staff Picks

  • Vin Diesel honours Paul Walker in MTV Generation Award speech

    Vin Diesel paid homage to his late friend and co-star Paul Walker as he accepted the Generation Award on behalf of The Fast and Furious franchise at the MTV Movie and TV Awards in Los Angeles Sunday.

    The 49-year-old A-lister was flanked by co-stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Jordana Brewster as he remembered his late friend, who died in an auto wreck November 30, 2013 in Valencia, California.

    ‘I could never stand on this stage and talk about Fast and Furious without giving love to my brother Pablo, our brother Pablo; we hope you’re proud,’ said Diesel, who’s played Dominic Toretto in the mega-successful series the past 16 years.

    The xXx actor looked back to the early days of the drag racing-oriented film anthology.

    ‘In 2002, I was standing on this stage and MTV had given Paul Walker and I an award for Best Duo, and now 15 years later, I’m with my whole family and you’re giving us the Generation Award,’ Diesel told the crowd.

    The actor noted how audiences were drawn to the diverse demographics of his film franchise, which continues to set revenue records in the wake of the latest installment in the series, The Fate of the Furious.
    ‘I gotta thank a generation that was willing to accept this multicultural franchise, where it didn’t matter what color your skin was or what country you were from – when you’re family, you’re family,’ he said.

    Last month, Diesel said that the franchise’s massive success – personified by high-profile castmates who later joined the series, such as Dwayne Johnson, Charlize Theron and Jason Statham – was attributable to Walker.
    Diesel, at a New York screening at Radio City Music Hall, said ‘a lot of great talent in this movie’ wouldn’t have been possible ‘if it wasn’t for the decades of work that my brother Pablo put into this franchise. When you see this movie, know that this is from love.’

    He said that ‘there wasn’t a second we made this movie, not a minute … not a day that went by that we weren’t thinking about our brother, Pablo, and how to bring him into the movie and how to represent him and to make something that he will be proud of.’

     

    Source:

    Dailymail

  • Fmr. MASLOC CEO Sedinam Tamakloe to face EOCO Monday

    A Former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedinam Tamakloe  Attionu,  is to appear  before the Economic and Organized Crime Office for questioning  Monday, May 8,2017.

    It is unclear the reasons for her invitation, but StarrFMonline.com sources say she expected to answer questions over some irregularities that occurred at the MASLOC under her tenure.

    The pharmacist joins a growing number of former government officials and sympathizers who are facing the anti-graft body for interrogation over different matters.

    A fortnight ago, brother of former President John Mahama,Ibrahim Mahama, spent several hours within the walls of EOCO over some transactions with the GRA.

    Before him, the former CEO of the COCOBOD Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni had been interrogated by the security agency.

    Source:

    Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM

  • ADB donates towards Farmers Day

    The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has presented to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture a dummy key to the three-bedroom house for this year’s National Best Farmer.

    Making the presentation, the Group Head of Agricultural Finance, Mrs. Sylvia Nyante said the donation was in fulfillment of the bank’s pledge 15 years ago to consistently support the National Farmers Day event.

    The house, which will be fully furnished is valued at One Hundred Thousand Dollars (US$100,000) and will be constructed at a location of the winner’s choice. This year’s farmer’s day celebration will take place in Kintampo in the BrongAhafo Region on November 4, 2016 on the theme “Agriculture: A business response to economic growth.”

    She said this year’s sponsorship package was in excess of GH₵500,000 and included the sponsorship of the farmer’s forum and cocktail for the awardees.

    Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Crops, Dr. Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, thanked the bank for its continuous support to farming in the country.

    He indicated that the contribution of the bank since 2001 has uplifted the general farmer’s day event.

    Source: Ghana/starrfmonline.com/103.5FM

  • Uganda will prevail in Group D – Micho

    Uganda coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic believes it is possible for the Cranes to progress from Group D of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations as they have been drawn to face giants Ghana, Egypt and Mali.

    According to Micho, with good preparation and support from the country’s government, they will be able to get some positive results from Group D.

    “Impossible is nothing. Possible is everything. We shall measure our values, test our character against good teams. We have a realistic chance to get good results and pass the group,” Micho said.

    He added: “This is a tough and competitive group but I believe in the players and the team. I believe in the management of Fufa administration. I call upon the Government to give us support.

    “The fans who have given us the immense and unconditional support whenever the Uganda Cranes play will be following the action after missing out in the last three finals.

    “Egypt will come like wounded lions, while Ghana want to prove a point after missing in final to Cote D’Ivoire”.

    Uganda Cranes will play Ghana on January 17, face Egypt on January 21 in Port Gentil before playing Mali in the last group game on the January 25, 2017 in Oyem.



    Source:Ghana/starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Tony Bebli

  • I never dated Samini – Adwoa Safo

    The Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Adwoa Safo has said she never dated dancehall artiste, Samini as being rumoured.

    Asked by Bola Ray on Starr Chat, who her favourite dancehall artiste is, the lawmaker said “Samini comes first and I just love his style and we saw him come up and to be who he is now, but I never dated him.”

    She added: “We were just very good friends… my brother was actually part of the team that came up with his hit song ‘Linda’ and he is very close to the family and still very close. I think I also like Stonebwoy and my kids like Shatta Wale, we enjoy Kakai”.

    She went on to tip songstress, Becca, as her all-time Ghanaian musician.

    She was voted into office during the December 7, 2012 elections. She has promised to double her votes in the December 7 elections and urged Ghanaians to vote massively for her and the NPP’s flag bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, who is in the race for the Flagstaff House for the third time running.

    Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM/Miriam Hayford

  • Mahama doesn’t feel your pain – Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians

    President John Mahama is out of touch with the reality in Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has stated.

    “The President claims all is moving on smoothly in Ghana, the reason why he is seeking a renewal of his mandate in office. President Mahama, clearly, does not feel your pain and suffering. He is impervious to the hardships Ghanaians are going through on a daily basis, in their efforts to make ends meet. I doubt he is living in Ghana with us, because if he was, he wouldn’t be making such comments,” the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer said in Kramoase, in the Atwima Kwanwoma constituency, at the beginning of his 4-day tour of the Ashanti region.

    According to Nana Akufo-Addo, he is at a loss as to why the President will make comments to the effect that all is well with Ghana, in the midst of record levels of unemployment, rising cost of living, high utility tariffs, widespread despondency, and untold levels of hardship and suffering amongst the populace.

    Nonetheless, the NPP presidential candidate is urging Ghanaians not to lose hope in the ability of the country to offer citizens a decent standard of living, stressing that an Akufo-Addo-led NPP government is coming into office to improve the conditions of living of Ghanaians.

    “We have an opportunity this year to rid our nation of the suffering and hardship the Ghanaian is going through under the leadership of President Mahama. When we vote in a competent government in December, I assure you that Ghana will be put on the path of progress and prosperity once again. That is the task before us in Ghana in this year’s election”, Nana Akufo-Addo said.

    Thus, the ‘1-District-1-Factory’ policy, ‘1-Village-1-Dam’ policy, the diversification of the country’s agriculture, the effective implementation of the Free SHS policy, the setting up of an Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP) the restoration of the teacher training and nursing training allowances, the effective implementation of the Free SHS policy, amongst others, he said, are policies that will bring progress and prosperity to Ghanaians.

    With the cultivation of ginger being one of the major produce in Atwima Kwanwoma, the NPP flagbearer stated that, in line with his 1-District-1-Factory policy, “it will not be difficult to establish a ginger processing factory in this constituency. We are going to do that, I assure you.”

    To this end, Nana Akufo-Addo told the hundreds and hundreds gathered at Kramoase “to repose your confidence in me, believing that all I have just said to you, I am coming to implement them. What I am telling you is nothing but the truth. I have too much respect for Ghanaians to lie to them and say things I know I cannot do.”

    NPP is the only party that can unseat Mahama
    With some 49 days to the conduct of the December 7 election, Nana Akufo-Addo stressed that “there is no other political party in Ghana that has the support and organization to remove the NDC from office, other than the NPP.”

    Thus, “if you are a Ghanaian who is fed up with the hardship under Mahama, please come and ride on the back of the elephant and let us go together to Jubilee House, so we can go and do a good job for Ghanaians.”

    The NPP flagbearer urged residents of Kramoase to vote massively for the NPP in this year’s elections, and increase the 80.83% margin of victory chalked by the party in the 2012 presidential election.

    Nana Akufo-Addo also admonished party faithful to vote for the NPP’s parliamentary candidate for the constituency, Dr. Kwadwo Appiah Kubi, and ignore any calls by independent parliamentary candidates in the upcoming election to vote ‘skirt and blouse’ in the parliamentary election.


    Source: Ghana/starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Wilberforce Asare

  • Election 2016: 17 courts to handle electoral disputes

    The Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, has designated 17 specialised courts to deal with electoral disputes that may arise before the December 7, 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.

    Seventeen High Court judges have been assigned to handle anticipated electoral disputes throughout the country.

    The appointed justices, according to the Judicial Secretary, Mr Justice Alex Poku-Acheampong have been tasked to handle the cases expeditiously.

    He gave the breakdown of the judges assigned as follows: Greater Accra, six; Ashanti and Western, two each, while Eastern, Central, Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Volta and Brong Ahafo have been assigned a judge each.

    Concerns

    There are concerns that the December 7, 2016 electoral calendar could be negatively affected following the rising number of disputes between presidential aspirants and the Electoral Commission (EC), but the Judicial Secretary said there was no cause for alarm.

    “These specialised courts for electoral disputes will ensure that cases are heard expeditiously and on a day-to-day basis,” Mr Poku-Acheampong said.

    Disqualifications

    A number of subscribers of the presidential aspirants did not meet the requirements as stipulated in the Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) 94 meant for the conduct of the elections

    Some of the subscribers also sponsored more than one candidate with the same names and voter registration details.

    According to the EC, they only changed their signatures.

    At a press conference in Accra on Monday, October 10, 2016, the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Charlotte Osei, disqualified 12 presidential aspirants.

    They were disqualified on the grounds of forgery, perjury, impersonation and deceit of public officer.

    Mrs Osei said the issue would be referred to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigations and prosecution.

    Those disqualified are Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Mr Hassan Ayariga of the All People’s Congress (APC), Dr Edward Nasigre Mahama of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and Mr Kofi Apaloo of Independent People’s Party (IPP).

    Others are Mr T.N. Ward Brew of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), Mr Henry Lartey of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Richard Tetteh of the United Development Systems Party (UDSP), Akua Donkor of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Nana Agyenim Boateng of the United Freedom Party (UFP) and Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings of the National Democratic Party (NDP)..

    The others are Kwabena Agyei of RPD and Kwame Asiedu Walker, an independent candidate.

    Only four presidential aspirants were cleared by the EC to contest Election 2016.

    Dr Nduom, on October 14, 2016, filed an application for judicial review praying the High Court to quash the EC’s decision to disqualify him from contesting in the December 7, 2016 presidential election.Other aspirants, including Nana Konadu, have indicated their intention to sue the EC.

    Source: Graphic Online

  • Election 2016: Reinstate me or I’ll sue – Mahama to EC

    Raymond Atuguba, lawyer for the disqualified presidential nominee of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Dr. Edward Mahama, has written to the Electoral Commission demanding immediate restoration of his client in the list of eligible presidential aspirants in the December 7 polls.

    Dr. Atuguba has served notice he will head to court for redress if the Electoral Management Body fails to heed its request.

    The EC has disqualified 12 presidential aspirants including Dr. Mahama from running in the race for the Flagstaff House.

    According to the EC, it was unable to accept Dr. Mahama’s nominations because “many subscribers did not properly sign the forms,” adding that “thumbprints, signatures or marks were omitted all together.”

    In a letter to the Commission Tuesday, Dr. Atuguba observed that the disqualification of his client was without basis, thus calling for his reinstatement within 48hours.

    Also, the letter demands access to the nomination forms of all other candidates in order to point out similar minor errors that should have equally disqualified the aspirants of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and an independent candidate.

    The letter argued that the EC acted unfairly in accepting the nomination forms of the four so called eligible aspirants.

    The letter read in part: “If after 48 hours of receipt of this letter, you fail to commit unequivocally to meeting the above demands, we shall proceed and resort to other lawful processes or avenues to vindicate our client’s right without further recourse to you. It is the considered view of our client that the erosion of the constitutional right, human right, political right, legal right, right to administrative due process, and the compromise of our multiparty democratic dispensation by the purported rejection of the nomination forms of our client is not to be done lightly and on the basis of dubious fact and a far less than optimal interpretation of the law.

    “Finally, in the event that any notice is required by any law or rule of practice for the institution of any legal proceedings against you, this letter shall constitute such notice.”

    The EC is already facing lawsuit over a similar case from the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and the Great Consolidated Poppular Party (GCPP) and one other.

    Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM/Mohammed Awal

  • ‘Mahama paper’ song triggered by missing speech saga – Shatta Wale

    Self-acclaimed dancehall king Shatta Wale has told the BBC that his popular ‘Mahama paper’ song was triggered by President John Mahama’s missing speech incident during his address to ECOWAS heads of state in Accra.

    According to the controversial artiste, the song was not intended to flatter the president as has been interpreted by a section of society.

    Ghana’s President and immediate past ECOWAS Chairman, John Mahama shocked the gathering of heads of West African states and governments at an ECOWAS summit when he suddenly stopped in the middle of his speech and announced that some pages of his address were missing.

    “Where is my speech…I am missing certain pages in my speech…,” he said, at first to himself, and then to the audience. As Ghana’s President searched for his missing speech, the audience including diplomats from the ECOWAS sub-region and beyond offered a thunderous applause.

    Explaining the rationale behind the song for the first time, the ‘Kakai’ hitmaker said he was watching television the day the president got himself in the fix.

    “I didn’t do that song for a political purpose, I wrote it out of love. I didn’t do it because of my President. One day I was watching TV and the president was speaking at the Conference Center and he was like ‘where is my page 13, I can’t find it,’ and I was like Mahama too why, where is his speech,” the ‘Chop kiss’ singer told Akwasi Sarpong.

    Shatta, as he is also known, added that he is surprised the song has become such a hit.




    Source:Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM/Kwame Danso Acheampong

  • Beyonce dominates MTV Video Music Awards 2016

    Beyonce was the big winner at last night’s MTV VMAs in New York.

    The singer scooped seven awards in total including the prestigious prize for video of the year for the track Formation.

    “First of all I’d like to thank my beautiful daughter and my incredible husband for all of their support,” she said during one acceptance speech.

    Held annually, the VMAs, rewards musicians for their visual efforts.

    This year’s ceremony was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.

    Beyonce, who was nominated for eight awards, also went home with the prize for Best Female Video, Best Direction and Best Cinematography.

    She was presented with one of her awards by four members of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.

    The 34-year-old rounded off an impressive night with a 16 minute medley of songs taken from her latest album, Lemonade.

    Other winners included Calvin Harris, Fifth Harmony and Drake.

    David Bowie meanwhile was posthumously rewarded, the late singer’s album Blackstar won the Best Art Direction accolade.

    Rihanna was honoured on the night with the, Michael Jackson Vanguard Award, which recognizes an artist’s entire catalogue of work.

    Canadian rapper Drake presented Rihanna with her trophy.

    The singer smiled nervously when he declared; “She’s someone I’ve been in love with since I was 22 years old. She’s one of my best friends in the world.

    “All of my adult life I’ve looked up to her even though she’s younger than me.”

    The pair have collaborated on numerous occasions and there have been suggestions that their relationship hasn’t always been purely business-related.

    Drake was so proud of Rihanna that he decided it was worthy of a billboard advert.

    Completing a star-studded night of music were performances from Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears.

    Organisers of this year’s event will be thankful it was largely uneventful.

    The VMAs have a history of throwing up some controversial moments.

    It was the scene of Kanye West’s now infamous rant where he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech in 2009.

    In 2010, Lady Gaga wore a dress made entirely of raw beef.

    She later explained; “If we don’t stand up for what we believe in and if we don’t fight for our rights, pretty soon we’re going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones.”



    Source: BBC

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