Two former prime ministers of Guinea-Bissau faced a runoff presidential election Sunday after the incumbent failed to reach the second round in the tumultuous West African country once described by the United Nations as a narco-state.
Indeed, “the slave trade began in the 15th century,” said Boniface Chidyausiku of Zimbabwe in 2007, when he was the acting president of the United Nations General Assembly. Chidyausiku made the remarks during the UN’s observance of the 200th anniversary of the end of the transatlantic slave trade. “It was driven by colonial expansion, emerging capitalist economies and the insatiable demand for commodities – with racism and discrimination serving to legitimize the trade,” said Chidyausiku.
Ethiopian lawmakers unanimously elected the country’s first female president on Thursday, days after approving one of the world’s few “gender-balanced” Cabinets as the country’s dramatic reforms continue.
A simmering dispute between the U.S. and Ghana appears to be resolved. Some 7,000 Ghanaians can now be deported from the U.S. and a key demand – that their Ghanaian citizenship be proven before deportation – has been dropped.