International
Hezbulá regrets the death of its spokesman in an Israeli bombing in Beirut
The Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah regretted the death of its spokesman, Mohamed Afifi, in a bombing of Israel on Sunday against the headquarters of the Baath Arab Socialist Party in Beirut, the first time in a month that the Israeli army directly attacks the Lebanese capital.
Hizbulá praised Afifi as a “leader” in his role as a media spokesman and said that he joined his comrades and his “father” as a “martyr”, Hasán Nasrala, the top person responsible for the political and military formation of the movement, who died in another bombing in Beirut in September, according to a statement from the group released on Sunday night.
Afifi was among the dead in the attack
The general secretary of the Baath Arab Socialist Party in Lebanon, Ali Yusef Hegazy, confirmed that Afifi was identified as one of the seven dead in the Israeli attack on the headquarters of his formation in Beirut, in a television intervention on the Al Mayadin channel.
The bombing destroyed the headquarters of the Lebanese branch of the Pan-Araba party that maintains power in Syria with Bashar Al Asad.
For its part, the Islamist organization Hamas regretted the death of Afifi in a statement in which it highlighted his “bold media appearances” from Dahye, the suburbs south of Beirut under constant Israeli attacks, and said that it was “a voice of strong and defiant resistance that disturbed the (Israeli) occupation.”
The attack occurred in the Beirut neighborhood of Ras al Nabaa, a peripheral area in the south of the capital considered part of its metropolitan area.
On Sunday afternoon, another Israeli bombing hit the center of the Lebanese capital again, in an unusual day with attacks beyond the Dahye, a daily siege target.
Israel detects the arrival of 60 projectiles from Lebanon
The Israeli Army detected the arrival of at least 60 projectiles launched between the morning and afternoon of Monday, which it attributed to the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah, and indicated that most of them were intercepted.
“At 3:00 p.m. (13 GMT), approximately 60 projectiles fired by the terrorist organization Hezbulá crossed from Lebanon to Israel today,” the military body reported in a statement.
Israel’s Emergency Service, the Maguen David Adom (MDA), reported that two women, aged 34 and 65, were injured by the remains of these devices after being intercepted by the Israeli air defense system.
The Army also announced today the destruction of a Shiite arsenal and a tunnel in a mountainous area of southern Lebanon.
In the same statement, he detailed that militants of Hizbulá planned attacks against Israel from that place located in southern Lebanon – whose name was not specified.
Balance of the war between Israel and Hezbullah
More than a year of fire exchange between Israel and Hizbulah around the border with Lebanon has ended the lives of almost 3,500 people in this country, most of them since the Israeli Army intensified its bombing campaign on September 23. The armed forces estimate that about 2,500 were militiamen of the Shiite group.
On the Israeli side, 76 people have died from attacks launched from Lebanon, of which 45 were civilians (6 of them foreigners). In addition, 42 soldiers have died in combat in the south of the neighboring country, where they have maintained a land invasion since last October 1.
Israel confirms that a “precise” bombing in Beirut
The Israeli Army confirmed that it killed Hezbulah spokesman Mohamed Afifi in a “precise” bombing on Sunday in Beirut, who was condemned by Iran and the Lebanese Shiite group.
Afifi was in direct contact with senior officials from Hezbula to carry out “terrorist activities” of the group against Israel, according to a statement from the Israeli Army released early Monday morning.
He points out that Afifi directed Hezbullah’s operations from the field to promote the “propaganda and psychological terror campaign” of the Shiite movement, and accuses him of “glorifying” and “inciting” “terrorist activities” against the State of Israel.
International
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
Thousands of protesters gathered on Saturday (April 19, 2025) in major cities like New York and Washington, as well as in small communities across the United States, in a second wave of demonstrations against President Donald Trump. The crowds denounced what they view as growing threats to the country’s democratic ideals.
In New York City, demonstrators of all ages rallied in front of the Public Library near Trump Tower, holding signs accusing the president of undermining democratic institutions and judicial independence.
Many protesters also criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policies, including mass deportations and raids targeting undocumented migrants.
“Democracy is in grave danger,” said Kathy Valyi, 73, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. She told AFP that the stories her parents shared about Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1930s Germany “are happening here now.”
In Washington, demonstrators voiced concern over what they see as Trump’s disregard for long-standing constitutional norms, such as the right to due process.
International
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday asked two federal judges to block the U.S. government under President Donald Trump from deporting any Venezuelan nationals detained in North Texas under a rarely used 18th-century wartime law, arguing that immigration officials appear to be moving forward with deportations despite Supreme Court-imposed limitations.
The ACLU has already filed lawsuits to stop the deportation of two Venezuelan men held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center, challenging the application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The organization is now seeking a broader court order that would prevent the deportation of any immigrant in the region under that law.
In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan detainees of being members of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang. These accusations, the ACLU argues, are being used to justify deportations under the wartime statute.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times in U.S. history — most notably during World War II to detain Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration has claimed the law allows them to swiftly remove individuals identified as gang members, regardless of their immigration status.
The ACLU, together with Democracy Forward, filed legal actions aiming to suspend all deportations carried out under the law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed deportations to resume, it unanimously ruled that they could only proceed if detainees are given a chance to present their cases in court and are granted “a reasonable amount of time” to challenge their pending removal.
International
Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
A man identified as Rafael Rosario Mota falsely claimed to have rescued 12 people from the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo—a tragedy that left 231 people dead—but he was never at the scene.
Intelligence agents in the Dominican Republic arrested the 32-year-old man for pretending to be a hero who saved lives during the catastrophic incident, authorities announced.
Rosario Mota had been charging for media interviews in which he falsely claimed to have pulled survivors from the rubble after the nightclub’s roof collapsed in the early hours of April 8, during a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among those killed.
“He was never at the scene of the tragedy,” the police stated. The arrest took place just after he finished another interview on a digital platform, where he repeated his fabricated story in exchange for money as part of a “media tour” filled with manipulated information and invented testimonies.
“False hero!” read a message shared on the police force’s Instagram account alongside a short video of the suspect, in which he apologized: “I did it because I was paid. I ask forgiveness from the public and the authorities.”
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