Headline
Senegal President Names Opposition Leader, Sonko As Prime Minister
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1 year agoon
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Editor
Left-wing pan-Africanist, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, on Tuesday became Senegal’s youngest president, pledging systemic change after years of deadly turmoil and announcing his mentor, opposition figure Ousmane Sonko, as prime minister.
Faye, 44, has never previously held an elected office. He swept to a first-round victory on a promise of radical reform just 10 days after being released from prison.
He took the presidential oath in front of hundreds of officials and several African heads of state at an exhibition centre in the new town of Diamniadio, near Dakar.
He then returned to the capital, with his motorcade greeted by hundreds of jubilant residents who lined the roads leading to the presidential palace.
His predecessor, Macky Sall, symbolically handed Faye the key to the presidential headquarters before leaving the palace.
“Before God and the Senegalese nation, I swear to faithfully fulfil the office of President of the Republic of Senegal,” Faye had said earlier in the day.
Just hours later, his new administration appointed firebrand opposition leader Sonko prime minister.
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“Mr Ousmane Sonko is named prime minister,” said Oumar Samba Ba, the general secretary of the presidency, as he read out a decree on the public television station RTS.
Sonko, 49, was at the centre of a two-year stand-off with the state that triggered bouts of deadly unrest. He was disqualified from running in the most recent race and picked Faye as his replacement on the presidential ballot.
The former tax inspector is Senegal’s fifth president since independence from France in 1960 and the first to openly admit to a polygamous marriage.
“I am aware that the results of the ballot box express a profound desire for systemic change,” Faye said in a brief speech after taking the presidential oath.
“Under my leadership, Senegal will be a country of hope, a peaceful country with an independent judiciary and a strengthened democracy,” he added.
Faye and Sonko were among a group of opposition politicians freed from prison 10 days before the March 24 presidential ballot under an amnesty announced by former president Macky Sall, who had tried to delay the vote.
READ ALSO: 44-year-old Faye Sworn In As Senegal President
“I have painful memories of the martyrs of Senegalese democracy, the amputees, the wounded and the former prisoners,” Faye said Tuesday, referring to the past three years of political unrest that left dozens dead and hundreds arrested.
“I will always bear in mind the heavy sacrifices made in order never to disappoint you,” he added.
Faye also reiterated to foreign partners “Senegal’s openness to trade that respects our sovereignty and meets the aspirations of our people, in a mutually beneficial partnership”.
Commonly known as Diomaye, or “the honourable one”, his promise of radical change won the election with 54.3 percent of the vote.
Reconciliation, sovereignty
Working with his populist mentor Sonko, Faye’s campaign set out priorities of national reconciliation, easing the cost-of-living crisis and fighting corruption.
He has also vowed to restore national sovereignty over key assets such as the oil, gas and fishing sectors.
Senegal is due to start hydrocarbon production later this year.
READ ALSO: Faye: 15 Things To Know About 44-year-old Senegal’s President
Faye also wants to replace the CFA franc, which he sees as a French colonial legacy, with a new common regional currency, and to invest more in agriculture with the aim of reaching food self-sufficiency.
After three tense years in the traditionally stable nation, his democratic victory has been internationally hailed, by Washington, Paris, the African Union and the European Union.
On the international stage, Faye seeks to bring military-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger back into the fold of the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc.
On Tuesday, he urged “more solidarity” between African countries “in the face of security challenges”.
The military regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea all sent representatives to Diamniadio, including Guinean president General Mamady Doumbouya.
Burkina Faso’s leader Captain Ibrahim Traore wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Faye’s mandate represented a “symbol of a new era for an uninhibited, free and sovereign Africa”.
READ ALSO: Senegal Cuts Internet Access As Citizens Protest Presidential Poll Delay
He added he was ready to work together on “the renovation of sub-regional and international cooperation”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the inauguration “a testament to the Senegalese people, that they fought for their right to vote”.
New generation of politicians
A practising Muslim from a humble background with two wives and four children, Faye represents a new generation of youthful politicians.
He has voiced admiration for US ex-president Barack Obama and South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.
However, Faye and the government he will shortly lead face major challenges.
The biggest appears to be creating enough jobs in a nation where 75 percent of the 18-million population is aged under 35 and the unemployment rate is officially 20 percent.
Faced with such dire economic prospects at home, many young Senegalese have chosen to risk their lives to join migrants trying to reach Europe.
AFP
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Headline
Netanyahu Says Israel’s Strikes On Iran Have ‘Clear Support’ Of Trump
Published
1 hour agoon
June 14, 2025By
Editor
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel’s air strikes on Iran had the “clear support” of US President Donald Trump.
“Our enemy is your enemy… We’re dealing with something that will threaten all of us sooner or later. Our victory will be your victory,” Netanyahu said in a video statement addressed to Trump on the US leader’s birthday.
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“This is what Israel is doing with the support, the clear support of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the American people and many others in the world.”
Headline
US Lawmaker Shot Dead, Another Wounded In Targeted Attack
Published
2 hours agoon
June 14, 2025By
Editor
A gunman shot two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota early Saturday, killing one and her husband and wounding the other, in what the northern US state’s governor said were politically motivated attacks.
The shootings came at a moment of deep political divisions in the United States, as thousands took to the streets in protest at the policies of Republican President Donald Trump.
The suspected assailant was still at large, officials said, with a massive manhunt underway.
Trump and US Attorney General Pam Bondi decried what they called “horrific violence” and said the perpetrators would be prosecuted to “the fullest extent of the law.”
State representative Melissa Hortman — the former speaker — and her husband Mark were killed at their home near Minneapolis, Governor Tim Walz told a press conference.
State senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot and wounded, the governor said, his voice breaking with emotion. He said officials remained “cautiously optimistic” they would recover.
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“This was an act of targeted political violence,” Walz told reporters.
“Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Hoffman and his wife were shot first, and as police investigated, Hortman and her husband were shot about 90 minutes later.
The suspected gunman was able to escape during an exchange of gunfire with officers near Hortman’s residence, Evans told reporters.
“We’re actively searching for that individual right now,” he said.
– Impersonating law enforcement –
In both cases, authorities believe the assailant was impersonating a law enforcement officer.
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“The suspect exploited the trust that our uniform is meant to represent,” said Bob Jacobson, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
An anti-Trump rally in Minneapolis — part of the national wave of “No Kings” protests planned for Saturday — was canceled after police issued a shelter-in-place order because of the shootings.
Flyers for the protests were found in the suspect’s car, as well as a manifesto that named numerous politicians and state officials, police said.
Police are looking for a white man with brown hair, wearing black body armor over a blue shirt and blue pants, local TV station KSTP said.
“We do have the suspect’s car. Suspect is on foot,” said Mark Bruley, the police chief in Brooklyn Park, where Hortman lived.
The United States has been deeply divided since Trump returned to the White House in January.
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The Republican president has drawn criticism from Democrats over his harsh deportation policy, his assault on universities and the media and a perceived flouting of limits on executive power as he pushes his agenda.
“At this precipice moment we’re on, this tragic act here in Minnesota should serve as a reminder to all of us,” Walz said.
“The democracy and the debates in the halls of Congress, in state houses, in school boards, is a way to settle our differences peacefully and move society to a better place.”
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar remembered Hortman as a friend who entered politics at the same time as her and dedicated her life to serving the state, working on issues such as women’s rights and clean energy.
“Let me be absolutely clear: this was an act of targeted political violence, and it was an attack on everything we stand for as a democracy,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “We must all condemn it.”
Minnesota’s other US senator, Tina Smith, also issued a statement condemning the shootings.
Former House member Gabby Giffords, who survived a shooting to the head in 2011 and is now a prominent advocate for the prevention of gun violence, described herself as “devastated” by the death of Hortman.
“We must protect our democracy from those who try to destroy it with a gun,” Giffords wrote on X.
Headline
Diplomat, Wife Injured In Iran Strikes On Tel Aviv
Published
2 hours agoon
June 14, 2025By
Editor
Croatia’s consul in Israel and his wife were lightly injured in Iran’s missile strikes on Tel Aviv, Croatia’s Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on Saturday.
“I am shaken by the news that our consul and his wife were injured in the attack on Tel Aviv. The building they live in was hit,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
“I spoke with them and, fortunately, their injuries are minor and they are not in any life-threatening condition.”
READ ALSO: Tension Heightens As UK Moves Warplanes To Middle East Amid Iran, Israel’s Heated Crisis
Grlic Radman added that his ministry was in constant contact with the Croatian embassy in Israel and was taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of its staff.
“We strongly condemn attacks on civilians and diplomatic facilities. We call for immediate de-escalation and restraint,” Grlic Radman said.
Israel on Friday launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, hitting scores of targets across the country, including nuclear and military sites and residential buildings.
READ ALSO: Israeli Strikes Kill 13 In Gaza
Iran said 78 people were killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of Israeli strikes.
Iran retaliated with barrages of drones and missiles at Israel, killing three people and wounding dozens.
AFP
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