International
Zelenski asks for “guarantees” from the US, the EU and Turkey for a possible peace agreement with Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky advanced this Tuesday in Ankara, moments before his meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will ask for “security guarantees” from the United States, the European Union and Turkey for any peace agreement reached with Russia.
“As a country, we want peace, we want the war to end. But we want the end of the war to be based on certain security guarantees,” Zelenski said in an interview with the Turkish agency Anadolu.
“We hope that these security guarantees will be offered by the United States, the European Union, Turkey and the whole of Europe,” specified the Ukrainian president, whose meeting with Erdogan is simultaneous to the beginning of the United States’ negotiations with Russia in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
By also referring to “all of Europe”, Zelenski also seems to ask for guarantees from other countries such as the United Kingdom or Norway, which have given great support to Ukraine but are not partners of the EU.
The Ukrainian president said he would like to “see Turkey involved” in the peace process “if Turkey can offer Ukraine the necessary security guarantees,” and stressed Ankara’s role as a mediator with Moscow in the past
At the same time, Zelenski ruled out officially ceding parts of Ukrainian territory to Russia.
“We will never, under any circumstances, recognize that our temporarily occupied territories are part of Russia. They are part of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president told the aforementioned agency.
He also insisted that neither in past negotiations had he accepted an “ultimatum” and that he would not accept it now.
The president stressed that, as the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had told him in a telephone conversation held yesterday, the current negotiations do not deal with the issue of prisoners of war, which he considered fundamental.
“If a truce is negotiated, first of all, our people must be allowed to return,” Zelenski said.
The president made these statements during an inauguration ceremony of a new building of the Ukrainian embassy in Ankara, moments before starting his meeting with Erdogan at the presidential palace.
He stressed the presence at the event of a delegation of Crimean Tatars, a Turkish-speaking ethnic group that Ankara considers persecuted by the Russian authorities, and thanked Turkey and Qatar for their help in promoting the release of Tatar political prisoners in Crimea.
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.
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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