In Brazil, a predictable insurrection attempt
Brazil’s security forces seemed overwhelmed in front of thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, while they stormed in Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court in Brasilia on Sunday. However, the many warning signs were seen, a week after President Lula's inauguration. FRANCE 24's journalist Henrique VALADARES discusses the predictability of the event and the passivity of the authorities.
How Trump's allies stoked Brazil Congress attack
The scenes in Brasilia looked eerily similar to events at the US Capitol on 6 January two years ago - and there are deeper connections as well.
"The whole thing smells," said a guest on Steve Bannon's podcast, one day after the first round of voting in the Brazilian election in October last year.
The race was heading towards a run-off and the final result was not even close to being known. Yet Mr Bannon, as he had been doing for weeks, spread baseless rumours about election fraud.
Across several episodes of his podcast and in social media posts, he and his guests stoked up allegations of a "stolen election" and shadowy forces. He promoted the hashtag #BrazilianSpring, and continued to encourage opposition even after Mr Bolsonaro himself appeared to accept the results.
Protesters gather at Iranian prison in attempt to stop ‘imminent executions’
Alarm raised after two men found guilty of running over police officer are moved to solitary confinement
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Protesters gathered outside a prison near the Iranian capital on Sunday night in an attempt to prevent the rumoured imminent execution of two young detainees found guilty of running over a police officer in a car during protests in November.
Footage posted on social media showed the mother of one of the men, 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou, pleading for her son outside Rajaei-Shahr prison in Karaj, a satellite city west of Tehran. She said it had been established that her son had not been at the scene when the police officer died.
Human rights activists had raised the alarm after Ghobadlou and fellow prisoner Mohammad Boroughani were taken to solitary confinement, which is often a preliminary step before execution. Their lawyers are claiming the two men require a retrial in the supreme court.
Journalists from Belarus' top news outlet go on trial
Journalists from Belarus’ top independent news outlet have gone on trial in the country’s capital as a relentless crackdown persists on critical voices in the ex-Soviet nation
Journalists from Belarus' top independent news outlet went on trial in the country's capital on Monday as a relentless crackdown persists on critical voices in the ex-Soviet nation.
The editor-in-chief of TUT.BY online news portal, Maryna Zolatava, and its director general, Lyudmila Chekina, face charges of “hurting national security,” “inciting hatred” and dodging taxes. Three other TUT-BY journalists who left the country are being tried in absentia as part of the same trial.
The defendants could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted in a trial that opened in the Minsk City Court behind closed doors. Western diplomats and independent journalists were denied access.
Pakistan receives billions in foreign aid for flood relief
Donors have pledged more than $8 billion to Pakistan for recovery efforts following devastating floods last year. The United Nations held a conference to raise the money, with Germany having pledged $88 million.
Pakistan received the support of numerous countries to assist it with reconstruction efforts on Monday, with the total aid amount topping $8 billion, Pakistani Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said.
Pakistan was devastated by floods last year and held a joint conference on Monday with the United Nations to raise money for reconstruction efforts.
The flood-torn nation asked countries for $8 billion over the next three years and said it could cover the rest, which would also be another $8 billion.
War game suggests Chinese invasion of Taiwan would fail at a huge cost to US, Chinese and Taiwanese militaries
A Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2026 would result in thousands of casualties among Chinese, United States, Taiwanese and Japanese forces, and it would be unlikely to result in a victory for Beijing, according to a prominent independent Washington think tank, which conducted war game simulations of a possible conflict that is preoccupying military and political leaders in Asia and Washington.
A war over Taiwan could leave a victorious US military in as crippled a state as the Chinese forces it defeated.
At the end of the conflict, at least two US aircraft carriers would lie at the bottom of the Pacific and China’s modern navy, which is the largest in the world, would be in “shambles.”
Israel orders police to remove Palestine flags from public spaces
Israel’s new far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has instructed police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces, calling the Palestinian national symbol an act of “terrorism”.
Israeli law does not outlaw Palestinian flags but police and soldiers have the right to remove them in cases where they deem there is a threat to public order.
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