Mexico: Lopez Obrador to Announce Further Actions in Rally
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, former candidate of the leftist parties, will head a rally in Mexico City today, in which he will announce its future actions against the validation of Enrique Peña Nieto as elected President.
The leader of the Progressive Movement has reiterated that the elections on July 1 were rigged, referring to various illegalities committed to favor Peña Nieto, and rejected the ruling issued by the Electoral Court.
In an address to the nation, he said he does not recognize that result, because the elections were neither clean nor free, nor authentic.
In his speech, he called for a rally to be held today in El Zocalo, located in the Historic Center, to define, in a peaceful manner, the steps in defense of individual and social rights of citizens.
Obama Ahead in Polls
Poll results released Sunday show President Barack Obama has widened his lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney, giving the incumbent a clear boost coming out of the Democratic Party’s convention last week.
According to Gallup’s seven-day rolling average for the past week, 49 percent of registered voters said they would choose Obama if the election was held today, and 45 percent said they would choose Romney.
The results were consistent with a Reuters/Ipsos poll, also released Sunday. It showed 47 percent of voters backing Obama, compared to 43 percent for Romney.
Ipsos pollster Julia Clark attributed the results in part to the traditional “bounce” Obama got from the Democratic Party’s Convention last week.
According to Gallup, party conventions typically bump presidential candidates’ support numbers up by five percentage points. But polls have shown Romney received virtually no “bounce” from the Republican National Convention late last month.
Both Romney and Obama accepted their parties’ formal nominations at their respective conventions.
Dozens Killed in Iraq Attacks
A wave of deadly attacks and bombings claimed the lives of at least 44 people and left nearly 240 people injured in at least 11 cities across Iraq on Sunday, al-Jazeera reported.
One of the deadliest attacks took place in the town of Dujail, where at least 10 soldiers were killed by gunmen, who attacked a small Iraqi Army outpost.
Several hours later, a car bomb exploded near a group of recruits, who lined up to apply for jobs with the state-run Northern Oil Company. At least seven people were killed as a result.
Two car bombs exploded at a car park near the French consulate in Nasiriyah, 320 km southeast of Baghdad, leaving two people dead and four injured. No French diplomats were among the casualties.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but local officials and journalists blame the violence on al-Qaeda militants, whose attacks often target army and law-enforcers.