Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson is the favorite to become Pope after Benedict XVI resigns at the end of the month, according to Paddy Power Plc. Turkson, 64, is at of odds of 9-4, meaning a successful 4- euro ($5.35) bet would win a 9-euro profit, the Dublin-based bookmaker said today. Canada’s Marc Ouellet, 68, is second favorite at 5-2, followed by Nigeria’s Francis Arinze, 80, who is at 3-1. Pope Benedict announced today that he will resign on Feb. 28, two months before his 86th birthday,

Renowned Radio Pastor and Head of Cedar Mountain Chapel of the Assemblies of God Church, East Legon, Rev. Dr. Stephen Wengham, wants the National Security outfit to summon a colleague Man of God before them regarding an earth-shattering prophesy the latter publicly gave about President John Dramani Mahama last week. He believes such an action by the security agencies will deter some Prophets from prophesying falsehood about the lives of people in the country.

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation says an oily substance that gushed out from a dug-out well in Jombo in the Volta Region is not crude oil. Reports were rife last week about the discovery of crude oil in the Nkwanta North in the Volta Region following the gushing out of an oily substance from a well being dug by a man.The area was quickly secured by National Security with the officials of the GNPC moving in to ascertain the veracity of the find.

Once again, the tension that comes with watching international football competitions claimed another casualty last Sunday, when the Super Eagles of Nigeria, played the Stallions of Burkina Faso. The victim this time is Mr Felix Bassey, 65, a retired banker. He died  while watching the finals of the game in which Nigeria defeated Burkina Faso 1-0. A  40-year-old soccer fan, Moshood Ismail Owolabi, had  collapsed and died while watching  the Super Eagles quarter finals match against the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in Abeokuta,

SUPER Eagles’ Coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, who led Nigeria to its third triumph in the African Nations Cup on Sunday, reportedly resigned his appointment as the chief coach of the national team Monday. The Super Eagles on Sunday defeated Burkina Faso 1-0 to win the Nations Cup trophy for the first time in 19 years, a feat that makes Keshi the second person to win the trophy both as a player and a coach. Although The Guardian could not confirm the story direct from the Eagles coach,

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), an amalgam of four opposition parties, have raised a 12-man team to persuade former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), not to vie for the presidential ticket of the coalition party. THISDAY gathered yesterday that the pressure on Buhari, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) national leader, one of the four parties in the coalition, not to run in the 2015 presidential race is to make the party more electable without  any hangover from previous elections.

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Monday re-arraigned a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, before a Federal High Court, Lagos, over alleged money laundering. Fani-Kayode, who is facing a 47-count charge bordering essentially on money laundering and misappropriation of fund, had earlier pleaded not guilty. When the case came up for hearing yesterday before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, he also pleaded not guilty to all the counts.

The subject of ‘juju’ seems not to be far away from the Black Stars camp anytime they come crushing out of major tournaments ala the AFCON 2012 in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, where then Ghana Coach, Goran Stevanovic ‘Plavi’ came out to confirm the use of ‘black magic’ by some of his charges in camp. This time though in South Africa, it seems the ‘culprit’ was outside who managed to sneak past security to the Ghana dressing room and was on the verge of sprinkling the concoction to do the ‘damage’ when he was allegedly caught

( Herald ) The failure of successive Ghanaian governments to probe suspected corrupt practices under the previous regime is becoming an embarrassing spectacle for both the present and past governments as the United Kingdom (UK) is showing that its laws were made to work and are indeed working. Authorities in Britain, a week ago, jailed one of its citizens, an international arms dealer, who sold military aircraft to Ghana without a valid licence during the tenure of Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, as the Defense Minister

Ghana National Petroleum Corporation's (GNPC) initial assessment of samples of what appears to be crude oil sprouting out from a hand-dug well at Jumbo near Kpassa in the Volta Region, has shown a positive result. The GNPC's team of experts have expressed surprise about the substance which looked almost refined compared to most unrefined crude oil. Mr Obeng Gyan, a technical director at GNPC told chiefs and people of Jumbo that forensic investigation

The police in Bekwai have arrested a Chinese illegal miner who is alleged to have shot and wounded three Ghanaians with an AK 47 assault rifle. The suspect, Xia Gui Xiang, who was arrested five days ago, has been remanded in police custody pending further investigations. His victims, who were rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, are receiving emergency medical care. The victims - identified as Kofi Bobie, Kwame Kyerematen and Kwaku Manu - were said to have been shot when they joined others

President Goodluck Jonathan and governors seeking second term on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may get automatic tickets to run in the 2015 general election, THISDAY gathered yesterday. Already, some stakeholders and senior presidency officials are pushing the idea to give Jonathan and the governors the right of first refusal that will be followed by the affirmation of their candidacy at the party’s convention.The right of first refusal is to allow a serving president and governors the opportunity

Nigeria returned to reckoning in continental soccer yesterday with the victory of the national team, Super Eagles,  over  Burkina Faso to win the Africa Cup of Nations’ title. The victory was historical for the country; being the first time in  19 years that it would win the trophy and the third time it was doing so since it first took part in the continental soccer fiesta in 1963. Coach Stephen Keshi’s feat last night was the second time a coach, who was a member of a cup-winning national team

PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) members in the House of Representatives at the weekend cautioned their colleagues in the opposition parties against playing politics with the current disagreement between the Executive and Legislature on the 2013 budget Bill. The lawmakers, who spoke under the umbrella of PDP Renaissance Group, noted that making offensive statements at a time the leadership of the National Assembly and the Presidency were meeting to resolve their differences in the budget bill could spell doom

Barely a day after nine health workers were killed in Kano by suspected members of the Boko Haram, the sect has killed another three North Koreans in the troubled Potiskum, the commercial capital of Yobe State. Sources in the town informed THISDAY that members of the sect invaded the residence of the expatriates who were giving technical assistance to the Yobe State Ministry of Health at about 8.pm on Saturday. It was gathered that after forcing their way into the residence located in one of the choicest parts of the town,

Former Spokesperson of President John Kufuor, Kwabena Agyepong, says the Mahama administration should be grateful to the erstwhile government for the construction of the Golden Jubilee House now Flagstaff House. According to him, President Kufuor during his regime had the needs of the country at heart, hence building such an edifice to complement the work of the presidency. He told Oman FM in Accra that President John Mahama should express gratitude to the former President now that he is going to occupy the edifice.

Ghana has arrested and extradited Major Jean-Noel Abehi, a key figure in Ivory Coast's security services under ousted president Laurent Gbagbo, an Ivorian security official said on Tuesday. Abehi, together with Jean-Yves Dibopieu, who used to head a pro-Gbagbo student union, "were arrested on Monday in Ghana," a senior security official said. The two men were handed over at the border on Tuesday morning, a source close to the interior ministry said. Former commander of the armoured squadron at the Agban paramilitary police barracks

Three members of the pro-democracy pressure group, Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA), Sammi Awuku, Abu Ramadan and James Kwabena Bomfeh popularly called Kabila, were yesterday granted bail after the Madina Police threatened to lock them up. Sources said two of them, Sammi Awuku and Abu Ramadan, would be charged for violating the Public Order Act, and are to report to the Police on Thursday. The three men, together with other members of the group, had honored an invitation by the police at Madina over a rally they organized somewhere last week Sunday at Taifa in the Dome Kwabenya constituency.

National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has described the reconciliatory meetings between President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as a good omen for both the polity and the party. Also, the presidential committee led by Governor Sule Lamido of Taraba State will commence rapprochement with eminent citizens of Adamawa State beginning with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over the political crisis, which had polarised the party in the state.

SUPER Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, says he would keep aside his love and feelings for the people of Mali until the end of today’s semifinal clash between his side, Super Eagles, and his former team, the Eagles of Mali.The stage is set for the battle of Durban this (Wednesday) afternoon and Keshi, who was head coach of the Malian national team for two years, leading them to the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola, declared Tuesday in a press conference at the Moses Mabhida Stadium that he would do everything to stop the Malians in Wednesday’s semifinal tie and re-unite with them later.