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JD Vance named as Trump’s running mate

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Donald Trump has named former “never Trumper” Republican and Ohio Senator JD Vance as his vice-presidential nominee.

Republican National Convention (RNC) delegates formally selected Mr Vance, 39, on Monday after Trump announced on his social media platform he had chosen him after “lengthy deliberation and thought”.

Mr Vance is a Yale-educated venture capitalist and author of the bestselling memoir-turned-film Hillbilly Elegy.

He has previously criticised his new running mate, once suggesting privately that Trump could be “America’s Hitler”, but has since become an ardent supporter of the former president.

In the 2022 midterm elections, he won a seat in the US Senate with Trump’s endorsement.

A native of Ohio, Mr Vance gained attention after the release of Hillbilly Elegy, which tells of his blue-collar upbringing and how it affected his politics.

Trump said on the Truth Social platform that the book “championed the hardworking men and women of our country”.

“As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” he continued.

Mr Vance was confirmed to the Republican ticket at the RNC, which is taking place this week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

He entered the venue on Monday accompanied by his wife, Usha, and greeted delegates as a country song played with the chorus “let’s build America first”.

Addressing the crowd in the basketball arena where the event is taking place, Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Senate candidate, said: “To JD, America first isn’t just a slogan. It’s his north star.”

“It’s an incredible pick,” said Donald Trump Jr, Trump’s son, at the RNC. “Truly a great choice.”

The choice came before the opening of the RNC in Milwaukee on Monday, and two days after Trump survived an attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania.

In the aftermath, Mr Vance tweeted that Democratic Party rhetoric had “led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination”.

Trump has said he will tone down his RNC speech and call for national unity.

JD Vance, MAGA man

Mr Vance has become an increasingly important player in the world of Make America Great Again [MAGA] politics.

The choice suggests the former president knows that this election will be won and lost in a handful of industrial Midwest battleground states – Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

In the Senate he has been one of the biggest congressional sceptics of aid to Ukraine.

In recent months, he has introduced bills to withhold federal funds for universities where students have protested over the Gaza war or that employ undocumented immigrants.

He sponsored legislation in March that would cut the Chinese government out of US capital markets if it does not follow international trade law.

He has also frequently appeared at Trump’s campaign events, and travelled to New York City to attend Trump’s fraud trial.

Mr Vance, who was baptised as a Catholic in 2019, is anti-abortion. He has backed Trump’s repeated statement that the issue is a matter for individual states.

Mr Vance is a former US Marine who was deployed to Iraq. He is one of the youngest vice-presidential nominees in US history.

Mr Vance and Trump will face the Democratic nominees, President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, at the 5 November general election.

The Biden campaign said that Trump picked Mr Vance “because Vance will do what [Trump’s former Vice-President] Mike Pence wouldn’t … bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people”.

Source: BBC

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Crime

Drama in court over stolen goats

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There was drama at an Accra Circuit Court when two out of three accused persons admitted stealing goats at Teshie Camp Two area in Accra. 

Emmanuel Agyei, aka Obama, a fisherman and David Agyei, a borehole driller, pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy and stealing. 

The accused persons, said it was true that they had been stealing goats and that on August 8, 2024, they stole locally bred goats within the vicinity, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) reports. 

The police is holding them for allegedly stealing nine foreign goats from Germany valued at $13,500 belonging to one Seidu Yakubu, the complainant in the case. 

Emmanuel Agyei told the court that: “The goat I stole doesn’t belong to the complainant. I have not seen the kind of goats the police are talking about. I have shown the complainant and the places where I stole the goats. I don’t know anything about the kind of goats the police are talking about in the pictures taken.” 

In the case of David Agyei, he told the court that, “We did not steal from the complainant, the goats we stole were African breed. We are not the group of people who sell to the buyer.” 

The court, after listening to the accused persons, convicted them but deferred their sentence to September 2, 2024. 

Baba Musah, aka Baba Talatu, a butcher, who pleaded not guilty to the charge of dishonestly receiving, has also been remanded into police custody. 

The police said three accomplices, whose names were given as Nat, Aapah, Boola Gee, were at large. 

The prosecution, led by Superintendent of Police Augustine Yirenkyi, said the police were searching for other accomplices on the run. 

The prosecution said the complainant, Yakubu Seidu, was a driver and an animal farmer at Teshie Camp 2. 

The court heard that on Sunday, August 11, 2024, at about 0400 hours, the complainant woke up and detected the theft of nine of his foreign-breed goats. 

On the same day, the prosecution said the Police Intelligence Directorate (PID) received intelligence about a syndicate that snatched victims’ cars and used them to steal goats, and hide at Teshie and James Town. 

The prosecution said the PID mounted surveillance and arrested Emmanuel Agyei, David Agyei and Baba Musah, but the other accomplices managed to escape. 

During interrogation, Emmanuel and David admitted the offence and told the Police that they used to steal and sell.  

Emmanuel and David led the Police to Boola Gee’s house at James Town, where four sheep and two goats were found in a blue-black 2002 model Honda CRV with registration number GN 438-14 and a blue-black Nissan Altima with registration number GT3107-18.  

Emmanuel and David admitted to the Police that they stole with one Nathaniel and Aapah and sold the livestock to Boola Gee. 

The court was told that Baba Musah admitted having bought five goats from Emmanuel, David and Nathaniel at GH₵2,500. 

On August 12, 2024, the prosecution said the complainant came to the Directorate and identified two goats as his. 

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Crime

Police destroy large quantity of narcotics by court order

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The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has destroyed a significant quantity of narcotic substances following orders from the Accra Circuit Court.

The items destroyed included 248 fertilizer sacks, 315 wraps, 24 sachets, and 68 compressed slabs of various narcotics, along with three medium-sized buckets of heroin.

“We are here to destroy some substances; cocaine, dry leaves thus cannabis, after those cases have been dealt with by the court,” Registrar at the Accra Circuit Court Prosper Kingsley Damakah revealed to journalists

The substances were seized and used as evidence in cases tried by the circuit court between 2020 and 2024.

“Some of the cases started in 2020. The people were arrested by the Police, charged and brought to court. Judgments have been delivered in the cases’ Mr. Damakah clarified.

The burning of the narcotics was carried out at the shore behind the Black Star Square in Accra and was witnessed by representatives from the Narcotics Control Commission and the Judicial Service.

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Crime

4 remanded in Tumu for alleged robbery of MoMo vendor

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The Tumu Magistrate Court in the Sissala East Municipality of the Upper West Region has remanded four individuals in custody on charges of allegedly robbing a mobile money vendor.

The suspects have been under police surveillance in Tumu due to a series of robberies targeting commuters in the Sissala East Municipality. 

Their arrest was the result of an investigation into an attack on the mobile money vendor.

The suspects, Sumaila Tembieru (a mechanic), Hamidu Muniru (a farmer), Sumaila Issahaku (also a mechanic), and Salifu Abu (a farmer), were apprehended on July 19 following thorough police investigations in Tumu related to a robbery in the Kong community. 

The mobile money vendor was deprived of his cash and two mobile phones during the incident.

At the Tumu Magistrate Court, Sissala East Municipal Police Commander Superintendent Kumpe Dieku Gbele reported that on June 17, around 9:30 PM, three armed individuals stormed the mobile shop, discharged firearms, and stole GH¢25,000 from the owner. 

The victim, Voguworun Gadafi, who also trades in agrochemicals, recognised Hamidu Muniru, who had visited the shop earlier that day. 

A police report led to Muniru’s arrest, who subsequently identified his three co-conspirators.

Presiding Judge Frederick Kaar Tiem ordered the four suspects to be held in police custody until their next court appearance on July 29.

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