International
Fake Covid vaccination certificates for sale in Mexico

AFP
First there were fake vaccines. Now bogus coronavirus immunization certificates are being offered for sale in the Mexican capital, aimed at people traveling to countries that require proof of inoculation.
In an area of the historic district known for its printers and counterfeiters, a new service has appeared alongside documents purporting to be birth certificates, driver’s licenses and passports.
Customers for the fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates are usually people who want to travel but have not been fully immunized, or who received vaccines not recognized in the country they plan to visit, a vendor said.
“If they were vaccinated with the Chinese shots, here we change it for Pfizer or Sputnik V,” said the man, who gave his name as Cris.
Undeterred by the presence of police officers nearby, he told potential customers the price ranged from 1,100 to 2,000 Mexican pesos ($55-100), according to an AFP reporter.
“In two hours you’ll have the document,” he added, his face partly concealed by a face mask, as he worked in the Santo Domingo district.
Mexico’s health ministry recently announced that people who have been vaccinated can download an immunization certificate for free through an official website to use when traveling or in other situations.
Around 21 million people have been fully vaccinated in Mexico, a country of 126 million, which has used Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Cansino, Sputnik V and Johnson & Johnson shots.
The official certificates have a QR code that redirects whoever scans it to a government page that confirms the holder is fully immunized.
The counterfeiters offer to tamper with that code, but whether it actually works is unclear.
To cheat the system would require a certain level of technological know-how so that the person checking the certificate is redirected to a fake government website, said cybersecurity specialist Carlos Ramirez.
In theory, he said, it would be possible to load each QR with the data requested by customers — a challenging but not impossible task for cyber criminals.
The Mexican health ministry did not respond to a request for information about its digital security protocols and what measures it plans in response to the counterfeits.
It is not the first fraudulent activity linked to the pandemic in Mexico, where Pfizer said in April fake vaccines had been found for sale under its brand name.
In Santo Domingo, forged laboratory tests with a negative Covid-19 result are also on sale for about $30.
The falsification of official documents carries a prison sentence of four to eight years in Mexico, whose official coronavirus death toll of more than 235,000 is the world’s fourth highest.
International
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.
“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.
“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.
Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.
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
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“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.”
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