Presidential campaign rally in Mexico turns deadly after strong gust of wind topples stage

At least nine people were killed and dozens more were injured at a campaign rally in northern Mexico on Wednesday evening after a strong gust of wind toppled the stage.

The rally was being held for long-shot presidential candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, according to The Associated Press. Máynez went to the hospital after the incident, but later announced that he was in good condition.

He also said he has suspended upcoming campaign events, adding that the victims "will not be alone in this tragedy."

"The only important thing at this point is to care for the victims of the accident," he said.

MAYORAL CANDIDATE, 5 OTHERS KILLED BY GUNFIRE AT CAMPAIGN RALLY IN SOUTHERN MEXICO

Nuevo Leon Gov. Samuel García, who is a leading member of Máynez’s Citizens Movement party, said at least nine people, including a child, were killed and 63 were injured. 

He also posted a video message asking residents in the area to shelter in their homes for the next two hours because of the weather.

Videos from the rally showed Máynez waving his arm and the crowd chanting his name when he noticed a giant screen and metal structure falling in his direction, the AP reported. He was able to run toward the back of the stage to escape the toppling structure.

Other campaign attendees, many of whom were screaming, could be seen running away while some climbed out from under collapsed metal poles, according to The AP.

ANOTHER MEXICAN POLITICIAN MURDERED IN LEADUP TO JUNE NATIONAL ELECTIONS

Máynez, who is polling third in the country's presidential race, has been trailing Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez – both of whom sent their condolences not long after the tragic event took place.

Sheinbaum, who is leading the pack, said she has canceled a Thursday campaign event in the nearby city of Monterrey "in solidarity" with the victims and their families.

Gálvez wrote on social media, "My condolences and prayers with the families of the dead, and my wishes for a speedy recovery to all those injured."

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also shared sympathies, saying he "sends a hug to family members, friends of the victims and political supporters." 

Mexico is at the height of its campaign season as presidential, state and municipal elections will be held on June 2. 

In addition to Wednesday night's deadly weather event, the campaign season has also been plagued by the killings of about two dozen candidates for local offices.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Experts slam ICC for quick case against Israel while ignoring brutal regimes: 'Totally politically driven'

The International Criminal Court (ICC) drew anger over its consideration to issue arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas officials, prompting critics to highlight cases of rogue nations where leaders appear to escape the court’s scrutiny.

"While the ICC has been around for over two decades, it has less than 10 successful prosecutions," Orde Kittrie, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and law professor at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, told Fox News Digital.  

"It’s spent over $2 billion. It’s been really ineffective, and that makes it particularly ironic that it’s going after the officials of Israel. Israel isn’t an ICC member state, and the ICC is prohibited by its charter for going after a state which effectively polices its own alleged violations," Kittrie said. "Israel polices its own alleged violations, so the ICC really has no business going after Israeli officials." 

"It’s obviously, totally politically driven," he added. "The failings are clearly driven by politics and the same anti-Israel animus that has long dominated the U.N. and other international organizations whose filings should be treated as what they are: It’s quintessential lawfare, a political vendetta masquerading as a legal proceeding."

FORMER ISRAELI LEADER URGES ‘DISMANTLING’ OF ICC OVER ARREST WARRANTS: ‘POLITICAL TOOL’

"There’s no way that they should have filed against Israel," Kittrie argued. "The ICC prosecutor decided to do it for political reasons … there’s more pressure on him to file against Israel than there is against far more worthy candidates, so that’s what he does. It's basically law by windsock."

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced this week that he would file an application requesting arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as well as Hamas' terrorist leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and military commander Mohammed Deif. 

Khan said the decision proceeded from a review of evidence by a panel of experts, including human rights attorney Amal Clooney, wife of actor George Clooney. Khan said his office found "reasonable grounds" to believe Israeli officials "bear criminal responsibility for … war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine."

Khan cited alleged crimes of "starvation of civilians as a method of warfare" and "directing attacks against a civilian population."

BIDEN REJECTS ICC ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ISRAEL: 'WHAT’S HAPPENING IS NOT GENOCIDE'

Critics have blasted Khan for what they view as equating the Israeli officials with Hamas by requesting warrants for both groups of leaders. Khan’s office "unanimously concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Hamas leaders … have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including hostage-taking, murder and crimes of sexual violence," according to Clooney’s statement.

As such, many have pointed to some glaring examples of missing cases that they believe the ICC should pursue, such as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and any official from the Iranian regime.

Gabriel Noronha, former State Department adviser on Iran and current Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA fellow), on social media platform X also highlighted Chinese President Xi Jinping for his country’s alleged treatment of the Uyghur population and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who the U.N. accused of committing "crimes against humanity."

The court, meanwhile, has ongoing investigations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Libya, Mali, Afghanistan, the Philippines and Russia's crimes in Ukraine, with cases recently closed and under consideration in Uganda, Central African Republic, Kenya and Georgia. An investigation has remained open in Venezuela since 2021 following a three-year preliminary exam.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT BLASTS IRELAND, SPAIN, NORWAY RECOGNITION OF PALESTINIAN STATE AS ‘GIFT TO HAMAS’

The ICC has previously drawn a clear line on who it can and cannot pursue in cases, depending on membership as determined by signatories of the Rome Statute. The court considered two different cases brought against North Korea – one in 2014 and one in 2016 – and determined that in the first case the court had jurisdiction because South Korea was a signatory, but in the latter case, North Korea alone lay outside jurisdiction as non-signatory, the Korea Herald reported.

The court has, however, acted outside this measure before, most notably when Russia invaded Ukraine and the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin related to alleged involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children.

Both Ukraine and Russia signed the Rome Statute, but neither ratified it, and Russia withdrew its signature outright in 2016. Ukraine accepted the court’s jurisdiction, though, which allowed the ICC to investigate alleged Russian crimes following the 2022 invasion.

Israel is not a signatory, but the Palestinian Territories, titled the State of Palestine by the ICC, is a signatory and ratified the Rome Statute, which would provide the ICC with its jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes in the Gaza Strip. The announcement regarding the application for arrest warrants this week also referred to "the Territory of Israel," even though the United Nations (not affiliated with the ICC) does not recognize a Palestinian state and recognizes the state of Israel. The United Nations affords the Palestinian Territories nonmember observer status, but the territories signed onto the Rome Statute in 2015.

AMAL CLOONEY PLAYED KEY ROLE IN ICC ARREST WARRANTS FOR NETANYAHU, HAMAS LEADERS

Fox News Digital reached out to the ICC prosecutor’s office but did not receive a response by time of publication.

China, Syria and Iran are not signatories to the Rome Statute, but Venezuela is. The court sidestepped the 2016 North Korea case because the issue appeared internal, and the China, Syria and Iran cases have largely consisted of internal issues that would provide the ICC with little territorial justification.

Kittrie said the issuing of arrest warrants from the ICC ultimately doesn’t hold much weight, pointing to the fact that the warrant did not dissuade Putin from continuing his war into a third year and that he remains at-large.

"It hasn’t made a difference, it won’t make a difference," Kittrie said, noting that it did give the prosecutor "some sense that he was getting legitimacy from the United States," which also is not a signatory of the Rome Statute.

"I think one of the first things the U.S. is going to do is cut off its assistance to the ICC. No, it doesn’t provide funding to the ICC … but it does provide various types of intelligence and other practical assistance, which are crucial to the ICC ability to have great success."

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Brazil's flooded south sees first deaths from disease, as experts warn of coming surge in fatalities

The first two deaths from waterborne bacterial disease were reported in southern Brazil, where floodwaters were slowly receding, and health authorities warned additional fatalities were likely.

Rio Grande do Sul state's health secretariat confirmed the death of a 33-year-old man due to leptospirosis on Wednesday. On Monday, authorities registered that a 67-year-old man had died from the same infectious disease. Since the beginning of May, 29 cases of the waterborne disease have been confirmed in the state.

WATER RATIONING ORDERED AS SEVERE FLOODING DEVASTATES SOUTHERN BRAZIL

The flooding over about a two-week period killed at least 161 people, with 82 still missing, state authorities said Wednesday. More than 600,000 people were forced from their homes, including tens of thousands who remain in shelters, they said.

Health experts had previously forecast a surge in infectious diseases including leptospirosis and hepatitis B within a couple weeks of the floods, as sewage mixed into the floodwaters.

"There are those who die during the flood and there is the aftermath of the flood," said Paulo Saldiva, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo medical school who researches the impacts of climate change in health. "The lack of potable water itself will mean that people will start using water from reservoirs that is not of good quality."

The unprecedented disaster struck more than 80% of the state’s municipalities and damaged critical infrastructure. Over 3,000 health establishments — hospitals, pharmacies, health centers, and private clinics — were affected, according to a report from the federal government's health research institute Fiocruz released Tuesday.

"The outbreak of leptospirosis cases was somewhat expected due to the number of people exposed to the water, as well as other diseases," said Carlos Machado, a public health and environmental expert who Fiocruz appointed to track the flood’s impact. "We have never seen in Brazil a disaster of this size and with such a large exposed population."

Machado said that even though infrastructure, basic control services and health services have been disrupted, the local health department is working to offer prophylaxis to infectious diseases and guidance to people returning home on how to reduce the exposure risks.

Interruption of health services can also have a lasting impact on patients treating chronic diseases, as treatment and care for chronic patients are discontinued, Machado said. People also often leave home during climate disasters without their prescriptions or identification.

"The health department is working hard to guarantee medication to patients with chronic diseases," he said.

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From Zambia to Afghanistan, WFP warns El Niño's extreme weather is causing a surge in hunger

Extreme weather attributed to the El Niño phenomenon is causing a surge in hunger in several countries, including Zambia and Afghanistan, the UN's World Food Programme said Wednesday, and called on donors for much-needed help.

El Niño is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that shifts global weather patterns, and studies say that as the world warms, they may get stronger.

POWERFUL EL NIÑO COULD MEAN FEWER ATLANTIC HURRICANES, EXPERTS SAY

Tens of millions of people in southern Africa rely on the weather to grow food to feed themselves.

In a statement, the WFP warned that southern Africa was the "epicenter of the crisis" after a cycle of floods and drought has battered the region over the last three years. Three countries, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, are the worst affected and have seen between 40-80% of their staple corn crops wiped out by drought this season, leaving millions impacted, according to the UN food agency.

The WFP said executive director Cindy McCain had traveled to Zambia and seen how "severe drought has wiped out harvests in a region where 70% of the population relies on agriculture to survive."

"We can’t ask millions to wait for the next harvest season — a year from now — to put food on their tables," McCain said in a statement. "These families need our support today while we help to build a more resilient future."

WFP said its "teams have started to respond but US$409 million are needed for six months to assist 4.8 million people in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe."

Other countries, including Congo and Afghanistan, are facing similar problems due to changing weather conditions which have led to destroyed crops, livestock deaths and displaced people, causing a surge in hunger, the agency said in a separate statement.

This comes as hunger crises caused by conflict in Gaza and Sudan are already stretching the agency's aid capacity.

The WFP's call for aid came days after the regional Southern African Development Community made a plea for help after a special virtual meeting of leaders and government officials to discuss the impact of the extreme weather.

In a joint statement, the southern African countries said the region needed $5.5 billion to help more than 61 million people.

There had been a "multifaceted and cascading impact of the El Niño-induced drought and floods across multiple sectors," the regional bloc said, noting how it had caused other problems, such as contributing to large and deadly outbreaks of the water-born cholera disease. Countries that depend on hydroelectric generators, like Zambia, are struggling to produce enough electricity because of the drought.

Alongside El Niño, the southern African region has recently seen a series of tropical cyclones that scientists said were likely made stronger and wetter by human-caused climate change and the increase in global temperatures.

While the African continent contributes the least to climate change, it is expected to suffer the most. Poorer countries are generally not as well-equipped to deal with the impact.

Even before the floods and drought, food insecurity and malnutrition were already at alarming levels in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia and humanitarian assistance had stalled because of funding shortages for aid, WFP said.

The three countries have all declared national disasters over this year's drought, and others have provided equally grim assessments.

The United Nations humanitarian agency said this month that around half of Zimbabwe's population of 15 million needed "lifesaving and life-sustaining" help because of the drought.

Last week, the Action Against Hunger non-profit warned that "a hunger crisis may be imminent" in Kenya in East Africa after catastrophic floods displaced more than 250,000 people.

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Howler monkeys dropping dead, falling from trees due to excessive heatwave: report

The extreme heatwave in Mexico is not only affecting the environment, it's wreaking havoc on the howler monkeys and causing them to fall dead out of trees, the Associated Press reported. 

"They were falling out of the trees like apples. They were in a state of severe dehydration, and they died within a matter of minutes," wildlife biologist Gilberto Pozo described what he witnessed to the AP. 

In the city of Tecolutilla, Tabasco state, it was reported that the dead monkeys started appearing on Friday, when a local volunteer fire-and-rescue squad showed up with five of the monkeys in the bed of the truck.

So far, at least 83 howler monkeys have been found dead in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. However, many others were rescued by local residents, with five being rushed to a local veterinarian for immediate care.

NEVADA WILDLIFE MYSTERY SOLVED, SUSPECTED WOLVES WERE ACTUALLY COYOTES

"They arrived in critical condition, with dehydration and fever," Dr. Sergio Valenzuela told the AP. "They were as limp as rags. It was heatstroke."

At least nine cities in Mexico have set temperature records as of May 9, with Ciudad Victoria, in the border state of Tamaulipas, registering 117 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the AP. The heatwave has been blamed on the deaths of at least 26 people since March, the AP reported.

Valenzuela said that the monkeys appeared to be on the mend, stating that they were "recovering, aggressive, and biting again." 

The howler monkey, which is the "loudest of all the monkeys," is known for its loud whooping bark or roar, according to National Geographic.

Pozo added that many local residents wanted to help the monkeys, even adopt them, but he cautioned them on this.

WILD MONKEYS SPOTTED ROAMING FLORIDA NEIGHBORHOODS: 'ABSOLUTELY CRAZY'

"The truth is that babies are very delicate, they can’t be in a house where there are dogs or cats, because they have pathogens that can potentially be fatal for howler monkeys," Ponzo described, stressing they must be rehabilitated and released into the wild. 

Pozo’s group has set up a special recovery stations for the monkeys and is working to organize a team of specialized veterinarians to give the monkeys the care they need.

Howler monkeys also get almost all the water they need from the food they eat, which is another reason the heatwave has been detrimental to their survival. 

Pozo stated that several factors led to the death of the monkeys, including high heat, drought, and forest fires.

THAI WILDLIFE OFFICIALS TO REMOVE HUNDREDS OF MONKEYS FROM POPULAR TOURIST SPOT

Days after the monkeys began to drop dead, Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged the issue, saying he had heard about it on social media. 

He then congratulated Valenzuela on his efforts and said the government would seek to support the work.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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German author Jenny Erpenbeck wins International Booker Prize for tale of tangled love affair

German author Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann won the International Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday for "Kairos," the story of a tangled love affair during the final years of East Germany’s existence.

The novel beat five other finalists, chosen from 149 submitted novels, for the prize, which recognizes fiction from around the world that has been translated into English and published in the U.K. or Ireland. The 50,000 pounds ($64,000) in prize money is divided between author and translator.

COURT FINES GERMAN-TURKISH AUTHOR OVER 'DEATH CAMP' SPEECH

Canadian broadcaster Eleanor Wachtel, who chaired the five-member judging panel, said Erpenbeck’s novel about the relationship between a student and an older writer is "a richly textured evocation of a tormented love affair, the entanglement of personal and national transformations."

It’s set in the dying days of the German Democratic Republic, leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Erpenbeck, 57, was born and raised in East Berlin, which was part of East Germany until the country disappeared with German reunification in 1990.

"Like the GDR, (the book) starts with optimism and trust, then unravels so badly," Wachtel said.

She said Hofmann’s translation captures the "eloquence and eccentricities" of Erpenbeck’s prose.

The International Booker Prize is awarded every year. It is run alongside the Booker Prize for English-language fiction, which will be handed out in the fall.

Last year’s winner was another novel about communism and its legacy in Europe, "Time Shelter" by Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov and translated by Angela Rodel.

The prize was set up to boost the profile of fiction in other languages — which accounts for only a small share of books published in Britain — and to salute the underappreciated work of literary translators.

Hoffman is the first male translator to win the International Booker Prize since it launched in its current form in 2016.

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France is trying Syrian ex-officials for the torture and killing of a father and son. Here's why

The Syrian soldiers came first, at night, for the son, Patrick, a 20-year-old psychology student at Damascus University, and said they were taking him away for questioning.

They came back the next night for his father, Mazen.

Five years later, in 2018, death certificates from Syrian authorities confirmed to the Dabbagh family that the French-Syrian father and son would never come home again.

In a landmark trial, a Paris court is seeking this week to determine whether Syrian intelligence officials — the most senior to go on trial in a European court over crimes allegedly committed during the country's civil war — were responsible for their disappearance and deaths.

The four-day hearings started Tuesday and are expected to air chilling allegations that President Bashar Assad's government has widely used torture and arbitrary detentions to hold on to power during the conflict, now in its 14th year.

The French trial comes as Assad has been regaining an aura of international respectability, starting to shed his longtime status as a pariah that stemmed from the violence unleashed on his opponents. Human rights groups that are parties to the French case hope it will refocus attention on alleged atrocities.

Here's a look at those involved:

THE ACCUSED

— Ali Mamlouk, former head of the National Security Bureau overseeing Syrian security and intelligence services. Allegedly worked directly with Assad. Now in his late 70s.

— Jamil Hassan, former Air Force intelligence director. Survivors testifying in the case allege having seen him at a detention center in the capital, Damascus, where the Dabbaghs are thought to have been held. In his early 70s.

— Salam Mahmoud, in his mid-60s, a former investigations official at a Damascus military airport believed to house the detention center. Mahmoud is alleged to have expropriated the Dabbaghs' house after they were taken away.

The three men are accused of provoking crimes against humanity, giving instructions to commit them and allowing subordinates to commit them through the alleged arrest, torture and killing of the father and son. They also are accused of confiscating their house and of putting Air Force intelligence services at the disposal of people who allegedly killed them.

The accused are being tried in absentia. French magistrates issued arrest warrants for them in October 2018, despite acknowledging that there was little likelihood of their extradition to France. There were no defense lawyers to represent them as the hearings got underway Tuesday morning. French magistrates determined they don't have diplomatic immunity.

"The three people accused are very senior officials of the Syrian system of repression and torture. This gives a particular tone to this trial. They are not small fish," said Patrick Baudouin, a lawyer for rights groups involved in the case.

"The legal file is very detailed, full of evidence of systematic, very diverse and absolutely monstrous torture practices," Baudouin said.

WHY IS THE TRIAL IN FRANCE?

Patrick and Mazen Dabbagh had dual French-Syrian nationality, which enabled French magistrates to pursue the case. The probe of their disappearance started in 2015 when Obeida Dabbagh, Mazen's brother, testified to investigators already examining war crimes in Syria.

Obeida Dabbagh lives in France with his wife, Hanane, and is also a party in the case. According to the trial indictment, seen by The Associated Press, he told French investigators that three or four soldiers came for Patrick around 11 p.m. on Nov. 3, 2013, during the height of Arab Spring-inspired anti-government protests that were met by a brutal crackdown. The soldiers identified themselves as members of a Syrian Air Force intelligence branch. Obeida also testified they searched the house, taking cellphones, computers and money.

They came back the next night for Mazen Dabbagh, who was 54 and worked as a counselor at a French high school in Damascus, and also took his new car, the brother said.

Their death certificates said Patrick died Jan. 21, 2014, and Mazen on Nov. 25, 2017, but didn't say how or where.

THE TRIAL EXPECTED TO EXPOSE TORTURE

French investigating magistrates collected evidence from those who deserted the Syrian government and military, and prison survivors as they built the case.

Testifying anonymously, survivors' accounts speak in the indictment of rape and of being denied food and water; of beatings on the feet, knees and elsewhere with whips, cables and truncheons; of electric shocks and burnings with acid or boiling water; of being suspended from the ceiling for hours or days.

Investigators also studied images provided by a Syrian policeman, who anonymously turned over photographs of thousands of torture victims.

Cameras are generally banned from French criminal trials, but this one will be filmed for historical record.

ANOTHER FRENCH PROBE TARGETS PRESIDENT ASSAD

In a separate investigation, French magistrates have also targeted President Assad himself but face questions about whether he benefits from presidential immunity.

Magistrates are investigating chemical weapons' attacks that killed more than 1,000 people and injured thousands of others in the suburbs of Damascus in 2013. They issued international arrest warrants for Assad, his brother Maher Assad, commander of the 4th Armored Division, and two Syrian army generals — Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan — for alleged complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The French probe was opened in 2021 in response to a criminal complaint by attack survivors. The investigation is being conducted under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which argues that in some cases, crimes can be pursued outside the countries where they take place.

The Syrian government and its allies have denied responsibility for the attacks.

The French warrants, very rare for a serving world leader, were seen as a strong signal against Assad’s leadership at a time when some countries have welcomed him back into the diplomatic fold. Victims' lawyers hailed the warrants as "a crucial milestone in the battle against impunity."

The Paris appeals court is weighing whether Assad has absolute immunity as head of state. French prosecutors asked it to rule on that question at a closed hearing May 15.

That procedure does not impact the warrants for Assad’s brother and the generals.

OTHER COUNTRIES ALSO TAKING ACTION

In March, Swiss prosecutors indicted Rifat Assad, the president’s uncle and a former Syrian vice president, for allegedly ordering murder and torture more than four decades ago to crush an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement, in the city of Hama, where thousands were killed.

A court in Stockholm put a former Syrian army general who lives in Sweden on trial in April for his alleged role in war crimes in 2012.

Courts in Germany found two former Syrian soldiers guilty in 2021 and 2022 of crimes against humanity. One was sentenced to life imprisonment, the other to 4 1/2 years for complicity. They had claimed refugee status in Germany before former detainees recognized them there. They were tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

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