International

Netanyahu is “disappointed” that Biden does not want to reprimand the International Criminal Court

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed out that he is “surprised and disappointed” that Joe Biden’s government does not want to support possible sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the request that an arrest warrant be issued against him.

The newspaper Político released on Wednesday an excerpt from an interview made this Wednesday and that will be broadcast next Sunday on the program ‘The Morgan Ortagus Show’ of the Sirius XM radio network, in which Netanyahu criticizes the new position of the White House.

At a press conference, National Security spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that he opposes the sanctions promoted by Republicans in Congress against the ICC in response to his prosecutor’s decision to request arrest warrants against Israeli leaders for the war in Gaza.

Kirby said that the sanctions “were not the right answer,” a different vision from the one offered last week by the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who said that the ICC measure was a “deeply wrong decision” and that the Biden Administration would work with Congress to impose possible sanctions.

In the interview, Netanyahu criticized the change of position and defended himself in addition to the court’s accusations that he and the Israeli authorities have intentionally prevented the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

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“We are introducing half a million tons of food and medicine into Gaza,” said the Israeli Prime Minister, who assured that there is “a lot of food there: 3,000 calories per person. That’s almost 1,000 above the required standard.”

He also said that Israel is doing “everything possible” to protect civilians during the war and that to do this he sends “millions” of text messages, throws brochures and makes phone calls to tell them to move away from danger.

Netanyahu’s comments are one more example of the growing gap between Israel and the United States, a country that until now had been the greatest support for the Israeli Government.

Tensions between the Biden Administration and the Israeli Prime Minister over the handling of the Gaza War, especially due to the high number of civilian casualties, continue to increase due to the difficulties of guaranteeing access to humanitarian aid and the use that Israel makes of heavy weapons provided by the United States.

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International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.