Liberian
Liberia launches new national carrier ‘Lone Star Air’
Liberian President George Weah on Friday inaugurated a new national carrier for the West African country, named Lone Star Air, about 30 years after the country’s previous airline went bust. Speaking at a ceremony at Liberia’s international airport, near the capital Monrovia, Weah said the new airline would “connect our country to our region and to the world”. “It is my dream, my hope and my ambition that we will very soon see Lone Star Air, the wings of Liberia, flying our flag in international skies, shining so brightly,” said the footballer-turned-president. Liberia’s flag bears resemblance to the flag of the United States but features one star instead of 50. The country was founded in the 19th century with US support as a home for freed American slaves, whose descendants have a long his...
Liberia withdraws corruption charges against ex-president’s son
Liberia has dropped charges against four former central bank bosses, including an ex-president’s son, in a highly publicised graft scandal over the mishandling of banknotes worth millions of dollars. Five people were indicted last year for “economic sabotage” and other crimes after a probe found that an order for cash worth some 16 billion Liberian dollars ($80.6 million, 74.6 million euros) could not be traced. Charles Sirleaf, the son of former Liberian president and Nobel laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was among the five originally indicted, as an ex-deputy governor at the central bank. But on Thursday evening, Liberia’s Justice Minister Musa Dean told a court in the capital Monrovia that he was dropping charges against Sirleaf, as well as four others. The government did not respond to...
