Maternal health pressure: A new report warns Africa’s progress on maternal and newborn survival is stalling, with preventable causes like postpartum hemorrhage still driving deaths and delays in care and facility readiness. LGBTQ rights crackdown: Sierra Leone police raided a private gay party at Hill Valley Hotel in Freetown and issued warrants for activists, raising fresh concerns about how rarely the anti-gay law has been enforced. Disaster preparedness: Sierra Leone’s NDMA urged more inclusive, people-centred early warning systems so warnings reach women, people with disabilities, and remote communities through trusted channels. Port corruption warning: Freetown’s Chief Minister Sengeh warned police at the Queen Elizabeth II Quay against demanding bribes from truck drivers during port decongestion. Land rights and carbon credits: A rights-focused report questions community consent and benefit-sharing in a Tonkolili/Port Loko forestry carbon project, including how “degraded lands” are defined. Digital epidemic response: NPHA and GOAL launched a roadmap to modernise Sierra Leone’s contact tracing with digital tools to speed outbreak response. Women’s finance push: AfDB and AXIAN launched a programme to expand digital finance and training for 34,000 women-led enterprises across Africa. Global child marriage push: Sierra Leone-led UN action helped establish Nov 27 as an International Day to end child, early and forced marriage, with Sierra Leone’s First Lady Fatima Bio at the UN spotlight.