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Zamfara PDP launches campaign, says APC has failed

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Mr Lawal

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara State on Monday kicked off its governorship campaign in Kaura Namoda Local Government Area, considered to be a key battleground area, with a promise to improve security, increase investment in education and eradicate poverty.

The choice to launch its governorship campaign in Kaura Namoda might have been informed by the absence of any major power broker in the state from the local government

He assured the crowd that if elected governor, security would be his priority. He said he would secure lives and properties across the state.

Declaring the APC-led administration a failure, the PDP candidate said his administration would tackle poverty and hunger by creating solid foundations for Zamfara’s economic growth

“We are alarmed that the security of lives and property of the people of Zamfara is no longer guaranteed under the present APC government as a result of leadership incompetence and mismanagement of the state’s affairs.

“I have good plans for the people of Zamfara State, and that is the reason why I want to use this opportunity to unveil my manifesto that has six smart agendas: agenda on education, security, food security, agriculture, economy, healthcare, and empowerment.

“The manifesto has provided information on how my administration would bring sustainable policies that will make everyone in Zamfara the right to an improved standard of living, adequate life for the health and well-being of everyone, including the elimination of hunger and poverty,” he said.

Source: premiumtimesng.com

GRA recovers GH¢30m from 17 OMCs

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GRA

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has recovered GH¢30 million out of GH¢69 million in taxes owed the State by 17 Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).

Reverend Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, Commissioner General, GRA, who disclosed this to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on Tuesday, said GH¢35 million of the total debt was still outstanding.

He said of the 17 OMCs, eight had paid their debts in full and the Authority had instituted criminal prosecution against the rest, while others were also being investigated for prosecution in court.

Rev. Dr. Owusu-Amoah was at the PAC’s sitting in Accra to respond to issues raised in the 2020 Auditor-General’s report on the Public Accounts of Ghana: Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Section 71 of the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915) provides that a person who fails to pay tax by the date on which the tax is payable is liable to pay interest for each month or part of the month for which any part of the tax is outstanding.

Additionally, Section 80 of Act 915 mandates the Commissioner General to recover any unpaid tax by pursuing the matter in court.

The Report indicated that contrary to the provisions of the law, the review by the Auditors revealed that 17 OMCs failed to pay GH¢69,106,362.00 according to the schedule granted by the Commissioner General, thereby defaulting between 30 and 360 days.

It said in view of the above, the Commissioner-General’s 2018 Order terminated all rescheduled payment effective 14 November 2019, and requested the affected OMCs to make immediate payment.

That was, however, not adhered to, hence the auditors urged the Commissioner General to ensure that OMCs indebted to GRA Customs Division made full payment of outstanding debts without further delay.

Rev. Dr. Owusu-Amoah said as at the time of reporting the Authority had recovered GHS30 from those 17 OMCs.

Some reconciliation with the auditors revealed that about GH¢2.9 million was an overstatement for the debt of Venus Oil, which also reduced the total outstanding.

“The current total outstanding is GH¢35 million and eight OMCs have paid their debts in full,” he stated.

Touching on the likelihood of GRA recovering those debts, Rev Dr. Owusu-Amoah said it was highly likely because of the criminal prosecution instituted against the defaulting OMCs and a special court had been set up for such defaulters.

He said defaulters willing to settle the debts would be given a time frame to do so but if they fail then they would go through criminal prosecution.

Asked about the tax debts of GH¢368,128.00 owed by Semenhyia, AP Oil and Excel Oil, the Commissioner General said the trio had paid their debts in full.

Source: GNA

Fiji military chief concerned over new PM’s ‘sweeping changes’

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Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka

Fiji’s military chief has complained over the “ambition and speed” of changes undertaken by the government of new Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, stirring anxiety in the Pacific nation where security forces have staged four coups in 35 years.

The statement from Major-General Jone Kalouniwai on Tuesday drew an immediate rebuke from Rabuka’s cabinet, with Home Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua summoning the military chief to communicate the government’s concerns.

“The commander has assured that today will be the last day that he will be making such a public utterances as that,” Tikoduadua told reporters afterwards.

Kalouniwai also spoke with reporters later, saying the military would continue to “honour the current government that is in place”.

Fiji has a history of military coups, including two staged by current Prime Minister Rabuka in 1987.

Rabuka became prime minister on December 24 after a coalition of parties narrowly voted to install him as leader of the Pacific nation. His election victory ended the 16-year rule of former military chief Frank Bainimarama.

Credit: Aljazeera.com

Madonna announces 40th anniversary greatest hits tour

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NANA KWESI COOMSON
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Madonna

Madonna is to celebrate the 40th anniversary of her breakout single, Holiday, by embarking on her first ever greatest hits tour.

The pop icon will perform music from her entire career, from 1983’s self-titled debut album to 2019’s Madame X.

The 35-date Celebration Tour will see also her return to arenas and stadiums after the experimental, theatre-based Madame X shows in 2019 and 2020.

Those shows were subject to delays as the star battled knee and hip injuries.

The final 10 dates in Paris were then cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to V Magazine at the time, the star said she had been determined to complete the tour, despite her ill health.

“I had no cartilage left in my right hip, and everyone kept saying, ‘You gotta stop, you gotta stop,'” she told playwright Jeremy O. Harris, who conducted the interview.

“I said, ‘I will not stop. I will go until the wheels fall off’.”

In the same interview, Madonna added: “I don’t think about stopping. I could have done a stadium tour, greatest hits, and made a billion dollars”.

Credit: bbc.com

Kanye West’s legal team to use newspaper ad to inform him they’re no longer representing him

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NANA KWESI COOMSON
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Kanye West

A group of attorneys representing Kanye West are planning to take out large newspaper advertisement to inform the rapper that they are no longer providing him legal services.

Lawyers for the firm, Greenberg Traurig, LLP said in documents that Kanye West, 45, has shut off the phone number they had to contact him with, leading to ‘a breakdown in communication’ with the ex-husband of Kim Kardashian.

The attorneys said that their firm has sought to notify West via ‘alternative means’ of telling West that they were no longer representing him, along with publishing a court order issued by a judge permitting the severance of the professional relationship.

The attorneys said that the planned ads are a last-ditch idea, as they have been trying to contact West about the issue, but he has been unresponsive.

The idea behind publishing the statement in a newspaper is that it would ‘likely garner significant media attention, resulting in broader publication,’ the lawyers said.

The news comes as West has been romantically linked to Bianca Censori, an architectural designer, and the pair ‘had some sort of wedding ceremony’ recently, the outlet reported, noting that the couple had not appeared to obtain a marriage certificate that would make the marriage legal.

West has been keeping a relatively low profile in the six weeks since a December 1 appearance on Alex Jones’ show Infowars in which he lavished praise on Nazis and Adolf Hitler.

‘He didn’t kill six million Jews,’ West said on the program, in which he appeared alongside white supremacist Nick Fuentes. ‘That’s just factually incorrect. I’m not trying to be shocking. I like Hitler. The Holocaust is not what happened … Hitler has a lot of redeeming qualities … every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.’

The appearance came prior to West being banned from Twitter later that day for posting a picture of a swastika interlaced with a Star of David

 

Dr. Likee recounts how he smuggled drugs to Libya and other dangerous lifestyle

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NANA KWESI COOMSON
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Dr Likee

Dr Likee also known Ras Nene, a Kumawood Actor and an online content has revealed a rough phase of dangerous life he was involved in before shooting to fame.

Sharing his story on the Delay Show, the Actor said he quitted schooling after completing JHS and started smoking at a tender age. Sharing how he was introduced to smoking, he said whilst he was young, people were sending him on smoking errands.

“Never send your child to buy cigarettes or even smoke in their presence. Sometimes when someone smokes, drops it on the floor and quenches it, the fire isn’t completely out. So in that case I’m compelled to pick it, hide behind the house and smoke the rest of it. That’s how it started,” he said.

“I became stubborn because I was earning some money from my scraps trade and the smoking habit made things worse. My mother would sit me down severally to advise me but I wouldn’t listen and gradually I was introduced to wee by a friend,” he told Delay.

Dr Likee recounted how he grew to become a truant and controlled the streets in his area. “I used to control the street. I had big men who covered me so I was making a lot more money. I had weapons to scare away customers who had ulterior motives,” he recounted.

Revealing how he got his name, he said “my boss at that time named me after a notorious criminal in Lagos called Anini. So people could not pronounce it properly and that’s how it became Ras Nene”.

Delving into his early adulthood life, Ras Nene said “in my mid-20s, I crossed the Libya desert several times with drugs. I was doing drugs until my early 30s and I became a Yaro. I had boys who worked for me and I only come for my settlements. Smuggling drugs was also part of his dealings.

“There was this drug called bond. I used to smuggle it from Togo into the country. We hide them in the tubes of trailer car tyres and take them out when they arrive in Ghana. I was dealing in crack as well,” he stated.

According to Ras Nene, he eventually landed in jail and that was where he had a change of life.

Diamond Appiah charged before court

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BERNICE BESSEY
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Diamond Appiah

Diamond Appiah, 36, and a businesswoman, has been charged before an Accra Circuit Court for fraudulent transaction of land.Diamond Appiah has pleaded not guilty to the charge and has been granted bail in the sum of GH¢300,000 with three sureties, two of whom should be public servants.

The prosecution Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Evans Kesse, informed the court, presided over by Her Honour Evelyn Asamoah yesterday that the complainant is Ayisha Modi, a Businesswoman and lives at Adjiringanor in Accra.

He added that the accused, Diamond Appiah, is also a businesswoman and stays at East Legon.

According to him, in the year 2020, the Complainant needed a plot of land to buy for a building project and discussed it with one Johnson, a Witness in this case.

He told the court that the accused, who overheard the conversation, jumped in that she has a plot of land lying at East Legon Hills and was willing to sell it to the complainant at a cheaper price.

DSP Kesse indicated that the accused demanded and collected cash in the sum of US$30,000.00 from the Complainant under the pretext of selling her one parcel of land, lying at East Legon Hills.

In respect of that Diamond took the Complainant to a land at East Legon Hills but when Ayisha later visited the land, she met one Gustav, who also claimed ownership of the same land.

Unfortunately, several attempts made by the complainant to retrieve her money from the accused person prove futile.

On the basis, the complainant made a report to the police and accused was arrested and during investigation, it was established that the accused did not have any land at that location before she swindled the complainant.

In her investigation caution statement, she admitted to the offence and she was charged with the offence and brought before this Honourable Court.

Pakistan PM seeks India talks on ‘burning issues like Kashmir’

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Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for talks with India to discuss “burning issues such as Kashmir” while asking the United Arab Emirates to play a role in resolving the differences between the two neighbours.

Terming the UAE a “brotherly country” while on a visit there last week, Sharif, in an interview with Al Arabiya aired on Tuesday, said: “I will give my word that we will talk to India with sincerity, but it takes two to tango.”

“My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that let us sit down on the table and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues like Kashmir,” Sharif said.

The Himalayan territory of Kashmir has been a flashpoint between the two countries since they gained independence from British rule in 1947. Since then, the two nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars, two of which were over Kashmir, which both claim in its entirety but control parts of it.

Credit: Aljazeera.com

Kenya declares war on millions of birds after they raid crops

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Flock of red-billed quelea birds in Kenya

A drive by the Kenyan government to kill up to 6 million red-billed quelea birds that have invaded farms will have unintended consequences for raptors and other wild species, experts have warned. The continuing drought in the Horn of Africa has reduced the amount of native grass, whose seeds are queleas’ main food source, causing the birds to increasingly invade grain fields, putting 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of rice under threat. About 300 acres of rice fields have been destroyed by the birds.

A single quelea can eat up to 10 grams of grain a day, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Farmers in western Kenya stand to lose close to 60 tonnes of grain to the birds. In 2021, the FAO estimated crop losses attributable to the birds amounted to $50m (£40m) annually.

The spraying of fenthion, an organophosphate pesticide, has been the method of choice in fighting the pests in Africa, but the chemical has been described by researchers as “toxic to humans and to other non-target organisms”.

Credit: theguardian.com

China’s population falls for first time since 1961

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China's birth rate has hit a record low

China’s population has fallen for the first time in 60 years, with the national birth rate hitting a record low – 6.77 births per 1,000 people. The population in 2022 – 1.4118 billion – fell by 850,000 from 2021.

China’s birth rate has been declining for years, prompting a slew of policies to try to slow the trend. But seven years after scrapping the one-child policy, it has entered what one official described as an “era of negative population growth”.

The birth rate in 2022 was also down from 7.52 in 2021, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, which released the figures on Tuesday.

In comparison, in 2021, the United States recorded 11.06 births per 1,000 people, and the United Kingdom, 10.08 births. The birth rate for the same year in India, which is poised to overtake China as the world’s most populous country, was 16.42.

Deaths also outnumbered births for the first time last year in China. The country logged its highest death rate since 1976 – 7.37 deaths per 1,000 people, up from 7.18 the previous year.

Credit: bbc.com

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