MONROVIA: Liberians gathered in masses under the bright sun Tuesday to vote in an election that for the first time in more than 70 years will see one democratically elected government hand power to another.
As Africa’s first female president prepares to step aside, many called for peaceful and fair elections. There are fears that if the results aren’t accepted the tensions and violence of Liberia’s past could rise again.
“This election now is crucial and important because as you can see the peace is very fragile right now and we need a smooth transition from one government to another,” said Stevera Toh, a 32-year-old accountant. “So we have to vote wisely and make the right decision for our country, our kids and generations.”
Toh was among thousands of others who lined up well before sunrise to vote in Monrovia’s Paynesville suburb.
Voter Andrea Kamara, a 27-year-old marketing consultant, said Liberia needs development.
“Whoever gets into office needs to focus on infrastructure, education and sustaining the peace,” she said.
Liberia’s health system was decimated by the Ebola outbreak that killed nearly 5,000 Liberians in 2014-2015 and posed the biggest challenge for Nobel Prize-winning President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She led Liberia’s transition from a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003 after killing more than 250,000 people.
More than 2.1 million voters have registered to vote at nearly 5,400 polling stations throughout Liberia.
Twenty presidential candidates are vying for a majority in the first round of elections on Tuesday, while nearly 1,000 candidates from 26 political parties fight for 73 seats in the House of Representatives.
Given the high number of presidential candidates, it is unlikely anyone will win more than 50 percent of the vote, taking the elections to a second round, likely in November.
The frontrunner, 72-year-old vice president Joseph Boakai for the Unity Party says he hasn’t yet been able to fully utilize his capabilities.
“You don’t take a race car and park it in the garage. Put it on the road,” he said during the campaign period.
His main contender is 51-year-old former international soccer star, George Weah. His running mate is Jewel Howard-Taylor, the ex-wife of former President Charles Taylor, who is jailed for war crimes.
Weah ran against Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005, winning in the first round but losing to her in the second.
Another top candidate, ex-warlord Prince Johnson, who videotaped himself as his fighters tortured and killed President Samuel Doe in 1990, has expressed doubt about Weah’s ability to govern.
The only female vying for the presidency is international model MacDella Cooper, 41, who has promised she would take only $1 a year as salary if she is elected
Charles Brumskine, former leader of the senate during the regime of Charles Taylor, promises change, and says he’d cut his and his vice president’s salary by 30 percent.
Taking the reins from outgoing leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who has brought Liberia international attention, will not be easy. But Liberia’s transfer of power stands as an example in Africa where other leaders cling to power.
“It is a historic day for our nation, and for the consolidation of Liberia’s young democracy,” Sirleaf said Monday. “Let us take a moment to reflect on how far we have come, as a nation, and as a people, from a society destroyed by conflict and war, to one of the most vibrant democracies in the West Africa region.”
International observer missions are in the country to watch the polls. Final results for the first round are expected to be announced by Oct. 25.
The poll will have only Liberian security forces led by the police solely in charge because two years ago the UN peacekeeping mission that had served in the country since 2003 handed security responsibilities over to the government.
The post-war police force with just over 5,000 will be in charge while the new army of about 2,000 troops says is it standing by in case of any trouble.
Police have worked at “building trust and confidence” in the public ahead of the election, police chief Gregory Coleman told The Associated Press.
The election will be the first time in the history of Liberia, a country set up by the US in the 19th century for freed black slaves, to see a peaceful transition from one democratically elected government to another in an all-inclusive election.
Liberians gather for vote to replace Africa’s first female leader
Liberians gather for vote to replace Africa’s first female leader
US military ready to carry out lawful orders of next administration, Pentagon chief says
- “The US military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena;,” Austin wrote
WASHINGTON: US Défense Secretary Lloyd Austin told troops that the Pentagon was committed to an orderly transition to the incoming administration of Donald Trump, adding that the military would not get involved in politics and was ready to carry out “all lawful orders.”
“The US military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena; to stand guard over our republic with principle and professionalism; and to stand together with the valued allies and partners who deepen our security,” Austin wrote in a memo to troops that was sent out on Wednesday night.
Germany arrests a US citizen over accusations of spying for China
- The suspect, who was only identified as Martin D., was arrested in Frankfurt
- His home was being searched
BERLIN: Germany’s federal prosecutor office said it arrested an American citizen on Thursday who allegedly spied for China.
The office said that the suspect, who was only identified as Martin D., was arrested in Frankfurt and that his home was being searched.
The accused, who until recently worked for the US Armed Forces in Germany, is strongly suspected of having agreed to act as an intelligence agent for a foreign secret service.
Earlier this year, he contacted Chinese government agencies and offered to transmit sensitive information from the US military to a Chinese intelligence service, according to an investigation by Germany’s domestic intelligence service.
He had obtained the information in question in the course of his work in the US army, the prosecutor’s statement said, without giving any further information.
Offering Putin Ukraine concessions ‘suicidal’ for Europe: Zelensky
- Zelensky blasted those who were urging him to give in to some of President Vladimir Putin’s hard-line demands
- “There has been much talk about the need to yield to Putin, to back down, to make some concessions ...” Zelensky said
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said it would be “suicidal” for Europe to offer the Kremlin concessions to halt its invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to European leaders at a summit in Hungary, Zelensky blasted those who were urging him to give in to some of President Vladimir Putin’s hard-line demands, and urged Europe and the United States not to loosen ties following the election of Donald Trump.
“There has been much talk about the need to yield to Putin, to back down, to make some concessions ... It’s unacceptable for Ukraine and suicidal for all Europe,” Zelensky said, according to a copy of the address provided to AFP by the Ukrainian presidency.
He accused some European leaders, without specifying who, of “strongly” pushing Ukraine to make “concessions to Putin” — something Kyiv says would only embolden the Kremlin leader and encourage further aggression.
“We need sufficient weapons, not support in talks. Hugs with Putin won’t help. Some of you have been hugging him for 20 years, and things are only getting worse,” Zelensky said.
The summit was being hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has repeatedly railed against the West’s multi-billion dollar support to Kyiv.
Zelensky also urged Europe and the US to preserve their strong ties following Trump’s election victory this week.
The Republican has repeatedly criticized American aid to Ukraine and said he could end the war within hours of taking office.
“We do hope that America will become stronger. This is the kind of America that Europe needs. And a strong Europe is what America needs. This is the connection between allies that must be valued and cannot be lost,” Zelensky said.
As he repeated a call for more Western arms for his struggling army, Zelensky said Europe had to realize that North Korea was effectively “waging war” on the continent.
“North Korea is now, in effect, waging war in Europe. North Korean soldiers are attempting to kill our people on European soil,” he said, referring to reports Pyongyang has deployed troops to Russia to support the invasion.
US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal: official
- The prosecution has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so
WASHINGTON: A US military judge has reinstated plea agreements for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants, an official said Thursday, three months after the deals were scrapped by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The agreements — which are understood to take the death penalty off the table — had triggered anger among some relatives of victims of the 2001 attacks, and Austin said that both they and the American public deserved to see the defendants stand trial.
“I can confirm that the military judge has ruled that the pretrial agreements for the three accused are valid and enforceable,” the US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The prosecution has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so.
The plea deals with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices were announced in late July in a step that appeared to have moved their long-running cases toward resolution after years of being bogged down in pre-trial maneuverings while the defendants remained held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.
But Austin withdrew the agreements two days after they were announced, saying the decision should rest with him given its significance.
He subsequently told journalists that “the families of the victims, our service members and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out in this case.”
Much of the legal jousting surrounding the men’s cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone methodical torture at the hands of the CIA in the years after 9/11 — a thorny issue that the plea agreements would have avoided.
India’s Hindus bathe in holy river defiled by pollution
- Thousands celebrated the festival of Chhath Puja for the Hindu sun god Surya, entering the stinking Yamuna waters to pray
- A parliamentary report in February called the Yamuna ‘more of a toxic waterway than a river’
NEW DELHI: Sweeping aside thick toxic scum, thousands of Hindu devotees ignored court warnings Thursday against bathing in the sacred but sewage-filled Yamuna river, a grim display of environmental degradation in India’s capital.
Thousands celebrated the festival of Chhath Puja for the Hindu sun god Surya, entering the stinking waters to pray as the evening rays set in the sky.
A parliamentary report in February called the Yamuna “more of a toxic waterway than a river,” saying the foam clouds were formed from a potent chemical soup including laundry detergent and phosphates from fertilizers.
“Please understand you will fall sick,” a high court order said Wednesday, Indian media reported, restricting ritual bathing on health grounds. “We can’t allow you to go into the water.”
But housewife Krishnawati Devi, 45, said she was not worried.
“I believe the waters of the river are pure and blessed by the sun god himself,” she said. “Nothing will happen to me — god will take care of everything.”
Hindu faithful ignored the order, with women wrapped in fine saris and heavy jewelry wading into the grey waters.
White foam swirled around their feet. In places, it was so thick it looked like the river had frozen.
“Chhath is a festival of unflinching faith,” said Avinash Kumar, 58, a government office worker. “We can also offer prayers at home but it doesn’t feel the same as praying in the river.”
Others thumped drums and sang.
New Delhi’s authorities have poured in anti-foaming agents to disperse the froth, and used nets to sweep the scum away — but it has done nothing to clean the fetid water itself.
“It stinks, but it’s ok,” said 14-year-old schoolgirl Deepa Kumari. “What is important is that we get to celebrate in the river with our people.”
Rituals in the days-long festival culminate at dawn on Friday.
“I don’t bother about the pollution,” said Pooja Prasad, 20, a student. “The mother goddess will take care of all our troubles,” she added.
The sprawling megacity of some 30 million people is also smothered in poisonous smog — fueled by burning crop fields and vehicle exhaust fumes.
Levels of fine particulate matter — dangerous microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants that enter the bloodstream through the lungs — have this week surged beyond 50 times the World Health Organization recommended daily maximum.
“Toxi-city,” broadcasters dubbed the capital.
City authorities have declared repeated efforts to clean the river.
From an icy source of a Himalayan glacier, the Yamuna feeds into the mighty Ganges, flowing more than 3,100 kilometers (1,925 miles) to the sea in the Bay of Bengal.
But barely 400 kilometers into that journey, the water passing New Delhi is already effectively dead.
The parliamentary report warned of an “excessive presence of heavy metals” and cancer-causing pollutants ranging from arsenic to zinc, from everything from batteries to pesticides.
“Contamination... transform it into a carrier of untreated industrial waste, garbage, agricultural run-off and municipal waste,” the report read.
“This has a profound effect on the well-being of the people.”
Government statistics say 80 percent of the pollution load is raw sewage, far exceeding permissible levels for bathing.
Some of the faithful have traditionally drunk the water.
Levels fluctuate, but in one spot in 2021 in south Delhi, fecal bacteria levels exceeded maximum health regulations by 8,800 times.
But many say they are frustrated at the situation.
“The river is sacred to us, but all the filth from the industrial belt nearby is being pumped into it,” added Kumar.
“Every year they say they are going to clean it, but nothing ever happens.”
