THE PARROTS

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) says last night’s manifesto highlight by the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) is replete with its ideas. Communications Director at the NPP, Nana Akomea, says many of their ideas that functionaries of the NDC had “pooh-pooh” as unrealistic have found themselves in the manifesto. Speaking to Evans Mensah, host of Joy FM’s Top Story Wednesday, Mr Akomea said even though the NPP is yet to outdoor its 2016 manifesto “many of our programmes and policies put across by our flagbearer are in the NDC manifesto.” President John Mahama gave highlights of his plans for the country when given a second term at a ceremony held at the State Banquet Hall in Accra, Tuesday. He said starting 2017 he would set up a committee to consider the possibility of adding five more regions to the existing 10 Regions. President John Mahama He also said he would set up factories across the country but not in the fashion NPP flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Aku

Chelsea legend Michael Essien is on the verge of joining Melbourne Victory in the A-League in Australia. According to the Herald Sun, Essien will become the second player to sign under the new Football Federation of Australia (FFA) guest-marquee rule, less than a month out of the start of the season. The deal is reportedly imminent, with the FFA approving Victory’s application for Essien under the new rule. Chief Executive Officer of the FFA, David Gallop, confirmed to the Herald Sun that Essien had satisfied the criteria. “FFA has had an approach from an A-League club in relation to using a portion of the Marquee Guest Fund to bring Michael Essien to the A-League as a Full Season Guest Marquee Player,” he said. “Michael Essien has had a tremendous domestic and international career, which qualifies him for a position on a Player Roster as a Full Season Guest Marquee Player and we have come to an agreed financial contribution if a club was to come to an agreement.’’ It co

Samsung will limit the batteries of South Korean Note 7 smartphones to 60% of their capacity following a recall of the devices. The firm asked for Note 7s to be returned following cases of phones that exploded during or after charging. An ad announcing the move appeared on the front page of the  JoongAng Daily newspaper . The software update to limit batteries seems intended to provoke users who haven't yet returned their handsets. It will begin to be rolled out from 20 September, the ad says. The Associated Press reported that a similar advertisement also appeared on the front page of the Seoul Shinmun paper. It has not yet been confirmed whether or not a similar update will be pushed out to phones in other countries. The recall of faulty Galaxy Note 7 affects 2.5 million devices. In the UK, Samsung has offered to replace the handsets from  19 September  and has asked customers to contact the retailers or mobile operators from whom they bought the phones. Explos