News

By Tanu Jalloh

Vice Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone has described the Memorandum of Understanding he signed with the Africa Young Voices Media Empire on Tuesday, as a strategic move aimed at tackling graduate unemployment in the country.

Professor Ekundayo Thompson said the practical skills the students of the mass communication department of Fourah Bay College, FBC in particular would gain from internships at AYV would equip them to create their own jobs.

By Crispina Taylor

Parliament has enacted a new tax law known as the ‘Finance Act of 2016’ and it is geared towards improving on the revenue situation of the country.

The new law has increased the income tax, commonly known as the Pay As You Earn (PAYE), to compel high income earners to pay more tax.

By Fasalie Sulaiman Kamara

A rift has emerged within the ranks of retired soldiers classified as Wounded In Action (WIA) over payment of their monthly pension.

The ex-soldiers who got injured in action during the civil war and were forcefully retired, claimed that the pension they received, which was between Le50, 000 and Le150, 000 monthly, was not sufficient. And they had accused their elected leader of conniving with the Defence Ministry whom they suspected wasn’t inclined to address their plight.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf recently dissolved the country’s National Red Cross Board and ordered the management of the organization’s activities suspended pending investigation over suspected financial misappropriation.

The President later invited both members of the dissolved board and the management team on meeting to discuss an issue that has threatened to destroy the image of the Liberia National Red Cross Society (LNRCS).

By Kemo Cham

A US doctor working with missionaries in Togo has been taken into an isolation ward at a US hospital after been diagnosed with a suspected Lassa Fever infection.

The patient was flown out of West Africa on Thursday, reports indicate.

Lassa Fever is a highly deadly hemorrhagic disease similar to Ebola. They both are viral diseases.

Lassa Fever is usually acquired from infected rats.

By Kemo Cham

A clinical trial on a drug manufactured from Cannabis has proved successful in the treatment of a rare form of severe epilepsy in children, reports said.

The drug, Epidiolex, is manufactured by UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals with the use of cannabinoids, an active ingredients found in marijuana. It is used to treat Dravet syndrome.

The final result of the trial is expected later this year.

By Kemo Cham

Health ministry officials and partners on Wednesday engaged on a brainstorming session to tackle the country’s high rate of maternal mortality.

Officials from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), NGOs and civil society organizations stressed the need for collaboration, provision of relevant resources and assurance of sustainability for projects being implemented.