Breaking:Shooting at Grand Bassam beach resort,Ivory Coast

Gunfire has broken out at the beach resort of Grand Bassam in Ivory Coast.

Media reports quote eyewitnesses as saying the shooting began in a hotel. There have been reports of casualties.
Footage posted online show people running away from the beach. Grand Bassam, east of the country's main city Abidjan, is popular with tourists.
Ivory Coast was largely stable until a conflict between the north and the south erupted in 2002. Since then, peace deals have alternated with renewed violence.

Female armed robbery gang arrested in Ghana

According to the police, the suspects at about 11: 30am on Sunday, March 13, hired the taxi driver from Asafo roundabout and asked him to take them to Afful Nkwanta in Kumasi.

At Afful Nkwanta, they directed the driver to New Oxford International School where Agnes Darkoaa a.k.a Last Killer, pulled a knife. She was said to have turned off the engine, removed the ignition key and ordered the driver to surrender all his possessions including cash sales.

The four robbers assisted in ransacking the pockets of the victim and robbed him of all his daily earnings. The victim raised an alarm and some men nearby chased after the fleeing robbers and managed to arrest Sally Sarpong.

Upon questioning, the suspect mentioned the names of her other accomplices. A police patrol team led investigators on duty later traced the three accomplices to Ahinsan Methodist Church area in another taxi escaping and they were subsequently rounded up.

All four suspects are currentlt in the custody of the Zongo police pending further investigations.

 

Compiled by Enoch Frimpong

Enoch Darfah Frimpong

Irish Army officer charged with attempted murder

A suspected member of an Irish Republican Army splinter group was charged Saturday with trying to kill a Northern Ireland prison officer by placing a booby-trap bomb under his vehicle.
Dozens of armed riot police were deployed inside Belfast Magistrates Court to control a rowdy crowd supporting 45-year-old Christopher Robinson, who offered no plea to two charges of attempted murder and possession of a homemade bomb.
 Robinson was arrested following the March 4 attack on an off-duty prison officer, who was seriously wounded when a bomb exploded beneath his van as he drove away from his Belfast home to go to work

Traders at Mile 12 market relocates to Lagos/Ibadan expressway

Following the temporary shutdown of the popular Mile 12 market after the ethnic clash between Hausa and Yorubas on March 3rd, the traders have moved their trade to Kara/OPIC area along the Lagos/Ibadan expressway in Ogun state. Motorist say their activity is causing traffic gridlock. See more photos of the traders after the cut ...

5 German words that will change the way you see time

People all over the world trade in an hour of their lives thanks to the practice of daylight savings. From weddings to pickles, here are some interesting German words that are - surprisingly - dedicated to time.
 In North America, clocks are set forward one hour in the night from March 12 to March 13. In Europe, on the other hand, the sleep loss won't occur until two weeks later on March 27.
Some countries, like Syria and Mexico, set other dates, while countries in the southern hemisphere inversely lose an hour in October and gain it back in April. Many regions of the world - including most of Africa and Asia - don't observe daylight saving time at all.

Here are 5 german words that will mAke you change your mind:

Zeitumstellung:This is what happens in March and October: Zeitumstellung, or time change. Even if it feels horrible to give up an hour of sleep, keep in mind you'll get it back in the fall. Zeitumstellung at least gives a feeling of power - even if we are all bound by time, twice a year we act like we can change it. 

Zeitschrift:Many other German expressions integrate "Zeit," the word for time. A "Zeitschrift" - literally, time writing, is simply a magazine. Whether it includes political discourse or scantily clad women (now with nipples covered), theoretically a magazine should keep up with the times. 

Zeitgeist:While Zeitgeist can also be used in English, its direct translation - time spirit - conjures up images of Charles Dickens' Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present. Referring to the philosophical idea that each era is characterized by particular ways of thinking, the concept of Zeitgeist dates back to 18th-century philosophers and is often associated with Johann Gottfried Herder.

Mahlzeit:Like time itself, food is elementary to the human existence. A "Mahlzeit" simply means "meal time," and can refer to breakfast, lunch or dinner. But it's also used to wish someone else the maximum amount of pleasure while eating. Next time you see a friend chomping down on a sandwich, you can say, "Mahlzeit!"

Hochzeit:It's often referred to as the happiest day of your life. In German, it's also a "high time" - a "Hochzeit." Who isn't high on adrenaline and emotion on that day of all days, on which your credit card debt reaches an all-time high? And for some impatient mother-in-laws, it certainly may be "high time" for that son to finally get hitched.

Written by Adolf Abelard

Merkel faces test as polls open in German elections

Germans are voting in key state elections that are being seen as a major test of support for Chancellor Merkel's refugee policies. Voters' concerns about the record migrant influx may play into the populist AfD's favor.
 Voting booths in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt opened at 8 a.m. local time (0700 UTC) on Sunday. More than 12 million Germans are eligible to vote in the polls to elect new regional parliaments in the three states.
DW's Kate Brady in Mainz reported opinion polls showing the left-of-center Social Democrats leading with 36 percent, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel's own Christian Demostratic Union (CDU) was just under with 35 percent in Rhineland-Palatinate. The populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) was polling at about nine percent.
"By midday Sunday, electorate turnout in the Rhineland-Palatinate was at 44 percent - 13 percent higher than at the same time in the 2011 state election," Brady said.
Meanwhile, DW's Naomi Conrad said "polls point to a resounding victory for Greens" in Baden-Württemberg, referring to the environmentally-oriented political party.

Talent vs Skill

Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates… It's going somewhere, alright.
“Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

There is a big difference between talent and skill. Anyone can develop a skill, but not everyone is blessed with talent. Often we confuse the two.
Talent is a gift. It’s a natural ability to do something that most others are unable to accomplish. We are blessed with talent. Someone who has talent has the ability to exercise it to enhance their work. Talent can take you places – sometimes scary places. In fact, talent can take us to places our character may not be ready to experience. Talent is a wonderful thing when it’s used properly, not abused, and maximized by the person who is lucky enough to own this special gift. Skill, however, is a learned ability. It can be improved with practice, work, and effort.
Skill comes from our knowledge and effort. It’s something attainable for anyone committed enough to put in the time and the reps to get better.
We are not all blessed with the same talents. In fact, some of us are forced to rely on our skill and hustle to get us through because we do not have as much talent as the next guy. I have been blessed to work with some amazingly talented people over the course of my life. All too often, really talented people drift off, losing sight of their goals and solely relying on the talents they have. They stop preparing as much and don’t do the work that others – who are not blessed with the same talents – have to do in order to succeed, simply because they know that their talent can cover their sins.
But, what if we committed to being a creative community that refused to take our talents for granted and were committed to refining them everyday? What if we committed to treating our talents like gifts and put in the extra work to increase our knowledge and develop these gifts? What if we committed to continuously develop and refine our gifts so that we could not only be talented, but also skilled.
What if we choose today to be our absolute best so that we can regain our position in culture as the leaders in creativity? Not because we could, but because we are called.

• Have you ever taken advantage of your talent?
• How do you fight that temptation?
• What do you do to refine your skills? 

Written by  Stephen Brewster