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FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AFP) — Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio said on Sunday the West African country “must learn” from the deaths of over 100 people killed in a fuel tanker explosion in the capital Freetown. Three days of national mourning would begin on Monday with flags ordered to fly at half mast and prayers held nationwide on Friday and Sunday, he said in a televised address to the nation. “We are going to […]
By KRISTA LARSON Associated Press FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — At first no one knew why the 5-year-old girl could no longer move her legs or control her urine. For months she lay on the ground, unable to walk or play. Some in the community blamed witchcraft but the real reason was more horrific: The child had been brutally raped and left paralyzed as a result of her injuries. The case has brought the issue […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Pop superstar Madonna on Tuesday announced that she will direct a biopic about Michaela DePrince, a war orphan from Sierra Leone who overcame overwhelming odds to become a successful ballerina. “Taking Flight,” taken from the name of DePrince’s 2014 autobiography, will be the musical icon’s third time as a feature film director after “Filth and Wisdom” in 2008 and “W.E.” in 2011. DePrince, abandoned by her uncle during the […]
MONROVIA, Liberia (AFP) – Liberian presidential candidate George Weah’s running mate Jewel Howard-Taylor began life in politics as first lady to former warlord leader Charles Taylor, but has since established a formidable political reputation in her own right. Howard-Taylor was a surprise pick for vice-president on the ticket of the footballer turned politician, as many expected her to run for the top job herself. Her National Patriotic Party (NPP) was formed in 1997 by members of the National […]
NEW YORK CITY, New York (Reuters) — The 14th largest diamond in the world was displayed in New York on Tuesday (November 21) and will go up for auction in New York on December 4. The “Peace Diamond” was discovered in Sierra Leone and is 709 carats in its uncut form. “I think the idea that we trust the government of Sierra Leone today is a very important sea change in how the world is […]
by Saidu Bah Agence France Presse FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AFP) — Sierra Leone began a week of mourning Wednesday as it emerged that 105 children were among more than 300 people who perished in mudslides and torrential flooding, in one of the country’s worst natural disasters. With 600 people still missing in Freetown, President Ernest Bai Koroma described the humanitarian challenge ahead as “overwhelming.” He said flags would fly at half-mast. He called for urgent […]
by Saidu Bah Agence France Presse FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AFP) — Sierra Leone’s president issued a desperate appeal for help on Tuesday, a day after flooding ravaged the country’s capital, killing more than 300 people and leaving hundreds more missing. Touring Regent, one of the worst-hit areas, President Ernest Bai Koroma fought back tears as he said the devastation was “overwhelming us.” “Entire communities have been wiped out,” Koroma said. “We need urgent support now.” […]
by Saidu Bah Agence France Presse Freetown, Sierra Leone (AFP) — At least 312 people were killed and more than 2,000 left homeless on Monday when heavy flooding hit Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown, leaving excavators to pull bodies from rubble and overwhelming the city’s morgues. An AFP journalist saw several homes submerged in Regent village, a hilltop community, and corpses floating in the water in the Lumley West area of the city, as the […]
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (Reuters) — Sierra Leone rejected a bid of over $7.8 million for one of the world’s largest diamonds at an auction on Thursday (May 11). The 706-carat gem is the second-largest ever discovered in the West African country and was unearthed in March in the eastern Kono region by a Christian pastor who gave it to the government to handle the sale. Five bids were handed to auctioneers in a sealed brown […]
Liberia is set to be declared Ebola-free on Thursday (January 14) for the third time in a year as West Africa appears to finally be over the epidemic that left over 11,000 people dead since it began in early 2014. Even though Sierra Leone had the highest number of Ebola cases at 14,122 compared to Liberia’s 10,675, the death toll was highest in Liberia at 4,809, with Guinea registering 2,536 deaths from 3,804 cases, according […]
The International Monetary Fund is going to set up a fund worth 150 million dollars for the countries most heavily affected by Ebola – Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea
BY COLLEEN JENKINS (Reuters) – A surgeon who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone died early on Monday of the disease at a Nebraska hospital, medical officials said, the second death from the virus out of 10 known cases treated in the United States. Dr. Martin Salia, a native of Sierra Leone and a permanent U.S. resident, had been in very critical condition when he arrived at the Nebraska Medical Center on Saturday afternoon, […]
