International

Tens of thousands of people participate in protests in Israel to demand a truce

Tens of thousands of people participate this Saturday in new massive protests in different parts of Israel to demand that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu seal a ceasefire agreement with Hamas for the release of the hostages.

In the Israeli capital, in Tel Aviv, the organizers assure that about 400,000 people are expected tonight after a week marked by the call for the first general strike and numerous acts of protests.

Six dead hostages found last week

“Carmel endured, for eight long months, through hunger, deadly fear and bombings… and in June, when an agreement was again on the table, she was again on the list. She [and the other murdered hostages] should have returned home. Alive!” Dickman shouted, the first of the now lifeless host Carmel Gal.

His body was found last week along with five other hostages in an underground tunnel in the southern city of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip. The troops found them days after being “executed by Hamas,” the autopsy confirmed.

Israeli society blames the Government

Since then, the unease of Israeli society towards the Government has skyrocketed among those who blame it for these deaths for not having previously signed a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian group.

20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

“We are at the 11th hour. It’s too late for Carmel, but for Ohad Ben Ami, it’s not too late. Stop Such Shoham! Romi Gonen! They can still hug their mothers! Go out every day until he comes home alive!” exclaimed his cousin in reference to the fact that this Saturday marks eleven months of the war in Gaza.

Concentrations in front of the residence of Nentanyahu

In Jerusalem, a group of demonstrators have also gathered in front of the residence of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Nentanyahu, carrying yellow flags representing the movement for the release of hostages held by Hamas.

“The regime’s lies will not bring security,” they chant.

The protesters call for the end of the war, the fall of the government and another general strike to push for an agreement.

Of the 251 kidnapped on October 7, 97 captives remain in the enclave, -33 confirmed dead-, while there are four other hostages for years, two of them dead soldiers.

20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

Since the war began, Israel and Hamas only reached a one-week truce agreement at the end of November, which allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

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.