Author: Chronicle Editor

The Trump administration has unveiled new travel restrictions on certain foreigners from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen as a replacement to a central portion of its controversial travel ban signed earlier this year. The new restrictions on travel vary by country and include a phased-in approach. “Making America Safe is my number one priority. We will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet,” President Donald Trump tweeted just after his administration released the details of the restrictions Sunday night. In a statement Sunday night, the White House called the new restrictions a…

By Adegboye Gbadehan A seismic change began in the country’s tax system on 29 June, when an Executive Order signed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (then acting President) gave life to the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS). The scheme provides a platform for tax defaulters to regularize their tax statuses. As expressed in the policy, VAIDS, an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance in collaboration with federal and state tax authorities, was conceived to rectify almost all anomalies and issues of defective orientation to taxation in Nigeria. It also reflects the Federal Government’s desire to widen the…

Ghana yesterday proved that their 0-2 loss to Nigeria in the group stage of the WAFU Cup was a fluke when they beat the home-based Eagles 4-1 in the final game of the WAFU Cup held at the Cape Coast Stadium, Ghana. Yesterday’s game saw a different Black Stars, who ran rings around their perennial rivals in a game that would have be more disgraceful for Nigeria if not for the heroics of goalkeeper/captain, Ikechukwu Ezenwa. Ezenwa, who did not concede any goal before the final game, was awarded the best goalkeeper award. But that was after he had picked…

The new American Embassy in London is the most expensive in the world and includes safety features like a small moat. The new structure, reported by the Times of London to cost $1 billion, would set a glittering jewel in the crown of American presence abroad, even as soaring deficits and unemployment continue to threaten the economy at home. American diplomats will be trading their prime real estate near London’s luxurious Mayfair for a spot along the Thames in the industrial neighborhood Battersea. The move has been motivated by security concerns and overall decay at the current site, said U.S.…

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will, on Tuesday, open the 3rd International Conference on Tax in Africa (ICTA), which holds in Abuja from 26 to 29 September. The ICTA, the flagship conference of the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), has as its theme: “Building Strong Domestic Tax Regimes in Africa: Strengthening VAT, PIT and CIT.” The conference will also celebrate and recognise the six African experts selected to serve on the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters. Five of the six members are from ATAF member countries and two of these are on the ATAF Council.…

A woman was killed and at least six people suffered gunshot wounds when a man opened fire at a Tennessee church on Sunday morning before shooting himself as one of the worshipers confronted him with a firearm, officials said. The shooter, described as a man in his 20s, walked into Nashville’s Burnette Chapel Church of Christ wearing a ski mask and opened fire, spokesman Don Aaron of the Metropolitan Nashville Police told reporters. A church usher confronted the gunman but was quickly struck in the head with the gun. Although injured, the usher went to the parking lot, took a…

Chancellor Angela Merkel clinched a fourth term in Germany’s election Sunday, but her victory was clouded by the entry into parliament of the hard right AfD, the best showing for a nationalist force since World War II. Merkel, who after 12 years in power held a double-digit lead for most of the campaign, scored around 33 percent of the vote with her conservative Christian Union (CDU/CSU) bloc, according to exit polls. AFP reports that its nearest rivals, the Social Democrats and their candidate Martin Schulz, came in a distant second, with a post-war record low 20-21 percent. But in a…

A shallow 3.5-magnitude earthquake which hit North Korea near the country’s nuclear test site on Saturday was not the result of a fresh nuclear test, China’s seismic service said, after initially reporting a “suspected explosion”. The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said in a statement late Saturday that study of infrasonic data determined “the incident is not a nuclear explosion, but had the nature of a natural earthquake”. The Chinese Academy of Sciences also released a report saying the earthquake was likely a “lagged collapse earthquake”, echoing international experts’ hypotheses that the earthquake was a delayed repercussion of a previous…

Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA) regulator granted conditional approval for a merger between the local operations of Millicom’s Tigo and Bharti Airtel, a notice to employees of the subsidiaries said. The two networks agreed in March to combine their operations based on equal ownership and governance rights. It is the first such joint venture proposed in Ghana’s highly competitive telecom sector. Put together, the new entity would become Ghana’s second largest mobile operator serving around 10 million subscribers with revenues close to $300 million. READ: Merkel favourite to triumph as polls open in Germany South Africa´s MTN (MTNJ.J) is leading…

More than 60 million Germans are eligible to vote in Sunday’s general election which is expected to favour Chancellor Angela Merkel. Though she is expected to cruise to victory in the elections, but she is also to face the breakthrough into parliament of hard-right populists for the first time in Germany’s post-war history. Voting begins at 0600 GMT in Europe’s biggest economy and exit polls are announced at 1600 GMT, with few expecting surprises given Merkel’s double-digit poll lead. For months, the woman now dubbed the “eternal chancellor” has been the favourite over her centre-left rival Martin Schulz and looked…