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page 41 GHANA Mahama to be investigated over car gift An official body in Ghana says it will investigate President John Mahama for receiving a vehicle as a gift from a Burkinabe businessman who has won government contracts in Ghana. The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) said it would conduct an investigation […]

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GHANA

Mahama to be investigated over car gift

An official body in Ghana says it will investigate President John Mahama for receiving a vehicle as a gift from a Burkinabe businessman who has won government contracts in Ghana.

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) said it would conduct an investigation following petitions by private citizens and the youth wing of the opposition Convention Peoples Party.

Anti-corruption institutions have in the past week condemned President Mahama after he confirmed reports that he received a Ford Expedition vehicle worth $100,000 from a Burkinabe contractor Djibril Kanazoe.

The government has denied there was any wrongdoing or that the gift influenced the awarding of contracts to Mr Kanazoe.

The vehicle was now part of the presidential motorcade, it added.

UK

EU referendum: Rivals race for final votes

British Prime Minister David Cameron and his Eurosceptic opponents made final pitches for wavering voters on Wednesday on the eve of a defining referendum on European Union membership with the outcome still too close to call.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned there would be no further renegotiation whatever the result on Thursday, after EU leaders reached a deal on a new settlement for Britain in February.

French President Francois Hollande said a vote to leave would be irreversible and could seriously jeopardize British access to the EU’s prized single market. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she did not want to speculate on what dangers would arise if Britain left, because she wanted it to say in the Union.

Politicians are making their final pitch for votes as the four-month campaign comes to a close yesterday, with campaigners making a last-minute appeal to undecided voters, emphasising their main arguments and encouraging their supporters to turn out to vote.

INDIA

Lightning strikes leave 93 people dead

At least 93 people have been killed and more than 20 injured by lightning strikes in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, officials say.

Most of the people who died were working on farms during torrential rains on Tuesday, reports said.

Lightning strikes are common in India during heavy monsoon rains.

Fifty-six people died in Bihar while 37 people were killed across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkand and Madhya Pradesh.

“Many of the victims are children and women,” Anirudh Kumar, a senior official at Bihar’s disaster management agency, said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply anguished” by the loss of life.

At least 2,000 people have died in lightning strikes in India every year since 2005, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

DR CONGO

Presidential hopeful Katumbi sentenced to jail

Congolese presidential hopeful Moise Katumbi has been sentenced in absentia to 36 months in prison.

The wealthy businessman, who owns one of Africa’s biggest football clubs, is currently out of Democratic Republic Congo seeking medical treatment.

The 51-year-old was found guilty of illegally selling a property in Lubumbashi, his eastern power base.

He had the backing of seven opposition parties to run for the presidency in elections due to be held in November.

President Joseph Kabila, in power since 2001, is nearing the end of his second term and he is constitutionally obliged to step down by December.

But there is growing political tension as it is not clear if he will relinquish power.

The court in Lubumbashi, DR Congo’s second city, also fined the football tycoon $6m (£4.1m) for illegally selling the property, which a Greek citizen claimed belonged to his family.

YEMEN

Rebels demand consensus president in any peace deal

Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels said on Wednesday that they would not sign any peace deal without prior agreement on a consensus president to lead the transition.

The demand from the Huthi rebels, who control swathes of the country, including the capital Sanaa, comes a day after the UN envoy said he had proposed a roadmap for peace following two months of negotiations in Kuwait.

The Saudi-backed government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi insists that he is the legitimate president who should lead any transition.

But the rebels said consensus must be reached between the warring parties on all issues to do with transition.

The peace roadmap announced by UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed calls for the implementation of security arrangements set out in an April 2015 Security Council resolution and the formation of a government of national unity.

COLOMBIA

Gov’t, FARC rebels announce deal on ceasefire

The Colombian government has agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with FARC rebels, a historic agreement that could move towards the signing of a peace agreement.

The parties issued a communique in the Cuban capital, Havana, yesterday, the seat of the peace process that started in November 2012.

“The national government and FARC delegations inform the public that we have successfully reached an agreement for a definitive bilateral ceasefire and end to hostilities,” they said in a statement.

The Colombian civil war between the government and the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has claimed more than 220,000 lives and displaced almost five million people during half a century of conflict.

N/KOREA

N/Korea test-fires Musudan ballistic missiles

North Korea has conducted back-to-back tests of a mid-range ballistic missile from its eastern coast, South Korean officials say.

One test of the powerful Musudan intermediate-range missile made considerable improvements in flight distance and altitude over previous failed launches, but still fell well short of the missile’s projected range.

Wednesday’s tests marked Pyongyang’s fifth and sixth attempt since April to successfully launch its Musudan missile.

The first five launches failed, either exploding in midair or crashing, and the sixth only flew about 400km – well short of the missile’s 3,500-km potential and not long enough to be classified as intermediate.

One of the missiles launched on Wednesday reached an altitude of more than 1,000km, displaying marked progress in comparison with previous attempts, Japan’s defence minister said on Wednesday.

“We don’t know whether it counts as a success, but North Korea has shown some capability with IRBMs,” Gen Nakatani told reporters in Tokyo. “The threat to Japan is intensifying.”

LIBYA

Anti-IS forces ‘make gains’ in Sirte

Government-backed forces in Libya have made their largest gains yet into so-called Islamic State (IS) territory in Sirte city since their offensive began in May, officials say.

Troops advanced more than 1km (0.6 miles) into areas previously held by IS, re-taking residential districts. Dozens of soldiers and IS fighters were reportedly killed.

Sirte is IS’s most significant stronghold in Libya. It has been under IS control since February 2015.

Libyan government forces announced on their official Facebook page that they also had control of an official radio station and power management facility.

Meanwhile, a mystery explosion in a town close to Tripoli has killed at least 25 people, apparently after a dispute at a shop escalated.

The blast took place in Garabulli after clashes between locals and militia fighters from the city of Misrata.

SYRIA

Air strikes on IS-held Raqqa kill 18 civilians

Activists say at least 18 civilians have been killed in air strikes in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the headquarters of so-called Islamic State (IS).

Dozens more people were injured in the raids on Tuesday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said it was not able to determine who carried out the strikes, though another group blamed Russian warplanes.

There were further air strikes on Raqqa on Wednesday, but this time reportedly by the US-led coalition against IS.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the raids, one of which hit the city council building.

BOLIVIA

Morales wants to ditch Gregorian calendar

Bolivian President Evo Morales has proposed that the Andean country switch back from the Gregorian calendar to the calendar previously used by its indigenous people.

During celebrations for the Aymara New Year, Mr Morales said that he found the Gregorian calendar “untidy”.

He suggested that Bolivia “reclaim its ancestral calendar as part of the rebuilding of our identity”.

Mr Morales is from the Aymara indigenous group.

It is not the first time the Bolivian government has suggested changes to the way time is measured.

Two years ago, the clock on the facade of the Congress in La Paz was reversed so that its hands turned left and the numbers were inverted to go from one to 12 anti-clockwise.