The strategy to curb common crime, but above all the armed groups that increasingly control more territory, will likely be what tips the balance in the second round of elections in Colombia. It will also be the greatest challenge for the next four years of government for whoever wins the contest.
Bogotá —where the popular neighborhoods massively voted for the leftist candidate Iván Cepeda— woke up yesterday to the reality of the new politics of heart-stopping surprises, “ultra” presidential candidates emerging out of nowhere, and snowballs driven by social networks.
In the midst of confusion this Monday over Iran’s announcement to leave negotiations with the United States due to Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, U.S. President Donald Trump later claimed to have had “a productive conversation” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that had helped to unblock the situation. “Negotiations continue at a rapid pace,” he proclaimed.
Donald Trump sought to exit the war with Iran with a pact before the midterm elections, but his unruly ally, Israel, threatens to blow the agreement apart. Benjamin Netanyahu announced early Sunday a new wave of bombings in the southern neighborhoods of Beirut, one of the red lines that the United States had set in the ceasefire signed between the Lebanese and Israeli governments last April 17.
Europe confirms its new tough migration policy. While the European Parliament and the European Council have just given their green light to the final EU return regulation that endorses the creation of migrant deportation centers in third countries, some European countries do not want to waste any more time on bureaucratic processes and have gotten to work. Following the lessons of the Italian Giorgia Meloni in Albania, several capitals are grouping into small teams within the Twenty-Seven to probe other countries in Africa, the Balkans, or Central Asia where similar agreements to the one between Rome and Tirana can be created.
Donald Trump sought to exit the war with Iran with a pact before the midterm elections, but his unruly ally, Israel, threatens to blow the agreement to pieces. Benjamin Netanyahu announced early Sunday a new wave of bombings in the southern neighborhoods of Beirut, one of the red lines that the United States had set in the ceasefire signed between the Lebanese and Israeli governments last April 17.
If British politics were a horror movie (and the truth is it often seems like one, even Oscar-worthy), its title would be The Zombie and the Ghost. Because to the famous zombies of Night of the Living Dead, we must add Keir Starmer as the resident of Downing Street (awaiting to be guillotined), and to the famous ghosts like the Phantom of the Opera, Anne Boleyn roaming the Tower of London, the Flying Dutchman, or Abraham Lincoln in the White House, we must now add Peter Mandelson.
President Donald Trump added another medal on Monday by announcing that negotiations between the United States and Iran had resumed, after Tehran announced that they were walking away from the table due to Israel’s attacks in Lebanon. However, in an initial reaction to the Islamic republic, Trump downplayed his claim, saying he had not been informed about it beforehand. “I think it’s fine if they have finished talking,” he replied with apparent indifference.
“Prison or death,” repeated over and over in his rallies Abelardo de la Espriella, a controversial 47-year-old lawyer, to refer to the fate that awaits criminals, drug traffickers, and guerrillas if he ends up being the next president of Colombia. It hardly matters that the far-right leader built a media career as a lawyer for celebrities, footballers, and paramilitaries, before having an epiphany in Italy and deciding that he should enter the electoral arena to save his country from the left, according to his words, in July 2025.
Benefited from one of the typical electoral snowballs of politics in times of social networks and ideological polarization, the hard-right candidate, Abelardo de la Espriella, won the first round of the Colombian elections held on Sunday. Gustavo Petro, the incumbent president, has cast doubts on the result and assures that he will not accept it until it is officially confirmed by the judges overseeing the process.