Monrovia – The United Kingdom government has declared two Liberian diplomats serving at the Liberian Embassy in London as persona non grata. 

Monrovia – The Government of the Republic of Liberia and the Embassy of Japan near Monrovia will dedicate two bridges funded by the Japanese Government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japanese Counterpart Value Fund (JCVF) in Montserrado and Grand Cape Mount Counties on Friday and Saturday, November 24 and 25, 2017, respectively.

Margibi County -- Senator Oscar A. Cooper is calling on political parties protesting the results of the October 10 polls to abandon their legal pursuit against the National Elections Commission (NEC).

Monrovia - Paynesville - Teachers at the Monrovia Vocational Training Center (MVTC) on Thursday, November 23, stormed the campus in demand of their five-month salary arrears owed them by the administration.

Monrovia – The Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD) has stated that it welcomes the urgency with which the National Elections Commission (NEC) has accorded the election dispute hearing processes. IREDD called on NEC to exercise impartiality, professionalism and urgency to bring the matter to a close.

Monrovia – In their hundreds, students of various high schools in Montserrado County have been trooping to the headquarters of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) having had the assurance that its political leader, Senator George Weah, would settle their WASSCE registration fees.

Monrovia - The head of National Christian Council says there is no interference but rather mediation taken by religious leaders in the ongoing legal action on the October 10 election results.

Monrovia - It was a room filled with excitement on Friday, November 17 when group of Liberians including students, educational stakeholders, family members and friends gathered to witness the official dedication of the Institute for Basic Technology’s STEM laboratory for high school students in Sinkor, Monrovia.

Monrovia - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia with support from the United Nations Environment Program has ended a two day validation workshop on fuel efficiency initiative development in Liberia.

Monrovia – For more serious countries focused on maximizing national resources for the overall development of the country, condoning bribery, corruption and misapplication these resources is abominable. 

Monrovia - Mr. Mo Ibrahim, chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation says he hopes that at the end of the ongoing elections process, post-war Liberia will turn the tide.

Monrovia – Barely a year after it was stalled due to legal wrangling among the party litigants, the Sable Mining bribery case involving former and current government officials is expected to resume this November 2017 Term of Court at Criminal Court “C”, Temple of Justice.

Ganta, Nimba County – Ten years ago on August 12, 2007, 49-year-old Mardea Dahn was awaken by a knocking on her door. She opened the door; her ex-boyfriend Felix Sawyer forced his way in despite her resistance. She was sexually assaulted that night.

Monrovia – Several businesses in Monrovia and its environs under the banner - Liberian Entrepreneurs and Vendors United for Economic Stability will be petitioning the United States government through its Embassy in Monrovia on Tuesday, November 21, 2017.

Buchanan, Grand Bassa County - The Board of Trustees of the Grand Bassa Community College (GBCC) has appointed Rev. Dr. Samuel Reeves as interim President for the College. 

Monrovia - National Elections Commission Hearing Officer, Muana Ville, has trashed complaints of Electoral Fraud by the Liberty Party and the ruling Unity Party. Said evidence provided do not establish fraud, neither do they prove to have had impact on the overall results of the October 10 Elections.

Monrovia – Continuing his efforts to empower other Liberians, Mr. Alexander B. Cummings has supported the Patriotic Entrepreneurs of Liberia (PATEL) organization with an initial contribution of US$18,000.00 to help with the establishment of its secretariat.  

Monrovia – The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has seized a consignment of 2kilograms of heroin brought into the country on an Arik Flight from Nigeria.

Monrovia – The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has donated assorted school materials to students of the N.V. Massaqoui Elementary & Junior High School in the borough of West Point, a suburb of Monrovia.

Monrovia – Platform for Dialogue and Peace (P4DP) is a Liberian Peacebuilding NGO that is committed to creating a level playing field that reflects social, political and economic fairness and diversity for all actors.

Monrovia – The Administration of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has cleared one of its three auditors for his reported involvement in soliciting bribe to compromise taxes in millions of dollars.

Monrovia – Results from the first poll in Liberia’s 2017 election is currently being challenged at the countries National Elections Commission hearing office, but Rev. Joseph Gardea Johnson has argued that the process is a fiasco.

Monrovia – The Liberia National Red Cross Society, an auxiliary of the Government of Liberia, admits and deeply regrets the shaming fraud and corruption saga in which donations from local and international partners, and the Liberian Government for the people of Liberia, especially victims and those affected by the Ebola virus were stolen in 2014/15.

Monrovia – The Australian High Commissioner for Ghana, Mr. Andrew Barnes and a delegation Thursday paid a courtesy visit to FrontPage Africa, where they had a meeting on latest developments in the country. Report by Lennart Dodoo - ldodoo@frontpageafricaonline.com High Commissioner Andrew Barnes and his team comprising the Special Envoy for Human Rights Philip Ruddock, and Second Secretary Iona Roy, were received by FrontPage Africa’s Managing Editor Rodney D. Sieh, along with reporters Mae Azango and Lennart Dodoo and James Harding Giahyue, all of whom are also New Narratives fellows. The Australian government has been supportive of New Narratives, a Non-Governmental media development organization partnering with FrontPageAfrica and other Liberian media institutions in training and supporting local reporters to investigative and report on specialized areas including oil and gas, forestry and mining sectors. High Commissioner Barnes recently took up the post of Australian representative in the West African region. This was his first visit to Liberia. It was also the first visit for Human Rights envoy Philip Ruddock who was previously a cabinet member is the Australian government. On Twitter Commissioner Barnes said it had been “inspiring to meet” some of Liberia’s independent journalists and called their work “courageous and important work to promote accountability.” Welcoming the delegation to FrontPage Africa, Mr. Sieh briefed the team on how he first met New Narratives Chief Executive Prue Clarke, an Australian by birth and a long-time international reporter, and how Mr. Sieh and Ms. Clarke conceived of New Narratives as a way to bring resources and expertise to support the work of FrontPageAfrica and other independent media houses in Liberia.  “Prue has been instrumental in capacity building of our reporters here. For our reporters, it is very important for the likes of Prue and other experienced journalists to train and mentor them. The thing about New Narratives [which now works in Liberia in partnership with the Thomson Reuters Foundation] is that it is not just the training. Prue and her team work with journalists directly on all their stories over years so they are very professional in their reportage,” Mr. Sieh said. He also spoke of how the capacity building received from the New Narratives project has helped local reporters like Azango to do several undercover reports in various sectors including human rights and in the oil and gas sector. “When I came back from the States, I wanted to do something different from the ordinary." "I focused most of my reports on corruption – exposing corruption in government. We later started focusing on other areas that needed exposure. I have been to jail twice for writing on corruption,” Sieh said. He also briefed the team on the important role FrontPage Africa played during the Ebola epidemic, daring to report from affected areas." "This, he said, gave the paper a lot of international attention. Mr. Sieh commended the Australian government for supporting the New Narratives/Thomson Reuters Foundation Project, noting that a lot of governments are donating monies to the Liberian government but not many monitor how these monies are used. “I often tell people, we don’t need the money, we need smart capacity building in the media. It is the media that keep track of what donors’ money are being used for and how it is used,” he added. New Narratives Fellow, Mae Azango, shared her experience on some of her investigative discoveries and reports and the impact it had in effecting some changes. She made specific references to a New Narratives-sponsored investigation on scholarships offered by Liberia’s National Oil Company (NOCAL) in Lofa County and how NOCAL eventually began dropping some of their beneficiaries off the scholarship, especially during Ebola period, claiming that the students did not meet the required grade points to remain on the scholarship at the Lofa County Community College. According to Azango, from her reports, the Ministry of Defense offered a full scholarship and potential employment to a female student studying engineering (the only female at the college) who was dropped from the scholarship because her grade point dropped from 3.0 to 2.80. Azango also spoke of housing units that were constructed in Lofa, Nimba and Grand Gedeh counties by NOCAL for civil servants but said structures could not be taken by the ordinary civil servants who earn US$150.00 or less due to the high price tags NOCAL put on the units. James Harding Giahyue, another New Narratives fellow, shared his experience investigating and reporting oil and gas, forestry and mining sectors. Giahyue said he was proud to be a fellow of New Narratives, shedding light on misgivings in the extractive industry. “The New Narratives program is a very practical program, I have learnt a lot in the last two years,” he said. “It’s also important that with the support from our donors—including the Australian Aid—we are able to go into remote villages and towns that are often not covered because media houses don’t have the money to send us. We as reporters are benefiting along with the people in rural communities that we are covering. “We try to paint the actual picture of how issues across the extractive sector, including forestry, are impacting the lives of people rather than just quoting government figures.” For his part, Dodoo, also News Desk Chief of FrontPageAfrica, expressed appreciation to the Australians for supporting to the program. According to Dodoo, fellows of the New Narratives are able to investigate and report on specialized sectors on which they report only because of the capacity support they receive from the project. He noted that media institutions in Liberia could not afford to sponsor investigations outside the capital or conduct specialized reporting due to either lack of finance or technical knowledge on the subject.