International

Argentine president testifies for deputy in corruption trial

AFP

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez came to the defense Tuesday of his deputy Cristina Kirchner, testifying in a trial for alleged corruption committed when she was at the country’s helm from 2007 to 2015.

Fernandez appeared as a defense witness in a court in Buenos Aires, giving evidence of events that occurred when Kirchner was president and he her chief of staff.

The president could have provided testimony in writing, but opted to attend the hearing in person in what is interpreted as a show of support for his deputy.

The partnership of Fernandez and Kirchner was severely tested when their center-left Frente de Todos (Everyone’s Front) coalition suffered a battering in parliamentary primary elections in September.

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Kirchner pressured her boss into a cabinet reshuffle in the hopes of appeasing an electorate increasingly frustrated with escalating economic woes.

But in a vote in November, their coalition lost control of the Senate — the upper house of Congress. The lower house was already in opposition control.

The pair have a bit more than a year left in office until the next presidential election in 2023.

– Several investigations –

Kirchner is on trial for the alleged fraudulent awarding of public works contracts in her fiefdom in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, which allegedly benefited businessman Lazaro Baez.

Prosecutors say Baez overcharged for the projects, several of which remain unfinished.

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Kirchner, 68, is the target of about a dozen investigations for crimes including bribe-taking, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

Some cases have been thrown out, but at least five are at the trial phase.

She claims political persecution and abuse of a politicized and right-leaning judicial system that her and Fernandez’s coalition have set out to reform.

Fernandez told the court Tuesday there had been no “arbitrary” spending under Kirchner’s presidency.

“Those decisions that were made in budgetary matters and in public works, were never arbitrary,” he testified.

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Asked about decisions made to benefit Baez, Fernandes replied: “I am not aware that this is the case.”

He also argued it was impossible for a president to know the nitty gritty of each spending decision.

Fernandez left the court after three hours, without talking to waiting journalists.

Last year, a court dismissed a case alleging that Kirchner, as president, had obstructed an investigation into an attack on a Jewish center in 1994 that killed 85 people.

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International

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

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International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

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Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.