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Peruvian presidential candidate dies in traffic accident in the Andes

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A Peruvian presidential candidate died Sunday in a car accident on a remote Andean highway while traveling to a political rally.

Napoleón Becerra, 61, was the candidate for the Workers and Entrepreneurs Party of Peru in the April 12 election. The leftist was one of the 36 candidates and a recent poll showed him with less than 1% of the voting intentions.

Becerra’s vehicle went off the road in the rural district of the city of Pilpichaca, 430 kilometers (267 miles) southeast of capital Lima, local police said. Mayor Balvín Huamaní told The Associated Press that three passengers in the candidate’s car were injured.

Becerra’s party said his body was taken to Huamanga, the capital of the Ayacucho region where the accident took place.

Peruvians hope the general elections to put a halt to the country’s extended political crisis. José María Balcázar, 83, became Peru’s eighth president in a decade in February, replacing another interim leader who was ousted over corruption allegations.

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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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