The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr John Peter Amewu has assured that all the withdrawn excavators will not return to illegal mining sites. A number of excavator operators have reportedly withdrawn their equipment from illegal mining sites as the ultimatum given by government to clamp down on illegal mining expired on Wednesday.

The Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has announced that all debts owed by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) as of May 2016 would be settled by the close of this week. He also added that government was injecting “some good amount of money” any moment from now which will enable the authority to settle about three months of the arrears by end of June this year and after that there will be monthly releases from the Ministry of Finance.

Government has announced plans to construct a warehouse in each of the 216 districts in the country to support the 'Planting for Food and Jobs campaign' which was launched at Goaso in the Brong Ahafo region on Wednesday. According to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo the warehouses would be crucial in mitigating post harvest losses. He said it would be a one thousand metric tonne capacity warehouse

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday launched government’s flagship agricultural programme, ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’, in Goaso in the Asunafo Municipality in the Brong Ahafo Region. Modelled on the highly successful ‘Operation Feed Yourself (OFY)’ programme of the 1970s, the initiative is to be driven by 200,000 farmers selected nationwide and individuals willing to cultivate vegetables and other crops in their backyard.

Serena Williams is apparently pregnant with her first child. The world No2 posted a photo of herself in a swimsuit revealing what appears to be a large baby bump with the caption ‘20 weeks’ on Wednesday. Williams, 35, announced she was engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in December. The announcement left the sport’s chattering class wondering to what degree she was looking ahead to life after tennis.

Ghana midfielder, Emmanuel Frimpong has likened his former Arsenal teammate Nicklas Bendtner to flamboyant Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Frimpong who began his career alongside Bendtner at Arsenal explains that the "Lord" and Manchester United star Ibrahimovic are similar in the confident manner in which they behave.

The Ghana Cassava Centre of Excellence has asked the government to develop a flour policy with a 10 per cent high quality cassava flour inclusion to promote the utilisation of cassava in the country.

The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi, believes the wind of change that blew through the Confederation of African Football (CAF) was inevitable and that the change that has come provides a new lease of life for the game in Africa. In an exclusive interview with Graphic Sports’ Rosalind K. Amoh, Mr Nyantakyi spoke on a wide range of issues – from his re-election to both CAF and FIFA, his chances

The shareholders of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc have approved the payment of N19.9 billion as final dividend for the financial year ended December 2016. This is in addition to N7.3billion interim dividend paid after the audit of its 2016 half year results.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolga Central, Mr Isaac Adongo, says the government has failed to provide a roadmap on how the private sector can help actualise its district industrilisation programme (DIP), the ‘One District, One Factory.’

Two persons have been arrested by the police in Accra for allegedly possessing 500 rounds of ammunition. One of the suspects, a 25-year-old scrap dealer, Imoro Abdul Wahab was arrested at Agbogbloshie where violent clashes last week led to the death of one person.

A legal practitioner, Captain (retd) Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey has professed his version of how to fight the illegal mining menace and suggested that, “sitting in Accra to ban galamsey is a joke.” In a radio interview on Accra-based Okay FM on Wednesday, Mr Effah-Darteh said illegal mining was “endemic” because it was easy to find gold in every part of Ghana and hence it was a source of livelihood for the youth.

United Airlines has leapt into a brand disaster of mythic proportions. In a scandal that’s still evolving quickly, the company’s employees had Chicago Department of Aviation officers forcefully remove a passenger — a paying customer sitting in his seat — from an overbooked flight.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has thrown its weight behind the government’s decision to rely primarily on domestic borrowing to finance the deficit this year. It says the country’s strong appetite for foreign debt in recent times could prove injurious to the economy in the long run, given its implication on debt refinancing and exchange rate risk.

FIFA has directed DR Congo champions, TP Mazembe, to immediately pay over USD$12,000 (about GH¢50,000) solidarity contribution to Liberty Professionals and Saint Stars FC in respect of the transfer of Richard Kissi Boateng or risk being demoted to a lower division. This followed the failure by TP Mazembe to act in accordance with a decision passed by FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber judge on January 28, 2016.

Eight women have been arrested in Iran for dressing up as men so they could watch a football match.  Islamic law in the country bans women from attending live matches when men are present and the group were detained at Tehran's Azadi Stadium. 

True to form, sensational WAFA lived up to expectation by taming visiting Bolga All Stars in their week 12 fixture to maintain a firm grip at the top of the Ghana Premier League with 26 points. All the fired-up academy lads needed were two delicate strikes over the stubborn newcomers at their favourite Sogakope home base to keep a point between them and their closest assailants, Aduana Stars, who thrashed Tema Youth 3-0 at Dormaa-Ahenkro last Sunday.

The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has inaugurated a 12-member Advisory Board for the ministry and charged them to draw on their expertise to enhance the operations of the ministry.

The Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) has launched a project to digitise its archival materials and also host them online. The project is sponsored by the Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA), a not-for-profit organisation committed to promoting the free publication and use of information, otherwise known as ‘open movement’, in West Africa.

Kwesi Nyantakyi, the president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), says steps are being taken to fill the vacant position of General Secretary at the secretariat. According to Mr Nyantakyi, the FA’s Executive Committee, the association’s appointing authority, has held discussions over the vacancy and in due time will confirm who the next administrative head of the association will be.