International

The vote count begins in Ireland with the three major parties tied

The vote count in Ireland, after the general elections last Friday, began this Saturday with the three major parties of the country in an apparent technical tie and exploring government pacts waiting to know the final result.

The vote count started at 9:00 a.m. GMT this Saturday, after a voting day in which the majority of the electorate, of almost 3.7 million, divided their first preferences between the leftist Sinn Féin of Mary Lou McDonald, the Christian Democrat Fine Gael of the Prime Minister, Simon Harris, and the centrist Fianna Fáil of Michál Martin.

Results according to a survey at the foot of the ballot box

According to a poll at the ballot box of the public broadcaster RTE and the newspaper ‘The Irish Times’, the three formations obtained 21.1%, 20% and 19.5% of the votes, respectively.

The campaign director of Fianna Fáil, Jack Chambers, said today that it is still early to guess who will win, since it will depend largely on the transfer of votes between candidates, as allowed by the complex Irish electoral system.

The centrist leader insisted, however, that his party does not contemplate a government pact with Sinn Féin, former political arm of the IRA, which indicates that they could reissue the historic coalition of the last legislature with the Fine Gael, in which the Greens also entered, who now obtain 4%.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20250501_vacunacion-influenza-728x90

20250501_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

Chambers highlighted that the aforementioned poll indicates that 35% of voters want their leader, Micheál Martin, to be the next ‘taoiseach’ (prime minister), while McDonald gets 34% and Simon 27%, in line with his drop in popularity during the campaign.

For her part, the nationalist leader has assured that she will seek support in the space of the left, a path that did not work for Sinn Féin after the 2020 elections, when it was the most voted, but remained one seat away from the Fianna Fáil.

In this regard, the leftist People Before Profit-Solidarity (PBP-S) criticized McDonald’s strategy today to ask for transfers of votes from his party to progressive candidates.

Its leader, Richard Boyd Barrett, who obtained 3.1%, maintained that Sinn Féin took too long to offer a “real alternative” of government in the face of the “obvious and historical decline” of centrists and Christian Democrats, rivals since the Civil War (1922-1923) and who have shared power since then.

Forced to look for pacts

With so much equality, the three parties are obliged to seek pacts between themselves and/or with other minority forces, while Harris and Martin have been in favor of re-editing, if needed, the pact of the last legislature.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20250501_vacunacion-influenza-728x90

20250501_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

The three leaders could also look at the independent bloc, which obtains 14.6% of the votes, while formations such as the Labor Party and the Social Democrat receive 5 and 5.8%, respectively, and run as possible partners.

Most likely, according to observers, Martin and Harris will join forces again, although their number of seats will determine who leads the negotiations and who will be the new ‘taoiseach’, a position that could be rotating again.

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.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20250501_vacunacion-influenza-728x90

20250501_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

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.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20250501_vacunacion-influenza-728x90

20250501_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

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.