International
Pope Francis does not read the homily at Palm Sunday Mass
Pope Francis did not read today the homily he had prepared for the Palm Sunday Mass, the Eucharistic celebration that opens the rites of Holy Week and that had gathered more than 60,000 faithful who crowded St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
At the opening of the ceremony, the 87-year-old pontiff had shown a tired voice and at the end of the reading of the Gospel, when the homily was expected, a prolonged silence followed after which he passed directly to the Creed.
The decision of the pope, who preferred not to read the homily to leave a time of personal reflection, was totally unexpected, since it was not planned for him to do so in such a prominent ceremony as Palm Sunday and surprised everyone by not doing so.
More than three weeks ago, Pope Francis had the flu and since then, although he has continued with his agenda, he has not been able to read on many occasions since he gets tired of reading long speeches.
Last Wednesday, during the general hearing, Francisco did not read the prepared catechesis and instead a collaborator did it because, he said: “I still can’t,” in reference to the respiratory problems he carries.
On this occasion no collaborator read the text and the Vatican did not give any immediate explanation about the cause for which Francis skipped the homily, something very unusual in a ceremony as important as Palm Sunday.
After the Mass, Francis did carry out the weekly Sunday prayer of the Angelus and his subsequent calls and messages
The square was decorated with the branches of olive trees and palms that the faithful, religious and members of the Curia had carried in procession before the mass, remembering the triumphal entry into Jerusalem of Jesus of Nazareth.
Before the mass, the procession took place in the central obelisk of St. Peter’s Square, where the branches were blessed.
Then they moved to the interior of the basilica in one of the oldest rites of Catholicism, which dates from the third century and in which today 30 cardinals, 25 bishops and 350 priests participated.
Pope Francis today condemned the “vile terrorist attack” last Friday in Moscow, which caused at least 133 deaths and which he described as “an inhuman act that offends God” during the Angelus prayer after the Palm Sunday Mass.
“I assure you of my prayers for the victims of the vile terrorist attack perpetrated the other night in Moscow. May the Lord receive them in his peace and comfort their families,” the pontiff said to the more than 25,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
Francis also showed his hope that he will “convert the hearts of those who protect, who organize and perform these inhuman acts that offend God, who ordered ‘You shall not kill’.”
International
The AP agency sues the Trump Government after being banned for writing Gulf of Mexico
The American press agency Associated Press (AP) announced this Friday that it has sued three members of the Donald Trump Administration after being banned from the Oval Office and the presidential plane Air Force One for not complying with the directive of calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
“The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not to be retaliated for it by the Government. The Constitution does not allow the Government to control freedom of expression,” the media maintains.
In its style guide, AP decided to continue calling the Gulf of Mexico “by its original name”, still mentioning the new name chosen by Trump, since it is a body of water that shares a border with Mexico and Cuba.
The White House formally blocked AP’s access to the Oval Office and Air Force One on February 14. “We are very proud of this country and we want it to be the Gulf of America,” Trump said on Tuesday.
The agency’s lawsuit, of 18 pages and filed before a federal court in Washington DC, alleges that they have decided to take this step to claim their right to editorial independence and prevent the Executive from coercing journalists to use only a language approved by it.
Trump signed the executive order to change the name to Gulf of America on January 20, the first day of his return to power. He later named February 9 as ‘ Gulf of America Day’.
The AP complaint is specifically directed against the president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, his number two, Taylor Budowich, and the White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt.
This Thursday, more than thirty US media asked the Government to restore AP’s participation in presidential events and not to take into account “the editorial point of view” when limiting access to the White House.
Among the signatories are the television networks Fox News and Newsmax, with a conservative tinge, in addition to other large newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, The Wall Street Journal or The Atlantic.
AP highlighted when reporting on his complaint that this Friday Trump referred to that agency as “radical left-wing lunatics”: It is “a third-rate company with a first name,” he said about it, the main one in the country and founded in 1846.
International
Buenos Aires advances legislative elections to May 18 and suspends the primaries
The Legislature of the city of Buenos Aires approved this Friday the suspension of the open, simultaneous and mandatory primary elections (PASO), a measure that, according to the deputy head of government, Clara Muzzio, “allows to save 20 billion pesos (about 18,894 million dollars)”, and advanced the legislative elections for May 18.
“The City Legislature suspended the PASO, a measure that saves $20 billion for neighbors,” Muzzio announced on Friday.
For his part, the mayor of the City, Jorge Macri, maintained that the PASO “were an expensive mechanism that only solved the problems of politicians, not of the people.”
The May 18 elections, which were originally scheduled for July, will be held through the Single Electronic Ballot system.
In that instance, the inhabitants of the city of Buenos Aires will elect their local legislators and, in October, they will have to return to the polls to define, together with the rest of the country, the composition of the chambers of Deputies and Senators.
“The fact that the elections are in May allows each Buenos Aires to decide on their own city, without being tied to national discussions,” said the mayor.
The project was approved in the Buenos Aires legislature with 55 votes in favor, 3 against and one abstention, after an agreement between the main political forces.
The suspension of the primaries in the City of Buenos Aires occurs one day after the Argentine Parliament approved the same measure at the national level.
The original project sent by the national government sought the elimination of the primary system but finally, given the lack of support for that objective, the government chose to promote an initiative that suspends them for this year.
The primary election system was first implemented in Argentina to define the candidates for the 2011 general elections, based on a political reform approved by Parliament at the end of 2009, with the aim of democratizing political representation, transparency and electoral equity.
According to the PASO system, to be qualified to compete in the general elections, candidates or lists of candidates must achieve at least 1.5% of the total votes in the primaries.
All parties are obliged to participate in the primaries, although they do not necessarily have to present more than one list of candidates to decide which one will lead to the general elections, an option for which the majority of the forces have opted in the last elections.
That is one of the reasons why the system has been questioned, among which are also its costs and the cumbersomeness of the organization.
International
Trump threatens to impose tariffs on governments that apply digital fees to US companies
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed an executive order on Friday that threatens to impose tariffs on foreign governments that apply digital fees to US companies, including Spain, the United Kingdom and France.
The order states that “foreign governments have exercised a growing extraterritorial authority over US companies, particularly in the technology sector,” and directly cites the taxes on digital services that “several business partners” apply since 2019.
According to the text, the Trump Administration will impose tariffs on those governments that use taxes or regulations that are “discriminatory, disproportionate or designed to transfer significant funds or intellectual property from US companies to that government or its chosen domestic entities.”
Trump delegates to the US Trade Representative the possibility of “renewing investigations” on the so-called technology fees of Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Austria and Turkey, imposed in the first term of the Republican, and if so, “take all appropriate actions”, which would include the imposition of tariffs.
“US companies will no longer sustain failed foreign economies through fines and extortionational taxes,” says the White House document, which provides for a “process” for them to “report” these “disproportionate” measures to the Commercial Representative.
He also instructs him to investigate together with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce whether in the European Union or the United Kingdom the use of products or services of US companies is “required or encouraged” to “undermine freedom of expression”, political activity or, “otherwise, moderate content”.
It also suggests to the Representative, among other things, to hold “a panel” with its partners of the T-MEC (Canada and Mexico) on the tax on digital services in Canada, and identify ways to achieve a “permanent moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions”.
The order does not mention any specific company, but mainly affects large technology companies such as Apple, Google (subsidiary of Alphabet), Meta and Amazon, which have precisely starred in a resounded approach to President Trump since he won the elections in November.
In his first term (2017-2021), Trump ordered to investigate the digital fees to his companies abroad and threatened to apply tariffs to the six countries indicated today; taxes were imposed in the government of his successor, the Democrat Joe Biden, and subsequently suspended.
Trump signed another executive order aimed at restricting access to US technology, especially in the field of artificial intelligence, what he calls “foreign adversaries”, including Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Russia and China.
The executive order does not specify in detail what measures will be taken to restrict the access of these “foreign adversaries” to US technology.
Under the label of “foreign adversaries”, the order identifies China, Hong Kong, Macau, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and the “regime of Venezuelan politician Nicolás Maduro”, according to the text.
Trump justifies his decision with the argument that “economic security is national security” and maintains that the country must protect its sensitive infrastructures and technologies, from artificial intelligence to semiconductors and advances in biotechnology.
The executive order focuses especially on China, pointing out that companies linked to Beijing have used investments in the US to access key technologies and that the Chinese government is taking advantage of US technology to modernize its military apparatus.
Since his return to the White House on January 20, Trump has announced several restrictions on trade with the aim of balancing the trade balance and pressuring countries such as Mexico and Canada to make concessions on immigration and efforts against drug trafficking.
It has imposed a 10% tariff on China, which is in addition to the rates already applied during its first term (2017-2021).
Trump’s new restrictions come after his predecessor, Joe Biden, took steps to limit exports of semiconductors and artificial intelligence technology to China, which led Beijing to respond with export controls on graphite, a key material for electric vehicle batteries.
The AP agency sues the Trump Government after being banned for writing Gulf of Mexico
Buenos Aires advances legislative elections to May 18 and suspends the primaries
Trump threatens to impose tariffs on governments that apply digital fees to US companies
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
International4 days agoNoboa assures that Ecuador will not have any more blackouts in 2025 and 2026
-
International4 days agoZelenski asks for “guarantees” from the US, the EU and Turkey for a possible peace agreement with Russia
-
International2 days agoGuantánamo expresses criticize its use to detain migrants: “It’s a black hole”
-
International4 days agoThe Sudanese government accuses the paramilitaries of killing more than 430 civilians in the south-central part of the country
-
International4 days agoThe pope suffers from “bilateral pneumonia” and his clinical picture remains “complex”
-
International2 days agoEuropol warns of the increase in groups on the Internet to radicalize minors
-
International4 days agoBoric, Lula, Petro and Peña will be in the assumption of Yamandú Orsi as president of Uruguay
-
International4 days agoHamas will deliver six hostages on Saturday and four bodies on Thursday, including the Bibas
-
International3 days agoEurope and Canada close ranks to count on Ukraine in the peace negotiation
-
International3 days agoMexico has 20 of the 50 most violent cities in the world
-
International2 days agoMexico announces reforms against “external interference”, after the US designated the cartels as terrorists
-
International4 days agoTrump’s annexation threats return to Canada at the end of the 19th century
-
International3 days agoThe constitutional reform that gives full power to Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua comes into force
-
International3 days agoVon der Leyen urges Caricom to defend peace in Ukraine in the face of “an unpredictable world”
-
International3 days agoFor the Government of Argentina, the scandal over the $LIBRA case is a “finished topic”
-
International2 days agoImmigrants in Denver are afraid to take their children to school because of the raids
-
International4 days agoThe White House denies that Elon Musk is the legal manager of the Department of Efficiency
-
International3 days ago109 migrants deported from the US are referred from a hotel in Panama to the Darién
-
International2 days agoThe United States urges Ukraine to “lower the tone” and accept Trump’s proposal on its minerals
-
International3 days agoTrumpism embraces the European far-right at its annual convention
-
International4 days agoMigrants, more vulnerable to organized crime in southern Mexico after Trump’s return
-
International2 days agoEven in the Nido de las Águilas, a section without a wall, border crossings in the United States go down
-
International1 day agoTrump says Zelensky’s presence in peace talks makes it “difficult” to reach agreements
-
International3 days agoThe Government of Ecuador proposes the temporary entry of foreign forces to combat insecurity
-
International2 days agoAn attack with explosives leaves five injured and destroys a toll booth on the border of Colombia and Venezuela
-
International4 days agoXiomara Castro reaches an “agreement” with the United States for Honduras to continue the extradition treaty
-
Internacionales1 day agoNetanyahu vows Hamas will pay for violating ceasefire after mix-up over hostage bodies
-
International4 days agoThe famous ‘stone of the 12 angles’ of the Incas is damaged by a stranger in the city of Cuzco
-
International2 days agoEvo Morales announces his presidential candidacy in Bolivia with a new party and moves away from the ruling party
-
International2 days agoMore than 21,000 tharks have shaken the Cyclades Islands in the last three weeks
-
International2 days agoCanada declares Mexican drug cartels terrorists as well as the United States
-
International1 day agoIICA to strengthen prevention efforts against cattle tick disease with $250K investment
-
International12 hours agoThe AP agency sues the Trump Government after being banned for writing Gulf of Mexico
-
International2 days agoLula da Silva: Bolsonaro “will know that in this country the law is for everyone”
-
International1 day agoMilei: Social justice promotes hostility, incompatible with progress
-
International12 hours agoWhat are the six Mexican cartels designated as terrorist groups by the United States?
-
International12 hours agoTrump threatens to impose tariffs on governments that apply digital fees to US companies
-
International12 hours agoBuenos Aires advances legislative elections to May 18 and suspends the primaries
-
International12 hours agoBolivia’s ruling party meets to choose candidates without the participation of Evo Morales
-
International13 hours agoThe Los Angeles fires caused losses of more than 30 billion in real estate