International

Venezuela’s electoral body calls the UN report on the presidential elections a “pamphlet”

The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela lamed this Wednesday a “pamphletary” the provisional report prepared by the panel of experts of the United Nations (UN), according to which the presidential elections of July 28 lacked the “basic measures of transparency and integrity that are essential to hold credible elections.”

In a statement, the CNE recalled that, as agreed with the UN, this document would have internal purposes, so its public disclosure violates the agreement and “demoverses the perverse political intentionality of such dissemination, composed of fallacious and disfigured arguments.”

“The content of this ‘report’ is a pamphlet document and its ‘expertise’ is absolutely crumbled in view of the poor and easily deniable arguments that they use to try to delegitimize the impeccable and transparent electoral process carried out on July 28,” says the election body.

In addition to repeatedly denying the document, the CNE insisted that since July 28 a “cyberterrorist attack” was carried out that continues and before which “the contingency protocols” were applied that allowed “to have a transmission of 80% of the minutes, with an irreversible result in favor” of President Nicolás Maduro.

In view of the lack of results disaggregated by voting center, which contradicts the established schedule, the CNE indicated that “the detailed disclosure could not be made” “for continuous attacks on the dissemination platforms, which are exposed to the internet,” in allusion to the institution’s website, which has been down for 17 days.

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In the opinion of the CNE – whose majority of authorities are alike Chavismo – the UN experts “shamelessly try to endorse the scam” of the majority opposition, which published “83.5%” of the electoral records on a website to support their complaint of fraud and ensure that their candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the elections by a large margin.

The entity stressed that the UN group “was not authorized to carry out audits on alleged records that do not have any level of legality, since they were not provided by the electoral body,” so “the ‘experts’ incur an act of illegality, by giving as valid” the ballots disclosed by anti-chavismo.

“With their political agenda against the Venezuelan people, these characters question the credibility and reliability of the UN, while mocking the trust placed in them by the Member States,” the letter concludes.

In addition to this panel, the Carter Center – which was also invited by the CNE as a supervisor of the presidential elections – considered that the elections cannot be considered democratic for violating the established standards.

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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.