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ABIANA has been in the limelight for years and has featured on recordings and live performances with several contemporary local musicians.

Signed to +233 Records in 2019, this natural songbird is poised to rise to dizzying heights in Ghanaian music circles and across the globe.

Her vocal dexterity and stagecraft are always enjoyed and appreciated by the patrons at the “+233 Jazz Bar and Grill” in Accra. Directed by Yaw Skyface, the “ADUNLEI” video will serve music lovers with a breath of fresh air and a unique twist to Ghanaian music. It features local lakeside scenes as well as indoor shots.

“ADUNLEI” is the first single from her debut album titled “ALEMLE LALA”.

Malaysia’s former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has said that Muslims have the right “to kill millions of French people”.

Mahathir’s statement came after three people were stabbed to death – two of them beheaded – at a church in the city of Nice by a knifeman shouting “Allahu Akbar”. The knifeman was later shot 14 times and wounded by armed police. Mahathir Mohamad, who lost power in February this year, said freedom of expression does not include “insulting other people” as anger over satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed sweeps the Islamic world.

The 95-year-old politician said he did not approve of the beheading of a French school teacher for sharing caricatures of the Prophet, but added that, “Irrespective of the religion professed, angry people kill”.

    “The French in the course of their history [have] killed millions of people. Many were Muslims,” he said in a tweet which has since been removed for violating the website’s rules.

    Mahathir continued: “Muslims have a right…

Fake news is a growing menace to democratic elections in Ghana and other democracies by relentless targeting of hyper-partisan views, which play to the fears and prejudices of people, in order to influence their voting plans and their behavior. In Ghana today, it's nearly impossible to consume online and social media content without coming across fake news. It's seen in every nook and cranny of the society. Even though fake news has been part and parcel of our ecosystem from time immemorial with its long history traceable to satires (humor), it has now assumed the proportion of fabrications, concoctions, inventions, dangerous and irresponsible content. In times like this when Ghana is preparing for a major presidential and parliamentary elections, the issue of fake news has become prevalent in the online news media environment posing serious threat and danger to our democracy.

There's vast production of political propaganda and fake news by political actors with clandestine …

At least three people have been killed with two of them beheaded in a 'terrorist' knife attack at a catholic cathedral in Nice, France.
According to reports, the attack began around 9 am just as mass at the Notre Dame basilica - the largest Roman Catholic church in Nice started.

Among the three people that have been confirmed dead, a man and a woman were beheaded while several others were left injured in the attack at Notre Dame church in Nice, south of France.  Police quickly rushed to the scene, where they shot and arrested the attacker, who has been taken to hospital.  

The city's mayor, Christian Estrosi, tweeted: 'I am on site with the [police] who arrested the perpetrator of the attack.

'I confirm that everything suggests a terrorist attack in the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice.'

French interior minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted: “A police operation is in progress. “Avoid the area and follow the instructions.”

He also announced that he has called a “crisis meeti…

The global literary and human rights organization PEN will in December give its Beneson Courage Award to 17-year-old Darnella Frazier, the young woman who filmed the harrowing last few seconds of the life of George Floyd.
PEN America announced on Tuesday that Frazier will receive the award on December 8 at a virtual gala celebration for her “sheer guts” that “changed the course of history in this country”.

“With remarkable steadiness, Darnella carried out the expressive act of bearing witness, and allowing hundreds of millions around the world to see what she saw,” wrote PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel. Nossel added: “Without Darnella’s presence of mind and readiness to risk her own safety and well-being, we may never have known the truth about George Floyd’s murder.”

On her part, Frazier expressed through her family-hired public relations specialist gratitude for her selection saying she was “humbled to receive this award and very grateful”.

The teenager, who was described in June by her …

Former US President, Barack Obama, is set to join Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on the campaign trail in their first joint appearance during the final weekend of the election season.

Biden and Obama will visit the key battleground state of Michigan on Saturday to "discuss bringing Americans together to address the crises facing the country," the Biden campaign announced on Wednesday October 28.

Most Michigan polls show Biden leading President Donald Trump in the state. However, Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes in 2016, and will return to Oakland County on Friday for his own campaign visit.   Former US President, Barack Obama, is set to join Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on the campaign trail in their first joint appearance during the final weekend of the election season.
Biden and Obama will visit the key battleground state of Michigan on Saturday to "discuss bringing Americans together to address the crises facing the country," the Biden camp…

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was slated to be the new Director-General of the World Trade Organization. However there has been an unexpected glitch in the process.

In a last ditch move, the United States representative at World Trade Organization took to the floor to insist that South Korea’s candidate remained a contender, and that Washington will not recognise Okonjo-Iweala as the consensus candidate for appointment as director-general.
In response to this, the General Counsel has postponed its announcement of the new Director-General until a further meeting, which is scheduled for 9 November; after the US presidential elections.

A panel at the WTO recommended her today for the position.  She would be the first woman, and the first African, to lead the institution.

 She had won the support from the vast majority of member states, including the EU, Japan and China, but not the United States. Meanwhile, in a tweet after the head of delegates meeting on Wednesday, October 28, in Geneva, the WTO said…

Anita Erskine is ranked one of the top 100 most Inspirational Women in Ghana. She is a bilingual Strategic Communications Specialist and Broadcast Journalist, a Compère and TV Producer. In this episode we uncover how Anita continues to lend her voice to numerous social impact projects, due to her unwavering belief in the SDGs  mantra of not leaving anyone behind, Against All Odds.Watch the episode below...

The hullabaloo surrounding whether Ghana has been classified as HIPC or not is characterised more by partisan and emotional pronouncements than rational and fair reportage and comments. Political spinners are spinning. The strategists are relentlessly strategizing.
What more, Government has given their own interpretation. Opposition parties have also given their interpretation. And the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sent a rebuttal saying that, the list on its website remains for all countries that have been on the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) programme since 1996 and is regularly updated.

I find it interesting how this issue has generated so much attention and public discourse. The HIPC status of our dear country, really? Instead of channeling our attention on governments' public policy interventions.

In Ghana, everything that happens detrimental or not to the country's welfare is refracted with partisan lenses except maybe the air we breathe. We should not always…

US leader, Donald Trump has had more than $270 million in debt forgiven since 2010 after he failed to repay his lenders for a Chicago skyscraper building  development, a new report by the New York Times alleges.

According to the report published Tuesday night, October 27, after the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago encountered financial problems, big banks and hedge funds granted Trump more time to repay his debts, much of which was ultimately forgiven by the banks.

The report also stated that Trump paid almost nothing as federal income on the forgiven debts because he incurred financial losses in his other businesses.
According to the report, Trump arranged for two of his companies to borrow more than $700 million for the Chicago development and went to Deutsche Bank for the majority of the money.

The bank agreed to lend $640 million to the project, the newspaper said, but after construction delays, the loan came due while portions of the building were still unfinished.

Deu…

The former Minister of Finance in Nigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has emerged as the new Director General of the World Trade Organization. She is the first female and first African Director-General of the WTO.
In a keenly contested election, Okonjo-Iweala beat her rival, South Korean Yoo Myung hee, with a wide margin. She polled 104 votes from 164 member countries to defeat Myung Hee at the final stage of the race.

Okonjo-Iweala received widespread support from Africa and other continents before the election which took place today October 28.

Her victory comes days after European Union member nations backed her candidacy against Ms. Myung hee, who was supported by the United States.
The official announcement is expected to be made by the WTO at 3pm Nigerian time today.

Okonjo-Iweala, 66, served as Nigeria’s first female Finance and later Foreign Affair minister, and has a 25-year career behind her as a development economist and international finance expert at the World Bank, eventually becom…

As a communicator or any other important stakeholder, your brand as a person should be valuable as the information you share, Dr. Ike Tandoh, a Founder and Lead Management Consultant, has said.

Speaking to some selected journalists, advocates and prolific writers at the African Journalists for Economic Opportunity Training (AJEOT-2020) organised by ILAPI, the communication expert said: "There is a general lack of understanding of what branding entails. Everyone associates branding with high cost. But it is rather the opposite. Branding is about packaging, capacity, honesty and credibility, rather than spending money."

He added that: "The second issue is a lack of understanding of the communication environment. Your personal appearance as a communication person or entity begins from the information or idea you put across. But what actually is missing among some people in the communication space is that they don’t just know how to go about it."

To get branding right, …

Juventus striker, Cristiano Ronaldo has been ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League match against Barcelona after testing positive for coronavirus for the third time.
The Portuguese international, 35, has been self-isolating since he tested positive while on international duty with Portugal on October 13. He returned another positive result last week, and was made to take another test ahead of Juventus' clash against Barcelona on Wednesday

According to Sky Italy, Ronaldo failed to test negative 24 hours ahead of kick-off, as required by UEFA in order to play, meaning his potential reunion with Lionel Messi will not happen tomorrow.

The arch-rivals, who both have 11 Ballon D'or titles between them (Ronaldo, 5, Messi, 6), have not faced each other in the Champions League since the semi-final between Real Madrid and Barcelona in the 2011-12 season.

FIFA president, Gianni Infantino has tested positive for COVID-19, football's world governing body said in a statement on Tuesday, October 27.
Infantino, 50, reported mild symptoms and is in self-isolation and will quarantine for at least 10 days, FIFA added.

A statement read: "FIFA President Gianni Infantino has received confirmation today that he has tested positive for coronavirus. The FIFA President, who has reported mild symptoms, has immediately placed himself in self-isolation and will remain in quarantine at least for 10 days.

"All people who came into contact with the FIFA President during the last few days have been informed accordingly and they are being requested to take the necessary steps.

"FIFA sincerely wishes President Infantino a speedy recovery."

President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has stated that patriotism shouldn't be eaten in economics. He said this during his engagement with the African Journalists For Economic Opportunity Training (AJEOT-2020) Participants on the Challenges With The Ease Of Doing Business.
According to him, the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index is primarily used to measure how businesses are doing in  every country. "Ghana's performance on the ease of doing business has experienced a retrogression", he said.

"Per the latest World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking, Ghana has dropped from 114th position in 2019 to 118th in 2020." A country like Somalia is leading Ghana; representing the 12th position and Ghana 13th. This tells how well we're sinking as an economy for allowing Somalia that's noted for so many internal and external conflicts to outclass us", he bemoaned.

He explained that in the process of starting a  business, there's still some prop…