HAVANA: Cuba’s government managed to mobilize voters on Sunday for National Assembly elections, the results of which were a foregone conclusion, as it pushed back against a recent abstentionist trend in the communist-ruled nation.
As many as eight million eligible voters selected from the 470 candidates on the ballot — 263 women and 207 men — are vying for the 470 seats in the congress.
But what was really in play was the number of Cubans refusing to vote.
The opposition had called on citizens to abstain, with one opposition Twitter account branding the vote a farce.
Voting is not obligatory and abstention has risen steadily in recent years.
On Sunday the nation’s 23,648 polling stations closed at 7:00 p.m. (2300 GMT), an hour later than initially announced by authorities.
According to the latest provisional figures released by the National Election Council, as of 5:00 p.m. turnout stood at 70.33 percent.
That marked a modest increase from the 68.5 percent who voted in last November’s municipal elections, the lowest turnout since the island’s current electoral system was set up in 1976.
Last September about 74 percent of eligible Cubans voted in a referendum on a new family code, down from the 90 percent turnout in the 2019 referendum on a new constitution.
Cuba’s communist government does not allow opposition, so most parliamentary candidates are members of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).
Candidates still must receive 50 percent of votes to be elected.
Voters had two choices: they could tick the names of any number of individual candidates, or they could select the “vote for all” option.
“I voted for the unified vote because, despite the needs, the difficulties that this country can have, I could not imagine” abstaining, Carlos Diego Herrera, a 54-year-old blacksmith in Havana, said.
He said abstaining would be like voting “for those that want to crush us, the Yankees.”
Washington has imposed sanctions on the island nation since 1962, three years after the communist revolution that saw Fidel Castro take power after overthrowing US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.
Student Rachel Vega, 19, also said she voted for all candidates, considering it “a step forward right now” that would “improve the situation in the country.”
President Miguel Diaz-Canel is among the candidates, as is his predecessor, 91-year-old Raul Castro.
“With the united vote we defend the unity of the country, the unity of the revolution, our future, our socialist constitution,” said Diaz-Canel, 62, after voting in Santa Clara, 175 miles (280 kilometers) southeast of Havana.
The opposition scoffed at the turnout figures, with dissident Manuel Cuesta Morua of the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba warning about “the government’s electoral mathematics.”
“At 9am it reports that 18.2 percent of the electorate has voted. At 11am it says 41.66 percent — that is, in less than two hours the turnout increased by 23.46” points, he said on Twitter. “Impossible!!! The polling stations are empty.”
Final figures will be released Monday.
Voter turnout ticks up in Cuba legislative elections
https://arab.news/b5jkq
Voter turnout ticks up in Cuba legislative elections
- Latest provisional figures show voter turnout stood at 70.33 percent
- Modest increase from the 68.5 percent who voted in last November’s municipal elections
Many feared dead in gun attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir
- Initial reports say shots fired at mostly Indian tourists visiting Baisaran meadow
- Attack much larger than anything directed at civilians in recent years, says official
SRINAGAR, India: Many people are feared to have died after gunmen indiscriminately fired at tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said.
Police have described the incident as a “terror attack” and blamed militants fighting against Indian rule.
“This attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” Omar Abdullah, the region’s top elected official, wrote on social media.
“The death toll is still being ascertained so I don’t want to get into those details,” he said.
Initial reports said shots were fired at mostly Indian tourists visiting Baisaran meadow, some 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the disputed region’s resort town of Pahalgam.
Police and officials said tourists with gunshot wounds were evacuated to local hospitals.
The scene of the attack was cordoned off as police launched an operation to track down the attackers.
India’s home minister, Amit Shah, is heading to Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where he said he would review the situation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on an official visit in Saudi Arabia, has been briefed about the incident, Shah said.
“We will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences,” Shah wrote in a post on the X social media platform.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key Kashmiri resistance leader, condemned what he described as a “cowardly attack on tourists.”
“Such violence is unacceptable and against the ethos of Kashmir which welcomes visitors with love and warmth. Condemn it strongly,” he wrote on X.
The attack coincided with the visit to India of US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a largely personal four-day visit.
The meadow in Pahalgam is a popular sightseeing destination, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and dotted with pine forests. It is visited by hundreds of tourists every day.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
Tuesday’s attack seems to be a major shift in the regional conflict where tourists for many years have largely been spared from violence despite a spate of targeted killings of Hindus, including immigrant workers from Indian states, after New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms.
Tensions have been simmering ever since as India has intensified its counterinsurgency operations.
The region, known for rolling Himalayan foothills, exquisitely decorated houseboats and pristine meadows, has also become a major domestic tourist destination, with hotels booked out for months. Kashmir has also drawn millions of visitors, who enjoy a strange peace kept by ubiquitous security checkpoints, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers.
Although violence has ebbed in recent times in Kashmir Valley, the heart of anti-India rebellion, fighting between government forces and rebels has largely shifted to remote areas of Jammu region including Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua, where Indian troops have faced deadly attacks.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored “terrorism.” Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Kremlin warns against rushing Ukraine talks
- “This topic is so complex, connected with a settlement, that, of course, probably it is not worth setting any rigid time frames and trying to get a settlement,” Peskov said
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his team’s “first priority” at the London talks would be the idea of “an unconditional ceasefire“
KYIV: The Kremlin on Tuesday warned against rushing Ukraine peace talks, pushing back on US President Donald Trump’s hopes for a speedy deal the day before Ukraine’s allies are set to meet in London.
Trump, who promised on the campaign trail to strike a deal between Moscow and Kyiv in 24 hours, has in three months failed to wrangle concessions from Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt his invasion.
The Republican had said over the weekend he hoped a peace deal could be struck “this week” despite no signs the two sides are anywhere close to agreeing even a ceasefire, let alone a wider long-term settlement.
Moscow’s forces occupy around a fifth of Ukrainian territory and tens of thousands have been killed since they invaded in February 2022.
“This topic is so complex, connected with a settlement, that, of course, probably it is not worth setting any rigid time frames and trying to get a settlement, a viable settlement, in a short-time frame,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV on Tuesday.
After rejecting a US-Ukrainian offer for a full and unconditional ceasefire last month, Putin announced a surprise Easter truce over the weekend.
Fighting dipped during the 30-hour period but Russia launched fresh attacks on residential areas on Monday and Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said.
Kyiv and its allies dismissed the truce as a PR exercise from Putin.
“The Easter truce that he announced somewhat unexpectedly was a marketing operation, a charm operation aimed at preventing President Trump from becoming impatient and angry,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the FranceInfo broadcaster.
Ukraine’s allies will meet in London on Wednesday, a senior Kyiv official told AFP, where they are expected to continue discussions on the contours of a possible deal they could all get behind.
European leaders are scrambling to work out how they can support Ukraine should Trump pull Washington’s vital military and financial backing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his team’s “first priority” at the London talks would be the idea of “an unconditional ceasefire.”
Zelensky proposed to Russia on Sunday halting missile and drones strikes against civilian facilities for at least 30 days.
While saying he would “analyze” the idea, Putin threw doubt on it 24 hours later by accusing Kyiv of using civilian facilities for military purposes.
He held open the prospect of bilateral talks on the topic, though the Kremlin said there were no fixed plans to engage with Kyiv.
“There are no concrete plans (to talk), there is readiness from Putin to discuss this question,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
“If we are talking about civilian infrastructure, then we need to understand, when is it civilian infrastructure and when is it a military target,” he added.
The talks in London — a follow-up to a meeting in Paris last week — come after Russia resumed its aerial attacks.
Russia hit the southern city of Zaporizhzhia with “two guided aerial bombs” on Tuesday, killing one and wounding 23, the regional head said.
Photos from Ukraine’s emergency services showed the outer walls of an apartment block blown open and a bloodied man being tended to by medics on a stretcher, with bandages around his head and arms.
“One guided aerial bomb hit an infrastructure facility, another one hit a densely populated neighborhood, a residential building directly,” Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.
Russian strikes wounded another six in the southern city of Kherson and seven in Kharkiv, in the north east.
Its army also claimed to have captured a small village in the eastern Donetsk region, where its troops are advancing.
In Paris last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio presented Washington’s plan for ending the war, before both he and Trump warned Washington’s patience was running thin and could lead it to withdraw.
Many in Ukraine fear any settlement he brokers could reward Russian aggression.
Multiple deaths feared after gunmen fire on tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir
- “This attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” Abdullah wrote on social media
- Initial reports said gunmen sprayed bullets at mostly Indian tourists visiting Baisaran meadow
SRINAGAR, India: Multiple deaths are feared after gunmen indiscriminately fired at tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said, with police calling it a “terror attack” and blaming militants fighting against Indian rule.
“This attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” Omar Abdullah, the region’s top elected official, wrote on social media.
“The death toll is still being ascertained so I don’t want to get into those details,” he said.
Initial reports said gunmen sprayed bullets at mostly Indian tourists visiting Baisaran meadow, some five kilometers (three miles) from the disputed region’s resort town of Pahalgam.
Police said multiple tourists had gunshot wounds, and officials were evacuating them to hospitals.
Police and soldiers cordoned off the area and launched a hunt for the attackers.
The attack coincided with the visit to India of US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a largely personal four-day visit.
The meadow in Pahalgam is a top sightseeing destination, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and dotted with pine forests. It is visited by hundreds of tourists every day.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Twelve children and teens drown in Ivory Coast boat capsize: minister
- “Twelve bodies have been recovered and are being taken to the morgue,” said Sports Minister Adje Silas Metch
- The outing was organized by a Methodist church in Tiaha
ABIDJAN: A boat overturned during a church outing for Easter on a lagoon near the city of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, killing 12 children and teenagers, a government minister told AFP Tuesday.
“Twelve bodies have been recovered and are being taken to the morgue,” said Sports Minister Adje Silas Metch, who went during the night to the site of the accident late Monday.
The bodies are “of children and adolescents,” he added, saying one was a youngster who was not from the church but had joined the boat crossing.
“Four people were rescued,” he said.
Young people from the village of Tiaha had gone to another village to take part in the “Galilee” event to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The outing was organized by a Methodist church in Tiaha, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the economic capital, Abidjan, Gerard Gbato, deputy chief of the Dabou police district, told AFP.
“It was on the way back that the tragedy happened. The canoe’s engine stopped at one point, the canoe overturned,” he said.
It is possible the boat was overloaded, he added.
Police have opened an investigation.
Gbato said that such dugout canoes with an engine were commonly used by the local community.
The lagoon winds between the districts of Abidjan and the towns surrounding the metropolis of more than six million inhabitants.
Vance calls for greater ties with India, hails progress on trade talks
- “I believe there is much that India and America can accomplish together,” Vance said
- The Trump administration “seeks trade partners on the basis of fairness and shared national interest
NEW DELHI: US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday called for enhanced engagement with India and said that the South Asian country should buy more defense equipment and energy from the US and allow Washington greater access to its market, lending momentum to an expected bilateral trade deal.
Vance, who is on a four-day visit to India, said that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made progress on trade talks during their discussions on Monday, and confirmed that both sides had finalized the terms of reference for the trade negotiation — a vital step toward setting the road map for the final agreement.
India and the US hope to seal a bilateral trade agreement this year and have set an ambitious target of more than doubling their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. If achieved, the trade deal could significantly enhance economic ties between both countries and potentially strengthen diplomatic ties as well.
“I believe there is much that India and America can accomplish together,” Vance said at an event in the western city of Jaipur, where he, his wife Usha Vance and their three children were on a sightseeing tour.
Vance’s first visit to New Delhi came amid the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s partially-paused tariff program against most countries, including India. Earlier this month, Trump announced a 90-day pause in which imports from most countries would face a baseline 10 percent tax so that there was time to hold talks and possibly structure broader deals.
The trade negotiations are especially urgent for India and could help New Delhi avoid sharp US tariffs. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has portrayed its strategy of tariffs as forcing negotiations that could limit the reach and influence of China, the world’s dominant manufacturer and New Delhi’s main rival in the region.
At the event, Vance sought to assuage fears over Trump’s tariff decisions and said his administration was seeking to rebalance global trade so that the US, with friends like India, can build a better future. He said that trade relations must be based on fairness.
“I come here with a simple message,” Vance said. The Trump administration “seeks trade partners on the basis of fairness and shared national interest. We want to build relationships with our foreign partners who respect their workers.”
Vance said that he was in India to strengthen ties between both nations, and criticized previous governments for looking at New Delhi as a cheap source of labor.
“I believe that if India and the United States work together successfully, we are going to see a 21st century that is prosperous and peaceful,” he said, adding that if this didn’t happen, it would mean a “dark time for all humanity.”
Washington has long sought to develop a deeper partnership with New Delhi, which is seen as a bulwark against China. Modi has established a good working relationship with Trump, and the two leaders are likely to further boost cooperation between their countries.
Modi was also among the first leaders to visit the US and hold talks with Trump that kickstarted a negotiation process to minimize the possible fallout of Trump’s tariffs. The two leaders also said they planned to grow their defense partnership.
India is a close partner of the US and is part of the Quad, which is made up of the US, India, Japan and Australia, and is seen as a counterbalance to China’s expansion in the region. It is also a major defense partner of the US, a status only enjoyed by some of the closest allies of Washington.
In line with Trump’s push for supplying more military equipment to India, Vance said Washington was seeking greater collaboration with New Delhi for the sale of advanced military gear, as well as coproduction. He also pitched Washington’s fifth-generation stealth fighter to India.
“F-35 will help protect your people like never before,” he said.
Over the past several decades, India has been largely dependent on Russian weapons, fighters and military equipment, but has gradually started diversifying its purchase basket from countries such as the US, France and the UK
In recent years, India has embedded advanced American jets, helicopters, missiles and other equipment into its armed forces and the two countries have announced plans to sign a 10-year framework later this year to further strengthen the defense partnership.
