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Macron, Merkel float ‘ambitious’ EU virus fund
France and Germany are proposing a €500bn ($545bn; £448bn) European recovery fund to be distributed to European Union (EU) countries worst affected by COVID-19.
In talks on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed that the funds should be provided as grants.
The proposal represents a significant shift in Mrs Merkel’s position.
Mr Macron said it was a major step forward and was “what the eurozone needs to remain united”.
“I believe this is a very deep transformation and that’s what the European Union and the single market needed to remain coherent,” Mr Macron said following discussions via video link.
Mrs Merkel, who had previously rejected the idea of nations sharing debt, said the European Commission would raise money for the fund by borrowing on the markets, which would be repaid gradually from the EU’s overall budget.
Grants provided by the proposed recovery fund should also be used to help finance the bloc’s investment in a greener future, the two leaders said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the proposal “acknowledges the scope and the size of the economic challenge that Europe faces”.
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said the plan was “ambitious, targeted and welcome”.
Other EU countries must agree with the proposal, however, and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz later insisted that his country backed providing loans to member nations hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, rather than grants.
“Our position remains unchanged,” Mr Kurz wrote in a tweet, adding: “We expect the updated [EU budget] to reflect the new priorities rather than raising the ceiling.”
In EU political terms this is huge.
Chancellor Merkel has conceded a lot. She openly agreed with the French that any money from this fund, allocated to a needy EU country, should be a grant, not a loan. Importantly, this means not increasing the debts of economies already weak before the pandemic.
President Macron gave ground, too. He had wanted a huge fund of a trillion or more Euros. But a trillion Euros of grants was probably too much for Mrs Merkel to swallow on behalf of fellow German taxpayers.
The resulting compromise: a win-win for the two leaders. They hope. -BBC
A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to 25 years imprisonment with hard labour by the Bekwai Circuit Court for his role in a 2022 robbery at a mining site at Manso Akwasiso in the Ashanti South Region.
The convict, Dominic Ofori, also known as Fanta, was arrested on 16th February 2026 after years on the run. He pleaded guilty before the Bekwai Circuit Court to robbery contrary to Section 149 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 Act 29, and was accordingly sentenced to 25 years imprisonment with hard labour.
On March 20, 2022, the Manso Adubia District Police received intelligence that a group of armed men from Manso Abodom were planning to attack a mining site at Manso Akwasiso to rob the owner of gold concentrate. Acting on the information, police mounted a coordinated operation and laid an ambush at the site.
At about 5:30 pm the same day, four-armed men arrived at the site, fired indiscriminately, and robbed the miners of their gold concentrate. The police team on surveillance intervened, resulting in an exchange of gunfire.
Three of the suspects, Abu Abubakar, Musah Latif, and Gideon Takyi, sustained gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead on arrival at St Martins Catholic Hospital at Agroyesum. Dominic Ofori escaped at the time but was later arrested and put before the court.
The Ashanti South Regional Police Command has assured the public of its continued commitment to combating violent crimes and bringing offenders to justice.
The Ashanti Regional Police Command has arrested 45-year-old Isaac Boafo, also known as “Duabo King,” for allegedly publishing false news intended to cause fear and panic.
Police said the arrest follows a viral TikTok video in which Boafo claimed that four officers at the Central Police Station in Kumasi engaged in inappropriate conduct with commercial sex workers during night patrols in Asafo.
Officers from the Police Intelligence Directorate (Ashanti Region) apprehended Boafo after receiving intelligence about the video.
During questioning, he admitted to creating the video to attract views and engagement online, and acknowledged that he could not prove the allegations.
Boafo also admitted making comments about the President of the Republic for content purposes and could not defend those statements.
He has been formally charged and is in detention as investigations continue.
The Ashanti Regional Police have warned the public against publishing or sharing false information on social media, noting that such acts can cause fear, panic, and damage reputations.
They said anyone found engaging in similar conduct will face legal action.
By: Jacob Aggrey
