Romania appoints an interim prime minister after the coalition's defeat in the presidential race
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania's interim president appointed a new prime minister on Tuesday, a day after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition's candidate to make the runoff in a rerun of the presidential election.
Ilie Bolojan signed a decree to appoint the serving interior minister, Catalin Predoiu of the National Liberal Party, to take the helm of the government until a new one can be formed. The interim post can be held for a maximum of 45 days, during which they have limited executive powers.
The shake-up comes after the coalition's candidate, Crin Antonescu, came third in Sunday's first round presidential vote, far behind the top finisher,
hard-right nationalist George Simion
, and pro-Western reformist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan.
After Predoiu took office on Tuesday, the 56-year-old veteran politician said that Romania 'must remain a resilient democracy, a country whose development objectives remain anchored in Euro-Atlantic values.'
Romania held the rerun months after a top court annulled the previous race, following allegations of
electoral violations and Russian interference
, which Moscow has denied. The unprecedented decision plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.
Sunday's vote underscored strong anti-establishment sentiment among voters, and signaled a power shift away from traditional mainstream parties. It also renewed the political uncertainty that has gripped the European Union and NATO member country.
Ciolacu, who came third in last year's voided presidential race, told reporters Monday outside the headquarters of his Social Democratic Party, or PSD, 'Rather than let the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself.'
He added that one aim of
forming the coalition
last December — after the failed election — was to field a common candidate to win the presidency. After Sunday's result, he said that the coalition now 'lacks any credibility.' It is made up of the leftist PSD, the center-right National Liberal Party, the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party and national minorities.
Sunday's vote was the second time in Romania's post-communist history, including the voided election cycle, that the PSD party didn't have a candidate in the second round of a presidential race.
As in many EU countries, anti-establishment
sentiment is running high
in Romania, fueled by high inflation, a large budget deficit and a sluggish economy. Observers say the malaise has bolstered support for nationalist and far-right figures like Calin Georgescu, who won the first round in the canceled presidential election. He is
under investigation and barred
from the rerun.
Simion, the 38-year-old front-runner in Sunday's vote and the leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, will face Dan in a runoff on May 18 that could reshape the country's geopolitical direction.
In 2019, Simion founded the AUR party, which rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election by proclaiming to stand for 'family, nation, faith and freedom.' It has since become Romania's second-largest party in the legislature.
Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former anti-corruption activist who founded the Save Romania Union party in 2016, ran on a pro-EU platform. He told the media early Monday that 'a difficult second round lies ahead, against an isolationist candidate.'
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Hamilton Spectator
15 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Protesters crowd into streets, parks and plazas at anti-Trump ‘No Kings' demonstrations across US
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Demonstrators crowded into streets, parks and plazas across the U.S. on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump before a Washington military parade marking the Army's 250th anniversary that coincides with the president's birthday. Atlanta's 5,000-capacity 'No Kings' rally quickly reached its limit, with thousands more demonstrators gathered outside barriers to hear speakers in front of the state Capitol. In Minnesota, organizers canceled demonstrations as police worked to track down a suspect in the shootings of two Democratic legislators and their spouses. Intermittent light rain fell as sign-carrying marchers gathered for the flagship rally in Philadelphia's Love Park. They shouted 'Whose streets? Our streets!' as they marched to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they listened to speakers on the steps made famous in the movie 'Rocky.' 'So what do you say, Philly?' Democratic U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland shouted to the crowd. 'Are you ready to fight back? Do you want a gangster state or do you want free speech in America?' In some places, organizers handed out little American flags while other demonstrators brought larger versions to wave amid signs that ranged from pro-democracy and immigrant-rights messages to a variety of anti-Trump sentiments. In Los Angeles, thousands gathered in front of City Hall, hundreds gathered on the lawn in front of Mississippi's state Capitol and marchers in downtown Little Rock walked across a bridge over the Arkansas River. Protests were planned in nearly 2,000 locations across the country, from city blocks and small towns to courthouse steps and community parks, organizers said, but no events are scheduled in Washington, D.C., where the military parade will take place in the evening. The 50501 Movement orchestrating the protests says it picked the 'No Kings' name to support democracy and speak out against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement. The demonstrations come on the heels of protests that flared up across the country over federal immigration enforcement raids that began last week and Trump ordering the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, where protesters blocked a freeway and set cars on fire. Philadelphia Thousands gathered in downtown Love Park, with organizers handing out small American flags and many people carrying protest signs saying things like 'fight oligarchy' and 'deport the mini-Mussolinis.' Karen Van Trieste, a 61-year-old nurse who drove up from Maryland, said she grew up in Philadelphia and wanted to be with a large group of people showing her support. 'I just feel like we need to defend our democracy,' she said. She is concerned about the Trump administration's layoffs of staff at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fate of immigrant communities and the Trump administration trying to rule by executive order, she said. A woman wearing a foam Statue of Liberty crown brought a speaker system and led an anti-Trump sing-along, changing the words 'young man' in the song 'Y.M.C.A.' to 'con man.' One man in Revolutionary War era garb and a tricorn hat held a sign with a quote often attributed to Thomas Jefferson: 'All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.' Los Angeles Thousands gathered in front of City Hall in a boisterous crowd, waving signs and listening to a Native American drum circle and dance performances. Signs included 'Protesting is not a crime,' 'We carry dreams not danger' and 'ICE out of LA.' One demonstrator carried a 2-foot-tall (60-centimeter) Trump pinata on a stick, with a crown on his head and sombrero hanging off his back. North Carolina Crowds cheered anti-Trump speakers in Charlotte's First Ward Park and chanted 'we have no kings' before marching behind a 'No Kings' banner through the city, chanting 'No kings, no crowns, we will not bow down' and 'Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go.' Marchers stretched for blocks, led by a group of people holding a giant Mexican flag and bystanders cheering and clapping for protesters along the way. Jocelyn Abarca, a 21-year-old college student, said the protest was a chance to 'speak for what's right' after mass deportations and the deployment of the National Guard to deal with protesters in Los Angeles last week. 'If we don't stop it now, it's just going to keep getting worse,' she said of the Trump administration's actions. Minnesota Before organizers canceled demonstrations in the state, Gov. Tim Walz took to social media to issue a warning after the shootings . 'Out of an abundance of caution my Department of Public Safety is recommending that people do not attend any political rallies today in Minnesota until the suspect is apprehended,' he wrote. Florida About a thousand people gathered on the grounds of Florida's old Capitol in Tallahassee, where protesters chanted, 'This is what community looks like,' and carried signs with messages like 'one nation under distress' and 'dissent is patriotic.' Organizers of the rally explicitly told the crowd to avoid any conflicts with counterprotesters and to take care not to jaywalk or disrupt traffic. Organizers say that one march will go to the gates of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis warned demonstrators that the 'line is very clear' between peaceful demonstration and violence, and not to cross it. Urging calm and calling out the National Guard Governors and city officials vowed to protect the right to protest and to show no tolerance for violence. Some urged calm, while Republican governors in Virginia, Texas, Nebraska and Missouri were mobilizing National Guard troops to help law enforcement manage demonstrations. There will be 'zero tolerance' for violence, destruction or disrupting traffic, and 'if you violate the law, you're going to be arrested,' Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told reporters Friday. In Missouri, Gov. Mike Kehoe issued a similar message, vowing to take a proactive approach and not to 'wait for chaos to ensue.' Some law enforcement agencies announced they were ramping up efforts for the weekend. On social media, Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, called for peaceful protests over the weekend, to ensure Trump doesn't send military to the state. 'Donald Trump wants to be able to say that we cannot handle our own public safety in Washington state,' Ferguson said. ___ Associated Press journalists across the country contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
San Francisco Chronicle
36 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Nicaragua's former President Violeta Chamorro dies at 95, family says
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Violeta Chamorro, an unassuming homemaker who was thrust into politics by her husband's assassination and stunned the world by ousting the ruling Sandinista party in presidential elections and ending Nicaragua 's civil war, has died, her family said in a statement on Saturday. She was 95. The country's first female president, known as Doña Violeta to both supporters and detractors, she presided over the Central American nation's uneasy transition to peace after nearly a decade of conflict between the Sandinista government of Daniel Ortega and U.S.-backed Contra rebels. At nearly seven years, Chamorro's was the longest single term ever served by a democratically elected Nicaraguan leader, and when it was over she handed over the presidential sash to an elected civilian successor — a relative rarity for a country with a long history of strongman rule, revolution and deep political polarization. Chamorro died in San Jose, Costa Rica, according to the family's statement shared by her son, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, on X. 'Doña Violeta died peacefully, surrounded by the affection and love of her children and those who had provided her with extraordinary care, and now she finds herself in the peace of the Lord,' the statement said. A religious ceremony was being planned in San Jose. Her remains will be held in Costa Rica 'until Nicaragua returns to being a Republic,' the statement said. In more recent years, the family had been driven into exile in Costa Rica like hundreds of thousands of other Nicaraguans fleeing the repression of Ortega. Violeta Chamorro's daughter, Cristiana Chamorro, was held under house arrest for months in Nicaragua and then convicted of money laundering and other charges as Ortega moved to clear the field of challengers as he sought reelection. The Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation closed its operations in Nicaragua in January 2021, as thousands of nongovernmental organizations have been forced to do since because Ortega has worked to silence any critical voices. It had provided training for journalists, helped finance journalistic outlets and defended freedom of expression. Husband's assassination Born Violeta Barrios Torres on Oct. 18, 1929, in the southwestern city of Rivas, Chamorro had little by way of preparation for the public eye. The eldest daughter of a landowning family, she was sent to U.S. finishing schools. After her father's death in 1948, she returned to the family home and married Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, who soon became editor and publisher of the family newspaper, La Prensa, following his own father's death. He penned editorials denouncing the abuses of the regime of Gen. Anastasio Somoza, whose family had ruled Nicaragua for four decades, and was gunned down on a Managua street in January 1978. The killing, widely believed to have been ordered by Somoza, galvanized the opposition and fueled the popular revolt led by Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front that toppled the dictator in July 1979. Chamorro herself acknowledged that she had little ambition beyond raising her four children before her husband's assassination. She said she was in Miami shopping for a wedding dress for one of her daughters when she heard the news. Still, Chamorro took over publishing La Prensa and also became a member of the junta that replaced Somoza. She quit just nine months later as the Sandinistas exerted their dominance and built a socialist government aligned with Cuba and the Soviet Union and at odds with the United States amid the Cold War. La Prensa became a leading voice of opposition to the Sandinistas and the focus of regular harassment by government supporters who accused the paper of being part of Washington's efforts — along with U.S.-financed rebels, dubbed 'Contras' by the Sandinistas for their counterrevolutionary fight — to undermine the leftist regime. Chamorro later recounted bitter memories of what she considered the Sandinistas' betrayal of her husband's democratic goals and her own faith in the anti-Somoza revolution. 'I'm not praising Somoza's government. It was horrible. But the threats that I've had from the Sandinistas — I never thought they would repay me in that way,' she said. 'Peace and progress' Chamorro saw her own family divided by the country's politics. Son Pedro Joaquin became a leader of the Contras, and daughter Cristiana worked as an editor at La Prensa. But another son, Carlos Fernando, and Chamorro's eldest daughter, Claudia, were militant Sandinistas. By 1990 Nicaragua was in tatters. The economy was in shambles thanks to a U.S. trade embargo, Sandinista mismanagement and war. Some 30,000 people had died in the fighting between the Contras and Sandinistas. When a coalition of 14 opposition parties nominated an initially reluctant Chamorro as their candidate in the presidential election called for February that year, few gave her much chance against the Sandinista incumbent, Ortega. Even after months of campaigning, she stumbled over speeches and made baffling blunders. Suffering from osteoporosis, a disease that weakens the bones, she broke her knee in a household fall and spent much of the campaign in a wheelchair. But elegant, silver-haired and dressed almost exclusively in white, she connected with many Nicaraguans tired of war and hardship. Her maternal image, coupled with promises of reconciliation and an end to the military draft, contrasted with Ortega's swagger and revolutionary rhetoric. 'I bring the flag of love,' she told a rally shortly before the vote. 'Hatred has only brought us war and hunger. With love will come peace and progress.' She shocked the Sandinistas and the world by handily winning the election, hailing her victory as the fulfillment of her late husband's vision. 'We knew that in a free election we would achieve a democratic republic of the kind Pedro Joaquin always dreamed,' Chamorro said. Washington lifted trade sanctions and promised aid to rebuild the nation's ravaged economy, and by June the 19,000-strong Contra army had been disbanded, formally ending an eight-year war. Forced into negotiations Chamorro had little else to celebrate during her first months in office. In the two months between the election and her inauguration, the Sandinistas looted the government, signing over government vehicles and houses to militants in a giveaway that became popularly known as 'the pinata.' Her plans to stabilize the hyperinflation-wracked economy with free-market reforms were met with stiff opposition from the Sandinistas, who had the loyalty of most of the country's organized labor. Chamorro's first 100 days in power were marred by two general strikes, the second of which led to street battles between protesters and government supporters. To restore order Chamorro called on the Sandinista-dominated army, testing the loyalty of the force led by Gen. Humberto Ortega, Daniel Ortega's older brother. The army took to the streets but did not act against the strikers. Chamorro was forced into negotiations, broadening the growing rift between moderates and hardliners in her government. Eventually her vice president, Virgilio Godoy, became one over her most vocal critics. Nicaraguans hoping that Chamorro's election would quickly bring stability and economic progress were disappointed. Within a year some former Contras had taken up arms again, saying they were being persecuted by security forces still largely controlled by the Sandinistas. Few investors were willing to gamble on a destitute country with a volatile workforce, while foreign volunteers who had been willing to pick coffee and cotton in support of the Sandinistas had long departed. 'What more do you want than to have the war ended?' Chamorro said after a year in office. Vision of forgiveness Chamorro was unable to undo Nicaragua's dire poverty. By the end of her administration in early 1997, unemployment was measured at over 50 percent, while crime, drug abuse and prostitution — practically unheard of during the Sandinista years — soared. That year she handed the presidential sash to another elected civilian: conservative Arnoldo Aleman, who also defeated Ortega at the ballot. In her final months in office, Chamorro published an autobiography, 'Dreams of the Heart,' in which she emphasized her vision of forgiveness and reconciliation. 'After six years as president, she has broadened her definition of 'my children' to include all Nicaraguans,' wrote a reviewer for the Los Angeles Times. 'So even political opponents like Ortega are briefly criticized in one sentence, only to be generously forgiven in the next.' After leaving office, Chamorro retired to her Managua home and her grandchildren. She generally steered clear of politics and created the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation. In 2011 it was revealed that she suffered from a brain tumor. In October 2018, she was hospitalized and said by family members to be in 'delicate condition' after suffering a cerebral embolism, a kind of stroke.
Boston Globe
38 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Russia's summer offensive in Ukraine gains ground with new tactics
'It's a kind of renaissance of the cavalry, but with internal combustion engines,' said Col. Viktor Kevliuk, a Ukrainian army reservist and an analyst at Ukraine's Center for Defense Strategies, a think tank. The fighting is intensifying even as ceasefire talks have mostly stalled. The most recent round of negotiations, held this month in Istanbul, yielded little result beyond an agreement to exchange prisoners and the bodies of fallen soldiers. The exchange continued Saturday, with Ukraine saying that it had received 1,200 bodies and that more prisoners had been returned. Advertisement Here are the areas where the front is moving. Sumy In recent months, Russian troops have captured at least a dozen villages in the Sumy region. The advance is tiny but in frequent steps, with small assault groups, often just two or three Russian soldiers, who probe Ukrainian positions in waves. Advertisement 'Where the last surviving infantry is holding out, the next assault group arrives to build on any success,' Kevliuk said. Ukraine has one defensive advantage. The terrain is full of ravines, so movement is only possible on roads, according to Andrii, an intelligence officer with an air assault brigade operating near the city of Sumy, who asked to be identified only by his first name in keeping with military protocol. The city is home to more than 200,000 civilians, including many displaced from fighting along the border, and is now under growing threat as Russia advances. Russian forces overran it in their initial invasion in 2022, but Ukraine recaptured it later that year. Pasi Paroinen, a military analyst with Finland-based Black Bird Group, said Russian forces were seizing high ground north of Sumy and pushing toward dense forests that dominate the city's northern and northeastern approaches. If Russia captures four villages -- Khotyn, Yunakivka, Pysarivka and Kyyanytsia -- that would threaten the city itself. If the battles shift into the forests, commanders warn, it could require additional infantry reinforcements from Ukraine, as drone surveillance becomes less effective through the leaves. Kostyantynivka Kostyantynivka, a Ukrainian operations hub, will likely become Russia's main effort in the coming months, with other fronts serving the supporting role of preventing Ukraine from sending reinforcements to this fight, Paroinen said. The first step is to try to isolate Kostyantynivka from multiple directions, in a 'semi-encirclement,' he said, isolating Ukrainian units while maintaining a narrow, hazardous corridor for retreat. The idea would be to advance eastward across the T-0504 road; northward from Toretsk; and westward from the hilltop town of Chasiv Yar. Advertisement This would not be easy. Russian forces have been trying to capture Chasiv Yar for two years, since the nearby city of Bakhmut fell in the spring of 2023. So long as Chasiv Yar remains contested, Russia's advance to Kostyantynivka will be slowed. Also, to the south, Russian forces are bogged down in urban fighting in Toretsk. In some areas near Kostyantynivka, Russia has a manpower advantage of up to 20-to-1, Ukrainian commanders in the area say. 'Our task is to block their actions,' said Capt. Filatov, a commander deployed along the line. His soldiers regularly engage in close-range combat while slowly retreating, he said. A unit of a few dozen hundred typically repels 10 to 15 assaults per week, with as many as four in a single day, he said. At the same time, front-line airstrikes have intensified, even after Ukraine's destruction of at least a dozen Russian strategic bombers. At the start of May, Russia was carrying out 11 airstrikes a day. That pace has picked up to 17 in June, said Lt. Col. Dmytro Zaporizhets, spokesperson for Ukraine's Luhansk Operational Tactical Group. Throughout the Donbas -- parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions -- Russian has concentrated drone units and is targeting roads, threatening supply lines. Analysts say Russian advances in the Donbas follow a systematic pattern. The troops first isolate Ukrainian positions, targeting logistics and reinforcements with drones; then pound them with artillery and aerial bombs; then attack in small units, often on motorcycles. Then they repeat the process farther down the line. Pokrovsk West of Kostyantynivka lies Pokrovsk, also in the Donetsk region, where Russian forces are also pressing forward with superior manpower, said Sr. Lt. Vasyl Yemelianov, an artillery commander in the area. Advertisement Russian forces are closing in on Pokrovsk from several directions, similar to their semi-encirclement strategy around Kostyantynivka. Still, the city remains in Ukrainian hands, while Russian efforts have recently shifted farther west, with some troops crossing the administrative border between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. But the front, here and elsewhere, remains fluid, with Russian forces looking for weaknesses and Ukrainian troops scrambling to hold defensive lines. This article originally appeared in
