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Army chief ‘to say UK must be ready for a war with Russia’ in chilling warning
The head of the Armed Forces, General Sir Patrick Sanders will give a speech expected to pile pressure on Boris Johnson to reverse plans to cut British troop numbers
The UK must be prepared to “fight and win” in the face of Russian aggression, the country’s army chief will say.
Head of the Armed Forces, General Sir Patrick Sanders, is expected to make the comments when he gives his first public speech today.
The Chief of the General Staff will draw parallels between now and key moments leading to the breakout of the Second World War when he says Britain is facing its “1937 moment” and must be on high alert to “act rapidly” to keep expansionism from Russia in check.
NATO vowed last night to boost its rapid reaction force numbers from the current 40,000 to more than 300,000.
The announcement came as Boris Johnson and other NATO leaders prepare to descend on Madrid for a crunch summit today.
The Telegraph reports that Sir Patrick will say deterring Russia will require “more of the Army ready more of the time” from “the general … to the young lance corporal in the barrack room, from the reservist on a weekend exercise, to the civil servant in Army headquarters”.
His stark words could increase pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to scrap his plans to cut troop number in the Armed Forces.
Sir Patrick is expected to say: “This is our 1937 moment. We are not at war – but must act rapidly so that we aren’t drawn into one through a failure to contain territorial expansion.
“I will do everything in my power to ensure that the British Army plays its part in averting war.”
Technology minister Chris Philp said Russia would have to be “literally insane” to start a war with NATO
He told Sky News: “We don’t want to see an escalation into a wider conflict. I think Russia would be literally insane to attempt to do that because Nato is a far larger and a far stronger bloc.
“We have seen the Russians have been unable to make significant progress in Ukraine where they tried to take Kyiv and they were unable to do so.
“Russia would be mad to try and take on Nato. We don’t think they will do that, we don’t think they should do that, we certainly don’t want to see that happen.”
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will also use a speech today to urge more investment in defence.
Source: www.mirror.co.uk
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
