International
Israel closes schools and limits activities in the face of Iran’s threat

Israel announced on Saturday the closure of schools throughout the country and restrictions on public meetings for security reasons, following threats of attack by Iran.
From Sunday, the first day of the week in Israel, “educational activities, excursions and school and extracurricular outings” will be suspended,” said the army spokesman, Daniel Hagari.
As part of these restrictions, recreational centers will also be closed and excursions will be canceled.
In views of Passover, the Jewish Passover, outdoor gatherings will be limited to 1,000 people, with an even smaller number in the border regions, where the beaches will be closed.
Commercial activities will not be affected by the measures.
Hagari asked the population to maintain their level of “surveillance and responsibility.”
“The defense and attack systems of the air force are on alert and dozens of planes patrol the skies, prepared and ready (…). We have an excellent air defense system, but the defense is not airtight,” he added.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz canceled a planned trip to Austria and Hungary with relatives of hostages held in Gaza by the Islamist Hamas movement since October 7.
Iran promised reprisals for the April 1st bombing against its consulate in Damascus, which it attributed to Israel. In that bombing, seven members of the Guardians of the Revolution, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, were killed, two of them with the rank of general.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday that he foresaw Iran to retaliate “sooner than later.”
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
International
Miyazaki’s style goes viral with AI but at what cost?

This week, you may have noticed that everything—from historical photos and classic movie scenes to internet memes and recent political moments—has been reimagined on social media as Studio Ghibli-style portraits. The trend quickly went viral thanks to ChatGPT and the latest update of OpenAI’s chatbot, released on Tuesday, March 25.
The newest addition to GPT-4o has allowed users to replicate the distinctive artistic style of the legendary Japanese filmmaker and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away). “Today is a great day on the internet,” one user declared while sharing popular memes in Ghibli format.
While the trend has captivated users worldwide, it has also highlighted ethical concerns about AI tools trained on copyrighted creative works—and what this means for the livelihoods of human artists.
Not that this concerns OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, which has actively encouraged the “Ghiblification”experiments. Its CEO, Sam Altman, even changed his profile picture on the social media platform X to a Ghibli-style portrait.
Miyazaki, now 84 years old, is known for his hand-drawn animation approach and whimsical storytelling. He has long expressed skepticism about AI’s role in animation. His past remarks on AI-generated animation have resurfaced and gone viral again, particularly when he once said he was “utterly disgusted” by an AI demonstration.
-
Central America5 days ago
Honduran group in U.S. pushes for voter registration to prevent election fraud
-
International5 days ago
Federal court blocks Trump’s use of Enemy Alien Act for deportations
-
Central America5 days ago
Kristi Noem in Latin America: Talks with Bukele on expulsions and security policies
-
International5 days ago
Ecuador oil spill worsens as containment dam collapses
-
Central America4 days ago
Nicaragua denounces Costa Rica’s position in SICA as aligned with foreign interests
-
Central America4 days ago
Nicaragua’s new judicial law consolidates power in Ortega and Murillo’s hands
-
Central America4 days ago
Panama’s president declares Darién gap ‘closed’ amid sharp drop in migrant flow
-
International4 days ago
Marco Rubio warns Venezuela against military action against Guyana
-
International2 days ago
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
-
International2 days ago
Miyazaki’s style goes viral with AI but at what cost?
-
Central America18 hours ago
Panama police clarifies that Interpol alert for Martinelli is still pending
-
International18 hours ago
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
-
Central America3 days ago
Nicaragua revokes legal status of 10 more NGOs, bringing total to over 5,600