International

The Parliament of Thailand elects Paethongtarn Shinawatra as prime minister

The House of Representatives of Thailand elected Paethongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of the former president and influential politician Thaksin, as Prime Minister of Thailand this Friday, after the dismissal two days ago of her predecessor by a judicial decision.

Paethongtarn, known by the nickname of Ing, obtained during the vote 319 supports from the 493 deputies of the current Chamber, and has become the second woman to be Prime Minister of the country.

For its part, the plan of the opposition People’s Party, founded after the judicial dissolution of the progressive Avanzar, positioned itself against the appointment of Paethongtarn, which added 145 votes of rejection and 27 abstentions – two deputies did not attend the session.

The new head of government, candidate of the Phue Thai party that leads a coalition of 11 parties, thus replaces Srettha Thavisin, from the same political platform, who was dismissed on Wednesday by the Constitutional Court considering that she violated an ethnic code by appointing a lawyer convicted of attempted bribery as a minister in April.

Paethongtarn Shinawatr, pledged to make the country “progress”, hours after being elected in a parliamentary vote to replace Srettha Thavisin.

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“I hope to do the best I can and make my country progress. It’s an honor and I feel happy. I am sure that if I make an effort every day and at every opportunity, everything will be fine,” she said visibly excited during her first appearance after the vote.

“I want to create opportunities and develop the quality of life to empower all Thais,” remarked the leader, who led the hotel company and the construction wing of the wealthy clan before starting her meteoric political career in 2021.

Paethongtarn, at 37 years old, the youngest to occupy the position, was one of the new faces of her party during the 2023 electoral campaign, in which she participated during her last stages of pregnancy, and until now she was director of the “National Committee for the Development of Soft Power” with the purpose of extending the Thai cultural influence.

The new leader, who does not hold the position of legislator, followed the vote from the Phue Thai headquarters in Bangkok, where she arrived in the early hours of the morning accompanied by her husband.

“First meal after listening to the vote,” the leader posted on the social network Instagram, where she usually uploads family images, along with a photo of a plate of rice with chicken.

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The appointment of Paethongtarn, the youngest daughter of the three of Thaksin, puts a member of the influential Shinawatra clan back in charge of the country after his father, who ruled between 2001 and 2006, was dismounted by a military coup d’état and his aunt, Yingluck, was dismissed in 2014 by the Constitutional, days before another military uprising.

Thaksin, who spent 15 years in exile to avoid justice, returned to Thailand in August last year and the same day that Parliament elected Srettha as prime minister, which seemed to seal the reconciliation between the former president and the pro-military and pro-military elite.

The founder of the Shinawatra clan, who did not spend a night in prison, as he was released on parole after serving six months of sentence while being admitted to a hospital, now faces an accusation of less majesty with a court hearing scheduled for Monday.

The Phue Thai, founded before Thaksin left the country, finished second in the elections of May 2023, surpassed by the young reformist party Avanzar, dissolved eight days ago by the Constitutional for its proposals to reform the law of lesa majesty.

At first these two parties formed a coalition that, after the Senate’s veto against the reformist candidate, Phue Thai ended up breaking and leading its own alliance to govern, which includes two platforms linked to the military coup, its historical enemies.

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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”

Guatemalan court decides Wednesday whether to convict journalist José Rubén Zamora

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.