Messi´s Prison Sentence Swapped For Fine

Messi

Spain's public prosecutor has agreed to substitute Lionel Messi's suspended 21-month prison sentence for tax fraud with a fine.

The Barcelona superstar was given the jail term last July after being found guilty - alongside his father Jorge - of three counts of tax fraud.

It was ruled that Messi, between 2007 and 2009, defrauded Spain of €4.1million relating to earnings from image rights.

An appeal against the sentence was rejected by the Spanish Supreme Court in May.

However, Spanish news agency EFE reports that the public prosecutor has agreed to substitute the sentence for a fine of €255,000.

During the initial trial in 2016, Messi consistently denied any involvement, insisting his focus was only ever on playing football.

Source: Opera Sports

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Microsoft Releases 5th Generation Surface Pro

Microsoft launched the newest version of its Surface Pro 2-in-1 device today -- a convenient cross between a laptop PC and tablet. The new model comes in a 12.3-inch form factor that features a 2736 x 1824 resolution touchscreen display.

The latest iteration of the Surface Pro weighs in at just 1.69 pounds, making it attractive as a lightweight mobile device. Meanwhile, enterprises will likely appreciate the device's support for Windows Hello facial recognition sign-in feature, which should help increase security.

The new Surface Pro device also features the TPM security chip for enterprise-level security, and comes with a 5.0MP front-facing and a 8.0MP rear-facing camera. The Pro will be running a full-fledged version of the Windows operating system in the form of Windows Pro, rather than the stripped-down Windows S version Microsoft is shipping with the Surface Laptop.

More Attractive to Artists

Microsoft has upgraded the new model from Intel's Skylake architecture to Intel's more advanced Kaby Lake chip. The change is expected to improve battery life up to 50 percent, according to Microsoft's estimates. The new Surface Pro also offers accelerated 4K HEVC video decoding, and a new stylus with reduced latency and four times as many different pressure levels as its predecessor, plus new support for drawing at a tilted angle.

While the stylus used to come included with all but the cheapest Surface Pro models, users will now have to shell out extra for it, as the price of the stylus has increased to $100 from $60. For artists who plan to use the Surface Pro for drawing on the go, the pen might represent enough of an upgrade to justify the increased investment.

In fact, artists and other creative professionals seem to be the key demographic Microsoft is targeting with its latest set of upgrades. The company is also hyping the new model's improved kickstand, which allows the device to be propped up at more angles, making it more attractive as a drawing surface.

Up to 1 TB SSD

External accessories can be connected to the Surface Pro via a full-size USB 3.0 port. The line also features a microSD card reader and headset jack.

The fifth iteration of the Surface Pro comes in six different models. The entry-level edition will run you $799, is powered by Intel's Core m3 processor, and comes with 4 GB of RAM, and a 128 GB SSD hard drive. Moving up to $999 will get you an i5 processor, which you can bump up to 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD for $1,299.

The cheapest model running on an i7 processor starts at $1,599 and also comes with Intel's Iris integrated graphics processor for faster photo, video, and 3D workloads. For $2,199, users can bump up the specs to a 512 GB SSD and 16 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, the top-line model, which comes with a 1 TB SSD, will cost $2,699.

Source: Top Tech News

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VIDEO: Mi Naa Bo Po – EL

EL

Rapper E.L’s Mi Naa Bo Po is doubtlessly on of the biggest hits 2015 offered us. It won him VGMA Afropop Song of the Year in 2016, and catapulted him to the topmost prize on the night.

After a long wait, the rapper has finally released accompanying visuals for the record. It was shot on location in markets and on some streets in the capital by the renowned Phamous Philms.

Born Elom Adabla, the BBNZ frontman is prepping for the release of his third solo album. His recent singles include “Agbo”, “Abaa” among others.

Source: GABRIEL MYERS HANSEN /Enewsgh

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Messi wouldn´t fit at Real Madrid – Asensio

Lionel Messi

Real Madrid midfielder Marco Asensio believes there is no room for even Lionel Messi at the European champions.

Asensio, 21, has been linked with a move away from the LaLiga giants, but is expected to sign a new deal with Madrid.

Several players from Zinedine Zidane's star-studded squad are linked with switches to get more game time, including James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata.

But Asensio is happy with the Madrid squad as is, saying not even Barcelona and Argentina star Messi could be added.

"Not right now," he told Marca when asked if Messi would fit at Madrid.

"The squad is very good as it is. If we stay as we are, it's perfect."

Asensio made 23 league appearances for Madrid in 2016-17, scoring three goals.

Source: Opera Sports

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Say NO To Mob Action

A Victim of Mob Lynching

La Salem Park, Accra Ghana.  This is how it shamefully went down some years back;

Young Master Paul woke up one morning full of life. As usual he took his bath and prepared for school. When he was done, he wore his school shorts and a white singlet.

Master Paul was very close to his mother who was a trader and as such he would walk her to the lorry station - a routine that earned him some extra coins for school-.

"Nyɛ Awo! when you are ready, please call me so I walk you to the lorry station. We have to continue the conversation from where we left off yesterday," Master Paul told his mum as he rushed to his room to put the Social Studies Textbook in his school bag.

In no time Master Paul's mother was done and ready to leave for work. She called for him "Paul its 5:45am. Hurry up and let's go else the queue will start bending left and right."

Master Paul and his mother setoff from the house and as usual they had their chat. "Nyɛ Awo, something small for the boy? I want to buy plantain chips for snack at school today," he whispered to his mum as they approached the lorry station.

"This my son and his tricks. When you start talking like this, I know you want extra 1ghc from me to topup your 3ghc daily feeding money. If you think you are grown, we are ancient. Anyways you brighten up my morning everyday by walking me to the station and I appreciate you for that," his mother said as she reached out for the 1ghc coin from her bag and gave it to him. He put the coin in his left hand.

When they got to the lorry station, Paul help his mother get on the trotro, stood next to her window and continue their chat till the trotro was full and ready to move. He waved at her as the car moved towards the main road.

Halfway through his journey back home to pick up his school bag, shirt and leave for school, he heard a loud shout "hoo julɔ oo". Before he could say 'jack', a lot of people had surrounded him and were beating him.

" Foolish boy. Small boy like you, you have started stealing," a man from the crowd said as he struck Master Paul with a Crowbar. Another landed a heavy punch,a slap and a kick to his ribs as he fell to the ground.

"What has he done? Leave the boy alone he is not a thief. I know him. I just saw him with his mother at the lorry station," a man from the lorry station yelled.

He fought his way through the mob as they continued to lynch Master Paul and managed to stop them. Master Paul was not moving, he had no pulse as well.

"What have you lot done? You have killed someone's innocent son.he didn't steal anything. I saw his mother give him 1ghc coin," pointing to Paul's left hand which he had made into a fist. He managed to open the fist and yelled with tears in his eyes "He still had the 1ghc coin in his hand as you people were beating him.what did he steal? What did he ever do to you? Are you happy now? You have killed him."

He carried the lifeless body of Master Paul, stopped a taxi, put the body in it drove off.

PS: This happened to Master Paul at La Salem Park in Greater Accra- if not in the same order that I described it- some years back. A mother lost a son and a nation lost a promising adult because of mob action. Say No to Mob lynching. Instant justice is not a good thing.

By Nii Ogbamey Tetteh

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BUSY outdoors JUMP ACADEMY

Praveen Sadalage

Busy has launched the second phase of its e-learning and social portal, JUMP.

Branded JUMP Academy, the addition to the already exciting online educational portal sees the inclusion of audio-visual materials covering various academic and professional courses put together by experienced professionals and lecturers tailored to the local curriculum.

JUMP Academy has been added to the Education category of the portal www.jump.com.gh .
Praveen Sadalage, Chief Executive Officer of Busy addressing the guests at the launch; held at the University of Professional Studies, Legon said “The JUMP Academy initiative seeks to provide students and other young professionals with the requisite courses and practical case studies through high quality recorded videos and lecture notes from experienced lecturers from University of Professional Studies (UPS) and Regent University.”

According to Mr. Sadalage, in pursuance of Busy’s vision to become the Next Generation Operator, “we are determined to accompany and empower the Ghanaian youth on their journey to acquire knowledge and to contribute to their education using information and communication technology.

JUMP Academy is easy and free to access and has no restrictions on the profiles of those who can access it. We ensure a constant updating and enrichment of the contents to allow the youth get the best out of the platform”.

He added; “We are excited to demonstrate Busy’s commitment to bridging the digital divide in education through the launch of the JUMP Academy.

The primary aim of this initiative is to align education to current trends in the ICT space, thereby complementing government’s efforts to digitise learning. Through partnerships and the numerous educational resources on the platform, we hope to fast-track education into the digital age.”

Youth Programme Manager at Busy, Joyce Danso said “a key pillar in Busy’s regional strategy is a focus on the youth segment – individuals aged 25 and under which make up 60-70% of the population.

“We find this group as an impressive pool of talent with immense capacity waiting to be developed.  Therefore, one of our main objectives is to drive the education agenda in Ghana, in line with our strategy to empower the youths”, she said.

Joyce Danso added that despite the growing access to e-learning portals, there is the demand for more.  Busy’s JUMP Academy e-learning portal is however unique in the sense that, this portal has been created with the Ghanaian student and students resident in Ghana in mind.

The educational content, lectures and case studies are based on examples we know in Ghana and can easily relate to”.

As part of the initial launch, the Academy will provide free introductory content in Information Technology (IT), French, Finance and Accounting with plans to add more courses.

“We understand that young people have the zeal and passion to learn to develop themselves in an easier and convenient way. JUMP academy therefore comes in timely to solve the challenges of traditional modes of learning and to support both regular and distance education. We are excited about the prospects of this new initiave of Busy and will call on all students to take advantage to develop themselves”, Ms Danso said.

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