International

Former candidate Márquez asks the Supreme Court of Venezuela for an investigation of the electoral body

Former Venezuelan opposition candidate Enrique Márquez asked the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on Friday for an investigation for “conspiracy” of the National Electoral Council (CNE), which ratified President Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the July 28 presidential elections, a result questioned inside and outside the country.

“We accuse (…) the rectors of a serious crime, which is a conspiracy to destroy the bases of the republic, based on an alleged check (which affected – according to the CNE – the transmission of the results of the elections),” said Márquez, who made this request through a document that he consigned to the TSJ.

The former candidate expressed his “conviction” that the “five main rectors of the CNE are committing a criminal offense (…) by violating the popular sovereignty contained in the suffrage.”

Likewise, he asked for “counting the votes”, since “it is not enough” to publish the results, something that the CNE has not yet done.

“In the face of that immense doubt (…), I demand that the court generate a vote-by-vote count, order the CNE, or that the court do so. That he orders to bring all the boxes, all the electoral ballot boxes, because there it is (…) the vote of the Venezuelans to check what has happened,” Márquez said.

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He recalled that, in 2013, the opponent Henrique Capriles asked the CNE to “open all the boxes” after losing the Presidency to Maduro, and the electoral institution allowed it.

Márquez said that next week he will go to the Prosecutor’s Office to request “an investigation” to “determine if there is a criminal offense” in the “way the CNE has behaved.”

“The CNE is jailed, but the cyber system is not under check, it is politically under a check,” said the opponent, who criticized that, after almost two weeks of the elections, the electoral entity has not published the disaggregated results, but “it can take them, supposedly, to the Electoral Chamber.”

This Thursday, Márquez attended an appearance before the TSJ, after this institution accepted a contentious appeal introduced by Maduro to “certify” the electoral results.

However, the opponent said that he was “surprised” by an audience that was “emputy,” since he was not asked any questions or allowed to “establish any type of verbal communication.”

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“I was not asked for (the) minutes, I was not asked for anything. Everything was very strange, I confess it. And when I left I realized that the media had been put in a place, to which I did not have access. That’s why the press conference,” he reported.

He said that the contentious appeal “does not exist” and the “procedure they are using either.”

“We asked the (Electoral) Chamber to restore justice in this case. The president cannot exercise this type of resource and we make it clear in the document. We also made it clear (…) that the TSJ should never have accepted that document to the president. It is inadmissible because of all the vices it has (…). The Electoral Chamber is not acting in accordance with our Constitution and the laws,” he said.

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.

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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.

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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.