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Venezuela

Venezuela's National Assembly Erupts In Massive Brawl (Video)

VENEZUELA AL DÍA, EL TIEMPO (Venezuela), CNN MEXICO(Mexico).

Worldcrunch

CARACAS - As the country remains tense following the election of Hugo Chavez's handpicked successor, Venezuela’s National Assembly erupted in violence, as a brawl broke out between members of the ruling party (United Socialist Party) and representatives from the opposition (Democratic Unity Roundtable, which unites most of the opposition), reports Venezuela al Día.

There was a three-hour delay before Tuesday's session began, and opposing legislators suspected the ruling party was holding a private meeting where they planned the attack. When the session commenced, Diosdado Cabello, President of the National Assembly began by declaring that all congressmen must recognize the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro as President of Venezuela. If not, they would be denied the right to speak during the assembly. The opposition reacted by blowing vuvuzelas and taking out banners, which led to the beginning of the physical clashes.

This violent episode was only broadcast through private media and social media that the opposition are offering as testimony. During the session no other press or media is allowed in the room except for the camera’s broadcasting on the official Venezuelan TV channel, www.antv.gob.ve, controlled by the ruling party, according to El Tiempo.

In an interview for CNN Mexico, opposition congresswoman Corina Machado said that a congresswoman from the ruling party took her and threw her on the ground kicking her and hitting her. “A congressman is hospitalized right now, Américo de Gracia, because five congressmen from the ruling party jumped on him, threw him down the stairs and kicked him right next to me. If Maduro does not condemn these acts, it proves his weak governability and ilegitimate regime.”

One of the injured Congressmen tweeted with a link to a video of the fight where he is trampled. "Michele Reyes deputy from the PSUV party with a tricolor jacket hits me for taking out a panel protesting so I could speak".

Michele Reyes dip psuv aragua Con chaqueta tricolor me golpea por sacar pancarta protestando que no dejaran hablar globovision.com/articulo/exclu…

— Julioborges (@JulioBorges) May 1, 2013

Solo en Venezuela twitter.com/AlejandroSleon…

— Eduardo Ponte (@acaballoregalao) 1 mai 2013

Injured reps Corina Machado and Jorge Borges

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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