The United States bullied less powerful nations, intimidating those in Africa and Latin America, in order to weaken a June resolution on breastfeeding at the World Health Assembly in Geneva – a news headline that drew the ire of President Donald Trump when it was reported by the New York…
In Sierra Leone, former vice president Victor Foh and former mines minister Mansaray Minkailu were arrested Thursday as part of new President Julius Maada Bio’s aggressive crackdown on corruption. Despite claims that the arrests are politically motivated, Maada Bio – the Sierra Leone People’s Party candidate elected in a disputed…
Sierra Leone’s new president will soon head to New York for meetings at the United Nations, according to the country’s foreign minister. Dr. Alie Sanjan Kabba, speaking with Radio Democracy 98.1 in Freetown, said President Julius Maada Bio will lead his delegation as head of state but also as the…
In Sierra Leone, at least one person has died and another 20 were injured during the inauguration ceremony for President Julius Maada Bio in Freetown on Saturday. “The death figure may rise because we are still taking injured people from the stadium,” a Red Cross official, Unisa Carew, told Agence…
Authorities in Australia say the Commonwealth Games are over, but there’s still no trace of what is now at least 15 African athletes from five different countries who have disappeared without contacting their teams. The latest departure, according to The Australian, is Denyse Mutatsimpundu, a beach volleyball player from Rwanda…
Julius Maada Bio, the opposition candidate of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), has won the country’s presidential election runoff with 51.8 percent of the votes, the National Election Commission (NEC) announced late Wednesday. Maada Bio received 1,319,406 votes, narrowly defeating All People’s Congress (APC) candidate Samura Kamara, who took 48.2 percent…
Sierra Leone has resumed the tally of presidential election runoff votes, after an agreement was reached between the country’s National Election Commission (NEC) and the two candidates, the NEC said Monday. The agreement followed a dispute over how the votes were being counted, leading to a delay in the results….
Officials in Sierra Leone will hold the runoff presidential election originally planned for today on Saturday, following a last-minute High Court ruling that allows the voting to proceed. While a decision was welcome news to the National Election Commission, it also meant a delay because of the logistics required, said…
Sierra Leone will hold a runoff election between the top two presidential contenders on March 27, now that last week’s results are tallied and it’s clear that neither leading candidate picked up the necessary 55 percent of the vote. Mohamed Conteh, chairman of the National Election Commission, announced the results…
Election officials in Sierra Leone said that with 75 percent of the results counted, the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) and presidential candidate Julius Maada Bio hold a slim edge with 43.3 percent or a total of 848,438 votes. The All People’s Congress (APC) candidate Samura Kamara was trailing with 42.6…
The vote count remains under way in Sierra Leone, where election officials report a relatively smooth process – but there’s no results so far, and at least some disputes over just how well the election went. “Because we value accuracy above speed, there may be times when the tally takes…
A crucial Supreme Court hearing to determine if the National Grand Coalition (NGC) party’s candidate is eligible to run in Sierra Leone’s March 7 presidential election was postponed again Thursday, with the matter now to be taken up next week. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella has survived two previous court challenges to…
As Nigeria works to get a handle on its own Lassa fever outbreak, the World Health Organization has announced a new case affecting Guinea and the Liberian communities where the deceased patient traveled. The patient from Guinea died in January, leaving public health investigators to follow up on more than…
The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), working with a team of researchers including those at Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone, will spend the next five years studying the survivors of Ebola and Lassa virus outbreaks to better understand how to protect others in the future. “These are very severe diseases,…
Two survivors of Sierra Leone’s 2014 Ebola virus outbreak filed a human rights violation complaint with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice on Friday. The 15-page court filing says the government led by President Ernest Bai Koromo violated citizens’ rights, by failing in its financial…