Opposition Candidate Is Declared Victor in Sierra Leone’s Election

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Opposition Candidate Is Declared Victor in Sierra Leone’s Election Photo The opposition presidential candidate in Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, seen above casting his vote last month, was declared the winner on Wednesday after a second round of voting. Credit Issouf Sanogo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images DAKAR, Senegal — A former military commander and rebel leader who later went to graduate school in the United States and Britain was declared the winner of Sierra Leone’s presidential runoff on Wednesday after a campaign season marred by reports of violence and irregularities.
The new president, Julius Maada Bio, was to be immediately sworn in on Wednesday night. The country’s chief justice, Abdulai Charm, said the inauguration needed to be held quickly to avoid a power vacuum and in compliance with the country’s Constitution.
Candidates from 16 parties ran for president, but in the first round of voting last month, no one won the 55 percent required to avoid a second round.
Mr. ..

Sinclair’s Boss Responds to Criticism: ‘You Can’t Be Serious!’

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Supported by Media Sinclair’s Boss Responds to Criticism: ‘You Can’t Be Serious!’ Photo David D. Smith, the chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, in 2011. This week, he defended a script that news anchors at his company’s stations were told to read. “Do you understand,” he wrote, “that as a practical matter every word that comes out of the mouths of network news people is scripted and approved by someone?” Credit Nicholas Griner/Baltimore Business Journal David D. Smith, the chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, says the media is getting his company all wrong.
His remark, in a lengthy email exchange with The New York Times, came in response to renewed scrutiny of Sinclair after a video spread rapidly showing anchors at dozens of its stations across the country reciting the same speech about media bias.
Mr. Smith defended the anchors’ segments, known as “must-runs,” and likened them to the late-night shows that networks air on their local affiliates.
“Not that you would print it, b..