Top World News

Brazil’s Lula launches historic fourth term bid – but son of jailed Bolsonaro stands in his way

President, 80, vows to keep far-right from power as Flávio Bolsonaro tells supporters he will ‘fight this system’Brazil’s leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has launched his campaign for a historic fourth term and vowed that as long as he lived he would not allow the “shameless” right to return to power.Addressing a sea of supporters in São Bernardo do Campo, the industrial city where his political career began nearly half a century ago, the 80-year-old politician reminded voters of the chaos and violence that unfolded during the 2018-22 presidency of his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, whose son Flávio Bolsonaro will face Lula in October’s presidential election. Continue reading...

ArticleImg
Trump caught quietly weaponizing secret power in 'open attack on freedom': report

President Donald Trump's administration has quietly "weaponized" a power cloaked in secrecy to punish his critics and prop up corrupt power brokers, according to a new report. Trump's government has been revoking the visas of foreign leaders, judges and journalists while quietly reinstating those of like-minded allies, the New York Times reported Sunday.“No recent American administration ever did this kind of open attack on freedom of expression” said John Feeley, a career diplomat. “A congressman or a prosecutor without a U.S. visa...is somebody who is flying with a broken wing.”Past State departments have also revoked visas but mostly to keep security threats out of the country or fight corruption, the Times reported.It is difficult to quantify the tactic as visa records are confidential, but the State Department said in a statement to the Times that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials have “broad discretionary authority” to cancel visas “whenever and wherever."Johana Obando, a Costa Rican lawmaker whose personal and diplomatic visas were canceled, said she felt like the Trump administration was sending her a message. “It is a way of intimidating decision makers to benefit the United States,” she said. The Trump administration also rewards others whom critics say it should not.“Corruption, human rights violations or judicial interference no longer matter,” Ana María Méndez Dardón, of the rights group Washington Office on Latin America, told the Times. At least three senior Salvadoran officials whom former President Joe Biden considered too corrupt or anti-democratic to earn visas have benefited, according to the report."Visa revocations have also been used to suppress criticism of the Trump administration, or even of U.S.-aligned foreign leaders," the report stated. "In Panama, for example, after two politicians criticized a sweeping security pact between their country and the United States, they were notified that their U.S. visas had been revoked."

Taliban threaten former Afghan police worker after MoD leak reveals identity

UK has refused resettlement application despite ‘years of loyal service’ that have resulted in ‘constant fear’ of reprisalsA man has received threats from the Taliban after his work for the Afghan police was revealed by a Ministry of Defence leak and the UK refused his application for resettlement.Hamid* worked for the Afghan national police special unit and received certificates for his work signed by senior British figures praising his “dedication, unparalleled service and leadership”. His details were also included in an accidental 2022 leak by an MoD official that identified 18,700 Afghans who had worked with or for the British government. Continue reading...

ArticleImg
Zimbabwe boat accident death toll hits 68 as 22 more bodies recovered

Eighteen children among the people killed after ferry capsized on Lake KaribaTwenty-two more bodies have been recovered after a boat accident in Zimbabwe, taking the death toll to 68, police said on Saturday.The ferry capsized on Tuesday on Lake Kariba, on the border with Zambia. An investigation has suggested it was overloaded when it turned over during heavy winds. Continue reading...

Moroccan police arrest more than 100 people attempting to enter Ceuta

Border security tightened after social media posts call for another mass crossing into Spain’s north African territoryMoroccan police have arrested 111 people as they tried to enter Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta, amid ⁠tightened security on both sides after social media posts ​called for another mass crossing.The attempted crossing on Saturday came two weeks after more than 72,000 migrants surged into Ceuta, causing tensions within the EU and prompting anti-immigration rhetoric among far-right parties worldwide. At least 96 people died trying to ⁠reach European soil. Continue reading...