Clashes break out in Togo's capital as protesters call for the president's resignation
LOME, Togo — Clashes broke out between protesters and security forces in several parts of Togo's capital Lomé on Thursday, as President Faure Gnassingbé faced increasing pressure from critics over recent changes in the constitution that could effectively keep him in power indefinitely.
A heavy police presence could be seen throughout the capital, where many businesses remained closed. Hundreds of protesters set up concrete block barricades in several neighborhoods of Lomé, with some burning tires and throwing projectiles at security forces.
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Judge blocks Georgia's social media age verification law, citing free speech concerns
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The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Clashes break out in Togo's capital as protesters call for the president's resignation
LOME, Togo (AP) — Clashes broke out between protesters and security forces in several parts of Togo's capital Lomé on Thursday, as President Faure Gnassingbé faced increasing pressure from critics over recent changes in the constitution that could effectively keep him in power indefinitely. A heavy police presence could be seen throughout the capital, where many businesses remained closed. Hundreds of protesters set up concrete block barricades in several neighborhoods of Lomé, with some burning tires and throwing projectiles at security forces. Military jeeps were deployed as reinforcements in some areas. Police dispersed dozens of protesters with tear gas and arrested around 10 people in the Bè neighborhood, a stronghold of the opposition. Civil society groups and social media influencers had called for protests on June 26, 27, and 28, after the government's clampdown on protests early this month. A coalition of political groups known as 'Hands Off My Constitution' said in a Facebook post on Wednesday it 'strongly urges Faure Gnassingbé to immediately and unconditionally release all of the roughly one hundred political prisoners, and to take urgent measures to restore purchasing power to the population. It called for an 'unprecedented peaceful demonstration.' Togo's leader Faure Gnassingbé, who has ruled since 2005 after the death of his father, was in May sworn in as President of the Council of Ministers. The powerful role has not official term limits and he is eligible to be re-elected by parliament indefinitely. Opposition politicians have denounced the move as a 'constitutional coup.' Demonstrations are rare in Togo because they have been banned in the country since 2022 following a deadly attack at Lome's main market. But the latest change in government structure has been widely criticized in a region threatened by rampant coups and other threats to democracy.
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
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President Donald Trump said he wants to bring back a long-retired title: secretary of war. Why was it dropped in the first place? Trump brought up the idea of a name change while introducing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at a June 25 press conference in the Netherlands, which hosted this year's NATO summit. 'You know, it used to be called secretary of war,' the president said. 'Maybe for a couple of weeks we'll call it that because we feel like warriors.' 'In fact, if you look at the old building next to the White House, you can see where it used to be secretary of war,' Trump added. 'Then we became politically correct and they called it secretary of defense. Maybe we'll have to start thinking about changing it.' Here's why the secretary of war came to be known as the secretary of defense. Secretary of war The title of secretary of war dates back to the founding of the United States. In 1789, shortly after the U.S. Constitution was ratified, President George Washington signed legislation establishing the War Department, according to the Department of Defense. The new department was tasked with overseeing and maintaining the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, all of which were set up three years earlier. Washington chose Henry Knox, one of his aides during the Revolutionary War — and the namesake of Fort Knox — to serve as its first secretary. Then, less than a decade later, in 1798, the scope of the department shrank, when management of the Navy was handed over to the newly formed Navy Department. And, in 1834, the Marine Corps was moved under the Navy Department, leaving just the Army under the War Department. In 1879, following the Civil War, the War Department took up headquarters in the newly built Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It was then referred to as the State-War-Navy Building — as Trump referenced in his recent press conference. In 1947, during the aftermath of World War II, President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act, which combined the War and Navy Departments, as well as the newly formed Air Force, into one organization known as the National Military Establishment. This new organization was renamed the Department of Defense in 1949, according to Dartmouth University records. James Forrestal, who had previously served as the secretary of the Navy, then became the nation's first secretary of defense. This title has remained in use ever since then, with Hegseth being the country's 29th secretary of defense.
