Author

admin

Browsing

A prominent Indian comedian is standing by his right to make jokes after an angry mob attacked a comedy club where he had made an onstage jibe at a right-wing politician.

Kunal Kamra, known for his quips about popular culture and politics, is under investigation for alleged defamation by police in the western state of Maharashtra after he told a joke about the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The case is the latest to underscore the country’s declining freedoms and the sensitivities of India’s right-wing politicians, some of whom have called for the artist’s arrest.

A video of the skit, posted to Kamra’s YouTube channel Sunday, shows the comedian apparently taking a jibe at Shinde. In the video, Kamra does not explicitly name the politician but, in a song, refers to a “gaddar,” or “traitor” – taken to be a reference to Shinde’s leadership of a rebellion in 2022 that caused the state’s previous government to collapse.

The joke sparked a furious backlash within Shinde’s Hindu supremacist Shiv Sena political party. An angry mob later descended upon The Habitat comedy venue where Kamra had performed in Mumbai. A video of the incident shows dozens of men – some wearing scarves with the Shiv Sena logo – smashing chairs and ripping the venue’s interior apart.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde said Kamra’s words “insulted” the people of Maharashtra. “Mumbai police should take Kunal Kamra into custody, arrest him, lock him up behind bars and open a case against him,” he said in a video statement.

Another party lawmaker, Naresh Mhaske, warned that Kamra would be unable to walk in public.

“Let alone Maharashtra, you won’t be able to roam around in all of India,” he said in a video statement.

Kamra has said he will not apologize for his comments and, in a post on X, criticized the “inability to take a joke at the expense of a powerful public figure.”

“As far as I know, it is not against the law to poke fun at our leaders and the circus that is our political system,” he wrote. “I don’t fear this mob and I will not be hiding under my bed waiting for this to die down.”

Some opposition politicians in Maharashtra have rallied to Kamra’s defense in light of the political storm. Shinde’s former political ally Aditya Thackeray said: “Only an insecure coward would react to a song by someone.”

The Habitat said it was “shocked, worried and extremely broken by the vandalism,” and would be temporarily shutting down the comedy club.

“We have never been involved in the content performed by any artist but the recent events have made us rethink about how we get blamed and targeted,” it said on Instagram, adding that the venue would be closed “till we figure out the best way to provide a platform for free expression without putting ourselves and our property in jeopardy.”

Growing intolerance

This isn’t Kamra’s first run in with the law.

In December 2020, the Supreme Court held him in contempt of court for allegedly disparaging the judiciary and judges in his social media posts. In one Twitter post, he criticized the court’s handling of a case involving a right-wing commentator.

Freedom of speech is enshrined in India’s democratic constitution, but comedians in the world’s largest democracy have previously faced the wrath of angry politicians for their jokes.

In November 2021, right-wing politicians called for comedian Vir Das’ arrest after he gave a powerful monologue addressing the country’s rape crisis and then-year-long farmer’s protest.

At the time, Ashutosh Dubey, a legal adviser to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, accused Das of “defaming” India and filed a complaint with the police over his “inflammatory” comments.

Das has not been formally charged with any crime and continues to perform. But others who have faced similar situations have had their livelihoods upended.

Kamra, meanwhile, said the new investigation into his comments “does not change the nature of his right” to make fun of politicians.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

A Japanese man who spent more than 40 years on death row until he was acquitted last year has been awarded $1.4 million in compensation, a court said on Tuesday – roughly $85 for each day he was wrongfully convicted.

Former professional boxer Iwao Hakamada, 89, was sentenced to death in 1968 for a quadruple murder despite repeatedly alleging that the police had fabricated evidence against him.

Once the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, he was acquitted after a DNA test showed that the bloodstained clothing which was used to convict him was planted long after the murders, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

His legal representative Hideyo Ogawa described the compensation as the “highest amount” ever handed out for a wrongful conviction in Japan, but said it could never make up for what Hakamada had suffered.

“I think the state (government) has made a mistake that cannot be atoned for with 200 million yen,” the lawyer said, according to NHK.

Hakamata retired as a professional boxer in 1961 and got a job at a soybean processing plant in Shizuoka, central Japan.

Five years later he was arrested by police after his boss, his boss’ wife and their two children were found stabbed to death in their home.

Hakamata initially admitted to the charges against him, but later changed his plea, accusing police of forcing him to confess by beating and threatening him.

He was sentenced to death in a 2-1 decision by judges in 1968.

The one dissenting judge stepped down from the bar six months later, demoralized by his inability to stop the sentencing.

Hakamata, who has maintained his innocence ever since, would go on to spend more than half his life waiting to be hanged.

New evidence led to his release in 2014 pending a retrial, which acquitted him last year.

His case brought global scrutiny to Japan’s criminal justice system, where conviction rates stand at 99%, according to the Ministry of Justice website, and fueled calls to abolish the death penalty in the country.

Hakamata was “living in his own world,” she said.

“Sometimes he smiles happily, but that’s when he’s in his delusion… We have not even discussed the trial with Iwao because of his inability to recognize reality.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Energy Jumps to #2

A big move for the energy sector last week as XLE jumped to the #2 position in the ranking, coming from #6 the week before. This move came at the cost of the Consumer Staples sector which was pushed out of the top-5 and is now on #7.

Because of the jump of Energy, the Financials sector was pushed down to #3. Healthcare and Utilities remain in the top-5 but have switched positions.

The New Sector Lineup

  1. (1) Communication Services – (XLC)
  2. (6) Energy – (XLE)*
  3. (2) Financials – (XLF)*
  4. (5) Utilities – (XLU)*
  5. (4) Healthcare – (XLV)*
  6. (7) Industrials – (XLI)*
  7. (3) Consumer Staples – (XLP)*
  8. (8) Real-Estate – (XLRE)
  9. (9) Consumer Discretionary – (XLY)
  10. (10) Materials – (XLB)
  11. (11) Technology – (XLK)

Weekly RRG: XLF and XLC remain strong

On the weekly Relative Rotation Graph, Communication Services and Financials remain strong inside the leading quadrant. From the big cluster of tails inside the improving quadrant, XLE has jumped to the front of the queue (almost) while XLU and XLV continue to pick up nicely.

The long tail on XLY at a negative RRG-Heading rapidly continues to push the sector to the lagging quadrant. The Negative RRG-Heading on XLK keeps the sector at the bottom of the list.

Daily RRG: Modest Pickup of Relative Momentum for XLK and XLY

On the daily RRG:

  • XLE jumps to the highest RS-Ratio reading while maintaining the highest RS-Momentum.
  • Utilities stall inside the lagging quadrant
  • XLV rotates into weakening but remains at an elevated RS-Ratio reading
  • XLF rotates back into the leading quadrant, signaling the start of a new leg in the already established relative uptrend.

Communication Services

XLC held above the rising support line and closed towards the high of the week, suggesting that a new higher low is now getting into place.

Relative Strength continues to be strong, and RS-Momentum bottoms against 100-level.

Energy

The Energy sector rapidly improved, jumping from position #6 to #2 in one week. On the price chart, XLE is breaking its falling resistance, which opens the way for a further rally to the horizontal barrier near 98.

The raw RS-line is close to leaving its two-year-old falling channel, which would signal a significant shift in sentiment and a turnaround into a relative uptrend.

Financials

XLF remains a strong sector in position #3, with relative strength continuing to rise.

Last week’s rally on the price chart brought the price back to the old rising support line, which is now expected to start acting as resistance. The former support from the low near 5o is also expected to start acting as resistance.

This means that the upside potential in terms of price seems limited for now, but RS is still going strong.

Utilities

Relative strength for Utilities continues to creep higher, enough to keep the sector inside the top 5.

Both price and RS remain within the boundaries of their trading ranges.

Healthcare

RS for the Healthcare sector stalled at the level of the previous low. The RS-Ratio and RS-Momentum combinations on the daily and weekly Relative Rotation Graphs remain strong enough to keep the sector in the top 5.

Portfolio Performance Update

In the portfolio, the position in Consumer Staples (XLP) was closed against the opening price of Monday morning (3/24). At the same time, a new position was opened in Energy (XLE) against the opening price.

The rally in Consumer Discretionary and Technology at the end of last week has put a small dent in the performance,e and RRGv1 is now 1.4% behind SPY since the start of the year.

#StayAlert, -Julius


Over the weekend it was announced that tariffs will be narrowing and possibly not as widespread as initially thought. Negotiations are continuing in the background and this seems to be allaying market participants’ fears. The market rallied strongly on the news.

Carl and Erin gave you their opinions of whether this rally has staying power. Carl began the program with a look at the current DP Signal Tables. Biases remain very negative but as we often say things get as bad as they’re going to get before they start turning it around.

After looking at the tables, Carl analyzed the market in general and then covered Gold, the Dollar, Yields, Bitcoin and more. Get a sense of market conditions with a review of this section.

The Magnificent Seven were next up on the agenda. Carl reviewed both the daily and weekly charts seeing many new rallies kicking in. Their improvements bode well for the market in general.

Erin took the reins and gave us a complete overview of sector rotation. She took a deep dive in the aggressive sectors with an under the hood view of Consumer Discretionary (XLY), Communication Services (XLC) and Technology (XLK).

Erin concluded the program by looking at viewer symbol requests that included SOFI, RIVN, F and SMCI.

01:18 DP Signal Tables

03:42 Market Overview

13:24 Magnificent Seven

22:05 Sector Rotation

28:31 Symbol Requests

Join us LIVE in the trading at Noon ET on Mondays by registering once here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_D6iAp-C1S6SebVpQIYcC6g

We are running a two week FREE trial on any of our subscriptions! Just use coupon code: DPTRIAL2 at checkout! Here is a list of our subscriptions: https://www.decisionpoint.com/products.html


The DP Alert: Your First Stop to a Great Trade!

Before you trade any stock or ETF, you need to know the trend and condition of the market. The DP Alert gives you all you need to know with an executive summary of the market’s current trend and condition. It not only covers the market! We look at Bitcoin, Yields, Bonds, Gold, the Dollar, Gold Miners and Crude Oil! Only $50/month! Or, use our free trial to try it out for two weeks using coupon code: DPTRIAL2. Click HERE to subscribe NOW!


Learn more about DecisionPoint.com:


Watch the latest episode of the DecisionPointTrading Room on DP’s YouTube channel here!


Try us out for two weeks with a trial subscription!

Use coupon code: DPTRIAL2 Subscribe HERE!


Technical Analysis is a windsock, not a crystal ball. –Carl Swenlin


(c) Copyright 2025 DecisionPoint.com


Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional. Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person or entity.

DecisionPoint is not a registered investment advisor. Investment and trading decisions are solely your responsibility. DecisionPoint newsletters, blogs or website materials should NOT be interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security or to take any specific action.


Helpful DecisionPoint Links:

Trend Models

Price Momentum Oscillator (PMO)

On Balance Volume

Swenlin Trading Oscillators (STO-B and STO-V)

ITBM and ITVM

SCTR Ranking

Bear Market Rules


Markets surged out of the gate Monday morning, with all three major U.S. indexes notching early gains. But after a bruising two-week rout on Wall Street, the question facing investors is whether stocks can sustain the rebound.

If Monday’s bounce is driven more by short-term bargain hunting than long-term conviction, then certain scans, like StockCharts’ Strong Uptrends to New Highs can help cut through the noise — flagging the outliers breaking key levels and showing enough momentum to possibly hold the upward move.

How I Scanned the Market at the Open

First stop: A high-level sweep of the S&P 500 using MarketCarpets to catch the early movers. From there, I drilled down into the sectors to see where real strength, or weakness, was taking shape.

FIGURE 1. MARKETCARPETS S&P 500 AND SECTOR VIEW. The S&P 500 view gives you a sea of green, but zooming into sectors, Consumer Discretionary (XLY) stands out above the rest.

Consumer Discretionary is outpacing all sectors, a signal worth noting. Instead of looking for leadership, I considered stocks hitting new highs, and then checking to see if any Discretionary names stand out from the pack.

So, next, I ran a Strong Uptrends To New Highs scan (you can find it in your scan library).

FIGURE 2, IMAGE OF THE SCAN AS IT APPEARS IN THE LIBRARY: This is one among numerous bullish scans you can run in StockCharts.

Only four stocks came up as a result. The most recognizable figure is Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI).

Darden Restaurants Stock: A Tasting Menu of Profits or Bloat

Even if you’re unfamiliar with the stock, you know Darden. Here’s a short list: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Chuy’s, Bahama Breeze, and a few more. Sound familiar?

DRI jumped after reporting strong fiscal Q3 results, with sales and EPS rising. The company also raised its full-year outlook and declared a $1.40 dividend; analysts also gave it an upgrade.

On the technical side of things, DRI also showed up on several other scan engines which appeared in the StockCharts Symbol Summary:

  • Moved Above Upper Bollinger Band
  • Moved Above Upper Price Channel
  • P&F Double Top Breakout
  • Moved Above Upper Keltner Channel
  • New 52-week Highs
  • P&F Spread Triple Top Breakout

Let’s take a look at DRI’s relative performance against its sector (XLY) and the S&P 500 using PerfCharts.

FIGURE 3. PERFCHARTS OF DRI, XLY, AND $SPX.  DRI’s outperformance is very recent, according to this chart.

This chart tells an interesting story. DRI has been the laggard for most of the last 12 months, though it began picking up steam as XLY began outpacing the S&P 500. As tariff fears brought XLY valuations down toward S&P levels, DRI maintained its valuations, and after a two-week dip, shot higher.

Let’s take a longer-term look using a weekly chart.

FIGURE 4. WEEKLY CHART OF DRI. The dotted line shows this week’s breakout to all-time highs.

So, what does this chart tell us relative to the PerfCharts above? First, while DRI has been underperforming XLY and the S&P over the last year (and longer than that if you extend the PerfCharts analysis period), the stock has been chugging along on a slow and steady, albeit volatile, uptrend, staying well above its 200-period simple moving average (SMA).

The StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) line shows you that DRI has had periods fluctuating from technical strength to weakness. I consider the 70-line signal, more or less, to be the strength threshold, and right now, the stock is at 92, an extremely bullish level. The question now is whether it can maintain its trajectory and if so, might there be an entry point for those who are bullish on the stock?

For that, let’s shift over to a daily chart.

FIGURE 5. DAILY CHART OF DRI. Watch the momentum and volume.

DRI has been marching steadily upward since the middle of last summer, with its recent push to all-time highs fueled by strong fundamentals. However, in terms of momentum and volume, the Money Flow Index (MFI), which is a volume-driven RSI of sorts, has been declining during DRI’s rise, signaling the potential for a pullback.

Whether DRI can sustain its current momentum remains to be seen. In the meantime, the Ichimoku Cloud can help anticipate and gauge any potential pullback, with a broad support zone forming below. The first key level to watch is $192, while $180 marks a critical support line — a close below that could open the door to further downside.

At the Close

This scan-driven approach began with a broad market view and drilled down to individual stocks that made new highs while others merely rebounded. DRI emerged as a standout: a fundamentally strong name hitting new highs while much of the market remains in recovery mode. Whether it continues to climb or pulls back toward support, tools like the Ichimoku Cloud and volume-based indicators can help you manage the risk and prepare for entry.


Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.

In this video, Dave breaks down the upside bounce in the Magnificent 7 stocks — AAPL, AMZN, NVDA, and more — highlighting key levels, 200-day moving averages, and top trading strategies using the StockCharts platform. Find out whether these leading growth stocks are set for a bullish reversal or more downside. Will the rally hold?

This video originally premiered on March 24, 2025. Watch on StockCharts’ dedicated David Keller page!

Previously recorded videos from Dave are available at this link.

Investors have closely watched Nvidia’s week-long GPU Technology Conference (GTC) for news and updates from the dominant maker of chips that power artificial intelligence applications.

The event comes at a pivotal time for Nvidia shares. After two years of monster gains, the stock is down 15% over the past month and 22% below the January all-time high.

As part of the event, CEO Jensen Huang took questions from analysts on topics ranging from demand for its advanced Blackwell chips to the impact of Trump administration tariffs. Here’s a breakdown of how Huang responded — and what analysts homed in on — during some of the most important questions:

Huang said he “underrepresented” demand in a slide that showed 3.6 million in estimated Blackwell shipments to the top four cloud service providers this year. While Huang acknowledged speculation regarding shrinking demand, he said the amount of computation needed for AI has “exploded” and that the four biggest cloud service clients remain “fully invested.”

Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore noted that Huang’s commentary on Blackwell demand in data centers was the first-ever such disclosure.

“It was clear that the reason the company made the decision to give that data was to refocus the narrative on the strength of the demand profile, as they continue to field questions related to Open AI related spending shifting from 1 of the 4 to another of the 4, or the pressure of ASICs, which come from these 4 customers,” Moore wrote to clients, referring to application-specific integrated circuits.

Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar said the slide was “only scratching the surface” on demand. Beyond the four largest customers, he said others are also likely “all in line looking to get their hands on as much compute as their budgets allow.”

Another takeaway for Moore was the growth in physical AI, which refers to the use of the technology to power machines’ actions in the real world as opposed to within software.

At previous GTCs, Moore said physical AI “felt a little bit like speculative fiction.” But this year, “we are now hearing developers wrestling with tangible problems in the physical realm.”

Truist analyst William Stein, meanwhile, described physical AI as something that’s “starting to materialize.” The next wave for physical AI centers around robotics, he said, and presents a potential $50 trillion market for Nvidia.

Stein highliughted Jensen’s demonstration of Isaac GR00T N1, a customizable foundation model for humanoid robots.

Several analysts highlighted Huang’s explanation of what tariffs mean for Nvidia’s business.

“Management noted they have been preparing for such scenarios and are beginning to manufacture more onshore,” D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said. “It was mentioned that Nvidia is already utilizing [Taiwan Semiconductor’s’] Arizona fab where it is manufacturing production silicon.”

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said Huang’s answer made it seem like Nvidia’s push to relocate some manufacturing to the U.S. would limit the effect of higher tariffs.

Rasgon also noted that Huang brushed off concerns of a recession hurting customer spending. Huang argued that companies would first cut spending in the areas of their business that aren’t growing, Rasgon said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Embattled genetic testing company 23andMe, once valued at $6 billion, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Missouri federal court on Sunday night.

The company’s CEO, Anne Wojcicki, has resigned from her role as chief executive effective immediately, though she will remain a member of the board. Joseph Selsavage, 23andMe’s chief financial and accounting officer, will serve as interim CEO, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“We have had many successes but I equally take accountability for the challenges we have today,” Wojcicki wrote in a post on X early Monday morning. “There is no doubt that the challenges faced by 23andMe through an evolving business model have been real, but my belief in the company and its future is unwavering.”

23andMe declined to comment further on the filing.

Anne Wojcicki speaks at the South by Southwest festival in 2023. Jordan Vonderhaar / Bloomberg via Getty Images file

The former billionaire co-founded 23andMe in 2006, and the company rocketed into the mainstream because of its at-home DNA testing kits that gave customers insight into their family histories and genetic profiles. The five-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company went public in 2021 via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, which valued the company at around $3.5 billion at the time.

23andMe’s stock has mostly been in free fall in recent years as the company struggled to generate recurring revenue and stand up viable research and therapeutics businesses. As of Monday morning, the company has a market capitalization of around $25 million.

23andMe in Mountain View, Calif.Smith Collection / Getty Images

Last March, 23andMe’s independent directors formed a special committee to evaluate the company’s potential paths forward. Wojcicki submitted multiple proposals to take the company private, but all were rejected. The special committee “unanimously determined to reject” Wojcicki’s most recent proposal earlier this month.

If 23andMe’s plan to sell its assets through a Chapter 11 plan is approved by the court, the company will “actively solicit qualified bids” over a 45-day process. Wojcicki plans to pursue the company as an independent bidder, she said in her post on Monday.

23andMe has between $100 million and $500 million in estimated assets, as well as between $100 million and $500 million in estimated liabilities, according to the bankruptcy filing.

Beyond its financial woes, privacy concerns around 23andMe’s genetic database have swirled in recent years. In October 2023, hackers accessed the information of nearly 7 million customers. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Friday issued a consumer alert urging residents to consider deleting their genetic data from 23andMe’s website.

23andMe said there will be no changes to the way that it stores, protects or manages customer data through the sale process, and it will continue operating business as usual.

“As I think about the future, I will continue to tirelessly advocate for customers to have choice and transparency with respect to their personal data, regardless of platform,” Wojcicki said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Bitcoin is more closely correlated to the Nasdaq than it is to gold most of the time, and investors could benefit from viewing it as another big tech stock, says Standard Chartered.

Bitcoin’s correlation with the Nasdaq is currently at about 0.5, after it approached 0.8 earlier this year, according to the bank. Meanwhile, its correlation with gold has been falling since January, touching zero at one point, and is now just above 0.2.

“Bitcoin trading is highly correlated to the Nasdaq over short time horizons,” Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, said in a note Monday. “This Nasdaq correlation leads to the idea that bitcoin could be included in a basket of large tech stocks; if it were included, the implication would be more institutional buying as BTC would serve multiple purposes in investor portfolios.”

Bitcoin is frequently viewed as “digital gold” and a hedge against risks facing the traditional financial sector. Kendrick said he still sees the flagship cryptocurrency serving that purpose but that “in reality … the need for such hedges is very infrequent.”

Standard Chartered created a hypothetical index dubbed “Mag 7B,” in which it added bitcoin to the Magnificent 7 tech stocks — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla — and removed Tesla.

“Mag 7B has outperformed Mag 7 by about 5% over the period since December 2017,” he said. “On a calendar year basis, Mag 7B outperformed Mag 7 in five out of seven years, albeit by a very small margin in 2022. Mag 7B’s relative returns are decent on both an absolute basis (averaging around 1% a year above Mag 7) and a calendar-year basis.”

Kendrick said bitcoin has been trading in a similar volatility-adjusted fashion to Nvidia since President Trump’s inauguration. They’re down 16% and 12%, respectively, since Jan. 20. Meanwhile, Tesla, which has lost 36% in the same period, is trading more like ether (down 38% since Jan. 20).

“Investors can view bitcoin as both a hedge against [traditional finance] and as part of their tech allocation,” Kendrick said. “Indeed, as BTC’s role in global investor portfolios becomes established, we think that having more than one use will bring fresh capital inflows to the asset. This is particularly true as bitcoin investment becomes more institutionalized.”

Bitcoin is down about 5% for the year after Trump’s tariff threats in recent weeks have brought new volatility to the market. Investors are expecting relief in the second quarter, however, given bitcoin’s two of its most persistent correlations: its positive correlation with money supply growth, also known as M2, and its negative correlation with the U.S. dollar index, or DXY.

—CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

The first flight carrying Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States landed in Venezuela early Monday, after the two governments reached an agreement to resume repatriation flights.

Nearly 200 deportees were on the plane, which landed at an airport just north of capital Caracas.

Video of the arrival shows some deportees celebrating with their hands in the air as they walked down stairs on to the tarmac, where a heavy presence of security staff was stationed. Others made the sign of the cross as they disembarked.

The US Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said the flight departed from the US and stopped in Honduras, where a change of planes took place.

“Today, deportation flights of Venezuelan illegal aliens to their homeland resumed via Honduras,” the department wrote on X.

“These individuals had no legal basis to remain in the United States. We expect to see a consistent flow of deportation flights to Venezuela going forward. Thank you to Honduran President Castro and her government for partnering to combat illegal immigration.”

Honduras’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs said 199 citizens of Venezuelan origin were on the flight. The transfer took three and a half hours and occurred “in an orderly and safe manner,” Enrique Reina said in a post on X.

Following the transfer the “Venezuelan-flagged vessel departed for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” said Reina.

Repatriations to Venezuela had stalled over the Trump administration’s decision in February to revoke a license allowing American oil company Chevron to carry out some operations in the South American country.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said at the time that the decision “affected” the flights to Venezuela, prompting the Trump administration to threaten further sanctions on the South American country.

The resumption of repatriation flights follows growing outrage in Venezuela over the US deporting 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador, who were then transferred to the notorious Cecot mega-prison.

Venezuela’s National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez Gómez announced the agreement to resume repatriations in a statement on Saturday, two weeks after Venezuela had effectively paused repatriation flights from the US.

“Migration is not a crime, and we will not rest until we achieve the return of all those who need it and until we rescue our brothers and sisters kidnapped in El Salvador,” Rodríguez said Saturday.

Venezuela does not have diplomatic relations in the US. Flight tracking data suggests the deportees were transferred Sunday from a Texas charter flight – which landed at an airbase in Honduras that was previously used for migrant transfers – to a Caracas-bound plane.

The White House hasn’t commented on Sunday’s deportation flight.

Maduro on Wednesday ordered his government to increase the number of flights needed to repatriate Venezuelan migrants detained in the US.

This post appeared first on cnn.com