Category World News

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has lashed out at Honduras’ announcement to conduct a manual recount of the votes cast for the November 30 presidential election.

As it began the count, the National Electoral Council (CNE) called for “patience” on Tuesday. The two frontrunners were locked in a “technical tie” prior to a previous announcement that a partial digital count had caused.

Trump blasted the election officials for “trying to change” the outcome of the election in a tirade on social media late on Monday, and vehemently retaliated against a flimsy candidate’s victory in a tight race that has been plagued by issues with the results website.

After 57 percent of the ballots had been tallied, CNE head Ana Paola Hall reported that Nasry Asfura, a candidate who supports Donald Trump, was trailing Salvador Nasralla by only 515 votes.

We must remain calm, be patient, and wait until the CNE is finished counting, she said, “Faced with this technical tie.”

The special counting procedure will be conducted in order to finish the general count later.

Hell to pay, exactly?

Trump responded by posting a message on his Truth Social platform claiming the CNE had “abruptly stopped counting” the votes in the run-up to the election by saying that he had threatened to stop aid to Honduras if National Party candidate Asfura were not elected.

He argued that the officials’ requirement to finish the count and that “democracy must prevail” was imperative.

He wrote, “Looks like Honduras is trying to influence the outcome of their presidential election.” There will be hell to pay if they do it!

Trump’s vocal support for Asfura, the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, and his statement that the US could work with him to combat drug trafficking was a big part of the campaign.

His remarks came after he threatened to withdraw from La Libertad Avanza, a movement that led to a similar incident in Argentina’s legislative elections in October.

With more than 40% of the vote, Milei’s party won.

Trump had announced on Friday that he would pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez despite supporting Asfura’s anticipated contribution to Trump’s so-called “war on drugs.”

Hernandez is currently serving a 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking and firearms charges in the US as the nation’s first president to join the National Party.

Nasralla asserts to be ahead.

Nasralla, Asfura’s rival, announced on X that his rival had 44.6 percent of the vote, according to internal projections.

He said, “We are just projecting the results that will be fed into the CNE,” which was met with criticism from Asfura’s National Party for intervening prior to the final vote count.

Former baseball player Robin Smith, 62, has passed away, according to his former team Hampshire.

On Tuesday, Hampshire posted the news of the passing of legendary batter Robin Smith on the social media platform X. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of legendary batter Robin Smith.

Smith, a child of British parents, scored 13 centuries for England playing 62 Tests and 71 one-day internationals (ODIs).

He revealed his personal struggles in British newspapers only last week and admitted to having depression and drinking after retiring.

Smith became a dominant middle-order batter known for his striking ability against fast bowlers. When he was dropped after a series in South Africa in 1995-1996, he averaged 43.67 in tests, which is the highest mark among all contemporary England players.

He was England’s best batter at the time, in the 1980s and 1990s, according to a tearful Kevan James, Smith’s former Hampshire teammate, who was tearful.

In a time when the West Indies had a lot of fast bowlers, he was a super player. One of the few England batters who fought back and basically delivered what he could.

Chris Smith, a brother of Smith, who played his final Test at Leeds two years before making his England debut there in 1988, was Smith’s brother.

Smith, who was nicknamed “The Judge” for having curly hair that resembled a judge’s wig, scored 175 against the West Indies in Antigua in 1994, the same Test where Brian Lara ran a record-breaking 375 runs.

Smith also had a 167 against Australia in 1993, which was the highest innings by an England player in an ODI until 2016, when Alex Hales scored 171 against Pakistan.

According to England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chair Richard Thompson, “Robin Smith was a player who stood toe to toe with some of the world’s fastest bowlers, meeting stretches of hostile fast bowling with a defiant smile and an incredible resilience.”

“He did it in a way that gave England fans unmatched entertainment and great pride.”

The third vessel to be targeted within a week has been a Russian-flagged tanker in the Black Sea, according to reports of an attack off the Turkish coast.

The Midvolga-2 had reported being attacked about 130 kilometers (80 miles) away from land, according to the Turkish Directorate General of Maritime Affairs on Tuesday.

Apparently, the tanker departed from Georgia with sunflower oil. Following the attack, Ukrainian naval drones launched attacks on two Russian-flagged vessels that, according to Kyiv, were “shadow fleets” that were importing crude exports without the approval of international sanctions.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, criticized the attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea as a “worrying escalation” of the Russian-Ukraine conflict, as evidenced by Friday’s strikes.

The directorate stated on X that the Midvolga-2 crew had no injuries among its 13 crew members, adding that the ship had not requested assistance and was heading for Turkiye’s Sinop port.

A kamikaze drone was used, according to Turkish TV channel NTV, who provided no further information.

The necessary messages were sent to the relevant parties, including Ukrainian authorities, according to a Turkish official who spoke to Reuters news agency.

Turkish balancing act

A Kyiv official told Reuters that the Kairos and the Virat were being targeted by Ukraine as they approached a Russian port to load up with oil destined for foreign markets on Friday.

In the first nine months of this year, 113 of these vessels sailed under a false flag, carrying 11 million tons of Russian crude, which is worth 4.7 billion euros ($5.4 billion), according to a recent report from the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Throughout the entire conflict, which was sparked by Russia’s massive invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, NATO member Turkiye has maintained cordial relations with both Kyiv and Moscow.

It has hosted three rounds of peace talks as a mediator.

Ankara has offered Ukraine military assistance as a member of NATO. It has, however, demanded that the Black Sea’s navigational security be maintained and resisted Western sanctions against the Kremlin.

In a televised address on Monday, Erdogan said, “We cannot condone these attacks, which are a threat to navigational safety, life, and the environment, especially in our own exclusive zone,” adding that Turkiye had issued a warning to “all related sides.”

Crude targets

In a bid to deprive Moscow of funds to sustain its war, Kyiv, which has endured stringent attacks against its energy infrastructure for years, has recently focused on rupturing Russia’s oil industry.

Russian refineries and crude terminals have been in particular the target of criticism.

The Ukrainian attacks on oil tankers and infrastructure in the Black Sea, according to Russia’s foreign ministry, were “acts of terrorism” that threatened regional freedom of navigation.