The following article was contributed by the Ghanaian Embassy on the 56th Independence Day anniversary. ― Ed.The minister of information launched the 56th independence anniversary celebration on Feb. 15, with a program of activities leading to the commemoration of the anniversary on March 6. Ghana, formally known as the Gold Coast, gained independence on March 6, 1957. The first nine years saw rapid development in all sectors of the economy and increased participation of Ghana’s leaders in globa

Kuwait has a wealthy, relatively open economy, with its gross domestic product standing at $165.9 billion, real growth rate at 6.3 percent, and per capita GDP at $43,800 in 2012. It has crude oil reserves of about 102 billion barrels ― about 14.8 percent of the world’s oil reserves. As Kuwait is one of the world’s largest oil producers, oil and oil-related products naturally would dominate its economy, taking up more than half of its GDP. Kuwait produces 3.1 million barrels of oil per day. Still

VICENZA, Italy (AP) ― Self-made Italians like Amedeo Tartarini never expected to need help. Tartarini’s goldsmith business thrived for decades in Italy’s postwar boom. He was one of legions of small businessmen who made Italy an industrial power. With a house, money in the bank and a teeming workshop, the affable artisan never questioned his financial security ― until it was too late. As Italy’s financial crisis deepened, Tartarini ignored signs his business was failing, but persevered in the be

SINGAPORE (AP) ― Already one of the most densely populated countries in the world, tiny land scarce Singapore is projecting its population to swell by a third over the next two decades. To accommodate the influx, its planners envisage expanding upward, outward and downward. The population target of 6.9 million people, an increase of 1.3 million from the present, is contentious in a country where rapid immigration has already strained services such as public transport and contributed to surging h

The news that Korean students in Japan visited North Korea and praised the successful launch of a long-range rocket sparked fierce debate in Japan.According to a Japanese newspaper, students from Joseon schools -- schools in Japan funded by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, a pro-North Korean organization -- took part in a performance celebrating Lunar New Year’s Day in Pyongyang. On the stage, there was a stuffed doll that represented the North’s rocket. In the second part o

Investigators appear to have finally unraveled one of the tangled threads of mislabeling in Europe’s food supply system that led to horse labeled as beef ending up in nearly 4.5 million food products.The first loose thread was exposed by Ireland’s Food Standards agency, which said that burgers in several supermarket chains contained horse. The agency alerted U.K. regulators, which in turn ordered companies to test beef products for horse. This exposed more mislabeled products, this time made by