Peru's Congress votes to oust the interior minister for failing to halt killings
LIMA, Peru — Peru's Congress voted Friday to remove the interior minister from office after deciding that he had failed to adequately handle rising violent crime in the Andean country.
Interior Minister Juan José Santiváñez by law has 72 hours to leave his position after the no-confidence vote, which succeeded with 78 votes in favor, 11 against and 20 abstentions. Santiváñez insisted that he had worked hard alongside police during his 10 months in office, but that he would respect the lawmakers' decision.
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
NY's Mannion, Lawler trade barbs in heated House spat. What was said?
Two New York members of Congress had a heated spat on the House floor that began when Democratic Rep. John Mannion angrily confronted Republican Rep. Mike Lawler. The clash took place at a supercharged moment on Thursday, June 12, after Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, was forcibly removed from a press conference and handcuffed by federal agents, stoking Democrats' fury. According to an Axios account, Lawler was talking with a colleague on the Democrats' side of the room when Mannion shouted at him to "do something" and "grow a pair of balls." He laced that message with expletives, according to what was picked up in a C-Span broadcast and quoted by 'F---ing get over there and get some f---ing balls.' Mannion, a freshman representing the Syracuse area, later gave Axios a more sanitized description, saying "I asked him to compel his colleagues to save the country and stop what the people of this country do not want ... the defiance of law." One reporter who witnessed the dustup posted on X: "Wow. Massive shouting fight on the floor. A house democrat is screaming at Mike lawler to get Off the democratic side of the floor." Lawler soon posted in response: "John Mannion was entirely unhinged and unprofessional. That was a shameful display that exposed his complete lack of temperament." Lawler, a second-term member from Rockland County, didn't detail what the two said to one another, but closed with some profane advice: "He should go seek help for anger management — and f--k off." In an interview on Friday, Lawler told the USA Today Network the run-in came out of the blue as House members were casting votes and he was chatting with Rep. Jimmy Pannetta, a California Democrat and fellow member of the Problem Solvers Caucus. All of sudden, he said, Mannion began screaming at him from about four rows away. "It was one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen happen on the House floor," he said. Lawler said he was so surprised he asked if Mannion was talking to him. He was. They exchanged profanities. What Mannion was demanding of him was unclear when the encounter ended, Lawler said. "It was unhinged, it was certainly unprofessional," Lawler said of Mannion's outburst. Mannion said in a statement that he's fighting for his hometown and country to "stop the rise of authoritarian government and the destruction of American democracy." "If making some noise on the house floor and calling out Trump enablers draws attention to what's happening to our country right before our eyes — good," he said. "Today it's roughing up and handcuffing a United States Senator and a politicized military patrolling the streets of American cities. It's the willing abandonment of the rule of law and a gross fealty to a want-to-be dictator who is tearing the country apart. None of this is normal or okay." The backdrop was a political storm over President Donald Trump sending National Guard troops and Marines into Los Angeles to quell protests over his mass-deportation push. Democrats have condemned Trump's orders as inflammatory and authoritarian. Padilla, the senator from California, planned to question Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem at a press conference on Thursday when he was pushed from the room and handcuffed on the ground by federal agents. Partisan tensions were also evident Thursday at a day-long House hearing at which Republicans berated Gov. Kathy Hochul and two other Democratic governors for "sanctuary" policies toward undocumented immigrants. As Democrats were ripping the Trump administration for rounding up law-abiding parents and children, Republicans were deploring what they see as overly lax policies. Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@ This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Immigration debate: NY's Mannion confronts Lawler on House floor
5 hours ago
As Bolivia celebrates its main Andean festival, it feels the pain of mounting crises
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San Francisco Chronicle
6 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
As Bolivia celebrates its main Andean festival, it feels the pain of mounting crises
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia's largest Andean religious festival has long inspired joyous revelry and offered a chance for the nation to forget about its perpetual political turmoil and escape into the world of its rich folklore. But this year on Saturday, Bolivians say the day of the Great Power, the beloved carnival dedicated to a 17th-century painting of Jesus Christ, reflects more than distracts from the country's spiraling economic and political crises. The typically exuberant crowd fell silent for a few moments on Saturday before the folk dance performance kicked off in the major city of La Paz, paying their respects to the victims of fierce clashes between protesters and police last Thursday that left six people dead, among them four police officers and two civilians. The second civilian, identified by protesters as a young student beaten by police, had been hospitalized and succumbed to his wounds on Saturday, just before the festival. After Bolivia's electoral tribunal disqualified former President Evo Morales, a leftist political titan who still wields influence in the country's tropical heartland, from running in Bolivia's August presidential election, his loyalists took to the streets to vent their outrage earlier this month. Many of them, both peaceful and violent, have reported being bruised and beaten by officers in recent days. The government sent military tanks to the streets of Llallagua, in central Bolivia. La Paz municipal authorities proposed postponing the festival, citing the 'pain of the Bolivian people." But organizers refused, pointing to the $68 million that was expected to be generated Saturday – a shot of stimulus into a sputtering economy now witnessing its worst crisis in 40 years. The annual festival, which takes place some eight weeks after Easter, was recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for displaying the nation's unique mix of Roman Catholic belief and Indigenous heritage. The ceremony pays tribute to what is believed to be a miraculous rendering of Jesus Christ — El Señor del Gran Poder, or The Lord of the Great Power — that shows the Christian savior with Indigenous Andean features and outstretched arms. Dancing in the festival is a holy act of spiritual devotion as dancers pray for personal forgiveness and salvation. This year, however, many turned their prayers on a more immediate target. "Devotees are asking for economic recovery, as well as for peace and unity among Bolivians in this time,' said a priest leading the ceremony, Father Saul Mamani. Economic strain was visible at Saturday's giant party as participants pared down their usually elaborate costumes and masks and dancers traded their traditional gold jewelry for Chinese-made knock-offs. 'The price of my costume went up by 60%," said dancer Jorge Rodríguez, 37. 'Many haven't been able to dance, almost half of my group didn't come." Organizers could only afford to hire some 70,000 dancers — some 20,000 fewer than last year — and scrapped their usual plans to invite regionally renowned musicians. Every year, one of La Paz's wealthy merchants, or 'qamiris," gets the expensive honor of paying more than anyone else for Gran Poder. This year, the unlucky merchant, Edgar Apaza, said he had been saving all year and his budget was still tighter than ever before. 'The crisis is affecting everyone,' Apaza said. Inflation in Bolivia over the first five months of 2025 hit 9.81%, the highest rate in more than a decade, according to official figures, fueling public protests over President Luis Arce's handling of the economy and leaving many Bolivians struggling to buy even the basics. Plácida Quispe, 73, an embroiderer at the festival Saturday, said there wasn't enough demand to sell her colorful costumes this year. She said she would rent her handiwork to participants instead. 'There is no business,' she said. 'People want to celebrate, but they cannot afford to pay the price.'
