LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two more members of the Los Angeles Times editorial board have resigned after the newspaper’s owner blocked the board’s plan to endorse Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
Veteran journalists Robert Greene and Karin Klein announced their resignations Thursday, a day after the editorial page editor Mariel Garza left in protest over LA Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong’s decision not to endorse a candidate.
Greene, a Pulitzer Prize winner for editorial writing, said in a statement shared with the Columbia Journalism Review that he was “deeply disappointed” in the decision not to endorse Harris.
“I recognize that it is the owner’s decision to make,” he wrote. “But it hurt particularly because one of the candidates, Donald Trump, has demonstrated such hostility to principles that are central to journalism — respect for the truth and reverence for democracy.”
Garza told the Columbia Journalism Review that she resigned because the Times was remaining silent on the presidential race in “dangerous times.”
“I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not OK with us being silent,” Garza said. “In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.”
Garza said the board had intended to endorse Harris and that she had drafted the outline of a proposed editorial but that was blocked by Soon-Shiong.
An LA Times spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
An editorial board operates separately from the newsroom, and its writers’ job is to present an issue and then take a side and lay out arguments to defend it.
Editorial writer Tony Barboza, who remains on the editorial board, said in a post Friday on an internal Los Angeles Times message board that the board had planned a series of editorials that would have culminated on Sunday with a Harris endorsement.
“All of it was killed,” he wrote. “I am deeply disturbed to see these facts mischaracterized, and the owner’s decision not to endorse in this consequential race blamed on his employees.”
Soon-Shiong said in a post on the social media platform X that the board was asked to do a factual analysis of the policies of Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump during their time at the White House.
Soon-Shiong, who bought the paper in 2018 and is a member of the editorial board, said the board “chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision.”
Greene, who wrote about water, drought, and Los Angeles County government, among other topics, said he was also concerned with Soon-Shiong’s assertion that the editorial board had chosen to stay silent.
Greene wrote that a policy analysis would have to be done by the paper’s news side and that the purpose of an editorial board is “to take a stand and defend it persuasively.”
“I left in response to the refusal to take a stand, and to the incorrect assertion that the editorial board had made a choice,” Greene wrote.
Klein said in a statement posted on Facebook that her decision to resign also came after seeing Soon-Shiong’s post on X.
“The decision to resign was made simple and easy when he posted on X yesterday about his suggestion that the board create an analysis of the positives and negatives of each candidate and let the voters make their own decisions,” she wrote.
“News side does an excellent job of neutral analysis. That’s not an editorial,” she added.
In an interview with Spectrum News on Thursday, Soon-Shiong pushed back against criticism that he censored the editorial board.
“As an owner, I’m on the editorial board and I shared with our editors that maybe this year we have a column, a page, two pages, if we want, of all the pros and all the cons and let the readers decide,” Soon-Shiong said.
He said he feared endorsing a candidate would add to the country’s division.
“I want us desperately to air all the voices on the opinion side, on the op-ed side,” Soon-Shiong said. “I don’t know how (readers) look upon me or our family as ‘ultra progressive’ or not, but I’m an independent.”
Microsoft has fired two employees who organized an unauthorized vigil at the company’s headquarters for Palestinians killed in Gaza during Israel’s war with Hamas.
The two employees told The Associated Press they were fired by phone call late Thursday, several hours after a lunchtime event they organized at Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington.
Both workers were members of a coalition of employees called “No Azure for Apartheid” that has opposed Microsoft’s sale of its cloud-computing technology to the Israeli government. But they contended that Thursday’s event was similar to other Microsoft-sanctioned employee giving campaigns for people in need.
“We have so many community members within Microsoft who have lost family, lost friends or loved ones,” said Abdo Mohamed, a researcher and data scientist. “But Microsoft really failed to have the space for us where we can come together and share our grief and honor the memories of people who can no longer speak for themselves.”
Microsoft said Friday it has “ended the employment of some individuals in accordance with internal policy” but declined to provide details.
Mohamed, who is from Egypt, said he now needs a new job in the next two months to transfer a work visa and avoid deportation.
Another fired worker, Hossam Nasr, said the purpose of the vigil was both “to honor the victims of the Palestinian genocide in Gaza and to call attention to Microsoft’s complicity in the genocide” because of the use of its technology by the Israeli military.
Nasr said his firing was disclosed on social media by the watchdog group Stop Antisemitism more than an hour before he received the call from Microsoft. The group didn’t immediately respond Friday to a request for comment on how it learned about the firing.
The same group had months earlier called on Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to take action against Nasr for his public stances on Israel.
Nasr, an Egyptian-raised 2021 graduate of Harvard University, is also a co-organizer of Harvard Alumni for Palestine.
Google earlier this year fired more than 50 workers in the aftermath of protests over technology the company is supplying the Israeli government amid the Gaza war. The firings stemmed from internal turmoil and sit-in protests at Google offices centered on “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion contract signed in 2021 for Google and Amazon to provide the Israeli government with cloud computing and artificial intelligence services.
Microsoft said in its statement Friday about the firings that it remains “dedicated to maintaining a professional and respectful work environment. Due to privacy and confidentiality considerations, we cannot provide specific details.”
Microsoft has fired two employees who organized an unauthorized vigil at the company’s headquarters for Palestinians killed in Gaza during Israel’s war with Hamas.
The two employees told The Associated Press they were fired by phone call late Thursday, several hours after a lunchtime event they organized at Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington.
Both workers were members of a coalition of employees called “No Azure for Apartheid” that has opposed Microsoft’s sale of its cloud-computing technology to the Israeli government. But they contended that Thursday’s event was similar to other Microsoft-sanctioned employee giving campaigns for people in need.
“We have so many community members within Microsoft who have lost family, lost friends or loved ones,” said Abdo Mohamed, a researcher and data scientist. “But Microsoft really failed to have the space for us where we can come together and share our grief and honor the memories of people who can no longer speak for themselves.”
Microsoft said Friday it has “ended the employment of some individuals in accordance with internal policy” but declined to provide details.
Mohamed, who is from Egypt, said he now needs a new job in the next two months to transfer a work visa and avoid deportation.
Another fired worker, Hossam Nasr, said the purpose of the vigil was both “to honor the victims of the Palestinian genocide in Gaza and to call attention to Microsoft’s complicity in the genocide” because of the use of its technology by the Israeli military.
Nasr said his firing was disclosed on social media by the watchdog group Stop Antisemitism more than an hour before he received the call from Microsoft. The group didn’t immediately respond Friday to a request for comment on how it learned about the firing.
The same group had months earlier called on Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to take action against Nasr for his public stances on Israel.
Nasr, an Egyptian-raised 2021 graduate of Harvard University, is also a co-organizer of Harvard Alumni for Palestine.
Google earlier this year fired more than 50 workers in the aftermath of protests over technology the company is supplying the Israeli government amid the Gaza war. The firings stemmed from internal turmoil and sit-in protests at Google offices centered on “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion contract signed in 2021 for Google and Amazon to provide the Israeli government with cloud computing and artificial intelligence services.
Microsoft said in its statement Friday about the firings that it remains “dedicated to maintaining a professional and respectful work environment. Due to privacy and confidentiality considerations, we cannot provide specific details.”
Protests over the high cost of living in the French Caribbean island of Martinique have turned violent, with demonstrators setting fire to a police station, cars and roadblocks as they clashed with officers
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Protests over the high cost of living in the French Caribbean island of Martinique turned violent late Wednesday, with at least one person killed as demonstrators set fire to a police station, cars and road barricades as they clashed with officers.
It was one of the most violent nights yet since protests began more than a month ago, with the government issuing a statement asserting that no police officers used their weapons and that the killing was under investigation.
Videos posted on social media showed protesters looting grocery stores and other businesses as they threw rocks and bottles at police, who responded with tear gas.
The latest round of violence prompted the government to announce another curfew as it stressed that demonstrations on public roads were prohibited.
The protests erupted a day before the government had scheduled a meeting with citizens to talk about how to achieve affordable prices for basic goods.
On Tuesday, Didier Laguerre, the mayor of Fort-de-France, the island’s capital, issued a statement announcing Thursday’s meeting and saying he recognized that many in Martinique are struggling and that their demands are legitimate.
“I understand the suffering and anger,” he wrote. “I know everyone’s impatience and the resignation of those who have lost hope for a long time.”
As a result of the ongoing protests, a special unit of French riot police deployed to Martinique, which is an overseas administrative department of France.
Social unrest is nothing new for the island, with previous protests sparked by simmering anger over what demonstrators say is economic, social and racial inequality.
NEW DELHI — India stepped up its development assistance to the Maldives after the two leaders held talks in New Delhi on Monday in a bid to repair strained ties that saw the president of the Indian Ocean archipelago forging closer relations with China.
After the talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will offer financial support to the cash-strapped Maldives in form of a $100-million treasury bills rollover. The countries also signed a $400-million currency swap agreement.
The two leaders virtually inaugurated a new international airport in the Maldives, and Modi announced that work will be accelerated on the India-assisted Greater Male Connectivity Project, which aims to link key islands of the Maldives through modern transport networks.
“India is Maldives’ nearest neighbour and a close friend,” Modi said during a joint news conference. He said the Maldives held an important position in India’s “neighbourhood first policy.”
Tensions between India and the Maldives have grown since President Mohamed Muizzu, who favors closer ties with China, was elected last year after defeating India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Leading up to the election, Muizzu had promised to expel Indian soldiers deployed in the Maldives to help with humanitarian assistance. In May, New Delhi replaced dozens of its soldiers with civilian experts.
In January, Maldivian leaders lashed out at Modi for promoting India’s Lakshadweep archipelago for Indian travelers. Lakshadweep is off the southwestern coast of the Indian mainland.
Maldivians saw the move as a way to lure Indian tourists away from their country. It sparked angry protests from Indian celebrities who called for a tourism boycott to the Maldives. Tourism is the mainstay of the Maldives’ economy.
The dispute deepened when Muizzu visited China ahead of India in January, a move seen by New Delhi as a snub. On his return, Muizzu spelled out plans to rid his tiny nation of dependence on India for health facilities, medicines and import of staples.
A thaw ensued after Muizzu attended Modi’s June swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi for a third five-year term. Since then, Muizzu has toned down his anti-Indian rhetoric, and official-level contacts have intensified with New Delhi as concerns rose that the Maldives could be staring at an economic crisis.
“India is a key partner in the socio-economic and infrastructure development of the Maldives and has stood by the Maldives during our times of need,” Muizzu said after the meeting. He said the currency swap agreement “will be instrumental in addressing the foreign exchange issues we are facing right now.”
Muizzu will also hold meetings with senior Indian officials during his five-day visit.
Regional powers India and China compete for influence in the archipelago nation, which is strategically located in the Indian Ocean.
For decades, India has been a critical provider of development assistance to the Maldives. Meanwhile, the Maldives joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative to build ports and highways and expand trade as well as China’s influence across Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Muizzu’s visit is essential for Modi, who is facing a challenging time in neighborhood diplomacy with Marxist politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake taking over as Sri Lanka’s president and India-friendly Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing to India in August after being forced to resign by students-led protests. Nepal also elected pro-China K.P. Sharma Oli as its prime minister.
NEW YORK — Activists geared up Friday for protests around the world to demand action on climate change just as a pair of major weeklong climate events were getting underway in New York City.
The planned actions in Berlin, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi and many other cities were being organized by the youth-led group Fridays for Future, and included the group’s New York chapter, which planned a march across the Brooklyn Bridge followed by a rally that organizers hoped would attract at least 1,000 people. More protests were planned Saturday and Sunday.
New York is hosting Climate Week NYC, an annual event that promotes climate action, at the same time the U.N. General Assembly takes up the issue on several fronts, including raising trillions of dollars to aid poorer countries suffering the most from climate change.
The New York protest was to take aim at “the pillars of fossil fuels” — companies that pollute, banks that fund them, and leaders who are failing on climate, said Helen Mancini, an organizer and a senior at the city’s Stuyvesant High School.
Youth climate protests started in August 2018 when Greta Thunberg, then an unknown 15-year-old, left school to stage a sit-down strike outside of the Swedish parliament to demand climate action and end fossil fuel use.
In the six years since Thunberg founded what became Fridays for Future, global carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels has increased by about 2.15%, according to Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists who monitor carbon pollution. The growth of emissions has slowed compared to previous decades and experts anticipate peaking soon, which is a far cry from the 43% reduction needed to keep temperature increases to an agreed-upon limit.
Since 2019, carbon dioxide emissions from coal have increased by nearly 1 billion tons (900 million metric tons), while natural gas emissions have increased slightly and oil pollution has dropped a tiny amount, according to the International Energy Agency. That growth has been driven by China, India and developing nations.
But emissions from advanced or industrialized economies have been falling and in 2023 were the lowest in more than 50 years, according to the IEA. Coal emissions in rich countries are down to levels seen around the year 1900 and the United Kingdom next month is set to shutter its last coal plant.
In the past five years, clean energy sources have grown twice as fast as fossil fuels, with both solar and wind individually growing faster than fossil fuel-based electricity, according to the IEA.
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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A union leader freed from prison Monday after serving time for her part in a strike against Cambodia’s biggest casino has vowed to continue the labor action until justice is done.
Chhim Sithar was sentenced in May 2023 to two years’ imprisonment for incitement to commit a felony, including time served before her conviction, in connection with the strike against the NagaWorld casino, the longest such labor action in the country’s history.
She had been leading a strike of hundreds of workers that began in December 2021 to protest mass layoffs and alleged union-busting at the casino in the capital, Phnom Penh, and was arrested and charged after a January 2022 demonstration of dismissed employees who were demanding to be rehired.
NagaWorld in late 2021 had fired 373 employees during financial struggles related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to The Associated Press at her home shortly after her release, Chhim Sithar vowed to continue leading the strike.
“About our advocacy fighting for union rights at NagaWorld, we will continue holding strike action until we get a solution. That’s the position we have determined since the first strike,” Chhim Sithar said, sitting on the floor surrounded by relatives.
“Unfortunately, as of today, after nearly three years, our workers have still not gotten justice. Therefore, as long as there’s no justice, our struggle continues,” she said.
After Chhim Sithar’s arrest, some dismissed workers continued to hold regular protests, appealing for her release and to get their jobs back. However, the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training announced in December 2022 that more than 200 others had accepted compensation under the labor law and dropped their demands.
“Despite relentless efforts by authorities to suppress the strike — including sexual harassment, physical assaults, and judicial harassment — the LRSU strike continues in Phnom Penh,” the Cambodian human rights organization LICADHO noted Monday.
NagaWorld is owned by a company controlled by the family of late Malaysian billionaire Chen Lip Keong. The company received its casino license in 1994 and the property is a huge integrated hotel-casino entertainment complex.
Previous labor union actions in Cambodia were usually at factories in outlying areas or in industrial estates in other provinces. The protest by the NagaWorld workers in the capital was unusually high-profile and drew police action that was sometimes violent.
Last year, the U.S. State Department named Chhim Sithar among 10 recipients of its annual Human Rights Defender Award. She was described by the then-U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy as “a courageous and tenacious labor union leader who peacefully advocates for the rights of Cambodian workers.”
Cambodia’s government has long been accused of using the judicial system to persecute critics and political opponents. Prime Minister Hun Manet succeeded his father last year after Hun Sen ruled for four decades, but there have been few signs of political liberalization.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s airport workers’ union has called off a strike that grounded flights in the country’s main airport on Wednesday over awarding the contract for its modernization and operations to an Indian firm.
The decision came after a day-long talks between the union leaders and the government.
The workers were protesting a build-and-operate agreement between the Kenyan government and India’s Adani Group that would see the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport modernized, and an additional runway and terminal constructed, in exchange for the group running the airport for 30 years.
The union wrote on X that a return to work agreement had been signed and the union’s secretary general Moss Ndiema told journalists and workers that the union would be involved in every discussion moving forward.
“We have not accepted Adani,” he said.
Transport Minister Davis Chirchir told journalists that the government would protect the interests of Kenyan citizens during the quest to upgrade and modernize the main airport.
Hundreds of workers at Kenya’s main international airport demonstrated on Wednesday as planes remained grounded, with hundreds of passengers stranded at the airport.
Kenya Airport Workers Union, in announcing the strike, had said that the deal would lead to job losses and “inferior terms and conditions of service” for those who will remain.
Kenya Airways on Wednesday announced there would be flight delays and possible cancellations because of the ongoing strike at the airport, which serves Nairobi.
The strike affected local flights coming from the port city of Mombasa and the lake city of Kisumu, where delays have been reported by local media.
At the main airport, police officers had taken up security check-in roles with long lines seen outside the departure terminals and worried passengers unable to confirm if their flights would depart as scheduled.
The Kenya Airports Authority said in a statement that it was “engaging relevant parties to normalize operations” and urged passengers to contact their respective airlines to confirm flight status.
The Central Organization of Trade Unions’ secretary-general, Francis Atwoli, told journalists at the airport that the strike would have been averted had the government listened to the workers.
“This was a very simple matter where the assurance to workers in writing that our members will not lose jobs and their jobs will remain protected by the government and as is required by law and that assurance alone, we wouldn’t have been here,” he said.
Last week, airport workers had threatened to go on strike, but the plans were called off pending discussions with the government.
The spotting of unknown people moving around with airport officials taking notes and photographs raised concerns that the Indian firm officials were readying for the deal, local media outlets reported last week.
The High Court on Monday temporarily halted the implementation of the deal until a case filed by the Law Society and the Kenya Human Rights Commission is heard.
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Arms raised high. Banners denouncing the war in Gaza. Crowds united in song and wrapped in keffiyehs, the black-and-white checkered scarves that have become a badge of Palestinian identity.
It could have been any other pro-Palestinian rally erupting over the Israel-Hamas war if it weren’t for the fact that these thousands of protesters were actually soccer fans at a league match in Santiago, the capital of Chile.
Club Palestino supporters watch a local league match against Santiago Wanderers at La Cisterna stadium in Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)
A Club Palestino fan wears a keffiyeh during a local league soccer match against Santiago Wanderers at La Cisterna stadium in Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)
Club Palestino soccer team fans watch their team’s game with Santiago Wanderers at a local league match at La Cisterna stadium in Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)
Although the players darting across the field had names like José and Antonio and grew up in a Spanish-speaking South American nation, their fervor for the Palestinian cause and red, white, black and green-colored jerseys underscored how Chile’s storied soccer club serves as an entry point for the world’s largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East to connect with an ancestral home thousands of miles away.
“It’s more than just a club, it takes you into the history of the Palestinians,” said Bryan Carrasco, captain of Chile’s legendary Club Deportivo Palestino.
“We’re united in the face of the war,” said Diego Khamis, director of the country’s Palestinian community. “It’s daily suffering.”
Club Palestino soccer team fans celebrate their second goal against Santiago Wanderers at a local league match at La Cisterna stadium in Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)
A Club Palestino player wears socks with an outline of territory Palestinians claim as theirs during a local league soccer match against Santiago Wanderers at La Cisterna stadium in Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)
In a sport where authorities penalize athletes for flaunting political positions, particularly on such explosive issues as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Club Palestino is an unabashed exception that wears its pro-Palestinian politics on its sleeve — and on its torso, stadium seats and anywhere else it can find.
The club’s brazen gestures have caused offense before. Chile’s Football Federation fined the club in 2014 after the number “1” on the back of their shirts was shaped as a map of Palestine before Israel’s creation in 1948.
But players’ fierce pride in their Palestinian identity has otherwise caused little controversy in this country of 19 million, home to 500,000 ethnic Palestinians.
“It’s our roots and it feels like home,” said Jaime Barakat, a Palestino fan and shawarma vendor.
Club Palestino soccer team fans watch their team play Santiago Wanderers at a local league match at La Cisterna stadium in Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)
The country’s small Jewish population of 16,000 is unsettled. “Boric, who frequently speaks of peace, has imported the Middle East conflict to Chile,” the Jewish Community of Chile said in a statement.
Chile’s Palestinians say the Mideast conflict was imported decades before Boric, spurring waves of displacement that forged the surprising history of Arab immigration to this Pacific coast nation from the late 1800s as the Ottoman Empire crumbled and the Zionist movement took root.
In 1920, the League of Nations approved the British Mandate of Palestine, unleashing tensions over Britain’s Balfour Declaration that promised historic Palestine as a homeland for the Jewish people. More Palestinians crossed the Atlantic and braved treks across the Andes by mule to reach far-flung Chile. That same year, Club Palestino was created by a group of Palestinian soccer enthusiasts who gathered one winter day in Chile’s southern city of Osorno.
“My father told me they came here because there were more possibilities,” said 90-year-old Juan Sabaj Dhimes in Patronato, a historically Palestinian neighborhood in the capital, with its coffee shops and hookah bars splashed in the colors of the Palestinian national flag and plastered with Palestino club crests.
A Club Palestino fan waves a Palestinian flag during a local league soccer match against Santiago Wanderers at La Cisterna stadium in Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)
Chile’s Palestinian community exploded after the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation — in which more than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were pushed from their homes in what Arabs call the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” and dispersed all over the world.
Chile was then an upwardly mobile nation among poorer neighbors seeking to attract migrants to populate the country. Palestinian descendants say the arid land, coastal desert and fresh figs and olives conjured an earlier generation’s nostalgia for historic Palestine.
“The climate is one of the things that most captivated the Palestinians who arrived,” said Mauricio Abu-Ghosh, former president of Chile’s Palestinian Federation.
The scrappy soccer club went professional in 1947, becoming the pride of the community. Rocketing to Chile’s top division and clinching five official titles, its appeal soon stretched to the Middle East, where the descendants of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan still congregate in camps and cafes to catch Palestino matches broadcast by satellite network Al Jazeera.
Club Palestino’s Nicolas Linares plays in a local league soccer match against Santiago Wanderers at La Cisterna stadium in Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)
Despite of being a small soccer club, with an average of only about 2,000 spectators per game, Deportivo Palestino — winner of five official titles and a regular fixture in continental tournaments — is the third most followed Chilean club on Instagram, with more than 741,000 followers, only behind eternal rivals Universidad de Chile (791,000) and Colo-Colo (2.3 million).
“They tell us about the violence suffered by their people,” said 20-year-old Chilean fan Luis Torres at Palestino’s home stadium in Santiago. “It makes me angry, sad, so we’re here to bring a bit of joy.”
Club Palestino soccer team fans celebrate their second goal against Santiago Wanderers at a local league match at La Cisterna stadium in Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)
Palestinians streaming out of church in Patronato on a recent Sunday said they had prayed for the safety of their families in Gaza. “We all have cousins, siblings, grandparents who still live there,” said Khamis.
The war has wrenched Palestino, forcing the club’s training school in Gaza to shut down and disrupting programs it supports across the occupied West Bank.
But within Chile it has breathed new life into players and fans. Before kickoff, the team now rushes the pitch clad in keffiyehs, brandishing anti-war banners and taking a knee.
In May the team abandoned one little pre-match ritual of emerging on the field holding hands with child mascots. Instead, players extended their arms to the side, grasping at empty space.
It was a subtle gesture — a tribute to the “invisible children” killed in Gaza, the team later explained — that could have been lost entirely on ordinary soccer fans.
ALGIERS, Algeria — Algerians voted Saturday in an election to decide whether army-backed President Abdelmadjid Tebboune gets another term in office — five years after pro-democracy protests prompted the military to oust the previous president after two decades in power.
Since Algeria announced the election date earlier this year, there has been little suspense about the result.
Though he is expected to be named the winner once the results are finalized, Tebboune said after voting that he hoped “whoever wins will continue on the path towards a point of no return in the construction of democracy.”
With vote counting underway Saturday evening after polls closed, the question is less about who will win and more about how many voters stayed home.
Tebboune’s backers and challengers all urged voters to come out to cast their ballots after boycotts and high abstention rates in previous elections marred the government’s ability to claim popular support.
But throughout the day, many polling places in Algiers were mostly empty, apart from scores of police officers manning their posts.
Polling places were kept open until 9 p.m. on Saturday after officials extended the voting period to accommodate concerns that people may not have voted during the day in certain parts of the country due to the heat. As of 5 p.m., voter turnout was 26.5% in Algeria and 18.3% for precincts abroad.
Preliminary results are expected late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
Algeria is Africa’s largest country by area and, with almost 45 million people, it’s the continent’s second most populous after South Africa to hold presidential elections in 2024 — a year in which more than 50 elections are being held worldwide, encompassing more than half the world’s population.
The campaign — rescheduled earlier this year to take place during North Africa’s hot summer — was characterized by apathy from the population, which continues to be plagued by high costs of living and drought that brought water shortages to some parts of the country.
“Uncle Tebboune,” as his campaign framed the 78-year-old, was elected in December 2019 after nearly a year of weekly “Hirak” demonstrations demanding the resignation of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Their demands were met when Bouteflika resigned and was replaced by an interim government of his former allies, which called for elections later in the year.
Protestors opposed holding elections too soon, fearing candidates running that year each were close to the old regime and would derail dreams of a civilian-led, non-military state. Tebboune, a former prime minister seen as close to the military, won. But his victory was stained by boycotts and Election Day tumult, during which crowds sacked voting stations and police broke up demonstrations.
Throughout his tenure, Tebboune has used oil and gas revenue to boost some social benefits — including unemployment insurance as well as public wages and pensions — to calm discontent. To cement his legitimacy, Tebboune hopes more of the country’s 24 million eligible voters participate in Saturday’s election than in his first, when only 39.9% voted.
Many of the last election’s boycotters remain unconvinced about elections ushering in change.
Activists and international organizations, including Amnesty International, have railed against how authorities continue prosecuting those involved in opposition parties, media organizations and civil society groups.
Some have denounced this election as a rubber stamp exercise that can only entrench the status quo.
“Algerians don’t give a damn about this bogus election,” said former Hirak leader Hakim Addad, who was banned from participating in politics three years ago. “The political crisis will persist as long as the regime remains in place. The Hirak has spoken.”
Twenty-six candidates submitted preliminary paperwork to run in the election, although only two were ultimately approved to challenge Tebboune.
Neither political novices, they avoided directly criticizing Tebboune on the campaign trail and, like the incumbent, emphasized participation.
Abdelali Hassani Cherif, a 57-year-old head of the Islamist party Movement of Society for Peace (MSP) made populist appeals to Algerian youth, running on the slogan “Opportunity!” Youcef Aouchiche, a 41-year-old former journalist running with the Socialist Forces Front (FFS), campaigned on a “vision for tomorrow.”
Both challengers and their parties risked losing backing from would-be supporters who thought they were selling out by contributing to the idea that the election was democratic and contested.
Walking near a vote center in downtown Algiers, longtime FFS supporter Mhand Kasdi said his party had betrayed its ideals by putting forth a candidate for the first time since 1999.
“It is giving its backing to a rigged election,” the 55-year-old gas station manager said, adding that Aouchiche and Hassani “are going to help make the regime’s candidate look good.”
Voting in his hometown Saturday, Aouchiche called on Algerians to vote for him “to give young people the confidence to put an end to the despair that drives them to take the boats of death in an attempt to reach the other side of the Mediterranean,” referencing many who elect to migrate to Europe in search of opportunity rather than remain at home.
Andrew Farrand, the Middle East and North Africa director at the geopolitical risk consultancy Horizon Engage, said both challengers were more aimed at the 2025 legislative elections than the 2024 presidential contest. Because Algerian law funds political parties based on the number of seats they win in legislative elections, they hope campaigning positions them for a strong 2025 performance.
“It’s a long game: How can I mobilize my base? How can I build up a campaign machine? And how can I get into the good graces of the authorities so that I can be in a position to increase my seats?” he said. “We’ve seen that in their choice not to overtly criticize president … paired with a very strong message to Algerians to come out and vote.”
TORONTO (AP) — Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted an opening night screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, chanting “Stop the genocide!” during opening remarks.
At the screening for the David Gordon Green comedy “Nutcrackers” on Thursday evening, four protesters walked down the center aisle of the Princess of Wales Theatre, carrying signs and flashlights while shouting criticism of festival sponsor Royal Bank of Canada. “Cut ties with RBC,” they yelled.
Cameron Bailey, festival director, was speaking at the podium on stage when the protest began. He tried to maintain order, urging the protestors, “We are here to start the festival.” Numerous crowd members booed the protesters.
The protest lasted for a handful of minutes before the demonstrators were ushered out by security. Several attendees posted videos online of the episode.
Representatives for the festival didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, RBC said: “We respect the right of individuals to make their voices heard, but it’s unfortunate to see activist groups attempting to co-opt this important cultural event. Protestors targeting corporate sponsors are shifting attention from the work of artists and weakening support for essential arts and cultural programs.”
The bank added: “The humanitarian crisis in Israel and Gaza continues to have a devastating impact and we feel deeply for everyone who is affected.”
At last year’s TIFF, a campaign called RBC Off Screen also protested the festival sponsor. An open letter to TIFF urged the festival to reconsider its relationship with RBC. Signees included Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Joaquin Phoenix. They criticized the bank’s funding of the oil and gas industry.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday that Malaysia will not bow to demands by China to stop its oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea as the activities are within the country’s waters.
Anwar said Malaysia would continue to explain its stance following China’s accusations in a protest note in February to the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing that Kuala Lumpur had infringed on its territory. Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it was investigating the leak of the diplomatic protest note that was published by a Filipino media outlet on Aug. 29.
“We have never intended in any way to be intentionally provocative, unnecessarily hostile. China is a great friend, but of course we have to operate in our waters and secure economic advantage, including drilling for oil in our territory,” Anwar said in a televised news conference from Russia, where he is on an official visit.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer published the diplomatic note in which Beijing reportedly demanded that Malaysia immediately halt all activities in an oil-rich maritime area off Sarawak state on Borneo island.
The report said China had accused Malaysia of encroaching on areas covered by its 10-dash line, Beijing’s controversial map showing its claims to sovereignty in the South China Sea. The diplomatic note also expressed Beijing’s displeasure over Malaysia’s oil and gas exploration activities near the Luconia Shoals, which is near to Sarawak, it said.
Anwar said it wasn’t the first time China had sent a protest note over the South China Sea dispute but stressed it shouldn’t mar a strong relationship. Anwar had called China a “true friend” during a visit to Malaysia by Chinese President Li Qiang in June to mark 50 years of diplomatic ties.
“We have said that we will not transgress other people’s borders,” Anwar said. “They know our position … They have claimed that we are infringing on their territory. That is not the case. We say no, it is our territory. But if they continue with the dispute, then okay, we will have to listen, and they will have to listen.”
Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan all dispute Beijing’s claims to almost the entire South China Sea. Unlike the Philippines which has had public clashes with China in the disputed area, Malaysia’s government prefers diplomatic channels. It rarely criticizes Beijing publicly, even though Chinese coast guard ships have sailed near Malaysia’s waters. This is partly to protect economic ties as China has been Malaysia’s top trading partner since 2009.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Bahrain’s king pardoned 457 prisoners Wednesday night to mark his 25th anniversary as the island nation’s ruler, with one activist saying many of those freed appeared to be political prisoners.
The announcement by the state-run Bahrain News Agency marks another mass release of prisoners in the Persian Gulf kingdom that has experienced repeated crackdowns on all dissent in the years following its 2011 Arab Spring protests.
There was no list of names of the prisoners released by the order of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who has ruled Bahrain first as its emir in 1999 before Bahrain became a kingdom in 2002.
Bahrain’s government did not answer questions from The Associated Press, but said the pardon “further demonstrates Bahrain’s commitment to criminal justice, with an opportunity today for over 450 individuals to positively re-integrate back into society.”
“Authorities have been meeting with … hundreds, saying to them they would be released very soon,” Alwadaei said. “It seems to be targeting mostly political prisoners.”
He added: “This is a really optimistic step and it does seem to be also coming within a regional context where Bahrain is trying to normalize with Iran.”
Bahrain’s Shiite majority long has complained about mistreatment and abuse from the government overseen by the ruling Sunni Al Khalifa family. Addressing activists’ complaints could help Bahrain ease tensions with Iran despite decades of enmity, particularly after Saudi Arabia reached a Chinese-mediate detente with Tehran last year.
In April, King Hamad pardoned 1,584 prisoners, including over 650 considered to be political prisoners by the institute.
Prominent Bahraini activists being held include Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a dual Danish Bahraini national convicted of internationally criticized terrorism charges and held in what a United Nations panel calls an “arbitrary” imprisonment ever since.
Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet, is an island off the coast of Saudi Arabia that’s about the size of New York City with a population of around 1.5 million people.
Since Bahrain put down the 2011 protests with the help of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it has imprisoned activists, deported others, stripped hundreds of their citizenship and closed its leading independent newspaper.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israelis were plunged into grief and anger this weekend after the military said six hostages were killed by their captors in Gaza just as troops were closing in on their location. The rage sparked massive protests and a general strike — the most intense domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the start of the war nearly 11 months ago.
Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for the mounting number of dead hostages and are calling for a cease-fire agreement to free the remaining roughly 100 captives — even if that means ending the conflict. Sunday’s demonstrations were the largest show of support for a hostage deal since Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and kidnapped 250 people.
Here’s a look at how the public outcry in Israel could affect Netanyahu’s next moves in the war:
Throughout the war, critics have claimed Netanyahu has put his political survival above all else, including the fate of the hostages. His rule relies on support from two ultranationalist parties that were once at the fringes of Israeli politics but now hold key positions in government.
Headed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, they oppose any deal that ends the war or sets free Palestinian prisoners convicted of killing Israelis. They have vowed to topple the government should Netanyahu agree to a cease-fire — a step that would trigger elections that could remove Netanyahu from office.
“What he cares about is his political survival,” said Reuven Hazan, a political scientist at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. “His political survival with Ben-Gvir and Smotrich doesn’t allow him to end the war and bring back the hostages.”
Netanyahu blames Hamas for the lack of a deal.
Looming over the prime minister is also his ongoing trial on corruption charges. If Netanyahu is voted out of power, he will lose his platform to rail against the judicial system, which he accuses of being biased. He also wouldn’t be able to move ahead with his government’s planned changes to the legal system that critics say could affect the trial and help him avoid a conviction.
Netanyahu says he has the country’s best interests in mind and insists that the military operation in Gaza is the best way to bring about the hostages’ freedom. He also wants any deal to keep Israeli troops in two strips of land in Gaza, and reaffirmed his insistence that he will never agree to a withdrawal from one of those areas on Monday.
Hamas has rejected those demands as dealbreakers — and the condition has prompted clashes with Netanyahu’s own defense minister, who says a deal that frees the hostages should be a priority.
As the toll of the war in Gaza has mounted — with tens of thousands killed and whole swaths of the territory decimated — Israel has become increasingly isolated internationally. On Monday, when asked if Netanyahu was doing enough to negotiate a deal, U.S. President Joe Biden responded, “No.”
Biden, who has never seen eye to eye with the Israeli leader even though their nations are close allies, has grown increasingly critical of his counterpart’s leadership. But the timing on Monday’s remark was particularly pointed, coming as it did after the demonstrations and outpouring of grief for the hostages.
Many Israelis accuse Netanyahu of obstructing a deal to stay in power and say that by not ending the war, he is putting the lives of the hostages in danger.
“Hamas was the one that pulled the trigger, but Netanyahu is the one who sentenced (the hostages) to death,” said an editorial Sunday in the liberal daily Haaretz.
Israel has seen weekly protests in solidarity with the hostages since the start of the war. But over time, as Israelis have tried to return to a semblance of normalcy or have been preoccupied by fears of a regional war with Iran or the militant group Hezbollah, the protests have dwindled in size. That has eased pressure on Netanyahu and talks toward a deal have repeatedly fizzled.
But on Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people poured into central Tel Aviv, banging drums and chanting “Deal, now!” About 100 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, roughly a third of them said to be dead. Israel and Hamas have been mulling a three-phased proposal that would set them free and end the war.
It was the largest demonstration Israel has seen at least since before the war, when Israelis took the streets weekly to protest a plan by Netanyahu to overhaul the judiciary. While the protests coupled with a general strike prompted Netanyahu and his government to walk back or soften some decisions, the overhaul was only put on hold when the war broke out.
The current public outcry has its limits. Sunday’s protest failed to break longstanding political boundaries and appeared to be largely made up of the same liberal, secular Israelis who protested the overhaul and against Netanyahu’s leadership while on trial for alleged corruption. Many of Netanyahu’s supporters say relenting on any position in talks now after the deaths of the six hostages would signal to Hamas that it can reap rewards from such violence.
Similarly, Monday’s strike reflected those same political divisions. Liberal municipalities in central Israel, including Tel Aviv, joined the strike, leading to public daycares and kindergartens closing as well as other services. But other cities, mostly with conservative and religious populations that tend to support Netanyahu, including Jerusalem, did not join the strike. And a labor court cut the strike short by several hours, hobbling its efficacy.
Without large sustained protests across a broader swath of society, it’s hard to see how Netanyahu will feel enough pressure to change his approach, said Hazan, the political scientist. And so long as his government is stable, he may stick to his demands in the negotiations to appease his coalition and ignore the protests entirely.
Still, relatives of the hostages found killed in Gaza expressed hope that the protests marked a turning point in the war that might force progress on a deal.
In a eulogy for Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American who became one of the most high-profile captives, his father spoke of the emotional resonance the deaths might have.
“For 330 days, mama and I sought the proverbial stone that we could turn over to save you,” Jon Polin said. “Maybe, just maybe, your death is the stone, the fuel, that will bring home the remaining” hostages.
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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed from Washington.
ISLAMABAD — Traders in Pakistan went on strike Wednesday, shutting down their businesses in all major cities and urban areas to protest a rise in electricity costs and new taxes imposed on shop owners.
Most of the public markets across Pakistan were closed on Wednesday, though pharmacies and grocery stores selling basic food items remained open. Kashif Chaudhry, a strike leader, said those were not closed so as not to inconvenience the general public.
Stores were shuttered in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi, as well as in the city of Lahore, the country’s culture capital, and the main economic hub of Karachi.
The strike was called by Naeem-ur-Rehman who heads the religious Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan party and endorsed by most of the various traders’ unions and associations.
However, traders in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern Balochistan provinces observed a partial strike, keeping some stores open while closing others.
The strike is aimed at forcing the government to reverse the recent hikes in power bills and the controversial tax that followed the recent talks with the IMF, which wants to see Pakistan broaden its tax base.
The July deal was Pakistan’s latest turn to the global lender for help in propping up its economy and dealing with its debts through big bailouts. Earlier this year, the IMF approved the immediate release of the final $1.1 billion tranche of a $3 billion bailout to Pakistan.
SINTRA, Portugal (AP) — The doorbell to Martinho de Almada Pimentel’s house is hard to find, and he likes it that way. It’s a long rope that, when pulled, rings a literal bell on the roof that lets him know someone is outside the mountainside mansion that his great-grandfather built in 1914 as a monument to privacy.
There’s precious little of that for Pimentel during this summer of “overtourism.”
Travelers idling in standstill traffic outside the sunwashed walls of Casa do Cipreste sometimes spot the bell and pull the string “because it’s funny,” he says. With the windows open, he can smell the car exhaust and hear the “tuk-tuk” of outsized scooters named for the sound they make. And he can sense the frustration of 5,000 visitors a day who are forced to queue around the house on the crawl up single-lane switchbacks to Pena Palace, the onetime retreat of King Ferdinand II.
“Now I’m more isolated than during COVID,” the soft-spoken Pimentel, who lives alone, said during an interview this month on the veranda. “Now I try to (not) go out. What I feel is: angry.”
This is a story of what it means to be visited in 2024, the first year in which global tourism is expected to set records since the coronavirus pandemic brought much of life on Earth to a halt. Wandering is surging, rather than leveling off, driven by lingering revenge travel, digital nomad campaigns and so-called golden visasblamed in part for skyrocketing housing prices.
Anyone paying attention during this summer of “overtourism” is familiar with the escalating consequences around the world: traffic jams in paradise. Reports of hospitality workers living in tents. And “anti-tourism” protests intended to shame visitors as they dine — or, as in Barcelona in July, douse them with water pistols.
The demonstrations are an example of locals using the power of their numbers and social media to issue destination leaders an ultimatum: Manage this issue better or we’ll scare away the tourists — who could spend their $11.1 trillion a year elsewhere. Housing prices, traffic and water management are on all of the checklists.
Cue the violins, you might grouse, for people like Pimentel who are well-off enough to live in places worth visiting. But it’s more than a problem for rich people.
“Not to be able to get an ambulance or to not be able to get my groceries is a rich people problem?” said Matthew Bedell, another resident of Sintra, which has no pharmacy or grocery store in the center of the UNESCO-designated district. “Those don’t feel like rich people problems to me.”
What is ‘overtourism,’ anyway?
The phrase itself generally describes the tipping point at which visitors and their cash stop benefitting residents and instead cause harm by degrading historic sites, overwhelming infrastructure and making life markedly more difficult for those who live there.
It’s a hashtag that gives a name to the protests and hostility that you’ve seen all summer. But look a little deeper and you’ll find knottier issues for locals and their leaders, none more universal than housing prices driven up by short-term rentals like Airbnb, from Spain to South Africa. Some locales are encouraging “quality tourism,” generally defined as more consideration by visitors toward residents and less drunken behavior, disruptive selfie-taking and other questionable choices.
Tourists visit the old center of Sintra, Portugal, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
“Overtourism is arguably a social phenomenon, too,” according to an analysis for the World Trade Organization written by Joseph Martin Cheer of Western Sydney University and Marina Novelli of the University of Nottingham. In China and India, for example, they wrote, crowded places are more socially accepted. “This suggests that cultural expectations of personal space and expectations of exclusivity differ.”
In January, the United Nations’ tourism agency predicted that worldwide tourism would exceed the records set in 2019 by 2%. By the end of March, the agency reported, more than 285 million tourists had travelled internationally, about 20% more than the first quarter of 2023. Europe remained the most-visited destination. The World Travel & Tourism Council projected in April that 142 of 185 countries it analyzed would set records for tourism, set to generate $11.1 trillion globally and account for 330 million jobs.
Tourists queue to visit the interior of the 19th century Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Aside from the money, there’s been trouble in paradise this year, with Spain playing a starring role in everything from water management problems to skyrocketing housing prices and drunken tourist drama.
Protests erupted across the country as early as March, when graffiti in Malaga reportedly urged tourists to “go f——— home.” Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Spain’s Canary Islands against visitors and construction that was overwhelming water services and jacking up housing prices. In Barcelona, protesters shamed and squirted water at people presumed to be visitors as they dined al fresco in touristy Las Ramblas.
In Japan, where tourist arrivals fueled by the weak yen were expected to set a new record in 2024, Kyoto banned tourists from certain alleys. The government set limits on people climbing Mount Fuji. And in Fujikawaguchiko, a town that offers some of the best views of the mountain’s perfect cone, leaders erected a large black screen in a parking lot to deter tourists from overcrowding the site. The tourists apparently struck back by cutting holes in the screen at eye level.
Air travel, meanwhile, only got more miserable, the U.S. government reported in July. UNESCO has warned of potential damage to protected areas. And Fodor’s “ No List 2024 ” urged people to reconsider visiting suffering hotspots, including sites in Greece and Vietnam, as well as areas with water management problems in California, India and Thailand.
Tourists queue to catch a shuttle bus from the gate up to the the 19th century Pena Palace, in Sintra, Portugal, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Tourism is surging and shifting so quickly, in fact, that some experts say the very term “overtourism” is outdated.
Michael O’Regan, a lecturer on tourism and events at Glasgow Caledonian University, argues that “overtourism” has become a buzzword that doesn’t reflect the fact that the experience depends largely on the success or failure of crowd management. It’s true that many of the demonstrations aren’t aimed at the tourists themselves, but at the leaders who allow the locals who should benefit to become the ones who pay.
“There’s been backlash against the business models on which modern tourism has been built and the lack of response by politicians,” he said in an interview. Tourism “came back quicker than we expected,” he allows, but tourists aren’t the problem. “There’s a global fight for tourists. We can’t ignore that. … So what happens when we get too many tourists? Destinations need to do more research.”
Of visitors vs being visited
Virpi Makela can describe exactly what happens in her corner of Sintra.
Incoming guests at Casa do Valle, her hillside bed-and-breakfast near the village center, call Makela in anguish because they cannot figure out how to find her property amid Sintra’s “disorganized” traffic rules that seem to change without notice.
“There’s a pillar in the middle of the road that goes up and down and you can’t go forward because you ruin your car. So you have to somehow come down but you can’t turn around, so you have to back down the road,” says Makela, a resident of Portugal for 36 years. “And then people get so frustrated they come to our road, which also has a sign that says `authorized vehicles only.’ And they block everything.”
A poster hanging from a balcony reads “Sintra: A traffic jam in paradise”, in Sintra, Portugal, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Traffic crawls through a narrow street where a poster on the wall of a house reads in Portuguese “Chaotic traffic harms everyone, residents and visitors”, in Sintra, Portugal, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Nobody disputes the idea that the tourism boom in Portugal needs better management. The WTTC predicted in April that the country’s tourism sector will grow this year by 24% over 2019 levels, create 126,000 more jobs since then and account for about 20% of the national economy. Housing prices already were pushing an increasing number of people out of the property market, driven upward in part by a growing influx of foreign investors and tourists seeking short-term rentals.
To respond, Lisbon announced plans to halve the number of tuk-tuks allowed to ferry tourists though the city and built more parking spaces for them after residents complained that they are blocking traffic.
A 40-minute train ride to the west, Sintra’s municipality has invested in more parking lots outside town and youth housing at lower prices near the center, the mayor’s office said.
More than 3 million people every year visit the mountains and castles of Sintra, long one of Portugal’s wealthiest regions for its cool microclimate and scenery. Sintra City Hall also said via email that fewer tickets are now sold to the nearby historic sites. Pena Palace, for example, began this year to permit less than half the 12,000 tickets per day sold there in the past.
It’s not enough, say residents, who have organized into QSintra, an association that’s challenging City Hall to “put residents first” with better communication, to start. They also want to know the government’s plan for managing guests at a new hotel being constructed to increase the number of overnight stays, and more limits on the number of cars and visitors allowed.
“We’re not against tourists,” reads the group’s manifesto. “We’re against the pandemonium that (local leaders) cannot resolve.”
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Associated Press reporters Helena Alves in Lisbon and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report. Laurie Kellman writes about global affairs for AP’s Trends + Culture team. Follow her at http://x.com/APLaurieKellman
MEXICO CITY — Protestors took to the streets across Mexico on Sunday in the latest opposition to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s proposed judicial overhaul and other moves by the governing party that critics say will weaken democratic checks and balances.
Demonstrators rallied in Mexico City as well as in Michoacan, Puebla, Leon, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Veracruz and a number of other states.
In the capital, throngs of people, many of them federal court workers and judges on strike, ended their march outside the Supreme Court building in the heart of the city, waving flags reading “Judicial independence” and “Respect democracy.”
“Right now, we’re protesting the reforms, but it’s not just the reforms,” said lawyer Mauricio Espinosa. “Its all of these attacks against the judicial branch and other autonomous bodies. What it does is end up strengthening the executive, the next president.”
Following big electoral victories in June by the president’s Morena party and its allies, the government has pushed for sweeping changes to Mexico’s judicial system, long at odds with López Obrador, a populist who has openly attacked judges and ignored court orders.
His proposal includes having judges elected to office, something analysts, judges and international observers fear would stack courts with politically biased judges with little experience.
That was the concern for Espinosa, who said judges “will have to raise money to campaign, find someone to have their backs. So their sentences will no longer be 100% independent.”
The proposed changes would require approval by Mexico’s Congress, where the governing coalition has the majority.
The coalition will be a few seats short of a two-thirds majority in the Senate, but it could feasibly win the needed votes from a smaller party.
While the new legislators don’t take office until Sept. 1, a congressional committee on Friday already began pushing forward another contentious initiative — the elimination of seven autonomous bodies, including the National Institute of Transparency.
Morena argues Mexico’s independent oversight and regulatory bodies are a waste of money. It says oversight responsibilities should be given to government departments instead, essentially allowing them to police themselves.
The collective moves by the president and his party have fueled concerns about undermining democratic institutions. But for many in the crowds, the overhaul of the judiciary represents the greatest threat.
López Obrador, who leaves office Sept. 30, and President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, a Morema member, rejected Salazar’s comments. López Obrador called the comments “disrespectful of our national sovereignty,” and Sheinbaum said Saturday that while there will always be dialogue between the U.S. and Mexico, “there are things that only correspond to Mexicans.”
MEXICO CITY — The leaders of Brazil and Colombia on Saturday again called on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to release voting tallies, days after the country’s Supreme Court backed the government’s disputed claims that it won elections in July.
In a joint statement, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the “credibility of the electoral process can only be restored through the transparent publication of disaggregated and verifiable data.”
The two leaders also warned against repression as the Venezuelan government has jailed thousands and met protests with violence.
The governments spoke a day after several other Latin American countries and the U.S. rejected the Venezuelan high court’s certification. Many were waiting to see how the two leftist leaders would respond to the court because both are close allies of Maduro and have been working to facilitate talks with both sides.
Maduro claims that he won the presidential vote, but so far has refused to release official tally sheets, considered the one verifiable vote count in Venezuela as they are almost impossible to replicate.
The main opposition coalition has accused Maduro of trying to steal the vote.
Opposition volunteers managed to collect copies of voting tallies from 80% of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide that show former opposition candidate Edmundo González won by a more than 2-to-1 margin. The Supreme Court alleged those tallies were forged.
Lula and Petro said they “take note” of the court’s ruling, but added they are still awaiting release of the tallies.
The governments also called on actors in Venezuela to “avoid resorting to acts of violence and repression” as security forces arrested more than 2,000 people and cracked down on demonstrations that erupted spontaneously throughout the country protesting the results. But the two leaders didn’t directly accuse the Maduro government of carrying out the violence.
The arrests have again spread fear in a country that has seen other government crackdowns during previous times of political turmoil.
At the same time, key opposition figure Maria Corina Machado has since gone into hiding and the government said Friday it will order González to provide sworn testimony in an ongoing investigation, claiming he was part of an effort to spread panic by contesting the results of the election.
Both Lula and Petro have previously been criticized for what some say have been lenient policies toward Maduro’s government, but their tone has grown more stern in recent months, especially in the wake of the election fallout.
Their two countries are neighbors to Venezuela and their governments were to witness agreements struck between Maduro and the opposition that aimed to chart the path to free and fair elections, which the opposition and other observers accused Maduro of violating. The two leaders reiterated their willingness to facilitate dialogue between the the government and the opposition.
“The political normalization of Venezuela requires the recognition that there is no lasting alternative to peaceful dialogue and democratic coexistence,” the statement read.
MEXICO CITY — Nicaragua’s government closed another 151 nongovernmental organizations Thursday, among them some of the most important trade organizations, including the American Chamber of Commerce, coming just days after the government shuttered some 1,500 nongovernmental organizations, many of them religious in nature.
The Interior Ministry also cancelled the legal status of the umbrella organization for European countries’ chambers of commerce in Nicaragua.
The U.S. chamber, known locally as AMCHAM, had been in existence in Nicaragua for 47 years. It focused on promoting investment and bilateral trade with Nicaragua’s most important trade partner. The Associated Press left messages with the chamber seeking comment on the move.
The relationship between the U.S. and Nicaragua has been strained for years, especially since President Daniel Ortega’s deadly crackdown on massive street protests in 2018, but commerce continued.
Other groups closed in the decree were the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers, as well as chambers of commerce from various other countries including Mexico, Panama and Uruguay.
Ortega has targeted nongovernmental organizations since the 2018 uprising, alleging that organizations receiving foreign funds were involved in what he considered an attempt to oust him from office. To date, his government has closed more than 5,000.
On Monday, Ortega decreed that 1,500 organizations, mostly religious, including churches be closed. Officially, the government said they had not correctly reported their financial statements to the government.
Enrique Sáenz, an economist and political analyst, said that the closure of organizations tied to the private sector, which he characterized as “absolutely irrational.”
“They’re shooting themselves in the foot with a shotgun,” he said, noting that the government is reducing public spending and now will lose the jobs those organizations created.
“It sends a disturbing message” to businesses and overseas and displays “a climate of uncertainty for trade and investment,” he said.
The closures impact Nicaraguans as well since many of the organizations provide some form of relief to people in need, he said.
MEXICO CITY — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is facing mounting pressure against his controversial proposal to overhaul the Mexican judicial system, which would have judges be elected.
Judges and magistrates on Wednesday joined a strike begun early this week by federal court employees to oppose the proposal, while Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions warned that the overhaul could pose serious market consequences and risks for potential investors in Mexico.
In a response to rising criticism, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum joined her political ally López Obrador in defending the proposal Wednesday.
“Investors shouldn’t be worried. On the contrary, we will have a better justice system in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.
López Obrador, a populist leader whose six-year term ends Oct. 1, has long been at odds with Mexican courts.
He contends judges are part of a “mafia” against him, and says the proposal is meant to clean up corruption. He has gone on winding rants against the judicial system, ignored court orders and publicly sparred with judges whose rulings he has disagreed with.
Among the changes sought by the López Obrador it to have judges be elected and allow virtually anyone with a law degree with a few years experience as a lawyer to become a judge through popular vote.
Given major electoral wins by López Obrador’s party Morena in June elections, many academics have voiced concerns that selecting judges by popular vote would put politically biased judges on the bench and deal a blow to checks and balances.
The striking court employees also fear that the measure could put their careers in danger.
Since Monday, thousands of employees have camped outside federal court buildings, and the rallies grew Wednesday with judges and magistrates joining in. The demonstrators gathered under tents chanting and holding protest signs, with Mexicans with court appointments turned away.
“It could do damage to society,” said Fernando Rangel Ramírez, a federal judge on strike. He said the judicial branch “is an institution that historically, and in its nature, should not be politicized. There should be people in it that have enough experience.”
The National Association of Circuit Magistrates and District Judges said the strike will go on indefinitely, until the president’s proposal with “its many imperfections” is blocked. The group said it hopes to redirect “public discussion toward a well-considered comprehensive reform to address the structural causes that have been steadily weakening the quality of justice” in Mexico.
The only federal courts not affected by the strike are the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and the Electoral Tribunal, the group said. The only cases that will be taken are those considered “urgent.”
Morgan Stanley downgraded its recommendation for investing in Mexico this week because of the proposal.
“We believe replacing the judicial system should increase risk” for investments in Mexico, it said in a report released Tuesday night.
Those concerns were echoed by Citibanamex, which warned in a statement Tuesday that markets were underestimating the “serious implications” of the proposal, given the Morena party’s firm control of both the executive and legislative branches of government.
“The contours of this ruling, which are already evident, could mean the cancellation of liberal democracy, based on the rule of law and governed by the periodic electoral change of majority and solidly counterbalanced governments,” Citibanamex specialists said.
Mexico’s peso took another small dip in currency trading Wednesday morning following the criticism.
While Sheinbaum has showed herself to be more open to dialogue and held forums for debate on the subject, she questioned concerns about the plan and said Morgan Stanley and others might be “misinformed.”
“Their investments will be better protected,” she said.
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Associated Press journalist Martín Silva Rey contributed to this report.
