International
The presidential candidates in Uruguay promised in a debate not to raise taxes
The candidates for the Presidency of Uruguay for the ruling National Party, Álvaro Delgado, and the opposition Frente Amplio, Yamandú Orsi, presented their proposals in a televised debate, in which both politicians promised that they would not raise taxes.
The debate between the candidates prior to the second round next Sunday, was broadcast on national radio and television, and is stipulated by Law 18,827, promulgated in September 2019.
A debate in Uruguay with counterpointing
It began with opposing messages from the aspirants. While Orsi pointed out that Uruguay is “a stagnant country,” Delgado pointed out that the government model ensures “future and development.”
“Next Sunday we will have to choose between two options: that of a stagnant country, that of unfulfilled promises or that of a sure change. A change that will certainly not be radical and that involves the well-being of our people,” said the Frenteamplista.
Delgado stressed: “Here two models of country are compared, a model that retreats with ideology and with uncertainties. And a model – ours – that ensures guarantee, certainties, future and development.”
From human development to work
In the 90-minute debate, the candidates presented their views on five thematic blocks: human development, security, economy, knowledge and work.
In the first of these, both agreed on the importance of giving “quality of life to citizens.”
In terms of security, Delgado pointed out that the current government will leave the next, for the first time since 1984, fewer crimes reported, something that was achieved, he said, by trust in the police.
Although he said that they are not satisfied with what has been achieved, he reviewed with a graph numbers in the decrease in robberies (42%), thefts (22%), abigeato (57%) and homicides (3%); he said that “is the way.”
In addition, he mentioned the importance of repression, rehabilitation and reintegration.
Orsi, for his part, spoke of the victims “fruit of violence” in Uruguay, and gave as an example that every 15 days a child enters a hospital for a gunshot wound.
In that sense, he said that the pillars of his security policy will be the active exercise of authority, the defense of victims of crime and crime, in addition, he supported the police and the incorporation of more technology.
When talking about the economy, the Frente Amplio candidate recalled that when that party governed, between 2005 and 2020, the Gross Domestic Product increased by 73.2%.
Taxes: key point
“We are not going to increase taxes. In this period in which I will have to be Government, we are especially going to support small and medium-sized enterprises,” Orsi said.
On the contrary, Delgado said that the Government of the Frente Amplio gave the country with an inflation “of almost two digits” and that currently this is half, while pointing out that the real salary “is the highest in 49 years.”
He also said that an eventual government headed by Orsi will raise taxes, since, he said, this is what the Frente Amplio program says, and that on the contrary the ruling coalition will not do it.
“We are not going to raise taxes, we are going to generate investment incentives and we are going to open Uruguay to the world with pragmatism and without ideology,” Delgado said.
Delgado added that he intends “a cheaper Uruguay to live and to produce.”
When Orsi intervened again, he reiterated that he will not raise taxes.
He spoke of unemployment in the country, detailed that unemployment at the level of young people is close to 26%, the highest in the region, he said.
The National Party candidate said, on the contrary, that the unemployment rate in the country is 8.1% and among young people it is almost 2.5% higher.
The final message
The debate, carried out exactly one week before the second round of the elections, closed with a final message from each of the candidates.
“Here people can buy two country models and two leaderships. Our model that is a model of certainties, with economic growth, with security, with guarantees and with freedom. And the other model that is to return to the past with a lot of ideology, with more uncertainty, with surely more taxes, but surely with less freedom and with many more risks,” Delgado said.
He offered his experience and added that he is prepared and tested to govern the country.
“There’s one week to go. You will all have to choose between two proposals, two projects: the one of broken promises or the country of commitments. The country of commitments is one that implies a sure change,” emphasized the opponent Orsi.
He reiterated that he wants to become the next president of the Uruguayans and that, just as he knew how to do it when he governed the department (province) of Canelones (2015-2024), he will know how to do it at the head of all of Uruguay.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
International
Seven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison
Seven inmates were killed and eleven others injured in a violent riot and clash inside a penitentiary in the Mexican state of Veracruz, local authorities reported on Sunday.
The disturbance began on Saturday afternoon at the Social Reintegration Center in the port city of Tuxpan, in northern Veracruz, when inmates staged a protest over extortion and assaults allegedly carried out by members of the criminal group known as Grupo Sombra.
The protesting prisoners clashed with another group of inmates and set fires inside and outside the facility, seizing control of the prison for more than 12 hours.
During the takeover, the rioters released several videos, including one showing four prisoners —believed to be members of Grupo Sombra— accusing them of being behind the violence and extortion inside the prison.
It wasn’t until Sunday morning that elements of the Mexican Army, the National Guard, and local police forces managed to enter the prison and regain control. The state’s Public Security Secretariat confirmed that around 9:00 a.m. local time a coordinated operation restored full order and reestablished control of the facility.
Authorities also reported that the fires set by inmates were fully extinguished.
Official figures confirmed the “tragic” deaths of seven inmates and injuries to eleven people, who are now receiving medical treatment in various regional hospitals.
This is the second deadliest riot in Veracruz in the past eight years. In 2018, a violent uprising at the La Toma medium-security prison left seven people dead (six police officers and one unidentified man) and at least 22 injured (15 officers and seven inmates).
The riot follows the kidnapping and killing of retired teacher and taxi driver Irma Hernández, a case that shocked the entire country and was attributed to Grupo Sombra. Images of Hernández kneeling, surrounded by armed men in the municipality of Álamo, sparked nationwide outrage. She was murdered after refusing to pay extortion demands from the criminal organization.
Despite these incidents, Veracruz has not seen a spike in the daily homicide average. In fact, there has been a 1.6% decrease in homicides in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.
In 2023, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported 3,094 incidents in Mexican prisons —an 18.5% increase from the previous year— resulting in 100 deaths and 892 injuries.
International
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
COVID-19 vaccines prevented an estimated 2,533,000 deaths worldwide between 2020 and 2024, according to an international study led by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy and Stanford University in the United States, published in the journal JAMA Health Forum. Researchers calculated that one death was prevented for every 5,400 doses administered.
The analysis also found that the vaccines saved 14.8 million years of life, equivalent to one year of life gained for every 900 doses given.
The study, coordinated by Professor Stefania Boccia, revealed that 82% of the lives saved were people vaccinated before becoming infected with the virus, and 57% of deaths avoided occurred during the Omicron wave. In addition, 90% of the beneficiaries were adults over 60 years old.
“This is the most comprehensive analysis to date, based on global data and fewer assumptions about the evolution of the pandemic,” explained Boccia and researcher Angelo Maria Pezzullo.
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