International
Trump ally in Congress faces public shaming over violent video

AFP
US lawmakers will vote Wednesday to censure a Trump loyalist for posting an animated video depicting him killing a colleague and attacking President Joe Biden, in a rare move underlining the enmity between opposing sides of Congress.
Far right congressman Paul Gosar will be on the end of a public shaming if the punishment goes ahead — called to present himself in the “well” of the House of Representatives for the “pronouncement of the censure.”
The Arizona Republican would be made to stand and listen in silence as the speaker reads a text spelling out that “depictions of violence can foment actual violence and jeopardize the safety of elected officials, as witnessed in this chamber on January 6, 2021.”
A censure resolution is the most severe form of punishment in the House and just a handful of members have faced the sanction over the last century — most recently 11 years ago.
Gosar would also join fellow Trumpist agitator Marjorie Taylor Greene as the second House Republican to lose their position on House committees this year.
An outspoken Donald Trump ally who echoes the former president’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, Gosar has been condemned for his associations with white nationalists and his praise for the rioters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6.
He is in the firing line anew after tweeting out a video in the Japanese anime style showing him killing New York Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking Biden with a sword.
“At some point, you have to say, ‘enough is enough,’” House Rules Committee chairman Jim McGovern said Tuesday.
Gosar removed the video — which received millions of views — after a backlash but has not expressed any regret in public or apologized to his targets.
The vote is expected to be a formality as the sanction requires a simple majority, and the Democrats have three to spare, plus support from at least two Republicans.
Opposition lawmakers have complained that there should have been an ethics investigation before any punishment was meted out, but they have shown little interest in holding Gosar to account.
Some Republicans are making it clear behind the scenes that they intend to retaliate if they win the majority in 2022.
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.”
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