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Nov 19, 2024 - World

Brazilian police said they arrested four soldiers on Tuesday over an alleged plot to assassinate then President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a 2022 "coup."The four "were arrested in Rio, where they were participating in the security operation for the G20 leaders' meeting," a federal police source told AFP, adding that a police officer was also taken into custody.The army, in a statement, denied that information, saying in a statement: "These soldiers were not part of the operation of maintaining order at the G20 summit."A statement by Brazil's federal police made no link to the G20.It said the suspects were "mostly soldiers with special forces training" who were arrested in an operation to "dismantle a criminal organization responsible for planning a coup d'etat to prevent the government legitimately elected in 2022 elections taking office."US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are among leaders in Rio for the annual get-together of the heads of the world's biggest economies.Security is tight for the event, with troops in armored vehicles lining the streets of the usually laid-back seaside city.Tuesday's arrests come under a week after a failed bomb attack on the Supreme Court by a suspected far-right extremist, who killed himself in the process.The alleged plot against Lula was to have been carried out on December 15, 2022 -- just weeks before the veteran leftist returned to office at the start of 2023 -- and involved "the murder of the candidates to the presidency and vice presidency," the statement said.The suspected coup-plotters, who also allegedly planned to assassinate a Supreme Court justice, intended afterwards to set up a "crisis cabinet" with themselves in it, the police added.Brazilian media said the judge they plotted to kill was Alexandre de Moraes, a powerful justice who has drawn the ire of the right for his investigations into the far-right and for shutting down the social network X for 40 days in a fight with its owner Elon Musk over disinformation.- 'Green-and-yellow dagger' -The suspects possessed "advanced military operational" know-how and had codenamed their plot "Green and Yellow Dagger," according to the federal police. That was an apparent reference to colors on the Brazilian flag.They face potential charges of violently trying to overthrow the government, coup-plotting and being part of a criminal organization, the statement added.In October 2022, Lula defeated far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, who had served a single term in office, to regain power after a decade's absence.Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia on January 8, 2023 in an uprising reminiscent of the 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.Several investigations have been opened into the Brasilia riots, as well as other alleged plots to prevent Lula taking office.The man who carried out a failed bomb attack on the Supreme Court last week, killing himself in the process, is also suspected of involvement in the 2023 unrest.

Nov 19, 2024 - World

Booming Indigenous Maori "haka" chants rang out across New Zealand's capital on Tuesday, as tens of thousands rallied against a conservative push to redefine the nation's founding treaty.More than 35,000 demonstrators poured into the harborside city of Wellington, police said, shutting down busy streets as their spirited procession inched its way towards parliament.Bare-chested men draped in traditional feather cloaks were joined by horse riders waving the red, white and black Maori flag.Children marched alongside adults bearing distinctive full-face Maori "moko" tattoos and clutching ceremonial wooden weapons.Protests have been swelling throughout New Zealand after a minor party in the conservative coalition government drafted a bill to redefine the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.Although the bill has almost no chance of passing, its mere introduction has triggered one of New Zealand's largest protests in decades.- 'Heads held high' -After it was presented for debate in parliament last week, 22-year-old Maori Party MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke took to her feet in the chamber, ripped the bill in half, and launched into a haka.She joined the crowds of protesters gathered on the lawns Tuesday outside New Zealand's beehive-shaped parliament building."I may have been suspended for 24 hours and not let into the gates of the debating chambers, but the next day I showed up outside the steps with a hundred thousand of my people, marching with our heads held high and our flags waving with pride," she told them."We are the king makers, we are the sovereign people of this land and the world is watching us here."Many critics of the bill -- including some of New Zealand's most respected lawyers -- see it as an attempt to strip long-agreed rights from the country's 900,000 strong Maori population."It's not the best way to have a conversation. We will not accept unilateral change to a treaty that involves two parties," said Ngira Simmonds, a key advisor to New Zealand's Maori queen."There is a better way," he told AFP from Wellington.Many demonstrators arrived in Wellington after a nine-day "hikoi" -- or protest march -- that began hundreds of kilometres away at New Zealand's northern tip.- A country divided -At the centre of the outcry is government minister David Seymour, the outspoken leader of the libertarian ACT Party -- a minor partner in the governing coalition.Seymour has long railed against affirmative action policies designed to help Maori, who remain far more likely to die early, live in poverty, or wind up in prison.His bill would look to wind back these so-called "special rights".Incumbent Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has voiced his opposition to Seymour's bill, meaning it is all but doomed to fail when it comes to a parliamentary vote.But former conservative prime minister Jenny Shipley said just putting it forward threatened to "divide New Zealand in a way that I haven't lived through in my adult life".Seen as the country's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 to bring peace between 540 Maori chiefs and colonising British forces.Its principles today underpin efforts to foster partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous New Zealanders and protect the interests of the Maori community.The anniversary of the treaty's signing remains a national holiday.

Nov 19, 2024 - World

G20 leaders met in Rio de Janeiro on Monday for talks on climate change, ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon, and more, at a forum that highlighted differences between world powers but also delivered some successes.Here are five key takeaways from the summit:- No climate breakthrough -Hopes were high that G20 leaders would jumpstart stalled UN climate talks taking place in Azerbaijan.In their final declaration, however, they merely recognized the need for "substantially scaling up climate finance from billions to trillions from all sources."Crucially, they did not say who would provide the trillions.They also did not reiterate a commitment made at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai last year for a "just, orderly, and equitable transition" away from fossil fuels."They haven't stepped up to the challenge," Mick Sheldrick, co-founder of the Global Citizen campaign group said.- Ukraine war -The war in Ukraine dominated discussions at the G20, a day after the United States gave Kyiv the green light to strike Russian territory with American-supplied long-range missiles.Russia vowed a "response" if hit.Chinese President Xi Jinping, who together with Brazil has been pushing for Kyiv to enter peace talks with Russia, urged the G20 to help "cool" the war.In their final statement, G20 leaders said they welcomed "all relevant and constructive initiatives that support a comprehensive, just, and durable peace" in Ukraine.While condemning, as at last year's G20 summit, the "threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition," they made no mention of Russian aggression.- Lebanon, Gaza ceasefire calls -The leaders of the G20 -- which mixes steadfast Israel allies such as the United States and Argentina with countries like Turkey that are more supportive of Palestinians -- called for "comprehensive" ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon.They said the Gaza ceasefire should be in line with a US-proposed UN resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in the territory in return for the release of all hostages by Hamas.It also called for a Lebanon ceasefire "that enables citizens to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line" that separates Lebanese and Israeli armed forces.- Tax the super-rich -The G20 endorsed the idea of cooperating to make sure "ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed," delivering a victory to summit host Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.It said though that such cooperation should be "with full respect to tax sovereignty" and involve "debates around tax principles" as well as coming up with anti-avoidance mechanisms.An economist specializing in inequalities who was tapped by the Brazilian G20 presidency to write a report on the issue, Gabriel Zucman, hailed the "historic decision."- Alliance against hunger -One of the issues dearest to President Lula was forging a global alliance against hunger, and he received an early success by launching that initiative at the start of the summit, getting 82 countries to sign on.The alliance aims to unite international efforts to provide financing in the campaign against hunger, and to replicate programs that have proved successful in some countries.The goal is to reach half a billion people by the end of the decade, reducing what Lula -- who grew up in poverty -- has called a preventable "scourge that shames humanity."

Nov 19, 2024 - World

Floodwaters reaching more than four meters high swamped thousands of houses in the storm-battered northern Philippines on Tuesday after rivers overflowed following heavy rain and a dam release.Typhoon Man-yi drenched swaths of the Philippines over the weekend, swelling the Cagayan river and tributaries, and forcing the release of water from Magat Dam.The Cagayan broke its banks, spilling water over already sodden farmland and communities, affecting tens of thousands of people.Buildings, lamp posts and trees poked through a lake of brown water in Tuguegarao city in Cagayan province where provincial disaster official Ian Valdepenas said floodwaters reached more than four meters (14 feet) in some places."We experienced very heavy rains two days ago, but the flood just started to rise when Magat Dam started releasing huge volumes of water," Valdepenas told AFP."Plus, our land is already saturated because of the consecutive typhoons hitting the area."Man-yi was the sixth major storm in a month to strike the Philippines, which have left at least 171 people dead and thousands homeless, as well as wiped out crops and livestock.About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window.-- Roofs of houses --In the neighbouring province of Isabela, Jun Montereal of the Ilagan city disaster preparedness committee said 30,000 people were still affected by flooding.But the situation was slowly improving."The flood is subsiding now little by little, it's slower because the land is already saturated but we are way past the worst," Montereal told AFP."We are really hoping that the weather will continue to be fair so the water can go down. I think the water will completely subside in three days," he said."I can now see the roofs of houses that I wasn't able to see before because of the floods."Carlo Ablan, who helps oversee operations at Magat Dam, said three gates were open as of Tuesday morning to release water from the dam."If the weather continues to be good, we are expecting that we will only have one gate open this afternoon," Ablan said.Ablan said flooding in Tuguegarao city was not only caused by water from Magat Dam -- other tributaries of the Cagayan river were also likely to blame.Valdepenas said authorities in Tuguegarao were waiting for floodwaters to subside more before sending people back to their homes."This might start subsiding within today," he said.More than a million people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi, which struck the Philippines as a super typhoon before significantly weakening as it swept over the mountains of the main island of Luzon.Man-yi dumped heavy rain, smashed flimsy buildings, knocked out power and claimed at least eight lives.Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.

Nov 19, 2024 - World

A Hong Kong court on Tuesday jailed all 45 defendants convicted of subversion in the city's largest national security trial, with "mastermind" Benny Lai receiving the longest term of 10 years.International condemnation was swift, with Western countries and rights groups slamming the sentencing as evidence of the erosion of political freedoms in the city since Beijing imposed a security law in 2020.Tai's sentence was the longest yet handed out under the law, which was brought in to quash dissent after massive, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.His 44 co-defendants were sentenced to shorter terms beginning from four years and two months.All were charged with subversion after holding an informal poll in 2020 as part of a strategy to win a pro-democracy electoral majority.The group is made up of some of the most prominent figures of Hong Kong's once-diverse political opposition.Among them, former student leader Joshua Wong shouted "I love Hong Kong, bye bye!" to the packed courtroom as he was led away after sentencing.Wong gained international prominence in 2014 as a driving force behind protests known as the Umbrella Movement, which landed him on the cover of Time magazine when he was just a teenager.- 'The wicked shall perish' -More than 200 people had queued in drizzle outside the court since dawn for a public seat.Inside, the 45 defendants were crammed into the dock, occasionally waving to the public.Many have already spent more than 1,300 days in jail.Outside after the sentencing, the mother of defendant Hendrick Lui silently held up a placard reading: "The righteous shall live, the wicked shall perish."She was taken away in a police van within seconds, according to video footage from Hong Kong media.The second-longest sentence of seven years and nine months was handed to young activist Owen Chow.Pro-democracy politicians Au Nok-hin, Andrew Chiu and Ben Chung were singled out as organizers, but received lesser sentences after testifying against Tai."Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, the 68-year-old co-founder of the city's last standing opposition party, received a term of six years and nine months.His wife and party leader Chan Po-ying told AFP that it was "within our expectations"."It is what it is -- no matter (whether) I laugh or I cry, so I choose to laugh a bit," she said.Also included in the group are former lawmakers like Claudia Mo and Eddie Chu, and former journalist Gwyneth Ho.- 'Refused to be tamed' -Former district councillor Leticia Wong told AFP that she thought the sentences were "encouraging people to plead guilty and testify against their peers"."For those who refused to be tamed, punishment is obviously heavier," Wong said.Western countries and international rights groups condemned the trial.Australia's government said it was "gravely concerned" after dual citizen Gordon Ng received a sentence of seven years and three months, and said it would continue to advocate for his "best interests".The United States and Britain also condemned the sentences of the 45 activists.China responded that such Western criticism "seriously desecrates and tramples on the spirit of the rule of law", and warned against interference.International NGO Human Rights Watch said the sentences show "how fast Hong Kong's civil liberties and judicial independence have nosedived".Another closely watched national security trial will see a key development on Wednesday when jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai testifies in his collusion trial.China and Hong Kong have repeatedly pushed back against criticisms, saying the security law restored order following the 2019 protests.Hong Kong's security minister Chris Tang said Tuesday's sentences "reflected the severity of the crime", but added the government would decide whether to appeal individual sentences.- 'Constitutional crisis' -Forty-seven people were initially charged after they were arrested in January 2021.Thirty-one pleaded guilty, and 16 stood a 118-day trial last year, with 14 convicted and two acquitted in May.The aim of the July 2020 primary was to pick a cross-party shortlist of pro-democracy candidates to increase their electoral prospects.If a majority was achieved, the plan was to force the government to meet the 2019 protesters' demands -- including universal suffrage -- by threatening to indiscriminately veto the budget.Three senior judges handpicked by the government to try security cases said that would have caused a "constitutional crisis".The subversion charge could have carried a sentence of up to life in prison.