Oscars head acts over lack of nominees' diversity

Oscars head Cheryl Boone Isaacs is taking action to "alter the make-up" of their membership, after Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith's refusal to attend because of the mostly white nominees.

Boone Isaacs praised the "wonderful work" of the nominees but said she was "heartbroken" at the lack of diversity.
Lee said on Instagram he "cannot support" the "lily white" awards show.
Jada Pinkett Smith said in a video message on Facebook that she would not be attending the awards ceremony.
Boone Isaacs added that "dramatic steps" were being taken, saying: "In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond."
The 6,300 members, made up of people from the film industry, vote on who is nominated for the Oscars each year.
"This is a difficult but important conversation, and it's time for big changes," she said.
"As many of you know, we have implemented changes to diversify our membership in the last four years. but the change is not coming as fast as we would like. We need to do more, and better and more quickly."
She said such a move was not "unprecedented" for the Academy, and that in the 60s and 70s younger members were recruited and that today's mandate was about inclusion: "gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation".
Credit: BBC

Soldier crashes to death at Burma Camp

A motorcycle display by both Military Policemen and Navy ratings turned bloody during last week’s pulling-out ceremony of former Chief of the Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Mathew Quashie.
The Navy rating died soon after a head-on collision with a military policeman during a display of their manoeuvring skills along the ceremonial route at Burma Camp as a feature of the ceremony, leaving the other soldier in critical condition. Their display was the cynosure of many onlookers as they relished the spectacle.
Along the route from Burma Hall, all went well with both Navy Able Seamen and their colleagues from the other arms clutching their rifles at ease position, their Number One uniform, spotlessly white, bespeaking of the important occasion – the pulling out of the CDC, a career Navy officer, and the takeover of the position by former Chief of Air Staff, AVM Michael Samson-Oje, a dyed-in-the-wool pilot.
Rehearsals had taken place in consonance with military tradition so that nothing untoward happens. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, death occurred.
Soon after covering some distance from their starting points, the Navy rating banked to one side and as he sought to steady the motorbike, he crashed into the approaching bike mounted by his colleague Military Police rider.
The rating’s motorbike bore the traditional Navy blue colour as his military policeman spotted the infantry camouflage olive green.
There was sudden exclamation as the two military personnel crashed into each other within a twinkle of an eye.
Soldiers rushed to the scene as a couple of ambulances raced to the spot.  The fallen was still breathing at the time but unfortunately, he could not hold on to life for too long as he succumbed to death, having been pronounced so at the 37 Military Hospital where he was rushed to.
In an age of smart phones, the spectacle was captured and soon got spread, with some charging the military of abandoning the fallen driver to his fate until death laid its icy hands on him.

Information also has it that one of the Navy ratings, a female, among those lining up the ceremonial route, also suffered some injuries following the motorbike crash.
Despite the occurrences, the ceremonial pulling-out event took place along the same street.

Credit: Daily Guide

Focus on dumsor not Gitmo two - Barima Sidney

 Controversial hip life artiste, Barima Sidney has said he does not see anything wrong with Ghana providing a sanctuary for the two ex-Gitmo detainees.
He thinks the hype about the two is not necessary, and called on Ghanaians to focus on how to fix dumsor, the rising fuel prices and how to get a credible voters’ register instead.
“If the Guantanamo detainees are threat to Ghana why do Ghanaians still travel abroad – there are more terrorists in the countries Ghanaians travel to,” Barima Sidney told Mike 2 on Adom Entertainment Hall.
The “Africa Money” hit singer thinks Ghanaians should trust in the government’s assurance that they have the necessary security measures in place so there is no cause for alarm.
“I don’t see anything so fearful with the two ex-Gitmo detainees - opposition parties should rather talk about issues that will help develop the nation - what is Gitmo 2” he said.
Meanwhile, President John Mahama told Ghanaians that the two ex-Gitmo detainees were the most compliant at Gitmo and are of low risk, several reports, including one from WikiLeaks indicate one is a high-risk detainee and the other is a medium risk detainee.
It was on the basis of those reports that the US Congress and Senate, following the will of the American people, refused President Barack Obama’s move to send any of the ex-Gitmo detainees to American soil.
But in Ghana, President Mahama used his executive power on the blind side of all Ghanaians, including his own cabinet ministers and Parliament and allowed the US to send the two potentially dangerous ex-Gitmo detainees to Ghana. At least so far three of President Mahama’s cabinet Ministers have said they were not privy to the decision to bring in the two.
Again, according to an article in the US-based Wall Street Journal, President Obama’s task force report on the two indicate they were never cleared and freed from detention, but were tagged as “ready for transfer” and their coming to Ghana was deemed as “conditional detention”.
Foreign Affair Minister, Hannah Tetteh was reported as saying Ghana is now looking for more information on the two, because “the US did not show us the Wikileaks report which said the two are of high-security risk.”
It is the uncertainty about this two that make Ghanaians nervous about their presence in the country.
Credit: Ghana Web

Celine Dion's brother Daniel dies two days after her husband

The older brother of Canadian singer Celine Dion has died of cancer, two days after her husband also died.

Daniel Dion, 59, died on Saturday near Montreal, a statement by the singer's spokeswoman said.
Ms Dion's family paid tribute to the father-of-two, calling him "a gentle and reserved man of many talents".
Her husband and former manager, Rene Angelil, died on Thursday aged 73. His death in Las Vegas came after two bouts with throat cancer.
Daniel Dion was the eighth of 14 children, and performed with his siblings in their parents' piano bar in Quebec province.
He had been suffering cancer of the throat, tongue and brain, his sister Claudette told the Journal de Montreal newspaper (in French).
"He was ready, and isn't suffering any more," she said. "He was at peace."
The funeral of Mr Angelil, who helped to launch Celine Dion's career, will be held on Friday in the Notre Dame basilica in Montreal, where the couple married.
Dion recorded 25 studio albums and is the fifth-best-paid recording artist in the world, with a value of some $630m (£437m).
In 1999, her song My Heart Will Go On, from the soundtrack of the film Titanic, won two Grammy awards.
Credit: BBC