First black mayor elected

Slovenia (AP):

Slovenia has elected its first black mayor, an immigrant from Africa known as the 'Obama of Piran', the town where he lives. In fact, Peter Bossman, a Ghana-born physician, could be the first black mayor elected anywhere in his region of Europe.

Bossman, who settled in this tiny Alpine nation in the 1970s to study medicine in what was then known as Yugoslavia, won a run off election Sunday in the coastal town of Piran with 51.4 per cent of votes, defeating Dr Tomaz Gantar, the outgoing mayor. The 54-year-old Bossman is a member of Slovenia's governing Social Democrats. He runs a private practice and was previously a member of the Piran City Council. Following the vote, Bossman said he was "happy and proud."

"I based my campaign on a dialogue, and I think the dialogue has won," he said.