International
The debate from the inside: two podiums, stopwatch of lights and a thousand journalists in a stadium
The logistics of a presidential debate in the United States is not a simple thing and even less in the first and decisive face-to-face that democrat Joe Biden faces Republican Donald Trump this Thursday.
These are the studies inside where this historic day will be held in the city of Atlanta, which were already armored by the Police with several surrounding streets cut off to traffic.
The debate will begin at 9:00 p.m. local time (01:00 GMT on Friday) in a CNN television studio on the Techwood campus, in downtown Atlanta, with no public presence and will last 90 minutes with two advertising breaks.
The candidates, the oldest in history, will debate standing on two podiums separated by 2.4 meters and will have behind them a set with the slogan ‘CNN Presidential Debate’.
By lot, it was up to the Democratic campaign to choose the position of the candidates and opted for Biden to be on the right side of the television screen and Trump, on the left side.
Candidates will access the study by opposing entries and it is unknown if they will greet each other by shaking hands.
Right in front, the moderators of the debate, journalists Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, will be sitting at a table, who will ask the questions to the candidates and they will have two minutes to answer.
Biden and Trump will not have a stopwatch as such: above the cameras they will see lights that will turn yellow when they have 15 seconds left of their turn of speech, they will blink when five seconds remain and they will be red when their time has run out.
Only the microphone of the candidate who has the turn of the word will be turned on and his rival will have it off. Anything he says will be practically inaudible to viewers.
This is how it is tried to prevent the repetition of the screams and interruptions that led the two tense face-to-face between Biden and Trump of the 2020 elections.
None of the candidates will be able to talk to their advisors during the two breaks and they are prohibited from taking previous notes, although they will have a notebook and a pen to take notes.
About a thousand journalists from several dozen different countries have been accredited for the debate, a demonstration of the great international interest of this event, which could break audience records.
But the reporters will not be in the CNN studio, but in an adjoining basketball stadium, the Hank McCamish Pavilion, where the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets usually play.
It is not an unusual press room. Journalists work from the stands where spectators usually watch the matches, but this time what they will see on the giant screens of the stadium is the face-to-face between Biden and Trump.
The court where the games are played has been lined with a red carpet to house the famous ‘spin room’ and the programs of the major American television networks.
It will be in that space, where the advisors of both campaigns will walk to give interviews and pull arguments to convince journalists that their candidate was the clear winner of the day.
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
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Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
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