International
US says cannot delay ‘ambitious’ action to protect climate

AFP/Editor
Humanity can no longer delay “ambitious” climate action, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday after the release of a landmark UN report warning of growing climate change peril.
Years in the making, the sobering report approved by 195 nations shines a harsh spotlight on governments dithering in the face of mounting evidence that climate change is an existential threat.
“This moment requires world leaders, the private sector and individuals to act together with urgency and do everything it takes to protect our planet,” Blinken said in a statement.
“We cannot delay ambitious climate action any longer,” he added.
With only 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming so far, an unbroken cascade of deadly, weather disasters bulked up by climate change has swept the world this summer, from asphalt-melting heatwaves in Canada to untamable wildfires sweeping Greece and California.
“We are seeing the detrimental impacts of these events on the lives and livelihoods of people around the world,” Blinken said.
“This is why the United States has committed to a 50-52 percent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels in 2030 and is marshaling the entire federal government to tackle the climate crisis,” he added.
President Joe Biden has proclaimed his intention to make the US a leader in the fight against global warming once more, rejoining the Paris climate agreement after his predecessor Donald Trump withdrew and naming former secretary of state John Kerry as his climate envoy.
The Biden administration has also announced $5 billion in public money to help states and local communities prepare for major disasters linked to extreme weather events.
And the Democratic president has been touting the environmental merits of his $1.2 trillion plan to renovate the country’s aging infrastructure, which is poised to become law.
According to the White House, the frequency of extreme weather events and climate change-related disasters has exploded in recent years.
Where the US averaged six such major disasters each year between 2000 and 2009, that number has risen to 13 between 2010 and 2020.
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
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.”
-
Central America5 days ago
Nicaragua denounces Costa Rica’s position in SICA as aligned with foreign interests
-
Central America5 days ago
Nicaragua’s new judicial law consolidates power in Ortega and Murillo’s hands
-
Central America5 days ago
Panama’s president declares Darién gap ‘closed’ amid sharp drop in migrant flow
-
International3 days ago
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
-
International5 days ago
Marco Rubio warns Venezuela against military action against Guyana
-
International3 days ago
Miyazaki’s style goes viral with AI but at what cost?
-
Central America2 days ago
Panama police clarifies that Interpol alert for Martinelli is still pending
-
International2 days ago
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
-
Central America15 hours ago
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary urges Mexico to strengthen Guatemala border
-
International14 hours ago
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal
-
Central America15 hours ago
Panama grants Martinelli 72-hour extension to travel to Nicaragua
-
Central America4 days ago
Nicaragua revokes legal status of 10 more NGOs, bringing total to over 5,600