from the TEN fields during the maintenance period.

The Parliamentary Committee on Sanitation and Water Resources has stated that its involvement in the ongoing contract dispute between the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and waste management company Zoomlion Ghana Limited is aimed at promoting fairness and transparency in public contracts.

This intervention follows a petition by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni to President John Dramani Mahama, calling for the termination of the 19-year-old contract between the two entities, citing alleged fraudulent practices.

As part of its oversight responsibilities, the committee held a closed-door meeting with YEA officials on Tuesday, May 13. The session forms part of a broader inquiry, with the committee expected to present its findings and recommendations to Parliament when it reconvenes.

Chairman of the Committee, John Oti Bless, addressed the media after the meeting, emphasising the committee’s objective of addressing the matter impartially.

He underscored the committee’s commitment to both supporting Ghanaian businesses and upholding accountability.

“Ours is to find a solution to the problem and present the report. I believe that at the end of the day, the presidency will want to hear our input based on the report that will be presented in parliament.

“But we want to clear the issues on the ground because we all want the betterment of our country. As much as I support every Ghanaian-owned business, we want to also state that the right things must be done and if there are wrong, we have to correct them,” he said.

‘There is no power vacuum’ – Edudzi Tamakloe replies Minority

The Ugandan government introduced a bill in parliament on Tuesday that would allow military tribunals to prosecute civilians, months after the country’s Supreme Court ruled the practice unconstitutional.

The top court’s January verdict forced the government to transfer the trial of opposition politician and former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye to a civilian court, where state prosecutors have charged him with several crimes, including treason.

Political allies and lawyers for Besigye, who has lost to President Yoweri Museveni in four elections, say the accusations are politically motivated.

Minister of Defence Jacob Marksons Oboth introduced the “Uganda People’s Defence Forces Bill, 2025” on the floor of the House on Tuesday, where it was referred to a House committee for scrutiny.

Civilians may be tried under military law in exceptional circumstances, such as when they are in “unlawful possession of arms, ammunition or equipment ordinarily being the monopoly of the defence forces,” according to the draft law seen by Reuters.

Besigye was forcefully removed from the Kenyan capital Nairobi in November and presented in a military court in neighbouring Uganda a few days later, where he was charged with offences including the illegal possession of firearms.

Kenya’s government denied involvement in what it called Besigye’s abduction.

The new bill also includes crimes of abetting or aiding a soldier to commit crimes ,including treason, murder and aggravated robbery, among others.

Human rights activists and opposition politicians have long accused Museveni’s government of using military courts to prosecute opposition leaders and supporters on politically motivated charges.

The new law will be used to “persecute regime opponents and deal with the growing resistance against the regime,” said David Lewis Rubongoya from the National Unity Platform (NUP), Uganda’s largest opposition party.

Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NUP’s leader Bobi Wine said on Friday he plans to contest the presidential ballot due in January, in which Museveni is widely expected to seek reelection.

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The General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, has accused the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) of making unnecessary noise over the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo because they feel they no longer have any protection within the judiciary.

The NPP has strongly condemned the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo by President John Dramani Mahama, describing the move as unconstitutional, absurd, and repugnant.

President Mahama, on Tuesday, April 22, suspended the Chief Justice following the establishment of a prima facie case in response to three separate petitions seeking her removal from office.

However, the NPP believes such an action sets a dangerous precedent and marks a setback for democratic governance in the country. The party, which recently staged a demonstration with some smaller opposition parties against the Chief Justice’s suspension, has vowed to explore other means to prevent her removal from office.

In an interview with Joy News, the NDC General Secretary, Fifi Kwetey, claimed the NPP is fighting the possible removal of the Chief Justice because they fear losing court cases in her absence.

“The NPP feels that her departure makes it difficult for them to feel safe when cases are brought against them. Their fear is that the person who could have been there to possibly manipulate the system in their favor is no longer there. That is their concern,” he stated.

Suspension of Chief Justice: NPP panicking over corruption exposure, counting on CJ’s protection – Fifi Kwetey claims #PMExpress pic.twitter.com/Yu4xEgjxWg

— JoyNews (@JoyNewsOnTV) May 13, 2025

KA

Naomi Oyoe Ohene Oti, an oncology nurse specialist and Head of Nursing at the National Radiotherapy Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Centre, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, has been named one of the top 10 finalists for the prestigious Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award.

She was selected from over 100,000 entries worldwide and is one of only two Africans to make the final shortlist.

She is appealing for public support to bring home a historic win for Ghana and Africa.

A proud alumna of Achimota School (Class of 1993), the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives, Naomi has spent 23 years transforming cancer care delivery and nursing education across the continent.

As Head of Ghana’s premier cancer centre, she has led efforts to ensure equity in cancer outcomes, pioneered the development of specialist oncology nurse training, and redefined patient-centred care.

Under her leadership, more than 70 oncology and breast care nurses have been trained to serve communities nationwide.

Naomi has also partnered with leading global institutions such as Canada’s Cross Cancer Institute to introduce high-quality oncology education to Ghanaian nurses.

She played a central role in developing Ghana’s postgraduate oncology nursing curriculum and has mentored more than 48 oncology nurses from across Africa, helping build a new generation of empowered nurse leaders.

Her global influence includes roles with the African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC), and as a member of ASCO’s Global Faculty.

She co-leads international research and policy initiatives that ensure African perspectives are included in global oncology strategies.

Naomi’s groundbreaking research on breast cancer risk among African women has shaped early detection strategies.

Her work on clinical trial protocols has also improved patient participation and data integrity in several international studies.

Her dedication has earned her several national honours, including the Ghana Ministry of Health Excellence Award and the Dr. Dorcia Kisseh International Award from the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association.

Now, Naomi is in the running for a $250,000 grand prize from the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award—funds she hopes to use to expand her work in cancer education, mentorship, and care across Africa.

She needs votes to secure this global win for Ghana and the continent. Vote for her at this link https://apply.asterguardians.com/voting

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ABIDJAN – Ghana’s President John Mahama urged global firms to ramp up crude oil production in the West African nation before the global shift to renewable energy renders the resource worthless.

He warned that Ghana risks seeing its oil resources stuck in the ground if drilling is not fast-tracked while demand still exists.

Many countries have pledged to reduce their use of oil and gas to meet international targets for reducing carbon emissions that drive deadly climate change.

“Oil is in transition. Everybody who has any assets should be pumping like there’s no tomorrow,” Mahama told the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

“I will lay a red carpet to anybody who wants to drill and pump oil because in the next decade or two, the world will have made a transition to renewables.”

Mahama, who took office in January, accused the previous government of Nana Akufo-Addo of stalling oil exploration through regulatory bottlenecks and disputes with key investors such as British-based company Tullow and ENI of Italy.

He said the sector suffered “a lot of disinvestment” as the previous government had “squabbles” with Tullow.

Ghana’s petroleum sector has seen a steady decline in output, according to the statutory body that monitors petroleum revenues in Ghana, the Public Interest and Accountability Committee.

It said crude oil production dropped to 48.25 million barrels in 2023 from 71.44 million in 2019 largely due to reduced investment in new wells.

Mahama blamed regulatory uncertainty for the exodus of some key players.

“ENI was held in contempt and they had to move all their expatriate management to Cote d’Ivoire,” he noted, adding that now the company was “back and they are drilling again”.

Ghana’s major offshore oil assets include the Jubilee Field, operated by Tullow Oil, as well as the TEN and Sankofa fields, with players including Kosmos Energy, PetroSA, and the state-owned GNPC.

While calling for aggressive oil drilling, Mahama stressed Ghana must not abandon its clean energy goals.

He said the country’s Renewable Energy Act required that “at least 10 percent of our energy mix should come from renewable sources.”

A Los Angeles judge has resentenced two brothers who are serving life in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents in a Beverly Hills mansion, making them eligible for parole.

Judge Michael Jesic gave Erik and Lyle Menendez a new sentence of 50 years to life. The brothers will now have to argue for their release in front of the state’s parole board.

The pair acknowledged killing Kitty and Jose Menendez, but said they acted out of self-defence after years of abuse.

Prosecutors argued the brothers planned the shotgun killings to access their parents’ fortune, are yet to take responsibility and should not be released. The case, which has prompted books and documentaries, still divides America.

After the judge agreed to resentence them, the brothers delivered an emotional statement to the court. They went through details of the brutal killings and their decision to reload and continue shooting their parents at point-blank range in their living room.

Both apologised for their actions and talked about their hopes to work with sex abuse victims and help those incarcerated if they were to be released.

“I had to stop being selfish and immature to really understand what my parents went though in those last moments,” Erik Menendez told the court.

He describes the “shock, confusion and betrayal” they must have felt seeing their sons holding guns and opening fire.

Lyle Menendez’s voice cracked as he talked about the impact of his “unfathomable” actions on their family.

“I lied to you and forced you into a spotlight of public humiliation,” he said to his family.

He said they had “cried with me and expressed their suffering” and he was “grateful for your love and forgiveness”.

Judge Jesic called the brothers’ work while in prison “remarkable”, but noted their original sentence was justified at the time.

He said under the guidelines, they were eligible for resentencing, issuing his new sentence of 50 years to life. The brothers have already served more than 30 years in prison.

The brothers’ lawyer Mark Geragos said “today is a great day after 35 years”. They were “one huge step closer to bringing the boys home”, he added.

Anamaria Baralt, the brothers’ cousin who testified inside court earlier in the day, said their family was elated.

“It is a difficult process,” she said of the parole hearing that awaits the brothers, but noted they will “eagerly step through those doors if it means we can have them home”.

Inside court earlier, relatives pleaded with the judge to allow the siblings’ release.

Ms Baralt, who said she has been close with them since they were children, told the judge they deserved a “second chance at life”.

“It’s been a nightmare,” she said. “I am desperate for this process to be over.”

Ms Baralt told the court she speaks with the brothers frequently and testified that they had taken “ownership of their actions”.

She said Lyle Menendez had acknowledged to her he had asked a witness to lie when testifying at their previous trial.

But she added: “They are very different men from the boys they were.”

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Two companies that receive taxpayers’ money to house asylum seekers in hotels have said they will hand back some of their profits to the Home Office.

Under contracts signed by the previous Conservative government, Clearsprings, Mears and Serco must pay back any profits of more than 5%.

A report released last week said the three companies had made combined profits of £383m since 2019, after the expected costs of housing asylum seekers tripled.

Appearing before a parliamentary committee, Clearsprings and Mears said they would be paying money back. Serco said they had not made enough profit to do so.

The cost of asylum accommodation has concerned ministers for a number of years and was an issue raised repeatedly by Reform UK during the recent local elections in England.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We inherited a broken asylum system, with tens of thousands stuck in a backlog and claims not being processed – wasting millions in taxpayer money.

“We’ve taken immediate action to fix it – increasing asylum decision making by 52% and removing 24,000 people with no right to be here, meaning there are now fewer asylum hotels open than since the election.

“By restoring grip on the system and speeding up decision making we will end the use of hotels and are forecast to save the taxpayer £4bn by the end of 2026.”

Representatives of the three companies responsible for finding asylum accommodation made a rare appearance at the Home Affairs Select Committee.

The director of health and safety compliance at Mears, Jason Burt, told MPs on the committee that the company expected to pay back £13.8m, “subject to Home Office audit”.

Clearsprings’ managing director, Steve Lakey, said his firm had £32m “ready to go” but that they were “waiting for the Home Office” before it could be transferred.

The Home Office auditing processing is understood to still be ongoing, with no indication of when it will be completed.

Overall profits at the three companies involved are still expected to rise, due to an increase in the amount of hotels being used to house asylum seekers.

When the taxpayer-funded contracts were signed in 2019, the vast majority of people were housed in accommodation within communities.

Around a third are now housed in hotels, which come at a far greater expense to the public finances.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said last week that three quarters of all the money spent on asylum accommodation currently goes on hotels.

Labour and Conservative governments have both pledged to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

Serco, Mears and Clearsprings all said they supported a move away from hotel use, despite the positive impact it has had on their bottom lines.

‘Disastrous contracts’

Decisions taken by Boris Johnson’s government to stop processing many asylum claims are seen as a major driving force behind the initial increase in the use of hotels.

Clearsprings’ founder and director, Graham King, has previously donated to the Conservative Party, through other companies he has owned.

The Sunday Times reported last weekend that King had recently become a billionaire thanks to soaring profits at the company.

A senior Home Office source said the Labour government “inherited chaos right across the system”.

They said the Conservatives signed “disastrous contracts that were not properly scrutinised – wasting millions in taxpayer money”.

The source pointed to a recent government decision to block Clearsprings from using one provider, as evidence that ministers are willing “to take whatever action necessary to guarantee value for money for the taxpayer”.

When quizzed by MPs about the government’s criticism of the contracts, the three companies defended the services they were providing.

Mr Burt said he believed Mears was providing a “reasonable” service to the Home Office.

He also told MPs that companies do not take into account the potential impact on local areas when suggesting asylum hotel locations to the Home Office.

Burt said the government had an opportunity to raise any concerns, but that it was not the job of companies such as Mears to carry out those assessments.

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South African mobile network operator MTN Group reported a 33% jump in first-quarter core profit due to strong service revenue growth, lower device cost of sales in its domestic market, and a more stable economic environment.

The jump in group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation on a constant-currency basis in the quarter to end March reflects a 5.3 percentage point rise in margin to 44.1%, MTN said, without giving the value of EBITDA.

Group service revenue rose 10.4% overall in the quarter, or by 19.8% in constant currency terms. That was buoyed by 40.4% growth in MTN Nigeria and 39.5% in MTN Ghana.

MTN South Africa continued to face challenges, especially in the prepaid segment, the company said, with service revenue up 2.6%.

Customers “remained value-seeking and dynamic in the context of constrained economic growth and heightened competition in the sector”, the group said.

Its South Africa unit intends to explore collaboration with rival Vodacom on backup energy, the company said.

“This could result in benefits around the… supply of alternative energy in the sector, which is critical to the efficient and reliable operation of network operators,” MTN added.

The Department of Trade and Industry’s Energy Users Block Exemption allows energy users to collaborate in ways that might otherwise be prohibited by the Competition Act. This includes joint procurement of backup or alternative energy and sharing generation capacity.

Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita said the group is also strengthening its partnerships with low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite providers, including Elon Musk’s Starlink, Franco-British satellite operator Eutelsat’s OneWeb, AST & Science, and Lynk, to expand services to enterprises.

He did not elaborate.

In March, MTN’s South African unit and American LEO satellite provider Lynk Global trialled Africa’s first phone call via satellite, a potential way of providing coverage in underserved and rural areas.

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A self-declared “king” of Germany and three of his senior “subjects” have been arrested and their group banned for attempting to overthrow the state.

Peter Fitzek, 59, was among those arrested in morning raids across seven states on Tuesday, which involved about 800 security personnel.

The government banned their group, the Reichsbürger, or “citizens of the Reich”, which seeks to establish the Königreich Deutschland, or “Kingdom of Germany”.

Alexander Dobrindt, German’s interior minister, accused the group of attempting to “undermine the rule of law” by creating an alternative state and spreading “antisemitic conspiracy narratives to back up their supposed claim to authority”.

His ministry announced the dissolution of the group, and accused it of financing itself through “economic criminal structures”.

Fitzek, a former chef and karate instructor, calls himself “king” and identified himself to judges as “Peter the First” in a previous court case.

He had himself crowned in 2012 while dressed in ermine robes and brandishing a medieval sword. Since then he has been buying land and property across Germany.

Reichsbürgers have their own currency, flag and ID cards, and want to set up separate banking and health systems.

Fitzek claims to have thousands of followers – or “subjects”.

In an interview with the BBC in 2022 he denied having any violent intentions, but also described the German state as “destructive and sick”.

“I have no interest in being part of this fascist and satanic system,” he told the BBC’s Jenny Hill, when she visited his “kingdom” in eastern Germany.

Fitzek has repeatedly clashed with the authorities and refused to abide by German laws, often in what appears to be in a publicity-seeking manner.

He has previously been jailed for repeatedly driving without a licence, following a decision to hand his back in a symbolic rejection of the law. At the end of one trial session, Fitzek was seen getting into his car in front of the court and driving off.

Fitzek is one of around 25,000 Reichsbürger in Germany. Numbers have been growing over the last few years.

Many are right-wing extremists who peddle racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories. They refuse to recognise the authority of security forces and many possess illegal arms, which has led to shoot-outs with police. Officials say that around 2,500 are potentially violent and that 1,350 are classed as right-wing extremists.

In 2022 dozens of people were arrested, many of them Reichsbürger, for plotting to overthrow the German government in Berlin. They were accused of planning a violent coup, which included kidnapping the health minister, to create “civil war conditions” to bring down German democracy.

In the past, Reichsbürger were often dismissed as eccentric cranks because of their outlandish ideas.

But as the far right has grown in strength politically in Germany over the last decade, officials now see them as a serious threat.

The federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe said Fitzek was arrested along with three other suspected ringleaders of the group, which it classified as a criminal organisation.

As the “so-called supreme sovereign”, Fitzek had “control and decision-making power in all key areas”, the office said.

“The ‘Kingdom of Germany’ considers itself a sovereign state within the meaning of international law and strives to extend its claimed ‘national territory’ to the borders of the German Empire of 1871,” it added in a statement.

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French film star Gérard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in Paris and given a suspended jail term of 18 months.

The 76-year-old actor was accused by the two women of groping them during work on a film in 2021. Depardieu had denied the allegations against him, and his lawyer said he would appeal.

A court in Paris found that one of the women, a set dresser named Amélie, had given consistent evidence while the actor’s accounts had changed over time.

She told reporters afterwards she was “very moved” and satisfied with the verdict, which for her was “a victory, a major step forward”.

Depardieu was also convicted of assaulting an assistant director called Sarah, which was not her real name.

The actor was not in court to hear the verdict but was instead working on a film set in the Azores.

Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, the lawyer acting for the two women, said she hoped the verdict marked the end of impunity for an artist in the film industry.

“It’s a victory for two women on a film set but it’s a victory for all the women behind this case and I’m thinking of all of Depardieu’s other victims,” she told reporters.

The lawyer also noted the case had come to an end hours before the Cannes film festival was due to start.

The judge said there was no reason to doubt the word of the two women victims, who had told the court how Depardieu had touched them on intimate parts of the body, using lewd language.

He placed Depardieu on a list of sex offenders and ordered him to pay compensation of €1,000 (£840) each to Amélie and Sarah for “secondary victimisation”, a recent innovation covering the additional suffering for the women from the trial itself.

Depardieu’s lawyer Jérémie Assous had accused the women of lying during their evidence.

The assaults took place in September 2021 when Depardieu was making a film called Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) about an ageing actor coming to terms with his declining powers.

This was Depardieu’s first trial on sexual assault charges. Several other women have made similar allegations in the media, and an alleged rape case could come to trial in the future.

After the trial, the actor was invited to join his close friend and fellow actor Fanny Ardant for a film-shoot in the Azores.

At the end of the trial in Paris in late March, prosecutor Laurent Guy said: “It’s perfectly possible to be an excellent actor and a great father – and still commit a crime.

“You are not here to pass judgment on French cinema. You are here to judge Gérard Depardieu, just as you would any other citizen.”

Claude Vincent, representing one of the two women plaintiffs, described Depardieu as a “misogynist” and a “case-study in sexism”.

Depardieu’s lawyer had demanded an acquittal and called the plaintiffs’ team “more militants than lawyers”.

“They cannot bear that there should even be a defence. They think any defence is a supplementary assault,” he told the court.

The first plaintiff, 54-year-old set decorator Amélie, told the court that after a minor argument with Depardieu, he caught her between his legs and held her by the hips.

The second woman, a 34-year-old assistant film director, said the actor had touched her buttocks and breasts through her clothes on three separate occasions. She chose to maintain her anonymity and was not in court to hear the verdict.

Depardieu denied the allegations, saying only that he might have touched the women accidentally or to keep his balance.

At the end of the hearings, Depardieu said: “My name has been dragged through the mud by lies and insults.

“A trial can be a very special experience for an actor. Seeing all this anger, the police, the press. It’s like being in a science fiction film, except it’s not science fiction. It’s life.”

He thanked the prosecution and defence teams for giving him insights into how courts operate. “These lessons may be an inspiration for me one day if I get to play a lawyer,” he said.

Depardieu said he had not worked as an actor for three years since the sexual allegations against him began to circulate.

However, earlier this mont,h it was reported that he had begun working on a film directed by Fanny Ardant. Depardieu is playing a magician on a mysterious island, according to media reports.

Ardant appeared with Depardieu in Les Volets Verts and spoke in his defence at the trial.

“Genius – in whatever form it takes – carries within it an element of the extravagant, the untamed, the dangerous. (Depardieu) is the monster and the saint,” she said.

Another veteran French actress took Depardieu’s side on Monday. In a rare interview with French television, Brigitte Bardot, 90, deplored how “talented people who touch the buttocks of a girl are consigned to the deepest dungeon.”

“Feminism isn’t my thing,” Bardot said. “Personally, I like men.”

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.

President Donald Trump has said the US has “no stronger partner” than Saudi Arabia during his first major foreign trip – a whirlwind visit of Gulf countries mainly focused on shoring up investment.

Speaking in Riyadh, the US president also pledged to lift all sanctions against Syria, saying it was now time for the country to move forward with “a chance at greatness”.

Day one of the tour saw the US and Saudi Arabia announce a $142bn (£107bn) arms deal, as well as other investments that the country’s crown prince said could eventually be worth $1tn.

Trump also made Saudi Arabia the first foreign stop during his first term, in 2017. The rest of his trip will include stops in Qatar and the UAE.

Trump’s arrival in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday was met with a grand reception, including a lavish lavender-coloured carpet rolled out to greet him. He had even chosen a purple tie to match it.

Riyadh swapped red carpets for lavender in 2021, saying that it was a symbol of the kingdom’s desert wildflowers and generosity.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Trump on the tarmac and provided an honour guard of Arabian horses to accompany his presidential limo.

In his remarks at an investment forum, Trump lauded the US-Saudi relationship as “more powerful than ever before”.

“From the moment we started, we’ve seen wealth that has poured – and is pouring – into America,” he said.

Trump is trying to woo foreign investors to the US to boost the American economy, a key focus of his administration in the nearly four months of his second term.

“I like him too much,” Trump said of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. “That’s why we give so much.”

The pomp and ceremony was a step up from the muted welcome for former US President Joe Biden, who travelled to the oil-rich kingdom in 2022 to seek their help in lowering petrol prices, fist-bumping the crown prince.

That visit came two years after he declared Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state following the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump flew to the Gulf to strike financial deals and argued in his speech that it is through this kind of commerce and economic development that the Middle East would transcend violence and division.

Underscoring his commitment to deal-making, Trump was joined by a number of business leaders, including billionaire ally Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

The high-profile executives are meeting a Saudi Arabia eager to diversify its oil-rich economy by increasing its artificial intelligence capabilities.

Mr Huang announced during the visit that Nvidia will sell more than 18,000 of its latest AI chips to Saudi company Humain.

Chips from Blackwell, whose CEO was also present, will be used in data centres across Saudi Arabia, according to remarks made at the forum.

During his address, Trump said it was his “dream” to have Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered in his first administration that saw relations between Israel and some Gulf countries normalised for the first time.

But his good friend, Mohammed bin Salman, has made it clear that will not happen until there is a permanent end to the war in Gaza and a clear path to Palestinian statehood.

There is a limit to what this friendship can deliver.

Trump only briefly addressed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

He told those in attendance that people in Gaza deserved a “better future”, which had been held back by Hamas choosing “to kidnap, torture and target” for “political ends” – a reference to the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

Trump also announced he was lifting sanctions on Syria to improve the country’s new government, a move he suggested was requested by Mohammed bin Salman.

“Oh, what I do for the crown prince,” the US leader said.

American sanctions on Syria had been in place for over a decade, meant to apply pressure and economic pain against the dictatorship of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December.

Syria has since elected a new transitional president, creating an opening for renewed US diplomacy efforts.

The surprise announcement to lift the sanctions represents a sea change for Syria, described by its foreign minister Asaad Shibani as a “new start” in the country’s reconstruction path.

Robert Ford, who served as US ambassador to Syria under the Barack Obama administration, applauded the Trump administration’s move to lift sanctions.

“I visited Syria three months ago, and the country is simply devastated after the 13-year civil war. It needs to rebuild, it needs reconstruction, it needs foreign financing to do that,” he told the BBC.

“So removing the sanctions, that will enable international capital flows to go into Syria from Gulf states, from other Arab states, and different aid agencies, is absolutely vital.”

Trump was expected to meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia.

From Riyadh, Trump will head to both Qatar and the UAE, which have already committed to investing $1.4tn in the US over the next decade.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti says he has “never had a problem” with the club and does not want to “make a big deal” out of his impending departure for the Brazil national team.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed the 65-year-old’s appointment as head coach on Monday, but there has not been an official announcement from Real.

The Italian’s tenure with Brazil will begin on 26 May, the day after Real Madrid face Real Sociedad in their final match of the 2024-25 season.

Bayer Leverkusen manager, and former Spain and Real Madrid midfielder, Xabi Alonso is set to succeed him at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Commenting on Monday’s announcement, Ancelotti said: “If I didn’t have the press conference today, it would be fantastic. There are things I can’t explain right now because I’m at Madrid and I want to respect the shirt.

“From 26 May onwards, I’ll be Brazil’s coach. It’s a very important challenge, but I want to finish the final stretch of this fantastic adventure here well.

“I never had problems with Real and never will have problems with Real. It’s a club that lives dearly in my heart, but everything in life has a date to end.

“I couldn’t be Madrid’s coach for the rest of my life. It comes to an end for many reasons. The club may need a new impetus. I’m not making a big deal out of it.

“A thousand thanks to this club. And we’ll carry on. I’ll always be a Madrid fan. It’s the end of an era. Spectacular. I never thought I’d coach Madrid for six years, and now it’s happened.”

On Madrid not issuing a statement, he added: “Madrid will release a statement whenever it wants. There is no problem whatsoever and they’ll do it when they deem it appropriate.”

During two spells with Real Madrid, Ancelotti has won 15 trophies, including three Champions League titles.

Last season, he led them to a Champions League and La Liga double, but is set to finish this campaign without silverware.

Real Madrid exited the Champions League in the quarter-finals, lost the final of the Copa del Rey to Barcelona, and sit seven points behind Hansi Flick’s side in the league with three matches remaining.

Reflecting on his time at Madrid, he said: “I always kept in mind that one day it ends. I’ve had a great time, and I think everyone has, but there comes a time when it ends. Football is like life; something begins and ends.

“I’ve had a great time. We’ve won a lot and it will be a memory for life.

“The day I arrived [for the second time], if they told me I’d win 11 titles in four years, I’d sign it with my own blood. It’s been an unforgettable time.”

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.