Former First Lady Sandra Torres of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) was the most-elected candidate in Sunday’s elections in Guatemala, facing Bernardo Arévalo of the Seed Movement, a party consolidated in Guatemala’s democratic spring unexpectedly second in the preferences of Guatemalans.

With 97% of the vote counts processed, the UNE candidate, who moved from social democracy to more conservative positions, commands 15.69% of the vote, compared to 11.8% of the support of the centre-left leader of the Seed movement. Both candidates meet in the second round on August 20th. After a recount, which is being conducted manually and has been slowly progressing since the close of business at 6 p.m., the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) said around 3:30 a.m. local time that the trend was irreversible.

The rise of the seed movement in the first round this Sunday was the big surprise of the day. No poll released during the campaign showed him receiving more than 3% of the vote. These polls placed diplomat Edmond Mulet and former MP Zury Ríos, daughter of dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, in second and third place, eventually finishing fifth and sixth with 6.73% and 6.58% of the vote, respectively . Ahead of them were Manuel Conde of the official Vamos party in third and fourth with 7.83% of the vote and Armando Castillo of Vivir with 7.29%.

The victory of the rejection vote

This Sunday’s elections generally showed a strong rejection of the traditional party system and the corruption that pervades various levels of the state. In fact, the majority of Guatemalans who went to the polls voted zero (17.39%), a number that exceeds the acceptance reached by Torres, while 6.9% of citizens voted blank.

After an election campaign marred by allegations of fraud following the removal of three top candidates, the three candidates were excluded from the process: Thelma Cabrera from the left-wing Movement for the Liberation of Peoples, Roberto Arzú from the right-wing. Podemos, and Carlos Pineda, a farmer with no political experience who became very popular mainly thanks to networks like TikTok, asked his followers to invalidate their vote to reject a process they considered fraudulent.

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subscribe toA volunteer from the Belén Institute shows a ballot for the presidency, invalidated by a voter, which reads: “They are all thieves.” Esteban Biba (EFE)

The turnout was almost 60%, just over two points more than in the last elections of 2019, in which Alajandro Giammattei won. Of the 9.3 million Guatemalans called to vote this Sunday, 5.5 voted. Of these, more than 955,000 voted zero, more than 866,000 for Sandra Torres and almost 649,000 for Bernardo Arévalo, who ended up becoming the hopeful candidate for citizens tired of traditional parties.

His entry into the second round came as a complete surprise, even for the party itself and its supporters. Before midnight, after hours of lying in second place, Arévalo and his candidate for vice president, Karin Herrera, offered a press conference in which they interpreted the result as a sharp rejection of the way Guatemala has been conducting politics was operated now. “We believe that the electorate was fed up with the co-opted political system and was looking for a decent and credible alternative,” the candidate said at the National Information Center (CNI), based in a hotel in the capital.

“We are very happy because we are a political party. We are not a collection of people, but a party responding to one platform and one vision,” Arévalo told reporters. “We’ve always known that the polls don’t reflect what people think,” he said. Three days before the election, the polls predicted 2.9% voting intent.

Shortly thereafter, Sandra Torres also spoke to the media. “We don’t know with whom, but we are ready to win the election and that I will be the first president of Guatemala,” she said at a press conference, at which she already took her entry into the second round for granted. The former first lady also criticized the slowness of the count despite the Supreme Electoral Court’s (TSE) investment in improving the counting system.

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More than 7.5 million plastic “baby” sharks are being recalled after several children impaled or slashed themselves on the hard plastic fin while bathing.

“While using the recalled bath toy, particularly in a bathtub or paddling pool, a child may slip and fall or sit on the shark’s hard plastic fin,” the recall statement, posted on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website, said on Thursday, CNN reported.

More than 7.5 million robot toys featuring the popular shark behind the song “Baby Shark” have been recalled after at least 12 children were injured by its hard fin.

According to the accident reports, the children suffered “genital, anorectal and facial injuries,” and nine of them required “stitching or medical attention,” the statement said.

Anyone who owns such a toy that was sold between May 2019 and June 2023 can contact the Zuru company for a refund.

A couple who have just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary are brutally murdered at their Massachusetts home as police officers chase suspects while telling people in their neighborhood to lock their doors

• Three elderly people were found murdered in their Massachusetts home
• Among them were an elderly couple and the woman’s mother, in her late 90s
• Police said there was evidence of a break-in and urged locals to lock their doors

By Neirin Gray Desai

Published: 1:59 PM, June 26, 2023 | Updated: 3:06 PM, June 26, 2023

An elderly couple who had just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary were brutally murdered along with his wife’s mother at their Massachusetts home on Sunday.

The unidentified couple, described as “fantastic Italian people who don’t hurt a soul”, had celebrated their wedding anniversary on Saturday night and were due to renew their vows on Sunday at the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians – but they never came at.

The couple, in their 70s, and the woman’s mother, who was in her late 90s, were found by a neighbor at their home in Nonantum when they checked on them around 10.14am.

All three are believed to have died from stab wounds and blunt force injuries.

There were also indications that the house had been broken into, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan confirmed at a press conference on Sunday evening.

Police advised residents to keep their doors closed and to check surveillance cameras if anything was caught on video.

The unidentified Italian couple and the woman’s mother, who was in her late 90s, were found by a neighbor at their home outside of Boston

Police said there was evidence of a forced entry into the elderly couple’s home and another break-in was reported this morning about half a mile away

Jim Sbordone, a retired lieutenant with the Newton Fire Department who was also close friends with the victims, told The Boston Globe that the family has been a long-time supporter of the nearby Our Lady Help of Christians Church.

“They were fantastic Italians who wouldn’t hurt a soul and would do anything for anyone,” Sbordone told the newspaper.

“They were great people.”

“That doesn’t happen in the neighborhood,” he said. “I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone again.”

According to police, there was another attempted break-in in the town of Newtonville, half a mile away, around 5:40 a.m. Sunday morning.

Ryan said authorities were still working to determine if the two events were related and, if so, the order in which they occurred.

The couple’s neighbor called 911 and reported finding their bodies after visiting their Broadway home as they were expected at the church.

Ryan said an investigation is ongoing and urged residents to report anything suspicious.

“This is the night you lock your doors and windows, even if you don’t normally do it.”

“It’s a warm night, people may have air conditioners on, be vigilant,” she said during the conference.

Newton Police Chief John F. Carmichael Jr. said there would be additional police presence on the streets Sunday night.

Their three bodies were reported to police just after 10 a.m. Sunday morning

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan (pictured at the lectern) said authorities were still working to determine if the triple homicide and another incident about half a mile away were linked

A neighbor who lives two houses away from the couple but who wished to remain anonymous also expressed confusion and shock at what appeared to be random acts of violence.

“Why her?” they told the Boston Herald. “Why such a nice couple like her?” Why this neighborhood? “That doesn’t happen around here.”

He said the victims were a “very, very nice couple”.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Monday announced plans to station 4,000 troops permanently in NATO ally Lithuania to help secure the alliance’s eastern flank.

“Germany is ready to permanently station a strong brigade in Lithuania,” said Pistorius during a visit to the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. He said that facilities to house the troops had to be built first.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was in Vilnius on Monday for talks ahead of next month’s NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital. Image: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture Alliance

Germany already leads the NATO battle group in Lithuania, a reinforced battalion of around 1,000 soldiers.

Vilnius has repeatedly urged Berlin to send combat troops to the country that borders the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Germany pledged in June 2022 to have a full brigade ready to defend Lithuania in the event of an attack.

So far, however, Berlin has resisted stationing the majority of the brigade permanently in Lithuania, on the grounds that the troops could be deployed quickly from bases in Germany.

Currently only the command post of the brigade with about 20 German soldiers is in Rukla, Lithuania. The rest remains at various locations within Germany.

Baltic States – How NATO Prepares for Resistance

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Pistorius cites past German experiences on NATO’s eastern border

Pistorius justified the changed German attitude with the country’s own past: Until the end of the Cold War, it was the former Federal Republic of Germany that was located on NATO’s eastern border to the then Iron Curtain.

“We were the ones who could always rely on our NATO partners standing by our side in emergencies and fighting with us for our freedom and security in Germany,” said Pistorius.

Nowadays, according to Pistorius, it is Poland and the Baltic states that are being exposed as West Germany: “And we, as the Federal Republic of Germany, expressly acknowledge our responsibility and our obligation, as a NATO member state and as the largest economy in Europe, to stand up for deploy to protect the eastern flank,” he said.

NATO maneuvers in Lithuania ahead of the summit

Pistorius is in Lithuania to observe a joint NATO exercise entitled “Griffin Storm” between the German and Lithuanian armies. Germany has sent 1,000 soldiers and 300 tanks from the 41st Mechanized Infantry Brigade “Vorpommern” to Lithuania to take part in exercises aimed at defending NATO’s eastern flank.

This is the third time such exercises have been performed. The current maneuvers are scheduled to last until July 7th.

The Pabrade training ground is less than 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Kaliningrad. Pistorius will observe the maneuvers together with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the ambassadors of the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s most important decision-making body. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas will also be present.

Pistorius and Anusauskas held a joint press conference. Image: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture Alliance

Less than a week after the exercises ended, the Lithuanian capital will also host the NATO leaders’ summit next month.

Earlier Monday, Nauseda said the aborted Wagner mutiny in Russia demonstrated the instability of the Kremlin regime, which could affect the region’s security.

“The founding of the Wagner Group in Belarus could become an additional factor,” he said.

ie, msh/nm (dpa, Portal)