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Decision to shield pro-Bolsonaro truck driver sentenced for 8 January 2023 attack could inflame Brazil election politicsArgentina has granted asylum to a Brazilian fugitive convicted for his role in 2023 pro-Bolsonaro riots – a decision that analysts say could reverberate in Brazil’s upcoming presidential election.A week after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, took office, hundreds of people ransacked Brazil’s congress building, presidential palace and supreme court on 8 January 2023, in an attempt to overturn former president Jair Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat. Investigators later concluded the attacks were the culmination of a broader plot aimed at staging a coup. Continue reading...

The implications of Donald Trump’s decision to attack and start a war with Iran hit the White House like a tidal wave on Sunday as administration officials went into panic mode when the price of oil skyrocketed.Trump "flipped out" over skyrocketing oil prices as the barrel approached $120, according to Financial Times columnist Ed Luce, who revealed the presidential meltdown on MS NOW. A White House insider confirmed the account to Politico.The outburst exposes a fundamental miscalculation by the administration: Trump officials apparently never anticipated that military operations in the Middle East would send energy markets into turmoil.A former Trump administration official admitted the administration requires a "consistent, multiweek read" of oil prices before reconsidering its strategy. "These temporary little gyrations are not what they're going to be basing their policy on," the official said, signaling that short-term price spikes won't alter military decisions.Multiple officials confirmed the administration has never seriously entertained changing its military approach in response to oil price increases.Yet the Sunday price spike caught even White House insiders off guard. "At the worst moments [Sunday] night, it was insane," a person close to the White House said. "That definitely surprised me, and it absolutely surprised them."Rather than adjust course, administration officials spent Monday attempting damage control—reassuring panicked traders about supply chain stability while simultaneously trying to calm anxious Republicans. GOP lawmakers worry the Iran war directly contradicts their midterm message centered on lowering the cost of living.Public concern is substantial. More than 70 percent of voters expressed worry that the war will drive up oil and gas prices, according to a Quinnipiac poll.White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers dismissed the price increases as temporary, claiming Trump views elevated oil and gas costs as "short-term disruptions."You can read more here.

The new U.S. ambassador to South Africa was summoned to explain his criticism of the country’s policies, the South African foreign minister said Wednesday, as a diplomatic rift continues

Donald Trump's war with Iran is set to reach a critical moment that will see the president's project come close to disaster. The unpopular war with the Middle Eastern country has raged on for much of March, but Trump is now facing the consequences of his rhetoric in the lead-up to war. While the president and his administration had given a multitude of reasons for why they were striking Iran, no reason has stuck or convinced the American people of the bombings, CNN analyst Stephen Collinson claimed. Collinson suggested one of the advantages Iran has over the US is its location, and that most in the States would find it hard to continue caring about a war that has made the cost of living crisis that much harder. The analyst wrote, "America’s distance from such theaters also explains why foreign wars become finite once citizens wonder why they are fighting other peoples’ battles with American blood and treasure. "Trump’s failure to properly prepare the country for this war and to define clear goals and an exit strategy make him especially vulnerable on this point as a pivotal moment in the war looms."Barring a sudden transformation of a region soaked in blood and the collapse of a regime that has defied the US for nearly 50 years, he will soon face a dilemma familiar to many modern presidents. Does he manufacture a false or partial victory and get out? Or does he get sucked in deeper?"History is not on Trump's side either, Collinson suggests, as the US has fought wars in a similar vein to Iran before and hardly ever succeeded in their initial aims. "Tehran has no doubt consulted the playbooks of previously outgunned US enemies," he wrote. "In Vietnam, Communist Viet Cong guerrillas and the North Vietnamese Army melted into thick jungles where they had the advantage over US troops. "In Iraq, the collapse of the Iraqi state led to the rise of insurgencies and sectarian militia that created killing grounds for US troops. "In Afghanistan, the Taliban waited nearly two decades for America to leave, emulating forbears who endured over Soviet and British Empires.

The new president won office by promising to clean up crime, but his background is red rag to a bull for manyJust south of Santiago, the tiny rural town of Paine is a quiet grid of painted adobe facades, shaded squares and shuttered shop fronts as the summer holidays draw to a close.But the white-knuckle fear of crime that propelled its most famous son, José Antonio Kast, to a resounding victory in December’s presidential election is as present in sleepy Paine as it is the length of Chile. Continue reading...

A series of explosions attributed to drones has killed at least one person as the attack rocked downtown Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

The British government is releasing a first batch of documents on Peter Mandelson’s appointment as U.K. ambassador to the U.S. Mandelson was fired from his ambassador's job and is being investigated by police for possible misconduct tied to his links t...

Matt Gaetz, a former MAGA lawmaker and ally of President Donald Trump, was stunned on Tuesday after learning who had been selected as the new Supreme Leader in Iran. Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was selected by Iran's Assembly of Experts as the country's next leader. Khamenei has been described by experts as "his father on steroids," and the New York Times described the new Khamenei's reign as a "show of open defiance to Iran’s attackers." Khamenei's father was killed earlier this month after the U.S. and Israel coordinated more than 100 bombing strikes across the country. The U.S. is believed to be responsible for one bomb that hit an Iranian girls' school, killing 175 civilians. Seven U.S. soldiers have died, and more than 150 have been injured in retaliatory strikes conducted by Iran. Gaetz reacted to the news that Mojtaba Khamenei was taking over for his father on "The Matt Gaetz Show.""So, we killed the Ayatollah and things may have gotten worse," Gaetz said. In the moments leading up to the bombing campaign, Trump said he had authorized the strikes to create the conditions necessary for the Iranian people to rise up and form their own government. "For many years, you have asked for America's help. But you never got it," Trump said. "No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. So let's see how you respond. America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny, and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass."However, Trump's decision to coordinate strikes may have backfired, as Gaetz noted that the new Khamenei's power base lies in "the most hardline military faction in the country."