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Colombians protest against tax reform bill

Photo: Raul Aeboleda / AFP

| By AFP |

Thousands of Colombians rallied nationwide Saturday against a proposed reform that would raise taxes on the upper classes to pay for social programs.

The legislation is being pushed by President Gustavo Petro, the South American country’s first elected leftist president.

“Today, we ask the government to take into account the productive sector of the country, to understand that tax reform is not needed in the way they are doing it,” businessman Alvaro Aparicio, 58, told AFP in Bogota.

Wearing white and waving the national flag, people also took to the streets in Cali, Barranquilla, Medellin and other cities against the bill pushed by Petro, who took office in August.

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Congress is debating the reform, which would raise taxes on the upper classes to finance programs to fight poverty and inequality.

Meanwhile, Colombia like other countries around the world is enduring high inflation, as well as an historic devaluation of the peso against the dollar. Unemployment stands at 10.6 percent.

Petro campaigned on a platform of raising taxes on the rich, stopping oil exploration and distributing fertile land among landless farmers.

Former right-wing president Ivan Duque (2018-2022) faced massive protests in 2019, 2020 and 2021. 

The bloodiest occurred last year, when the then president tried to tax the middle class to deal with the ravages of the pandemic.

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This sparked violent demonstrations that lasted two months and left 46 dead, including civilians and police, according to the UN.

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International

Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka

Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.

The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.

An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.

The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.

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Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.

Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.

Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.

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Internacionales

Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages

May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.

In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.

Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.

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International

Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.

During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.

“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.

“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”

Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.

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On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.

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