LaNUBlog™

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa was first reported in March 2014, and has rapidly become the deadliest occurrence of the disease since its discovery in 1976. In fact, the current epidemic sweeping across the region has now killed more than all other known Ebola outbreaks combined. Up to 8 October, 4,033 people had been reported as having died from the disease in five countries; Liberia,

Health care workers are among those most at risk of catching Ebola The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is taking "very seriously" the current outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa. Out of 122 cases recorded in Guinea so far, at least 80 patients have died, with a further four deaths in Liberia. What is Ebola? Ebola is a viral illness whose initial symptoms can include a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and a sore throat,

Liberia is Africa's oldest republic, but it became better known in the 1990s for its long-running, ruinous civil war and its role in a rebellion in neighbouring Sierra Leone. Although founded by freed American and Caribbean slaves, Liberia is mostly inhabited by indigenous Africans, with the slaves' descendants comprising 5% of the population. The West African nation was relatively calm until 1980 when William Tolbert was overthrown by Sergeant Samuel Doe after food price riots. The coup marked the end of dominance by the minority Americo-Liberians, who had ruled since independence, but heralded a period of instability. By the late 1980s, arbitrary rule and economic collapse culminated in civil war when Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) militia overran much of the countryside, entering the capital in 1990. Mr Doe was executed. At a glance *. Politics: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became president in 2006 after the first polls since the end of the ci...

A UN-backed special court in The Hague is due to rule on an appeal by former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Last May, the court sentenced him to 50 years in prison for aiding and abetting rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 civil war. He became the first former head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since World War II. His lawyers want him acquitted arguing that legal and factual errors were made during the trial. However, the prosecution has sought to increase his sentence to 80 years. The BBC's Chris Morris in The Hague says the court's decision will be closely watched because the guilty verdict was hailed as a landmark, proving that even people at the highest level of power can be held to account. Charles Taylor, 65, was found guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes in Sierra Leone, including terrorism, rape, murder and the use of child soldiers. He was also found guilty of planning some of the attacks carried out by reb...