By Clemente Ferrer. European Union Member States have approved new security measures for toys. These will prohibit poisonous substances and limit the use of heavy alloy. With this regulation, chemical substances that can produce carcinoma, modifying the genetic information or affecting fertilization, will no longer be authorized in children’s toys. Therefore, harmful heavy minerals such as lead or mercury will no longer be used in toys. These measures will prevent children choking (...)

Dear Editor: Find enclosed a letter for publication if appropriate. Contrary to what defenders of the death penalty assert, lethal injections that kill many condemned persons in capital punishment may cause a huge suffering in the final death throes, according to a study published by Human Rights Watch. Moreover, the United States and China lead the ranking of the countries with most death sentences. In 22 countries more than 2,000 people were executed and more than 5,000 were tried, (...)

Dear Editor, Find enclosed a letter to the editor for publication if appropriate. Childhood obesity Cardiovascular and endocrine diseases are the main problems related to childhood obesity. However, there is another dilemma very dangerous called cancer. A study published in the journal "Cell" states that overweight acts as a promoter of tumors in general and particularly of liver tumors. Today’s children will live fewer years and with worse quality of life than their grandparents; (...)

I wonder where this world of ours is leading us to as the writings of those we consider as spiritual advisers and chancellors. They are becoming deceitful and misleading. In this his particular case I want to refer to our blessed Chancellor and Lawyer of the Freetown Diocese, Fr. Alphonso Alphaeus Carew. He labelled me as a crass and ignorant about the teachings of the Catholic Church, but I am happy that I am a lay faithful and Pastoral communication scholar from the one of the (...)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Public Inquiry into Alleged Gross Violations of Human Rights in Bumbuna, Tonkolili District in Relation to the Events of 16th to 18th April, 2012 commenced on the 1st June, 2012. The Terms of Reference for this Public Inquiry were to: - Investigate the alleged gross human rights violations that occurred in Bumbuna between 16th and 18th April, 2012 with a view to understanding their nature, causes and scale and to identify those individuals or institutions (...)

Letter to the Editor. Date: August 17 2012. Author: Rachel Décoste, Ottawa, Ontario. www.RachelDecoste.ca Number of words : 707 Subject matter: Xenophobia, Bank of Canada, Quebec Election. Suggested title: Bank Of Canada Bows to Bigotry Suggested title #2: Canada’s diversity not welcome in high circles Canada is a country that likes to pride itself on the inclusion of many races and ethnicities, to lean on the pillar of multiculturalism, and to fete cultural communities in (...)

By Emmanuel A.B. Turay, Makeni, Sierra Leone. Reference to the editor’s note in a commentary column in the Independent Observer published on the 10th May this year regarding ‘fears about Africa’s New Universities’ that was forward for my attention, please allow me space in your widely read medium to make the following points: University Lecturers make a living bringing clarity to confusion and knowledge to ignorance: and it is in this spirit that I have decided to (...)

This is no encouraging news for the regime of President Koroma! It shows Sierra Leone’s single most serious pathology, among several, isn’t going any time soon. Punishing court-convicted corruptors with job loss, imprisonment, asset-freezing and so on, isn’t enough if the professions they are associated with do not also inflict their own punitive measures. For instance, if the embattled Freetown mayor, Herbert George Williams, a lawyer by profession, is convicted of (...)

Dear Editor, I read an article in the Awareness Times New paper on Wednesday 7th December 2011, with the heading “In Sierra Leone, Police to Ban Right Hand Vehicles”. This was a statement made by the head of the Police traffic division Superintendent Ambrose M Sovula, as his assertion was that 3 to five daily fatal accidents reported in the city were as a result of right hand vehicles disobeying traffic rules. I want to first of all ask if the Police have the authority to ban (...)

First Name : Cillaty Last Name : Daboh Great commentary, Bankole. What a pity for this poor African lady. At the same time we must be patient to listen to all sides of the story. Strauss Khan may have sexually abused this poor lady or may have attempted to do so. Unfortunately the credibility of the accuser herself has made her story unbelievable and will likely make a criminal walk free. I still question the reason behind her press interviews. Those who are advising her, including (...)