Let’s take a look at the latest news in ‘The World Now’.
Iranians go to the polls on Friday to choose their new president, following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month.
Four candidates are vying for the presidency with current parliament speaker Mohammad Qalibaf, and former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, both with military ties, seen as the front-runners.
The lone reformist candidate is Masoud Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon, who has called for greater international outreach for the improvement of Iran’s economy.
He has been criticized by ultimate power holder Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who says even mildly reformist ideas are unacceptable for Iran.
With the average age of the candidates at 63 years old, observers are predicting minimal change to Iran’s political structure from the election.
The new Iranian president will be able to provide counsel and influence to Khamenei, who is 85 years old, especially in choosing his possible successor.
Results are expected to start coming out as early as Saturday.
The Bolivian government announced on Thursday the arrest of 17 people allegedly involved in Wednesday’s attempted coup d’etat led by a former army chief.
General Juan José Zúñiga and former navy Vice Admiral Juan Salvador, were arrested on Wednesday and remain in custody while one civilian, Aníbal Aguilar Gómez, arrested on Thursday, was identified by a senior cabinet member as the apparent “mastermind” of the failed coup.
The lawmaker said the alleged conspirators began making their plans in May, while no information was given on the 15 others arrested.
The South American nation of 12 million people witnessed chaos in the capital La Paz on Wednesday as military forces surrounded government buildings with armored vehicles and tanks before the intense situation was resolved without bloodshed.
In Slovakia, at least six people have been killed after an international express train collided with a bus on a level crossing.
At around 5 pm local time Thursday, near the town of Nove Zamky, about 80 kilometers east of the capital Bratislava the train travelling from Prague to Budapest collided with the bus at a level crossing.
All casualties were passengers on the bus, which officials said was sliced in half at impact.
A spokesperson from the Slovak rescue services confirmed that about 200 people were on the train and nine were on the bus at the time.
While the exact reason behind the collision is yet to be confirmed, some Slovak media reported that the level crossing lights and barriers might not have been functioning due to a recent storm.
And for our final story of the week we go to the U.S. state of Illinois where a giant sinkhole opened up in a sports field on Wednesday, swallowing some 30 meters of the pitch, as well as a large light pole.
While no injuries were reported at the field at Alton’s Gordon Moore Park, the director of the Alton Parks and Recreation Department said that the hole was at least 30.5 meters wide and up to 15.2 meters deep.
New Frontier Materials Bluff City, a limestone mining firm in the area, confirmed that the sinkhole resulted from “surface subsidence” at its underground mine in Alton.
The surrounding areas have been indefinitely closed.
Kim Siyoung, Arirang News.
Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=272534
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