DAKAR: Senegal’s ruling party claimed it had won a comfortable victory in Sunday’s legislative elections, paving the way for it to deliver an ambitious reform agenda eight months after sweeping to power.
Voting took place peacefully across the West African country, where the governing Pastef party said 90 to 95 percent of ballots had already been counted.
“I pay homage to the Senegalese people for the large victory that it has given to Pastef,” government spokesman Amadou Moustapha Ndieck Sarre told TFM television.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s Pastef party had emerged as the vote winner in most of the first polling stations giving their provisional results, according to media reports, beating the two main opposition parties.
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.
But an opposition-led parliament hampered the government’s first months in power, prompting Faye to dissolve the chamber in September and call snap elections as soon as the constitution allowed him to do so.
“I hope that Pastef will win the elections to gain a majority so that they can better carry out their mandate,” said Pascal Goudiaby, a 56-year-old voter in Dakar.
“The priority is unemployment, young people are facing so much unemployment,” he said.
Faye appointed his firebrand mentor Ousmane Sonko as prime minister. Sonko’s own bid to run for president had been blocked following a three-year deadly standoff with the former authorities.
The pair promised a leftist pan-African agenda, vowing to diversify political and economic partnerships, review hydrocarbon and fishing contracts and re-establish Senegal’s sovereignty, which they claimed had been sold abroad.
Mademba Ndiaye, a 20-year-old student, was voting for the first time.
“It’s one of the only ways we can really have an impact on society, and I think that if we don’t vote, we couldn’t really complain about what happens in society afterwards,” he said.
Various actors reported that the turnout on Sunday was typically lower than in the presidential election.
Senegal’s roughly 7.3 million registered voters were called to elect 165 MPs for five-year terms.
Voters have historically confirmed their presidential choice during parliamentary elections, say analysts.
“I think that whoever you gave your confidence to in the presidential election, you need to renew your confidence in him so that he can achieve what he started,” said 56-year-old voter Toure Aby.
“We want life to be less expensive for the Senegalese,” she added. “Everything’s expensive: water, electricity, food.”
Voters continued a long democratic tradition in Senegal, widely seen as a stable outlier in a coup-plagued region.
Faye and Sonko both called for calm as they cast their ballots.
“Democracy is expressed in peace and stability, and I believe that in a democracy there is no room for violence,” Sonko said in the southern city of Ziguinchor.
Reminiscent of his years as a fiery opposition leader, he had called for vengeance after attacks against his supporters, but later urged restraint.
Clashes were only sporadic in the run-up to the vote. Although some agreements have been reached between coalitions, the opposition remains fragmented.
Former president Macky Sall is leading an opposition grouping from abroad called Takku Wallu Senegal. On Sunday, it claimed the vote was marred by “massive fraud organized by Pastef,” without providing details.
Sall left power in April after triggering one of the worst crises in decades with a last-minute postponement of the presidential election.
Former prime minister and presidential runner-up Amadou Ba and Dakar Mayor Barthelemy Dias are also heading coalitions.
The opposition has accused the new government of inaction, amateurism and a desire to settle scores with the previous administration.
Unemployment stands at more than 20 percent and scores of people continue to risk their lives every month attempting to reach Europe by boat.
The government said an audit of public finances revealed a wider budget deficit than previously announced.
Moody’s downgraded Senegal’s credit rating and placed the country under observation.
The new authorities have lowered the price of household goods such as rice, oil and sugar and launched a series of reviews.
They also launched justice system reform and presented an ambitious 25-year development plan aimed at transforming the economy and public policy.
Senegal ruling party claims ‘large victory’ in elections
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Senegal ruling party claims ‘large victory’ in elections
- President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s Pastef party had emerged as the vote winner in most of the first polling stations giving their provisional results, according to media reports, beating the two main opposition parties
China accuses US of launching ‘advanced’ cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games
- The attacks had ‘the intention of sabotaging China’s critical information infrastructure, causing social disorder, and stealing important confidential information’
Police added three alleged NSA agents to a wanted list and also accused the University of California and Virginia Tech of being involved in the attacks after carrying out investigations, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday.
The NSA agents were identified by Xinhua as Katheryn A. Wilson, Robert J. Snelling and Stephen W. Johnson. The three were also found to have “repeatedly carried out cyberattacks on China’s critical information infrastructure and participated in cyberattacks on Huawei and other enterprises.”
It did not specify how the two American universities were involved.
The US Embassy in China did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The detailed allegations come as the world’s two largest economies spiral deeper into a trade war that has already spurred travel warnings for Chinese tourists going to the US and halted imports of US films into China.
“The US National Security Agency (NSA) launched cyberattacks against important industries such as energy, transportation, water conservancy, communications, and national defense research institutions in Heilongjiang province,” Xinhua said, citing the Harbin city public security bureau.
The attacks had “the intention of sabotaging China’s critical information infrastructure, causing social disorder, and stealing important confidential information,” it added.
Anonymous servers
Xinhua said the NSA operations took place during the Winter Games and were “suspected of activating specific pre-installed backdoors” in Microsoft Windows operating systems on specific devices in Heilongjiang.
In order to cover its tracks, the NSA purchased IP addresses in different countries and “anonymously” rented a large number of network servers including in Europe and Asia,” Xinhua said.
The NSA intended to use cyberattacks to steal the personal data of participating athletes, the news agency said, adding that the cyberattacks reached a peak from the first ice hockey game on February 3. The attacks targeted information systems such as the Asian Winter Games registration system and stored “sensitive information about the identities of relevant personnel of the event,” Xinhua said.
The US routinely accuses Chinese state-backed hackers of launching attacks against its critical infrastructure and government bodies.
Last month, Washington announced indictments against a slew of alleged Chinese hackers who targeted the US Defense Intelligence Agency, the US Department of Commerce, and the foreign ministries of Taiwan, South Korea, India, and Indonesia.
Beijing denies all involvement in overseas cyber espionage.
After years of being accused by Western governments of cyberattacks and industrial espionage, in the past two years several Chinese organizations and government organs have accused the United States and its allies of similar behavior.
In December, China said it found and dealt with two US cyberattacks on Chinese tech firms to “steal trade secrets” since May 2023, but did not name the agency involved.
Britain boosts aid for victims of Sudan conflict at conference
- British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the war had been going on for far too long “and yet much of the world continues to look away”
LONDON: Britain said on Tuesday it would provide 120 million pounds ($158 million) more in aid to people in Sudan, which it said faces the worst humanitarian crisis on record, as it hosted a conference marking the two-year anniversary of the conflict.
The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the army and Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, shattering hopes for a transition to civilian rule.
The conflict has since displaced millions and devastated regions like Darfur, where the RSF is now fighting to maintain its stronghold amid army advances in Khartoum.
Rather than mediating directly in the conflict, Britain said Tuesday’s conference in London would be a chance to improve the coherence of the international response to the crisis, although Sudan criticized the fact its government was not invited for the talks.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the war had been going on for far too long “and yet much of the world continues to look away.”
“We need to act now to stop the crisis from becoming an all-out catastrophe, ensuring aid gets to those who need it the most,” he said in a statement, adding that the combatants had shown “an appalling disregard” for Sudanese civilians.
Britain is co-hosting the London conference with the African Union, the European Union, France and Germany. Egypt, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates are among the other attendees.
Sudan’s foreign minister has written to Lammy to complain, saying Sudan should have been invited, while criticizing the presence of the UAE and Kenya.
Sudan has accused the UAE of arming RSF, a charge the UAE denies but UN experts and US lawmakers have found credible. Sudan has also recalled its envoy to Kenya after it hosted talks between the RSF and its allies to form a parallel government.
Bankole Adeoye, African Union commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, said “achieving peace in Sudan depends on valuing every voice and everyone playing a role in building a prosperous Sudan.”
AID CUT
Britain said 30 million people desperately needed aid and 12 million people were displaced, with famine spreading through Sudan. Lammy announced a separate 113-million-pound aid package in November, and in January he visited Sudan’s border with Chad.
However Britain’s support for victims of the conflict comes as the government has slashed its foreign aid budget to pay for increased defense spending.
Although Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to continue aid to civilians in Sudan, one of three priorities along with Gaza and Ukraine, his development minister resigned, saying Britain’s aid priorities would be impossible to maintain and the cuts would ultimately harm Britain’s reputation abroad.
On Tuesday, lawyers acting for Sudanese victims submitted a 141-page dossier outlining alleged war crimes committed by the RSF to the UK police’s special war crimes unit, with a request to pass the file to the International Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction over atrocity crimes in Darfur.
By sending the file via the UK police rather than directly to the ICC, the lawyers said they hoped to provide an impetus for the two jurisdictions to work together more closely on accountability for Darfur.
El Salvador’s Bukele says he will not return man the US mistakenly deported
- Case of Maryland resident wrongfully deported dominates visit
WASHINGTON: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said at the White House on Monday he had no plans to return a man mistakenly deported from the United States, suggesting that doing so would be like smuggling a terrorist into the country.
His remarks came during an Oval Office meeting where multiple officials in President Donald Trump’s administration said they were not required to bring back Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia, despite a US Supreme Court order saying they must facilitate the Maryland resident’s return.
Abrego Garcia’s case has drawn attention as the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people to El Salvador with help from Bukele, whose country is receiving $6 million to house the migrants in a high-security mega-prison.
The US government has described his deportation as an administrative error. But in court filings and at the White House on Monday, the administration indicated it does not plan to ask for Abrego Garcia back, raising questions about whether it is defying the courts.
Bukele told reporters he did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the US
“The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele said, echoing the Trump administration’s claim that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang.
Bukele’s comments came shortly after US Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the same meeting that the US needed only to “provide a plane” if Bukele wanted to return Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have denied the allegation he is a gang member, saying the US has presented no credible evidence.
The US sent Abrego Garcia to El Salvador on March 15. Trump called reporters asking whether the administration would follow the order for his return “sick people.”
“The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the president of the United States, not by a court,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during the Oval Office meeting.
Mega-prison
Trump said he would send as many people living in the US illegally to El Salvador as possible and help Bukele build new prisons.
The US on Saturday deported 10 more people to El Salvador it alleges are gang members.
The migrants El Salvador accepts from the US are housed in a facility known as the Terrorism Confinement Center. Critics say the prison engages in human rights abuses and that Bukele’s crackdown on gangs has swept up many innocent people without due process.
Bukele told Trump he is accused of imprisoning thousands of people. “I like to say that we actually liberated millions,” he said.
The US president reacted gleefully to Bukele’s comment. “Do you think I can use that?” Trump asked.
The State Department last week lifted its advisory for American travelers to El Salvador to the safest level, crediting Bukele for reducing gang activity and violent crime.
Lawyers and relatives of the migrants held in El Salvador say they are not gang members and had no opportunity to contest the US government assertion that they were.
The Trump administration says it vetted migrants to ensure they belonged to gangs including Tren de Aragua and MS-13, which it labels terrorist organizations.
Last month, after a judge said flights carrying migrants processed under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act should return to the US, Bukele wrote “Oopsie... Too late” on social media alongside footage showing men being hustled off a plane at night.
Tuesday hearing
An immigration judge had previously granted Abrego Garcia protection from being deported to El Salvador, finding that he could face gang violence there. He held a permit to work in the US, where he had lived since 2011.
The US Supreme Court last week upheld a lower court ruling directing the administration to “facilitate and effectuate” his return. But it said the term “effectuate” was unclear and might exceed the authority of the district court judge.
A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. Legal experts said Judge Paula Xinis may press the Trump administration to determine if it signaled to Bukele that he should refuse to release Abrego Garcia, which could amount to defiance of the court order’s language to “facilitate” his return.
While the Supreme Court in its decision ordered Xinis to clarify her order “with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs,” some legal experts said Trump is likely defying the court by undermining Abrego Garcia’s release.
“All that is total claptrap as applied to a case like this, where the only reason why the foreign country is holding the person is because the US pushed them to do it and made an agreement under which they would do it,” George Mason University constitutional law professor Ilya Somin said.
“It’s very obvious that they could get him released if they wanted to.”
Trump told reporters on Friday that his administration would bring the man back if the Supreme Court directed it to do so.
A Palestinian activist expecting a US citizenship interview is arrested instead by ICE in Vermont
- “The Trump administration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian
WASHINGTON: A Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University was arrested Monday at a Vermont immigration office where he expected to be interviewed about finalizing his US citizenship, his attorneys said.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident who has held a green card since 2015, was detained at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Colchester by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, his lawyers said.
The attorneys said they do not know where he is. They filed a petition in federal court seeking an order barring the government from removing him from the state or country.
“The Trump administration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian. His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is also unconstitutional,” attorney Luna Droubi said in an email.
According to the court filing, Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. He recently completed coursework at Columbia and was expected to graduate in May before beginning a master’s degree program there in the fall.
The petition describes him as a committed Buddhist who believes in “non-violence and empathy as a central tenet of his religion.”
As a student, Mahdawi was an outspoken critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and organized campus protests until March 2024. He co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia with Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian permanent resident of the US and graduate student who recently was detained by ICE.
Khalil was the first person arrested under President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on students who joined campus protests against the war in Gaza. On Friday, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil can be deported as a national security risk.
Christopher Helali, a friend of Mahdawi who lives near him in Vermont, was present outside the immigration office when Mahdawi was detained and recorded a video of Mahdawi being led away by authorities. In the video, which Helali released on social media Monday, Mahdawi is shown giving a peace sign with his hands and being led away to a car.
Helali described Mahdawi as a peaceful demonstrator who has worked to foster dialogue about the struggle of Palestinians in his homeland. Helali said he and Mahdawi were aware that Mahdawi could be detained today and that his friend went forward with the appointment anyway.
“And rightfully so, he was nervous for what was going on around him. But he was very much resolute in coming to this interview and coming today because he didn’t do anything wrong and was a law-abiding citizen, or soon-to-be citizen,” Helali said.
Vermont’s congressional delegation issued a statement condemning Mahdawi’s arrest, saying that instead of taking one of the final steps in his citizenship process, he was handcuffed by armed officers with their faces covered.
“This is immoral, inhumane, and illegal. Mr. Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, must be afforded due process under the law and immediately released from detention,” said the statement from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Peter Welch and Rep. Becca Balint.
Man charged over Tesla arson as anti-Musk wave sweeps US
- Two Tesla vehicles were badly damaged in the firebomb attack on a showroom in Albuquerque on February 9, and slogans likening Musk and his company to Nazis were sprayed on the walls
LOS ANGELES, United States: A man who allegedly torched two vehicles at a Tesla dealership and painted “Die Elon” on the side of the building has been hit with federal charges, the US Department of Justice said Monday.
The charges are the latest to be levied in connection to attacks on the EV maker, whose boss Elon Musk has become a hate figure for some over his role in slashing government as a top adviser to President Donald Trump.
Two Tesla vehicles were badly damaged in the firebomb attack on a showroom in Albuquerque on February 9, and slogans likening Musk and his company to Nazis were sprayed on the walls.
Jamison Wagner, 40, who lives in the city, in the western state of New Mexico, was also charged over a firebomb attack that hit an office of the state’s Republican Party last month.
If convicted of the two counts of malicious damage or destruction of property by fire or explosives, he could be jailed for up to 20 years on each count, the Department of Justice said.
“Let this be the final lesson to those taking part in this ongoing wave of political violence,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
“We will arrest you, we will prosecute you, and we will not negotiate. Crimes have consequences.”
Federal prosecution carries a stiff penalty compared to local law, where such a crime typically results in a sentence starting from just 18 months’ incarceration and a $5,000 fine. In March, Trump even suggested that people who vandalize Tesla property could be deported to prisons in El Salvador.
Musk, the South Africa-born billionaire chief of Tesla and SpaceX, is leading Trump’s ruthless cost-cutting drive at the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Lauded on the right, he has rapidly become one of the most controversial figures in the country.
Several Tesla dealerships and a number of cars both in the US and around the world have been vandalized, and the company’s stock price has taken a hammering.
