Foreign News
Senegal votes as President Faye eyes parliamentary majority to push reforms
Polls have opened in Senegal’s parliamentary elections as President Bassirou Diomaye Faye aims for a resounding majority to see through the promises of ambitious reforms that swept him to power eight months ago.
More than seven million of the country’s 17 million people are eligible to vote on Sunday to pick members of the 165-seat National Assembly for a five-year term. Polls opened at 8am (08:00 GMT) and will close at 6pm (18:00 GMT).
Faye secured victory in March pledging economic transformation, social justice and a fight against corruption – raising hopes among a largely youthful population facing high inflation and widespread unemployment. He dissolved the National Assembly in September.
Faye appointed his firebrand mentor Ousmane Sonko as prime minister after Sonko was barred from running for president due to defamation charges against him.
The pair promised a left-wing pan=African agenda – promising to diversify political and economic partnerships, review hydrocarbon and fishing contracts and re-establish Senegal’s sovereignty, which they alleged had been “sold abroad”.
An opposition-led parliament hampered the government’s first months in power, leading Faye to dissolve the parliament in September and call snap elections as soon as the constitution allowed him to do so.
Analysts say Senegalese voters have historically confirmed their presidential choice during parliamentary elections, and the governing Pastef party is the favourite to win.
Earlier this year, the West African country witnessed the worst violence in decades in the run-up to the presidential vote. The then-President Macky Sall delayed the vote originally scheduled in February, plunging the country into chaos. The move led to deadly protests, as well as a pushback from the country’s highest court.
Elections finally took place on March 24, giving a smashing victory to Faye – a relatively unknown candidate appointed by widely popular Sonko. But seven months since the vote, pledges have failed to materialise, with Sonko blaming the opposition-led parliament for failing to pass legislation needed to execute the promised reforms.
Senegal is plunging into a debt crisis after the new government said it had discovered the budget deficit was much wider than reported by the previous government. A $1.9bn IMF programme is on hold while the government audit is being reviewed.
The main threat to the Pastef party’s ambitions is the unexpected alliance of two opposition parties, including the Alliance for the Republic (APR), headed by Sall. The race also includes two smaller opposition coalitions – one led by Dakar’s mayor, Barthelemy Dias.
Mariam Wane Ly, a former parliamentarian and trailblazer for women in politics in Senegal, said the election campaign gave the leaders a chance to explain their agendas and she expected Pastef to win the majority it is seeking.
“I think it’s going to make up for all the unhappiness,” she said.
[Aljazeera]
A gold pocket watch given to the British boat captain who rescued more than 700 passengers from the Titanic has sold at auction for a record-breaking £1.56m ($1.97m).
The 18-carat Tiffany & Co timepiece was given to Sir Arthur Rostron, then captain of passenger ship RMS Carpathia, by survivors he rescued.
Auctioneer Henry Aldridge and Son in Wiltshire said it was the highest amount ever paid for Titanic memorabilia, and that it was bought by a private collector in the US.
The sale demonstrates the “enduring fascination” with ill-fated the ocean liner, it added.
Sir Arthur changed course of the Carpathia, which was on its way from New York for Europe, after the ship’s wireless operator picked up the distress call “we’ve struck ice, come at once”.
It set off at full speed and reached the Titanic two hours after it had sunk in the North Atlantic on 15 April 1912.
The watch was given to Sir Arthur by the widow of the richest man on the Titanic, John Jacob Astor, and two other widows of wealthy businessmen lost when the vessel struck an iceberg and broke apart – taking the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew.
It carries the inscription “presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912 Mrs John B Thayer, Mrs John Jacob Astor and Mrs George D Widener”.
Sir Arthur received the gift from Mr Astor’s wife at a lunch at the family’s mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City, according to the auction house.
“It was presented principally in gratitude for Rostron’s bravery in saving those lives, because without Mr Rostron, those 700 people wouldn’t have made it,” auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said.
The previous Titanic memorabilia record was set in April when a gold pocket watch, recovered from the body of Mr Astor, sold for £1.175million at the same Devizes-based house.
Prior to that, the violin that was played as the ship sank held the record for the highest amount paid for a Titanic artefact for 11 years after being sold for £1.1m in 2013.
Mr Aldridge said the fact the record had been broken twice this year demonstrated the “ever-decreasing supply and an ever-increasing demand” for memorabilia related to the ship.
[BBC]
Eight people have died and 17 others have been injured following a stabbing incident outside a school in eastern China.
A 21-year-old man was arrested at Wuxi Yixing Arts and Crafts Vocational and Technical College in the city of Wuxi at about 18:30 local time (10:30 GMT), according to a statement from local police.
The statement said he graduated from the school in 2024 and carried out the attack after “failing to obtain his diploma due to poor exam results” and that he was unhappy with his internship pay.
He confessed to his crime “without hesitation”, police said.
They added that an investigation was under way and efforts were being made to “manage the aftermath”.
The attack follows an incident on Monday where at least 35 people were killed when a driver ploughed a car into crowds at a stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai.
Police said the driver was unhappy with a divorce settlement, but the incident sparked questions about a recent spate of public violence in the country.
On social media, there have been discussions about the social phenomenon of ‘taking revenge on society‘, where individuals act on personal grievances by attacking strangers.
South Korea’s main opposition leader, Lee-Jae-myung has been convicted on charges of violating the country’s election law and handed a one-year suspended prison sentence.
The Seoul Central District Court on Friday found the leader of the Democratic Party (DP) guilty of making false statements before the 2022 presidential election in violation of the Public Official Election Act.
If upheld, the ruling will strip Lee of his parliamentary seat and bar him from running in the next presidential election in 2027, as the law prohibits him from running for public office for the next five years.
Lee said after the hearing that he would appeal the court’s decision.
“I will be appealing. Beginning with the basic facts, it is a conclusion that is difficult to accept,” he told reporters.
“There are still two more courts left in the real world, and the courts of public opinion and history are eternal,” he said, apparently referring to plans to take the case to the Supreme Court.
Lee’s supporters and critics occupied separate streets near the court, shouting opposing slogans and holding signs that said “Lee Jae-myung is innocent” and “Arrest Lee Jae-myung”.
Lee, who narrowly lost to President Yoon Suk-yeol in the 2022 election, faces at least four trials after being indicted on several criminal charges including bribery and corruption. Yoon is also facing a string of controversies, including allegations of influence-peddling alongside his wife.
In the ruling on Friday, the court found that Lee breached election law by making false statements as a presidential candidate in 2021 that he was not acquainted with a city official who was in charge of a development project.
The official in question was the late Kim Moon-ki, a former executive of Seongnam Development Corporation, which was behind a corruption-ridden development project in Seongnam, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
Lee was also accused of making a false claim during a parliamentary audit in 2021 about a land development project in Seongnam where he served as mayor.
Lee was the mayor of Seongnam from 2010 to 2018 before becoming governor of Gyeonggi province and a member of parliament.
Lee, who is widely expected to run in the 2027 election, survived a knife attack in January when he was stabbed in the neck by a man during an event and underwent surgery.
His party secured a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in April, dealing a blow to Yoon and his governing party.
Lee, who faces another sentencing hearing over perjury charges later this month, and his party have accused prosecutors of pursuing a politically motivated case against him
[Aljazeera]
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