Trump-backed de la Espriella holds

razor-thin lead in Colombia election

BOGOTA, Colombia — Political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella held a razor-thin lead in Colombia’s presidential election late Sunday with nearly all the votes counted, in a runoff vote marked by people’s fears of a renewed internal conflict.

A victory by de la Espriella would effectively be an indictment of the policies of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, whose protege had promised to continue his agenda if he defeated his rival, who is backed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

De la Espriella led progressive lawmaker Iván Cepeda taking 49.7% of the votes to 48.7% for Cepeda.

Election officials had not formally announced a winner as of late Sunday night.

UK’s Starmer on the precipice as

pressure builds for him to resign

LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a crucial decision. Either step down or fight a possible leadership challenge from Labour Party rival Andy Burnham.

Starmer has vowed to stay. But pressure is mounting as colleagues believe his time is up. Expectations are growing that he will announce a timetable for his resignation as soon as Monday.

Burnham was recently elected as a lawmaker. That puts him in a position to challenge Starmer. Discontent has been building because of Starmer’s struggles with economic growth and public services. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said Sunday that Starmer is reflecting on his political

situation.

New Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill

at least 6, including two children

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza — Israeli strikes in Gaza on Saturday killed at least six people, including two children and a cameraman with broadcaster Al Jazeera, according to Palestinian health officials.

Despite an October ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas, the enclave has seen near-daily Israeli attacks that have killed over 1,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The first strike on Saturday hit an apartment in Gaza City around 2 a.m., according to the ministry. At the site, an Associated Press reporter saw rubble and chunks of concrete stained with blood.

On Saturday evening, three Israeli strikes killed four people and wounded at least a dozen others.

Higher gas prices spur growth

in export of Chinese electric vehicles

HONG KONG — China’s passenger car exports jumped 73% year-on-year in May to around 809,000 vehicles, an industry group reported late last week, as higher gasoline and diesel prices due to the war in Iran raised interest in electric vehicles.

That’s up from about 796,000 passenger cars exported in April, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

Exports of new energy vehicles, including pure EVs and plug-in hybrids, more than doubled in May from a year earlier to about 435,000 passenger cars, or more than half the total.

Chinese automakers such as BYD have been stepping up their overseas expansions, targeting markets including in Latin America, Asia and Europe at a time when domestic demand is coming under pressure, partly due to scaled-back government incentives for drivers to switch to EVs.

Judge restores Ohio law on parental

consent for kids’ use of social media

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s law requiring children under 16 to get parental consent to use social media apps must be restored, a divided panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled late last week.

The decision came as a blow to NetChoice, which has won court victories against identical digital identification laws in other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana and Georgia. The trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies said the Ohio decision went against “clear national consensus” and that it intended to keep fighting.

“An unconstitutional law protects no one, and we remain focused on ensuring the First Amendment rights of Ohioans are protected,” said Paul Taske, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center.

Netchoice brought suit against Ohio’s law in 2024, arguing that it was overly broad, vague and represented an unconstitutional impediment to free speech. The Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit’s panel disagreed. In a 2-1 decision, it found that the law was not unconstitutional and sent it back to a lower court to have a block on its enforcement vacated.

Anti-government roadblocks cleared

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Anti-government roadblocks that have isolated Bolivia’s capital La Paz and other major cities were still being cleared Sunday, a day after President Rodrigo Paz declared a state of emergency that was later overwhelmingly ratified by parliament.

Also Sunday, six people, including Bolivian Air Force officers, were killed in the crash of a light aircraft that had been conducting aerial patrols over a blockaded highway. The aircraft had been monitoring sections of the highway linking La Paz and the city of Cochabamba.

Public broadcasting plan protested

PRAGUE (AP) — Thousands of Czechs are rallying in Prague to protest a government plan to overhaul the funding for public broadcasters. The plan was approved last week. It proposes financing public radio and television from the state budget instead of fees from individuals and businesses. Critics warn this could threaten media independence and they cite examples from Slovakia and Hungary.

The Associated Press