Ghana oppn leader is new president

ACCRA, GHANA: Ghana’s Opposition leader Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has won the closely contested presidential elections in the West African country, defeating incumbent John Dramani Mahama. President Mahama of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) conceded defeat in a phone call to Akufo-Addo of the pposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) after results of the polls showed AkufoAddo leading with over a million votes, 48 hours after voting closed. Akufo-Addo, a former attorney general and minister of foreign affairs, garnered 5,716,026 votes, or 53.85% of the total votes cast, while the incumbent President John Dramani Mahama obtained 4,713,277 votes, or 44.40% votes, said Electoral Commission Chairperson Charlotte Osei. Akufo-Addo beat out Mahama and five others in the race. Protesters demanding that South Korean President Park Geun-hye step down marched on Saturday for a seventh straight weekend, a day after Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impeach her and put the fate of her presidency in the hands of a nine-judge court.

The crowd estimated by organisers at 200,000 packing a large square in downtown Seoul was significantly smaller than in recent weeks but festive, with performances of music between speeches calling for the early removal of Park. “We demand that the Constitutional Court make a decision of conscience and justice and do not act against the will of the people,” Jung Kang-ja, one of the leaders of a coalition of civic groups backing the rally, said in a speech.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who became acting president late on Friday after the impeachment vote, called on authorities to ensure that rallies are peaceful and sought to calm anxiety over national security and to reassure financial markets

“So far, financial and for-