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&midddot;The ruins of a sugar mill and estate found in Africa are the earliest plantation&midddot;The site was operating in the 1530s - about 100 years before slavery in the USArchaeologists have uncovered the earliest evidence of plantation slavery - the ruins of a 16th-century sugar mill and estate on a tiny West African island.The island, named São Tomé, was the largest sugar producer globally in the 1530s, creating the blueprint for plantation economies across the Atlantic Ocean.The ruins of the mill and estate were uncovered by researchers from the University of Cologne, who said the structure's scale reflects the large...

China and São Tomé and Principe officially resumed diplomatic relations on Monday, in a triumph for Beijing over rival Taiwan after the African island nation abruptly broke away from the self-ruled island last week. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterpart from São Tomé, Urbino Botelho, signed books at a ceremony in front of their flags at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. Wang said the re-establishment of relations would bring benefits to both countries and that they would hold exchanges in tourism, the media and other areas. The move is a victory for Beijing, which considers the self-governing...

Taiwan says the African island nation of São Tomé and Principe has broken their diplomatic ties. Just 21 countries and governments now have diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Most of the world and the United Nations do not formally recognize Taiwan as a condition of maintaining relations with Beijing, which considers Taiwan a part of its territory. …

Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson caused “embarrassment” to a company he consulted for by lobbying then-Sec. of State Hillary Clinton in an email he sent through her longtime friend and ally, Sidney Blumenthal, according to court documents obtained by The Daily Caller. The company, Symbion Power, made the claim in response to a lawsuit filed in New Mexico last week by Wilson, who served as ambassador to Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe during the Bill Clinton administration. Wilson claims that Symbion and its co-founders, Paul Hinks and Lord Richard Westbury, engaged in fraud, breach of contract and civil conspiracy...

The five most miserable countries in the world at the end of 2014 are, in order: Venezuela, Argentina, Syria, Ukraine, and Iran. In 2014, Argentina and Ukraine moved into the top five, displacing Sudan and Sao Tome and Principe. The five least miserable are Brunei, Switzerland, China, Taiwan, and Japan. The United States ranks 95th, which makes it the 14th least miserable nation

Nigeria, others mobilise to rout Sao Tome junta By Charles Ozoemena Tuesday, July 22, 2003 ABUJA —TO make good its promises to reinstate democratic government in Sao Tome and Principe, President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday said that Nigeria had begun to mobilise forces in partnership with some African countries to chase out the military government which overthrew the government of President Menezes in a coup d’etat. Menezes was in Nigeria attending the Leon Sullivan Summit in Abuja when the coupists struck, overthrowing his government. President Obasanjo spoke at a private meeting with the ousted president, Menezes, in Abuja. Special Assistant to...