Vote counting under way in Senegal’s delayed presidential election
Vote counting is under way in Senegal after a delayed presidential election that many hope will bring change after a turbulent political period that has triggered violent anti-government protests and boosted support for the opposition. More than seven million of the country’s over 17 million people were registered to vote in Sunday’s election. Nineteen contenders are vying to replace President Macky Sall, stepping down after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and concerns that Sall wanted to extend his mandate past the constitutional limit. The incumbent was not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal’s history. His ruling coalition has picked former prime minister Amadou Ba, 62, as its candidate. Sonko, in jail until recently, was disqualified from the race because of a defamation conviction. He is backing the co-creator of his now-dissolved PASTEF party, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was also detained almost a year ago on charges including defamation and contempt of court. An amnesty law passed this month allowed their release days before the vote. He and his colleague Diomaye have campaigned together under the banner “Diomaye is Sonko”. Besides Ba and Faye, Dakar’s former Mayor Khalifa Sall, veteran politician Idrissa Seck, former Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, a close ally of President Sall Aly Ngouille Ndiaye and entrepreneur and political newcomer Anta Babacar Ngom — the sole woman among the candidates — are all a part of the presidential race. (Al Jazeera) To avoid a run-off election, one candidate must secure more than 50 percent of the vote. While official results are expected next week, in previous elections candidates have announced their predictions on the same evening as the vote. Reporting from Dakar, Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque said it was an “unusual” election. “There is both anticipation like you would have in any election; there is an element of fear and unknown because this is the first election in the last 12 years where President Macky Sall is not in the running … and there is an element of excitement, especially among those young, first-time voters. “This is an election like no other and it’s very important, especially for young people.” ‘Voting for change’ Lines formed outside polling stations around Dakar on Sunday. Roads were quiet as the nation’s elite police force was deployed across the city in armoured vehicles, checking voters’ cards. “I am so happy to be able to exercise my right to vote as a Senegalese citizen,” voter Thiaba Camara Sy, from the organisation Demain Senegal (Tomorrow Senegal), told Al Jazeera at a polling station in Dakar. “This is something that we have won because the risk was high of the election being delayed until who knows when, so I’ve been queuing for two hours but I’m happy.” In the ocean-facing neighbourhood of Dakar’s Ngor, fisherman Alioune Samba, 66, said he was voting for the change everyone wants. “Food, water, school; everything is expensive with the low income we have in Senegal,” the father of three told Reuters news agency. People wait to cast their votes outside a polling station during the presidential elections, in Dakar, Senegal [Mosa’ab Elshamy/AP] Khodia Ndiayes, a 52-year-old cook, told the Associated Press news agency she picked Faye on the ballot because she wanted Sonko to win. “I’m proud to have voted,” she said. “We need a new president because life is expensive, the economy is bad and we need better schools.” Al Jazeera’s Haque said it appeared that a lot of people have come out to vote. “It’s interesting who those people are: a lot of young men but also women, key in this election because women make up a substantial part of the electorate in Senegal,” he said. Faye versus Ba After casting his vote, Ba called for peace and said he wished for the Senegalese people to find out who their next president is soon and to calmly resume their daily lives. He said he was “very, very, very confident” of his chances of winning. Most of Sonko’s supporters are expected to vote for Faye, analysts say. “The population is choosing between continuation and rupture,” Faye said after voting, urging contenders to accept the result. In these elections, “the two political camps stand on opposite sides of the political spectrum”, Mucahid Durmaz, a senior political risk analyst for West Africa at Verisk Maplecroft, told Al Jazeera. He noted that while outgoing President Sall and his ruling coalition candidate Ba favour economic liberalisation policies, opposition figure Sonko and his chosen candidate Faye plan to introduce a new currency and renegotiate contracts with oil and gas operators in the country. “The issue here is that despite the economic boom that the country has witnessed over the years under President Sall, it’s not really facilitated a wider socioeconomic development for the country’s youthful population,” Durmaz said. Economic issues Unemployment is another key issue in the election. Frustration at the lack of job opportunities has spurred support for Sonko and his backed candidate Faye, particularly among the youth. The share of young Senegalese not in employment, education or training stood at 35 percent in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic further squeezed the job market. Besides unemployment, the rising cost of living spurred by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the appreciation of the United States dollar have undermined support for current ruling Senegalese authorities. The launch of oil and gas production later in 2024 has also raised questions about whether the natural resource wealth will benefit the wider population and create jobs. The Sonko-backed opposition coalition has promised to renegotiate energy contracts to maximise revenues, while Ba is running on the slogan “Prosperity Shared”. ‘Calm’ voting process While the elections come amid frustrations over a fragile economy, according to election observers, the voting process has been relatively peaceful. Hundreds of election observers from civil society, the African Union, the regional group the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union were on the ground monitoring the
Simon Harris to be Ireland’s youngest PM after clinching party leadership
Harris will be voted in as Ireland’s youngest-ever prime minister when parliament next sits on April 9. Simon Harris is set to become Ireland’s youngest prime minister after he was appointed as the new leader of the governing Fine Gael party. The 37-year-old said it was the “absolute honour of my life” to be appointed party leader on Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar, who resigned unexpectedly on Wednesday, saying the party would be better governed under another leader. Harris will be voted in as the Republic of Ireland’s youngest-ever prime minister – known as the taoiseach – when the country’s parliament or Oireachtas next sits on April 9 due to support from Fine Gael’s coalition partners. “I think he’s done a really good job in securing the leadership in as comprehensive a way as he has,” Fine Gael deputy leader Simon Coveney said. Harris told the centre-right party’s members that he would repay their faith with “hard work, with blood, sweat and tears, day in and day out with responsibility, with humility and with civility”. Setting out his priorities, Harris insisted that Fine Gael “stands for law and order” and told members he wanted to “take our flag back” from nationalists, to loud cheers. He also said that he would pursue a “more planned and sustainable” immigration policy, following increased tension over the issue, and that he would “fight against the dangers of populism”. On the international front, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and condemned Russia’s “horrific illegal invasion of Ukraine”. He will have no more than a year to save the coalition from defeat at parliamentary elections. In the last three years, polls have put Sinn Fein, a left-wing party that backs unification with Northern Ireland, a British province, as the preferred choice to lead the next government. However, two more polls on Sunday confirmed a recent trend of support for Sinn Fein dropping off highs of 12-18 months ago. A Business Post/Red C poll conducted before Varadkar’s departure as taoiseach put Sinn Fein’s lead over Fine Gael at six percentage points, while an Irish Independent/Ireland Thinks survey showed a five-point edge. Harris, formerly a minister for education, research and science, is best known for taking responsibility for Ireland’s COVID-19 response. He said recently that he became involved in politics as an “opinionated, moody teenager” bothered by the lack of educational supports for his autistic brother. Although he has spent most of his adult life in parliament, Harris has cast himself as an “accidental politician”. His online presence led one opponent in the Oireachtas to dub Harris the “TikTok taoiseach”. While the economy grew strongly under Varadkar, successive governments, of which Harris has been part, have struggled to tackle a decade-long housing crisis and, more recently, the pressure from record numbers of asylum seekers and refugees. Inheriting a three-party coalition government working off an agreed policy programme will not give the incoming leader much room for major new policy initiatives. Before Harris, Varadkar was the country’s youngest-ever leader when first elected at age 38, as well as Ireland’s first openly gay prime minister. His mother is Irish and his father is Indian, which also made Varadkar Ireland’s first biracial taoiseach. 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, head of coalition partner Fianna Fail. Adblock test (Why?)
Chad main opposition figures barred as leaders cleared for election
The central African country’s presidential election is set to take place in May. Authorities in Chad have cleared 10 candidates for this year’s long-awaited presidential election, barring two fierce opponents of the military government from standing. Chad’s Constitutional Council announced on Sunday that outspoken opposition figures Nassour Ibrahim Neguy Koursami and Rakhis Ahmat Saleh would be barred. It said their applications had been rejected because they included “irregularities”. The council said that the nominations of interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby and the country’s recently-appointed Prime Minister Succes Masra had been accepted. The central African nation is scheduled to hold the first round of a presidential election on May 6 and the second round on June 22, with provisional results on July 7. The elections are part of a transition back to democracy from rule by Chad’s military government, which is one of several currently in power 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 time in Chad’s history that a president and a prime minister will face each other in a presidential poll. 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 favour 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. Masra, previously a staunch opponent of Chad’s military rulers, had fled the country after dozens were killed when security forces cracked down on demonstrations in the capital N’Djamena in October 2022. He returned in November after a reconciliation agreement was signed that guaranteed him the ability to participate in political activities. Several opposition parties have since distanced themselves from Masra. Call for boycott Wakit Tamma, another of the main opposition platforms in Chad, on Saturday called for a boycott of the presidential vote, denouncing it as a “masquerade” aimed at upholding a “dynastic dictatorship”. The barring of the opposition candidates comes less than a month after General Deby’s main rival Yaya Dillo Djerou was shot dead in an army assault on his PSF party headquarters. In early March, Human Rights Watch called for an independent investigation into the murder of Dillo, arguing that the army assault “raises serious concerns about the environment for elections scheduled for May”. Prime Minister Masra subsequently promised that his government would hold an international inquiry to determine responsibility for the death of the military government’s main opponent. [embedded content] Adblock test (Why?)
Pro-West candidate beats Slovakia PM’s ally to set up presidential run-off
Ex-Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok and current parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini to face off in April’s vote dominated by the Ukraine war. Slovakia’s former pro-West Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok and current parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini will face off in April’s presidential election run-off, according to the final results. The liberal Korcok led with 42.44 percent backing with 99.9 percent of the vote counted, while former Prime Minister Pellegrini earned 37.07 percent, the Slovak Statistical Office said late on Saturday. The result was expected by analysts as the 48-year-old Pellegrini and 59-year-old Korcok topped the opinion polls before the vote marked by deep divisions on the war in neighbouring Ukraine. The presidential election is a chance for Prime Minister Robert Fico, whose views on Ukraine have angered critics for veering too close to Russia, to strengthen his grip on power. President Zuzana Caputova, 50, who has been a fierce opponent of Fico, did not seek a new term. But the opposition forces want a counterbalance to Fico’s rule. Korcok, a career diplomat who was a minister in a past government, will advance to a run-off on April 6 against Pellegrini, who heads the Hlas (Voice) party. A Russian-leaning former Supreme Court chief, Stefan Harabin, gained the third most votes at just 11.75 percent, after getting support from a nationalist party that is also in the government coalition. His voters could help Pellegrini. “I certainly have to speak to the tens of thousands of voters of the ruling coalition who disagree with where the government is pulling Slovakia,” Korcok told his supporters. Fico and his ruling leftist Smer party won a parliamentary election last September with pledges to halt military aid to Ukraine and maintain support for people hit by price surges. Pellegrini, a former member of Smer, was key in forming a coalition and said the first-round results showed a majority did not want a “liberal-right-progressive” president who would only be in conflict with the government. “The majority in Slovakia expressed an interest in having a president who will defend the national state interests,” he said. Presidents do not wield many executive powers but have a role in government and judicial appointments, can veto laws and shape public debate as the liberal Caputova often did. Voters in the past have rejected giving ruling parties both the government and presidential offices, including Caputova’s win in 2019 when anticorruption sentiment hurt Fico’s party, which was in government then. “This election will show whether mass protests that have taken place in Bratislava and other major cities in recent weeks are also supported by people who usually express their disapproval at the polling stations,” said Radoslav Stefancik, political analyst at the University of Economics in Bratislava. Adblock test (Why?)
Nigerian army rescues 17 students abducted from Sokoto state
NewsFeed Children who were kidnapped in two separate abductions in northern Nigeria have been freed. On Friday the army rescued one group taken from Sokoto, while more than 130 students from Kaduna were released early on Sunday. Published On 24 Mar 202424 Mar 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Only effective way to ramp up Gaza aid is by land, UN chief Guterres says
During a visit to Egypt, Antonio Guterres warns of the impact Israel’s months-long war on Gaza is having around the globe. The only effective and efficient way to deliver heavy goods to meet Gaza’s humanitarian needs is by road and includes an exponential increase in commercial deliveries, says the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Speaking during a visit to Egypt on Sunday, Guterres also warned of the impact Israel’s months-long war on Gaza was having around the globe. “The daily assault on the human dignity of Palestinians is creating a crisis of credibility for the international community,” he said in remarks following a visit to the gates of the besieged Palestinian territory at the Rafah border crossing on Saturday. Guterres repeated his call for an immediate ceasefire to alleviate “the plight of Palestinian children, women and men struggling to survive the nightmare” in famine-threatened Gaza. “Looking at Gaza, it almost appears that the four horsemen of war, famine, conquest and death are galloping across it,” he said. “The whole world recognises that it’s past time to silence the guns and ensure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.” The UN has repeatedly warned of famine in the Palestinian territory, particularly in the north, which has been largely cut off from aid deliveries. Guterres said Palestinians in Gaza “desperately need what has been promised – a flood of aid”. “Not trickles. Not drops,” he added. The Israeli government is under growing international pressure to ease its bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza, which the territory’s Ministry of Health says has killed at least 32,226 people in less than six months, most of them women and children. The bombings began on October 7 after the Palestinian armed group, Hamas, led an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials. Israel has pledged to pursue its military campaign all the way to Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where 1.5 million Palestinians have sought shelter, penned in by the Egyptian border. Guterres, who also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, called the Rafah border crossing and Egypt’s El Arish airport where assistance is sent “essential arteries for life-saving aid into Gaza”. “But those arteries are clogged,” he said, with massive lines of trucks piled up on the Egyptian side, only trickling in as the humanitarian situation worsens. Adblock test (Why?)
Hong Kong’s new security law comes into force amid human rights concerns
A new national security law has come into force in Hong Kong despite growing international criticism that it could erode freedoms in the China-ruled city and damage its international financial hub credentials. The law, also known as Article 23, came into at midnight on Saturday, days after Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing lawmakers passed it unanimously, fast-tracking legislation to plug what authorities called national security loopholes. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said the law “accomplished a historic mission, living up to the trust placed in us by the Central [Chinese] Authorities”. He has often cited Hong Kong’s “constitutional responsibility” to create the new legislation as required by the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution since its handover from the United Kingdom to China in 1997. Lee also said the law was necessary to “prevent black-clad violence”, a reference to Hong Kong’s massive and at times violent pro-democracy protests in 2019, which brought hundreds of thousands to the streets demanding greater autonomy from Beijing’s grip. A previous attempt to pass Article 23 was scrapped in 2003 after 500,000 people protested. This time around, public criticism has been muted amid the security crackdown. What does the new law entail? Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee that its high degree of autonomy and freedoms would be protected under a “one country, two systems” formula. Currently, the new Article 23 law has expanded the British colonial-era offence of “sedition” to include inciting hatred against China’s Communist Party leadership, with an aggravated sentence of up to 10 years in jail. Under the security law, penalties can run up to life in prison for sabotage endangering national security, treason and insurrection; 20 years for espionage and sabotage; and 14 years for external interference. City leader Lee is also now empowered to create new offences carrying jail terms of up to seven years through subsidiary legislation, while the security minister can impose punitive measures on activists who are overseas, including cancelling their passports. Moreover, police powers have also been expanded to permit detaining people for up to 16 days without charge – a jump from the current 48 hours – and to restrict a suspect from meeting lawyers and communicating with others. International condemnation The United States, the European Union, Japan and the UK have been among the law’s strongest critics, with UK Foreign Minister David Cameron saying it would “further damage the rights and freedoms” of those in the city. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday expressed “deep concern” that the law could be used to undermine rights and curb dissent, adding it could damage Hong Kong’s reputation as an international finance hub. Meanwhile, Australia, the UK and Taiwan have updated their travel advisories for Hong Kong, urging citizens to exercise caution. “You could break the laws without intending to and be detained without charge and denied access to a lawyer,” the Australian government said. People hold up placards at a demonstration outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office in London to protest the introduction of the Article 23 National Security Law in Hong Kong [Justin Tallis/AFP] In a joint statement led by the overseas-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, 145 community and advocacy groups have also condemned the law and called for sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials involved its passage, as well as review the status of Hong Kong’s Economic & Trade Offices worldwide. “It’s time for the United States to step up for political prisoners and freedom in Hong Kong. Every time we let authoritarians get away with atrocities, we risk other bad actors attempting to do the same,” wanted Hong Kong activist Frances Hui said in Washington, during a news conference with the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), which advises Congress. Protests have also taken place in Taipei’s fashionable Ximending shopping district, where more than a dozen Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet activists gathered to protest the law and shout their denunciations. Other protests are planned in Australia, the UK, Canada, Japan and the US. But authorities in Hong Kong have “strongly condemned such political manoeuvres with skewed, fact-twisting, scaremongering and panic-spreading remarks”. What is China’s stance? China has defended Hong Kong’s security crackdown as essential to restoring order after months of sometimes violent antigovernment and pro-democracy protests in 2019. About 291 people have been arrested for national security offences, with 174 people and five companies charged so far. Chinese authorities insist all are equal before the security laws that have restored stability, but while individual rights are respected no freedoms are absolute. Adblock test (Why?)
At least 19 reported killed as Israeli forces fire on Gaza aid seekers
Authorities in Gaza said 23 people were also injured while waiting for bags of flour and aid near Kuwait Roundabout. At least 19 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli attack targeting civilians who were waiting for aid southeast of Gaza City, Gaza’s Ministry of Health and its Media Office said. “The Israeli occupation commits a massacre, killing 19 and injuring 23 civilians while thousands of citizens were waiting for flour and aid near Al-Kuwait roundabout,” Gaza’s media office said in a statement on Saturday. It said that the Israeli army and tanks opened fire with machine guns “towards the hungry people who were waiting for bags of flour and aid in a place far from posing any danger to the occupation”. Mahmud Basal, the spokesman for the Civil Defence Department in Gaza, said there had been “heavy shooting at civilians” and victims had been transported to a nearby Ahli Arab Hospital. But with Gaza’s healthcare system at near collapse, many were treated outside in the open air. “There were very serious injuries, some of whom were injured by shrapnel. The reality is tragic, difficult and challenging,” he said. Alaa al-Khudary, a witness at the scene, told Al Jazeera that the Israeli forces shot at the crowd, leaving “many dead” and leaving others injured while they tried to get “a bite to eat” for their children. Palestinians wounded in the attack were taken to Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City [Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu Agency] Looming famine Half of Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing “catastrophic” hunger, with famine projected to hit the north of the territory by May unless there is urgent intervention, a United Nations-backed food assessment warned on Monday. But aid distribution has become increasingly dangerous and sometimes lethal. Last Tuesday, 23 Palestinians were killed, and several others were injured by Israeli bombing that targeted Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in the northern Gaza Strip. On February 29, Israeli forces opened fire on hundreds of Palestinians as they gathered south of Gaza City waiting to receive humanitarian aid in what is known as the “flour massacre”, leaving 118 dead and 760 wounded, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday during a visit to the Rafah crossing that the line of blocked aid trucks stuck on Egypt’s side of the border with the Gaza Strip while Palestinians face starvation on the other side is a “moral outrage”. Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Rafah, said the latest shooting is part of a “clear, systematic policy that Israel has been using in the course of the past few months”. He said the Israeli forces have been imposing restrictions on aid deliveries to the north of the enclave while also attacking people who attempt to reach humanitarian aid convoys. He said that people in Gaza, despite the risks, continue to wait for the convoys as they are “hungry, dehydrated, and they want to return back to their families with something to break the fast“. Volunteers distribute rations of red lentil soup to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024 [Said Khatib/AFP] Reports of shooting ‘are incorrect’: Israel The Israeli army denied it had fired on the crowd. “The reports claiming that the [Israeli military] attacked dozens of Gazans at an aid convoy are incorrect,” an army statement said. “Preliminary findings have determined that there was no aerial strike against the convoy, nor were there incidents found of [Israeli] forces firing at the people at the aid convoy.” Adblock test (Why?)
Can the UN Security Council agree on a ceasefire resolution for Gaza?
Members reject text drafted by the US in advance of another vote. The United Nations Security Council has failed to pass a United States-drafted resolution recognising the need for a ceasefire in Gaza. It was the first time the Americans had used such strong language, but it was not enough for Russia, China and Algeria. They rejected the text because it did not demand an immediate ceasefire and because it tied any pause in hostilities to the release of all Israeli captives. Another draft is due to be tabled on Monday, this time with stronger language. But can Council members overcome their entrenched positions and internal politics to reach an agreement? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Francis J Riccardione – Former US ambassador to Egypt and Turkey. Hussein Haridi – Former Egyptian assistant foreign minister and a former ambassador. Hanan Ashrawi – Member of the Palestine Legislative Council. Adblock test (Why?)
US Senate passes $1.2 trillion budget, averting government shutdown
Bill passes after hours of gridlock over funding for three-quarters of the government for the next six months. Lawmakers in the United States Senate have passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill, narrowly averting a partial government shutdown. The lower house on Saturday approved the measure by a 74-24 vote after funding had expired for three-quarters of the government at midnight. But the White House sent out a notice shortly after the deadline announcing that the Office of Management and Budget had ceased shutdown preparations because there was a high degree of confidence that Congress would pass the legislation and the president would sign it on Saturday. Key federal agencies including the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, State and Treasury, which houses the Internal Revenue Service, will remain funded through September 30 after the bill was passed in the Democratic-majority Senate. But the measure did not include funding for mostly military aid to Ukraine, Taiwan or Israel, which are included in a different Senate-passed bill that the Republican-led House of Representatives has ignored. The bill also eliminates US funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) – which provides vital services on the ground to Palestinians in Gaza and across the Middle East – until March 2025. The agency lost millions of dollars in international support, led by the US, following allegations by Israel that some of its staff in the Gaza Strip were involved in the October 7 Hamas-led attacks. The House on Friday voted 286-134, narrowly gaining the two-thirds majority needed for approval of the six-bill package which represents the largest and most contentious section of federal funding. More than 70 percent of the money is set for defence spending, with the bills also covering the military, homeland security, healthcare and other services. Funding for those programmes was set to expire on March 22. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said it was “a very long and difficult day, but we have just reached an agreement to complete the job of funding the government”. “It is good for the country that we have reached this bipartisan deal. It wasn’t easy, but tonight our persistence has been worth it,” he added. We have just reached an agreement to complete the job of funding the government tonight. It wasn’t easy, but tonight our persistence has been worth it. It is good for the American people that we have reached this bipartisan deal. — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 23, 2024 It took legislators six months into the current fiscal year to get near the finish line on government funding, the process slowed by conservatives who pushed for more policy mandates and steeper spending cuts than the Democratic-led Senate or White House would consider. The impasse required several short-term, stopgap spending bills to keep agencies funded. The first package of full-year spending bills, which funded the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and the Interior, among others, cleared Congress two weeks ago with just hours to spare before funding expired for those agencies. The vote tally in the House reflected anger among Republicans over the content of the package and the speed with which it was brought to a vote. House Speaker Mike Johnson brought the measure to the floor even though a majority of Republicans ended up voting against it. To win over support from Republicans, Johnson touted some of the spending increases secured for about 8,000 more detention beds for migrants awaiting their immigration proceedings or removal from the country – or about a 24 percent increase from current levels. Republican leadership highlighted more money to hire about 2,000 border patrol agents. Democrats, meanwhile, boasted of a $1bn increase for Head Start, an early childhood development programme, and new childcare centres for military families. They also played up a $120m increase in funding for cancer research and a $100m increase for Alzheimer’s research. Adblock test (Why?)