PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, May 26: We look at reactions in the Senegalese and French press after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye appoints a new prime minister after firing his former mentor Ousmane Sonko. Also, papers react to Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on the dangers of AI and the need to "disarm". Finally, an Austrian paraglider survives a terrifying mid-air collision and Thai police officers pose in drag after a sting operation to arrest a drug smuggler.

In Senegal, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has appointed Ahmadou ‌Al Aminou Lo as prime minister after firing Ousmane Sonko as PM last week. Lo is an economist and former executive at the Central Bank of West African States, where according to Le Monde, he played an important role in shaping monetary and economic policies at a regional level. "An economist for prime minister," the Senegalese daily Le Soleil headlines, portraying him as a seasoned specialist who has been "at the heart of the government" since the first day of Faye's presidency.

Although this news is about the nomination of a new prime minister, it is also about the "breakup" between Faye and Sonko. The two men were very close: Faye even named one of his children after Sonko, his one-time mentor. As FRANCE 24 notes, Faye essentially became president because Sonko was barred from running. The suspension of a $1.8 billion IMF aid programme due to corruption allegations under former prime minister Macky Sall proved a turning point, however. The two men fell out over how to handle Senegal's public debt crisis – Faye wanted to discuss a new aid programme with the IMF, while Sonko favoured a more domestic, sovereign approach. For the pan-African magazine Jeune Afrique, Senegal has been preparing for months for this "breakup". It means that the president will have the tricky task of governing with a parliament that is largely loyal to Sonko. It's going to be a tough fight, one observer is quoted as saying.  

Moving on, there are lots of reactions in the press to Pope Leo's first encyclical, in which he warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence. In the encyclical – an open letter penned by the pope himself – he called for, among other things, government regulation of private AI companies, protection of workers' jobs, education to facilitate critical analysis of AI and action to protect children from harmful AI-generated content, as The New York Times notes. French paper La Croix reminds us that, with this letter, Pope Leo really became Pope Leo XIV. The encyclical follows in the footsteps of Pope Leo XIII, who wrote the encyclical "Rerum novarum" in 1891, addressing the condition of the working class. Times of London columnist Peter Schrank welcomes the encyclical, saying that allowing a few super-rich weird nerdy misfits to decide what is and isn't ethical would be madness. He hails the pope's comments that AI should be disarmed as a "historic intervention".

The Times of London also reports that a paraglider in Austria had a near-death experience at the weekend. She's now shared a video that has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. The paraglider, known as Sabrina, was gliding over the Austrian Alps when a Cessna 172 plane ripped through her chute, sending her plunging down with the sail. You can see her regaining control by activating her back-up chute and landing safely in a forest. She was visibly shaken but had nothing more than a few scratches and bruises. The pilot was also unharmed: according to him, he was unable to swerve in time. Sabrina had been gliding on her birthday – one she'll no doubt never forget! The video was uploaded to Instagram and has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

Finally, police officers in Thailand recently went uncover in drag to catch a suspected drug smuggler. Five burly male officers and one female officer dressed as a female dance troupe to ensnare their target during a street dance festival in the country. The officers then posed in their sequined outfits behind the suspect at the police station. They were clearly not ready to give those costumes back! As The Telegraph explains, Thai police have a habit of dressing up to catch their suspects, dressing up as lion dancers or even dragons for previous arrests.

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday