2. Trump’s defense exchanges accusations with porn actress on trial. On the second day of Stormy Daniels’ testimony in New York, the former president’s defense reiterated that the former porn star was lying about her sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 and that she just wanted to extort money. The Republican is accused of falsifying accounting documents to hide a $130,000 payment intended to buy the former actress’ silence in the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump’s lawyers presented Daniels to the jury as “a liar, nasty and greedy.” The New York Times writes that on that tense day in court Stormy Daniels “fought back in a combative interrogation, denying the defense’s allegations with sharp answers.” The judge did not again accept Trump’s request for the trial to be suspended.
3. Belgium includes animal welfare in the Constitution. After years of discussions, the measure was approved by the country’s federal parliament. Opponents feared that a broad notion of the concept could limit economic activities. Animal protection organizations estimate that they will have more instruments to challenge certain practices seen as acts of cruelty, including the crushing of male chicks in the egg industry. Constitutional law must also guarantee the best protection of domestic animals against acts of violence. In many cases, associations are forced by the courts to return them to the owners who mistreat them. Regional governments must take animal welfare into account when drafting laws. Belgium is the sixth country in the European Union to guarantee constitutional protection for animals.
4. Milei faces second general strike in Argentina against reforms. The strike had a strong response and left streets almost deserted, schools closed and strongly affected transport in general, with hundreds of flights cancelled. Argentina is experiencing a serious economic recession, with annual inflation at around 290%. A fiscal adjustment allowed, in the first quarter of the year, the first surplus since 2008, but there were thousands of layoffs and reductions in salaries and pensions. Industrial activity collapsed, suffering a drop of 21.2% in March compared to the same period in 2023. The Argentine Senate postponed until next Monday discussions on the “Bus Law”, which provides for privatizations, labor and tax changes and concentrates powers in the hands of the president.
5. TikTok will tag content generated by Artificial Intelligence. The Chinese platform said it will start testing a label to automatically apply to videos created or edited with AI. The company states that transparency for users is essential. Content authentication becomes increasingly necessary in the face of the rapid development of AI, which raises concerns about the proliferation of fake material generated by this technology that appears real. The new markup will include content created with Adobe’s Firefly tool, TikTok’s own AI images, and OpenAI’s Dall-E. TikTok’s move comes at a time when the social network risks being banned in the US if it does not sell its American branch to a company based in the country.
It was reported on the BBC: Saudi forces “received orders to kill” to clear land for an ecological city. BBC report, which interviews a former Saudi official exiled in the United Kingdom, states that Saudi Arabian authorities ordered the use of lethal force to remove tribal residents from the area where a city in the desert is being built – by dozens of Western companies – designed to not require the use of cars. It is part of the Neom eco-region project, with an investment of US$500 billion, a strategy to diversify the economy of this major oil producer. The BBC analyzed satellite images of three of the demolished villages. Schools and hospitals were erased from the map. At least six thousand people were evacuated from the area. “Rebels” from a tribe who resisted eviction were killed and residents were also detained and accused of terrorism. Read more.
