Petty was found unconscious, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest at his Malibu home early on Monday.

He was taken to hospital, but could not be revived and died later that evening.

Petty was best known as the lead singer of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, and his hits included American Girl, Breakdown, Free Fallin’, Learning to Fly and Refugee.

“He died peacefully at 20:40 Pacific time (03:40 GMT Tuesday) surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends,” said his long-time manager Tony Dimitriades.

A statement on the singer’s Twitter page described Petty’s passing as an “untimely death”.

Petty was also a co-founder of the Traveling Wilburys group in the late 1980s, touring with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison.

“It’s shocking, crushing news,” Dylan told the Los Angeles Times.

“I thought the world of Tom. He was a great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.”

Other tributes include those from fellow musicians Sir Paul McCartney, Carole King, Brian Wilson and Cyndi Lauper.

McCartney tweeted that he was “sending his love” to Petty and his family, while King said her “heart goes out” to “family, friends and fans of Tom Petty, of which I’m one”.

Beach Boys star Brian Wilson tweeted that he was “heartbroken” to hear of the news.

Canadian singer Bryan Adams thanked Petty “for all the great rockin’ music”.

Actor Kiefer Sutherland also paid tribute.

He tweeted: “Today America lost one of its musical giants. Thank you Tom Petty for all the music. To me you will live forever.”

Petty also found solo success in 1989 with his album Full Moon Fever, which featured one of his most popular songs, Free Fallin’, co-written with Jeff Lynne.

In 2002, Petty was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida, on 20 October, 1950.

He endured a rough childhood, living in poverty with an alcoholic, abusive father – but his life changed in 1961 when he met Elvis Presley and shook his hand.

“That was the end of doing anything other than music with my life,” he said.

He joined two bands at school, The Sundowners and The Epics, before dropping out to play with Mudcrutch, aged 17.

After that band broke up, Petty and several of its members formed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, releasing their debut album in 1976.

Their career was slow to take off, but heavy touring – including a well-received support slot with future E Street Band member Nils Lofgren in the UK – eventually pushed them into the chart.

Over the next four decades, they became one of rock’s most reliable live acts, doggedly sticking to their no-frills rock template, and producing a stream of radio staples including Don’t Come Around Here No More and the Stevie Nicks duet Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.

Petty scored solo hits with the platinum-selling albums Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers, while the 1991 album Into The Great Wide Open gave the band a number one single, Learning To Fly.

The video for the title track was also in constant rotation on MTV, thanks in no small part to cameos by Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway and a then-unknown Matt LeBlanc.

Petty gave his last live shows just a week ago, playing three sold-out dates at the Hollywood Bowl as part of a 40th anniversary tour.

Last December, he told Rolling Stone magazine: “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was thinking this might be the last big one. We’re all on the backside of our 60s.

“I have a granddaughter now I’d like to see as much as I can. I don’t want to spend my life on the road.”

–

Source: BBC

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The decision follows a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin ordering the government to ban or limit food imports from countries that imposed sanctions on Moscow for its support of rebels in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.

“There is nothing good in sanctions and it wasn’t an easy decision to take, but we had to do it,” Medvedev said.

The ban is valid from Aug. 7 and will last for one year, he said.

–

Source: Reuters

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Denmark has asked the European Court of Justice to rule on the case of a male childminder who says he was sacked for being too fat.

Karsten Kaltoft weighs about 160kg (25 stone; 350 pounds). He told the BBC that “bad habits” had made him fat but that his size was “no problem” at work.

The court’s final ruling will be binding across the EU.

It is seen as especially significant because of rising obesity levels in Europe and elsewhere, including the US. A survey in England in 2012 found that more than half of adults were obese or overweight.

The Danish courts asked the ECJ judges in Luxembourg to clarify European law in Mr Kaltoft’s case.

‘Doing job properly’

In an interview with the BBC World Service, Mr Kaltoft denied reports that he was unable to bend low enough to tie children’s shoelaces.

Describing his work with children, he said: “I can sit on the floor and play with them, I have no problems like that.”

“I don’t see myself as disabled,” he said. “We hope the outcome is that it’s not OK just to fire a person because they’re fat, if they’re doing their job properly.”

When asked if his employer, Billund local authority, had done anything to help him, he said they had paid for him to go to a gym for three months.

“I tried regular exercise. Of course I don’t run a marathon, but weight training: I did that, it was OK,” he said.

He worked for Billund authority for 15 years and was dismissed, the authority said, because there was a decline in the number of children. No further explanation was given as to why he was selected for dismissal.

Future obligations?

Audrey Williams, an employment discrimination expert at Eversheds law firm, said the judges would have to decide “whether obesity itself should trigger preferential rights, or should only impact where an individual, due to obesity, has other recognised medical issues”.

If the judges decide it is a disability then employers could face new obligations, she told the BBC.

Employers might in future have a duty to create reserved car parking spaces for obese staff, or adjust the office furniture for them, she said.

The judges will have to decide whether obesity is covered under the EU’sEmployment Equality Directive, which outlaws job discrimination on grounds of disability.

Source: BBC

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The firms’ respective arrangements with Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg will be investigated.

Announcing the move, tax commissioner Algirdas Semeta said that “fair tax competition is essential”.

Last year, a US Senate investigation accused Ireland of giving special tax treatment to Apple.

The European Commission will look at whether the companies’ tax affairs breach EU rules on state aid.

Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said: “In the current context of tight public budgets, it is particularly important that large multinationals pay their fair share of taxes.”

Countries in Europe cannot allow certain firms to pay less tax than they should, Mr Almunia added.

The investigations will focus on “transfer pricing”, or whether the countries allowed the multinational firms to charge one part of the company over the odds for goods or services from another part of the company as a way of shifting profits.

Under Commission rules, companies must charge their subsidiaries market rates.

Apple said that it had not had “any special tax deal with the Irish government”.

“We have received no selective treatment from Irish officials,” the company said. “Apple is subject to the same tax laws as scores of other international companies doing business in Ireland.”

The Irish finance ministry said Apple “did not receive selective treatment and there was no ‘special tax rate deal'”.

“Ireland is confident that there is no state aid rule breach in this case and we will defend all aspects vigorously,” the Department of Finance said.

Starbucks said that its Dutch tax arrangements conformed with financial law.

“We comply with all relevant tax rules, laws and OECD guidelines and we’re studying the Commission’s announcement related to the state aid investigation in the Netherlands,” a Starbucks spokesperson said.

The Dutch finance ministry said it was confident that its tax system was “robust”.

“We are confident that the investigation by the EC will in the end result in the conclusion there is no state aid involved,” a spokesman told the BBC.

Source: BBC

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“The EU must release the 60 million Euros that our Minister of Finance has been requesting for in the last two months in order that he can have some support for his budget,” the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu said.

Citi News has gathered that the Finance Ministry has been chasing the funds for over two months.

President John Dramani Mahama earlier also urged the EU to disburse the funds when he held discussions with the President of the EU, Jose Manuel Barroso at Brussels.

Speaking at an EU Business Summit, Mr. Iddrisu said the funds will among others reduce government’s high budget deficit.

The Minister also emphasized the need to secure the fund to address the country’s current economic challenges saying “If we don’t check the current challenges facing the Ghanaian economy, we will be opening it up to more risks, which in itself will be a disincentive to our investments.”

Meanwhile the board of the World Bank is expected to review a proposal for a 50 million dollar donor support fund to Ghana.

The funding will be used to finance the Ghana Social Opportunities Project. The project is expected to strengthen and expand support through the expansion of the coverage of Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP).

The World Bank last week gave Ghana a 229 million dollar grant to support two programmes expected to accelerate access to education and health delivery in the country.

73 million dollars of the amount was allocated to the Maternal and Child Health &Nutrition Improvement Project while 156 million dollars was allocated to the Ghana Secondary Education Improvement Project.

The intervention was approved by the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group on May 20, 2014.

Follow @EfeAnsah

By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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A European court this week ruled that an individual could force the removal of some search results.

The BBC has learned that more than half of requests sent to Google from UK individuals involved convicted criminals.

A business has also sought for links to negative reviews on a forum to be removed.

As the European Court of Justice made its ruling on Tuesday, many speculated that a flurry of similar requests would come Google’s way.

On Thursday it emerged an ex-politician seeking re-election has asked to have links to an article about his behaviour in office removed.

A man convicted of possessing child abuse images had also requested links to pages about his conviction to be wiped.

Tax scammer

More requests came to light on Friday. They included:

• A man who tried to kill members of his own family who has asked for links to a news article to be taken down
• A celebrity’s child who wanted links to news articles about a criminal conviction removed
• A suspended university lecturer who asked for the removal of links to articles mentioning the disciplinary action
• A convicted cyberstalker who, after being cited in an article about cyberstalking law, wants links to it taken down
• An actor who has asked for links to articles about an affair he had with a teenager taken down
• A man convicted of running a tax scam who wants all links referencing the event removed

Since Tuesday’s ruling many have come forward to question the practicality of the EU’s decision.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales described it as “astonishing” and a form of “wide-sweeping censorship”.

However, the EU has defended the move, saying that in cases where the public interest case is more pressing than the individual’s privacy rights, links should not be taken down.

‘Slow and cumbersome’

Getting that balance right is a delicate issue, said Michael Sandys from Liverpool-based Jackson & Canter Solicitors.

“Lawmakers will need to ensure they find a way to allow some information to be removed in a timely fashion while at the same time not allowing history to be rewritten,” he said.

“If an individual goes to court about an article or piece of data which is found to be defamatory or inaccurate then there are levers in place for Google to quickly remove it from the search results.”

But he argued that Google could do more to deal with genuine cases of incorrect information.

“I have made requests on behalf of clients a number of times for the removal of content which defames them. Sometimes it is dealt with well but other times the process can be slow and cumbersome.”

Google’s official statement on the matter, unchanged since Tuesday, described the EU’s ruling as “disappointing”.

Source: BBC

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Alhaji Mohammed Yakubu Saani, Deputy Country Director of ActionAid observed that even though the country had not yet signed the EPA, its economy has been seriously affected by the weakening and continuous depreciating of the cedi as against the dollar, thereby creating economic hardships for the ordinary Ghanaian.

He was addressing a press conference in Tamale on Wednesday to brief the media about the on-going projects that the NGO was implementing to better the lives of people through poverty reduction interventions.

He explained that ActionAid was one of the coalition members of the EPA, and knew very well that if the country signed the EPA, the local industry would be destroyed since tariffs would be removed to allow Western industries to enter African countries freely with their products, stressing that, local companies could not compete favourably with the well-developed Western companies.

He suggested the need to build the capacities of local industries before attempting to sign the EPA, noting that local resources needed to be mobilized and developed as a priority.

Alhaji Saani also expressed dissatisfaction about the manner in which many multi-national companies were invading taxes, and repatriating huge profits to their mother companies abroad, and urged government to take action against such companies.

Sumaila Abdul-Rahaman, Country Director of ActionAid-Ghana, warned that the country must avoid producing genetically modified crops (GMO), because it was detrimental to the economy, and would put many small-scale farmers out of business.

He urged the media to collaborate with the NGO to champion the interest of the poor and vulnerable in society, since they were core of ActionAid’s activities.

Abdul-Rahaman indicated that a meeting with the Northern Regional House of Chiefs indicated that many people were at variance with the disbandment of the witches camps based on socio-cultural reasons.

He described the construction of a hostel for the Gambaga witches’ camp as an attempt by government to collaborate with AAG to find lasting solutions to the socio-cultural problem.

Esther Boateng, Northern Regional Programme Manager of AAG, said the organization has been working in 36 communities in the Tamale Metropolis and 16 in the Nanumba North and the Nanumba South districts, stressing that its operation spans across six regions.

She expressed the hope that its work would continue to help women progress in their endeavours.

Source: GNA

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The federation believes Ghana will be at an advantage if it signs the agreement.

President of the federation Anthony Sikpa told Citi Business News ‘government should sign it, it’s not just the trade arrangement that is involved we have among others the developmental, health aspects we are overlooking those ones’.

There has been enormous opposition from labour, civil society and the Christian council against any attempt by Ghana and ECOWAS to sign onto the EPA with the European Union.

There have also been calls by some business associations for government to sign onto the agreement.

The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) for example believes Ghana’s goal of boosting the value of non-traditional exports to $5 billion by 2017 will be endangered if the government fails to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement.

While some members of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) mostly the tuna, fruit processors and exporters and other companies exporting into the European market, are fully behind the agreement.

Ghana and the EU in 2007 initiated an interim EPA to conform to the world trade organization (WTO) requirements for preferential trade deals between WTO members.

President of the Federation of Association of Ghanaian Exporters Anthony Sikpa tells Citi Business News government must seek markets for local business.

‘This EPA is a trade agreement and its citizens of EU that are pushing their governments to do this and we should also push our governments to look for markets for us so let’s cut out emotions.

They will in turn allow you into their markets but they will not lower their standards for you, so we need to build the capacity of our people so wherever they are, they can compete well’. He said

By:  Vivian Kai Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @Viviankaimensah

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