Leaders

Chavez’s desired successor, interim president nicolas maduro, takes over the government. The opposition sends the governor of miranda, henrique capriles radonski, as a candidate in the race, as in the election of october 2012. Polls give maduro a clear lead.

Venezuelans can cast their votes at electronic voting machines in 13,800 voting centers nationwide. The polling stations open at around 06.00 o’clock (12.30 a.M. CEST) and stopped at around 18.00 o’clock (monday/00.30 a.M. CEST), provided there are no more queues in front of the polling stations. The result could be announced already three to four hours later. During the election campaign, which lasted only ten days, the socialist maduro presented himself as confident of victory and as the heir to the "bolivarian revolution" of chavez.

"Chavez has left behind a solid construction. … We have lost a great leader, but his project, built together by workers, farmers, women, indigenous people, africans and youth, is more alive than ever," the 50-year-old ex-peasant minister wrote in an article for the british newspaper "the guardian" (friday). Poverty in venezuela has fallen drastically in recent years. That is why the government has democratically won almost all elections and votes since 1998 – 16 in total, maduro added.

One year after the independence referendum in catalonia, demonstrators have commemorated the controversial vote with blockades and other actions. They also called again for the secession of the region from spain.

Activists blocked tracks in girona used by the high-speed AVE train for several hours, according to the railroad company renfe. Other supporters of independence temporarily blocked several main traffic arteries in barcelona and two highways – among other things with towered tires.

A group of radical separatists also invaded the seat of the regional government in girona this morning. Activists took down the spanish national flag and raised the "estelada," the flag of the catalan independence movement, instead.

The EU commission on thursday issued an ultimatum to great britain to withdraw plans to amend the current withdrawal agreement by the end of september at the latest. British secretary of state michael gove promptly rejected the idea.

Negotiations on trade pact planned for 2021 also stuck. Considerable differences remain," EU negotiator michel barnier said this evening. EU now to step up preparations for no deal.

The british prime minister boris johnson had alarmed brussel this week with the plan for an "internal market law" that will undermine the exit treaty agreed with the EU in 2019 and later ratified. These are special rules for the UK’s northern ireland to prevent a hard border with the EU state of ireland and new hostilities. Brexit supporters are thorn in the flesh because northern ireland could be cut off from the rest of the united kingdom.

Foreign students could be asked to pay up to 1000 euros per semester, suggested grunen faction leader edith sitzmann to the "stuttgarter nachrichten" newspaper. SPD parliamentary group leader claus schmiedel promptly rejected it. "There will be no general tuition fees for non-EU citizens in baden-wurttemberg," he told sudwestrundfunk radio. The opposition, the state student council and the chamber of commerce and industry also opposed the proposal. After the change of power in the country, grun-rot had abolished the general tuition fees in the southwest that had been in force until then.

Sitzmann assumes that the students affected by the new plans could afford the fees: "as a rule, those who come to us from the USA or asia do not come from the poorest parental homes," she told the blatt. In this way, a two-digit million amount could be collected. Foreign students who can’t afford the fees should receive a scholarship, sitzmann told radio station antenne 1.

The ministry of science in stuttgart, led by the grun-reds, confirmed the considerations. The plans were "examined from a legal and social point of view and with regard to the competitiveness of the universities," a spokeswoman for department head theresia bauer said.

There is a silence, a restless silence over the "forest for the soul" and this despite the fact that about 50 people are demonstrating here against an already almost completed constructional action on the part of the town. What had happened? It was only in april of this year that the part of the klaus forest leased by the city, the "forest for the soul", was opened handed over to its destiny. The authorized user of the 14.5 hectares of coarse woodland between ilgenwiese and ludwigsturm is the foundation for consciousness sciences, whose founder is joachim galuska from the heiligenfeld clinics.

Soon there was trouble because of two high seats erected by the city, because the foundation wanted, if possible, no hunting on the forest land it leased, which were provided with installations by some local artists. The foundation itself has not only built a rainproof entrance portal, but has also marked out a circular path and filled it with bark mulch, or. Pebbles made gangly. This project has already cost around 150,000 euros. Part of it was financed by the LEADER project, but the bigger part was financed by donations.

But as soon as the forest was passable for the soul, the city was on "their" side, explains the ice cream maker, the city’s traffic safety obligation was pointed out, which resulted in the marking and later felling of 48 mature trees. "One is too late, partly also wrong" had been informed by the city and city forester axel maunz, said joachim galuska in front of the protesters and the media representatives of the bavarian broadcasting company, who had also found their way to the klaus forest.