Sewa News Stream

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have unveiled their 2021 World Press Freedom Index.  This year's survey of 180 countries shows that journalists are finding it hard to investigate and report sensitive stories, especially in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. (Newspapers of Sierra Leone photo courtesy of Calabash Newspaper) On Twitter, RSF (@RSF_inter) tweeted that the leading takeaway from the 2021 RSF Index is that the main vaccine against disinformation is completely or partially blocked in 73% of the countries ranked by RSF. Top 10 countries in the  2021 World Press Freedom Index  1 Norway 2 Finland 3 Sweden 4 Denmark 5 Costa Rica 6 Netherlands 7 Jamaica 8 New Zealand 9 Portugal 10 Switzerland How the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ranked 27 Cabo Verde 30 Ghana 37 Burkina Faso 49 Senegal 59 Niger 66 Côte d’Ivoire 74 Togo 75 Sierra Leone 85 The Gambia 95 Guinea Bissau 98 Liberia 99 Mali 109 Guinea 114 Benin 120 Nigeria Sierra Leone moved up 10 spots from 85 in

On April 27, 1961, Milton Margai led Sierra Leone to flag independence from Great Britain and became the country's first Prime Minister. Sierra Leone retained its membership of the Commonwealth of Nations. In the archive photo, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, are pictured with  Milton Margai at one of the nationwide events held during their visit to Sierra Leone in 1961.  The Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, visited Sierra Leone on the royal yacht Britannia from November 25 to December 1, 1961. Absent from the ceremonies was the leader of the main opposition All People's Congress (APC), Siaka Stevens, along with Isaac Wallace-Johnson, another outspoken critic of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) government. They were arrested and placed under house arrest in Freetown, along with sixteen others charged with disrupting the independence celebration.