The government of Ghana has condemned what it describes as a unilateral and unauthorised military invasion of Venezuela by the United States, which resulted in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, January 4, 2026, Ghana said it was alarmed by the development, which reportedly occurred in the early hours of Saturday, January 3.

Venezuela's toppled leader Nicolas Maduro was in a New York detention center on Sunday awaiting drug charges after President Donald Trump ordered an audacious raid to capture him, saying the U.S. would take control of the oil-producing nation.

Maduro was seen in handcuffs, where he said "happy New Year" as agents escorted him through a corridor. He could appear in court on Monday. 

Senegal and Mali on Saturday qualified for the quarter-finals of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco. While Senegal came from behind to ease past Sudan 3-1 ⁠and book their ‍place, Mali on its part used a 10-man squad to eliminate Tunisia on penalties. Former champions Senegal will face Mali in the quarterfinals.

The Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela's Supreme Court ordered on Saturday that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assume the role of acting president of the country in the absence of Nicolás Maduro, who was detained early Saturday morning in an operation by U.S. forces.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board says more than 97 per cent of the reported losses linked to the Bank of Ghana’s gold purchasing programme result from exchange rate translation, not operational failings.

Police in the Eastern South Region have arrested five individuals for allegedly posing as operatives of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Squad (NAIMOS) and extorting money from some miners.

Nigerian singer and entrepreneur, Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade, popularly known as Mr Eazi, has claimed that he coined the phrase m, ‘Detty December’, which has become synonymous with funfair during Christmas holidays in the country.

With the knockout stage about to begin at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the tournament’s heavyweights have largely enjoyed smooth passage so far.

Algeria and Nigeria were the only teams to win all three of their group matches, while Mohamed Salah’s goals helped Egypt progress comfortably with seven points.

Hosts Morocco also went unbeaten, easing captain Achraf Hakimi back into action after injury.

Gabon’s President, Brice Oligui Nguema, has reshuffled his economic management team, replacing Finance Minister Henri Claude Oyima amid mounting fiscal pressures and a tightening liquidity situation in the oil-producing Central African country.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has announced that Ghana has begun diplomatic engagements with Ukraine to secure the release of a Ghanaian national currently being held by Ukrainian authorities as a prisoner of war.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has said the 2025/2026 academic calendar for senior high schools remains unchanged.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been captured and flown out of Venezuela after the US carried out a large scale strike on the capital city of Caracas, US President Donald Trump announced, adding there will be “further details to follow.”

Several explosions in Caracas have been seen this morning with some areas of the city without electricity. The first blast was recorded at approximately 1.50am local time on Saturday.

President Trump had repeatedly warned that the US was preparing to take new action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela.

Confirming it the Saturday action Trump said the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been captured and flown out of the country along with his wife. 

The Justice for All Programme held its last session at the Kumasi Central Prison for year 2025 andaddressed 41 pre-trial cases, resulting in 15 bail applications granted, four detainees discharged, and three cases dismissed or struck out.

The Majority Leader in Parliament and Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has pledged support to champion calls for the creation of a new constituency out of Chiana/Paga in the Upper East Region.

The Chiana/Paga seat is located within the Kassena/Nankana District of Upper East Region, and as of 2024, it had a total registered voter population of 54,916, according to the Electoral Commission's figures.

Without considering land size, Sekyere Afram Plains in the Ashanti Region is the constituency with the lowest registered voter population of 22,814.

A man who was reported missing on Thursday, [December 25, 2025], has been found dead under disturbing circumstances in a bush at Bapilla, a community in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.

The incident has sent shockwaves through Dagliga in the Nabdam District and surrounding communities.

Evans Eshun, commonly known on social media as Ebo Noah, spent months stirring anxiety with a claim of a vision involving a global flood on Christmas Day.

China's BYD is set to overtake Elon Musk's Tesla as the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles (EVs), marking the first time it has outpaced its American rival for annual sales.

The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) has issued a public weather advisory for the 2025/2026 Harmattan season, warning of an unusually delayed and generally weak dry period, with occasional severe dust episodes expected in the north and lingering rainfall in the south.

A joint team of armed military and police personnel swooped on the Ho Central Mosque before dawn on Friday, January 2 to enforce the temporary closure of the mosque as ordered by the Volta Regional Security Council following last week's shooting incident.

The security agency personnel drove away people who were at the mosque at about 2am before taking control of the area.

On 7 January 2025, President John Dramani Mahama was sworn into office following a decisive mandate from the Ghanaian people in the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. One year on, the question is no longer whether the government has settled into office, but whether it has meaningfully reset the tone, direction, and credibility of governance in Ghana.

Despite a directive by the Volta Regional Security Council (REGSEC) for the temporary closure of the Ho Central Mosque, for a duration of two weeks, from January 1, 2026, the place of worship is still opened to the public, in violation of the order.

The REGSEC on December 31, 2025, in a statement said the location of the mosque had been declared a crime scene to facilitate further investigation into the Boxing Day shooting incident at the place.

They promised us a lifeline. In black and white, in their 2024 manifesto, they offered a covenant to Ghanaian youth: a “No-Fees Stress” policy. Free tertiary education for first-year students and persons with disabilities. Academic fees, they said, would be “fully covered by state funds.” As a student of International Relations, I recognise a diplomatic pledge when I see one. As a youth activist, I learned a harder lesson: to recognize a political bait-and-switch.

The Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, and his wife, Dr Mrs Adelaide Siaw Agyepong, ushered in the New Year by distributing food items and cash to more than 5,000 Ghanaians at their Accra residence on Wednesday, January 1, 2026.

On the last day of his “Kokrokoo” programme on Peace FM on Tuesday, 23  December 2025, ace broadcaster Kwami Sefa Kayi (KSK) thanked the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) with the following words. “Thank you for your service to the nation.” He added, “it is because of you that we can sleep in peace at night.” 

Having acknowledged his bias for GAF on account of being a “soldier-pikin/barracks brat,” he also acknowledged the important roles of the Ghana Police and other Security services, thanking each of them. Put another way, he thanked us for our service “for God and country!”

The Ho Zango community in the Volta Region has rejected the decision of the Volta Regional Security Council to close the Ho Central Mosque for two weeks as part of investigations into the Boxing Day shooting incident and processes in resolving the controversy of who should be regional Imam.