News in Brief
BEIJING (Dispatches) -- China and Brazil should see each other as an opportunity for development and as partners, Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao.
In comparison with President Jair Bolsonaro, who often criticized China's role in Brazil's economy during his presidential campaign, Mourao has taken a more pragmatic approach toward his country's top trading partner, seeking to maintain commercial ties.
In the run-up to last year's election, Bolsonaro had portrayed China as a predator looking to dominate key sectors of Brazil's economy.
Meeting Mourao in the Great Hall of the People, Xi said relations were at a "crucial moment", according to Chinese state television.
There were "broad prospects" for cooperation between the two, Xi said.
China has been making a concerted diplomatic push in Latin America, long regarded by the United States as its backyard, much to its concern.
Brazil is the host of this year's summit of the BRICS group of countries, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which Xi is likely to attend.
***
LYON (Reuters) -- Police hunted on Saturday for a man who left a bomb in a pedestrian shopping street in the central French city of Lyon on Friday that wounded 13 people.
Ninety police investigators supported by 30 scientific officers and technicians as well as local police were searching for the man, who was seen on security cameras at around 5.30 p.m. on Friday, anti-terrorism prosecutor Remy Heitz told reporters in Paris.
The man was seen leaving a paper bag in front of a bakery. The package exploded about a minute after he left.
French police were able to track the movements of the man, who appeared to be around 30 years old, for 10 minutes before the attack and are still trying to identify him. The man, who had a bicycle, was wearing sunglasses and a cap.
The case is being handled as a terrorism investigation given the circumstances of the attack, committed in broad daylight, and the use of an explosive device capable of hitting a large number of people with screws and metal balls packed into a bag, he said.
***
BRUSSELS (AFP) -- Voters were called out for a third day in EU parliamentary elections on Saturday as the far right hoped to win a major breakthrough and deny a pro-Europe victory for French President Emmanuel Macron.
Polls were open in Malta, Slovakia and Latvia, with most of the bloc's 28 member states -- including big players Germany, France and Italy -- to vote on Sunday.
More than 400 million people are eligible to elect 751 members of the European Parliament, with the first official results announced late Sunday once voting in all EU countries is over.
Polling has shown for months that eurosceptics and the anti-immigration far right could make big gains in the vote, which will also help determine who replaces Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the European Commission as well as other top jobs.
France's staunchly pro-European Macron has a big stake in the outcome, hoping to see his centrist Republique en Marche make a strong showing and shake-up EU politics in a direct challenge to the nationalists.
***
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday urged the country to pursue "an extraordinary feat of human endeavor” as he was sworn in for a five-year term with a delicate fight against government corruption ahead of him.
"The challenges our country face are huge and real. But they are not insurmountable. They can be solved. And I stand here today saying they are going to be solved,” Ramaphosa told some 30,000 people in the capital, Pretoria, with several African leaders in attendance.
He promised a new era in which officials will improve the lives of South Africans instead of enriching themselves. He called for a state free from graft and "resources squandered,” and urged fellow citizens to end poverty in a generation. Both would be immense achievements: Corruption and mismanagement have consumed billions of rand, and South Africa is the world’s most economically unequal country .
***
CARACAS (AFP) -- At least 29 prisoners were killed and 19 police wounded in clashes at a jail in western Venezuela, authorities said.
The incident at the police station jail in the town of Acarigua, in Portuguesa state, occurred when police special forces (FAES) tried to stop a "massive prison break" which resulted in the deaths of 29 inmates, according to Portuguesa public security secretary Oscar Valero.
The prisoners received the officers with "a hail of gunfire" while detonating three grenades, which injured 19 police, Valero told reporters.
The Una Ventana a la Libertad NGO, which defends prisoner rights, gave a preliminary toll of 25 dead.
NGO director Carlos Nieto said the clashes broke out when the FAES attempted to rescue visitors who had been taken hostage Thursday by the "pran" -- the leader of the inmates -- at the jail.
In comparison with President Jair Bolsonaro, who often criticized China's role in Brazil's economy during his presidential campaign, Mourao has taken a more pragmatic approach toward his country's top trading partner, seeking to maintain commercial ties.
In the run-up to last year's election, Bolsonaro had portrayed China as a predator looking to dominate key sectors of Brazil's economy.
Meeting Mourao in the Great Hall of the People, Xi said relations were at a "crucial moment", according to Chinese state television.
There were "broad prospects" for cooperation between the two, Xi said.
China has been making a concerted diplomatic push in Latin America, long regarded by the United States as its backyard, much to its concern.
Brazil is the host of this year's summit of the BRICS group of countries, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which Xi is likely to attend.
***
LYON (Reuters) -- Police hunted on Saturday for a man who left a bomb in a pedestrian shopping street in the central French city of Lyon on Friday that wounded 13 people.
Ninety police investigators supported by 30 scientific officers and technicians as well as local police were searching for the man, who was seen on security cameras at around 5.30 p.m. on Friday, anti-terrorism prosecutor Remy Heitz told reporters in Paris.
The man was seen leaving a paper bag in front of a bakery. The package exploded about a minute after he left.
French police were able to track the movements of the man, who appeared to be around 30 years old, for 10 minutes before the attack and are still trying to identify him. The man, who had a bicycle, was wearing sunglasses and a cap.
The case is being handled as a terrorism investigation given the circumstances of the attack, committed in broad daylight, and the use of an explosive device capable of hitting a large number of people with screws and metal balls packed into a bag, he said.
***
BRUSSELS (AFP) -- Voters were called out for a third day in EU parliamentary elections on Saturday as the far right hoped to win a major breakthrough and deny a pro-Europe victory for French President Emmanuel Macron.
Polls were open in Malta, Slovakia and Latvia, with most of the bloc's 28 member states -- including big players Germany, France and Italy -- to vote on Sunday.
More than 400 million people are eligible to elect 751 members of the European Parliament, with the first official results announced late Sunday once voting in all EU countries is over.
Polling has shown for months that eurosceptics and the anti-immigration far right could make big gains in the vote, which will also help determine who replaces Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the European Commission as well as other top jobs.
France's staunchly pro-European Macron has a big stake in the outcome, hoping to see his centrist Republique en Marche make a strong showing and shake-up EU politics in a direct challenge to the nationalists.
***
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday urged the country to pursue "an extraordinary feat of human endeavor” as he was sworn in for a five-year term with a delicate fight against government corruption ahead of him.
"The challenges our country face are huge and real. But they are not insurmountable. They can be solved. And I stand here today saying they are going to be solved,” Ramaphosa told some 30,000 people in the capital, Pretoria, with several African leaders in attendance.
He promised a new era in which officials will improve the lives of South Africans instead of enriching themselves. He called for a state free from graft and "resources squandered,” and urged fellow citizens to end poverty in a generation. Both would be immense achievements: Corruption and mismanagement have consumed billions of rand, and South Africa is the world’s most economically unequal country .
***
CARACAS (AFP) -- At least 29 prisoners were killed and 19 police wounded in clashes at a jail in western Venezuela, authorities said.
The incident at the police station jail in the town of Acarigua, in Portuguesa state, occurred when police special forces (FAES) tried to stop a "massive prison break" which resulted in the deaths of 29 inmates, according to Portuguesa public security secretary Oscar Valero.
The prisoners received the officers with "a hail of gunfire" while detonating three grenades, which injured 19 police, Valero told reporters.
The Una Ventana a la Libertad NGO, which defends prisoner rights, gave a preliminary toll of 25 dead.
NGO director Carlos Nieto said the clashes broke out when the FAES attempted to rescue visitors who had been taken hostage Thursday by the "pran" -- the leader of the inmates -- at the jail.