International
Iran’s parliamentary elections conclude after 16 hours amid low turnout concerns
Iran closed polling stations at midnight after 16 hours and three extensions of the voting period in parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, dominated by conservatives amid popular discontent threatening low turnout.
Around 60,000 polling stations opened at 8 a.m. local time (04:30 GMT) nationwide and closed at midnight local time (20:30 GMT) after three extensions of the initially planned schedule, reported Iran’s Electoral Commission.
Some 15,200 candidates – including 1,713 women – are competing for the 290 seats in Parliament, while 144 clerics are running for the 88 Assembly of Experts positions, the body that selects Iran’s Supreme Leader in case of vacancy.
This body is elected every eight years and could play a decisive role in this term, as Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, is already 84 years old.
The elections come dominated by the conservative bloc, which now holds a parliamentary majority, following the disqualification of numerous reformist candidates, casting doubt on the freedom of the elections and, in some cases, calling for a boycott.
Khamenei was the first Iranian to cast his ballot in a televised event, calling once again for voting to “disappoint the enemies” amid apparent voter indifference.
“Make our friends happy and disappoint our enemies. Please vote,” said the Iranian Supreme Leader.
In contrast, hundreds of activists, politicians, students, and professors have called for abstention in the elections, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who views the boycott as “a moral obligation for Iranians who love freedom and seek justice.”
Participation
Polls indicate turnout between 30% and 41%, compared to the 42% in the 2020 parliamentary elections, the lowest level in the history of the Islamic Republic, which has always attached great importance to a high number of votes as proof of its legitimacy and popular support.
Thus, these elections gauge the level of discontent among the population with the Islamic Republic after police repression against protests sparked by the 2022 death of young Mahsa Amini after being detained for not wearing the Islamic veil properly, with 500 protesters killed in clashes with security forces.
Chosen and Forced Vote
From newlyweds voting in Saveh, near Tehran, to a taxi driver in Gorgan claiming to have persuaded 250 undecided voters to cast ballots, people across Iran expressed varying sentiments about the electoral process.
“I voted to show my support for the Islamic Republic and to frustrate the enemies. Our participation shows the world that the system has a lot of public support,” said 52-year-old homemaker Fatemeh in central Tehran.
At a polling station in downtown Tehran, about 10 people waited to vote, a situation similar to the four centers visited by EFE.
However, 56-year-old government employee Ali Reza expressed a different opinion, stating, “I voted against my will. In companies, especially government ones, they always monitor who has voted and who hasn’t.”
Protests
Amid the election day, singer Shervin Hajipour announced a sentence of three years and eight months in prison for “propaganda against the system and incitement to disturbances” due to his song “Baraye” (For), the anthem of protests.
The song’s chorus, “Woman, life, freedom,” echoed in Iran during the months of protests calling for the end of the Islamic Republic.
This sentiment remains strong among many in Iran, especially youth and women.
“Voting in the elections of the Islamic Republic would make me an accomplice to its crimes,” said Maryam to EFE days before the elections in Tehran.
International
Ecuador declares state of emergency in five provinces to combat organized crime
The Ecuadorian government has declared a state of exception in the provinces of El Oro, Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, and Santa Elena for 60 days to combat organized armed groups amid escalating hostilities, according to Executive Decree 250 published on Tuesday.
The Armed Forces and National Police are jointly working to “maintain sovereignty and the integrity of the state.”
With this measure, the right to inviolability of the home has been suspended, meaning security authorities are permitted to conduct inspections, raids, and searches on properties where they believe members associated with armed groups may be hiding.
Authorities will also seize “materials or instruments” that could be used to commit crimes to neutralize threats.
In response to the criminal activity in the territory, the government will also establish an Anti-Criminal Investigation Force in the coming days aimed at reducing intentional homicides.
The national director of Crimes Against Life, Violent Deaths, Disappearances, Extortion, and Kidnapping of the National Police (Dinased), Freddy Sarzosa, noted that the main cause of criminal violence is linked to drug and arms trafficking.
International
Argentine president criticizes spanish PM amidst political row
Argentine President Javier Milei sharply criticized Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, suggesting he “has more significant issues to address,” in response to comments made by Spain’s Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, on Friday.
“The government of Pedro Sánchez has more significant issues to deal with, such as the corruption allegations against his wife, a matter that even led him to consider resignation,” stated Argentine President Javier Milei.
In this regard, the Argentine leader expressed his expectation that the judiciary would act “swiftly” in this corruption case, which he mentioned “affects the stability” of Spain and relations between the two nations.
Moreover, Milei accused Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of “endangering” the unity of Spain by “negotiating with separatists,” harming women by “allowing illegal immigration of those who threaten their physical integrity,” and damaging the middle class through “socialist policies that only bring poverty and death.”
The Argentine presidency issued these statements in response to remarks from Spain’s Minister of Transport and Mobility, Óscar Puente, who accused Milei of “substance ingestion,” which the Argentine presidency labeled as “slander and libel.”
“I saw Milei on TV and, hearing him, I couldn’t tell in what state he was in, before or after the ingestion of whatever substances, and he came out to say that and I thought, it’s impossible that he wins the elections, he’s dug his own grave, but no,” Puente declared at a colloquium on communication and social media held this Friday in Salamanca.
International
The death toll of the devastating floods in Kenya amounts to 210
The death toll from the devastating floods caused by the torrential rains that hit Kenya since mid-March amounted to 210, while about 165,500 people have been displaced, the Kenyan Ministry of the Interior reported on Friday.
The total death toll increased after 22 more deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours, the Ministry said in a statement collected by local media.
Likewise, the injured and missing remain at 125 and 90, respectively, and a total of 196,000 have been affected by the floods throughout the country, immersed in the long rainy season, which has especially hit the center, south and west of its territory.
To respond to this crisis, the Ministry said, the Kenyan authorities have created at least 115 camps distributed in 19 of the 47 counties of Kenya, where more than 27,500 people have taken refuge.
The Government published these data after the Kenyan Minister of the Interior, Kithure Kindiki, urged on Thursday to move all Kenyans who reside in areas vulnerable to landslides or near dams and rivers.
In a message published on social network X late on Thursday, Kindiki pointed out that all neighbors in those areas are “ordered” to “leave these areas immediately” in the next 24 hours, before a “mandatory evacuation” is launched.
“The Government has adopted adequate measures to provide temporary accommodation, as well as essential food and non-food supplies to all those who will be affected by the eviction,” the minister said.
The truth is, however, that, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization, the Government of Kenya did not act in time or respond adequately to the serious floods, despite the weather predictions it had.
In a statement released on Thursday, the NGO warned that the destruction caused by the rains “has exacerbated socioeconomic vulnerabilities” by more severely hitting the poor population, rural residents, the elderly and people with disabilities.
In the same vein, a report by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) published on Tuesday pointed out that the storms have aggravated the lack of food in Kenya to the point that about two million Kenyans need food aid.
Severe storms will last at least until next week, and the rains will continue to be intense during this month, according to the prediction of the Department of Meteorology of Kenya.
In recent years, the long rainy season, which runs from March to May and also affects other countries in East Africa, has been intensified by the El Niño weather phenomenon, a change in atmospheric dynamics caused by the increase in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean.
The west, center and south of the country – including the capital, Nairobi – have so far taken the worst part, and the overflow of a river on Monday especially hit Nakuru County, where at least 71 people died as a result of the tragedy.
Ecuador declares state of emergency in five provinces to combat organized crime
Argentine president criticizes spanish PM amidst political row
The death toll of the devastating floods in Kenya amounts to 210
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
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
International2 days agoThe United States accuses Russia of using chemical weapons against Ukraine
-
International2 days ago‘Gaby’ Carrizo, the unpopular ruling presidential candidate for the Presidency of Panama
-
International2 days agoTrump promises the largest deportation of migrants in history, “they are going to destroy the country”
-
International2 days agoRussia destroys postal infrastructure in Odessa in another ballistic missile attack
-
International2 days agoThe trial against Daniel Sancho in Thailand concludes and the reading of the sentence is set for August 29
-
International2 days agoTrump defends that each state can legislate on abortion after the restriction in Florida
-
International1 day agoDeaths in Gaza rise to 34,622, after the deaths of 26 people in the last few hours
-
International3 days agoThe Biden administration will forgive $6.1 billion in debt of art students
-
International1 day agoThe death toll of the devastating floods in Kenya amounts to 210
-
International1 day agoZelenski informs David Cameron of the course of the war in Ukraine
-
International1 day agoDenmark will raise the limit for abortion from 12 to 18 weeks
-
International1 day agoStarmer asks Sunak to call elections after the Labour advance in the municipal elections
-
International2 days agoA reputed surgeon from Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital dies in an Israeli prison
-
International2 days agoThe polling stations open in the municipal by-elections in England
-
International1 day agoAt least 20 dead and 21 injured when a bus crashed through a ravine in Pakistan
-
International3 days agoUS lawmakers threaten reprisals to the ICC if it issues orders against Israel
-
International3 days agoBlinken praises a truce proposal and Netanyahu gets stuck in his rejection at the end of the war
-
International13 hours agoEcuador declares state of emergency in five provinces to combat organized crime
-
International13 hours agoArgentine president criticizes spanish PM amidst political row
-
International3 days agoIsrael compares the protests in Columbia at the UN with a passage from Nazi Germany
-
International3 days agoNew York Police surround the protest of the Columbia University campus
-
International3 days agoNew York puts 282 detainees in pro-Palestinian university protests with “external agitators”
-
International3 days agoThe United States will take a historic step by classifying marijuana as a low-risk drug
-
International3 days agoThe debate is growing about whether student protests in the US are anti-Semitic or anti-war
-
Internacionales3 days agoPetro denounces missing more than one million projectiles and ammunition from military bases