|
Highlights
Disco Queen Donna Summer dies at 63
Like the King of Pop or the Queen of Soul, Donna Summer was bestowed a title fitting of musical royalty — the Queen of Disco.
Yet unlike Michael Jackson or Aretha Franklin, it was a designation she wasn't comfortable embracing.
"I grew up on rock 'n' roll," Summer once said when explaining her reluctance to claim the title. More...
Presidential Proclamation On World Telecommunication & Information Society Day
Monrovia, Wednesday, May 16, 2012: The President of the Republic of Liberia, Her Excellency Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has issued a Proclamation declaring Thursday, May 17, 2012 as World Telecommunication and Information Society Day to be observed throughout the country as a working holiday.
A Foreign Ministry release says the day will be celebrated under the Theme: “Women and Girls In ITC”.
The Proclamation says the Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, will join member countries of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to celebrate the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
President Johnson Sirleaf therefore calls upon all Government ministries and agencies as well as international organizations and the private sector concerned to cooperate with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications to plan and execute appropriate programs befitting the occasion.
The Proclamation says Liberia will join efforts with member countries to support plans of the ITU and the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), geared towards building competencies in ITCs, especially of physically challenged individuals through the promotion of equitable access to opportunities provided by ICTS.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution A/RES/60/252 in March 2006 stipulating that World Information Society Day shall be celebrated 17th May of each year which was endorsed in November 2006 and eventually celebrated by the ITU plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, Turkey as World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
The World Telecommunication Day has been celebrated annually on 17th May since 1969, marking the founding of the ITU and the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865.
Charles Taylor offers sympathy to victims
Published: May 16, 2012 at 8:04 AM
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, May 16 (UPI) -- Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor says prosecution witnesses were paid or coerced to testify at his war crimes trial at the Hague in The Netherlands.
In a statement Wednesday from a witness box, Taylor condemned atrocities around the world and expressed sympathy for victims of war crimes in Sierra Leone, the BBC reported.
It was Taylor's last chance to address the Special Court for Sierra Leone before he is sentenced later this month. He was convicted in April of aiding and abetting in the commission of 11 war crimes or crimes against humanity during overlapping wars in Liberia and neighboring Sierra Leone.
The 64-year-old former president could face up to 80 years in prison for supporting Revolutionary United Front rebels. He was accused of using so-called blood diamonds to purchase weapons to fuel the rebellion.
Taylor is the first sitting or former head of state to face prosecution by a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal. Sentencing is scheduled for May 30.
Liberia presidency opposes renegotiating oil deals
Liberia's presidency on Friday opposed a decision by lawmakers to renegotiate ten oil contracts but agreed reforms were necessary.
"This was a request made by the House of Representatives, not the government of Liberia," Information Minister Lewis Brown told AFP.
"We will have to make our lawmakers understand that renegotiation is not the right solution," he added. More...
JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE END OF THE VISIT OF HIS EXCELLENCY, DR. ERNEST BAI KOROMA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE TO THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA
At the invitation of Her Excellency, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, His Excellency, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, paid a two-day visit to the Republic of Liberia, from 10-11 May, 2012. More...
Links
|
Garry C. Itoka - 
