International
Majority anti-chavista alliance ratifies González Urrutia as a presidential candidate in Venezuela
The Democratic United Platform (PUD) – Venezuela’s main opposition coalition – ratifies Edmundo González Urrutia as its candidate for the presidential elections on July 28.
González Urrutia replaces María Corina Machado, who is disqualified from holding popularly elected positions.
“Venezuela and the democrats of the world, I want to give very good news to the people of Venezuela, the Democratic Unitary Platform unanimously has just approved the candidacy of Ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia as the candidate of unity, supported by all factors,” said the executive secretary of the PUD, Omar Barboza, in statements to the media.
González Urrutia was nominated by the PUD as a provisional candidate, after not being able to register Corina Yoris, who was appointed as a substitute for Machado.
Faced with this decision of the PUD, Barboza announced that the governor of the state of Zulia, Manuel Rosales, will decline his candidacy for the Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) party to support González Urrutia.
“We want to give a recognition to Governor Rosales, a man who keeps his word, who after hearing the presentation of all the members of the Platform decided to decline his candidacy to join that of Edmundo González Urrutia,” he said.
UNT stressed, through the social network X, that it is “a historical gesture of great political greatness” on the part of Rosales – who, “fulfilled his word with the country, being a determining factor in achieving unity,” with the aim of “achieving the political change that the country demands.”
Rosales, who registered on the sidelines of the PUD when the deadline for the nominations was about to end, assured that his candidacy only sought to keep the opposition with options for the presidential elections, since the vast majority of those registered do not enjoy the support of traditional anti-chavism, considering that they receive favors from the ruling party in exchange for dividing the vote.
On March 26, the PUD registered González Urrutia as its provisional candidate in the face of the “clear impossibility” of nominating Corina Yoris elected because María Corina Machado could not compete because she was disabled.
The coalition explained that it made this decision in order to stay “within the electoral route” and “continue fighting.”
This way you can “guarantee the registration” of the “candidate chosen by democratic factors.”
With González Urrutia, there are 13 candidates registered for the elections.
In addition to Manuel Rosales, Luis Brito, Luis Ratti, Enrique Márquez, Benjamín Rausseo, Luis Eduardo Martínez, Daniel Ceballos, Antonio Ecarri, Juan Carlos Alvarado, Javier Bertucci, Claudio Fermín and the president, Nicolás Maduro.
International
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Pope Francis met on Thursday at the Vatican with 16 Israelis who had been held hostage in Gaza for months by the Islamist group Hamas, according to the official Vatican news website.
The group consisted of ten women, four men, and two children, as reported by the same source. Several of the former hostages showed the Argentine pontiff banners or photos of their loved ones who remain in captivity.
Francis had previously met with the families of hostages in April this year and November 2023, but this was the first time he had met with individuals who had personally endured captivity.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, the pope has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages, while also condemning the suffering of the Palestinian population.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Islamist militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,206 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages who died in captivity.
Of the kidnapped, 97 are still being held in Gaza, but the Israeli military estimates that 34 of them have died.
The military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed at least 43,736 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-governed territory.
International
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on residential buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and its surroundings on Thursday, resulting in at least 15 deaths and 16 injuries, according to Syria’s Ministry of Defense and state television.
The ministry stated that around 3:20 p.m. local time (12:20 GMT), the Israeli military launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several residential buildings in the Mazzeh neighborhood in western Damascus and the Qudsaya suburb to the northwest of the capital.
The airstrikes “resulted in the death of 15 people and injuries to 16 others, including women and children,” based on initial estimates, in addition to significant damage to private property and civilian buildings, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, state television reported Israeli airstrikes on three buildings in Mazzeh and another on a building in an educational complex located in a residential area of Qudsaya.
Following the strikes, loud explosions were heard throughout the city, and thick plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the targeted locations. Ambulances and emergency services rushed to the scene to attend to the victims.
International
Drug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
Three people were on the boat that collided with a Guardia Civil vessel around midnight at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near the Andalusian city of Cádiz, a spokesperson for the Civil Guard reported.
Two officers sustained “contusions,” the spokesperson explained.
The drug traffickers managed to bring the boat to shore, where one of them was “abandoned” severely injured. The other two fled.
The Civil Guard officers attempted to resuscitate the victim before transporting him to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, but he ultimately died early in the morning.
The other two suspects took advantage of the officers’ absence while they were taking the victim and returned to set their boat on fire.
The collision occurred very close to the site of another accident on September 1, where a drug trafficker died following a Guardia Civil pursuit.
The suspects’ boat traveled “400 meters” before crashing head-on and “at full speed” into the riverbank, where a hundred bundles of hashish were found.
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