​ Three killed as unfinished building collapses on church service in Ghana. 1 hour ago. Thomas Naadi,BBC Africa, Accraand. Basillioh Rukanga. Ghana National Fire Service/X. Three people, two women and a man, have been confirmed dead after a three-storey building that was being used as a church collapsed on worshippers in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on Sunday.. Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak said 20 others, most of them women and children, had been rescued and were being treated in various hospitals. There was “90-95% certainty that we no longer [have] any persons [trapped]”, he added.. Emergency teams worked through the night under floodlights searching for victims inside the structure’s remains.. The cause of its collapse, which happened after heavy rain, is unknown, with the interior minister saying investigations are under way.. The building itself, which was part of a school in Accra’s New Town area, was being used despite lying unfinished for several years, according to locals.. “What we can say is that there was a total of 23 people… It’s a very sad day for all of us,” Mohammed-Mubarak said.. Earlier reports had initially confirmed two deaths and 14 rescued, but the minister said the latest figures of 20 rescued had been cross-checked with various sources, including the ambulance services.. He acknowledged that it had been difficult to determine how many people had been in the building at the time of its collapse, and commended emergency responders for their quick response and rescue efforts through the night.. The national fire service has posted images on X of workers at the site as an agitated crowd mill around the scene.. Eyewitnesses reported hearing trapped victims calling for help under the rubble, describing the incomplete building as poorly constructed with no major maintenance since construction started.. “Everybody in the community knows the building is very weak, yet they allowed services and activities inside,” an eyewitness said.. Operations to check for any more worshippers are continuing and the debris is being cleared.. The incident has reignited the debate about the structural integrity of some of the buildings in the country.. It has also reminded people of the 2012 collapse of a multi-storey shopping centre that was attributed to poor construction.. You may also be interested in:. ‘The gravest crime against humanity’: What does the UN vote on slavery mean?. Women secretly filmed, then ridiculed and abused online. Bitter times for cocoa farmers as chocolate market slumps. Getty Images/BBC. Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica. BBC Africa podcasts. Focus on Africa. This Is Africa. Ghana. Africa  

​ Fugitive Dezi Freeman shot dead by Australian police after seven months in hiding. 40 minutes ago. Lana Lamand. Tiffanie Turnbull,Sydney. Australian police have shot and killed Dezi Freeman after the double-murderer spent seven months on the run.. A well-known conspiracy theorist, Freeman gunned down two police officers on his property in the small Victorian town of Porepunkah last August, before fleeing into dense bushland and evading extensive searches.. Victoria Police say a man was shot dead after an hours-long standoff at a rural property in the state’s north-east on Monday morning. Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the man is believed to be Freeman, 56, but formal identification is still underway.. “Today an evil man is dead,” said Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. “It’s over.”. Police say they surrounded a building – described as a cross between a shipping container and a long caravan – on a rural property around 5:30 local time.. After three hours and multiple police pleas, a man believed to be Freeman came outside and was shot dead.. Details are still being confirmed, Bush told reporters, but he believes Freeman emerged wrapped in a blanket and armed with a gun, possibly one taken from one of the slain officers back in August.. “Our ultimate goal was to arrest the person,” Bush said.. “There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully but he did not.”. No officers were hurt during the operation, police said, which will be investigated, as is standard in police shootings.. The squad sent to Freeman’s property on 26 August was there to search it over an investigation into sex offences, when two senior constables – Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart – were killed by Freeman.. Their families were the first to be told about Freeman’s death, Bush said, adding that it would take 24 to 48 hours to confirm the identity of the body.. “Should [his identity] be confirmed… this brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible event.”. Manhunt in Australian bush brings long-dismissed conspiracy theorists to the fore. Who is Dezi Freeman, the ‘sovereign citizen’ wanted for killing police?. Investigators believe Freeman was helped while he was on the run, and detectives will now focus on working out who gave him aid, Bush added.. “It would be very difficult for him to get to where he was… without assistance,” Bush said. “If anyone was complicit, they will be held accountable.”. In a statement on Monday, the Police Association of Victoria said Freeman’s death was a “step forward”- but not quite “closure”.. “It doesn’t lessen the trauma, give back the futures that were callously stolen or lessen the collective fear and grief that this tragic event has instilled in police and the wider public.”. Freeman, whose real name was Desmond Filby, was a self-described “sovereign citizen”, part of an anti-government movement that rejects authority and laws.. Locals in Porepunkah – an alpine tourist town beneath Mount Buffalo – said he had lived on his proper  

​ Fuel tax halved and free public transport offered as war pushes up prices in Australia. 58 minutes ago. Aleks Phillipsand. Tiffanie Turnbull,Sydney. Getty Images. Two Australian states will offer free public transport to incentivise people not to drive as fuel prices soar due to the war in the Middle East.. Victoria, home to Melbourne, has said it will have free travel throughout April, while Tasmania has said commuters will not need to pay until the end of June. Other state governments have so far declined to follow suit.. It comes as the federal government announced it would halve the nation’s fuel excise tax for three months to ease pressure on motorists’ wallets.. Australia is among a host of nations that have seen fuel prices increase sharply since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.. Follow updates on the Iran war. The near-total blockade of international shipping in the vital waterway – through which around 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas flows – has led governments around the world to begin implementing measures to conserve fuel.. Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously sought to reassure motorists following reports of panic-buying and petrol stations running dry.. His government on Monday said the fuel excise, a sales tax, will be lowered by 26.3 cents per litre for petrol and diesel, which should save drivers between about A$10 (£5.18, $6.87) and A$20 a tank.. The excise cut – which comes into effect on Wednesday – will cost the Australian taxpayer A$2.55bn.. Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan announced on Saturday that trains, trams and buses in the state would be free for all from Tuesday in a bid to drive down pressure on petrol pumps.. “This won’t solve every problem, but it’s an immediate step to help Victorians right now,” she said.. Meanwhile, the government of Tasmania – an island off the Australian mainland – announced people would be able to take its coaches, buses and ferries without charge for the coming few months.. “We know the rising cost of fuel is impacting the family budget, and that’s why we have again taken strong and decisive action to protect Tasmanians,” its Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.. Tasmania’s transport minister also noted that paid-for school buses would be made free, saving those who use them A$20 (£10.40) a week.. But other Australian states have demurred from similar actions.. NSW transport minister John Graham told broadcasters his state was keeping its “powder dry”. Graham said that offering free public transport would cost millions of dollars a day – money the government needs to help get the state through the crisis long term.. South Australia said it was expanding the number of senior travel cards while absorbing higher fuel costs, and a spokesperson for Queensland pointed to it introducing a flat 50-cent fare last February in comments to SBS News.. Similarly, Western Australia Premier Roger Cook said his state had alrea  

​ Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing nominated as president. 2 hours ago. Jonathan HeadSouth East Asia correspondent, Yangon. AFP via Getty Images. Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing has been nominated for the presidency as parliament convened on Monday, following a general election from which the biggest opposition parties were excluded.. Min Aung Hlaing is certain to be chosen, as he was nominated in parliament alongside two loyalists who are very unlikely contenders for president.. He has been sanctioned by many Western countries for leading a military coup five years ago.. In the ensuing civil war, thousands of people have been killed and millions have been displaced. Large areas of the country remain under the control of armed opposition groups.. The general elections, held between December and January, were touted by the junta as a pathway to peace.. But the vote was widely viewed as a sham, with many popular parties banned from standing and large areas of the country not allowed to participate because of the civil war.. The regime has rejected this criticism, maintaining that the vote was free and fair.. Still, around 90% of the members of Myanmar’s new parliament owe their loyalty to Min Aung Hlaing, either as serving officers in the armed forces – which are guaranteed a quarter of the seats – or as elected candidates for the military’s own party.. They plan to spend most of this week debating the choice of the next president, but it is now inevitable that the coup leader will get the job.. AFP via Getty Images. Min Aung Hlaing is known to have wanted the presidency for a long time.. The prospect of not getting it after the military party’s dismal performance in the 2020 election was a big factor behind the coup that ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.. But there are trade-offs: the constitution states that Min Aung Hlaing must give up command of the armed forces if he becomes president.. That carries risks. There are known to be senior commanders who are unhappy with his leadership.. He has already chosen a staunch loyalist, General Ye Win Oo to replace him, who has a reputation for brutal treatment of dissidents.. But the risk still remains that once Min Aung Hlaing no longer controls the military, he loses some of his power.. He has also created a new consultative council which he will head, which could give him continued authority over both military and civilian affairs.. What is not in doubt is that the new administration will essentially be just an expanded version of the current military junta, but in civilian clothes.. There has been no indication from Min Aung Hlaing or his deputies that he will change course, and end the violent suppression of those who oppose his seizure of power five years ago.. Myanmar. Asia  

​ Latin Patriarch will have access to Jerusalem holy site after police stopped entry. 9 hours ago. Maia Davies. Getty Images. Israel’s prime minister has said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem will now have “full and immediate access” to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, after police earlier prevented him from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass there.. Benjamin Netanyahu said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who is head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, had been asked not to enter the church out of concern for his safety. He said Iran had repeatedly targeted Jerusalem’s holy sites with ballistic missiles.. The decision to block the cardinal from entering Christianity’s most sacred site had been criticised by several Western nations.. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said it was an “unfortunate overreach” that was “difficult to understand or justify”.. Cardinal Pizzaballa and the Reverend Francesco Ielpo were stopped outside the church believed to be the site of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, as they were planning to hold a Mass to mark the start of Holy Week, church authorities said.. Cardinal Pizzaballa’s office said it was “the first time in centuries” a Latin Patriarch had been turned away from the holy site on Palm Sunday, which marks Christ’s return to Jerusalem.. He and Rev Ielpo had been “compelled” to turn back from the church, where Christ was also believed to have been buried and subsequently resurrected, it said.. “This incident is a grave precedent and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world, who during this week, look to Jerusalem,” a statement from the patriarchate said.. “This hasty and fundamentally flawed decision, tainted by improper considerations, represents an extreme departure from basic principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship, and respect for the status quo.”. The patriarchate said it had followed all “imposed restrictions” and acted responsibly since the war began, adding that Sunday’s decision was “a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure”.. Cardinal Pizzaballa later said while he did “not want to force the issue”, “we had not asked for anything public, just a brief and small private ceremony”.. “We want to use this situation to try to clarify better in the coming days what to do, in respect for everyone’s safety but also in respect for the right to prayer,” he added.. Netanyahu said worshippers of “all faiths” had been asked not to visit sites in Jerusalem’s Old City, which had been subject to strikes from Iran, and that police had acted out of “special” safety concerns in this instance.. The traditional Palm Sunday procession into the city had already been cancelled due to restrictions on public gatherings.. Israeli police said all holy sites in the Old City had been closed to worshippers since the US-Israel war against Iran began on 28 February for security reasons, and that it had rejected the patriarchate’s request for a Palm Sunday exemption.. Netanya