BRAZIL
Bolsonaro protests trial
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday attended a public demonstration in Sao Paulo to protest against his ongoing Supreme Court trial in the South American country. A couple of thousand people gathered on Paulista Avenue, one of the city’s main locations, in a demonstration that Bolsonaro, before the event, called “an act for freedom, for justice.” Bolsonaro and 33 allies are facing trial over an alleged plot to overturn the 2022 Brazilian presidential election results and remain in power. They were charged with five counts related to the plan. The former president has denied the allegations and claims that he is the target of political persecution. He could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted. “Bolsonaro, come back!” protesters chanted, but the former president is barred from running for office until 2030.
Photo: AP
SERBIA
Student clashes escalate
Thousands of people on Sunday set up street blockades in Serbia, angry over the arrest of anti-government protesters who clashed with police at a massive rally a day earlier, demanding early elections. Protesters put up metal fences and garbage containers at various locations in the capital, Belgrade, also blocking a key bridge over the Sava River. Protesters in the northern city of Novi Sad pelted the offices of the ruling populist Serbian Progressive Party with eggs. Serbian media said similar protest blockades were organized in smaller cities in the Balkan country. Protesters demanded that authorities release dozens of university students and other protesters who were jailed for attacking the police or for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government at the rally Saturday in Belgrade. Tens of thousands of people attended the rally held after nearly eight months of persistent dissent that has rattled Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
CHILE
Communist wins primary
Chilean communist Jeannette Jara, the country’s former minister of labor and social welfare, won the primary election for left-wing parties on Sunday with surprising ease, beating a moderate rival to clinch more than 60 percent of the vote. The upset makes Jara, 51, the candidate representing Chile’s beleaguered incumbent government in November elections, set to face off against center-right and far-right contenders who have surged in the polls. Due to term limits, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, 39, cannot run for a second consecutive term. Jara, a lawyer and member of Chile’s Communist Party who was Boric’s labor minister before resigning to run for president, secured 60.5 percent of the vote. The runner-up, who had been considered a favorite — former minister of the interior Carolina Toha from the traditional Democratic Socialist party — took 27 percent.
INDIA
Snakes seized at airport
Indian customs officers in Mumbai said they have stopped a plane passenger arriving from Thailand with a wriggling cargo of live snakes, the third such seizure this month. “Customs officers ... foiled yet another wildlife smuggling attempt, 16 live snakes ... seized from a passenger returning from Thailand,” said customs officers at the airport in the Indian financial hub. The passenger, who arrived on Sunday, has been arrested, the customs agency said in a statement, with “further investigation underway.” The live snakes included reptiles often sold in the pet trade, and were largely non-venomous, or with venom too weak to affect people.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
MILITARY’S MAN: Myint Swe was diagnosed with neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy disease, and had authorized another to perform his duties Myint Swe, who became Myanmar’s acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, died yesterday, the military said. He was 74. He died at a military hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, in the morning, Myanmar’s military information office said in a statement. Myint Swe’s death came more than a year after he stopped carrying out his presidential duties after he was publicly reported to be ailing. His funeral is to be held at the state level, but the date had not been disclosed, a separate statement from the
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