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11 Dead after School Bus Hits Students, Parents in China

A boy and an adult ride on an electric scooter on the first day of school in Beijing, China, 02 September 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
A boy and an adult ride on an electric scooter on the first day of school in Beijing, China, 02 September 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
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11 Dead after School Bus Hits Students, Parents in China

A boy and an adult ride on an electric scooter on the first day of school in Beijing, China, 02 September 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
A boy and an adult ride on an electric scooter on the first day of school in Beijing, China, 02 September 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES

Eleven people were killed in China's eastern Shandong province on Tuesday after a school bus lost control at a busy pedestrian junction, broadcaster CCTV reported, with disturbing footage showing bodies lying on the road and trapped under the vehicle.
Six parents and five children were killed in the incident while one remained in critical condition. More than two dozen were injured, CCTV said, according to Reuters.
Dongping Police Department said in a statement on WeChat that a vehicle picking up students lost control at a junction in Dongping County, Shandong on Tuesday morning. The accident is under investigation, it added.
In July, a motor vehicle ploughed into pedestrians in Hunan province, killing eight people. In May, a bus carrying 45 passengers including 39 students collided with a truck in Jiangsu province, partly due to negligent driving.
Traffic accidents, often deadly, are common in China because of weak enforcement of traffic rules and a lack of safety awareness.
China's People's Daily Newspaper said on Sunday that China was urging measures at primary and secondary schools across the country to ensure safety of students and school including preventing safety hazards on campus, safe use of school buses and traffic patrols.

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Venezuela Issues Arrest Warrant for Opposition Leader Gonzalez, AG Says

Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate for the Plataforma Unitaria Democratica party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, poses for a picture during an event with the Voluntad Popular opposition party in Caracas on May 23, 2024. (AFP)
Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate for the Plataforma Unitaria Democratica party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, poses for a picture during an event with the Voluntad Popular opposition party in Caracas on May 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Venezuela Issues Arrest Warrant for Opposition Leader Gonzalez, AG Says

Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate for the Plataforma Unitaria Democratica party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, poses for a picture during an event with the Voluntad Popular opposition party in Caracas on May 23, 2024. (AFP)
Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate for the Plataforma Unitaria Democratica party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, poses for a picture during an event with the Voluntad Popular opposition party in Caracas on May 23, 2024. (AFP)

Venezuela's attorney general's office said on Monday a court has issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, accusing him of incitement and other crimes amid a dispute over whether he or President Nicolas Maduro won a July election.

Attorney general Tarek Saab shared a photo of the warrant with Reuters via a message on the application Telegram.

The issue of an arrest warrant against Gonzalez would amount to a major escalation in Maduro's government's crackdown against the opposition following the disputed election.

Venezuela's national electoral authority and its top court have said Maduro was the victor of the July 28 election with just over half of the votes, but tallies shared by the opposition show a resounding victory for Gonzalez.

The opposition, some Western countries and international bodies like a United Nations panel of experts have said the vote was not transparent and demanded publication of full tallies, with some outright decrying fraud.

The opposition has published what it says are copies of over 80% of ballot box-level tallies on a public website, while the electoral council says a cyber attack on election night has prevented its publication of the full tallies.

The warrant request appeared to be the government's latest salvo in what the opposition says is a crackdown on dissent.

Attorney General Saab has also launched criminal probes into opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and the opposition vote tally website itself and detentions of opposition figures and protesters have continued in the weeks since the vote.

Protests have led to at least 27 deaths and some 2,400 arrests.

In a letter to a court specialized in terrorism cases posted on Instagram by the prosecutor's office, prosecutor Luis Ernesto Duenez requested a warrant be issued for Gonzalez for usurpation of functions, falsification of public documents, instigation to disobedience of the law, conspiracy and association, all allegedly committed against the Venezuela state.

A Gonzalez spokesperson said they were awaiting any notification of a warrant but made no further comment. The opposition has always denied any wrongdoing.

"They have lost all notion of reality," Machado said on X. "Threatening the President-elect will only achieve more cohesion and increase the support of Venezuelans and the world for Edmundo Gonzalez."

Gonzalez ignored three summons to testify about the website, allowing a warrant to potentially be issued for him in that case.

Lawyers consulted by Reuters said that Venezuelan law does not allow those over 70 to serve sentences in jails, instead requiring house arrest. Gonzalez turned 75 last week.

The US has drafted a list of about 60 Venezuelan government officials and family members who could be sanctioned in the first punitive measures following the election, two people close to the matter told Reuters.

Since the vote, the ruling party-controlled national assembly passed a law tightening rules on NGOs and unions denounced alleged forced resignations of state employees espousing pro-opposition views.

The warrant request came hours after the Biden administration said an aircraft used by Maduro had been confiscated in the Dominican Republic, a move the Venezuelan government slammed as an act of "piracy".