DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Dr. Mamadu Baldeh can’t forget the 18-year-old who came into his hospital with COVID-19, gasping for air until the day he died. This suffering was all too real for Baldeh,...

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — At first no one knew why the 5-year-old girl could no longer move her legs or control her urine. For months she lay on the ground, unable to walk or play.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Sierra Leone's former ruling party intends to challenge the results of the presidential runoff vote in court, the losing candidate announced after the opposition party won for the first time in a decade.

The National Electoral Commission announced late Wednesday that Julius Maada Bio with the Sierra Leone Peoples Party party had won. Bio, who had lost the presidential election in 2012, was swiftly sworn into office just before midnight.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Sierra Leone's election commission declared main opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio as the West African nation's new president Wednesday, giving the opposition party its first presidency in 10 years.

Chief Justice Abdulai Charm swore in the new leader along with Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh just hours after the announcement. Bio pledged to govern for all Sierra Leoneans at the ceremony.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Voting appeared to be peaceful on Saturday in Sierra Leone's runoff presidential election, which had been delayed by a few days after a court challenge of the first round.

Turnout in the West African nation was lower than in the first round on March 7. Security was tight and many streets were quiet for the holiday weekend.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Riot police put down skirmishes Wednesday in Sierra Leone's capital as political tensions mounted after authorities visited the office of the leading opposition candidate.

At least one person was treated for stab wounds following the melee that erupted after an SLPP opposition spokesman said police had come to search the party's offices without a warrant.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — More than 1,000 people have died from the mudslide and flood that hit Sierra Leone's capital nearly two weeks ago, a local leader and a minister said Sunday during services honoring the disaster's victims.

The government had earlier put the death toll for the Aug. 14 mudslide at 450 dead, while rescuers and aid groups warned that many of the more than 600 people missing would likely not survive.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Seven-year-old Ali Mansaray must build a new life for himself after surviving the mudslides and flooding that killed nearly 500 people, including his parents, in Sierra Leone last week.

Now he is being looked after by his grandmother, who was spared because she was sleeping at a friend's home the night of the Aug. 14 disaster.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Churches across Sierra Leone held special services Sunday in memory of those killed in mudslides and flooding earlier this week, as hospital officials announced the toll had risen to nearly 500 bodies collected.

More than 600 people remain missing and rescue officials have warned that the chances of finding survivors are decreasing each day. The death toll earlier stood at 450.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Survivors picking through the debris of Sierra Leone's deadly mudslides were facing the reality Saturday that most, if not all, of the hundreds of people missing are dead, as relief and aid efforts intensified.

The death toll is already above 450 from the flooding and mudslides in the capital, Freetown, early Monday.

The number of missing could go higher than 600, according to Sierra Leone's deputy minister of information and communications, Cornelius Deveaux.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Rescue officials in Sierra Leone warned Friday that the chances of finding survivors in the debris of this week's mudslides "are getting smaller every day," as bereaved and homeless survivors faced the magnitude of all they have lost.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — The Latest on deadly mudslides in Sierra Leone (all times local):

6:10 p.m.

Authorities in Sierra Leone now say up to 450 bodies have been recovered following this week's torrential mudslides.

Aid officials have estimated that at least 600 others are still missing four days after heavy storm caused the disaster.

Dr. Simeon Owiss Koroma, the government's chief consultant forensic pathologist, said Friday afternoon that up to 450 bodies now have been recovered.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — The president joined with families in paying final respects Thursday to victims of this week's mudslides and flooding in Sierra Leone's capital, while the government warned residents to evacuate a mountainside where a large crack opened.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Hawa Stevens spoke through tears of the 28 family members she lost after surging mudslides and floodwaters swept through Sierra Leone's capital, killing hundreds and leaving hundreds more missing.

"Mother, father, sisters, brothers, cousins all gone. My life has been shattered. ... Please help me God," she sobbed as she waited in a long line in the pouring rain Wednesday outside Freetown's overwhelmed mortuary to try to identify the corpses of her loved ones.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Fatmata Kamara had just stepped outside her house before dawn Monday when she saw the muddy hillside collapsing above her. The only thing she could do was run.

She was one of the survivors, those who managed to escape the surging mudslides and floodwaters in and around Sierra Leone's capital that killed more than 300 people, many of them trapped as they slept. Another 600 people are missing, the Red Cross said Tuesday, and the death toll is expected to rise.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Mudslides and torrential flooding killed more than 300 people in and around Sierra Leone's capital early Monday following heavy rains, with many victims trapped in homes buried under tons of mud.

Survivors and volunteers dug through the mud and debris at times with their bare hands in a desperate search for missing relatives, and military personnel were deployed to help with the rescue operation in the West African nation.

Blood Orange, "Freetown Sound" (Domino)

"Freetown Sound," the latest from Devonté Hynes A.K.A. Blood Orange, is a fascinating 17-track album approximating an AM radio sound collage of yore, pop hits blending with breaking news bulletins and history capsules.

Hynes, who was in dance-punk band Test Icicles in hometown London before relocating to New York and releasing material as Lightspeed Champion, says his third album as Blood Orange "plays like a long mixtape."