Sarah Baartman died on 29 December 1815, but her exhibition continued.

Her brain, skeleton and sexual organs remained on display in a Paris museum until 1974. Her remains weren't repatriated and buried until 2002.

Brought to Europe seemingly on false pretences by a British doctor, stage-named the "Hottentot Venus", she was paraded around "freak shows" in London and Paris, with crowds invited to look at her large buttocks.

Today she is seen by many as the epitome of colonial exploitation and racism, of the ridicule and commodification of black people.

Reports of Beyonce planning to write and star in a film about Baartman have been denied by the singer's representatives. But the rumours were enough to generate concern.

Jean Burgess, a chief from the Khoikhoi group that Baartman was from, argued that Beyonce lacked "the basic human dignity to be worthy of writing Sarah's story, let alone playing the part". But Jack Devnarain, chairman of the South African Guild of Actors, said filmmakers had the ""right to tell the stories of people you find fascinating and that's what we must be careful not to object to".

Even in denying any link to a film, Beyonce's representative said: "This is an important story that should be told."

Baartman's life was one of huge hardship. It is thought she was born in South Africa's Eastern Cape in 1789, her mother died when she was two and her father, a cattle driver, died when she was an adolescent. She entered domestic service in Cape Town after a Dutch colonist murdered her partner, with whom she had had a baby who died.

In October 1810, although illiterate, Baartman allegedly signed a contract with English ship surgeon William Dunlop and mixed-race entrepreneur Hendrik Cesars, in whose household she worked, saying she would travel to England to take part in shows.

The reason was that Baartman, also known as Sara or Saartjie, had what was called "steatopygia", resulting in extremely protuberant buttocks due to a build-up of fat.

These made her a cause of fascination when she was exhibited at a venue in London's Piccadilly Circus after her arrival. "You have to remember that, at the time, it was highly fashionable and desirable for women to have large bottoms, so lots of people envied what she had naturally, without having to accentuate her figure," says Rachel Holmes, author of The Hottentot Venus: The Life and Death of Saartjie Baartman.

On stage she wore skin-tight, flesh-coloured clothing, as well as beads and feathers, and smoked a pipe. Wealthy customers could pay for private demonstrations in their homes, with their guests allowed to touch her.

Her arrival in England coincided with speculation over whether Lord Grenville and his coalition of Whigs - known as the "broad bottoms" because of Grenville's own large behind - would try to seize government. This was a gift for cartoonists. One creation, entitled A Pair of Broad Bottoms, shows Grenville and Baartman standing back-to-back, with another figure measuring their respective posterior sizes.

Baartman's promoters nicknamed her the "Hottentot Venus", with "hottentot" - now seen as derogatory - then being used in Dutch to describe the Khoikhoi and San, who together make up the peoples known as the Khoisan.

The British Empire had abolished the slave trade in 1807, but not slavery itself. Even so, campaigners were appalled at Baartman's treatment in London. Her employers were prosecuted for holding Baartman against her will, but not convicted, with Baartman herself testifying in their favour.

"The question remains - was Baartman coerced, as abolitionist/humanitarian campaigners claimed, or was she acting on her own free will?" says Christer Petley, a history lecturer at Southampton University. "If she was coerced, she might have felt too intimidated to tell the truth in court. We'll never know.

"The case is complex and the relationship between Baartman and her handlers was certainly not equally weighted, even if she had some element of choice or felt she could gain something - material or otherwise - from her performance."

Holmes says Baartman's show also included dancing and playing several musical instruments, and that a "sophisticated" audience in London, a city in which ethnic minorities weren't rare even at that time, would not simply have stopped and looked at her for long on account of her race.

After the case, Baartman's show gradually lost its novelty and popularity among audiences in the capital and she went on tour around Britain and Ireland.

In 1814 she moved to Paris with Cesars. She became a celebrity once more, drinking at the Cafe de Paris and attending society parties. Cesars returned to South Africa and Baartman came under the influence of an "animal exhibitor", with the stage name Reaux. She drank and smoked heavily and, according to Holmes, was "probably prostituted" by him.

Baartman agreed to be studied and painted by a group of scientists and artists but refused to appear fully naked before them, arguing that this was beneath her dignity - she had never done this in one of her shows. This period was the beginning of the study of what became known as "racial science", says Holmes.

Baartman died aged 26. The cause was described as "inflammatory and eruptive disease". It's since been suggested this was a result of pneumonia, syphilis or alcoholism.

The naturalist Georges Cuvier, who had danced with Baartman at one of Reaux's parties, made a plaster cast of her body before dissecting it. He preserved her skeleton and pickled her brain and genitals, placing them in jars displayed at Paris's Museum of Man. They remained on public display until 1974, something Holmes describes as "grotesque".

"The domination of Africans was explained with the aid of science, thereby establishing the Khoisan ('the Hottentots') as the most ignoble group in the progression of mankind, purported to mate with the orangutan," wrote Natasha Gordon-Chipembere, editor of Representation and Black Womanhood: The legacy of Sarah Baartman.

After his election in 1994 as President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela requested the repatriation of Baartman's remains and Cuvier's plaster cast. The French government eventually agreed and this happened in March 2002. In August of that year, her remains were buried in Hankey, in Eastern Cape province, 192 years after Baartman had left for Europe.

Several books have been published about her treatment and cultural significance. "She has become the landscape upon which multiple narratives of exploitation and suffering within black womanhood have been enacted," wrote Gordon-Chipembere. She argued that, amid all this, Baartman "the woman, remains invisible".

The 2010 film Black Venus and the 1998 documentary The Life and Times of Sara Baartman have covered her story. Even for those outside South Africa who are unaware of Baartman, there have been subtle cultural references.

In 2014, the cover of Paper magazine showed reality television star Kim Kardashian balancing a champagne glass on her protruding bottom. Some critics complained the image was reminiscent of contemporary drawings of Baartman. The Kardashian photo referenced a 1976 image by the same photographer - Jean-Paul Goude - which showed black model Carolina Beaumont naked and in a similar pose.

Last year, a plaque at her burial site in Hankey was splashed with white paint, causing further distress. This happened a couple of weeks after the removal from Cape Town University of the statue of Cecil Rhodes, the 19th Century businessman and politician who declared the British to be "the first race in the world", following protests by students.

"People are working out how they want to deal with these issues over time," says Petley. "Often they've been covered up and it's now time to re-evaluate them. The important thing is to do so in a way that avoids mud-slinging and look seriously at these aspects of our past."

Mr Thabane announced he would be stepping down in July because of old age, without commenting about the case.

His current wife Maesaiah Thabane has already been charged with the murder.

He would be the first African leader to be charged with a domestic murder while in office, in a case that has shocked the tiny mountain kingdom.

• BBC Africa Live: Updates on this and other stories
• The characters at the heart of Lesotho's murder drama
• A murder mystery, the prime minister and his estranged wife

Lipolelo, 58, was shot dead two days before Mr Thabane became prime minister in 2017.

At the time, he described her killing as "senseless" but police now accuse him of being involved in her killing.

"The prime minister is going to be charged with the murder," Deputy Commissioner of Police Paseka Mokete was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

"The police are preparing directives and he will probably be charged tomorrow [Friday]," he added.

What does the prime minister say?

Mr Thabane said on state radio that he had served the nation "diligently" and he would retire at the end of July, Reuters reports.

"I've worked for a peaceful and stable Lesotho. Today... at my age, I have lost most of my energy," he was quoted as saying.

The ruling All Basotho Convention had given him a deadline of Thursday to resign.

I just left a amazing discussion with some really awesome entrepreneurs and business leaders, and I hear we’ve got a few more of you in the audience today.  I’m a former entrepreneur.  I love what you do.  I love risk takers.  I love those people who are willing to go out and just crush it every day.

With us here today are three very special ladies.  Azalech Tesfaye is right here.  She has a coffee business that employs 50 people and exports all across the world.  Her business has been able to expand thanks to a loan from the White House’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.  Azalech, I’m glad you could be with us here today.  Thank you for joining us.  (Applause.)

Also with us is Meseret Warner.  Very nice to see you.  It was wonderful to meet you this morning.  She is developing a crowd funding platform to channel capital from the United States to businesses in Ethiopia, and throughout Africa.  Don’t take all of our capital, all right.  Best of luck to you.

We at the State Department are proud that Ethiopian chapter president of the Africa Women’s Entrepreneurship Program is here.

And then we also have Samrawit Fikru.  She’s with us as well.  She founded RIDE, Ethiopia’s version of Uber.  She’s created jobs for more than 11,000 drivers and 300 permanent employees.  That’s amazing.  Congratulations.  (Applause.)  She’s a distinguished alumnus of one of the State Department’s great international programs, the International Visitor Leadership Program.

Let’s give all of these amazing entrepreneurs one more big round of applause.  Congratulations to you.  (Applause.)

Stories like this, success stories, entrepreneur stories like this remind me of America’s founding too.  These aren’t just feel good moments.  They define a nation’s future.  These entrepreneurial activities will define Africa’s future, too.

We believe that in the United States.  I believe that.  I believe, as I know most of you do, too, that every human being – African, European, American, you name it – wants similar things.

We want basic security for our families.  We want opportunity and reward for the hard work that we invest in.  And we want the freedom to do whatever we want to do wit h our own lives.

It’s how we get there that matters an awful lot.

I’m here today about – to talk to you about a couple of things.  Most importantly, I want to talk about the next liberation, economic liberation, a true liberation for Africa’s entrepreneurs.  I’ll talk about this briefly, then I’m going to take questions from Vera.

Look, for starters, I think we can all agree that the poverty rate in many African countries remains way too high.

And while effective foreign aid can help to alleviate the problem, it’s very unlikely that it will solve it.  We see this in places all across the world, even in America.  Government spending often can’t attack the very basis of the problem.

Centralized planning hasn’t worked – look at the failed socialist experiments of years past in Zimbabwe, in Tanzania, and right here in Ethiopia.  Even now, even as we stand here today, South Africa is debating an amendment to permit the expropriation of private property without compensation.  That would be disastrous for that economy, and most importantly for the South African people.

Socialist schemes haven’t economically liberated this continent’s poorest people.

But we all – everyone in this room – everyone in this room know the right way forward.  Basic strong rule of law, respect for property rights, regulation that encourages investment – we talked about that with these entrepreneurs this morning.  You need to get the basic laws right so that investors can come and invest their capital.  We also need women’s full participation in this economic liberation.  And we need governments that respect their own people.  These are the fundamental ingredients for true and inclusive, sustainable economic liberation.

We all know the history of the Asian Tigers.  The Asian Tigers lifted themselves up in a span of just a few decades, because they liberalized and they opened for trade.

That can happen right here too – and indeed, I would argue that it must.  More than 60 percent of the population in Africa is under the age of 25.  Only nations hospitable to the private sector will stimulate enough growth, enough opportunity, enough resources, enough capital that will deliver jobs and prosperity on the scale that this continent needs and over the timeframe that it requires.

And to African leaders today – future generations are depending on stable, corruption-free environments that attract foreign investment.

As the Ethiopian proverb says, “A partner in business will not put an obstacle to it.”

Indeed, some countries have already taken steps to enhance freedom for entrepreneurs:  Rwanda has exempted small and medium-sized businesses from certain taxes, it slashed construction spending several times, and it’s upgraded its power grid.

Togo has knocked down similar bureaucratic hurdles on fees, wait times, permitting, and other impediments for business owners.

On a broader scale, I just came from Angola, where President Lorenco and his team are courageously turning the page on corruption and are privatizing hundreds of state-owned businesses.

And right here in Ethiopia, right here in Ethiopia citizens pushed for change.  Prime Minister Abiy’s bold reforms stimulate private sector growth that can help set the tone for the entire continent.

None of this is easy.  If it was easy, it would have happened long ago.  The United States recognizes this.

But it’s moral, and it’s right.  And it’s necessary.  There is nothing more noble than allowing our people to have the dignity of work.  And the United States, you should know, everyone – we believe in you, and we’ll be with you every step of the way.

With the right policies and leadership, we believe that true economic liberation will happen here in Africa.

If you will all focus on the basics – if you’ll get it right, if you’ll get transparency right, good governance right – American businesses will come.  We’ve been in Africa for an awfully long time.  More capital will flow.

Just these last few days in Senegal, we signed an agreement where Bechtel, America’s – one of America’s finest engineering companies, will build a road from Dakar to St. Louis, transforming infrastructure and creating opportunities.  I was proud to be part of the signing ceremony there in Dakar, along with the signing of four other major agreements with American businesses that are going to invest in Senegal and in the Senegalese people.

In Angola, Chevron and others are exploring offshore natural gas fields, bringing jobs and economic growth right along with them.  When American capital comes, it hires local.

Here in Ethiopia, Coca-Cola is expanding a new $300 million investment, and companies like FedEx and Citibank are exploring new opportunities as well.

As for the American Government, the Trump administration wants these trade ties to continue and to expand.  We’re committed to it.

If there’s one thing you should know about our President, my boss, you should know that he loves deals.  He wants more to happen.  He wants more to happen between the United States and nations all across Africa.

That’s why the United States launched our new Development Finance Corporation.  I’m sure I’ll get a chance to talk more about this with Vera.  It’s now just one month old, but it’s well-resourced, well-funded, and well-structured.  The goal is very simple.  The goal is to catalyze private sector investment in developing countries, focusing heavily on priority areas like agriculture, like energy, and infrastructure.  Sixty billion dollars of capacity, $60 billion of finance capacity, it will help here in Africa.

And there’s more.  The U.S. under President Trump launched Prosper Africa – the Prosper Africa initiative, which is opening opportunities for businesses on both sides of the ocean.

We are pushing forward, too, the W-GDP program, with the goal of economically empowering at least 50 million women by 2025.  We expect more than half of those women to be right here in Africa.

USAID, one of our traditional assistance mechanisms, is integrating the private sector into its core development work in ways that it’s never done before.

We support the African Continental Free Trade Area, and we remain committed to our partnership with the African Union.

Look, not every nation doing business in Africa from outside the continent adopts the American model of partnership.  Countries should be wary of authoritarian regimes with empty promises.  They breed corruption, dependency, they don’t hire the local people, they don’t train, they don’t lead them.  They run the risk that the prosperity and sovereignty and progress that Africa so needs and desperately wants won’t happen.

Real simple.  The United States stands for local jobs, environmental responsibility, honest business practices, high-quality work, and mutual prosperity.

Don’t take my word for it – look at the facts, look at the history.  We stand for true partnership, true economic liberation.

I want to save plenty of time to have a conversation with Vera today, so I’ll close up quickly.

So many of you here today I can see from all walks of like – we’ve got entrepreneurs, political leaders, media voices, I’ve got a group of alumni from State Department programs ‒ you, you are the forces that will ensure that those with power who promise liberation understand what that truly means.  Hold onto that.

True economic liberation delivered the greatest economic growth in human history in the United States of America.  It can do the same for you.

My country will proudly walk that path in partnership with you.

I look forward to our conversation today.

And may God bless all of you.

May God bless Ethiopia.

And God bless all of the people of Africa.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

DR SONGWE:  Thank you.  Thank you so much for that brilliant speech.  Can we give the Secretary another round of applause.  (Applause.)

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Thank you.

DR SONGWE:  Thank you for saving the time for questions.  We have three or four for you, so hopefully you can take them.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Great.  I’ll answer almost anything.  (Laughter.)

DR SONGWE:  That’s a great (inaudible).  I want to start – you have mentioned some of it in your speech already, but this is one of your first trips to Africa.  You picked three very interesting countries, Senegal, Angola, and Ethiopia.  Why the choice of countries?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  So, yeah, I’ve been to Africa a handful of times before.  It’s the first time I’ve had the chance to be here as the Secretary of State.  The three countries I chose were all at unique moments in their own development history, very different, different cultures, different parts of Africa, different histories.  But in each case, too, with real leaders who are prepared to do the right things to help their countries move forward.  And when I say “real leaders,” that certainly includes political leaders, but it’s broader and deeper than that.  It’s the wellspring of the population who’s demanding these changes, these transformations.  Whether that’s in Senegal or Angola or here, I can see it, I can feel it, I can hear it.

Leaders in the business community, leaders in the entrepreneurship world, finance leaders, nongovernmental organizations who understand that the things that have been done in these countries in the past didn’t deliver the outcomes that these people so richly deserve and are determined to push back where there were problems with corruption, are determined to deliver these outcomes, and are prepared to take real risk to get these fantastic outcomes for their own people.

And so that’s why we went to each of these three places.  It’s been fascinating to see and get to meet and get a glimpse into what’s really going on there.  And I leave here even more optimistic than I came.

DR SONGWE:  Wonderful.  We can feel the energy as you answer the question.  My second question is linked a little bit to the U.S. announcement that it will be reducing military aid on the continent, and I think it’s linked to the fact that you’re also increasing economic aid.

But on the military side, you went to West Point.  West Point, I think for those in the military field, is the Harvard of the academics.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  I’ll tell the team back there that you said that.  They’ll be very proud of that.

DR SONGWE:  Free publicity for West Point.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Exactly.

DR SONGWE:  But I think on the continent we do need peace to have development.  We do need peace for security.  And so the question is:  Is it possible that we have the U.S. work with Africa to build a West Point on the continent so that we can do exactly what you have done, is bring more technology, the transfer the knowledge, but have the peace builders here with American support.  Is this something that we’ll someday we have a West Point of Africa with U.S. support?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  I don’t know if that’s exactly the right model here, but your point is very, very well taken.  Two things to say.  One.  We are, we’re constantly – the United States has military all across the world.  We are constantly reviewing our structure.  Are we delivering value?  Are we really increasing security?  Is the model we had for the last 10 or 20 or 30 years working?  And so we’re looking at that.  We’re looking at Africa.  We’re looking at other places in the world as well.  We’ll complete the review.  We’ll work it out.  There won’t be big surprises.

We will work along – I’ll say this:  I appreciate, as someone who was the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, I understand the risks and the (inaudible) what goes in Libya.  I know what’s happening in the Lake Chad region, and I see the challenges from al-Shabaab in Somalia, and (inaudible) in Ethiopia.  We’ll be (inaudible) to provide what – the support that is needed.

Your point is very well taken, too.  Whether it’s a West Point or training at our institutions in the United States, or training at other western militaries to make sure that that technology – and importantly with security, leadership and intelligence sharing are really the bedrocks of our capacity to deliver.

I said this in my remarks yesterday or the day before.  In the end, African security will be generated by Africans.  We have the responsibility and we have the capacity to help African nations to do that, to build up their own forces, to build up their own capacity.  Your point’s very well taken.  If we can’t get security right, these economic opportunities will be much more difficult to come by.

DR SONGWE:  Thank you, Secretary.  I see that you’re continuously thinking about the idea, so we will come back to that.  It is an important point for us on the continent.

Moving to that, you talked a little bit and with a lot of passion, you have yourself started two businesses, so you know exactly –

SECRETARY POMPEO:  I started three, but I don’t talk about the one that failed.  (Laughter.)

DR SONGWE:  (Inaudible) says we should talk about that one, too.  So you know better than most what it means to start a business, what it means to live and do business in a liberated economic environment.  As you look at the continent, we just had PIMCO here last week at the Economic Commission for Africa trying exactly to crowd in U.S. business more into – onto the continent.  What are the two or three things, first as a businessman and then as a policy maker, that you think American business will be looking for so that we can crowd them in?  Of course, the buildout is going to be particularly important because it will help leverage that business, but we do need real capital coming in.

And what do you think when you go you can say to U.S. businesses about Africa, and what can you say to our leaders about what U.S. business is looking for in Africa?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Yeah.  Look, I think you all know this.  There’s a handful of things that American businesses want.  They want to know that their investment, if it fails it’s because they had a bad business model, not because of political risk that’s attached to it.  They want to know that there’s a rule of law and the capacity for dispute resolution in a way that’s fair and equitable.  Equally importantly for American business especially, we need educated, talented workforce.

When these American businesses come, they want to hire the best and brightest, from Senegal, from Angola, from Ethiopia.  From whatever they’re investing, they want to hire the best and the brightest.  They need a workforce trained, skilled.  The people that I’ve met on my trip, I am very confident you all will get there.  It’s got to be scaled up, right.  We’ve got tens and tens of millions of jobs to create, and we need to make sure that the workforce has the skillset that matches what these American companies will want.

And then the third thing, and I say this often, you should all know, when American businesses are thinking about coming to someplace, they’ll call the State Department and say tell me about it, tell me about what’s going to – what I’m going to see when I get there.  The most important thing that they’ll do is they’ll call their buddies.

Look, all they’ll call is they’ll call those who came to that place before and say, “What was your experience like?  What were the people like?  How was it?”  And so it is very important for African countries to be responsive to and nurture those businesses that are already here so that there are models for success, there are pathways that can be chartered.  It will take down that risk enormously.  And so not only will you see capital, we talk about capital coming, but you’ll see capital that is affordable, that is the cost of capital.  Whether it’s a bond fund or a leveraged financial institution or angel investor or a private equity fund, the rate of return that they’ll demand turns on the risk that they perceive.  And so demonstrating a capability to create opportunity, not certainly, not guarantees – American companies are perfectly prepared to take risk.  But know that they’ll be able to identify those risks, measure them, and that they won’t have surprises from political outcomes that they simply can’t deal with and control.

DR SONGWE:  Thank you very much.  And the risk adjusted rate of return on the continent is 8 percent.  In the U.S. now it’s 1 percent.  So this is the —

SECRETARY POMPEO:  It’s much less than that, yes, exactly.

DR SONGWE:  Exactly.  So we hope that they can come, and we hope that you will be one of those ambassadors.

I want to ask a question on something that you worked in a few years back.  You were not yet Secretary of State.  That was on information, financial transparency.  One of the things that the continent is suffering from, and a lot of our investments on the continent would still be public investment and public capital, however, because of illicit financial flows and corruption, we tend to see a lot of our resources going out of the continent.

In 2016 or thereabouts, you actually talked about creating a more sort of financial transparency index so that we could track the resources.  You have gone to three countries that they’re working very hard on trying to ensure that they can forestall corruption and track resources.  What do you say, and how can the U.S. with your experience help us to improve this fight on illicit financial flows?  We do need to stem it at some point.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  This is, too, I potentially should have mentioned, but it’s really not something that businesses think about.  It’s about institutions, governments, places like this that you all work so diligently on.  It’s a thing that America thinks about a lot.  We want to make sure that we understand where cash is going.  This is a significant economic factor, but it’s also a massive security factor, too, because these go to drugs and trade – drug trading and narcotrafficking and trafficking in persons – some of the most horrific things that happen in our world.  If we can find where the money is going, we can stem it and reduce that risk.

So the United States is committed to the international processes that are connected.  As you see with the Financial Action Task Force, you see how our global institutions – the IMF and the World Bank – always put at the center of their programs transparency and accountability not only for the host nation that they’re supporting, but they want it in the private sector, the commercial sector that they’re working in as well.

I think the world has made progress.  I, frankly, think Africa has made progress as well.  The leaders that I spoke with in every country all took on board the desperate they need they had to control that illicit financing.  They see it.  They see that it escapes their capacity to control.  They know that it’s bad for their people, that it deteriorates from their tax base to generate even further opportunity for their people.  Each of those negative ramifications are serious matters.

We’re committed to – that we will – we will come to countries when we provide foreign assistance, and we’ll often come with technical help.  In addition to the resources, the money, we’ll embed members of our team in financial institutions or in central banks or in other governing agencies, law enforcement, the equivalent of our Justice Department who work on these illicit cashflows or finance ministries.  We’ll put our people, our technical knowhow.  These are complicated issues.  They are international issues.  They extend far beyond the borders of any one country.  We collectively have to get it right.

I spent a lot of time when I was the CIA director working on the information side of that to make sure that the data set was available.  I haven’t spent as much time working on the regulatory piece of it, but I know the United States is committed to that, and it’s important to get right here I Africa.

DR SONGWE:  The African Union and all of the African heads of states believe that without this sort of attacking this kind of corruption and illicit financial flows, we will never be able to meet the taking of action, which is the scale.  But the taking of action must happen with women.  You started your conversation recognizing, I think, very brilliant Ethiopian businesswomen.  So it’s women and it’s business, and I’m sure that we all agree that we cannot move this continent forward without the women.

The U.S. has been very forward looking in terms of supporting women business and women entrepreneurs.  What is the message to Africa’s women as you leave?  And you see last week we just launched the African Women’s Leadership Fund, which is a fund, not a – sort of supporting women business with the idea of supporting and hopefully getting a lot more billions to women businesses.  And we know that the U.S. is working on that, and you have been yourself a passionate (inaudible).

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Yeah, no, I do.  I care about it for multiple reasons.  My wife is sitting to my right, who was a banker who helped provide capital to people in South Central Kansas, rural parts of Kansas.  So we know the challenges that women often face.

We’re committed to this.  We’re committed to all across the world empowering women in multiple ways.  So we first begin with getting the baseline right to make sure that there aren’t legal prohibitions, right, there aren’t barriers, legal barriers that prevent women.  Some countries still have those.

And then we go attack the history, because women didn’t – don’t start from the same basis oftentimes.  There are cultural barriers in many countries, and then there’s just the simple fact that women have historically taken on a lot of roles where they didn’t participate in the economic lives of their nations.

And so across each of those various pillars we’re working hard to make sure that women like these have every opportunity they can.  Some of them are going to fail.  And many, many of them will keep at it and they will ultimately succeed.  They will drive enormous success for themselves, for their families, for their community, and for their country.

If we don’t get this part right, if we don’t give a hundred percent of the people in every country this chance to go live their dream and use their minds for the betterment of their community, for their country, we will leave enormous amount of the opportunity on the table.

So it’s something that the United States is very focused on.  We’ll try and drive it programmatically.  We’ll try and drive it through our commercial programs as well.  Collectively, if we can get this right, we will take growth from wherever it would have been absent, then to multiples of that.

DR SONGWE:  Thank you very much.  We also know that Madam Pompeo is a strong and avid supporter of women and men in politics because you’re here with us.  So we hope that she can also support those women in politics agenda.

Final question.  This is your last stop before you leave the continent.  Tomorrow, the G20 ministers of finance and governors will be meeting to talk about the state of the world.  What is the message from Africa that you will send to them?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  There is enormous opportunity not only for Africa here, but for the world.  It is a continent that is growing.  It is a continent that has been behind the power curve in its capacity to achieve all of its opportunity, not only the economic opportunity that we have spoken to, opportunities for religious freedom, opportunities for all of the things that humanity cares so deeply about.

I would urge them to recommit to this.  It will have massive economic benefits to places like the United States of America.  If we get this right, the young women that I was with this morning were all exporting to our country.

What does that mean?  That means that someone in America decided that there was a value proposition to purchase that product that was made right here in Ethiopia.  The seller benefitted here in Ethiopia, and that American consumer benefitted as well.  That trade, that commerce, that opportunity will benefit our entire world.

We need to get it right here as well.  And when we do, that it’s mutually reinforcing, too.  Economic growth and security are mutually reinforcing.  If we get the economic piece of this right, the fewer folks that decide that they want to go create unrest, cause trouble, create problems for nations.  So we’ve got to get them both right.

I hope those ministers will all take seriously what I saw on my three visits here in Africa.

DR SONGWE:  Wonderful.  Thank you very much.  Recommit to Africa.  There is value here is the message from Secretary Pompeo –

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Amen.

DR SONGWE:  — to Africa and to the rest of the world.  Thank you so much for being with us.  And thanks for the proposition.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Vera, thank you.  Thank you all.  (Applause.)

The summit comes as reports of possible downsizing of U.S. troops in Africa, a report the U.S. Army Africa Commander Maj. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier Jr. countered saying, the U.S. was “not walking away. We are still engaged,” Maj. Gen. Cloutier told media on February 12. The U.S. was meeting with land force chiefs from several African countries, among others, to “talk about issues and let them know that the United States and the U.S. military is still committed to being great partners,” Military Times quoted him as saying.

The theme for this year’s summit “reflects our shared belief that leadership is an enduring responsibility among our military leaders,” Brig. Gen. Lapthe Flora, U.S. Army Africa deputy commander, said back in December 2019. “In order for our Soldiers and leaders to be successful, we must develop our leaders today. Our theme this year reflects that mindset, and we hope that the summit will empower our already strong leaders.”

The summit kicked off with an official opening by David Renz who emphasized on the importance of cooperation between Africa & the United States in all areas especially in Peace & Security. A welcoming remark was also given by Gen. Adam Mohammed followed. “Africa today is a region of significant strategic importance, superpowers are looking at increasing their presence in the continent. Major reasons being illicit trafficking & violent extremist organizations other major security problems,” General Adem said, adding, the need for cooperation in stabilizing areas of conflict in the continent as well as the importance for such a cooperation.

General Michael X. Garret gave a speech in which he described the relationship between U.S. Army and its partners on the continent as being “built on trust”. “These partnerships are important because we operate in a complex dynamic world where the security challenges we face are diverse & African nations contend with some of the most complex challenges in the world, [including] insurgencies, armed conflicts, illicit trafficking, piracy, organized crime & violent extremists organizations.” These threats have, according to him, “no boundaries; they cross borders, destabilize regions & require significant cooperation & strong partnership so our efforts to combat these challenges are effective.”

Earlier in the morning, Brigadier Gen. Tilahun Ashenafi of the ENDF & Gen. Roger L. Cloutier, gave a brief press conference where they answered question from local and international media.

“Military solution is not the only option for Africa but it is an important one,” said Maj. Gen Cloutier said, adding, “Ethiopia is an important partner to the United States in the mission of accomplishing a secure, stable & prosperous Africa which is an enduring American interest.”

According to Brigadier Gen. Tilahun Ashenafi most problems the African continent faces today are cross-border problems such as terrorism, but military solutions alone are not the only solutions to solve them. “We can’t solve all problems by military means, we need political solutions as well,” he said.

The summit, called by the US Army Africa as “the largest gathering of military leaders on the African continent ever”, is expected to last for four days discussing a range of security related issues in closed plenary sessions. These include 21st century challenges for military leaders, developing leaders through defense institutions & defense leadership in a multinational environment.

The High Court ruled in a 4-3 decision that indigenous Australians cannot be deported even if they do not hold Australian citizenship.

The court had heard the case of two men who were born overseas but identified as being from indigenous tribes.

The government attempted to deport them after they served prison sentences for violent crimes. The government has been criticized for deporting some criminals who have lived in Australia since they were children but had never become citizens.

The court found that Brendan Thoms, 31, who was born in New Zealand to an indigenous Australian mother, was an Aboriginal Australian.

Thoms had lived in Australia since he was 6, is accepted as a member of the Gunggari tribe and is recognized as a native title holder of their traditional land.

But a majority of judges was not convinced that Daniel Love, 40, was indigenous and was accepted as a member of the Kamilaroi tribe.

He was born in Papua New Guinea to an indigenous Australian father and has lived in Australia since he was 5.

His lawyers say he will provide more evidence of his Aboriginality and another trial could be held to decide the issue.

Both Love and Thoms were placed in immigration detention and threatened with deportation on their release from prison after serving sentences for unrelated crimes.

Love has had his visa restored since his lawyers initiated court action and lives on the Gold Coast.

Thoms has been in immigration detention in Brisbane for the 16 months since he completed a six-month prison sentence.

Their lawyer Claire Gibbs demanded that Thoms be immediately released.

“He’s very anxious to be released and to be reunited with his family after all this time,” Gibbs said outside court.

“The High Court has found that Aboriginal Australians are protected from deportation. They can no longer be removed from the country that they know and that they have a very close connection with,” she added.

The Home Affairs Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gibbs said both Love and Thoms would sue the government for wrongful detention.

“Both of my clients have suffered severe embarrassment about being Aboriginal men in immigration detention and they’ve been subject to a lot of ridicule,” Gibbs said. “So it’s been a very, very tough time for them both.”

Former President John Mahama's admission of the difficulty in turning around an economy in two and a half years was much to be desired by many, mainly because he was in charge of the economic management team as a Vice President. What he completely forgot is that ‘’turning happens in both ways and while it was difficult to turn in the positive direction, it was far easier to turn our much-cherished economy in the wrong direction, a skill he displayed very well during all his time as the Vice and as the President of our much-adored homeland.

The assessment of the status of the NPP's 2016 manifesto promises, delivered by HE Dr. Bawumia, (the economic Jesus of our time to deliver us from economic pain and struggle created by the NDC) on the 11^th of February 2020, nailed any chances of the NDC come back on the economy in the coffin. It was delivered superbly; the presentations and evidence supported all his assertions and claims to the admiration of not only those present but by politicians worldwide.

I spoke to two senior politicians both from the Conservative HQ and Labour HQ in London, and both were in awe of the way Ghana is gaining popularity in terms of its economic management and governance. Ghana is now a model in terms of delivering economic policy to the envy of many countries in the world.

Our high economic growth, lower inflation, lower interest rates, higher international reserves, higher exports, a lower rate of depreciation of our cedi, all count towards an explosive GDP soon. Despite the negative predictions and negative talk of some NDC doomsday prophets and nay-sayer sympathizers regarding the cedi, the cedi has been the strongest currency against the dollar in recent months, confirmed by powerful economic houses including Bloomberg and the World Bank.

What Ghanaians must be reminded of is that their lives were far worse during the NDC years than the NPP years. With an average change in petroleum prices of 24% between 2013-2016 compared to 13.5% between 2017 -2019. With electricity tariffs at a net 10% decrease (under no dumsor) under the current NPP administration, compared to over 150% increase under the NDC since 2012 (under dumsor) with all sorts of taking and pay agreements which created a deep hole in the public accounts of the country. Currently, there are no more take or pay agreements, we are out of the IMF fund's octopush arms, our cedi is strengthening, and our economy is growing with the speed of light, a credit to the good governance and leadership of HE Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo and HE Dr. Bawumia.

There has arguably been no country in the same league as Ghana that has been able to document its manifesto achievements in the way the NPP has done, backed by hard data. As they say, the data never lies, and Ghanaians must give the NPP government more terms in office to fully turn around the fortunes of every Ghanaian and Ghana as a whole.

We should not be short-sighted and be bogged down by internal party politics and the politics of equalization, but look beyond the current into the future and assess which party will create jobs for the youth, reform our education system, reform our health system and improve the quality of life of the people of Ghana. If you ask me, the NPP is far far ahead and dwarfs the NDC by many rounds as demonstrated by the current NPP administration.

4 more to do more for Nana. God bless our homeland Ghana.

She said: “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more myself. And the more I am myself, the more my life looks like me … I used to think it was my job to be this quiet demure, gentle woman, who would listen and smile. It’s all over the movies. I feel like I grew up in her embrace, not in her shadow.”

And the “Black-ish” star is set to sing for the first time on screen in her new movie, The High Note. While she initially felt pressure because of her famous mom, when the legendary singer found out about the part, she cried happy tears.

Speaking to Oprah Winfrey on her 2020 Vision Tour over the weekend at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, she added: “There was this little girl in me who’s original dream was to be on a stage in a sparkly dress singing. I think it was very unconscious that I tucked her away. It felt dangerous. It felt like I was gonna be obliterated and compared …

“Every time there was a moment to sing publicly with other people, I would make it funny because that way people wouldn’t listen with the ‘Diana Ross‘ kid ear.’ It was as if I was walking around with not all of me because there was a part of me that wanted to shine, that I wanted to live and wasn’t. So, it was like this arm tied around my back. [When she found out], her face was covered in tears, and she said, ‘Finally.'”

Source: www.rollingout.com

The White House Correspondents’ Association announced the annual dinner will return to its comedy past with Thompson serving as the emcee for the ultra-exclusive soiree on Saturday, April 25, the New York Daily News reports. Comedian Hasan Minhaj will return to serve as the featured entertainer for the evening.

“Kenan and Hasan are two of the most engaged and engaging entertainers in America. I’m thrilled they’ll help us celebrate the role of a free press in our democracy,” said Jonathan Karl, chief White House correspondent for ABC News and president of the WHCA. “We’re looking forward to a lively evening honoring the most important political journalism of the past year.”

Atlanta-born Thompson, 41, first came to national prominence on Nickelodeon’s sketch comedy series “All That.” He’s also somehow managed to star in a score of television shows and movies, including “Kenan and Kell,” Love Don’t Cost a Thing, Fat Albert, and Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch.

Thompson is now in his 17th season on “SNL,” the longest tenure of any cast member ever, and he has also set a record for the most celebrity impressions performed on the show.

The president of the United States is expected to skip the annual proceedings for the fourth year in a row. No president has missed the White House Correspondents’ dinner since Ronald Reagan in 1981. But that was because Reagan was recovering in the hospital after being shot by John Hinckley Jr.

The magistrate found the State's case had raised too many questionable circumstances which included a prior search by police four days before the drugs was allegedly found in her home in Western Trinidad on July 24, 2016. During the first search, nothing illegal was found. The magistrate also questioned why D'Almada's ex-husband was never investigated. This was based on evidence that came out during the course of the trial that prior to the arrest being made, the woman's ex-husband contacted her via phone and requested that he meet her at her home to discuss issues surrounding their son.

Even though she was skeptical about the meeting, as well as the insistence of her ex-husband that they meet at a particular place and specific time, she nevertheless agreed. But soon after she arrived at the location, police executed a search warrant during which they allegedly found 1.3 kilograms of the narcotic. Even though he was the one who made the request, the ex-husband never showed up for the meeting, the court had heard.

According to the evidence, following the first search on July 20, D'Almada went to stay with her parents. Four days later the ex-husband, with whom she was not on good terms, requested that they meet at her home. As soon as she arrived at the location, so too did police officers.

During the course of the trial, the State was also unable to provide any warrant authorizing them to carry out the first search, nor was the defense able to obtain any station diary extracts or other information on the first search even though D'Almada's attorneys had previously filed an application under the Freedom of Information Act.

The woman's attorney's Gilbert Peterson, SC, John Heath and Lee Merry, contended that during the time the first and second searches were conducted, their client was not staying at the location and had no knowledge of the drugs being on her property.

Daily Express (Trinidad)