Month: March 2024

Senegal Opposition’s Faye Set to Become President After Rival Concedes

Posted on by SeeAF

DAKAR — Senegal opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye was set to be declared the country’s next president after his rival from the ruling coalition called him Monday to concede defeat. 

Results trickling in since polls closed Sunday evening in the first round of a delayed presidential election rapidly suggested Faye, 44, may have clinched an outright majority. The trends announced on local media sparked street celebrations by his supporters in the capital Dakar. 

Ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba, 62, initially called these celebrations premature and said a run-off vote would be needed to determine the winner. 

But he then called Faye on Monday to offer his congratulations, a government spokesperson told journalists. 

“In light of presidential election result trends and while we await the official proclamation, I congratulate … Faye for his victory in the first round,” Ba said in a statement. 

A peaceful transition of power in Senegal would mark a boost for democracy in West Africa, where there have been eight military coups since 2020. 

Some of the juntas that seized power have cut ties with traditional powerbrokers in the region such as France and the United States and turned instead to Russia for help in their fight against a jihadi insurgency spreading through countries that neighbor Senegal. 

Senegal’s international bonds rose on reports that Faye was close to being declared a winner, reversing sharp falls from earlier in the day. 

Official results are expected to be announced by the Dakar appeals court Friday. The electoral commission has not yet communicated on the tallies counted so far out of 15,633 voting stations. 

Many hope the vote will bring stability and an economic boost to Senegal after three years of unprecedented political turbulence in one of West Africa’s only stable democracies, which is set to start producing oil and gas this year. 

“I am happy to see there is a wind of change,” said Tall, who joined revelers during the night as supporters waved Senegalese flags, lit flares and blasted vuvuzelas (molded plastic horns). 

“It is wonderful because democracy has won. Many thought it would not happen,” he said, only wishing to give his first name.

Young voters 

Several opposition contenders had also conceded defeat to Faye during the night, including Anta Babacar Ngom, the only woman running. 

Ba was the candidate backed by outgoing President Macky Sall, who is stepping down amid a drop in popularity after two terms in office marred by economic hardship and violent anti-government protests. 

Faye has not publicly spoken since he cast his vote. He owes much of his success to the backing of firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who was barred from running due to a defamation conviction. 

The two former tax inspectors have campaigned together under the slogan “Diomaye is Sonko,” promising to fight corruption and prioritize national economic interests. 

They are particularly popular among young voters in a country where more than 60% of people are under 25 and struggle to find jobs. 

Police crackdowns on protests, the government’s failure to cushion rising living costs and concerns Sall would seek to extend his mandate beyond constitutional limits buoyed the opposition. 

Anger crystalized around Sonko’s prosecution only grew when authorities sought to postpone the vote, initially scheduled to take place in February, by 10 months. 

Investors are meanwhile wary about a potential change in leadership to an anti-establishment government that may not pursue the same business-friendly policies seen under Sall’s government that has attracted investments into infrastructure.
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German Industry Skeptical of China’s Vow to Treat Foreign Firms Equally 

Posted on by SeeEA

FRANKFURT/BERLIN — A fresh pledge by Beijing to treat foreign companies like domestic rivals drew a cool response from one of its biggest trading partners, Germany, where industries called for concrete actions rather than words to create a true level-playing field.

Germany’s engagement in the world’s No.2 economy has been in focus, partly because China remains its biggest trading partner but also because Berlin has asked companies to diversify away from what it calls “partner, competitor and systemic rival.”

Beijing’s efforts to make sure international companies stay engaged come as inbound foreign direct investment shrank by 8% in 2023, partly a result of broader anti-espionage laws, exit bans and raids on consultancies and due diligence firms.

German direct investment in China, however, rose to a record high of 11.9 billion euros ($12.9 billion) last year, underscoring how relevant the market remains despite efforts to reduce exposure.

In a bid to attract more foreign money, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Guo Tingting told the China Development Forum in Beijing that the country would “fully guarantee national treatment for foreign companies,” without elaborating further.

“We are seeing more and more of what I’ll call friendly signals,” said Oliver Wack, Asia expert at German engineering association VDMA, which represents heavyweights including Siemens and Thyssenkrupp.

“But in terms of content, this is not exactly earth-shattering.”

More than words?

Wack said efforts by Beijing included a Dec. 12 meeting with the head of economics at China’s consulate general in Frankfurt who asked what had to be done to encourage more of the VDMA’s members to invest in China.

As part of a series of events this week in the Chinese capital with foreign companies, the Ministry of Commerce will hold the Invest in China Summit 2024 on Tuesday, where Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot are due to speak, according to a schedule.

AstraZeneca declined to comment, and Pfizer confirmed Bourla is attending the China Development Forum and speaking on a panel at the Invest in China Summit but declined to comment further.

The Wall Street Journal separately reported that Chinese leader Xi Jinping plans to meet a group of U.S. business leaders this week after the forum as Beijing steps up efforts to woo American firms amid an exodus of foreign capital.

VDMA’s Wack said to make effective changes China should join the World Trade Organization’s Government Procurement Agreement and the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). Both would be tangible steps to create equality among companies.

Dirk Jandura, president of the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services, also poured cold water on hopes that the latest Chinese push would really change things.

“We are familiar with these kind of promises. Unfortunately, in the past, it has often remained just words, or changes have been made in small steps … The extent to which foreign entrepreneurs can make a contribution here — remains unclear.”
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US Vice President to Meet Guatemalan Leader on Immigration, Anti-Corruption Drive

Posted on by SeeUS

Washington — Vice President Kamala Harris plans to meet on Monday with President Bernardo Arévalo of Guatemala as the U.S. grapples with an influx of migrants to its southern border, thousands from that Central American nation. 

The two leaders are expected to discuss the Biden administration’s use of so-called “safe mobility offices,” which were set up in Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador in the fall, among other immigration matters. The safe mobility offices are designed to streamline the U.S. refugee process so migrants apply where they are and avoid paying smugglers to make the journey north. 

As the 2024 election heats up, immigration has become a rising bipartisan concern. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress say the system is broken, but efforts by lawmakers to address the problems have failed. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has tasked Harris with working to address the reasons people choose to leave their homelands to migrate to the U.S. 

Harris and Arévalo will also discuss Arévalo’s anti-corruption agenda and how the U.S. can support the effort, according to a White House official, previewing the talks on the condition of anonymity. 

Arévalo won the presidency in August, beating the establishment candidate by a comfortable margin. He is the son of a former president credited with implementing some of Guatemala’s key labor protections, but his strong showing in a crowded field was still a shock. 

The politician with a background in academia and conflict resolution caught fire with a message of challenging the country’s entrenched power structure and resuming the fight against corruption. 

The Democratic vice president is also expected to announce $5.2 billion in investments in Central America. 

While still among the lowest monthly tallies in Biden’s presidency, the number of arrests for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border nudged upward in February over the previous month to 189,922. Of those, 23,780 were Guatemalan. 
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Vote Counting Underway in Senegal Presidential Election

Posted on by SeeAF

DAKAR, SENEGAL — Vote counting is underway as Senegalese cast their ballots Sunday for presidential candidates after months of political tension and uncertainty.

The election comes after outgoing President Macky Sall’s earlier attempt to delay the vote raised fears he may try to hold on to power.

By Sunday evening, most polling stations around Senegal had closed and the much-anticipated election seemed to have gone smoothly, according to reports.

Thousands of Senegalese showed up all over the country and waited patiently to cast their votes. Abdoulaye Sylla, president of the National Electoral Commission, said turnout was high.

Observers from many organizations were present, including from the European Union, which sent 100 observers throughout the country.

“This morning our observers were present in 40 polling stations,” said Malin Bjork, who heads the EU group that arrived in January. “Our summary as of now is that the poll took place in a calm environment and was well-organized.

It’s not clear yet how soon official results will be available, but political analyst Babacar Ndiaye explained the next step.

“We can have a scenario where one candidate wins in the first round. The person needs 51%, but if that’s not reached, there will be a second round, which could take place in two to three weeks,” Ndiaye said.

Djibril Gningue, executive director of PACTE, a civil society group working for election transparency, said a second round of voting could raise new problems for the country.

“President Sall recently said that if a candidate wins, he’ll make sure a transition takes place. If not, he’s leaving on April 2,” Gningue said.

Gningue said in the event of a second round, results won’t be known by the time Sall has pledged to step aside.
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Environmentalists Allege Mass Illegal Land Clearing in Australia

Posted on by SeeEA

sydney — A joint investigation by three environmental groups has documented six potentially illegal large-scale deforestation cases in Australia.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific, the Queensland Conservation Council and the Wilderness Society published their findings Monday.

The groups have provided their allegations of unauthorized land clearing to the federal government in Canberra for assessment.

The alliance has said that in each case, habitat for threatened and endangered species, including the koala, were bulldozed without official permission.

The report says Australia’s national environment law is ineffective and the Canberra government is neglecting the problem.

Campaigners have argued that Australia ranks second in the world for biodiversity loss, leads the world in mammal extinctions and has been named as the only developed nation on a global deforestation hotspot list.

Glenn Walker, who heads the nature program at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Monday that deforestation in Australia has reached crisis levels.

“The figures are really alarming. There’s a lot of wildlife being killed — one native animal every single second because of this destruction happening right across Australia, and it is the responsibility of the federal government to step in,” he said. “This should be an issue of national environmental leadership, particularly as the government is reforming our national environment law, and we can fix this problem.”

Australia’s national environment law, the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, is currently being reviewed by the Labor government.

A spokesperson for Tanya Plibersek, the federal minister for the Environment and Water, has said the Canberra government was undertaking broad consultation on what would be “strong new environment laws.”

Draft sections of the new conservation laws, which are scheduled to be introduced to Parliament this year, have been shared with conservation, business and other organizations.

The minister has, so far, not responded to allegations of widespread illegal land clearing.

The Canberra government previously declared that Australia supports up to 700,000 native species. A very high proportion of these are found nowhere else in the world. For example, about 85% of Australia’s plant species are endemic to the continent, and Australia is home to half of the planet’s marsupial species.

Officials also have estimated that Australia’s biodiversity is far greater than is currently categorized.

They say about 70 percent — or 400,000 — of the continent’s species of animals, plants, fungi and other organisms have not yet been discovered, documented, named and officially classified.

 
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New Zealand and EU Trade Agreement to Take Effect on May 1

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sydney — New Zealand said Monday a free trade agreement with the European Union would come into effect on May 1, after the country’s parliament ratified the deal.

New Zealand notified the European Union it ratified the agreement earlier on Monday, Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said in a statement.

Wellington and Brussels signed the deal in July 2023, with the European Parliament ratifying its side of the agreement in November.

New Zealand expects the deal to benefit its beef, lamb, butter and cheese industries, as well as removing tariffs on other exports like its iconic kiwi fruit.

The EU will see tariffs lifted on its exports including clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cars, as well as wine and confections.

The EU is New Zealand’s fourth-largest trade partner, according to government data, with two-way goods and services trade worth $12.10 billion in 2022.
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Five Dead, 1,000 Homes Destroyed in Papua New Guinea Earthquake

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Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea — At least five people were killed, and an estimated 1,000 homes destroyed when a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rocked flood-stricken northern Papua New Guinea, officials said Monday as disaster crews poured into the region. 

“So far, around 1,000 homes have been lost,” said East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, adding that emergency crews were “still assessing the impact” from a tremor that “damaged most parts of the province.”

Dozens of villages nestled on the banks of the country’s Sepik River were already dealing with major flooding when the quake struck early Sunday morning. 

Provincial police commander Christopher Tamari told AFP that authorities had recorded five deaths but the number of fatalities “could be more.”

Photos taken in the aftermath of the quake showed damaged wooden houses collapsing into the surrounding knee-high floodwaters. 

Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on top of the seismic “Ring of Fire” — an arc of intense tectonic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. 

Although they seldom cause widespread damage in the sparsely populated jungle highlands, they can trigger destructive landslides.

Many of the island nation’s 9 million citizens live outside major towns and cities, where the difficult terrain and lack of sealed roads can seriously hamstring search-and-rescue efforts.
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TikTok Bill Faces Uncertain Fate in Senate

Posted on by SeeUS

WASHINGTON — The young voices in the messages left for North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis were laughing, but the words were ominous.

“OK, listen, if you ban TikTok I will find you and shoot you,” one said, giggling and talking over other young voices in the background. “I’ll shoot you and find you and cut you into pieces.” Another threatened to kill Tillis, and then take their own life.

Tillis’s office says it has received around 1,000 calls about TikTok since the House passed legislation this month that would ban the popular app if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake. TikTok has been urging its users — many of whom are young — to call their representatives, even providing an easy link to the phone numbers. “The government will take away the community that you and millions of other Americans love,” read one pop-up message from the company when users opened the app.

Tillis, who supports the House bill, reported the call to the police. “What I hated about that was it demonstrates the enormous influence social media platforms have on young people,” he said in an interview.

While more aggressive than most, TikTok’s extensive lobbying campaign is the latest attempt by the tech industry to head off any new legislation — and it’s a fight the industry usually wins. For years Congress has failed to act on bills that would protect users’ privacy, protect children from online threats, make companies more liable for their content and put loose guardrails around artificial intelligence, among other things.

“I mean, it’s almost embarrassing,” says Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., a former tech executive who is also supporting the TikTok bill and has long tried to push his colleagues to regulate the industry. “I would hate for us to maintain our perfect zero batting average on tech legislation.”

Some see the TikTok bill as the best chance for now to regulate the tech industry and set a precedent, if a narrow one focused on just one company. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the House bill, which overwhelmingly passed 362-65 this month after a rare 50-0 committee vote moving it to the floor.

But it’s already running into roadblocks in the Senate, where there is little unanimity on the best approach to ensure that China doesn’t access private data from the app’s 170 million U.S. users or influence them through its algorithms.

Other factors are holding the Senate back. The tech industry is broad and falls under the jurisdiction of several different committees. Plus, the issues at play don’t fall cleanly on partisan lines, making it harder for lawmakers to agree on priorities and how legislation should be written. Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has so far been reluctant to embrace the TikTok bill, for example, calling for hearings first and suggesting that the Senate may want to rewrite it.

“We’re going through a process,” Cantwell said. “It’s important to get it right.”

Warner, on the other hand, says the House bill is the best chance to get something done after years of inaction. And he says that the threatening calls from young people are a good example of why the legislation is needed: “It makes the point, do we really want that kind of messaging being able to be manipulated by the Communist Party of China?”

Some lawmakers are worried that blocking TikTok could anger millions of young people who use the app, a crucial segment of voters in November’s election. But Warner says “the debate has shifted” from talk of an outright ban a year ago to the House bill which would force TikTok, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd., to sell its stake for the app to continue operating.

Vice President Kamala Harris, in a television interview that aired Sunday, acknowledged the popularity of the app and that it has become an income stream for many people. She said the administration does not intend to ban TikTok but instead deal with its ownership. “We understand its purpose and its utility and the enjoyment that it gives a lot of folks,” Harris told ABC’s ”This Week.”

Republicans are divided. While most of them support the TikTok legislation, others are wary of overregulation and the government targeting one specific entity.

“The passage of the House TikTok ban is not just a misguided overreach; it’s a draconian measure that stifles free expression, tramples constitutional rights, and disrupts the economic pursuits of millions of Americans,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Hoping to persuade their colleagues to support the bill, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee have called for intelligence agencies to declassify information about TikTok and China’s ownership that has been provided to senators in classified briefings.

“It is critically important that the American people, especially TikTok users, understand the national security issues at stake,” the senators said in a joint statement.

Blumenthal and Blackburn have separate legislation they have been working on for several years aimed at protecting children’s online safety, but the Senate has yet to vote on it. Efforts to regulate online privacy have also stalled, as has legislation to make technology companies more liable for the content they publish.

And an effort by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to quickly move legislation that would regulate the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry has yet to show any results.

Schumer has said very little about the TikTok bill or whether he might put it on the Senate floor.

“The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House,” was all he would say after the House passed the bill.

South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican who has worked with Schumer on the artificial intelligence effort, says he thinks the Senate can eventually pass a TikTok bill, even if it’s a different version. He says the classified briefings “convinced the vast majority of members” that they have to address the collection of data from the app and TikTok’s ability to push out misinformation to users.

“I think it’s a clear danger to our country if we don’t act,” he said. “It does not have to be done in two weeks, but it does have to be done.”

Rounds says he and Schumer are still holding regular meetings on artificial intelligence, as well, and will soon release some of their ideas publicly. He says he’s optimistic that the Senate will eventually act to regulate the tech industry.

“There will be some areas that we will not try to get into, but there are some areas that we have very broad consensus on,” Rounds says.

Tillis says senators may have to continue laying the groundwork for a while and educating colleagues on why some regulation is needed, with an eye toward passing legislation in the next Congress.

“It can’t be the wild, wild west,” Tillis said.
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France Raises Security Readiness to Highest Level After Attack in Russia

Posted on by SeeEU

PARIS — France’s government increased its security alert posture to the highest level Sunday after the deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the decision in a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying authorities were “taking into account the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the (Moscow) attack and the threats weighing on our country.”

The announcement came after President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency security meeting prompted by Friday’s attack in a Moscow suburb that killed more than 130 people. The attack was claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group.

France has repeatedly been hit by deadly Islamic State attacks, including the Bataclan theater massacre in 2015 in which extremists opened fire on concertgoers and held hostages for hours. French troops have also fought against Islamic extremists in the Middle East and Africa.

France was already on high security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics this year, which are expected to draw millions of visitors to the country.

Security concerns are notably high for the exceptional opening ceremony July 26, which will involve boats riding along the Seine River and huge crowds watching from the embankments.
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Malawi Follows Zambia in Declaring Drought Disaster

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The southern African nation of Malawi has declared a state of disaster over drought in 23 of its 28 districts and the president says it urgently needs more than $200 million in humanitarian assistance, less than a month after neighboring Zambia also appealed for help.

Malawi is the latest country in the region to have its food supply crippled by a severe dry spell that’s been linked to the El Niño weather phenomenon.

A third country, Zimbabwe, has also seen much of its crops decimated and is considering following suit, underlining concerns raised by the U.N. World Food Program late last year that numerous nations in southern Africa were on the brink of a hunger crisis because of the impact of El Niño.

The WFP said there were already nearly 50 million people in southern and parts of central Africa facing food insecurity even before one of the driest spells in decades hit.

USAID, the U.S. government’s aid agency, said that more than 20 million people in southern Africa would urgently need food aid in early 2024, partly due to the El Niño effect.

Last month was the driest February in 40 years for Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to the WFP’s seasonal monitor, while Malawi, Mozambique and parts of Angola had “severe rainfall deficits.”

Millions in southern Africa rely on the food they grow to survive. Corn, the region’s staple food, has been badly affected by the drought.

El Niño is a natural, recurring weather phenomenon involving the warming of the sea surface in parts of the Pacific Ocean. It has impacts on global weather, including causing below-average rainfall in southern Africa. Some scientists say that climate change is making El Niños stronger and their impacts more extreme.

The 2015-2016 El Niño also brought a severe drought for southern Africa, the region’s worst in 35 years, according to the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs.

Humans aren’t the only ones affected, with conservation officials in Zimbabwe reporting the rare occurrence of at least 100 elephants dying in a national park late last year because of waterholes drying up in the drought.

Before the national disaster announcements by Malawi and Zambia, the WFP and USAID had already launched a program to feed 2.7 million people in rural Zimbabwe facing food shortages — nearly 20% of that country’s population.

British charity Oxfam said this month that more than 6 million people in Zambia — 30% of its population — are now facing acute food shortages and malnutrition, with the next crop growing season a year away.

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said he had been on a tour of his country to discover the extent of its drought crisis, and a preliminary assessment by the government found about 44% of Malawi’s corn crop had failed or been affected, and 2 million households were directly impacted. He said the country of 20 million people needed around 600,000 metric tons of food aid and called on the international community for help.

Malawi has been repeatedly hit by weather extremes in recent years, emphasizing how some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries are feeling the worst effects of climate change even as they contribute the least to global emissions.

Cyclone Freddy killed hundreds in Malawi last year, one of a succession of strong cyclones that have ripped through various parts of southern Africa in the last five years.

In early 2022, tropical storms and floods contributed to Malawi’s worst outbreak of the water-borne disease, cholera. More than 1,200 people died in the outbreak that lasted for months, according to the World Health Organization. Zambia is also currently experiencing a major cholera outbreak.
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Comedian Kevin Hart Honored With Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

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WASHINGTON — Kevin Hart, who rose from the open mics and comedy clubs of his native Philadelphia to become one of the country’s most recognizable performers, will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at a gala performance Sunday at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Hart, 44, has honed a signature style that combines his diminutive height, expressive face and motor-mouth delivery into a successful stand-up act.

In Hollywood, Hart made his movie debut in the 2002 film “Paper Soldiers” and came to mainstream fame through a string of scene-stealing cameos in hits such as 2005’s “The 40-Year-Old-Virgin.”

Hart’s films have grossed more than $4.23 billion globally.

Now in its 25th year, the Mark Twain Prize annually honors performers who have made a lasting impact on humor and culture. Honorees receive a bronze bust of Twain, the iconic American writer and satirist whose real name was Samuel Clemens.

Mark Twain recipients are honored with a night of testimonials and video tributes, often featuring previous award winners. Other comedians receiving the lifetime achievement award include George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett and Dave Chapelle. Bill Cosby, the 2009 recipient, had his Mark Twain Prize rescinded in 2019 amid allegations of sexual assault.
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Geomagnetic Storm From Solar Flare Could Disrupt Radio Communications

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BOULDER, Colo. — Space weather forecasters have issued a geomagnetic storm watch through Monday, saying an outburst of plasma from a solar flare could interfere with radio transmissions on Earth. It could also make for great aurora viewing.

There’s no reason for the public to be concerned, according to the alert issued Saturday by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

The storm could interrupt high-frequency radio transmissions, such as by aircraft trying to communicate with distant traffic control towers. Most commercial aircraft can use satellite transmission as backup, said Jonathan Lash, a forecaster at the center.

Satellite operators might have trouble tracking their spacecraft, and power grids could also see some “induced current” in their lines, though nothing they can’t handle, he said.

“For the general public, if you have clear skies at night and you are at higher latitudes, this would be a great opportunity to see the skies light up,” Lash said.

Every 11 years, the sun’s magnetic field flips, meaning its north and south poles switch positions. Solar activity changes during that cycle, and it’s now near its most active, called the solar maximum.

During such times, geomagnetic storms of the type that arrived Sunday can hit Earth a few times a year, Lash said. During solar minimum, a few years may pass between storms.

In December, the biggest solar flare in years disrupted radio communications.
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Ohtani to Speak to Media for 1st Time Since Illegal Gambling, Theft Allegations Against Interpreter

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LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani plans to speak to the media Monday for the first time since the illegal gambling and theft allegations involving the Los Angeles Dodgers star and his interpreter emerged during the team’s trip to South Korea.

The interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was fired by the Dodgers last week when the team opened the season with two games against the San Diego Padres in Seoul.

Manager Dave Roberts endorsed Ohtani addressing the matter publicly. He said it was the two-way superstar’s decision to do so.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Roberts said. “I’m happy he’s going to speak and speak to what he knows and give his thoughts on the whole situation. I think it will give us all a little bit more clarity.”

Mizuhara was let go from the team following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and claims from Ohtani’s attorneys that the Japanese star had been the victim of a “massive theft.”

Major League Baseball has opened an investigation of the matter. The Internal Revenue Service has confirmed that Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker in Orange County, California, are under criminal investigation.

Ohtani made only a brief appearance in the Dodgers clubhouse before Sunday’s Freeway Series opener against his former team, the Los Angeles Angels. The teams are playing three exhibition games before the Dodgers host St. Louis in their home opener on Thursday.

Ohtani was set to bat second as the designated hitter at Dodger Stadium. He’s also expected to play Monday and Tuesday in Anaheim, where he was a two-time AL MVP before leaving the Angels as a free agent to sign a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December.

Roberts said Ohtani has not addressed his teammates as a group.

“I think that he’s had one-off conversations with players,” Roberts said.

The manager said he checked in with Ohtani to see how he’s doing.

“He’s kind of business as usual,” Roberts said.

Ohtani has a double locker in the Dodgers clubhouse located between the shower room and fellow Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is slated to make his second start of the season on Saturday against St. Louis.

Extra security was posted in the jammed clubhouse on Sunday. Besides the players and a horde of media, eight temporary lockers were set up at one end for minor leaguers brought over from Arizona for the Freeway Series.

Overhead televisions were tuned to men’s NCAA Tournament games, baseball and horse racing, with former Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca offering TV handicapping tips on the day’s races.

The MLB gambling policy is posted in every clubhouse. Betting on baseball — legally or not — is punishable with a one-year ban from the sport. The penalty for betting on other sports illegally is at the commissioner’s discretion. Sports gambling is illegal in California, even as 38 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of it.

“The mood in the room is get ready for baseball because I don’t hear a lot of conversations and speculation,” Roberts said. “That’s why I think tomorrow is going to be good for everyone.”
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Russia Concert Hall Suspects in Court

Posted on by SeeEU

Three of the four suspects charged with carrying out the concert hall attack in Moscow that killed more than 130 people have admitted guilt for the incident in a Russian court.
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Russians Mourn Dead Following Deadly Attack on Concert Hall

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Russia observed a day of mourning Sunday following a deadly attack on a music venue in a Moscow suburb. Islamic State took credit for the assault that killed 137 people. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us more.
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Fine Gael Party’s Harris to be Ireland’s Youngest Premier 

Posted on by SeeEU

london — Ireland is poised to get its youngest-ever premier next month after Simon Harris secured the leadership of the Fine Gael party Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar, who announced his surprise resignation last week.

Harris, 37, who has been the coalition government’s further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been Ireland’s previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach.

Harris is expected to be formally elected premier in the Irish parliament in early April after lawmakers return from their Easter break.

In his victory speech in the central Ireland town of Athlone, Harris said this was a “moment for Fine Gael to reconnect” with the people.

“There is a hell of a lot to get done in the time ahead,” he said. “But let me say this: Under my leadership, Fine Gael stands for supporting businesses, especially small businesses.”

Harris said nothing about the coalition government, which came into place at the end of 2020, but has previously said that he would remain fully committed to the program for government agreed upon with partners Fianna Fail and the Green Party. He has stopped short of ruling out a general election this year, but insisted such a poll wasn’t his priority.

Varadkar, 45, has had two spells as taoiseach — between 2017 and 2020, and again since December 2022 as part of a job share with Micheal Martin, the head of Fianna Fail.

He was the country’s youngest-ever leader when first elected at age 38, as well as Ireland’s first openly gay prime minister. Varadkar, whose mother is Irish and father is Indian, was also Ireland’s first biracial taoiseach.

He played a leading role in campaigns to legalize same-sex marriage, approved in a 2015 referendum, and to repeal a ban on abortion, which passed in a vote in 2018.

He led Ireland during the years after Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union. Brexit had huge implications for Ireland, an EU member that shares a border with the U.K.’s Northern Ireland. U.K.-Ireland relations were strained while hardcore Brexit-backer Boris Johnson was U.K. leader but have steadied since the arrival of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
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Analysts: Resignation of Vietnam’s President Shows Party Infighting

Posted on by SeeEA

Ho Chi Min City/Washington — Analysts say this month’s resignation of Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, one year into his five-year term, indicates infighting within the Communist Party and shakes the country’s reputation for political stability, a key driver of foreign investment. 

On March 20, the party’s Central Committee held an extraordinary session in which it agreed to allow Thuong to give up the presidency and all official duties. Thuong’s resignation comes amid an anti-corruption drive led by the party’s leader, 79-year-old General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

The office of the Party Central Committee said in a written statement that day that an investigation from the Central Inspection Commission revealed that Thuong had committed violations of party regulations.  

Nguyen Khac Giang, visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute,  told VOA March 23 that the government’s statement on Thuong’s dismissal is vague but many suspect his resignation is connected to his time serving as party secretary of Quang Ngai province from 2011 to 2014.

On March 8, the province’s chairman, Dang Van Minh, and former chairman Cao Khoa were arrested in relation to an ongoing investigation into Phuc Son real estate group. According to government statements, police found that the real estate firm had committed acts of forgery, perjury, and selective bookkeeping which caused $26 million in losses to the state budget.

“Thuong served as a party secretary at that time so those are linked together and people allege that probably Thuong was forced to step down because of that,” Giang said.

Succession struggle

Giang added that Thuong’s resignation is an “extremely rare and surprising incident” particularly because he is the second president to step down in less than two years.

Thuong’s predecessor, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, was forced to give up the role in January 2023. Phuc’s downfall is believed to have been due to his alleged connection to the inflation of COVID-19 test kit prices. 

“One man was brought down in the anti-corruption campaign and the next man that was brought in to replace that position … one year later he was forced out for the same reason,” Giang said of the two presidents. 

“This doesn’t sound really good for the party’s organization and for the party’s image as the protector of stability,” he said.

Florian Feyerabend, the Vietnam representative of German political foundation Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung, struck a similar chord, telling VOA that Phuc and Thuong’s successions in such a short time “raises unavoidably questions about the predictability, reliability, and inner workings of the system.”

“While the system as such remains stable, the internal balance of power seems to be in limbo ahead of the next party congress,” he said. 

The timing of Thuong’s resignation is significant, experts said, as it comes ahead of planned  changes to the country’s top echelon of leadership at the 14th National Congress in 2026.

Carl Thayer, emeritus professor with the University of New South Wales in Australia, said Thuong’s resignation would have the effect of speeding the process of selecting candidates for the new Central Committee and “exposing differences within the leadership.”

At 54 years old, Thuong was the youngest member of the Politburo and considered to be a potential candidate for the leading position of general secretary.

“[Thuong] was clearly going for something larger. … There were reasons to believe that he might be an appealing choice for a party increasingly out of touch with the younger generation,” Zachary Abuza, Southeast Asia expert and professor at the National War College in Washington, told VOA on March 20.

“It was a pretty spectacular fall,” Abuza said.

Although it is unclear what political motivations led to Thuong’s downfall, Abuza said that Public Security Minister To Lam appears to be vying for the country’s most powerful position. Are we talking president or general secretary here?

“We still don’t know who wanted to take [Thuong] down,” Abuza said. “All eyes are on the minister of public security because he has been pretty ruthless in taking down rivals. He clearly eyes the top job for himself.”

Thayer told VOA that the two likely candidates to succeed Thuong are Lam and Truong Thi Mai, head of the Central Committee’s Organization Commission. He said that the fact that the case has surfaced after 12 years “leads to the supposition” that Lam is getting rid of possible rivals in an attempt to stay in power after the 2026 party congress. 

Duy Hoang, executive director of Viet Tan, an unsanctioned political party that promotes democracy in Vietnam, also said he sees Thuong’s fall as a result of a power struggle.

“This is probably a proxy war for who’s going to be the leader of the Communist Party in the foreseeable future,” he told VOA on March 20. 

Economic challenges

The political shake-up poses a threat to the country’s economy, Abuza said. Along with the two presidents and high-profile arrests in the private sector, officials including a deputy prime minister, two ministers, and more than a dozen provincial leaders have also been dismissed since 2021.

“For a country that prides itself on political stability as one of its key selling points to foreign investors, it sure isn’t looking very stable,” Abuza said.

Feyerabend also said that political stability is important among the factors that make Vietnam attractive for foreign direct investment. He said, though, that recent political events do not immediately affect the overall stability of Vietnam’s political system or its attractiveness for foreign direct investment.

Hoang of Viet Tan pointed to concerns for the livelihoods of the country’s more than 100 million citizens.

“I think it’s going to affect people’s lives because there’ll be economic disruption,” Hoang said. He added that corruption is endemic in Vietnam but due to the anti-corruption campaign many officials are “concerned that they are going to be drawn into the blazing furnace.” General Secretary Trong has described his anti-graft campaign as a “blazing furnace.”

“Permitting decisions are being dragged out and people can’t make decisions,” Hoang said. “Things are so frozen because of this power struggle.”

Still, Giang at ISEAS said there is room for optimism. He said foreign direct investment is the country’s key economic engine and remains the Communist Party’s priority.

“We’ll muddle through the current uncertainty and we’ll continue to perform well no matter who’s in charge,” he said. “Vietnam still wants to maintain … high sustainable economic growth, political stability, and balancing well between China and the U.S. no matter which factions or people are in charge.”

Linh Dan of VOA’s Vietnamese Service reported from Washington.
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Senegalese Voters Hit the Polls to Choose Their Next Leader

Posted on by SeeAF

Dakar — Senegalese voters are casting ballots after outgoing President Macky Sall’s attempt to delay the elections plunged the country into months of political crisis. 

It’s a day many have been waiting for, including Jules Rolland Pascal Diatta. He was the first to cast his ballot in voting room number seven at a school about 30 minutes outside Dakar’s city center. He arrived two and half hours before the poll officially opened.

“I see that they are actually on time and open at 8 a.m. sharp. This is a very important election for me and everyone here. I like my candidate because he has a solid and well-defined program that I think could save Senegal,” he said.

He says he voted for the coalition led by Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

Faye, a former tax inspector, is backed by Ousmane Sonko — who was seen as the key challenger to outgoing President Macky Sall. Sonko was barred from running in this year’s elections over a previous defamation conviction. Both Faye and Sonko were recently released from prison.

Another voter, Ahmadou Khadim Lo, hopes for job creation to be the number one goal for the next leader.

“Seventy-five percent of the Senegalese population is young and many of them have diplomas but can’t find jobs,” he said.

A sentiment echoed by Khady Diagne who spoke to us before casting her vote.

“Living conditions are difficult here. The health care system is poor, there are no jobs, I could spend an entire year telling you about all the problems our country has,” she said.

About 17 candidates are vying for the top job, including former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, who is endorsed by Sall.

Seynabou Faye told us she wants a continuation of the policies of the current regime.

“I just love Macky Sall. He’s done more work than any other president before him. He’s built bridges, the Bus Rapid Transit system, stadiums, roads. I would like to see Amadou Ba win so he can work on some of Sall’s unfinished projects,” said Faye.

Ndoumbe Gueye is the head of voting room number 7 at the polling station in the neighborhood of Scat Urbam. She explained the voting process.

“Once a voter comes in, he or she shows me their national identification card first,” she said. “My team verifies that the person is registered, and this is the right place for them to vote. Then they can pick 5 out of the 19 candidates, pick up an envelope, and proceed to the voting booth. Their final choice can be inserted into the envelope and submitted. Once that’s done, they come back to us and dip their small finger in ink [to show they’ve voted].”

Observers from many organizations are also present, including some from the European Union which sent 100 observers all over the country. Malin Bjork, who heads the group which arrived in early January, held a news conference Sunday morning.

“What we’ve been able to observe is that the polling started on time with sometimes long lines, which shows that people are motivated and interested in voting. The material was in place and the rules were followed by all voting centers,” said Bjork.

Senegal has always been seen as a stable democracy in a region plagued by coups, until recently when President Sall tried unsuccessfully to postpone last month’s elections by 10 months. While Sall said he would not seek a third term, his critics accused him of wanting to hold on to power.

Whoever wins, today’s elections are a chance to maybe put those uncertainties to rest.
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Chad Interim President Deby and PM Cleared for Presidential Election 

Posted on by SeeAF

N’DJAMENA — Chad’s Constitutional Council on Sunday cleared 10 candidates for this year’s long-awaited presidential election, including interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby and the country’s recently-appointed prime minister. 

The central African nation is scheduled to hold the first round of a presidential election in May as part of a transition back to democracy from junta rule. 

Deby initially promised an 18-month transition to elections after he seized power in 2021, when his long-ruling father was killed in clashes with rebels. 

But his government later adopted resolutions that postponed elections until 2024 and allowed him to run for president, triggering protests that were violently quelled by security forces. 

In December, Chadians voted in favor of a new constitution that critics said could help cement Deby’s grip on power as it allowed him to run for the presidency. 

Deby confirmed his intention to run earlier this month.  

The candidate list released on Sunday included opposition leader Succes Masra, appointed as prime minister of the transitional government in January. 

It is the first time is Chad’s history that a president and a prime minister will face each other in a presidential poll.  

A staunch opponent of Chad’s junta, Masra had fled the country after dozens were killed when security forces cracked down on demonstrations in the capital N’Djamena in October 2022. 

The first round of voting is scheduled to take place on May 6 and the second round on June 22, with provisional results due on July 7. 

Chad’s military government is one of several juntas currently ruling in West and Central Africa. There have been eight coups in the region since 2020, sparking concerns of a democratic backslide. 

It is the first of those transitional authorities to organize elections. 
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Campaigners Urge Australia to Let Ukrainian Refugees Stay Permanently 

Posted on by SeeEA

Sydney — Australian community leaders are urging the Canberra government to allow displaced Ukrainians to apply to stay permanently in the country. Temporary humanitarian visas for thousands of refugees from the Ukraine war expire next year.

More than 11,000 Ukrainians on various types of Australian visas, including visitors’ permits, have come to Australia since Russia invaded in February 2022.

About 3,790 Ukrainians were granted three-year temporary humanitarian visas under a special Australian government program that ran from April to July 2022. The humanitarian visas are to expire next year. The government has said displaced Ukrainians with that type of immigration permit might be allowed to stay by applying for the skilled, family, student and visitor visa programs.

Community groups, though, say some displaced Ukrainians might find it hard to qualify for permanent visas because of such obstacles as applicant age limits, lack of recognition of overseas qualifications and limited English language skills. Some visas require applicants to be younger than 45 and to have relevant experience and qualifications in occupations that are in short supply in Australia, such as accountants, pilots and engineers.

Andrew Mencinsky, the vice president of the Ukrainian Council of New South Wales, told local media that for many visa holders their future in Australia is uncertain.

“At the moment there is no clear pathway to permanent residency and their current humanitarian visas are approaching expiry,” he said.

New Zealand and Canada have already established special residency pathways for Ukrainians in their countries.

Natalia Borodina is a Ukrainian refugee who works for a charity in Sydney helping new migrants.

She told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that many Ukrainians in Australia worry about what will happen when their current visas expire.

“Over the past six months and currently, that is the first question I hear from my clients. Everyone who calls, the first question [is] have you heard anything in terms of our visa future? And that causes a lot of worries within the community,” she said.

Australia’s Department of Home Affairs said in a statement that it was processing “visa applications from Ukrainian nationals as a priority, particularly for those with a connection to Australia.”

It added that Ukrainian nationals could apply for a so-called bridging visa, which would allow them to “stay in Australia lawfully while [their] immigration status is resolved.”

Australia is among the largest non-NATO contributors to Kyiv’s war effort, supplying missiles and armored personnel carriers.

The government also has placed sanctions on hundreds of Russian politicians, including President Vladimir Putin, military commanders and businesspeople. They are the most sweeping penalties Australia has ever imposed on another country.

Additionally, Canberra has banned imports of Russian oil, petroleum, coal and gas.

A statement Friday following annual security talks between the foreign and defense ministers of Australia and Britain “unequivocally condemned Russia’s full-scale, illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine and demanded Russia immediately withdraws its forces from Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory.”
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