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Honduran lawmaker injured in Congress by homemade explosive

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A Honduran lawmaker from the conservative National Party of President-elect Nasry Asfura was injured Thursday when someone threw a homemade explosive device into the country’s Congress.

Lawmakers had been called to convene and Deputy Gladis Aurora López was in a hallway of the legislative building when she was hit in the back with the device. López fell to the floor and her jacket was shredded. Witnesses took her for medical treatment, but her injuries were not considered life threatening.

Tomás Zambrano, president of the National Party’s delegation in Congress, blamed the outgoing ruling Liberty and Refoundation Party, or LIBRE, for the attack. Zambrano said via the social platform X that he considered it an attack against the National Party.

Lawmakers had been convened to consider a LIBRE proposal to order an election recount, even though electoral authorities declared a winner in December.

LIBRE has not recognized the results of the Nov. 30 election. The National Electoral Council announced Asfura as the narrow winner nearly a month after the vote.

Security footage showed the device was thrown from outside the building in the street. The person who threw it appeared to have been with another man. Police were still searching for those responsible.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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