International
US special election seen as litmus test on abortion rights
AFP
A US special election Tuesday is being viewed as the last bellwether of the public mood on abortion ahead of November’s midterms, as Democrats seek to make reproductive rights a key issue in the campaign.
Voters in upstate New York are choosing a candidate to serve the final months of Democrat Antonio Delgado’s term in the House of Representatives, after he quit to become the Empire State’s lieutenant governor.
The battle for New York’s 19th Congressional — a swing district wedged between New York City and state capital Albany — comes two months after the Supreme Court sparked nationwide protests by ending the federally-guaranteed right to abortion.
Democrat Pat Ryan has sought to turn the vote — the last US special election before November — into a referendum on abortion access.
He has accused Republican Marc Molinaro and his party, who are against such access, of being “too extreme on women’s rights.”
“Choice is the ballot, but we won’t go back. Freedom is under attack, but it’s ours to defend. Our democracy is fragile, but we will fight for it,” Ryan said in a statement on the eve of the ballot.
Molinaro has also followed his party’s main political talking points, including on inflation, highlighting spiralling living costs in a campaign that has seen millions of dollars funneled on advertising.
“We can send a message that enough is enough, that we care deeply about one another, that we are willing to work hard to solve the problems that face us, and that together we can overcome anything,” he said in his own election eve message.
President Joe Biden carried the district by fewer than two points in 2020, after Donald Trump took it by about seven points in 2016. Barack Obama won there in 2012.
Both candidates will be back on the ballot in November, but in different districts newly drawn in the latest round of redistricting.
The somewhat anachronistic system means Ryan — who has yet to be nominated to fight for a seat in the midterms — is on the ballot Tuesday in two districts for two separate seats for two different congresses.
New York is also holding several nominating contests — known as primary elections — including a vote pitting Democratic committee chairs Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney against one another.
In Florida, Democrats pick their candidate to challenge Governor Ron DeSantis in November.
US voters will decide control of Congress in the midterm elections, with all 435 House seats up for grabs, as well as 35 of the 100 Senate seats and the governor’s mansion in 36 out of 50 states.
International
Germany says football bodies alone will decide on possible World Cup boycott
The German Football Association (DFB) and FIFA will decide with full “autonomy” whether to boycott the upcoming World Cup, which will be hosted mainly by the United States in six months, following threats made by former U.S. president Donald Trump, the German government told AFP on Tuesday.
Trump has threatened to seize Greenland and impose higher tariffs on European countries that oppose the plan, raising political tensions between the United States and Europe.
“This assessment therefore lies with the relevant federations, in this case the DFB and FIFA. The federal government will respect that decision,” Sports State Secretary Christiane Schenderlein said in a statement emailed to AFP.
AFP had asked the German government about the possibility of a boycott of the World Cup to be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
“The federal government respects the autonomy of sport. Decisions regarding participation in major sporting events or possible boycotts fall exclusively within the responsibility of the relevant sports federations, not the political sphere,” said Schenderlein, a member of the conservative CDU, the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
International
Daily Mail publisher insists reports relied on legitimate sources amid privacy trial
Two British tabloids accused of phone hacking and other forms of “unlawful information gathering” against Prince Harry and six other individuals, including singer Elton John, insisted on Tuesday that their reporting relied on legitimate sources.
Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, sought to rebut allegations of privacy violations through illegal methods on the second day of trial at London’s High Court, following a lawsuit filed by the seven claimants.
Prince Harry, 41, who attended court hearings on both Monday and Tuesday, could be called to testify starting Wednesday in a trial expected to last up to nine weeks.
Lawyers for the claimants said the alleged illegal activities took place between 1993 and 2011, with some incidents reportedly extending as late as 2018. They argue that the tabloids hired private investigators to intercept phone calls and obtain confidential information, including detailed phone records, medical histories, and bank statements.
However, Anthony White, counsel for ANL, told the court that the trial would show the company presents “a compelling account of a pattern of lawful source acquisition” for its articles.
White added that the claims would require the court to believe that journalists and staff at the tabloids had engaged in widespread dishonesty, which the company strongly denies.
International
Death toll from southern Spain train crash rises to 40
The death toll from the train accident that occurred on Sunday in southern Spain has risen to 40, according to investigative sources cited by EFE on Monday afternoon.
Since early Monday, search operations have focused on the damaged carriages of a Renfe train bound for Huelva, which collided with the last derailed cars of an Iryo train traveling from Málaga to Madrid after it left the tracks.
The crash has also left more than 150 people injured. Of these, 41 remain hospitalized, including 12 in intensive care units at hospitals across the Andalusia region.
More than 220 Civil Guard officers are working at the site, searching the railway line and surrounding areas for key evidence to help identify victims and determine the causes of the accident.
The tragedy has revived memories of the deadliest railway disasters in Europe in recent decades. In Spain, the most severe occurred on July 24, 2013, when an Alvia train derailed near Santiago de Compostela, killing 80 people and injuring 130 others.
At the European level, the worst rail disaster took place on June 3, 1998, in Eschede, northern Germany, when a high-speed train struck a bridge pillar at 200 kilometers per hour, resulting in 98 deaths and 120 injuries.
Germany says football bodies alone will decide on possible World Cup boycott
Daily Mail publisher insists reports relied on legitimate sources amid privacy trial
Death toll from southern Spain train crash rises to 40
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
-
International4 days agoU.S. deportation flight returns venezuelans to Caracas after Maduro’s ouster
-
International2 days agoDeath toll from southern Spain train crash rises to 40
-
Central America3 days agoGuatemala prison uprisings leave 46 guards held by gangs
-
Central America2 days agoGuatemala raises police death toll to nine after gang violence escalates
-
International5 days agoCanada accuses Iran of killing its citizen during anti-government unrest
-
International2 days agoOver 160 christian worshippers kidnapped in Kaduna Church attacks
-
International5 days agoSheinbaum highlights anti-drug gains after U.S. says challenges remain
-
International3 days agoChile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires rage in Ñuble and Biobío
-
International4 days agoFormer South Korean President Yoon sentenced to five years in prison
-
International21 hours agoDaily Mail publisher insists reports relied on legitimate sources amid privacy trial
-
International20 hours agoGermany says football bodies alone will decide on possible World Cup boycott
-
International2 days agoSpain’s Prime Minister pledges transparency after train crash kills at least 39