Briefly

GABON

Voters go to polls to elect new president

Voters in Gabon went to the polls on Saturday to elect a president in its first presidential election since a coup two years ago, marking the final phase of the country's political transition and the anticipated return to constitutional order. Transitional President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, who led the coup that ousted former president Ali Bongo Ondimba, is among the eight candidates. Nguema resigned from his military post to participate in the election. His main challenger is Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze, former prime minister under the Bongo administration.

UNITED STATES

Senate OKs Dan Caine as top military officer

The US Senate approved Donald Trump's nominee to be the nation's top military officer on Friday after the president abruptly fired the previous chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff this year. Lawmakers signed off on Dan Caine's nomination and promotion to four-star general in a vote of 60 to 25 ahead of a two-week recess. Trump administration has dismissed a series of senior officers as part of a rare and major shake-up of top US military leadership that began shortly after he returned to office in January.

Agencies - Xinhua