International

BREAKING: Senegal swears in former opposition figure, recently freed from prison, as new president

Published

2 years ago

April 2, 2024

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Senegal inaugurated Bassirou Diomaye Faye as its new president on Tuesday, completing the previously little-known opposition figure’s dramatic ascent from prison to the palace in recent weeks.

Faye was released from prison less than two weeks before the March 24 election, along with popular opposition figure and mentor Ousmane Sonko, following a political amnesty announced by outgoing President Macky Sall. It is the former tax inspector’s first time in elected office.

“It’s the culmination of a long struggle for democracy and the rule of law,” said Aissata Sagna, a 39-year-old factory worker who worked on Faye’s campaign. “This is a day of celebration for us, even if we have lost young people killed during the demonstrations.”

The election tested Senegal’s reputation as a stable democracy in West Africa, a region that has experienced coups and attempted coups. It followed months of unrest ignited by the arrests last year of Sonko and Faye and concerns that the president would seek a third term in office despite constitutional term limits. Rights groups said dozens were killed in the protests and about 1,000 were jailed.

Faye, 44, campaigned on promises to clean up corruption and better manage the country’s natural resources. His victory was seen as reflecting the will of young people frustrated with widespread unemployment and former colonial ruler France, seen by critics to be using its relationship with Senegal to enrich itself.

Such frustrations are common across many countries in Africa, home to the world’s youngest population, where a number of leaders have clung to power for decades.

In his first speech as president-elect, Faye promised to fight corruption and reform the economy.

A practicing Muslim from a small town, Faye has two wives, both of whom were present on Tuesday. Ahead of the election, he released a declaration of his assets to show transparency and called on other candidates to do the same. It listed a home in Dakar and land outside the capital and in his hometown. His bank accounts totaled roughly $6,600.

“I think the first challenge is the formation of his (Faye’s) government,” said Alioune Tine, founder of the Senegalese think tank Afrikajom Center. “This will be the first concrete message he sends to the Senegalese people. The size, diversity and profiles will be analyzed with a fine-tooth comb, to see if they meet the demand for a break with the past.”

The new president was little known until Sonko, a popular opposition figure who came third in the previous election in 2019, named him to run in his place after being barred from the election for a prior conviction. While Sonko’s future role in the new administration is unclear, he is expected to have a prominent role.

Faye was arrested for alleged defamation last year, while Sonko faced a number of charges, including a prolonged legal battle that started when he was accused of rape in 2021. He was acquitted of the rape charges but was convicted of corrupting youth and sentenced to two years in prison last summer. Sonko’s supporters say his legal troubles were part of a government effort to derail his candidacy.

While Sall eventually ruled out running for a third term, he then abruptly postponed the election in February with only weeks to go, triggering another wave of protests. That move was blocked by the country’s constitutional court and the election was eventually held weeks later in March.

Source: AP

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International

Millions Rushing To Watch Solar Eclipse in Europe

Mainland Europe has not experienced a total solar eclipse for 20 years while Spain has not witnessed one in more than a century.

Published

2 days ago

August 12, 2026

OCHEFA

27 Views

• Solar Eclipse 2026

Millions of people are turning their gaze skywards in the hope of witnessing one of nature’s greatest spectacles, a rare total solar eclipse, as it sweeps over mainland Europe to briefly turn day into night.

The Moon is first expected to blot out the Sun, leaving only the shimmering glow of its outer corona, in Russia’s remote Arctic north, before parts of Greenland and Iceland are enveloped in the arc of its eerie shadow.

Excitement is highest in Spain, where tourists thronged the streets of normally quiet villages to experience the dramatic natural phenomenon as the eclipse’s narrow path cuts across the Iberian Peninsula from the northern Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea in the south.

Mainland Europe has not experienced a total solar eclipse for 20 years while Spain has not witnessed one in more than a century.

Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, however, has not seen a total solar eclipse since 1433.

Supplies of special viewing glasses were in high demand as a partial eclipse will be visible for millions more in most of Europe, Canada, the northern United States and northwest Africa.

However, a total eclipse of the Sun is expected to only be visible in a handful of places.

Credit: EURO NEWS

International

Trump cancels 175,000 visas for violations of public safety

The State Department said its continuous-vetting programme is designed to identify visa holders who violate the conditions attached to their visas, commit crimes, defraud Americans or pose public safety risks.

Published

3 days ago

August 11, 2026

OCHEFA

56 Views

The United States has revoked more than 175,000 visas issued to foreign nationals since President Donald Trump returned to office.

Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025, when he was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

The State Department disclosed the figure on Monday, saying most cancellations followed law enforcement encounters involving criminal activity fraud, assault, reckless driving, theft and drug-related offences.

Other cases involved child molestation, fraud, embezzlement and more serious offences including kidnapping, sexual battery, domestic violence and possession of child sexual abuse material.

It stressed that obtaining a US visa does not guarantee permanent permission to enter the country, describing a US visa as a privilege rather than a right.

International

Man jailed for keeping dead mother in freezer to claim £78,000 in benefits

Passing sentence, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said Phillips repeatedly deceived medical professionals to hide the fact that his mother had died.

Published

1 week ago

August 4, 2026

OCHEFA

80 Views

•Christopher Phillips

A 60-year-old man has been sentenced to two years and four months in prison after keeping his late mother’s body in a chest freezer for nearly three years while fraudulently collecting more than £78,000 in her pension and benefits.

Christopher Phillips was jailed by Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court after admitting to preventing the lawful and decent burial of his 89-year-old mother, Silvia Phillips, and pleading guilty to two counts of fraud.

The court heard that Phillips concealed his mother’s death after she died on March 8, 2023, by storing her body in a chest freezer in the living room of their home in Porthcawl, Wales.

Prosecutors said he failed to notify the Department for Work and Pensions and Bridgend County Borough Council of her death, allowing her pension and benefits to continue being paid into bank accounts he could access.

Passing sentence, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said Phillips repeatedly deceived medical professionals to hide the fact that his mother had died.

“You continued to collect her prescriptions and misled medical professionals about her whereabouts, lying when enquiries were made about your mother, repeatedly telling medical staff that she did not wish to attend appointments or undergo tests,” the judge said.

(Source: Tribune)