International

Kamala Harris defends her economic plan on television and reveals that she owns a gun

The US vice president and Democratic candidate for the White House, Kamala Harris, addressed in an interview on the program ’60 minutes’ of CBS News the right of Americans to possession of weapons, by saying that she owns a Glock pistol, and explaining her economic plan.

“I have a Glock and I’ve had it for quite some time,” Harris told journalist Bill Whitaker during an interview in an election special of the well-known program.

When asked if he had fired the gun, Harris sketched his characteristic smile and nodded. “Yes… In a shooting range. Yes, of course.”

Former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) has suggested that if Harris reaches the presidency he would try to limit the right to possession of weapons contemplated in the Second Amendment of the Constitution, something that the Democratic candidate has denied.

“I have the best plan”: Harris

Harris took advantage of the interview on the well-known program to talk about his proposals, especially those that point to the economy, one of the most important issues of voters in the United States, and to promote that his proposal is the best.

“Now we have an economy that is thriving according to all macroeconomic indicators,” he highlighted the achievements of the Government of President Joe Biden and promised to continue with the low unemployment figures.

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Harris was asked how she will face the $3,000 trillion deficit facing the country, to which she replied that she will increase taxes on high-income people and hopes that Congressional leaders are willing to support her.

“There are many leaders in Congress who understand and know that Trump’s tax cuts exploded our federal deficit,” warned the vice president, who indicated that she is “a capitalist,” who knows the limitations of the Government.

Response to wars

The Democrat answered questions about the conflict in Israel and Gaza, just as the first anniversary of the Hamas attack, and assured that there is a need to end this war. However, he avoided answering several questions about whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “disobeying” the United States.

He warned that he would not meet bilaterally with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a solution that would end the war in Ukraine. “Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine,” he said.

He also asked him to deepen immigration and the Biden Government’s response to contain the high number of irregular immigrants. “It’s a long-standing problem. And the solutions are at your fingertips. And since day one, we have literally been offering solutions,” he said.

Harris took advantage of the interview to attack Trump for canceling an interview with this program last week and preferring his rallies, where “he only talks about himself” and is dedicated to throwing grievances, he said.

The Democratic aspirant remains in the lead in voting intentions. According to the average of polls prepared by the FiveThirtyEight website, it is ahead of Trump by 2.5 percentage points at the federal level, although in key states that difference is not so significant.

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International

MEPs Approve Plan That Could Fast-Track Rejection of Some Asylum Claims

With an overwhelming majority of 408 votes in favor, the European Parliament backed the creation of a list of safe countries of origin for asylum seekers.

People coming from Colombia, Egypt, India, Bangladesh, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia who apply for asylum in the European Union could see their requests rejected on the grounds that the bloc’s 27 member states consider those nations safe. Applicants would have to prove their individual circumstances, showing evidence of persecution or specific risks if they were to return.

At the same time, while their applications are processed or their return is arranged, migrants could be transferred to third countries outside the EU if the bloc has an agreement with them, if the individuals previously transited through those nations, or if they have family or cultural ties there. The measure provides legal cover for the creation of processing centers beyond EU territory, similar to an initiative previously pursued by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Albania.

Tuesday’s vote reflects the tightening of European migration policy in recent years, despite asylum applications having fallen by more than 20% last year and the issue not ranking among citizens’ top concerns, according to recent surveys.

International

Chile Unveils Latam-GPT to Give Latin America Its Own AI Model

Chile on Tuesday launched Latam-GPT, an initiative aimed at providing Latin America with its own artificial intelligence model in a field largely dominated by U.S. companies, while seeking to reduce biases identified in existing systems.

The project is led by Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), a private corporation funded with public resources.

Latam-GPT is backed by universities, foundations, libraries, government agencies and civil society organizations from across the region, including Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Argentina.

“Thanks to Latam-GPT we are positioning the region as an active and sovereign player in the economy of the future. We are at the table — we are not on the menu,” President Gabriel Boric said during the presentation of the initiative on national broadcaster Televisión Nacional.

The tool aims to break down prejudices and prevent Latin America from being portrayed as a single, uniform reality, Chile’s science minister, Aldo Valle, told AFP.

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The region, he added, “cannot be merely a user or passive recipient of artificial intelligence systems. That could result in losing a significant part of our traditions.”

Despite its name, the initiative is not an interactive chatbot. Instead, it is a large regional database trained on Latin American information that can be used to develop technological applications, the minister explained.

International

Mexico Rises Slightly to 141st in Global Corruption Perceptions Index 2025

Mexico improved by one point in its rating and climbed to 141st place in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published Tuesday by the anti-corruption organization Transparency International, which gave the country a score of 27 out of 100.

The slight increase in score comes after Mexico recorded its lowest CPI result in history in 2024 during the final year of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term, also scoring 27 out of 100. The CPI is widely regarded as the main global measure of perceived public-sector corruption, where 0 represents high corruption and 100 denotes very low corruption.

Within the region, Mexico ranks above only Guatemala (26), Paraguay (24), Honduras (22), Haiti (16), Nicaragua (14) and Venezuela (10), but trails key economic peers such as Brazil (35) and Chile (63).

Among the 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mexico ranks last. In the G20 grouping, it sits in the penultimate position, ahead of only Russia. Experts say Mexico’s persistently low score reflects ongoing challenges in curbing corruption and protecting public funds.

Transparency International’s report also highlights structural corruption issues that have allowed organized crime to infiltrate politics and weaken governance, as well as risks to journalists covering corruption.