Latest Sierra Leone News
Ballerina Michaela DePrince, whose career inspired many after she was born into war, dies at 29
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Ballet dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who came to the United States from an orphanage in war-torn Sierra Leone and performed on some of the world's biggest stages, has died, her family said in a statement. She was 29. “Michaela touched so many...
Fierceness holds off Thorpedo Anna to win the Travers and deny the filly's attempt to beat the boys
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — Fierceness held off Thorpedo Anna’s late charge to win the $1.25 million Travers Stakes by a head on Saturday, denying the filly’s attempt to become the first female winner of the Grade 1 race in over a century. Ridden by John Velazquez, Fierceness...
Sierra Leone's president uses UN Security Council presidency to urge more seats for Africa
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — After decades of seeking a bigger voice in the United Nations ' most powerful body, Africa "cannot wait any longer,” Sierra Leone's president told the Security Council on Monday. Chairing a meeting that his country convened, President Julius Maada Bio...
24 Sierra Leonean soldiers are sentenced to long prison terms for failed coup. One gets 120 years
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Twenty-four soldiers in Sierra Leone were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, some for up to 120 years, after being convicted by a military court for their roles in an attempted coup in the West African nation last year. A seven-member jury convicted...
Sierra Leone not long ago still chained mental health patients. A transformation is underway
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Abdul Jalloh was the only practicing psychiatrist in Sierra Leone when he took over the country’s sole psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of the capital. Now six years later, the young doctor is leading a transformation of mental health services in the West...
Sierra Leone court finds 11 involved in alleged coup guilty. Leader sentenced to almost 200 years
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — A Sierra Leone court found 11 people guilty of treason and other offenses following what authorities have called an attempted coup, with their leader sentenced to almost 200 years in prison, a judiciary spokesman said Tuesday. In November, dozens of...
US Treasury sanctions Sierra Leone man for allegedly smuggling migrants into the United States
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions Thursday on a man from Sierra Leone for allegedly smuggling thousands of migrants from Asia and Africa into the United States. The ring allegedly run by Abdul Karim Conteh provided false documents and drove...
Sierra Leone outlaws child marriage, and even witnesses to such weddings will be punished
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — A bill that bans child marriage in Sierra Leone has been signed into law, President Julius Maada Bio said late Tuesday, in an effort to protect girls in the West African nation where about a third are married before adulthood. The law is being...
