International
The climate crisis threatens the lives of 41 million people in Latin America, according to the UN
The climate crisis threatens the livelihoods and health care of 41 million people in low-altitude coastal areas in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a new study by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) published on Tuesday.
The report, for which satellite images, geospatial data and population estimates were used, establishes that these low coastal communities in the region are more exposed to risks such as drought, desertification, hurricanes or storms.
“The extreme weather events usually result in widespread floods that destroy homes, companies and essential services, in addition to health care,” the document adds.
The data were presented at the fourth Conference of Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), which is held in Antigua and Barbuda until Thursday, where UNFPA is mainly asking the participating countries for greater investments to reduce the inequalities of their population and better management of water resources.
According to this UN agency specialized in demographic policy, the population most affected by these conditions are women and girls who, “fruit of inequalities,” suffer “disproportionately” from the lack of access to safe childbirth or protection against gender violence.
“Millions of vulnerable women and girls, who are the least responsible for the climate crisis, pay a high price when climate-related catastrophes occur and basic health and protection services are altered, as well as livelihoods,” said UNFPA executive director, Dr. Natalia Kanem, in the study.
The analysis also shows that 1,448 hospitals vital for maternal health and family planning are located in low-altitude coastal areas more prone to natural risks.
In territories such as Aruba, Cayman Islands, Suriname, Bahamas and Guyana, more than 80% of hospitals are located in these low coastal areas, while in the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean, the countries with the highest number of medical centers in these latitudes are Ecuador (11.9%), Haiti (10%) and Brazil (7.2%), according to UNFPA.
PEID4, which pays special attention to the “existential threat” of the climate crisis, is celebrated before the start of the hurricane season in the Atlantic and that could have a “brutal” impact on the region this year, according to the organization.
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.
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