The News Review:

- Oscar-nominated film unearths curse of Sierra Leone’s ‘blood…
- Psychologist is ‘walking the walk’ for Sierra Leone.
- Creditors cancel debt owed by Sierra Leone
- Diamond school helps miners of Sierra Leone

Oscar-nominated film unearths curse of Sierra Leone’s ‘blood…
Telegraph.co.uk – Jan 27, 2007
” Koidu, the capital of the country’s Kono district, is Sierra Leone’s diamond mining heartland, peppered with craters excavated by hand by the town’s 100,000 artisan miners. Beneath hills covered in coconut palms and along muddy riverbanks lie some of the richest diamond deposits in the world. Working mines already earn Sierra Leone more than £75 million a year. It was this easily smuggled commodity that brought the Revolutionary United Front, to Kono, in 1991. The rebels forced thousands of civilians into work gangs harvesting the stones, which they handed to Charles Taylor, neighbouring Liberia’s infamous warlord, in return for arms. They earned an estimated £60 million a year to fund their campaign. The illicit trade is also believed to have helped al-Qa’eda fund the September 11 attacks…
Those selling legitimate diamonds face a backlash from consumers worried that they cannot be sure the gem they are buying is ”clean”. Ansumana Turay, of the PDA, said: “People must not stop buying because they are worried they are blood diamonds. That would be the worst thing for Sierra Leone. Alternatively, you may have to open a web browser, such as Firefox or Internet Explorer, and copy the link over into the address bar.

Psychologist is ‘walking the walk’ for Sierra Leone.
Free with registration – Buffalo News – AccessMyLibrary.com – Feb 5, 2007
| Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY) (February, 2007). 5–NIAGARA FALLS — While many people talk about improving the world, Kenneth Krieger, a psychologist for the Niagara Falls School District, has spent the past eight yea.

Creditors cancel debt owed by Sierra Leone
Independent Online – Jan 25, 2007
“As a result of this agreement and additional bilateral assistance, Sierra Leone’s debt to Paris Club creditors will be entirely cancelled,” the club said in a statement. Sierra Leone was devastated by a 1991-2002 civil war. The club said its representatives had decided to cancel 91 percent of Sierra Leone’s debt stock as it stood at the end of 2006. “(Paris Club representatives) welcomed Sierra Leone’s determination to implement a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy and an ambitious economic programme providing the basis for sustainable economic growth,” it said.

Diamond school helps miners of Sierra Leone
The Age – Jan 20, 2007
Photo: Karen Palmer In a darkened room in the tiny village of Bandafayie, twodozen men sit discussing the four Cs of diamonds: cut, colour,clarity and carats. They pass around shiny fake diamonds that look like novelty icecubes, try on a jeweller’s monocle and test out the terminology— “impurities” and “speculative” — that denotes agemstone’s worth. These are not nervous grooms about to invest in arock that will transform their girlfriends into their wives.