Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced/node/2571939/world
Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
The president of the National Assembly Jorge Rodriguez shows the alleged letter from opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia during a press conference at the National Assembly in Caracas on September 18, 2024. (AFP)
Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
Updated 19 September 2024
AFP
CARACAS: Venezuela’s opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia said Wednesday he had been coerced into signing a letter distributed by Venezuelan authorities in which he supposedly conceded election defeat to strongman President Nicolas Maduro.
In the letter, dated September 7 and addressed to parliamentary leader Jorge Rodriguez, Gonzalez Urrutia said “I respect” the regime-aligned CNE electoral council’s proclamation of Maduro as the winner of the July 28 vote.
But on Wednesday, the 75-year-old retired diplomat published a message on X from Madrid, where he was given asylum after weeks in hiding in Venezuela, saying he was made to sign the letter in exchange for being allowed to leave.
Maduro aides brought him the letter at the Spanish embassy in Caracas and “I had to either sign it or deal with the consequences.”
Gonzalez Urrutia added “there were very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure. At that point I considered I could be of more use free than if I were imprisoned.”
The letter, he said, was worthless as it was tainted by “coercion.”
Within hours of polls closing, the CNE declared Maduro the victor with 52 percent of votes cast.
The opposition immediately cried foul and dozens of countries refused to recognize Maduro’s claim to a third six-year term unless the CNE published a detailed vote breakdown, which it has not.
The United States has said there was “overwhelming evidence” that Gonzalez Urrutia had won.
The opposition presented its own figures based on polling station-level counts which it says proves Gonzalez Urrutia won by a landslide.
Gonzalez Urrutia vowed on Wednesday that “as the president elected by millions and millions of Venezuelans who voted for change, democracy and peace, I will not be silenced.”
He left for Spain under the cloud of an arrest warrant condemned by the international community for “serious crimes” related to his insistence that Maduro had stolen the vote.
Gonzalez Urrutia had ignored three successive summonses to appear before prosecutors investigating him for alleged crimes including “usurpation” of public functions, “forgery” of a public document, incitement to disobedience and sabotage.
The charges stem from the opposition’s publication of voting results, which the government says only authorized institutions have the right to do.
The CNE has said it cannot publish the voting records as hackers had corrupted the data, though observers have said there was no evidence of such interference.
Gonzalez Urrutia replaced opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on the ballot at the last minute after she was barred from running by institutions loyal to the Maduro regime.
She, too, has been mostly in hiding since the vote, except for appearing at a handful of organized demonstrations.
Maduro has said both Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado belong “behind bars,” blaming them for the deaths of 25 civilians and two soldiers in protests that broke out spontaneously after his alleged victory was announced.
Nearly 200 people were injured and more than 2,400 arrested.
Maduro has managed to cling to power despite sanctions stepped up after his 2018 reelection, also dismissed as a sham by dozens of countries.
DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
Since the start of the year, DR Congo has recorded more than 30,000 mpox cases, with 988 deaths
Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba only "people most at risk" are to be vaccinated
Updated 06 October 2024
AFP
GOMA, DR Congo: The Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of an mpox epidemic, launched a vaccination campaign against the virus on Saturday in the eastern city of Goma, AFP journalists said.
The launch, initially scheduled for last Wednesday, was delayed by three days amid logistical difficulties delivering the vaccines across the sprawling, infrastructure-poor central African country.
The first vaccines were administered to hospital staff, with the program due to target the general population from Monday in the east of the country, where the current outbreak started a year ago.
"As a doctor, I'm on the front line and in constant contact with those who are sick... I want to protect myself," the first to be vaccinated, Jeannine Muhavi, told journalists.
Local health officials and NGO workers had set up large tents to administer the vaccines, unfurling banners with the message: "mpox exists."
Romain Muboyayi, chief of staff at the health ministry, said Saturday in Goma the country would lead a "full-out combat" against this "treatable and avoidable disease".
In a posting on X, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the vaccination campaign adds "a crucial measure to complement ongoing outbreak control efforts and protect lives."
The DRC has so far received 265,000 vaccine doses, including donations from the United States and European Union.
But it is still waiting for millions more promised doses to arrive from France, Japan and the United States.
Since the start of the year, the country, one of the world's poorest, has recorded more than 30,000 mpox cases, with 988 deaths, according to Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba.
Seventy percent of the deaths have been children under five.
"It will not be a mass vaccination campaign... the strategy is to vaccinate people most at risk," Kamba told a press conference Friday in the capital, Kinshasa.
"As you can imagine, in a country of 100 million people, we're not going to solve the problem with 265,000 doses."
He said the aim was to target priority groups, such as those with existing health conditions and medical workers.
The DRC's current vaccine doses, manufactured by Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic, are only intended for adults.
The DRC has been in talks to secure further supplies from Japan, where another mpox vaccine has been approved for use on both adults and children.
Japan has promised to send three million doses, Kamba said.
President Joe Biden said last month the United States plans to donate one million doses of the mpox vaccine to African nations.
"We are ready to commit $500 million to help African countries prevent and respond to mpox and to donate one million doses of mpox vaccine, now," he told the UN General Assembly in New York.
The WHO said Friday it had approved the use of the first diagnostic test for mpox.
The test allows for the detection of the virus from swabs taken from human lesions.
Kamba said the WHO had pledged around 4,500 tests for the DRC, but did not give an arrival date.
Scientists discovered the disease, formerly called monkeypox, in 1958 in Denmark among monkeys kept for research.
It was first spotted in humans in 1970 in what is now the DRC.
The disease can cause painful rashes, fever, aches and lethargy, and in some cases can be deadly.
Mpox has been detected in 16 African countries so far this year, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
The virus gained international prominence in May 2022, when a strain known as clade 2b spread around the world, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men.
In July 2022, the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, its highest level of alarm.
The virus is currently circulating in 16 African countries, according to Africa CDC.
UN chief calls for end to ‘shocking violence’ on Hamas attack anniversary
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry
Hamas militants abducted 251 people on October 7, 97 of whom are still captive in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military has said are dead
Updated 06 October 2024
AFP
UNITED NATIONS, United States: The UN secretary-general denounced Hamas and called for an immediate end to the “shocking violence and bloodshed” in Gaza and Lebanon in a statement Saturday ahead of the anniversary of the Palestinian group’s October 7 attack.
Monday marks one year since the devastating assault on Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, with Lebanon now also pulled into the fray and world leaders warning of a potential all-out regional crisis.
“This is a day for the global community to repeat in the loudest voice our utter condemnation of the abhorrent acts of Hamas, including the taking of hostages,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said in an anniversary message released Saturday evening.
While demanding the hostages’ “immediate and unconditional release,” Guterres also implored Hamas to allow the hostages to be visited by Red Cross personnel.
Hamas militants abducted 251 people on October 7, 97 of whom are still captive in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military has said are dead.
Guterres additionally voiced concern over the conflict spreading to Lebanon, where Israel in recent days has pounded the Hamas-allied group Hezbollah, killing over a thousand people and forcing more than a million to flee their homes.
“The war that has followed the terrible attacks of one year ago continues to shatter lives and inflict profound human suffering for Palestinians in Gaza, and now the people of Lebanon,” Guterres said.
The October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive on Gaza has so far killed at least 41,825 people, a majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory. The UN has said those figures are reliable.
“Since October 7th, a wave of shocking violence and bloodshed has erupted,” said Guterres.
“It is time for the release of the hostages,” he said. “Time to silence the guns. Time to stop the suffering that has engulfed the region. Time for peace, international law and justice.”
Russian prosecutors seek 7-year sentence for US man accused of fighting for Ukraine
In Russia, participating in mercenary activities is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of 7-15 years
Updated 06 October 2024
AP
MOSCOW: Russian prosecutors asked for a seven-year sentence in the trial of a US citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine against Russia, Russian news agencies reported Saturday.
Prosecutors asked the court to take into account 72-year-old Stephen Hubbard’s age and said he has admitted guilt, according to Interfax. They asked that Hubbard serve the sentence in a maximum-security penal colony.
In Russia, participating in mercenary activities is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of 7-15 years.
Prosecutors accuse Hubbard of signing a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, for which he allegedly was to receive at least $1,000.
He reportedly underwent training, received a personal firearm and fought in the Ukrainian military as a mercenary until April 2022, when he was detained by the Russian military.
The US Embassy in Moscow told The Associated Press it was “aware of the reports of the arrest of an American citizen,” but said it could not comment any further “due to privacy restrictions”.
Russian courts convict more than 99 percent of defendants, and prosecutors can appeal sentences that they regard as too lenient.
Arrests of Americans have become increasingly common in Russia in recent years. Concern has risen that Russia could be targeting US nationals for arrest to later use as bargaining chips in talks to bring back Russians convicted of crimes in the US and Europe.
The US and Russia in August completed their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a deal involving 24 people, many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries who released Russians in their custody as part of the exchange. Several US citizens remain behind bars in Russia following the swap.
Trump returns to site of Pennsylvania assassination attempt for a major swing-state rally
Musician Lee Greenwood appeared on stage and serenaded him with “God Bless the USA”
Billionaire Elon Musk plays starring role as he joins Trump's campaign rally
Updated 06 October 2024
AP
BUTLER, Pennsylvania: Donald Trump returned on Saturday to the Pennsylvania fairgrounds where he was nearly assassinated in July, holding a sprawling rally before a massive crowd in a critical swing state Trump hopes to return to his column in November’s election.
The former president and Republican nominee picked up where he left off in July when a gunman tried to assassinate him and struck his ear. He began his speech with, “As I was saying,” and gestured toward an immigration chart he was looking at when the gunfire began.
The Trump campaign worked to maximize the event’s headline-grabbing potential with just 30 days to go and voting already underway in some states in his race against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Musician Lee Greenwood appeared on stage and serenaded him with “God Bless the USA,” frequently played at his rallies, and billionaire Elon Musk spoke for the first time at a Trump rally.
“We fought together. We have endured together. We have pushed onward together,” Trump said. “And right here in Pennsylvania, we have bled together. We’ve bled.”
Trump needs to drive up voter turnout in conservative strongholds like Butler County, an overwhelmingly white, rural-suburban community, if he wants to win Pennsylvania in November. Harris, too, has targeted her campaign efforts at Pennsylvania, rallying there repeatedly as part of her aggressive outreach in critical swing states.
At the beginning of the rally, Trump asked for a moment of silence to honor firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died as he shielded family members from gunfire. Opera singer Christopher Macchio sang “Ave Maria” after a bell rung at the same time that gunfire began on July 13.
Standing behind protective glass that now encases the stage at his outdoor rallies, Trump called the would-be assassin “a vicious monster” and said he did not succeed “by the hand of providence and the grace of God.” There was a very visible heightened security presence, with armed law enforcers in camouflage uniforms on roofs.
One of the most anticipated guests of the evening was Musk, who climbed onto the stage on Saturday jumping and pumping his fists in the air after Trump introduced him as a “great gentleman” and said he “saved free speech.”
“President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,” said Musk, who endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt. “This is a must-win situation.”
Musk, who bought Twitter and rebranded it as X and has embraced conservative politics, met with Trump and Vance backstage, donning a black “Make America Great Again” hat. A billboard on the way into the rally said, “IN MUSK WE TRUST,” and showed his photo.
A fired up Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show on Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP)
Earlier on Saturday, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, got on stage and reflected on the events that day while severely criticizing Democrats for calling Trump “a threat to democracy,” saying that kind of language is “inflammatory.”
“You heard the shots. You saw the blood. We all feared the worst. But you knew everything would be OK when President Trump raised his fist high in the air and shouted, ‘Fight, fight!’” said Vance, who was chosen as his vice presidential nominee less than two days later. “Now I believe it as sure as I’m standing here today that what happened was a true miracle.”
Crowds were lined up as the sun rose Saturday. A massive crowd packed bleachers, folding chairs and the expansive field stretching to the venue’s edges. Area hotels, motels and inns were said to be full and some rallygoers arrived Friday.
Much of the crowd waited several hours for Trump. About half an hour into his speech, Trump paused his speech for more than five minutes after an attendee had a medical issue and needed a medic.
Trump used the event to remember Comperatore, the volunteer firefighter struck and killed at the July 13 rally, and to recognize the two other rallygoers injured, David Dutch and James Copenhaver. They and Trump were struck when 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from an unsecured rooftop nearby before he was fatally shot by sharpshooters.
The building from which Crooks fired was completely obscured by tractor-trailers, a large grassy perimeter and a fence. Most bleachers were now at the sides, rather than behind Trump.
How Crooks managed to outmaneuver law enforcement that day and scramble on top of a building within easy shooting distance of the ex-president is among many questions that remain unanswered about the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. Another is his motive.
Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger told WPXI-TV this week that “everyone is doubling down on their efforts to make sure this is done safely and correctly.”
Mike Slupe, the county sheriff, told the station he estimates the Secret Service, was deploying ”quadruple the assets” it did in July. The agency has undergone a painful reckoning over its handling of two attempts on Trump’s life.
Butler County, on the western edge of a coveted presidential swing state, is a Trump stronghold. He won the county with about 66 percent of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. About 57 percent of the county’s 139,000 registered voters are Republicans, compared with about 29 percent who are Democrats and 14 percent something else.
Chris Harpster, 30, of Tyrone, Pennsylvania, was accompanied by his girlfriend on Saturday as he returned to the scene. Of July 13, he said, “I was afraid” — as were his parents, watching at home, who texted him immediately after the shots rang out.
Heightened security measures were making him feel better now, as well as the presence of his girlfriend, a first-time rallygoer. Harpster said he will be a third-time Trump voter in November, based on the Republican nominee’s stances on immigration, guns, abortion and energy. Harpster said he hopes Pennsylvania will go Republican, particularly out of concern over gas and oil industry jobs.
Other townspeople were divided over the value of Trump’s return. Heidi Priest, a Butler resident who started a Facebook group supporting Harris, said Trump’s last visit fanned political tensions in the city.
“Whenever you see people supporting him and getting excited about him being here, it scares the people who don’t want to see him reelected,” she said.
Terri Palmquist came from Bakersfield, California, and said her 18-year-old daughter tried to dissuade her. “I just figure we need to not let fear control us. That’s what the other side wants is fear. If fear controls us, we lose,” she said.
She said she was not worried about her own safety.
“Honesty, I believe God’s got Trump, for some reason. I do. So we’re rooting for him.”
Immigration is not a ‘bad’ thing, France’s Macron says
“Is immigration bad? The answer is no. It depends,” Macron told broadcaster France Inter
Macron hosted dozens of leaders of French-speaking countries for the “Francophonie” summit, the first time the event has been held in France for 33 years
Updated 05 October 2024
AFP
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday that immigration was not necessarily a “bad” thing, in a thinly veiled riposte to the country’s hard-line interior minister who has vowed to crack down on migration.
“Is immigration bad? The answer is no. It depends,” Macron told broadcaster France Inter.
“Is immigration from Africa bad in general? In truth, not totally,” Macron said in remarks recorded earlier this week and broadcast on Saturday.
On Friday and Saturday, Macron hosted dozens of leaders of French-speaking countries for the “Francophonie” summit, the first time the event has been held in France for 33 years. He hopes the gathering will help boost French influence in a world beset by crises, in particular Africa.
The African continent receives more from immigrants in Europe sending remittances home than from European public development aid, Macron said. “Shame on us,” he said.
“All this is much more complex than people want to admit,” Macron added, pointing to the “ethical and political tension” on the issue.
Macron also said foreign-born French people helped make France stronger.
“There are millions of dual nationals in our country. There are at least as many French people of immigrant origin,” Macron added.
“This is our wealth. And it is a strength,” he added.
“The difficulty at the moment is how we manage to fight against human traffickers, these illegal immigration networks,” he said.
France’s new right-wing government has pledged to clamp down on immigration and fight people traffickers.
A two-year-old child was crushed to death and several adult migrants died in two separate tragedies overnight Friday to Saturday when their overcrowded boats tried to cross the Channel to Britain, French officials said.
France’s new interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, has vowed new immigration rules to “protect the French,” adding that he did not think that immigration presented “an opportunity” for France.
Retailleau also said that “the rule of law is neither intangible nor sacred.”
His appointment is emblematic of the rightward shift of the government under new Prime Minister Michel Barnier following this summer’s legislative elections that resulted in a hung parliament.
