Ghana has secured a grant worth 1.92 billion Japanese Yen (approximately US$13 million) from Japan to enhance the stability of electricity supply in Tamale City.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, made the announcement via a Facebook post on Monday, March 10, 2025.
In his post, he mentioned that he had signed an Exchange of Notes with the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Yoshimoto Hiroshi, to facilitate the grant.
“This morning, I signed an Exchange of Notes with His Excellency Yoshimoto Hiroshi, the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, to unlock a grant of 1.92 billion Japanese Yen (US$13 million) for the Stabilization of Electricity Supply in Tamale City,” Mr Ablakwa wrote.
This funding is intended to improve Tamale’s electricity infrastructure, addressing the growing need for a more reliable power supply in the region. The initiative is part of broader efforts between Ghana and Japan to strengthen their partnership across various fields.
Mr. Ablakwa emphasized the deepening relationship between the two nations, noting that this project is one of many in the pipeline.
“This project and many others under discussion highlight the outstanding bond of friendship between Ghana and Japan,” Mr. Ablakwa added.
Specific details regarding the implementation timeline and the scope of infrastructure upgrades funded by the grant are yet to be disclosed.
The Japanese government is calling on China to rescind the ban they have imposed on seafood imports from Japan.This ban was put in place because Japan released treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was approved by scientific experts.
China, who buys the most fish from Japan, said on Thursday that they are making the order because they are worried about the health of their consumers.
However, scientists disagree with this statement and say that the release does not harm the ocean life or the seafood we eat.
International trade law expert Henry Gao told the BBC that the main reason is not actually about safety concerns. “It is mostly because of Japan’s actions against China,” he explained, mentioning that Japan has been getting closer to the United States and South Korea in the past few years.
After the water was released, experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) measured its radiation levels. They found that the radiation levels in the water were even lower than the limits set by Japan, which is 1,500 becquerels per liter. This is about seven times lower than the global standard for safe drinking water.
And even though Japanese fishermen are worried, experts say that the negative impact on Japan’s industry from the trade will not last long and will be smaller than anticipated.
Japan primarily sells its fish to its own citizens.
The people who live in the area eat most of the fish, so the big fish companies Nissui and Maruha Nichiro don’t think China’s ban will affect them much. According to Reuters, both companies’ stock prices went up a little when the ban was announced at the end of the trading day.
No country other than China has suggested a complete ban. South Korea still does not allow imports of seafood from Fukushima and a few nearby areas.
Experts say that even if people eat a lot of seafood, they will only be exposed to very small amounts of radiation. This amounts to about 0. 0062 to 0032 microSv per year, according to Mark Foreman, a professor of nuclear chemistry in Sweden.
Humans can be safely exposed to radiation levels that are up to 1,000 times higher than that, which is equivalent to 1,000 microSv of radiation each year, according to Associate Prof Foreman.
The government of Japan has acknowledged that the local fishing industry will probably suffer significantly.
Beijing had already come under fire for disseminating “scientifically unfounded claims,” and on Thursday night, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pleaded with Beijing once more to check into the study.
On Thursday night, Mr. Kishida told reporters, “We have asked the revocation (of China’s restriction) through diplomatic channels. We firmly support expert conversation that is grounded in science.
Authorities had already implemented a limited restriction on seafood from select regions of Japan in China and its territories Hong Kong and Macau, but they have now increased that prohibition.
Mainland China and Hong Kong, which each purchase approximately $1.1 billion (£866 million) or 41% of Japan’s seafood exports, are the two largest foreign consumers of Japanese seafood.
According to local media, the leader of a Japanese fisheries union called Japan’s Industry Minister after China’s ban to ask him to push Beijing to lift the restriction.
However, those who monitor the sector are composed because they are aware of the customary fluctuations in supply and demand in international trade.
Although Prof. Gao anticipates some short-term disruption, he added that “soon the exporters shall be able to shift to other markets so the long-term effect will be small.”
In Chinese cities, there will be plenty of seafood delicacies available in restaurants. According to Reuters, China buys a lot more seafood from India, Ecuador, and Russia compared to the amount it buys from Japan. Japan only supplies 4% of China’s seafood imports from foreign countries.
China’s decision to stop importing seafood will hardly have any impact on Japan’s overall economy.
Marine products are only a small part of what Japan trades with other countries. Most of Japan’s trade is made up of cars and machinery exports. Experts say that the effect of prohibiting seafood is very small.
Stefan Angrick, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, said that the release of water in Fukushima has important implications for both politics and the environment.
Economically, if Japan’s food shipments are banned, it won’t have a big impact.
However, many people still believe that the industry is causing harm and is not safe. This is not only the case in China, but also in South Korea where there have been protests by large groups of people.
Before the water was released, fishermen in South Korea noticed that the money they earned from selling their fish was going down. However, the prices of the fish stayed the same on the day after the water was released.
In Japan, polls at people’s homes also indicate a disagreement among the population. The government has worked hard to make both the people feel safe and happy, and to satisfy the business sector. It has promised to give money and help seafood sellers if their sales go down.
On Friday, the government in Osaka suggested serving seafood from Fukushima at its office buildings. The Fukushima plant’s company, Tepco, said it would give money to local businesses if they lost money.
But the people who live here are tough too. After China’s announcement on Thursday, a lot of Japanese people on Twitter were happy about the ban. They jokingly said that it might make fish cheaper in Japan.
Great news despite rising prices. “Someone on Twitter said that Hokkaido sea urchin will be very affordable. “
A Japanese steakhouse has shut its doors after seven patrons are said to have been drugged while eating there.
After several diners complained that they felt sick after dining there, an investigation led to the closure of Nikko Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar earlier this month.
Following the patients’ hospitalisations, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation into the Pace, Florida, eatery.
Jordan Gray and her husband Brandon said they sat at a hibachi table with their friend Matthew Gilley and that they started having symptoms later that evening.
‘None of us slept. All of us had racing hearts. It was very scary,’ Jordan told the Pensacola News Journal.
County officials confirmed that the food tested positive for a narcotic, but did not specify which one. Patrons claimed it was meth, WALA reported.
Authorities said there was not enough evidence or information on the witnesses to determine if there were any intentional or unintentional actions taken. There were no criminal charges filed against the Japanese steakhouse.
The establishment reopened following the investigation, but soon announced on Facebook it’s decision to close permanently.
‘After more than ten years of serving the Pace community, we have decided to close Nikko Japanese Steakhouse,’ stated the restaurant.
‘On June 10th, we heard, just like many of you did, of people being injured after eating at our restaurant. From the moment the story broke, we cooperated with authorities and all licensing agencies.’
The restaurant wrote that the sheriff’s office found ‘nothing linking the restaurant to the accusations’ and that they re-opened ‘after a clear survey by the health department’.
‘We are so thankful to our regulars who came back to support us, unfortunately it just wasn’t enough to keep the doors open,’ stated the restaurant.
‘Since then, we have been brutally harassed, daily, by various media outlets, who have slandered and defamed every aspect of our business. We have been investigated, searched, and questioned while fully cooperating at all times. That’s all we could do.’
The restaurant claimed that members of the media were calling and harassing employees at home.
‘Today, a family owned and operated business is closed, 20 employees are out of work, all because of the power of social media,’ wrote the restaurant.
‘We are heartbroken, but were unable to sustain the cost to stay open, when it seemed that every day, a local news outlet wanted to find something else to report on.’
The restaurant thanked patrons for their support including through the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Please, respect our privacy as we try to recover and figure out what our future holds,’ the restaurant concluded. ‘We will fondly remember our times together.’
An inquest heard that a 13-year-old kid posted and saw internet suicide-related content while under lockdown.
On April 20, 2021, after getting off a bus, Zaheid Ali leaped off Tower Bridge.
Eight days later, his body was discovered in the River next to a pub in the east London neighbourhood of Wapping.
His suicide letter quoted lyrics from a Japanese song that describes the suicide of a 14-year-old girl, the Inner South London Coroners Court heard .
He had also followed someone in the US who had taken their own life, posted a ‘countdown’ on YouTube, and written on Twitter about his desire to kill himself, the hearing was told.
A WhatsApp exchange with school friends from March 2021, which was found after he died, revealed he said ‘I hate life at the moment and kind of want to give up.’
His father Mumen Ali told the hearing he was ‘baffled’ by what had happened to his son – who was born prematurely and suffered from a digestive disorder called internal malabsorption – as his behaviour had appeared normal.
Mr Ali said his son had become ‘glued to his phone’ and ‘stuck in his bedroom’ in the Easter holidays before he killed himself, but his parents did not think his behaviour was unusual.
Zaheid Ali died after falling from London’s Tower Bridge (Picture: PA)
He added: ‘We put it down to his hormones changing from being a boy to being a man.’
Mr Ali also said he believed his son was worried about Islamophobia after a shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019 which killed 51 people.
Una Sookun, vice-principal of the Ark Globe Academy in Elephant and Castle, south London, where Zaheid was a Year 8 pupil, told the court he was ‘academically very able’ but ‘quiet’ with a ‘very small friendship group’.
He ‘appeared to enjoy studying’ in Year 7 but when lockdown began, he started to struggle and did not engage as well with his schoolwork.
A passer-by had tried desperately to save the schoolboy (Picture: John Keeble/Getty Images)
When schools closed again between January and March 2021, he was allowed to be one of a small group of pupils who could carry on attending classes in person but he did not go initially because of concerns about catching coronavirus on the bus.
In September 2020 a ‘small concern’ was raised when he posted religious messages in a school chat forum.
Two months later, in a similar chat room, he ‘called for people to die’ and said he should never have been born.
On January 25 2021 he emailed his tutor saying he was struggling to wake up at 8am even though he had tried to.
Ms Sookun said of the WhatsApp messages: ‘It has been a massive learning for many of the students about raising that alarm straight away.’
Detective Constable Khadra Mallin from City of London Police told the inquest that officers were called by worried members of the public who heard someone calling for help in the Thames just after 8am on April 20, 2021.
One witness swam into the water in a bid to save him but only his school jacket and bag, which contained a note, were found.
An ‘intensive’ search by police on foot, helicopters and lifeboats began but his body was not found for eight days.
When police attended his school, a pupil said Zaheid had got on the number 118 bus at his normal stop in Canada Water but got off before arriving at the academy for the first day back after the Easter holidays.
A toxicology report by Dr Rebecca Andrews found no alcohol or drugs in his system and pathologist Dr Simi George recorded his provisional cause of death as immersion.
Recording a conclusion of suicide, assistant coroner Dr Julian Morris offered his ‘very sincere’ and ‘deepest’ condolences to the family.
He added: ‘The difficulty for all of us, and especially for you, is not being able perhaps to understand his personal and private thoughts and reasons as to why he did what he did.
‘We may never know those reasons. That must, I understand, provide ongoing anxiety and frustration from your perspective.
‘The age of 13 is too young for anybody.’
His father replied: ‘When he was born, I didn’t think he was going to survive.
‘The 13 years that he gave us, thank God for that.’
