Venezuela lawmakers brawl amid tensions
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela’s postelection tensions erupted into a brawl between lawmakers Tuesday night that left at least one opposition member badly bruised and bleeding.
Pro-government legislators started throwing punches after members of the opposition coalition unfurled a banner in the National Assembly protesting a postelection ban stripping opposition lawmakers of most of their legislative powers, opposition lawmaker Ismael Garcia told The Associated Press. Video showed groups of legislators shoving and pushing each other on the floor.
Assembly member Julio Borges appeared on an independent television station soon after Tuesday night’s brawl with blood running down one side of his swollen face. The opposition said at least 17 of its allies and five pro-government deputies were injured.
Pro-government legislators appeared on state TV accusing opposition members of attacking them.
The opposition has refused to accept President Nicolas Maduro’s narrow April 14 victory, saying the government’s 1.49 percent margin resulted from fraud, including votes cast in the names of the thousands of dead people found on current voting rolls.
Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills 1 Palestinian
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – An Israeli aircraft attacked a motorcycle in Gaza on Tuesday, killing a top militant in a shadowy al-Qaida-influenced group who had been involved in a recent rocket attack on southern Israel.
It was the first deadly airstrike in Gaza since a truce was reached with Palestinian militants last November, and is the most serious test yet of the Egyptian-brokered agreement.
The strike came alongside the fatal stabbing of an Israeli settler in the West Bank, the first killing by a Palestinian of an Israeli in the territory in more than a year.
The aircraft hit the motorcycle northwest of Gaza City, killing the driver and wounding a passenger. A bystander was also wounded, according to Gaza medical officials.
The Israeli military said it killed Haitham Mishal, a jihadi militant involved in an April 17 rocket attack on the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat and other violence.
New Dutch king emphasizes unity
AMSTERDAM – Millions of Dutch people dressed in orange flocked to celebrations around the Netherlands on Tuesday in honor of a once-in-a-generation milestone for the country’s ruling House of Orange-Nassau: after a 33-year reign, Queen Beatrix abdicated in favor of her eldest son, Willem-Alexander.
At 46, King Willem-Alexander is the youngest monarch in Europe and the first Dutch king in 123 years, since Willem III died in 1890. Like Beatrix before him, Willem-Alexander has assumed the throne at a time of social strains and economic malaise.
Although the Dutch monarchy is largely ceremonial, he immediately staked out a course to preserve its relevance in the 21st century.
“I want to establish ties, make connections and exemplify what unites us, the Dutch people,” the freshly minted king said at a nationally televised investiture ceremony in Amsterdam’s 600-year-old New Church, held before the combined houses of Dutch parliament.
Associated Press
