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Africa

Elections are happening all over the world. Aurelien Morissard/ Pool via AP; Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images; Dan Kitwood/Getty Images hide caption

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Aurelien Morissard/ Pool via AP; Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images; Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

It's the biggest election year in modern history. Will democracy prevail?

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Godfrey Otunge, commander of the Kenyan police in Haiti, attends a ceremony during a visit by Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, to the base of the newly arrived Kenyan police force at their base in the Clercine neighborhood of Port-au-Prince on June 26. Kenyan police arrived in violence-ravaged Haiti on June 25 on a long-awaited mission to help wrest the Caribbean nation from powerful gangs. Clarens Siffroy/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Clarens Siffroy/AFP via Getty Images

Rwanda's post-genocide transformation has been remarkable, but uneven. Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR hide caption

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Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR

Rwanda is transforming and growing — but at what cost?

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Paramedic Papinki Lebelo waits for a police escort before responding to an emergency call-out in the Red Zone neighborhood of Philippi East in Cape Town, South Africa. Due to a rise in attacks on paramedics, large parts of the city are only accessible to ambulance crews when they have a police escort. This severely delays response times. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption

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Tommy Trenchard for NPR
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Josephine Dusabimana says she rescued 12 people during the Rwandan genocide. Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR hide caption

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Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR

As a brutal genocide raged around her, Josephine smuggled 12 people to safety

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Ltesekwa Lekuuk, Paris's half-brother and a fellow moran, heads toward the mountain campsite where Paris had been living until a few weeks ago. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

Kenya's Samburu boys share a sacred bond. Why one teen broke with the brotherhood

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Isabella Mogeni, 54, from the neighborhood of Mukuru kwa Reuben, looks on as bulldozers destroy homes in the slum area on May 3. Emmanuel Igunza for NPR hide caption

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Emmanuel Igunza for NPR

In Kenya's flooded slums, people mourn their losses and slam their leaders

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A man swims from a submerged church compound, after the River Tana broke its banks following heavy rains at Mororo, border of Tana River and Garissa counties, northeastern Kenya, April 28. Heavy rains pounding different parts of Kenya have led to dozens of deaths and the displacement of tens of thousands of people, according to the United Nations. Andre Kasuku/AP hide caption

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Andre Kasuku/AP

Bodyguards keep close watch as Nelson Mandela celebrates his victory in the South African presidential elections of 1994. As the head of the African National Congress, he helped to build the country's new multiracial government and to establish the free elections in which he won his presidency. David Turnley/Corbis/VCG hide caption

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David Turnley/Corbis/VCG

30 years since the end of apartheid, is South Africa still an emblem of democracy?

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A photo of Ajmal Khan on his way to Western Europe to find work, taken by a travel companion and sent by Khan to his family in Afghanistan via WhatsApp. The 17-year-old drowned when crossing the Drina River near the city of Bijeljina in Bosnia-Herzegovina — part of a common route for migrants as they head toward wealthier European countries. Courtesy of the family hide caption

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Courtesy of the family

People queue to cast their votes In Soweto, South Africa April 27, 1994, in the country's first all-race elections. South Africans celebrate "Freedom Day" every April 27. Denis Farrell/AP hide caption

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Denis Farrell/AP

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a press conference in London on Monday regarding a treaty between Britain and Rwanda to transfer asylum-seekers to the African country. Toby Melville/Pool/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Toby Melville/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Although matzo sold in supermarkets is typically square, the round matzo is believed to be the earliest form of this unleavened bread that is eaten during the Passover holiday as a symbol of both suffering and freedom. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

Tunde Onakoya, a Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate, plays a chess game in Times Square, Friday, April 19, 2024, in New York Yuki Iwamura/AP hide caption

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Yuki Iwamura/AP

This Nigerian chess master aims to raise money by playing the longest continuous game

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