Weary of violence, graft, Mexicans vote in historic election
MEXICO CITY — Mexicans weary of spiraling violence and corruption voted Sunday in an election pitting a leftist populist promising to oust the ruling elite against rivals who warn that he would lead the country to economic disaster.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, better known as AMLO, has said he will transform Mexico if he wins this his third bid for the presidency, vowing to overthrow the “mafia of power” he claims has looted the country and rule for the poor.
“There is a lot of inequality, a lot of violence in this country,” said Lopez Obrador voter Hugo Carlos, 73. “This situation has to be changed.”
As voting stations began to close in the evening in much of the country, exit polls conducted by Consulta Mitofsky and Televisa forecast clear gubernatorial wins for allies of Lopez Obrador’s Morena party in four of eight state races on the ballot plus for the head of government in Mexico City. The central highland state of Guanajuato was predicted to go to a candidate of the conservative National Action Party.
While Lopez Obrador, 64, held a commanding lead in polls heading into Sunday’s vote, he worried many who fear he could set the country back decades with an interventionist economic policy.
Police: Man stabs 9 people at toddler’s birthday party
BOISE, Idaho — A man who had been asked to leave an Idaho apartment complex because of bad behavior returned the next day and stabbed nine people, including six children, at a toddler’s birthday party, police said.
Refugees from Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia were among the injured. Boise Police Chief William Bones said Sunday that while the suspect is an American, investigators have not found any evidence that would indicate the attack was a hate crime. Still, Bones said, it is one of several possibilities that remain under investigation.
The suspect showed up late Saturday at the complex, which houses many resettled refugee families in Boise. The suspect, who is not a refugee, targeted the party that was held a few doors down from the apartment where he had stayed for a short time, police said.
“This incident is not a representation of our community but a single evil individual who attacked people without provocation that we are aware of at this time,” Police Chief William Bones said Sunday.
The victims included the 3-year-old birthday girl and five other children ages 4 to 12. Three adults who came to their defense were also hurt. Some were gravely wounded, Bones said.
Canada tariffs on US goods from ketchup to lawn mowers begin
OTTAWA, Ontario — Canada began imposing tariffs Sunday on $12.6 billion in U.S. goods as retaliation for the Trump administration’s new taxes on steel and aluminum imported to the United States.
Some U.S. products, mostly steel and iron, face 25 percent tariffs, the same penalty the United States slapped on imported steel at the end of May. Other U.S. imports, from ketchup to pizza to dishwasher detergent, will face a 10 percent tariff at the Canadian border, the same as America’s tax on imported aluminum.
Trump had enraged Canada and other U.S. allies by declaring imported steel and aluminum a threat to America’s national security and therefore a legitimate target for U.S. tariffs. Canada is the United States’ second-biggest trading partner in goods, just behind China.
Speaking Sunday in Leamington, Ontario, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked Canadians for standing united against President Donald Trump’s sanctions. He urged Canadians to “make their choices accordingly” in considering whether to buy American products.
The selection of Leamington, known as Canada’s tomato capital, was no accident. The town is home to a food-processing plant that supplies tomato paste and other products to French’s, a major competitor of Kraft Heinz. Heinz left Canada and sold its Leamington plant in 2014, after 105 years of Canadian operations.
Gunfire, clashes amid Iran protests over water scarcity
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Gunfire erupted as Iranian security forces confronted protesters early Sunday amid demonstrations over water scarcity in the country’s south, violence that authorities said wounded at least 11 people, mostly police.
The protests around Khorramshahr, some 650 kilometers (400 miles) southwest of Tehran, come as residents of the predominantly Arab city near the border with Iraq complain of salty, muddy water coming out of their taps amid a yearslong drought.
The unrest there only compounds the wider unease felt across Iran as it faces an economic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
Protests began in Khorramshahr, Abadan and other areas of Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province on Friday. The demonstrations initially were peaceful, with protesters chanting in both Arabic and Farsi.
But late Saturday and into early Sunday morning, protesters began throwing stones and confronting security forces in Khorramshahr, according to widely shared online videos. State television aired images of rocks and broken glass covering sidewalks, as well as smashed ATMs. Women and children fled as gunfire echoed.
