Resolving domestic disputes between elephants and humans is an age old problem, but one not-for-profit organization based in Zambia thinks it may have a solution.

People in Nigeria who are suspected of being gay could face the death penalty, as parts of the country crack down on practices not compliant with Islamic law.

NDTVToothpaste explosives add to worries at SochiMarketWatchSOCHI, Russia — On the eve of any Olympic Games, news is bleak, involving construction snafus, athlete injuries and security concerns. So the litany of complaints and worries that emerged Wednesday from Sochi doesn't necessarily bode ominously for the ...Competition begins at Winter Olympics after DHS issues toothpaste tube ...Fox NewsOlympic Threat: US Warns Airlines About Toothpaste Tube BombKTICall 555 news articles »

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[New Zimbabwe]GHANAIAN Big Brother housemate Elikem Kumordzie on Wednesday touched a raw nerve following claims that he said Zimbabwean women were less attractive than those from his home country.

Washington PostStep to artificial hand that feels what you touchBusinessweekWASHINGTON (AP) — It's not quite the bionics of science fiction, but European researchers have created a robotic hand that gave an amputee a sense of touch he hadn't felt in a decade. The experiment lasted only a week, but it let the patient feel if different ...Bionic hand allows patient to feel objects in real timeBusiness Standardall 325 news articles »

The Accra Regional Police Command has intensified measures to apprehend the members of an armed robbery gang who are behind the threat on the lives of residents of Agape near Accra. Even though 27-year-old Samiru Salifu, suspected to be the ring leader of the gang which calls itself the Armed Robbers Association (ARA), has been arrested, the police believe there are remnants of the gang in the area who have to be brought to book. As part of efforts at stepping up police operational strategy, the police have deployed plain-clothes investigators into the community to gather intelligence and increased police patrols and snap checks. Emergency meeting  The Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Christian Tetteh Yohonu, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the Odorkor District Police Command, which has jurisdiction over the area, had been directed to provide regular patrols to ensure that the lives of the residents were protected. To strengthen security in the various commands in the region, the Regional Commander met all senior officers and asked them to intensify patrols in their commands. “We consider it as a hoax and that the people behind the notice are cowards,” Mr Yohonu said. That, he said, was because “in many areas where robbery had occurred, the robbers never informed their victims in advance”. No money paid  He said even though the notice was seen late last year, “up to now nobody has paid any money to them and the people behind the notice have not been able to carry out their threats. It was a means that the suspected gang wanted to use to solicit money from the residents”. The police, he said, would continue to strengthen intelligence gathering and its security system to ensure that everybody in Accra “and not at Agape alone, lives in peace”. Mr Yohonu said as a result of the effective strategies put in place, the police had been able to stamp its authority on robbery in the country.  Background A gang which calls itself the ARA has been harassing residents of Agape near Accra to pay not less than GH¢500 per tenant in each household or risk facing its wrath.  The gang had given the residents of the community a deadline of December 30, 2013 to pay the amount but the residents failed to meet that deadline. One of the residents told the Daily Graphic that they lived in fear, since they did not know when the gang might strike. It all started in December, 2013 when the residents woke up to find notices posted on their walls, gates, electricity poles and other places, directing them to pay the said amount through MTN mobile money. Writer’s email: [email protected]

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The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has expressed concern about the misappropriation of funds by officials of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and urged the management  to recover with interest all misappropriated funds. It has also called for a restructuring of the operations of the NHIA to ensure efficient and effective claims management within the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). The committee’s recommendations were contained in a report it submitted to Parliament yesterday after studying the Performance Audit report of the Auditor-General on the management of claims by the NHIS. The report was adopted by the House. Presenting the report, the Chairman of the committee, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said the committee observed, after studying the details of investigations conducted by the Auditor-General in 2010, that GH¢ 6.4 million was misappropriated from 2005 to 2009. Overpayments for the same period totalled GH¢ 22million. He said the committee found out that the misappropriation occurred mostly through malpractices such as the insertion in the claims form of drugs not prescribed, creation of claims in respect of persons who did not attend hospital, overstatement of claims and prescriptions not serialised. According to him, the committee learnt that the NHIA had, through the Attorney-General, instituted 10 criminal prosecutions against culprits; out of which eight were ongoing and two discontinued. With regard to overpayment, he said officials of the NHIA informed the committee that measures had been put in place for the recovery of overpayments through retrospective vetting of all claims paid. To that end, he said the NHIA recovered GH¢ 8.4 million out of the GH¢ 22 million. The monies that were recovered, he added, were mostly from payments that arose out of pure errors and not fraudulent acts. Mr Agyeman-Manu said an officer of the NHIA who was found to be involved in the overpayment of claims had been convicted by the courts. Furthermore, about 100 hospitals were found wanting in the clinical audit and had had their accreditation withdrawn by the NHIA. In spite of the NHIA  putting in measures to recover the monies, he said the committee found the situation to be unacceptable. According to him, the committee found that officers in charge of vetting and paying claims at the District Mutual Health Insurance schemes did not have the requisite training and skills, a situation which brought their competence into disrepute. “The committee, therefore, urges the management of the NHIA to pursue the pending court cases with the seriousness they deserve,” he added.

Egyptian authorities have served Al Jazeera with a charge sheet that identifies eight of its staff on a list of 20 people -- all believed to be journalists -- for allegedly conspiring with a terrorist group, the network said Wednesday.