By PETER LEONARD – BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan – Astronauts from the U.S., Russia and Italy blasted off into the darkness early Thursday, casting a warm orange glow over the chilly plains of Kazakhstan with their Soyuz spacecraft as they began a mission to the International Space Station. Russia’s Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman and the European Space Agency’s Paolo Nespoli of Italy rode into space on the Soyuz TMA-20, which plans to dock at the orbiting laboratory on Friday. Family and colleagues of the crew waited nervously before the launch, which kicked off with a piercing white flash succeeded by... Continue Reading
…Amidst Calls By Him for The President To Give Way To A New Leadership – By: Augustine N. Myers – Ahead of the general and presidential elections scheduled for next year, 2011, many Liberians especially those residing abroad have become returning home to prepare to participate in the pending elections. One of such is Mr. T.Q. Harris, a politician who was one of those that contested the elections in 1997 and lost to Mr. Charles Taylor, Liberia’s former President now facing trail in the Hague. Mr. Harris who has since be residing in the United States, has returned home to... Continue Reading
By Novell Zwange – London, UNITED KINGDOM – Qatar Airways once again supported the UK-based Foreign Press Association’s prestigious annual awards function in which the airline sponsored the main award of the night – Journalist of the Year. The lavish gathering of leading UK and international journalists took place at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in central London. Guest speaker Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, addressed the audience in his accustomed hilarious way before the awards were announced. Qatar Airways, which sponsored the event for the third year running, hosted select media during the night, which attracted more than 400... Continue Reading
By: Augustine N. Myers – At least 1, 800 refugees from neighboring Ivory Coast have crossed over to Liberia, in the wake of political tension in that West African Country. Local authorities of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) said there are more Ivorian refugees expected to arrive in Liberia and other 200 in Guinea. According to the UNHCR, some 2,000 people, mostly women and children from Cote d’Ivoire have entered neighboring Liberia and Guinea amid the political deadlock precipitated by the dispute over the results of the Ivorian Presidential elections, the United Nations Refugee Agency said Monday.... Continue Reading
By Sophie Ngugi – Executive Director, Young Women’s Leadership Institute. – -Those were the words that glared from several banners at the conference hall from 2-4th December 2010. As I sat at the Crowne Plaza where the conference was to be held I could not help but wonder; really where are we? This was the theme for the 2-day conference organised by the Kofi Annan Foundation and the African Union panel of experts. The purpose of the conference was to take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the KNDR (Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation) agreements and the... Continue Reading
