Worldwide events newspaper; 203 issue; 23 29 nov, 2014

Labor Thanksgiving Day Japan - Nov 23

Labor Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in Japan.

It takes place annually on November 23. The law establishing the holiday cites it as an occasion for commemorating labor and production and giving one another thanks.

Events are held throughout Japan, one such being the Nagano Labor Festival. The event encourages thinking about the environment, peace and human rights.

It is not unusual for early grade elementary students to create drawings for the holiday and give them as gifts to local kōbans, or police stations.

History Labor Thanksgiving Day is the modern name for an an-

cient cereals (rice, barley/wheat, foxtail millet, barnyard millet, proso millet, and beans)harvest festival known as Niiname-sai believed to have been held as long ago as November of 678, Traditionally, it celebrated the year's hard work; during the Niiname-sai ceremony, the Emperor would dedicate the year's harvest to kami (spirits), and taste the rice for the first time.

The modern holiday was established after World War II in 1948 as a day to mark some of the changes of the postwar constitution of Japan, including fundamental human rights and the expansion of workers rights. Currently Niinamesai is held privately by the Imperial House of Japan while Labor Thanksgiving Day has become a national holiday.

1 May is also celebrated as Labor Day by many trade unions in Japan, which hold large rallies and marches in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.

Independence Day Suriname - Nov 25

Suriname officially the Republic of Suriname (Dutch: Republiek Suriname), is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as Dutch Guiana. Suriname achieved independence from the Netherlands on 25 November 1975.

At just under 165,000 km2 (64,000 sq mi) Suriname is the smallest sovereign state in South America (French Guyana comprises less territory, but is French territory and not sovereign). It has an estimated population of approximately 490,000, most of whom live on the country's north coast, where the capital Paramaribo is located.

Etymology The name Suriname may derive from a Taino (Arawak-speaking) group called "Surinen" who first inhabited the region prior to European arrival.

Originally, the country was spelled Surinam by English settlers who founded the first colony at Marshall's Creek, along the Suriname River, and was part of a group of colonies known as Dutch Guiana. Surinam can still be found in English. A notable example of this is Suriname's own national airline, Surinam Airways. The older English name is reflected in the English pronunciation, /ˈsʊrɨnæm/ or /ˈsʊrɨnɑːm/. In Dutch, the official language of Suriname, the pronunciation is with the main stress on the third syllable and and a lenthened 'ee' sound.

History

Colonial period:

Beginning in the 16th century, French, Spanish, and English explorers visited the area. A century later, plantation colonies were established by the Dutch and English along the many rivers in the fertile Guyana plains. The earliest documented colony in Guiana was along the Suriname River and called Marshall's Creek. The area was named after an Englishman. Disputes arose between the Dutch and the English. In 1667, the Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of Suriname conquered from the English, resulting from the Treaty of Breda. The English were left with New Amsterdam, a small trading post in North America, which later became New York.

In 1683, the Society of Suriname was founded by the city of Amsterdam, the Van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck family, and the Dutch West India Company. The society was chartered to manage and defend the colony. The planters of the colony relied heavily on African slaves to cultivate the coffee, cocoa, sugar cane and cotton plantations along the rivers. Treatment of the slaves by their owners was notoriously bad, and many slaves escaped the plantations.

With the help of the native South Americans living in the adjoining rain forests, these runaway slaves established a new and unique culture that was highly successful in its own right. Known collectively in English as the Maroons, in French as the Nèg'Marrons and in Dutch as "Bosnegers" (literally meaning "bush negroes"), they actually established several independent tribes, among them the Saramaka, the Paramaka, the Ndyuka or Aukan, the Kwinti, the Aluku or Boni, and the Matawai.

The Maroons would often raid the plantations to recruit new members, acquire women, weapons, food and supplies.

These attacks were often deadly for the planters and their families, and after several unsuccessful campaigns against the Maroons, the European authorities signed several peace treaties with them in the 19th century, granting the Maroons sovereign status and trade rights.

Abolition of slavery:

Slavery was abolished by the Netherlands in Suriname in 1863, but the slaves in Suriname were not fully released until 1873, after a mandatory 10 year transition period during which time they were required to work on the plantations for minimal pay and without state sanctioned torture. As soon as they became truly free, the slaves largely abandoned the plantations where they had suffered for several generations, in favour of the city, Paramaribo.

As a plantation colony, Suriname was still heavily dependent on manual labour, and to make up for the shortfall, the Dutch brought in contract labourers from the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) and India (through an arrangement with the British). In addition, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, small numbers of mostly men were brought in from China and the Middle East. Although Suriname's population remains relatively small, because of this history it is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse countries in the world.

On 23 November 1941, under an agreement with the Netherlands government-in-exile, the United States occupied Dutch Guiana to protect bauxite mines. In 1954, the Dutch placed Suriname under a system of limited self-government, with the Netherlands retaining control of defense and foreign affairs. In 1973, the local government, led by the NPK (a largely Creole, meaning ethnically African or mixed African-European, party) started negotiations with the Dutch government leading towards full independence, which was granted on 25 November 1975. The severance package was very substantial, and a large part of Suriname's economy for the first decade following independence was fueled by foreign aid provided by the Dutch government.

Independence:

The first President of the country was Johan Ferrier, the former governor, with Henck Arron (the then leader of the Nationale Partij Suriname (Suriname's National Party)) as Prime Minister. Nearly one third of the population of Suriname at that time emigrated to the Netherlands in the years leading up to independence, as many people feared that the new country would fare worse under independence than it did as an overseas colony of the Netherlands.

Suriname's diaspora therefore includes more than a quarter of a million people of Suriname origin living in the Netherlands today, including several recent members of the Dutch national football team.

On 25 February 1980, a military coup overthrew the democratic government and declared a socialist republic. On 8 December 1982, the military, then under the leadership of Dési Bouterse, rounded up several prominent citizens who were accused of plotting against the government. They were executed during the night, and the Netherlands quickly suspended all foreign aid to Suriname after this event. Bouterse is currently standing trial for the December murders of 1982, when a number of his political opponents were assassinated, and he has been convicted in absentia in the Netherlands for drug smuggling. Elections were held in 1987 and a new constitution was adopted, which among other things allowed Bouterse to remain in charge of the army. Dissatisfied with the government, Bouterse summarily dismissed them in 1990, by telephone. This event became popularly known as "the telephone coup".

Bouterse's power began to wane after the 1991 elections however, and an ongoing brutal civil war between the Suriname army and the Maroons that had begun in 1986, loyal to the rebel leader Ronnie Brunswijk, further weakened his position during the 1990s.

Suriname's democracy gained some strength after the turbulent 1990s, and its economy became more diversified and less dependent on Dutch financial assistance. Bauxite (aluminium ore) mining continues to be a strong revenue source, but the discovery and exploitation of oil and gold has added substantially to Suriname's economic independence. Agriculture, especially of rice and bananas, remains a strong component of the economy, and ecotourism is providing new economic opportunities. More than 80% of Suriname's land-mass consists of unspoiled rain forest, and with the establishment of the Central Suriname Nature Reserve in 1998, Suriname signalled its commitment to conservation of this precious resource. The Central Suriname Nature Reserve became a World Heritage Site in 2000.

Violent riots broke out in Albina in 2009 between the local Maroon population and Brazilian gold diggers. In July 2010, Desi Bouterse was elected president despite charges against him for the 1982 killings, and despite having been convicted for drug smuggling in the Netherlands, and sentenced to 11 years.

Mangé Yam (fête de la moisson) Haiti - Nov 25

Like the NEW YAM FESTIVALS held in some African countries, Manger Yam is a harvest celebration of the yam crop observed in Haiti, a country mainly comprised of descendants of slaves from west Africa. Because Haitians, too, depend upon the yam crop, they hold the Manger Yam, named after the French manger, which means "to eat."

It is considered taboo to eat any of the new yams before the festival for fear of falling ill or bringing ruin to the yam crop. This is also an occasion on which families reunite to celebrate together. In Voodoo, or more properly, Vodoun, belief, it is very important for people to maintain relationships with the dead, as well as with each other and the gods, so the deceased are included in the Manger Yam as well as in other ceremonies and festivals.

In the Voodoo service, the priest or priestess leads prayers to the dead and to the gods and offers the first yams to them. After the ceremony, people feast on yam dishes and enjoy music and dancing.

National Statehood Day Bosnia-Herzegovina - Nov 25

Bosnia and Herzegovina are two adjoining regions in the Balkans that were ruled byCroatian kings in medieval times.They were united into a province under theTurkish Ottoman Empire. From Turkish control, the area passed into Austria-Hungary's realm until Bosnia became part of Yugoslavia in 1918. It was in thecapital city of Sarajevo Austrian Archduke Ferdinand was that assassinated,sparking the first World War. Statehood Day commemorates the November 25, 1943, assembly of the first jointBosnian and Herzegovinan parliament. In 1946 Bosnia and Herzegovina becamepart of the newly formed Yugoslav federation.

Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia on March 1, 1992.Bloody conflict between Serbs, Muslims, and Croats escalated into a Serbianethnic cleansing program to oust the Muslim and Croatian populations, whichNATO peacekeeping troops, deployed in 1995-96, stemmed. In March 1994 theCroat and Muslim factions signed an agreement to be united into the Federation ofBosnia and Herzegovina. The Dayton Agreement of December 14, 1995,established a democratic government and constitution.

St. Catherine's Day-Nov 25 U.K., Canada, Estonia, France

St. Catherine's Day (Estonian: Kadripäev) is on 25 November each year. It has retained its popularity throughout the centuries and is still widely celebrated in modern-day Estonia. It marks the arrival of winter and is one of the more important and popular autumn days in the Estonian folk calendar. It is a day of celebration for the women of the culture, though different meanings come from each culture itself of this day.

Historical meaning of Kadripäev

St. Catherine’s Day commemorates the martyrdom of St. Catherine. St. Catherine was beheaded by Emperor Maximinus II in approximately305 AD in Alexandria. November 25 became the commemoration date in the 10th century, and many churches and particularly nunneries inEurope were dedicated to St. Catherine. In Lutheran countries, including Estonia, this day has also been associated with Catherine, the wife of Henry VIII. In Estonia, five parish churches and at least as many chapels have been dedicated to St. Catherine.

Similar to St. Martin's Day on November 10, St. Catherine’s Day also marks the arrival of winter, but it holds less importance for Estonians than for some other Baltic Sea peoples (particularly the Germans). Also like St. Martin’s Day, St. Catherine’s Day is basically a secular holiday and is even somewhat pagan. Generally, St. Martin’s Day and St. Catherine’s Day are described by their differences: St. Martin’s Day is primarily a holiday associated with men and St. Catherine’s Day is associated with women, which means that the latter day has acquired a strongly feminine meaning.

Customs

Great Britain:

The custom of lighting a revolving pyrotechnic display (a 'Catherine Wheel firework') to celebrate the saint's feast day is assisted by the ready supply of such fireworks during the month of November, due to the secular celebration of Guy Fawkes Night earlier in the month.

A traditional celebration of St Catherine's Day, which has seen something of a revival in modern times, is the baking of 'Cattern Cakes' in honour of St Catherine. The rise of the internet has assisted in this process, as recipes have become more readily available. The key ingredients are bread dough, egg, sugar, lard or butter, and carraway seeds.

Canada:

Slavery was abolished by the Netherlands in Suriname in 1863, but the slaves in Suriname were not fully released until 1873, after a mandatory 10 year transition period during which time they were required to work on the plantations for minimal pay and without state sanctioned torture. As soon as they became truly free, the slaves largely abandoned the plantations where they had suffered for several generations, in favour of the city, Paramaribo.

As a plantation colony, Suriname was still heavily dependent on manual labour, and to make up for the shortfall, the Dutch brought in contract labourers from the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) and India (through an arrangement with the British). In addition, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, small numbers of mostly men were brought in from China and the Middle East. Although Suriname's population remains relatively small, because of this history it is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse countries in the world.

On 23 November 1941, under an agreement with the Netherlands government-in-exile, the United States occupied Dutch Guiana to protect bauxite mines. In 1954, the Dutch placed Suriname under a system of limited self-government, with the Netherlands retaining control of defense and foreign affairs. In 1973, the local government, led by the NPK (a largely Creole, meaning ethnically African or mixed African-European, party) started negotiations with the Dutch government leading towards full independence, which was granted on 25 November 1975. The severance package was very substantial, and a large part of Suriname's economy for the first decade following independence was fueled by foreign aid provided by the Dutch government.

Estonia:

The customs for the Estonian St. Catherine’s Day are generally associated with the kadrisants (kadri beggars) or kadris, which give the whole day a unique quality, although it is similar to the traditions practised on St. Martin’s Day. Both require dressing up and going from door to door on the eve of the holiday to collect gifts, such as food, cloth and wool, in return for suitable songs and blessings.

On Estonian farms, minding the herds and flocks were primarily the responsibility of women and therefore, St. Catherine’s Day involves customs pertaining more to herd keeping than farming. In addition, both men and women may dress up as women. In comparison to the mardisants, who were generally dressed in a masculine and rough manner and often wore animal masks, the kadris wear clean and light-coloured clothing, which is in reference to the coming snow.

As with mardi eve (the evening before St. Martin’s Day), when the village youth chose a mardiisa (father), the main player on kadri eve is kadriema (mother).

Regarding the songs for St. Martin’s Day and St. Catherine’s Day, the main content difference is that the former songs wished the visited families harvest luck and the latter songs luck with the herds and flocks, particularly with the sheep. On St. Catherine’s Day, in order to protect the sheep, shearing and weaving were forbidden and sewing and knitting were also occasionally banned.

St. Catherine’s Day has retained its popularity throughout the centuries, including the half-century of Soviet occupation, during which no direct official obstructions to the celebrations were made, probably due to the apolitical nature of the holiday. Thus, St. Catherine’s Day is still widely celebrated in modern-day Estonia. It is particularly popular among students and the rural population.

France:

On St. Catherine's Day, it is customary for unmarried women to pray for husbands, and to honour women who've reached 25 years of age but haven't married—called "Catherinettes" in France. Catherinettes send postcards to each other, and friends of the Catherinettes make hats for them—traditionally using the colours yellow (faith) and green (wisdom), often outrageous—and crown them for the day. Pilgrimage is made to St. Catherine's statue, and she is asked to intercede in finding husbands for the unmarried lest they "don St. Catherine's bonnet" and become spinsters. The Catherinettes are supposed to wear the hat all day long, and they are usually feted with a meal among friends. Because of this hat-wearing custom, French milliners have big parades to show off their wares on this day.

The French say that before a girl reaches 25, she prays: "Donnez-moi, Seigneur, un mari de bon lieu! Qu'il soit doux, opulent, libéral et agréable!" (Lord, give me a well-situated husband. Let him be gentle, rich, generous, and pleasant!") After 25, she prays: "Seigneur, un qui soit supportable, ou qui, parmi le monde, au moins puisse passer!"

(Lord, one who's bearable, or who can at least pass as bearable in the world!") And when she's pushing 30: "Un tel qu'il te plaira Seigneur, je m'en contente!" ("Send whatever you want, Lord; I'll take it!"). An English version goes, St Catherine, St Catherine, O lend me thine aid, And grant that I never may die an old maid.

Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Worldwide - Nov 25

Women's activists have marked November 25 as a day to fight violence against women since 1981. On December 17, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women(Resolution 54/134). The UN invited governments, international organizations and NGOs to organize activities designated to raise public awareness of the problem on this day as an international observance.

Women around the world are subject to rape, domestic violence and other forms of violence, and the scale and true nature of the issue is often hidden.

This date came from the brutal assassination in 1960 of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo (1930–1961).

There is more information about the history of this day, and UN publications relating to violence against women, at the UN's Dag Hammarskjöld Library . The UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) also has a regular observance of the day, and offers suggestions for others to observe it.

Argel Accords Day - Nov 25 Sao Tome & Principe

Every year on November 26, São Tomé celebrates the national holiday of Argel Accord Day. Prior to the nation being granted independence, the Argel Accords which promised to grant sovereignty were signed in Portugal. These accords came about from the actions of Portuguese civil society against the then dictatorial government.

Argel Accords Day then not only commemorates the signing of these historical documents, but the efforts of the Portuguese people who fought for the freedom of Portuguese colonies around the world.

Proclamation Day Mongolia - Nov 26

On November 26, 1924, the first State Ikh Khural adopted the first Constitution and declared the People’s Republic of Mongolia, dismissing monarchism. This historical day is an official public holiday and State top officials paid tribute to Chinggis Khaan statue the previous day. Early in the 20th century, Mongolia was exacerbated with foreign powers and tyrannies. The domestic political situation failed and the economic crisis worsened. Some leading patriotic people who have progressive ideas protested this situation and made revolutionary struggle in 1921, bringing victory and taking the nation’s destiny under their power.

As a result of the revolution, Mongolia reinstated its independence. According to Mongolia’s first Constitution adopted on November 26, 1924, the State Baga Khural was established with a composition of 30 members, which was the basis for parliament. Although the State Baga Khural did not have a permanent function, like the modern parliament of the 1990s, it was a kind of representative organization responsible for holding State power, legislating and resolving important issues of national development.

Independence Day Albania- Nov 28 Albania officially known as the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë pronounced Gheg Albanian: Republika e Shqipnísë), is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west, and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is less than 72 km (45 mi) from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea. Albania is a member of the UN, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Council of Europe, World Trade Organisation, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and one of the founding members of the Union for the Mediterranean. Albania has been a potential candidate for accession to the European Union since January 2003, and it formally applied for EU membership on 28 April 2009. Along with Kosovo, Albania has the distinction of being the only Muslim-majority sovereign countries wholly within Europe, although the population is largely secular.

Albania is a parliamentary democracy with a transition economy. The Albanian capital, Tirana, is home to approximately 600,000 of the country's 3,000,000 people. Free-market reforms have opened the country to foreign investment, especially in the development of energy and transportation infrastructure. Albania was chosen as the No.1 Destination in Lonely Planet's list of ten top countries to visit for 2011.

Etymology Albania is the Medieval Latin name of the country which is called Shqipëri by its people. In Medieval Greek, the

country's name is Albania (Greek: Ἀλβανία) besides variants Albanitia,Arbanitia.

The name may be derived from the Illyrian tribe of the Albani recorded by Ptolemy, the geographer and astronomer from Alexandria who drafted a map in 150 AD that shows the city of Albanopolis (located northeast of Durrës).

The name may have a continuation in the name of a medieval settlement called Albanon and Arbanon, although it is not certain this was the same place. In his History written in 1079–1080, Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates was the first to refer to Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the Duke of Dyrrachium. During the Middle Ages, the Albanians called their country Arbër or Arbën and referred to themselves as Arbëresh or Arbnesh.

As early as the 16th century the placename Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym Shqiptarëgradually replaced Arbëria and Arbëresh. While the two terms are popularly interpreted as "Land of the Eagles" and "Children of the Eagles", they derive from the adverb shqip, which means "understanding each other".

Under the Ottoman Empire Albania was referred to officially as Arnavutluk and its inhabitants as Arnauts (officially, Arnavutlar). These terms remain the same officially and in common usage in the current Republic of Turkey. The word is considered to be a metathesis from the word Arvanite, which was the Medieval Greek name for the Albanians.

History The history of Albania emerged from the prehistoric stage from the 4th century BC, with early records of Illyria in

Greco-Roman historiography. The modern territory of Albania has no counterpart in antiquity, comprising parts of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia (southern Illyricum), Macedonia (particularly Epirus Nova), and Moesia Superior.

The territory remained under Roman (Byzantine) control until the Slavic migrations of the 7th century, and was integrated into the Bulgarian Empire in the 9th century.

The territorial nucleus of the Albanian state formed in the Middle Ages, as the Principality of Arbër and the Kingdom of Albania. The first records of the Albanian people as a distinct ethnicity also date to this period. In 15th century there was a series of confrontations between Albanians led by Scanderbeg and the advancing Ottoman Empire.

Soon after the death of Scanderbeg the organized resistance ceased and the country became part of Ottoman Empire. It remained under Ottoman control as part of the Rumelia province until 1912, when the first independent Albanian state was declared. The formation of an Albanian national consciousness dates to the latter 19th century and is part of the larger phenomenon of rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire. A short-lived monarchy (1914– 1925) was succeeded by an even shorter-lived first Albanian Republic (1925–1928), to be replaced by another monarchy (1928–1939), which was annexed by Fascist Italy during World War II. After the collapse of the Axis powers, Albania became a communist state, the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, which was dominated by Enver Hoxha (d. 1985). Hoxha's political heir Ramiz Alia oversaw the disintegration of the "Hoxhaist" state during the wider collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the later 1980s.

The communist regime collapsed in 1990, and the Republic of Albania was founded in 1991. The old communist party was routed in the elections of March 1992, amid economic collapse and social unrest. An economic crisis spread in the late 1996 following the failure of some Ponzi schemes operating in the country, peaking in 1997 in an armed rebellion, that led to another mass emigration of Albanians, mostly to Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Germany and North America.

In 1999 the country was affected by the Kosovo War, when a great number of Albanians from Kosovo found refuge in Albania.

Albania became a full member of NATO in 2009. The country is applying to join the European Union.

Republic Day Chad- Nov 28 Every year on November 28, Chad celebrates Proclamation of the Republic Day. Chad was part of the many colonies of France in Africa until 1960, the year they gained independence from France and were constituted as a Republic. But Chad has been left torn by civil wars and rebellions, often with clandestine support from the French power.

History

In 1900, the French named Chad as a military territory and its protectorate in Africa. By 1920, France achieved full control of Chad and incorporated it into what was called French Equatorial Africa. For France, Chad wasn’t worth much and was primarily exploited for its cheap untrained labor and cotton. France began a mass production of cotton using the citizens as laborers in 1929. Chad never was much of an investment for the French; they left the whole country almost abandoned without modernizing it or investing in education. After World War II, France gave Chad the status of overseas territory and conceded some liberties to its people. For example, France allowded for the creation of political parties and election of representatives to the Chadian Assembly. Finally, Chad was granted independence from France in August 11, 1960, and François Tombalbaye was named its first president.

Celebrations

Chad has been affected by a humanitarian crisis since 2001. According to the United Nations, there are hundreds of thousands of refugees in the country from Darfur and Central Africa Republic along with 170,000 internally displaced Chadians. Even so, holidays in Chad are celebrated with fun and joy. Republic Day is celebrated in a traditional way, and people from the different religions—from Christians to Muslims—are united in the celebration of Chad’s proclamation as a free Republic. The day may be celebrated by local communities with political assemblies and sports like football.

Independence Day Mauritania - Nov 28 Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest. It is named after the ancient Berber Kingdom of Mauretania, which later became a province of the Roman Empire, even though the modern state covers a territory far to the southwest of the old kingdom. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast.

The government of Mauritania was overthrown on 6 August 2008, in a military coup d'état led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. On 16 April 2009, General Aziz resigned from the military to run for president in the 19 July elections, which he won. In Mauritania about 20% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day.

History

Ancient history:

The Bafours were primarily agriculturalist, and among the first Saharan people to abandon their historically nomadic lifestyle. With the gradual desiccation of the Sahara, they headed south.

Following them came a migration of not only Central Saharans into West Africa, but in 1076, Moorish Islamic warrior monks (Almoravid or Al Murabitun) attacked and conquered the ancient Ghana Empire. Over the next 500 years, Arabs overcame fierce resistance from the local population (Berber and non-Berber alike) and came to dominate Mauritania. The Mauritanian Thirty-Year War (1644–74) was the unsuccessful final effort to repel the Yemeni Maqil Arab invaders led by the Beni Hassan tribe.

The descendants of the Beni Hassan warriors became the upper stratum of Moorish society. Berbers retained influence by producing the majority of the region's Marabouts—those who preserve and teach Islamic tradition. Many of the Berber tribes claimed Yemeni (and sometimes other Arab) origin: there is little evidence to suggest this, though some studies do make a connection between the two. Hassaniya, a Berber-influenced Arabic dialect that derives its name from the Beni Hassan, became the dominant among the language largely nomadic population.

Modern history:

Imperial France gradually absorbed the territories of Mauritania present-day from the Senegal river area and upwards, starting in the late 19th century. In 1901, Xavier Coppolani took charge of the imperial mission. Through a combination of strategic alliances with Zawiya tribes, and military pressure on the Hassane warrior nomads, he managed to extend French rule over the Mauritanian Nouakchott is the capital and the largest city of Mauritania. It is emirates: Trarza, Brakna and Tagant quickly submit- one of the largest cities in the Sahara ted to treaties with the colonial power (1903–04), but the northern emirate of Adrar held out longer, aided by the anticolonial rebellion (or jihad) of shaykh Maa al-Aynayn. It was finally defeated militarily in 1912, and incorporated into the territory of Mauritania, which had been drawn up in 1904. Mauritania would subsequently form part of French West Africa, from 1920.

French rule brought legal prohibitions against slavery, and an end to interclan warfare. During the colonial period, the population remained nomadic, but many sedentary peoples, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier, began to trickle back into Mauritania. As the country gained independence in 1960, the capital city Nouakchott was founded at the site of a small colonial village, the Ksar, while 90% of the population was still nomadic.

The great Sahel droughts of the early 1970s caused massive problems in Mauritania. With independence, larger numbers of indigenous Sub-Saharan African peoples (Haalpulaar, Soninke, and Wolof) entered Mauritania, moving into the area north of the Senegal River. Educated in French language and customs, many of these recent arrivals became clerks, soldiers, and administrators in the new state. This occurred as France militarily suppressed the most intransigent Hassane tribes of the Moorish north, shifting old balances of power, and creating new cause for conflict between the southern populations and Moors. Between these groups stood the Haratin, a very large population of Arabized slaves of sub-Saharan African origins, who lived within Moorish society, integrated into a low-caste social position. Modern-day slavery is still a common practice in this country. According to some estimates, up to 600,000 Mauritanians, or 20% of the population, are still enslaved. This social discrimination concerns mainly the "black Moors" (Haratin) in the northern part of the country, where tribal elites among “white Moors” (Beidane) hold sway, but low-caste groups within the sub-Saharan African ethnic groups of the south are also affected by similar practices.

Moors reacted to the change, and to Arab nationalist calls from abroad, by increasing pressure to Arabize many aspects of Mauritanian life, such as law and language. A schism developed between those Moors who consider Mauritania to be an Arab country and those who seek a dominant role for the non-Moorish peoples, with various models for containing the country's cultural diversity suggested, but none implemented successfully.

This ethnic discord was evident during intercommunal violence that broke out in April 1989 (the “1989 Events” and “Mauritania–Senegal Border War”), but has since subsided. Some 70,000 sub-Saharan African Mauritanians were expelled from Mauritania in the late 1980s.The ethnic tension and the sensitive issue of slavery – past and, in some areas, present – is still a powerful theme in the country's political debate. A significant number from all groups, however, seek a more diverse, pluralistic society.

The government bureaucracy is composed of traditional ministries, special agencies, andparastatal companies. The Ministry of Interior spearheads a system of regional governors and prefects modeled on the French system of local administration. Under this system, Mauritania is divided into thirteen regions (wilaya), including the capital district, Nouakchott. Control is tightly concentrated in the executive branch of the central government, but a series of national and municipal elections since 1992 have produced limited decentralization.

Mauritania, along with Morocco, annexed the territory of Western Sahara in 1976, with Mauritania taking the lower one-third at the request of former imperial power Spain. After several military losses to the Polisario – heavily armed and supported by Algeria, the local hegemon and rival to Morocco – Mauritania retreated in 1979, and its claims were taken over by Morocco. Due to economic weakness, Mauritania has been a negligible player in the territorial dispute, with its official position being that it wishes for an expedient solution that is mutually agreeable to all parties.

While most of Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco, the UN still considers the Western Sahara a territory that needs to express its wishes with respect to statehood: a referendum is still supposed to be held sometime in the future, under UN auspices, to determine whether or not the indigenous Sahrawis wish to be independent as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, or to be part of Morocco. The Moroccan government has thus far blocked such a referendum from taking place.

Ould Daddah era (1960–78):

After independence, President Moktar Ould Daddah, originally installed by the French, formalized Mauritania into a one-party state in 1964 with a new constitution, which set up an authoritarian presidential regime. Daddah's own Parti du Peuple Mauritanien (PPM) became the ruling organization in a single-party system. The President justified this decision on the grounds that he considered Mauritania unready for western-style multi-party democracy. Under this one-party constitution, Daddah was reelected in uncontested elections in 1966, 1971 and 1976. He was ousted in a bloodless coup on 10 July 1978, after bringing the country to near-collapse through a disastrous war to annex the southern part of Western Sahara, in an attempt to create a “Greater Mauritania”.

CMRN and CMSN military governments (1978–84):

Col. Mustafa Ould Salek's CMRN junta proved incapable of either establishing a strong base of power or extracting the country from its destabilizing conflict with the Sahrawi resistance movement, the Polisario Front. It quickly fell to be replaced by another military government, the CMSN. The energetic Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah soon emerged as its main strongman, and by giving up all claims to Western Sahara, he found peace with the Polisario and improved relations with its main backer, Algeria – but relations with the other party to the conflict, Morocco, and its European ally France, deteriorated. Instability continued, and Haidallah's ambitious reform attempts foundered. Not only was his regime plagued by attempted coups and intrigue within the military establishment, but it also became increasingly contested because of his harsh and uncompromising line against opponents and political and military dissidents, of whom many were jailed and some were executed.

Ould Taya’s rule (1984–2005):

In 1984 he was deposed by Colonel Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, who relaxed the political climate somewhat, without relinquishing military control. Ould Taya moderated Mauritania's previous pro-Algerian stance, and reconnected with Morocco during the late 1980s. Relations with Morocco deepened during the late 1990s and early first decade of the 21st century, as part of Mauritania's drive to attract support from Western states and Western-aligned Arab states. However, Mauritania has not rescinded its recognition of Polisario's Western Saharan exile government, remaining on good terms with Algeria. Its position on the Western Sahara conflict is, since the 1980s, one of strict neutrality.

The Parti Républicain Démocratique et Social (PRDS), formerly led by President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, dominated Mauritanian politics after the country's first multi-party elections in April 1992 following the approval by referendum of the current constitution in July 1991. President Taya won elections in 1992 and 1997.

Political parties, illegal during the military period, were legalized again in 1991. By April 1992, as civilian rule returned, 16 major political parties had been recognized; 12 major political parties were active in 2004. Most opposition parties boycotted the first legislative election in 1992, and for nearly a decade the parliament was dominated by the PRDS. The opposition participated in municipal elections in January–February 1994 and subsequent Senate elections, most recently in April 2004, and gained representation at the local level and three seats in the Senate.

Ethnic violences and human rigthts abuses:

Mauritania’s people is composed of several ethnics groups : the Moors (White in Arab) or Beidane, the Haratines who are black-skinned descendant of freed slaves still attached to their former masters’ culture, the Wolof , the Soninke , and the Hal-pulaar or Peuls which includes settled farmers called Toucouleur and nomadic stock-breeders . Since its creation in 1960 by the colonial France, Mauritania’s society has been characterised by a constant discrimination towards black population, Peuls and Soninké which are seen as contesting the political, economic and social dominance of Moors.. Mauritanian blacks faced discrimination in employment in the civil service, the administration of justice before the regular and religious courts, access to loans and credits from banks and state owned enterprise, and opportunity for education and vocational training . Between 1990 and 1991, a campaign of extreme violence particularly took place, across a process of arabisation, interference with blacks’ association rights, expropriation, expatriation and slavery, slaves being only black. In April 1986, the Manifesto of the Oppressed Black Mauritanian (Manifeste du négro-mauritanien opprimé) was published by the African Liberation Forces of Mauritania FLAM (Force pour la Liberation Africaine de Mauritanie) which documented discriminations against Mauritania's black populations in every sector of public life. In response, in September 1986, thirty to forty black intellectuals were arrested, suspected to be involved in the publication of the Manifesto and were subjected to brutal interrogations.

They were not allowed to have any visit until November 1987 . In the meantime, the authorities cracked down on black communities, using mass arrests as a form of intimidation.

In October 1987, the government allegedly discovered a tentative of coup d’Etat by a group of black army officers, backed by Senegalaccording to the authorities. Fifty one officers were arrested, and subjected to interrogation and torture without access to their lawyer.. The torture consisted in “beatings, burns, electric shocks, applied to the genitals, stripping prisoners naked and pouring cold water over them, burying prisoners in sand to their necks, and subjected prisoners to jaguar, which consist in tying a victim’s hand and feet, suspending him upside down from a bar, and beating him particularly on the sole of the feet”. They were accused of “endangering the security of the State by participating in a conspiracy to overthrow the government and to provoke killing and devastation among the inhabitants of the country” and tried following a special summary procedure.. Three of the officers arrested in October were sentenced to death; eighteen were sentenced to life imprisonment (including two who died in detention in 1988 due to prison conditions); nine were sentenced to twenty years; five were sentenced to ten years; three were given five years; six were given five-year suspended sentences with heavy fines; and seven were acquitted.

None of those convicted were permitted to appeal.

These ethnic tensions were catalysis for the events of 1989 which started as a result of a conflict in Diawara Chinguetti was a center of Islamic scholarbetween Mauritanian Herders and Senegalese farmers ship in West Africa over grazing rights during which Mauritanian guards crossed the rivers, killed 2 Senegalese and took 13 other hostages into Selibaby , Mauritania on April 9, 1989 . This incident has resulted in several events which provoked series of ethnic violence, expulsions of blacks from Mauritania, expropriation extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, torture, rape, and confiscation of property. Following the incident several riots erupted in Bakel, Dakar and other towns in Senegal directed against Mauritanians which dominated the retails. A feature of this conflict is the tendency of Beydanes to see black Mauritanians as Senegalese which lead the latter to response to the attacks by attacking black Mauritanians. Therefore, anti-Mauritanese riots, added to the already existing tensions, lead to a campaign of terror against black Mauritanian. The voluntary confusion between black Mauritanian and Senegalese culminated during the international airlift agreed by Senegal and Mauritania under international pressure to prevent further violence. The Mauritanian Government used it as a way to extradite black Mauritanian, pretending they were Senegalese. It included intellectuals, civil servants, professionals, businessmen, militant trade unionists, those suspected of opposition, as well as farmers and cattle-herders from the Sénégal River Valley.

Expulsion:

The main reason for expulsions and expropriation was economic. Indeed, Moors, usually nomadic, had lost their main source of revenue with the drought of 1968-1985 which decimated their camel, goats and other cattle and had lost their retails during the anti-Mauritanian riots in Senegal. Moreover, the Mauritanian part of the Senegalese river valley is the most fertile part of the country and, finally, the creation of the Organisation for the Development of the Senegal river ( OMVS , on March 11, 1972 by Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, enhanced the potential value of the valley, with the construction of dams which permitted to increase the territory irrigated. In villages of the South, blacks were indiscriminately expelled by security forces which forced them to cross the Senegalese River to Senegal, taking their identity card and their belongings. Those who resisted or who tried to flee with their belongings were arrested, imprisoned and sometimes executed. In the larger towns and cities, the authorities targeted black civil servants, employees of private institutions, trade unionists, former political prisoners and, in some instances, the wives of political prisoners.

However Peuls were mainly among those targeted. According to a study conducted by Christian Santoir for a French research company (ORSTOM who became the Institute for research on Development in 1998) some 21,500 Peuls were expelled, which accounts for at least 57 per cent of the Peuls.

Expulsions were accompanied by many violations, such as: arbitrary arrest , rape, confiscation of belongings and of all identity papers. Furthermore, Peuls' liberty of movement was restricted, as they were subjected to harassment at checkpoints, being obliged to show their identity papers and sometimes detained.

The exact number of expulsions is not known but the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR) estimates that, as of June 1991, there were 52,995 Mauritanian refugees in Senegal; in June 1993, 52,945 were registered. A smaller number of refugees have also fled into Mali; the official figure for those who have been registered there is about 13,000, but again, the real number is undoubtedly much higher because of the ease of integration into the life of local communities in Mali.

Expropriation:

Starting from 1983, exportation started to be institutionalised through the Ordinance 83.127 of June 5, 1983 which nationalised the all land in the country, abolishing the traditional system of land tenure. The potential nationalisation of the land was based on the concept of dead land , being a land which has not being developed or which development cannot be seen. The Ordinance also made impossible any collective law suit regarding property rights which rendered impossible any law suit based on traditional rights of tenure. Indeed traditional systems of tenure were based on community rights that make them justiciable only collectively. Several methods were used for expropriation . Confiscations are the most used methods. Moors exploited Article 9 of the Ordinance, which provides that registered property rights take precedence, by registering their rights using their relations, in order to prevent blacks from claiming it. Moors also established fake cooperative by which they could become members of previously black cooperative, which were the only registered black rights of property, getting ownership of the whole property of the cooperative.

Massacre of 1990-1991:

From November 1990 to February 1991, between 500 and 600 Peuls and Soninke political prisoners were executed or tortured to death by government forces. They were part of the between 3000 and 5000 blacks arrested between October 1990 and mid-January 1991 and rounded up, detained and tortured, allegedly because they were involved in an attempt to overthrow the government. There were first black officers of the military but then civil servants.

The severity of the torture, combined with the complete lack of medical care, ensured a high death toll, between 500-600 deaths from torture or summary execution is widely accepted. In addition, an unknown number of blacks found death by extrajudicial execution by security forces.

A military investigation was put in place by the government and the results were never made public. However several officials were reportedly involved: Colonel Sid'AhmedOuldBoilil, Colonel CheikhOuld Mohamed Salah, Major Mohamed CheikhOuld El Hadi, and Major Ely Fall .

In order to guarantee immunity for those responsible and to block any attempts at accountability for past abuses, an amnesty was declared by the Parliament in June 1993 covering all crimes committed by the armed forces, security forces as well as civilians, between April 1989 and April 1992. The Government offered compensations to the families of victims but a very few accepted in absence of settlement.

Despite of this amnesty, some have had the courage to denounce the involvement of the government in the arrests and killings. In 1991 an opened letter was sent to President Taya , by 50 prominent Mauritanians, including former ministers, lawyers, doctors, and professors denouncing "the magnitude of the repression that was brought down upon the blacks civilians and military in the last months of 1990” and listing several hundred extrajudicial executions, atrocities, and disappearances. The Mauritanian Workers Union also called for an independent inquiry into the detentions. Women’s also played a role into denouncing the atrocities committed: in April 1991, more than seventyfive women - wives, sisters, nieces, and mothers of some of those presumed to have been killed in the detentions signed a petition addressed to President Taya calling to the government to provide for the family left behind and break the silence.

Discrimination via arabisation:

Since many years and particularly since 1986, Arabisation has been a way to discriminate de facto black Mauritanians. Indeed, "[Arabisation] is the key to the dispossession of blacks in terms of political power, economic opportunities, and employment possibilities.”

Arabisation has been put in practice by a policy of interference with blacks’ rights of association, particularly by out righting private and public black gatherings. Although the law did not prohibit gathering and association to black people, the system of authorisation created by the Government and discriminately applied only to blacks, resulted in a prohibition.

Arabisation was also sought by the way of education. Since January 1966 study in Arabic were compulsory for student at secondary school. This provoked strike among students, which were supported by civil servants. These strikes lead to the issuing of the Manifesto of Nineteen which listed grievance against the Moors’ domination.

The process of making Arabic the primary language of the country culminated in a new constitution, passed by referendum in July 1991 which set Arabic as the official language of the Country, without any reference to French.

Mauritanian international relationship under Ould Taya’s rule:

During the late 1980s, Ould Taya had established a close co-operation with Iraq, and pursued a strongly Arab nationalist line. At the same time, bloody clashes erupted with Senegal in 1989, during which both countries expelled ethnic minorities to the other country. Mauritania grew increasingly isolated internationally, and tensions with Western countries grew dramatically after it took a pro-Iraqi position during the1991 Gulf War. During the mid-to late 1990s, Mauritania shifted its foreign policy to one of increased co-operation with the US and Europe, and was rewarded with diplomatic relaxation and aid projects.

In 1999, Mauritanian Foreign Minister Ahmed Sid’Ahmed and his Israeli counterpart David Levy signed an agreement in Washington DC, USA, on 28 October, establishing full diplomatic relations with Mauritania. The signing ceremony was held at the U.S. State Department in the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Mauritania thereby joined Egypt, Palestine, and Jordan as the only members of the Arab League to officially recognize Israel.

Ould Taya also started co-operating with the United States in antiterrorism activities, which was criticized by human rights NGOs, who talked of an exaggeration and instrumentation of alleged terrorist activities for geopolitical aims.(See also Foreign relations of Mauritania.)

A group of current and former Army officers launched a bloody but unsuccessful coup attempt on 8 June 2003. The leaders of the attempted coup were never caught. Mauritania's presidential election, its third since adopting the democratic process in 1992, took place on 7 November 2003. Six candidates, including Mauritania's first female and first Haratine (former slave family) candidates, represented a wide variety of political goals and backgrounds. Incumbent President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya won reelection with 67.02% of the popular vote, according to the official figures, with Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla finishing second.

Liberation Day Albania - N o v 2 9

The Liberation Day (Albanian: Dita e Çlirimit) is commemorated as the day, November 29, 1944, in which Albania was liberated from Nazi Germany forces after the Albanian Resistance of World War II.

Background Germany occupied Albania in September 1943,

dropping paratroopers into Tirana before the Albanian guerrillas could take the capital, and the German army soon drove the guerrillas into the hills and to the south. Berlin subsequently announced it would recognize the independence of a neutral Albania and organized an Albanian government, police, and military. Many Balli Kombëtar units collaborated with the Germans against the communists, and several Balli Kombëtar leaders held positions in the German-sponsored regime.

The partisans entirely liberated Albania from German occupation on November 29, 1944. The National Liberation Army, which in October 1944 consisted of 70,000 regulars, also took part in the war alongside the antifascist coalition.

The Albanian partisans also liberated Kosovo, and assisted Tito's communist forces in liberating part of Montenegro and southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. By that time, the Soviet Army was also entering neighboring Yugoslavia, and the German Army was evacuating from Greece into Yugoslavia.

Controversy

There is controversy in Albania in regards to the date: several opinion makers think that the date was chosen by the Communist Party of Albania fictitiously in order to have the same liberation date as Yugoslavia's.

W.V.S. Tubman`s Birthday Liberia - N o v 2 9

William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman (November 29, 1895 – July 23, 1971) was a Liberian politician. He was the 19th President of Liberia from 1944 until his death in 1971.

He is regarded as the "father of modern Liberia"; his presidency was marked by the influx of foreign investment in his country and its modernization. During his tenure, Liberia experienced a period of prosperity. He also led a policy of national unity in order to reduce the social and political differences between his fellow Americo-Liberians and the indigenous Liberians. However, further into his years in power, his way of governing became increasingly dictatorial.

Youth and early political career Tubman was born November 29, 1895, in

Harper, Liberia. William Tubman's father, the Reverend Alexander Tubman, was a stonemason, general in the Liberian army and a former Speaker of the Liberian House of Representatives, as well as a Methodist preacher. Alexander Tubman's parents, Sylvia and William Shadrach Tubman, were part of a group of 69 slaves freed and sent to Liberia by Emily Tubman, a philanthropic widow living in Augusta, Georgia, in 1844. Emily Tubman had been instrumental in the manumission and repatriation of African slaves in theantebellum South. They took the name Tubman after arriving in the country, naming their community Tubman Hill. His mother, Elizabeth Rebecca Barnes Tubman, came from Atlanta,Georgia. His father required him and his other four children to attend daily family prayer services and sleep on the floor because, he thought, beds were too soft and therefore "degrading to character development."

Tubman, the second son, went to primary school in Harper, then the Methodist Cape Palmas Seminary, and finally Harper County High School. He participated in several military operations from 1910 and 1917, rising from a private to become an officer. Tubman first planned to be a preacher and was named, at age 19, a Methodist lay pastor.

After studying law under various private tutors, he passed the bar examination and became a lawyer in 1917. Subsequently, he served as a recorder in the Maryland County Monthly and Probate Court a tax collector, teacher, and even a colonel in a militia. He also attended Freemason lodges of the Prince Hall Freemasonry sect.

Having joined the True Whig Party (TWP), the dominating party of Liberia since 1878, Tubman began his career in politics. In 1923, aged 28, he was elected to the Senate of Liberia from Maryland County, holding the record as the youngest senator in the history of Liberia.Labeling himself the "Convivial Cannibal from the Downcoast Hinterlands," he fought for constitutional rights for the indigenous tribal groups that were the majority of Liberians.

Re-elected to his post in 1929, Tubman became, while a Senator, the legal adviser to then-vice president Allen Yancy. He resigned from the Senate in 1931 to defend Liberia before the League of Nations amid allegations that his country was using slave labor. However, Tubman was reelected to the national legislature in 1934, though he resigned in 1937 when President Edwin Barclay appointed him associate justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, a post he held until 1943. An official biography speculates that Tubman's elevation to the Liberian Supreme Court was created to remove him from actively seeking the presidency.

The new president of Liberia In December 1942, Liberia was faced

with the question of the succession of President Edwin Barclay. Six candidates then applied, including two favorites: Tubman and Foreign Minister Clarence L. Simpson. Without much opposition from Simpson, Tubman was elected president on May 4, 1943, at the age of 48, and was inaugurated January 3, 1944.

While Liberia's ally, the United States, had already used Liberia as a military base, it was not until January 27, 1944, that Liberia renounced its neutrality and declared war on Germany and Japan. In April 1944, Liberia signed the Declaration by United Nations.

Severing diplomatic relations with Germany and expelling all German citizens from Liberia was a difficult decision for Liberia to make for several reasons: (1) German merchants in Liberia ran the Liberian economy; (2) Germany was Liberia's major trading partner; and (3), most of the doctors in Liberia were Germans. Despite the fact that Liberia found itself between a rock and a hard place, it agreed to expel all German residents and declare the full might of the Liberian economy against Nazi Germany and the Axis powers.

In foreign policy, Tubman aligned himself with the US (in June, 1944 he and Edwin Barclay traveled to the White House to be guests of President Franklin D. Roosevelt — the first African heads of state to have this happen) while strengthening ties among fellow Africans by participating in the Asian-African Conference of 1955 and the First Conference of Independent African States in Accra, organized by Kwame Nkrumah in 1958. In 1959, Tubman organized the Second Conference of African States.

In 1961, following a Pan-African conference held in Monrovia, Tubman helped in the founding of the group of Monrovia. This association of "moderate" African leaders worked for gradual unification of Africa, unlike the "revolutionary" group of Casablanca.

The "father of modern Liberia" The modernizer of Liberia:

Upon Tubman's succession to the Supreme Court, infrastructure in Liberia was virtually non-existent. Tubman explained this situation by the fact that Liberia never received "benefits of colonization". To remedy this problem, he decided to set up an economic policy, called the "porte ouverte" ("open door") policy. Working to facilitate and encourage foreign businesses to locate in Liberia, this policy was very successful, and between 1944 and 1970, the value of foreign investments, mainly American, increased two hundredfold. From 1950-1960, Liberia experienced an average annual growth of 11.5%.

This economic success for Liberia allowed Tubman to begin its modernization: the streets of Monrovia were paved, a sanitation system was created, hospitals were built, and a literacy program was launched in 1948. Tubman built several thousand kilometers of roads and established a railway line to connect the iron mines to the coast. During this period, he transformed the Port of Monrovia into a free port.

Economic prosperity:

In early 1960, Liberia began to experience its first real era of prosperity, thanks in part to Tubman's modernization of infrastructure.

Regarded as a pro-Western, stabilizing influence in West Africa, Tubman was courted by many Western politicians, notably U.S. PresidentLyndon B. Johnson. Meanwhile, Tubman courted Amy Ashwood Garvey, and had a long-term relationship with her.

A gunman attempted to assassinate Tubman in 1955 at the behest of his political opponents, after which he cracked down brutally on any known opposition politicians.

Legacy:

Tubman's term is best known for the policies of National Unification and the economic Open Door. He tried to reconcile the interests of the native tribes with those of the Americo-Liberian elite, and increased foreign investment in Liberia to stimulate economic growth. These policies led to the crowning achievement of the Liberian economy during the 1950s, when it had the second largest rate of economic growth in the world. At his death in 1971 in a London clinic, Liberia had the largest mercantile fleet in the world, the world's largest rubber industry, the third largest exporter of iron ore in the world and had attracted more than US$1 billion in foreign investment. He was succeeded as President by his long-time vice president William Tolbert. The economic prosperity of Liberia at this time would unleash political dissent with the autocratic rule of Tubman and the True Whig Party, leading to the overthrow of the True Whig oligarchy in 1980 by Samuel Doe. This would also destroy the economic prosperity of Liberia's golden age.

Independence day (from Spain) Panama - Nov 28

Panama is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital is Panama City.

Explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama broke with Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela – named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When the latter dissolved in 1830, Panama and Nueva Granada stayed joined. Nueva Granada later became the Republic of Colombia.

With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing thePanama Canal to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the United States to Panama by the end of the century.

Revenue from Canal tolls represent today a significant portion of Panama's GDP. Panama has the third or fourth largest economy in Central America and it is also the fastest growing economy and the largest per capita consumer in Central America. In 2010 Panama ranked 4th among Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index, and 54th in the world in 2010. As of 2010, Panama is the second most competitive economy in Latin America as well according to the Global Competitiveness Index from the World Economic Forum (WEF). Panama has the largest rainforest in the Western Hemisphere outside theAmazon Basin and its jungle is home to an abundance of tropical plants, animals and birds – some of them to be found nowhere else in the world.

History

The earliest known inhabitants of Panama were the Cuevas and the Coclé tribes, but they were wiped out by disease and fighting when the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century.

Pre-Columbian period:

The Isthmus of Panama was formed in a very long process that started 20 million years ago, up to about 3 million years ago when the isthmus finally closed and plants and animals gradually crossed it in both directions (Mayo 2004: 9–10). Dolores Piperno (1984) has located the human occupancy of the isthmus at around the Late Glacial Period (cited in Mayo 2004: 13). Olga Linares (1979: 21–43)points out in turn that the existence of the isthmus had an impact on the dispersal of people, agriculture and technology throughout the American continent from the appearance of the first hunters and collectors to the era of villages and cities (cited in Cooke and Sánchez 2004: 3).

Richard Cooke and Luis Sánchez (2004: 4, 41–42) emphasize the permanence of peoples in the terrestrial bridge of Western America, and the higher probability that Pre-Columbian peoples in the isthmus satisfied their needs by the exchange of goods, by commercial exchange and through social relationships with neighbouring communities, rather than by long distance exchanges (Cooke and Sánchez 2004: 41).

Dendrograms proposed by genetists and linguists and available information about styles and iconography of ceramic and stone objects point to a successively complex dispersal of a population of millenary permanence in the isthmus and neighbouring areas (see, for example, Corrales 2000, cited in Cooke and Sanchez 2004: 39). Cooke and Sánchez (2004: 4) argue therefore that Panama is a singular example of diversity and endemism, and that Christopher Columbus' observations (1501–02) that "although dense, every (village) has a different language and they don't understand one another" (quoted in Jane 1988) describe the ethnographic phenomenon of scattering and diversification of peoples that had inhabited the isthmus for several thousands of years.

The earliest traces of these indigenous peoples include fluted projectile points. Central Panama was home to some of the first pottery-making villages in the Americas, such as the Monagrillo culture dating to about 2500– 1700 BC. These evolved into significant populations that are best known through the spectacular burials of the Conte site (dating to c. AD 500–900) and the beautiful polychrome pottery of the Coclé style. The monumental monolithic sculptures at the Barriles (Chiriqui) site were another important clue of the ancient isthmian cultures.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Panama was widely settled by Chibchan, Chocoan, and Cueva peoples, among whom the largest group were the Cueva (whose specific language affiliation is poorly documented). There is no accurate knowledge of the size of the indigenous population of the isthmus at the time of the European conquest. Estimates range as high as two million people, but more recent studies place that number closer to Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a rec200,000. Archeological finds as well as testimonials by early European explorers describe diverse native isthmian groups exhibiting cultural variety ognized and popular figure of and suggesting people already conditioned by regular regional routes of Panamanian history. commerce.

Conquest era:

Rodrigo de Bastidas, sailing westward from Venezuela in 1501 in search of gold, was the first European to explore the isthmus of Panama. A year later, Christopher Columbus visited the isthmus and established a short-lived settlement in the Darien. Vasco Núñez de Balboa's tortuous trek from the Atlantic to the Pacific in 1513 demonstrated that the Isthmus was, indeed, the path between the seas, and Panama quickly became the crossroads and marketplace of Spain's empire in the New World. Gold and silver were brought by ship from South America, hauled across the isthmus, and loaded aboard ships for Spain. The route became known as the Camino Real, or Royal Road, although it was more commonly known as Camino de Cruces (Road of the Crosses) because of the abundance of gravesites along the way.

Panama was part of the Spanish Empire for 300 years (1538–1821). From the outset, Panamanian identity was based on a sense of "geographic destiny", and Panamanian fortunes fluctuated with the geopolitical importance of the isthmus. The colonial experience also spawned Panamanian nationalism as well as a racially complex and highly stratified society, the source of internal conflicts that ran counter to the unifying force of nationalism.

In 1538, the Real Audiencia de Panama was established, initially with jurisdiction from Nicaragua to Cape Horn before the conquest of Peru. A Real Audiencia (royal audiency) was a judicial district that functioned as an appeals court.

Each audiencia had oidores (Spanish: hearer, a judge).

Spanish authorities exercised little control over much of the territory of Panama, large sections managing to resist conquest until very late in the colonial era. Because of this, indigenous people of the area were often referred to as "indios de guerra" (war Indians), and resisted Spanish attempts to conquer them or missionize them. However, Panama was enormously important to Spain strategically because it was the easiest way to transship silver mined in Peru to Europe. Silver cargos were landed at Panama, and then taken overland to Portobello or Nombre de Dios on the Caribbean side of the isthmus for further shipment.

Because of the incomplete Spanish control, the Panama route was vulnerable to attack from pirates (mostly Dutch and English) and from 'new world' Africans called cimarrons who had freed themselves from enslavement and lived in communes or palenques around the Camino Real in Panama's Interior, and on some of the islands off Panama's Pacific coast. One such famous community amounted to a small kingdom under Bayano, which emerged in the 1552 to 1558. SirFrancis Drake's famous raids on Panama in 1572–73 were aided by Panama cimarrons, and Spanish authorities were only able to bring them under control by making an alliance with them that guaranteed their freedom in exchange for military support in 1582.

Panama was the site of the ill-fated Darien scheme, which set up a Scottish colony in the region in 1698. This failed for a number of reasons, and the ensuing debt contributed to the union of England and Scotland in 1707.

When Panama was colonized, the indigenous peoples who survived many diseases, massacres and enslavement of the conquest ultimately fled into the forest and nearby islands. Indian slaves were replaced by Africans.

The prosperity enjoyed during the first two centuries (1540–1740) while contributing to colonial growth; the placing of extensive regional judicial authority (Real Audiencia) as part of its jurisdiction; and the pivotal role it played at the height of the Spanish Empire -the first modern global empire- helped define a distinctive sense of autonomy and of regional or national identity within Panama well before the rest of the colonies.

In 1744, Bishop Francisco Javier de Luna Victoria DeCastro established the College of San Ignacio de Loyola and on June 3, 1749 founded La Real y Pontificia Universidad de San Javier. By this time, however, Panama's importance and influence had become insignificant as Spain's power dwindled in Europe and advances in navigation technique increasingly permitted to round Cape Horn in order to reach the Pacific. While the Panama route was short it was also labor intensive and expensive because of the loading and unloading and laden-down trek required to get from the one coast to the other.

During the last half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, migrations to the countryside decreased Panama City's population and the isthmus' economy shifted from the tertiary to the primary sector.

In 1717, the viceroyalty of New Granada (northern South America) was created in response to other Europeans trying to take Spanish territory in the Caribbean region. The Isthmus of Panama was placed under its jurisdiction. However, the remoteness of Santa Fe de Bogotá proved a greater obstacle than the Spanish crown anticipated as the authority of New Granada was contested by the seniority, closer proximity, previous ties to the viceroyalty of Lima and even Panama's own initiative. This uneasy relationship between Panama and Bogotá would persist for a century or two.

Modern Panamanian history has been shaped by its transisthmian canal, which had been a dream since the beginning of Spanish colonization. From 1880 to 1890, a French company under Ferdinand de Lesseps attempted unsuccessfully to construct a sea-level canal on the site of the present Panama Canal.

On the other hand, the Panamanian movement for independence can be indirectly attributed to the abolishment of the encomienda system in Azuero, set forth by the Spanish Crown, in 1558 because of repeated protests by locals against the mistreatment of the native population. In its stead, a system of medium and smaller-sized landownership was promoted, thus taking away the power from the large landowners and into the hands of medium and small sized proprietors.

The end of the encomienda system in Azuero, however, sparked the conquest of Veraguas in that same year. Under the leadership of Francisco Vázquez, the region of Veraguas passed into Castillan rule in 1558. In the newly conquered region, the old system of encomienda was imposed.

1800s:

On November 10, 1821, the Grito de La Villa de Los Santos (Cry From the Town of Saints) occurred. It was a unilateral decision by the residents of Azuero (without backing from Panama City) to declare their separation from the Spanish Empire. In both Veraguas and the capital this act was met with disdain, although on differing levels. To Veraguas, it was the ultimate act of treason, while to the capital, it was seen as inefficient and irregular, and furthermore forced them to accelerate their plans.

The Grito was an event that shook the isthmus to the core. It was a sign, on the part of the residents of Azuero, of their antagonism towards the independence movement in the capital, who in turn regarded the Azueran movement with contempt, since the separatists in Panama believed that their counterparts in Azuero were fighting selfishly for their right to rule, once the peninsulares(Spaniards born in the Iberian peninsula) were long gone.

It was an incredibly brave move on the part of Azuero, which lived in fear of Colonel José de Fábrega, and with good reason: the Colonel was a staunch loyalist, and had the entirety of the isthmus' military supplies in his hands. They feared quick retaliation and swift retribution against the separatists.

What they had counted on, however, was the influence of the separatists in the capital. Ever since October 1821, when the former Governor General, Juan de la Cruz Murgeón, left the isthmus on a campaign in Quito and left the Veraguan colonel in charge, the separatists had been slowly converting Fábrega to the separatist side. As such, by November 10, Fábrega was now a supporter of the independence movement. Soon after the separatist declaration of Los Santos, Fábrega convened every organization in the capital with separatist interests and formally declared the city's support for independence. No military repercussions occurred because of the skillful bribing of royalist troops.

Post-colonial Panama:

In the first eighty years following independence from Spain, Panama was a department of Colombia, since voluntarily becoming part of it at the end of 1821. The people of the isthmus made several attempts to secede and came close to success in 1831, and again during the Thousand Days War of 1899–1902. When the Senate of Colombia rejected the Hay-Herran Treaty, the United States decided to support the Panamanian independence movement. In November 1903, Panama proclaimed its independence and concluded the Hay/Bunau-Varilla Treaty with the United States. The treaty granted rights to the United States "as if it were sovereign" in a zone roughly 10 miles (16 km) wide and 50 miles (80 km) long. In that zone, the U.S. would build a canal, then administer, fortify, and defend it "in perpetuity." In 1914, the United States completed the existing 83 km (52 mi) canal. The early 1960s saw the beginning of sustained pressure in Panama for the renegotiation of this treaty.

From 1903 until 1968, Panama was a constitutional democracy dominated by a commercially oriented oligarchy.

During the 1950s, the Panamanian military began to challenge the oligarchy's political hegemony.

Amidst negotiations for the Robles-Johnson treaty, Panama held elections in 1967. The candidates were Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid, Antonio González Revilla, and Engineer David Samudio, who had the government's support. Samudio was the candidate of Alianza del Pueblo ("People's Alliance"), Arias Madrid was the candidate of Unión Nacional ("National Union"), and González Revilla was the candidate ofDemocracia Cristiana ("Christian Democrats") (see Pizzurno Gelós and Araúz, Estudios sobre el Panamá republicano 508). Arias Madrid was declared the winner of elections that were marked by violence and accusations of fraud against Alianza del Pueblo. On October 1, 1968, Arias Madrid took office as president of Panama, promising to lead a government of "national union" that would end the reigning corruption and pave the way for a new Panama. A week and a half later, on October 11, 1968, the National Guard (Guardia Nacional) ousted Arias and initiated the downward spiral that would culminate with the United States' invasion in 1989.

Arias, who had promised to respect the hierarchy of the National Guard, broke the pact and started a large restructuring of the Guard. To preserve the Guard's interests, Lieutenant Colonel Omar Torrijos Herrera and Major Boris Martínez commanded the first coup of a military force against a civilian government in Panamanian republican history.

The military justified itself by declaring that Arias Madrid was trying to install a dictatorship, and promised a return to constitutional rule. In the meantime, the Guard began a series of populist measures that would gain support for the coup.

Amongst them were the freezing of prices on food, medicine and other goods until January 31, 1969, the freezing of renting prices, and the legalization of the permanence of squatting families in boroughs surrounding the historic site of Panama Viejo. Parallel to this, the military began a policy of repression against the opposition, who were labeled communists. The military appointed a Provisional Government Junta that would arrange new elec- Santo Domingo Church. tions. However, the National Guard would prove to be very reluctant to abandon power and soon began calling itself El Gobierno Revolucionario ("The Revolutionary Government").

Post-1970:

During Omar Torrijos's control, the military regime transformed the political and economic structure of the country by initiating massive coverage of social security services and expanding public education. The constitution was changed in 1972. For the reform to the constitution, the military created a new organization, the Assembly of Corregimiento Representatives, which replaced the National Assembly. The new assembly, also known as the Poder Popular ("Power of the People"), was composed of 505 members selected by the military without the participation of political parties, which had been eliminated by the military. The new constitution proclaimed Omar Torrijos the "Maximum Leader of the Panamanian Revolution," and conceded him unlimited power for six years, although, to keep a façade of constitutionality, Demetrio B. Lakas was appointed president for the same period (Pizzurno Gelós and Araúz, Estudios sobre el Panamá republicano 541). In 1981, Torrijos died in a planecrash. It has been widely speculated that his death was a CIA assassination due to his resistance to renegotiate the Panama Canal Treaty, negotiated under the Carter administration, with President Ronald Reagan. Torrijos' death altered the tone of Panama's political evolution. Despite the 1983 constitutional amendments, which proscribed a political role for the military, the Panama Defense Forces (PDF), as they were then known, continued to dominate Panamanian political life. By this time, General Manuel Noriega was firmly in control of both the PDF and the civilian government.

In the 1984 elections, the candidates were Nicolás Ardito Barletta Vallarino, supported by the military in a union called UNADE; Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid, for the opposition union ADO; the ex-General Rubén Darío Paredes, who had been forced to an early retirement by Noriega, running for Partido Nacionalista Popular PNP ("Popular Nationalist Party"), and Carlos Iván Zúñiga, running for Partido Acción Popular (PAPO) meaning "Popular Action Party". Nicolás Ardito Barleta was declared the winner of elections that had been clearly won by Arnulfo Arias Madrid. Ardito Barletta inherited a country in economic ruin and hugely indebted to the IMF and the World Bank. Amidst the economic crisis and Barletta's efforts to calm the country's creditors, street protests arose, and so did military repression.

Meanwhile, Noriega's regime had fostered the development of a well-hidden criminal economy that operated as a parallel source of income for the military and their allies, providing revenues from drugs and money laundering. Towards the end of the military dictatorship, a new wave of Chinese migrants arrived on the isthmus in the hope of migrating to the United States. The smuggling of Chinese became an enormous business, with revenues of up to 200 million dollars for Noriega's regime (see Mon 167).

The military dictatorship, at that time supported by the United States, perpetrated the assassination and torture of more than one hundred Panamanians and forced into exile at least another hundred dissidents (see Zárate 15). Noriega also began playing a double role in Central America under the supervision of the CIA. While the Contadora group conducted diplomatic efforts to achieve peace in the region, Noriega supplied the Nicaraguan Contras and other guerrillas in the region with weapons and ammunition (Pizzurno Gelós and Araúz, Estudios sobre el Panamá republicano 602).

On June 6, 1987, the recently retired Colonel Roberto Díaz Herrera, resentful for Noriega's violation of the "Torrijos Plan" of succession that would turn him into the chief of the military after Noriega, decided to denounce the regime.

He revealed details of the electoral fraud, accused Noriega of planning Torrijos's death, declared that Torrijos had received 12 million dollars from the Shah of Iran so that Panama would give the exiled Iranian leader asylum, and blamed Noriega for the assassination by decapitation of opposition leader Dr. Hugo Spadafora (Pizzurno Gelós and Araúz, Estudios sobre el Panamá republicano 618).

On the night of June 9, 1987, the Cruzada Civilista ("Civic Crusade") was created and began organizing actions of civil disobedience. The Crusade called for a general strike. In response, the military suspended constitutional rights and declared a state of emergency in the country. On July 10, the Civic Crusade called for a massive demonstration that was violently repressed by the "Dobermans," the military's special riot control unit. That day, later known as El Viernes Negro ("Black Friday"), left six hundred people injured and another six hundred detained, many of whom were later tortured and raped.

United States President Ronald Reagan began a series of sanctions against the military regime. The United States froze economic and military assistance to Panama in the summer of 1987 in response to the domestic political crisis in Panama and an attack on the U.S. Embassy. Yet these sanctions did little to overthrow Noriega but instead severely damaged Panama's economy. The sanctions hit the Panamanian population hard and caused the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to decline almost 25 percent between 1987–1989 (see Acosta n.p.).

On February 5, 1988, General Manuel Antonio Noriega was accused of drug trafficking by federal juries in Tampa and Miami.

In April 1988, the U.S. President Ronald Reagan invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, freezing Panamanian government assets in all U.S. organizations. In May 1989 Panamanians voted overwhelmingly for the anti-Noriega candidates. The Noriega regime promptly annulled the election and embarked on a new round of repression.

On 19 December, President George H. W. Bush decided to use force against Panama, declaring that the operation was necessary to safeguard the lives of U.S. citizens in Panama, defend democracy and human rights, combat drug trafficking, and secure the functioning of the Canal as required by the Torrijos-Carter Treaties (New York Times, A Transcript of President Bush's Address n.p.).

Operation Just Cause was justified by the United States as necessary to secure the functioning of the Canal and reestablish democracy in the country. Although described as a surgical maneuver, the action led to civilian deaths whose estimated numbers range from 400 to 4,000 during the two weeks of armed activities in the largest United States military operation since the end of theVietnam War. For some commentators, the action was not intended only to rid Panama of the dictatorship but served also to reinforce United States authority over the region right at the end of the Cold War, as well as use Panama as practice field for weapons and strategies that would shortly after be used in the Gulf War (Cajar Páez 22).

The urban population, living below the poverty level, was greatly affected by the 1989 invasion, becoming the ‘collateral cost’ of the democratization of the country. As pointed out in 1995 by a UN Technical Assistance Mission to Panama, the bombardments during the invasion caused the displacement of 20,000 persons. The most stricken district was El Chorrillo where several blocks of apartments were completely destroyed. El Chorrillo had been since Canal construction days a series of wooden barracks; these easily caught fire under the United States attack. According to the Technical Mission, the displaced were segregated to unfinished USAID dwellings, far from communications and basic services, or were sent back to live in El Chorrillo's new low-standard multi-family buildings constructed hastily by the Panamanian government in replacement of their lost homes (see Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, n.p.). As stated by respondents in a 2005 survey conducted in El Chorrillo, after the invasion, crime and drug trafficking increased, and living conditions in the neighborhood worsened. Coleen Acosta points out that "the intervention added further to (Panama's) economic decline. Some sections of Panama City were heavily damaged, leaving thousands homeless, and subsequent looting left businesses with damages in the hundreds of millions. The economic damage caused by the invasion and subsequent civil disobedience has been estimated to be between 1.5 and 2 billion dollars (...) Unemployment rose to record highs as the government infrastructure was left in chaos. According to the Chamber of Commerce, 10,000 employees lost their jobs in the aftermath of the war (n.p.).

The U.S. troops involved in Operation Just Cause achieved their primary objectives, and Noriega eventually surrendered to U.S. authorities. He completed his sentence for drug trafficking charges in September 2007. In August 2007, a U.S. federal court in Miami found Noriega extraditable to France, where he was convicted in absentia for money laundering. Noriega was extradited to France on April 26, 2010 and his trial started on June 28, 2010 in Paris, France.

On July 7, 2010, Noriega was convicted by the 11th chamber of the Tribunal Correctionnel de Paris, and sentenced to seven years in jail. The prosecutor in the case had sought a ten-year prison term. In addition, €2.3 million (approximately US$3.6 million) that has long been frozen in Noriega's French bank accounts was ordered to be seized.

Post-invasion era:

Panama's Electoral Tribunal moved quickly to rebuild the civilian constitutional government, reinstated the results of the May 1989 election on December 27, 1989, and confirmed the victory of President Guillermo Endara and Vice Presidents Guillermo Ford and Ricardo Arias Calderon.

During its five-year term, the often-fractious government struggled to meet the public's high expectations. Its new police force was a major improvement over its predecessor but was not fully able to deter crime. Ernesto Pérez Balladares was sworn in as President on September 1, 1994, after an internationally monitored election campaign.

Perez Balladares ran as the candidate for a three-party coalition dominated by the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), the erstwhile political arm of military dictatorships. Perez Balladares worked skillfully during the campaign to rehabilitate the PRD's image, emphasizing the party's populist Torrijos roots rather than its association with Noriega.

He won the election with only 33% of the vote when the major non-PRD forces splintered into competing factions. His administration carried out economic reforms and often worked closely with the U.S. on implementation of the Canal treaties.

On September 1, 1999, Mireya Moscoso, the widow of former President Arnulfo Arias Madrid, took office after defeating PRD candidate Martin Torrijos, son of Omar Torrijos, in a free and fair election. During her administration, Moscoso attempted to strengthen social programs, especially for child and youth development, protection, and general welfare.

Moscoso's administration successfully handled the Panama Canal transfer and was effective in the administration of the Canal.

The PRD's Martin Torrijos won the presidency and a legislative majority in the National Assembly in 2004. Torrijos ran his campaign on a platform of, among other pledges, a "zero tolerance" for corruption, a problem endemic to the Moscoso and Perez Balladares administrations. After taking office, Torrijos passed a number of laws which made the government more transparent. He formed a National Anti-Corruption Council whose members represented the highest levels of government, as well as civil society, labor organizations, and religious leadership. In addition, many of his closest Cabinet ministers were non-political technocrats known for their support for the Torrijos government's anti-corruption aims. Despite the Torrijos administration's public stance on corruption, many high-profile cases, particularly involving political or business elites, were never acted upon.

Conservative supermarket magnate Ricardo Martinelli was elected to succeed Martin Torrijos with a landslide victory at the May 2009 presidential election. Mr. Martinelli's business credentials drew voters worried by slowing growth due to the world financial crisis. Standing for the four-party opposition Alliance for Change, Mr. Martinelli gained 60% of the vote, against 37% for the candidate of the governing left-wing Democratic Revolutionary Party.

Unity Day Vanuatu - Nov 29

The nation of Vanuatu is an archipelago of 83 islands, 113 languages, and a host of different tribal groups. To celebrate the unification of differing groups into one nation, Unity Day was established on November 29. On that day in 1977, unrest in the islands, then under French-British administration, caused a great loss of life. Such internal division is something that present-day Vanuatu citizens do not want to see repeated.

To celebrate this day, representatives from all of Vanuatu's peoples come to the capital city of Port Vila. High chiefs from all the islands attend the festivities, which include performances by native dancers in their traditional dress and a parade. Music concerts and sporting events are also part of the celebration. Ordinary citizens usually observe the day with picnics or by camping. In 2004 President Kalkot Mataskelekele asked that church leaders spend an hour or two that day in special prayer for national unity.