GEORGE WEAH

Few men in power have delved deeply into gender equality on the main stage of the United Nations this month.

WASHINGTON — (AP) — The U.S. imposed sanctions Monday on three high-ranking Liberian government officials for engaging in alleged public corruption. Liberia was battered by back-to-back civil wars that left 200,000 people dead and displaced half of the country's population. Public corruption has been a persistent problem, which has prevented economic development in an otherwise resourceful country of more than 5 million people. “Treasury’s designations today demonstrate that the United States remains committed to holding corrupt actors accountable and to the continued support of the Liberian people," he said. At the State Department, spokesman Ned Price said, “All three of these individuals have contributed to Liberia’s worsening corruption.

Liberia is celebrating two major anniversaries this year — 200 years ago freed slaves from the U.S. arrived here and 25 years later they declared the country to be independent.

MONROVIA, Liberia — (AP) — At least 29 people in Liberia, including 11 children and a pregnant woman, have died in a stampede of worshippers at a Christian ceremony in a densely populated area of the capital, Monrovia, officials said Thursday. The stampede erupted when a gang of thugs armed with knives attacked some of the hundreds attending the ceremony at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday night, police spokesman Moses Carter told The Associated Press. The bodies have been taken to the morgue of Redemption Hospital, close to where the incident occurred in a beach area called New Kru Town. Street gangs have become an increasing problem in Monrovia and other Liberian cities in recent years, according to residents. President George Weah was expected to visit the scene Thursday, according to Liberian media reports.

Officials in Liberia say that at least 29 people in Liberia, including 11 children and a pregnant woman, have died in a stampede of worshippers at a Christian ceremony in a densely populated area of the capital, Monrovia.

The U.S. government has sanctioned Liberia’s ex-warlord and current senator Prince Yormie Johnson for alleged corruption.

Tim Weah’s 11th-minute goal was matched by Michail Antonio’s spectacular 34-yard strike in the 22nd minute, leaving the United States with a 1-1 draw against Jamaica in a World Cup qualifier.

Christian Pulisic scored on a glancing header with his first touch of the game in the 74th minute and Weston McKennie added a goal in the 85th to lift the United States over Mexico 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier.

MONROVIA, Liberia — (AP) — A teenager in Liberia who has become a national hero after finding $50,000 and returning it to its rightful owner said he will meet the country's president next week. Emmanuel Tuloe told The Associated Press Friday that he has been invited to meet President George Weah on Monday. “I will ask him to encourage other young people to leave motorcycling and go to school because there’s nothing in it ( the motorcycle taxi business),” he said. They say I acted stupid to find and return money,” he told AP from his hometown of Gbolor Dialla on the border with Ivory Coast. But Tuloe strongly defends his honesty, advising others to return money, cellphones or other items they may find.

A teenager in Liberia who has become a national hero after finding $50,000 and returning it to its rightful owner said he will meet with the country's president next week.

Guinea has officially declared an Ebola epidemic Monday Feb. 15, 2021, after at least three people have died and others have been infected in the West African nation. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay-File)DAKAR – Guinea has officially declared it has an Ebola epidemic after at least three people have died and four others have been infected in the West African nation. Guinea's new Ebola outbreak occurred in N’Zerekore, in southern Guinea, where health officials detected suspicious cases of Ebola with patients presenting symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding. Ad“The government reassures the population that all measures are being taken to stem this epidemic as quickly as possible. Guinea’s announcement comes more than a week after eastern Congo confirmed it has four cases of Ebola.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 file photo, former Ghanaian president Jerry Rawlings attends the inauguration ceremony of Ghana's new President John Atta Mills in Accra, Ghana. In a tribute Wednesday, Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo recalled the country’s political past saying it “culminated in the emergence of President Rawlings in the political space,” adding that he was “charismatic, energetic and fearless” and won “admirers and lifelong enemies." He won the elections and was sworn in as president in 1993 and served two elected four-year terms, leaving office in 2001. AdGhana commemorations for Rawlings lasted four days, beginning Sunday with a service at the Holy Spirit Cathedral. In addition to his wife, Rawlings is survived by three daughters: Zanetor Rawlings, Yaa Asantewaa Rawlings, Amina Rawlings; and one son, Kimathi Rawlings.

Some leaders took time to recall the 1995 conference, detail domestic initiatives or lament that progress toward female equality is lagging or even retreating. The 1995 work of what was officially called the U.N.'s Fourth World Conference on Women is considered a signal moment in women's rights. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed to his country's 2017 law requiring some employers to provide 26 weeks of paid maternity leave. Still, many leaders, including some female ones, didn't devote much time or detail to women's issues in their speeches. In Norway, the prime minister, the parliament speaker and over 40% of parliamentarians and government ministers are women.

Google Maps(CNN) - Twenty-six children have died after a fire broke out in a boarding school in a suburb outside the Liberian capital Monrovia, a government spokesman told CNN. The children were sleeping in a building attached to a mosque at a religious school in Paynesville City when it caught fire at around 11 pm Liberia time, Presidential Press Secretary Isaac Solo Kelgbeh said. The children, some as young as 10, were not able to escape the building because there was no fire exit and there were security steel bars on the windows, Kelgbeh said. While two survivors were taken to a local hospital and remain in a critical condition. "It is saddening even when a single citizen dies; what much more about 28 children, potential leaders, who were aspiring for a better and prosperous future," he added.