Free Republic

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama for urgent aid in tackling the worst recorded outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, saying that without it her country would lose the fight against the disease. The outbreak, which was first discovered in March, has now killed more than 2,400 people mostly in Liberia, neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone, as understaffed and poorly resourced West African healthcare systems have been overrun. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the epidemic is spreading exponentially in Liberia, where more than half of the deaths have been recorded. It...

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni women's rights advocate Tawakkul Karman. The Norwegian Nobel Committee made the announcement Friday in Oslo, saying the three women will split the coveted award for "their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights." Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland praised the work of the three recipients, saying that "we cannot achieve lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men." Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 72, became Africa's first democratically elected female president in 2005....

Laura Bush Sees Woman President in Future Jan 13 3:41 PM US/Eastern By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON Laura Bush predicted on Friday that the United States soon will have a female president _ a Republican, and maybe even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "I think it will happen for sure," Mrs. Bush said about a woman in the Oval Office. She made the comment in a CNN interview broadcast on Friday, the day before she leaves for Liberia to attend the inauguration of the first female president in Africa. "I think it will happen probably in the next...