CARACAS， Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Backers of a presidential recall referendum in Venezuela have met the first of several constitutional conditions needed to remove President Nicolas Maduro from office.
But recalling a democratically elected president is no easy job and the country's Constitution has many restrictions.
Should proponents of the referendum meet all of the prerequisites， when can the referendum take place?
Late Tuesday， Maduro said a recall referendum is "absolutely impossible" this year.
Maria Alejandra Diaz， a constitutional lawyer， believes that it will be "almost impossible" to hold the vote before Jan. 10， 2017.
This week， the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that the right-wing opposition coalition， the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD)， fulfilled the first step by collecting about 2 million signatures， more than what the constitution requires.
The MUD will now have to gather signatures from 20 percent of registered voters， or nearly 4 million Venezuelans， for the referendum to proceed to the next phase.
Once those signatures are validated， the CNE is obligated to take no more than 72 hours to set a date for the referendum， which must take place within the next 90 days.
The MUD is eager to hold the recall vote as soon as possible. If Maduro is voted out before Jan. 10， 2017， then new elections can be held to choose a successor， and the opposition is banking on a win after years of economic turmoil.
If the vote takes place after Jan. 10 and if Maduro is voted out， his vice president will succeed him and sit throughout his current term of office， which ends on Jan. 10， 2019.
However， that scenario would be rejected by the people， said political observer Luis Francisco Cabezas.
"I can't see the possibility of the referendum being in 2017， the pressure on the street， the country's current situation calls for a solution this year，" said Cabezas.
If the "CNE plays by the rules of the game and guarantees a level playing field in keeping with electoral norms， there would be no impediment to the referendum taking place in 2016，" said Cabezas.
Gathering signatures worldwide from 20 percent of voters "will be a great gauge" of how the public feels about Maduro's administration， said Cabezas.
Jorge Rodriguez， mayor of Caracas and a leader of the ruling PSUV party， however， believes that it is just a matter of time before the recall process is annulled for fraud.
More than a third of the signatures the MUD submitted in June turned out to be fake or invalid for a variety of reasons， he noted.
In addition， the votes to unseat Maduro in the referendum must be no fewer than the votes that put him in power. Maduro won 7.5 million votes in April 2013 elections.
RIO DE JANEIRO， Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Carmelo Anthony became the leading Olympic scorer of the United States men's basketball team in a 98-88 win over Australia at the Rio Olympic Games here on Wednesday.
The New York Knicks guard set the new record of 293 points after he scored 31 points in the match， passing LeBron James' 273 points， the previous record， as well as David Robinson's 270.
With 1:11 left in the first quarter， Anthony made a three-pointer to pass James.
"Obviously I'm concious of the record. My teammates gave me the ball when I was open， and I made them，" Anthony said.
Wednesday's game was Anthony's 26th Olympic game， also a U.S. record， as he competed at the 2004 Athens， 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics in row.
A medal at Rio Olympics could make Anthony the U.S. player with most Olympic medals as he won bronze in 2004， and gold in 2008 and 2012.
LONDON
Comprar Hombre Air Force One Low Cuero QS Blancas , Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- The number of British people enjoyingforeign holidays is the highest since the financial crash, theOffice for National Statistics (ONS) said Monday.
But in the last 20 years British tourists have turned theirbacks on traditional two-week holidays in favor of short breaks andweek-long trips
Comprar Air Force One High PRM 07 Sneakers Mica , said ONS.
British residents went on more than 45 million foreign holidaysin 2016, up from 27 million in 1996
Comprar Air Force One Mid 07 Blancas Negras , a 68 percent rise.
Another big change seen by ONS is the drop in the number ofso-called "booze cruises" across the English Channel.
Thousands of people used to make the day-trips to France tostock up on cheaper alcohol.
The numbers started to fall after 1999 when duty-free saleswithin the European Union ended, coupled with prices for cigarettesin France also rising.
The arrival of budget airlines has also led to sky-high numbersof British tourists heading to tourism hotspots across Europe
Comprar Hombre Air Force One 07 Low Metallic Doradas Blancas , saidONS.
In the two decades since 1996 the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)said passenger numbers at British airports increased by 85 percent,from 135 million to 251 million
Comprar Special Field Air Force One , with half using the budgetcarriers.
"Around 50 percent of the traffic on low-cost carriers is newlygenerated, which means half of the people flying on budget airlinesin Europe weren't making those journeys before
Comprar Air Force One Off White ," said ONS.
At the same time, the number of people making sea crossings toEurope has fallen by 33 percent
Comprar Air Force One Negras Mid , with more opting to flyinstead,
ONS said not a lot has changed at the top of the destinationchart over the past 20 years
Comprar Air Force One Negras Low , with Spain and France staying in thetwo top spots.
"While the number of holidays to Spain has rocketed by 87percent in 20 years, France is one of the few countries we'revisiting less than we were in 1996 with the number falling by 9percent
Comprar Air Force One Negras ," said ONS.
Germany has now joined the top 10 destinations for Britishholidaymakers, and another new entry is cruising along Europe'sfamous rivers
Comprar Air Force One Mid , now four times as popular as it was 20 yearsago.
Two destinations that have dropped out of the top 10 since 1996are Belgium and Turkey.
Holidays to third placed Italy and fourth place Portu.
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