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By AFP Published on: March 24, 2026 06:32 (EAT)

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Alvin Hellerstein, the US judge overseeing the case against deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, is a no-nonsense 92-year-old with a long list of high-profile cases on his CV.

But as one of the oldest US federal judges — born in 1933 — some are unsure he is best suited to preside over what could be a prolonged trial for Maduro on drug trafficking charges.

“The issue of age cannot be ignored,” Shira Scheindlin, a former federal judge in New York, told AFP.

Still, she praised Hellerstein as a “very smart and savvy” courtroom operator.

His lengthy career includes overseeing the civil cases arising from Al-Qaeda’s September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington, often rejecting deals he saw as unfair to complainants.

Hellerstein has also tangled with Donald Trump, rejecting a request by the US president to have his New York hush money case moved to federal court.

And last year, he blocked the Trump administration from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members without a court hearing.

“Hellerstein possesses a well-deserved reputation for seeking to do justice in every case and for being independent and fair-minded,” said law professor Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond.

In a noteworthy 2015 ruling, Hellerstein ordered the US government to release a trove of photos depicting abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also presided over a trial last year in which a jury found French banking giant BNP Paribas’s work in Sudan had helped prop up the regime of former ruler Omar al-Bashir, awarding $20.75 million in damages to three plaintiffs from Sudan.

Hellerstein has handled the sprawling drug trafficking case linked to Maduro for over a decade, which has already seen the conviction of Venezuela’s former intelligence chief, Hugo Armando Carvajal.

Maduro’s stunning arrest in January following a US raid on his compound in Venezuela has drawn public eyes to the case — and the aging judge in charge.

According to The New York Times, Hellerstein was seen falling asleep during a trial last year and needed to be roused by his colleagues.

His attentiveness will be closely watched in the Maduro case, as tussling between the defense and prosecution has already threatened to draw out proceedings.

“This case may not go to trial for at least a year and maybe two years.  By that time, he would be either 93 or 94,” said Scheindlin.

“I have no doubt that he would be fit to try the case tomorrow. But the case will not be tried tomorrow,” she added.

A graduate of Columbia University law school, he served as a lawyer in the US Army from 1957 to 1960 before entering private practice.

He was nominated by former president Bill Clinton in 1998 to be a district court judge for the Southern District of New York.

Maduro’s next scheduled court appearance is Thursday, when he is due before the judge, along with his wife who has also pleaded not guilty.

‘Perfect Japan’ posts spark Gen Z social media backlash

By AFP Published on: March 24, 2026 06:33 (EAT)

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Take an everyday video on any suburban transport network, add anime-style music and a rosy filter, and it’s suddenly a scene from the Japanese holiday of your dreams.

That’s the “Japan effect”: a Gen Z social media trend satirising the often-romanticised image of the Asian country, which welcomed a record number of visitors last year.

Residents of Kyoto and other tourist hotspots have expressed exasperation with selfie-taking crowds, and now an online backlash against Japan fever is growing.

The short video posts on platforms like TikTok show how even just the words “Tokyo, Japan” with a cherry blossom emoji can make an otherwise banal street scene more appealing for some users.

“The point is to make fun of Japan’s ‘cute’ image online, with all its cliches and stereotypes,” 25-year-old French YouTuber Rocky Louzembi, who analyses internet culture, told AFP.

Along with the chronically weak yen, the booming popularity of anime and game franchises such as Pokemon is drawing tourists to the nation.

But some people take their love of Japan too far, said Louzembi, who goes by the handle rockylevrai.

To describe the phenomenon, he used the slang word “glazing” — to excessively praise something.

A “Japan glazer” is “someone who puts everything that comes from Japan on a pedestal, while disparaging things that come from their own country”, Louzembi said.

– ‘Not that clean’ –

Japan logged a record 42.7 million tourist arrivals in 2025, despite a steep fall in Chinese visitors in December due to a diplomatic row.

Many visitors post online about their trip — making pilgrimages to real-life locations from cartoons or joking about spending $1,000 on flights just so they can eat a $1 convenience store rice ball.

“The ‘Japan’ portrayed in an anime world is often quite different from how Japanese society is”, said Marika Sato, a 29-year-old who works in marketing in Tokyo.

For instance, many women have experienced groping, said Sato, a contributor to “Blossom The Project”, an Instagram account focused on Japanese social issues.

Graphic designer and fellow Blossom contributor Maya Kubota, 28, said that she appreciates people liking Japan and wanting to visit.

But over-the-top comments such as “Japanese people are next level” give her an “icky vibe”, Kubota told AFP.

Some of the online Gen Z pushback focuses on the exaggerated idea that Japan’s streets are so spotless people don’t even have to wear shoes.

“Japan is clean but not THAT clean,” joked a US couple who post social media content about the country under the name The Hitobito — showing off their dirty white socks after a real-life experiment.

– Viral effect –

Japan’s tourist boom has forced some authorities to take action.

A cherry blossom festival boasting a highly Instagrammable view of Mount Fuji was cancelled this year after residents complained of overtourism.

“People associate Japan with carefully composed visuals,” said Seio Nakajima, a professor in the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies at Waseda University.

That could be because of the detailed, beautiful backgrounds in anime, or because of a deeper “cultural tradition of emphasising form”.

“If people focus on form rather than meaning, it becomes easier to go viral. Because you don’t need to think,” Nakajima told AFP.

Japan’s formalities — from the complexity of polite language to extreme attention to detail in packaging or wrapping — may surprise visitors, he said.

But “Japan is not always clean and aesthetic. That’s only part of the reality.”

Despite the backlash, tourists in Tokyo’s busy Tsukiji market told AFP that the country had lived up to their expectations.

“In Russia, it’s very popular to hype Japan,” said Tatiana Mokeeva, 25.

When asked if posts about Japan could be unrealistic, she said: “To tell the truth, no… I love all about Japan.”

Iran state media says ‘new wave of missiles’ launched at Israel

By AFP Published on: March 24, 2026 06:34 (EAT)

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Iran launched another round of missiles towards Israel on Tuesday morning, state television announced, after earlier strikes hit a building in the north while a loud explosion rang out in Jerusalem.

“Iran fires new wave of missiles at occupied territories,” the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) posted on Telegram.

Moments later, it posted that the “Iranian missiles pass(ed) through several Israeli missile defences”.

The Magen David Adom emergency services released video of a damaged building in the north of Israel, and said there were no deaths from the incident.

The Israeli military later on Tuesday morning issued several notices that it had detected incoming Iranian missiles and was working to intercept them.

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