South Korea, US military drills next week
Panel proposes June elections:
A national dialogue panel in Senegal proposed holding elections in early June, the first proposed new date offered since the president attempted to push elections back to the end of the year.
President Macky Sall who faces term limits at the end of his second terms, said in early February he was postponing an election for 10 months, just weeks before it was set to take place on Feb. 25.
But Senegal’s highest election authority, the Constitutional Council, rejected that move and ordered the government to set a new election date as soon as possible.
Sall called for a two-day national dialogue earlier this week, aiming at fostering trust among the candidates and the population. Civil, political and religious leaders attended, but almost all of the candidates on the ballot refused to participate. On Tuesday, the panel proposed holding the vote on June 2.
Sall has said that he will step down by April 2, which is the end of his current term, but it’s unclear who will take over if elections are not held before that.
Senegal has been seen as a rare stable democracy in a region rife with coups. The delay of the vote has sparked deadly protests across the country.
The panel called for the Constitutional Council to review decisions that blocked candidates including Karim Wade, an opposition leader and son of former Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, from the ballot.
The election authority disqualified Wade because he previously held dual citizenship. He renounced his French nationality in order to run.
Sall has defended his decision to delay elections, but has accepted the Council’s ruling and attempted to calm the situation. At the launch of the dialogue he said he would propose a general amnesty law addressing the protests, in which hundreds of people were jailed. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑ 31 killed in bus accident:
At least 31 people were killed and 10 others injured when a driver lost control of a passenger bus in southern Mali on Tuesday, the country’s government announced.
The bus carrying Malians and nationals from the West African subregion was en route to Burkina Faso when it “overturned,” said a statement posted on Mali’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure’s Facebook page.
“The provisional toll is 31 killed on the spot and 10 injured, some of them seriously,” the statement said. The accident around 5 p.m. lo
SEOUL, South Korea, Feb 28, (Agencies): South Korean and US troops will begin their expanded annual military drills next week in response to North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats, the two countries said Wednesday, a move that will likely enrage North Korea because it views its rivals’ joint training as an invasion rehearsal.
In recent months, North Korea has inflamed animosities on the Korean Peninsula with fiery rhetoric and continued missile tests. While it’s unlikely for North Korea to launch full-blown attacks against South Korea and the US, observers say the North could still stage limited provocations along the tense border with South Korea.
On Wednesday, the South Korea and US militaries jointly announced that the allies will conduct Freedom Shield exercise, a computer-simulated command post training, and a variety of separate field training, from March 4-14.
Col Lee Sung-Jun, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that the allies’ drills are designed to bolster their joint capabilities to prevent North Korea from using its nuclear weapons. He said the allies are to carry out 48 field exercises this spring, twice the number conducted last year, and that this year’s drills would involve air assault, live-firing and bombing training.
“Our military is ready to punish North Korea immediately, strongly and to the end in the event of its provocation, and we’ll further strengthen our firm readiness through the upcoming drills,” Lee said.
Col Isaac L. Taylor, a spokesperson for the US military, said the allies’ exercises have been defensive in nature and that there is solid evidence that “a high readiness rate” helps ensure deterrence.
North Korea didn’t immediately respond to the drills’ announcement. North Korea has reacted to previous major South Korea-US military drills with its own missile tests.
Also:
TOKYO: South Korean Defense Minister and Secretary of Defense on Wednesday vowed to deal with arms transfers to in coordination with the international community, Seoul’s defense ministry said,
According to Yonhap News Agen
Shin Won-sik US Lloyd Austin North Korea’s Russia
cal time in Koumantou south of Bamako.
Accidents involving public transport buses are a frequent occurrence in Mali. On Feb 19, at least 15 people died and more than 46
cy, the officials expressed concerns that these illegal arms transfers pose a significant threat to global peace and stability, and pledged to respond firmly in this manner.
During the conversation, Shin and Austin condemned North Korea’s missile tests and pledged to maintain a strong defense to deter its provocations. The talks were held amid concerns over North Korea’s supply of munitions and missiles to Russia for
use.
Shin told local media on Monday that North Korea has been shipping millions of munitions to Russia since July 2023, in exchange for food and necessities.
The US and its partners have denounced the arms deal as violating UN Security Council resolutions banning countries from trading weapons or military equipment with North Korea.
Ukraine ❑
were injured in a traffic accident between a public transport bus and a lorry in central Mali. (AP)