There is little known about the early history of the area. By about 1000 AD the Soninke, Mandinka and Fula peoples had formed settlements along the Gambia River. The Toucouleur people were settled in east and central Senegal. Kingdoms such as the Jolof and the Sere settled in the area north of the Gambia River. The first Europeans, Portuguese sailors, arrived about 1455. Portugal controlled the area between the Sénégal and Gambia Rivers until the British, Dutch and French moved into the area. They traded goods such as salt, iron, guns and gunpowder for gold, ivory, ebony and slaves.
About 24% of the African slaves brought to America, were from Senegambia. The Africans from Senegambia were found nearly everywhere in the United States before the American Civil War, both in the North and South.Senegambia was strongly Muslim. This means that many African slaves in the US had been exposed to Islam much more than the rest of the Americas.
Because of the need for field workers up to two-thirds of Africans taken captive were men. In the Senegambia region due to the high demand by buyers, men and boys were taken from all over the region. Women, however, being in less demand, were taken from the easily accessed coastal areas. Most of them belonged to the Jolof people and so, unlike the men, they had a common language. Due to the fear of slaves revolting, men were kept below decks and in chains. Women were usually kept on deck and were sometimes allowed to move around. Some historians say that it was the women who organized many of the slave uprisings at sea.
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30) is an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It legalises same-sex marriage in England and Wales.
After the 2010 General Election, in September 2011, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Equalities, Lynne Featherstone, announced they would try to make same-sex marriage legal from March 2012. The session closed in June 2012 and, in December 2012, the new Minister for Women and Equalities, Maria Miller, announced that the Government would be introducing a law before the next election. She also said that they were trying to get this done within parliament's current session.
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was introduced into Parliament on 24 January 2013. The leaders of the three main political parties in the United Kingdom gave their MPs a free vote. This means they would not be made to vote in favour or against it; they could vote however they wanted.
Labour Briefing
Labour Briefing is a monthly political magazine made by members of the British Labour Party. The magazine was started in 1980 as London Labour Briefing.
Throughout the 1990s, "London Labour Briefing" lost supporters and influence as New Labour's hold over the Labour Party increased. This was also because control inside the Labour Party was centralised, and the role played by activists was reduced.
"London Labour Briefing" was renamed "Labour Briefing" and was then known as "Labour Left Briefing". In 2008 it was changed back to "Labour Briefing" on merging with "Voice of the Unions". It supports the Socialist Campaign Group of Members of Parliament, and aims to promote and build the network of local Campaign Groups.
Parliamentary select committees of the United Kingdom
The parliamentary select committees of the United Kingdom are committees formed by members of the British Parliament. Members can be appointed from the House of Commons (like the Foreign Affairs Select Committee), from the House of Lords (like the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee), or as a "Joint Committee" drawn from both (such as the Joint Committee on Human Rights).
The House of Commons select committees are responsible for overseeing the work of government departments and agencies. Committees of the House of Lords look at general issues; for example, the constitution is considered by the Constitution Committee, and the economy is considered by the Economic Affairs Committee.
Committees may exist as "sessional" committees (that is, be nearly permanent), or as "ad-hoc" committees with a specific timeline by which to complete their work, after which they stop existing, such as the recent Lords Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change.
Both Houses have their own committees to review drafts of European Union directives: the European Union Committee in the House of Lords, and the European Scrutiny Committee in the House of Commons.
Department for Social Security
The Department of Social Security (DSS) was a government department in the United Kingdom. The old abbreviation is still often used informally.
The department was created in 1988. The Department of Health and Social Security was divided into two departments, one of which was the DSS. During 2001, the department was largely replaced by the Department for Work and Pensions. The other responsibilities of the department were assumed by the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence.
London Regional Select Committee
The London Regional Select Committee was one of nine regional select committees of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The House of Commons agreed to create the committee on 25 June 2009, after committees for the eight other regions of England were created in November 2008. 'Regional ministers' were appointed by Gordon Brown when he was made Prime Minister in June 2007. The committee was created on 1 January 2009. It ceased to exist upon the dissolution of Parliament on 12 April 2010.
Justice Select Committee
The Justice Select Committee is a committee made up of a small number of members of the British House of Commons. The committee looks at the policy, management and spending of the Ministry of Justice. It also looks at the work of the Law Officers of the Crown, the Serious Fraud Office, and the Crown Prosecution Service. It gives reports with opinions and advice.
The committee also reviews draft Sentencing Guidelines issued by the Sentencing Guidelines Council.
15 February 2003 anti-war protests
On February 15, 2003, there was a day of protests across the world. The protests were to express people's opposition to the imminent invasion of Iraq. They were held in more than 600 cities. It was part of a series of protests and political events that had begun in 2002 and continued as the war took place. Social movement researchers have described the 15 February protest as "the largest protest event in human history."
Sources vary in their estimations of the number of participants involved. According to BBC News, between six and eleven million people took part in protests in up to sixty countries over the weekend of the 15th and 16th. Other estimates range from eight million to thirty million.
Some of the largest protests took place in Europe. The protest in Rome involved around three million people, and is listed in the 2004 "Guinness Book of World Records" as the largest anti-war rally in history. Madrid hosted the second largest rally with more than 1.5 million people protesting the invasion of Iraq; Mainland China was the only major region not to see any protests on that day, but small demonstrations, attended mainly by foreign students, were seen later.
Iraq Inquiry
The Iraq Inquiry is a public inquiry into the United Kingdom's role in the Iraq War. It is also called the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot.
The inquiry was announced on 15 June 2009 by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The original announcement was that the inquiry would take place in private. This decision was later reversed after receiving criticism in the media and the House of Commons.
On 6 July 2016, Sir John Chilcot announced the report's publication, more than seven years after the inquiry was announced. It referred to as the Chilcot report by the news media, the document stated that Saddam Hussein was not an urgent threat and that the Iraq War was not necessary.