International
At least 29 Maoists killed in a confrontation in central India before the elections

At least 29 Maoist insurgents were killed and three members of the security forces were injured on Tuesday in a confrontation in the state of Chhattisgarh, in central India, three days before the start of the general elections.
“After receiving specific intelligence information, an operation was launched by the Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) and the District Reserve Guard (DRG). While the operation was underway, members of the Maoists opened fire and the BSF troops responded,” a spokesman for the border guards said in statements to the Indian Express newspaper.
The Inspector General of the Police of Bastar, Sundarraj, told the media that the security forces found after the confrontation the bodies of 29 Naxalite fighters, named because the movement was born after a revolt in the Bengali village of Naxalbari in 1967.
“There was also a large number of weapons and ammunition from the area. Three soldiers were injured in the confrontation and are out of danger,” Sundarraj added.
Active for half a century, especially in the so-called ‘red belt’ of India, a strip of territory that runs through the center and east of the country, Maoists seek to impose an agrarian revolution.
At least thirteen Maoist insurgents died in a confrontation with the security forces in the state of Chhatisgarh, in central India, a police source said on Wednesday, a clash that comes weeks before the general elections.
The confrontation comes just two weeks after at least thirteen Maoist insurgents died in another clash in the same region, and three days before the start of the general elections in India.
Next Friday, the Asian country will hold the first of the seven phases of a mammoth elections whose result is expected on June 4.
The powerful Indian Minister of the Interior, Amit Shah, said last Sunday during a rally in Chhattisgarh that if the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, obtains a third consecutive term in the elections “he will eradicate Naxalism in three years” in the region.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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