Postcard From Bissau

In the Guinean capital of Bissau, a presidential election was marred by the assassination of Joao Biague, the director general of the judicial police. Biaque received a phone call hours after the polls closed on Sunday - he went outside to investigate and was cut down in a hail of gunfire. According to the Associated Press:

Nine candidates are vying for the presidency of this former Portuguese colony of 1.5 million, which has weathered successive coups and has more recently been destabilized by a booming cocaine trade. The trafficking has been made possible by the complicity of members of the government, especially the military.