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Brussels — EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Monday she will press for "fair" competition with China in talks with its President Xi Jinping, who is in Paris on a state visit. "We have to act to make sure that competition is fair and not distorted," she said in remarks issued hours before a face-to-face Paris meeting between her, Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron.   She added that, previously with Xi, "I have made clear that the current imbalances in market access are not sustainable and need to be addressed." Von der Leyen's European Commission, the European Union's authority on trade issues, has opened a slew of competition probes targeting China in recent months. Beijing has reacted furiously to the most recent investigation, into suspected inequitable access to China's medical devices market, calling it a sign of EU "protectionism." China is also angry at an EU probe into Chinese wind turbine suppliers for the European market. Other Brussels investigations have focused on Chinese subsidies for solar panels, electric vehicles (EVs) and trains. Von der Leyen reiterated the EU's position that it "should derisk its relations, but not decouple from China" — meaning reducing the dependence on Chinese suppliers but not going as far as the United States in penalizing or blocking trade streams in key sectors. "We have been very clear-eyed about our relationship with China, which is one of the most complex, but also one of the most important," the commission president said. "Over the last year, I have met with President Xi twice and we have spent some time discussing the EU-China relations from trade to climate, from global affairs to digital issues," she said. Von der Leyen stressed the problem of Chinese overcapacity and the way that was leading to Chinese goods entering the European Union at prices too low for EU firms to compete with. "China is currently manufacturing, with massive subsidies, more than it is selling due to its own weak domestic demand. This is leading to an oversupply of Chinese subsidized goods, such as EVs and steel, that is leading to unfair trade," she said. "Europe cannot accept such market distorting practices that could lead to de-industrialization in Europe." Von der Leyen said she would "encourage the Chinese government to address these overcapacities in the short-term," adding that the EU will work with other wealthy and emerging economies that were "increasingly affected by China's market distortions."

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Mexico City — Thieves killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip to Mexico to steal their truck, particularly because they wanted the tires, authorities said Sunday. Baja California state prosecutors released grisly details of the slayings but have not yet officially confirmed the identity of the bodies. They said family members of the victims are viewing the bodies to see if they can be identified by sight. The corpses were decomposing after the thieves dumped them into a remote, 15-meter deep well. If relatives can’t identify them, further tests will be conducted. The well also contained a fourth cadaver that had been there much longer. “The probability that it's them is very high,” said chief state prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez, noting the corpses still appeared to be identifiable by sight. The three men went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, posting idyllic photos on social media of waves and isolated beaches along a stretch of coast south of the city of Ensenada. But Andrade Ramirez described the moments of terror that ended the trip for brothers Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and American Jack Carter Rhoad. She said the killers drove by and saw the foreigners' pickup truck and tents, and wanted to steal their tires. “Surely, they resisted,” she said of the victims, and the thieves shot them to death. The thieves then went to what she called “a site that is extremely hard to get to” and dumped their bodies into a well they apparently were familiar with. She said investigators were not ruling out the possibility the same suspects also dumped the first, earlier body in the well as part of their thefts. “They may have been looking for trucks in this area,” Andrade Ramirez said. The site where the bodies were discovered near the township of Santo Tomas was near the remote seaside area where the missing men’s tents and truck were found Thursday along the coast. From their last photo posts, the trip looked perfect. But even experienced local expats are questioning whether it is safe to camp along the largely deserted coast anymore. The moderator of the local Talk Baja internet forum, who has lived in the area for almost two decades, wrote in an editorial Saturday that “the reality is, the dangers of traveling to and camping in remote areas are outweighing the benefits anymore.” Baja California prosecutors had said they were questioning three people in the case. On Friday, the office said the three had been arrested on charges of a crime equivalent to kidnapping, but that was before the bodies were found. It was unclear if they might face more charges. At least one of the suspects was believed to have directly participated in the killings. Last week, the missing Australians’ mother, Debra Robinson, posted on a local community Facebook page an appeal for help in finding her sons. Robinson said Callum and Jake had not been heard from since April 27. They had booked accommodations in the nearby city of Rosarito. Robinson said one of her sons, Callum, was diabetic. She also mentioned that the American who was with them was named Jack Carter Rhoad, but the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City did not immediately confirm that. The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports of a U.S. citizen missing in Baja but gave no further details. In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez — from the Baja peninsula. Authorities said they were victims of highway bandits. Three suspects were arrested in that case.

Albuquerque, New Mexico — It was a frigid winter morning when authorities found a Native American man dead on a remote gravel road in western New Mexico. He was lying on his side, with only one sock on, his clothes gone and his shoes tossed in the snow. There were trails of blood on both sides of his body and it appeared he had been struck in the head. Investigators retraced the man's steps, gathering security camera footage that showed him walking near a convenience store miles away in Gallup, an economic hub in an otherwise rural area bordered on one side by the Navajo Nation and Zuni Pueblo on the other. Court records said the footage and cell phone records showed the victim — a Navajo man identified only as John Doe — was "on a collision course" with the man who would ultimately be accused of killing him. A grand jury has indicted a man from Zuni Pueblo on a charge of second-degree murder in the Jan. 18 death, and prosecutors say more charges are likely as he is the prime suspect in a series of crimes targeting Native American men in Gallup, Zuni and Albuquerque. Investigators found several wallets, cell phones and clothing belonging to other men when searching his vehicle and two residences. As people gathered around the nation on Sunday to spotlight the troubling number of disappearances and killings in Indian Country, authorities say the New Mexico case represents the kind of work the U.S. Department of Justice had aspired to when establishing its Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons outreach program last summer. Special teams of assistant U.S. attorneys and coordinators have been tasked with focusing on MMIP cases. Their goal: Improve communication and coordination across federal, tribal, state and local jurisdictions in hopes of bridging the gaps that have made solving violent crimes in Indian Country a generational challenge. Some of the new federal prosecutors were participating in MMIP Awareness Day events. From the Arizona state capitol to a cultural center in Albuquerque and the Qualla Boundary in North Carolina, marches, symposiums, art exhibitions and candlelight vigils were planned for May 5, which is the birthday of Hanna Harris, who was only 21 when she was killed on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana in 2013. It was an emotional day in Albuquerque, where family members and advocates participated in a prayer walk. They chanted: "What do we want? Answers! What do we want? Justice!" There were tears and long embraces as they shared their stories and frustrations. They talked about feeling forgotten and the lack of resources in Native communities. Geraldine Toya of Jemez Pueblo marched with other family members to bring awareness to the death of her daughter Shawna Toya in 2021. She said she and her husband are artists who make pottery and never dreamed they would end up being investigators in an effort to determine what happened to their daughter. "Our journey has been rough, but you know what, we're going to make this journey successful for all of our people that are here in this same thing that we're struggling through right now," she said, vowing to support other families through their heartbreak as they seek justice. Alex Uballez, the U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico, told The Associated Press on Friday that the outreach program is starting to pay dividends. "Providing those bridges between those agencies is critical to seeing the patterns that affect all of our communities," Uballez said. "None of our borders that we have drawn prevents the spillover of impacts on communities — across tribal communities, across states, across the nation, across international borders." Assistant U.S. Attorney Eliot Neal oversees MMIP cases for a region spanning New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Nevada. Having law enforcement agencies and attorneys talking to each other can help head off other crimes that are often precursors to deadly violence. The other pieces of the puzzle are building relationships with Native American communities and making the justice system more accessible to the public, Neal said. Part of Neal's work includes reviewing old cases: time-consuming work that can involve tracking down witnesses and resubmitting evidence for testing. "We're trying to flip that script a little bit and give those cases the time and attention they deserve," he said, adding that communicating with family members about the process is a critical component for the MMIP attorneys and coordinators. The DOJ over the past year also has awarded $268 million in grants to tribal justice systems for handling child abuse cases, combating domestic and sexual violence and bolstering victim services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bree Black Horse was dressed in red as she was sworn in Thursday during a ceremony in Yakima, Washington. The color is synonymous with raising awareness about the disproportionate number of Indigenous people who have been victims of violence. She prosecutes MMIP cases in a five-state region across California and the Pacific Northwest to Montana. Her caseload is in the double digits, and she's working with advocacy groups to identify more unresolved cases and open lines of communication with law enforcement. An enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and a lawyer for more than a decade, Black Horse said having 10 assistant U.S. attorneys and coordinators focusing solely on MMIP cases is unprecedented. "This is an issue that has touched not only my community but my friends and my family," she said. "I see this as a way to help make sure that our future generations, our young people don't experience these same kinds of disparities and this same kind of trauma." In New Mexico, Uballez acknowledged the federal government moves slowly and credited tribal communities with raising their voices, consistently showing up to protest and putting pressure on politicians to improve public safety in tribal communities. Still, he and Neal said it will take a paradigm shift to undo the public perception that nothing is being done. The man charged in the New Mexico case, Labar Tsethlikai, appeared in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty while standing shackled next to his public defender. A victim advocate from Uballez's office was there, too, sitting with victims' family members. Tsethlikai's attorney argued that evidence had yet to be presented tying her client to the alleged crimes spelled out in court documents. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew McGinley argued that no conditions of release would keep the community safe, pointing to cell phone data and DNA evidence allegedly showing Tsethlikai had preyed on people who were homeless or in need of alcohol so he could satisfy his sexual desires. Tsethlikai will remain in custody pending trial as authorities continue to investigate. Court documents list at least 10 other victims along with five newly identified potential victims. McGinley said prosecutors wanted to focus on a few of the cases "to get him off the street" and prevent more violence.

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Niamey, Niger — Several gold mines in northern Niger managed by a Chinese company were ordered to temporarily close after dozens of animals died from drinking wastewater, local authorities told AFP on Sunday. Herders around the town of Tabelot had pointed to Sahara SARL's mines as the only explanation for their animals' deaths, saying the region was not suffering from drought or any epidemics. "We counted 24 dead over two days and at the end of April we finally realized that the slaughter was being caused by harmful products in the water the mines were rejecting," said Youssaf Houssa, the chief of Tamannit, one of the affected villages. Almou Akoli, who lives in Fasso, another village, said he lost 16 animals while some of his "neighbors cannot keep track of how many they have lost."   China's Sahara SARL started mining gold in January in the middle of grazing grounds where there are hardly any natural waterholes.   Following a visit Friday by police investigators, Niger's Ministry of Mines ordered the temporary closure of at least four of the mining sites, according to the sources. "The Chinese have suspended work, and we are monitoring our animals," said Houssa. Private local newspaper Air Info said an official report confirmed that "the catastrophe" was caused by chemical products used in the mines that threaten the water table in what is already a hostile environment for animal husbandry.   French company Orano (formerly Areva), which has been extracting uranium in northern Niger for more than 40 years, is regularly accused by NGOs of polluting the environment.   

Doha, Qatar — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his government had "unanimously" decided to shut down the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel, one of the few outlets which still has an operational bureau in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. Al Jazeera, which went off-air in Israel shortly after the announcement, condemned the move as a "criminal act." Here are five things to know about the Arab media giant, with which Netanyahu's administration has had a long-running feud that began well before Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza started on October 7. Foundation   Al Jazeera was launched in Doha in 1996 by a decree issued by the former emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. While stipulating that the channel should be "totally independent of all influences," the decree also provided a $150 million government loan for "setting it up and covering its operating costs for five years." Though Al Jazeera Media Network is a private business, the broadcaster has retained some Qatari government funding, which its critics often cite when questioning its editorial independence from Doha.      The broadcaster immediately emerged as a rival to international media giants but its no-holds-barred coverage as the self-described "first independent news channel in the Arab world" also sparked a series of legal disputes in the region in its early years.   Global reach The channel says it operates in 95 countries with 70 bureaus and a staff of 3,000 employees, with a global audience of 430 million homes. Al Jazeera, the network's initial Arabic-language news channel, was joined in 2006 by an English service.   Al Jazeera and Al Jazeera English — the network's flagship channels — have distinct editorial lines with the Arabic-language channel more frequently facing criticism from within the region. The network also includes a live public affairs channel, Al Jazeera Mubasher, and its digital-only AJ+ channel, which is aimed at a youth audience. Arab Spring   When a wave of popular uprisings swept the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, Al Jazeera was seen as a key shaper of public opinion because it gave unprecedented airtime to opposition groups, most notably the Muslim Brotherhood. The network has repeatedly rejected any accusation of bias in its coverage.   Al Jazeera faced pressure from governments across the region and became the focus of a feud between Cairo and Doha after the 2013 military ouster of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi. Cairo considered it a mouthpiece for Morsi's Islamist movement and Egyptian authorities arrested three Al Jazeera journalists, including Australian Peter Greste, provoking international condemnation. Qatar blockade   In 2017, Qatar's neighbors, led by Saudi Arabia, imposed a three-year diplomatic and economic blockade on the Gulf monarchy.   As well as demanding Qatar cut ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and its sister organization Hamas, and downgrade relations with Iran, the boycotting states also called for the closure of Al Jazeera and all its affiliates. The channel called the pressure an attempt to "silence freedom of expression." Israel-Hamas war   Since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, Al Jazeera aired continuous on-the-ground reporting of Israel's campaign and its consequences. Its broadcasts have been among the most watched in the Middle East amid widespread disenchantment with Western media coverage. Last month, Netanyahu called Al Jazeera a "terrorist channel," saying he would "act immediately" to halt its activities after a new law was passed.   At the time, the news station called the proposed ban a "part of a series of systematic Israeli attacks to silence Al Jazeera," which it said included the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, one of its most prominent journalists in the region, while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank in May 2022. Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Al Jazeera's office in the Palestinian territory of Gaza has been bombed and two of its correspondents killed. In January, Israel said an Al Jazeera staff journalist and a freelancer killed in an airstrike in Gaza were "terror operatives."   The following month, it accused another journalist with the channel who was wounded in a separate strike of being a "deputy company commander" with Hamas.   Al Jazeera has fiercely denied Israel's allegations and accused it of systematically targeting Al Jazeera employees in the Gaza Strip. Its bureau chief in Gaza, Wael al-Dahdouh, was wounded in an Israeli strike in December that killed the network's cameraman. His wife, two of their children and a grandson were killed in the October bombardment of central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp. His eldest son was the Al Jazeera staff journalist killed in January when a strike targeted a car in Rafah.

Houston, Texas — More storms were moving through the already saturated Houston area on Sunday, where flooding from heavy rains has led to the rescue of hundreds of people from homes, rooftops and roads. “It’s going to be raining through the day and some of the storms could be producing the heavier downpours,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Hayley Adams. Over the last week, areas near Lake Livingston, located northeast of Houston, have gotten upwards of 50 centimeters of rain, she said, while there has been as much as 30 centimeters of rain in that period in areas of northeastern Harris County, the nation’s third-largest county that includes Houston. Adams said the storms coming through Sunday were expected to bring up to 8 centimeters of rainfall, with up to 20 centimeters possible in some areas. “It’s going to keep rising this way,” said Miguel Flores Jr., who lives in the northeast Houston neighborhood of Kingwood. “We don’t know how much more. We’re just preparing for the worst.” Houston authorities have not reported any deaths or injuries as a wide region from Houston to rural East Texas has been swamped. Flooding forces evacuations Most weekends Flores’ father, Miguel Flores Sr., is mowing his huge backyard on a 1-hectare lot behind his home in Kingwood. But on Saturday, he and his family loaded several vehicles with clothes, small appliances and other items. Water from the San Jacinto River already had swallowed his backyard and was continuing to rise, from about 30 centimeters high in the yard Friday to about 1.2 meters the following day. As storms forced numerous high-water rescues, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes, officials redoubled urgent instructions for residents in low-lying areas to evacuate, warning the worst was still to come. Greg Moss, 68, stood late Saturday afternoon by a golf cart as he eyed the several centimeters of water covering the road that leads to his home in Channelview, a community in eastern Harris County near the San Jacinto River.   Moss had managed to pack up many of his belongings and leave before the road flooded Saturday. “I would be stuck for four days,” Moss said. “So now at least I can go get something to eat.” He moved his belongings and vehicle to a neighbor’s home, where he will stay until the waters recede. Moss said he is not worried his home will flood because it’s located on higher ground. Houston prone to flooding   Houston is one of the most flood-prone metro areas in the United States. The city of more than 2 million people has long experience dealing with devastating weather. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 dumped historic rainfall that flooded thousands of homes and resulted in more than 60,000 rescues by government rescue personnel across Harris County. The greater Houston area covers about 25,900 square kilometers, a footprint slightly bigger than New Jersey. It is crisscrossed by about 2,700 kilometers of channels, creeks and bayous draining into the Gulf of Mexico, about 80 kilometers southeast of downtown. The system of bayous and reservoirs was built to drain heavy rains, but the engineering initially designed nearly 100 years ago has struggled to keep up with the city’s growth and bigger storms. Husband and wife Aron Brown, 45, and Jamie Brown, 41, were two of the many residents who drove or walked to watch the rising waters near a flooded intersection close to the San Jacinto River. Nearby restaurants and a gas station were beginning to flood. What's expected next Rain in the area is expected to taper off by evening, said Adams, the National Weather Service meteorologist. But next up, residents recovering from the floods will have the heat and humidity to contend with. With a combination of the lingering moisture from the rains and temperatures upwards of 32 C, the area may be looking at heat index values in the triple digits this week, she said. “We want people to be mindful of the increasing temperatures, and heat exhaustion, heat stress,” she said.

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Human rights proponents say political repression in Pakistan has increased in the year since supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan stormed military properties to protest his arrest. VOA Pakistan bureau chief Sarah Zaman has the details. Wajid Asad contributed.

Despite the fact that many of their encampments at university campuses have been dismantled, pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the United States are standing their ground. If the protests continue, some analysts say they could have an impact on the 2024 presidential election. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias explains.

Can immigrants vote in U.S. elections? The answer is — not until they become naturalized citizens. Naturalization is a lengthy process that begins with obtaining a green card, also known as a permanent resident card. VOA’s Aline Barros explains the process.

Some residents of Nairobi’s suburbs are up in arms over what they say is illegal construction of high-rise buildings in their neighborhoods, mainly by Chinese developers. Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi. Camera and video editing by Amos Wangwa.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

New York — “The Fall Guy,” the Ryan Gosling-led, action-comedy ode to stunt performers, opened below expectations with $28.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, providing a lukewarm start to a summer movie season that’s very much to be determined for Hollywood. The Universal Pictures release opened on a weekend that Marvel has regularly dominated with $100 million-plus launches. (In 2023, that was “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” with a $118 million debut.) But last year’s strikes jumbled this year’s movie calendar; “Deadpool & Wolverine,” originally slated to open this weekend, is now debuting in July. So in place of a superhero kickoff, the summer launch went to a movie about the stunt performers who anonymously sacrifice their bodies for the kind of action sequences blockbusters are built on. Going into the weekend, forecasts had the film opening $30 million to $40 million. “The Fall Guy,” directed by former stuntman and “Deadpool 2” helmer David Leitch, rode into the weekend with the momentum of glowing reviews and the buzz of a SXSW premiere. But it will need sustained interest to merit its $130 million production budget. It added $25.4 million in overseas markets. Working in its favor for a long run: strong audience scores (an “A-” CinemaScore) and good reviews (83% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal, believes things line up well for “The Fall Guy” in the coming weeks. “We had a very solid opening,” said Orr. “We’re looking forward to a very long, very robust, very successful run throughout the domestic box office for literally weeks if not months to come.” But the modest start for “The Fall Guy” hints at larger concerns for the film industry. Superhero films haven’t been quite the box-office behemoth they once were, leading studios to search for fresher alternatives. “The Fall Guy” seemed to check all the boxes, with extravagant action sequences, one of the hottest stars in the business, a director with a track-record for crowd pleasers and very good reviews. But instead, the opening for “The Fall Guy,” loosely based on the 1980s TV series, only emphasized that the movie business is likely to struggle to rekindle the fervor of last year’s “Barbenheimer” summer. “The Fall Guy” stars one from each: Gosling, in his first post-Ken role, and Emily Blunt, of “Oppenheimer.” Both were Oscar nominated. “It’s going to be a very interesting, nontraditional summer this year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. In part because of last year's work stoppages, there are fewer big movies hitting theaters. Expectations are that the total summer box office will be closer to $3 billion than the $4 billion that’s historically been generated. “The summer season is just getting started, so let’s give ‘The Fall Guy’ a chance to build that momentum over time. It’s a different type of summer kickoff film,” said Dergarabedian. “There’s always huge expectations placed on any film that kicks off the summer movie season, but this isn’t your typical summer movie season.” In a surprise, No. 2 at the box office went to the Walt Disney Co. rerelease of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” The first episode to George Lucas’ little-loved prequels collected $8.1 million over the weekend, 25 years after “Phantom Menace” grossed $1 billion. Last week’s top film, the Zendaya tennis drama “Challengers,” slid to third place with $7.6 million in its second week. That was a sold hold for the Amazon MGM release, directed by Luca Guadagnino, dipping 49% from its first weekend. The Sony Screen Gems supernatural horror film “Tarot” also opened nationwide. It debuted with $6.5 million, a decent enough start for a low-budget release but another example of horror not quite performing this year as it has the last few years. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.   1. “The Fall Guy,” $28.5 million. 2. “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” $8.1 million. 3. “Challengers,” $7.6 million. 4. “Tarot,” $6.5 million. 5. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” $4.5 million. 6. “Civil War,” $3.6 million. 7. “Unsung Hero,” $3 million. 8. “Kung Fu Panda 4,” $2.4 million. 9. “Abigail,” $2.3 million. 10. “Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire,” $1.8 million.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

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DEBRECEN — A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held what he called the largest countryside political demonstration in the country’s recent history Sunday, the latest stop on his campaign tour that has mobilized thousands across Hungary’s rural heartland. Some 10,000 people gathered in Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city, in support of Péter Magyar, a political newcomer who in less than three months has shot to prominence on pledges to bring an end to problems like official corruption and a declining quality of life in the Central European country. Supporters endured a brief but unexpected rain shower ahead of the afternoon demonstration, turning the city's central square into a sea of umbrellas. They waved Hungarian flags bearing the names of towns and villages across the country from which they had come. “Today, the vast majority of the Hungarian people are tired of the ruling elite, of the hatred, apathy, propaganda and artificial divides,” Magyar told the crowd. “Hungarians today want cooperation, love, unity and peace.” Magyar, a former insider within Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, has since February denounced the nationalist Orbán as running an entrenched “mafia state,” and declared war on what he calls a propaganda machine run by the government. His party, TISZA (Respect and Freedom), has announced it will run 12 candidates in the June 9 European Union elections, with Magyar appearing first on the party list. TISZA has also announced it will run four candidates in local council elections in the capital Budapest. His appearance Sunday in Debrecen, a stronghold of Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party, reflected the focus his fledgling campaign has placed on the Hungarian countryside, where Orbán is popular. The Mother’s Day event was the latest stop on a tour of the country where Magyar has appeared in dozens of cities, towns and villages, often drawing thousands of supporters — numbers that few Orbán opponents have ever been able to mobilize in rural areas. Addressing the crowd, he said that “government propaganda” had tried to discredit his movement as "just a downtown Budapest media hack,” and criticized Hungary's traditional opposition parties as having abandoned rural Hungarians. “We’ve heard for 14 years from the opposition that it’s impossible in these circumstances to defeat Orbán, that it’s not worth traveling to the countryside, that young people aren’t interested in politics, that you can’t break down the walls of propaganda,” he said. “But look around! What’s the truth?” Katalin Nagy, who traveled several hours to the rally, said she finds Magyar credible “because he comes from the inside.” “He’s aware of the things that are really causing problems in this country, and I think he can provide solutions to problems so that we can come out of the hole that this country is currently in,” she said.  Recent polls show that Magyar’s party may have become the largest opposition force in little more than a month before the election. Pollster Median this week measured TISZA at 25% among certain voters, with Orbán’s Fidesz well ahead at 45%. Governing party politicians have dismissed Magyar, who describes himself as a moderate conservative, as a leftist in disguise, and suggested that foreign interests lie behind his rise. Orbán and has party have ruled Hungary with a constitutional majority since 2010.