Foreign

King Charlse to give up lease on Welsh country estate

Published

4 months ago

June 4, 2023

King Charles is giving up the lease on his Welsh estate.

Llwynywermod estate, near Llandovery in Carmarthenshire, was purchased for the then-Prince Charles by The Duchy of Cornwall, external in 2007 for £1.2m

The three-bedroom property, a former coach house, is set in the grounds of a ruined mansion and overlooks an 18th Century country park including 40 acres of woodland.

Buckingham Palace confirmed the King had given notice to the Duchy earlier this year that he planned to give up the lease when it ends this summer.

Llwynywermod has served as the home of the King and Queen Camilla during visits to Wales, including while on annual summer tours of the nation.
Following renovations in 2008, old agricultural buildings centred on a courtyard were converted into self-catering units.

According to the Telegraph, external, the King has been paying rent on Llwynywermod since the Duchy of Cornwall was passed to Prince William after his father’s coronation.

Quoting royal sources, the newspaper said the King remained “passionate” about Wales but had decided to give up the property because it was “unlikely” he would be able to use it in the same way as when he was Prince of Wales.

Prior to taking the throne, the King was regularly seen walking in the area, with he and the Queen described as “active patrons” in the village.

The original owner of Llwynywermod estate, in the 13th or 14th Century, was William Williams who was related to Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII and the mother of Elizabeth I.

The old house and its disintegrating concrete and corrugated iron farm buildings were restored by Welsh craftsmen using traditional methods and materials from the area

The then-Prince Charles planted climbers including Albertine roses, jasmine and honeysuckle up the walls.

Six of the English field maples which formed the avenue of trees at William and Kate’s 2011 wedding were later rehomed at the Welsh retreat.

The idea was the King’s and, with William and Kate’s approval, he set them in the soil at the front of the house, along a rustic wooden fence.

Foreign

Coup attempt in Burkina Faso

Published

2 days ago

September 28, 2023

Alero Danjuma

The junta in Burkina Faso, which toppled a military regime to gain power, has announced that there was a coup attempt.

In a statement, the junta said an attempt by some army officers to seize power and plunge the country into chaos was thwarted.

“The dark intention of attacking the institutions of the Republic and plunging our country in chaos… investigations will help unmask the instigators of this plot.”

“Officers and other alleged actors involved in this attempt at destabilisation have been arrested and others are actively sought,” read the statement from Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, spokesman for the regime.

The military government said it would seek to shed all possible light on this plot, adding that it regretted “that officers whose oath is to defend their homeland have strayed into an undertaking of this nature”.

It said while four people had been detained, two were on the run.

The statement added that the regime launched investigation based on “credible allegations about a plot against state security implicating officers.”

“We regret that officers whose oath is to defend their homeland have strayed into an undertaking of this nature, which aims to hinder the Burkinabe people’s march for sovereignty and total liberation from the terrorist hordes trying to enslave them.”

The junta came to power after two military coups last year, triggered in part by a worsening insurgency by armed groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that has destabilised Burkina Faso and its neighbours.

Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the junta leader, seized power on September 30, 2022, the country’s second coup in eight months.

From 2020 till date, there have been seven coups across Africa.

Foreign

Manufacturers sack 3,567 workers, unsold goods hit ₦‎272billion – MAN

Published

3 days ago

September 27, 2023

Olakunle Adeniyi

No fewer than 3,567 jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector in the first half of 2023 according to figures obtained by The PUNCH from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.

MAN disclosed this in its half yearly review of the economy, which was released on Tuesday.

According to the report, employment generation in the manufacturing sector declined to 6,428 in the first half of 2023.

This was 32.8 per cent reduction in employment generation capacity when compared with 9,559 jobs generated in the first half of 2022.

The report read partly, “In the same vein, a total of 3,567 jobs were lost in the first half of 2023, indicating 1,855 more jobs lost when compared with the 1,709 jobs lost in the corresponding half of 2022, and 850 more jobs lost when compared with 2708 jobs lost in the last half of 2022.”

MAN said the decline in the number of jobs created in the sector during the period further highlighted the unfriendly business environment, resulting from the hasty policies and residual effect of the currency redesign policy that led to the naira crunch.

The report also stated that the inventory of unsold finished products in the manufacturing sector increased to N271.9bn during the first half of 2023, compared to N187bn in the corresponding period of 2022.

This indicated a substantial rise of N84.88bn or 45.4 per cent over the timeframe. It also showed N11.64bn or 4.1 per cent decline when compared with the inventory value of N283.6bn recorded in the second half of 2022.

“This increase in inventory can be attributed to a weakened purchasing power of the consumers, brought about by diminishing real household income resulting from the ongoing escalation of inflationary pressures, compounded by the scarcity of naira in the first quarter of the year and the aftermath of the subsidy removal,” the report said.

It noted that subsidy removal and exchange rate unification policy towards the end of the first half left the economy on the brink of uncertainty, caused a ripple effect that further eroded investors’ confidence.

MAN stated that, “As a result, businesses and foreign investors are increasingly wary of committing capital, thereby hindering economic growth and prospects for recovery.

“The combined effect of these is the resultant higher inflationary pressure, which fuels the cost of production, reducing consumers’ purchasing power and having a greater impact on the manufacturers.”