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Hollywood couple Meagan Good and Jonathan Majors gain Guinean citizenship

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Hollywood couple Meagan Good and Jonathan Majors received Guinean citizenship after tracing their ancestry to the West African country through DNA testing.

The couple was awarded citizenship in a private ceremony in the capital of Conakry on Friday. They are scheduled to tour the country’s tourist sites on Sunday.

“We think that you are among the worthy sons and daughters of this Guinea. You represent our country, the red-yellow-green flag all over the world,” said Djiba Diakité, head of the president’s cabinet.

Majors seemed destined for the ranks of Hollywood’s A-list before he was arrested following a 2023 altercation with his then-girlfriend. He had won critical accolades for his work in “Da 5 Bloods” and “Lovecraft Country” and secured years of future Marvel stardom with his role as Kang the Conqueror. However, after his conviction on assault and harassment charges, Marvel dropped him from future projects, and “Magazine Dreams,” a film once tipped to bring him an Oscar nomination, went on ice until last year.

Good, an actor herself, began dating Majors in 2023, and was a constant presence at his trial in New York. They were engaged in 2024, and wed last year in a small, impromptu ceremony as he promoted “Magazine Dreams.”

Guinea is not the first country to award citizenship to descendents of enslaved people. Last year, U.S. singer Ciara became one of the first public figures to become a citizen of Benin.

Ghana last year naturalized 524 African Americans, after President Nana Akufo-Addo invited them to “come home” in 2019, as part of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in North America in 1619.

Guinea has been ruled by junta leader Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya since a 2021 coup. Last month, he was declared the winner of the presidential election after clamping down on opposition and dissents, leaving him with no major opponents.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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