Jair Bolsonaro claims to be under media attack after a news site reported members of the president’s family bought 51 properties for $4.7M.
Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 on an anti-corruption platform, bolstered by the rejection of the tarnished left.
(Reuters Archive)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has claimed to be under attack from the media as he brushed aside allegations of corruption levelled against his family a month before he seeks reelection.
The online news site Uol published claims on Tuesday that members of the Bolsonaro family had bought 51 properties, paid partly or fully in cash, for a total of $4.7 million between 1990 and 2022.
"Why are they doing this against my family? Half of these assets belong to my ex-brother-in-law. What do I have to do with him? We have not seen each other for ages," the far-right president told the pro-government Jovem Pan radio on Thursday.
Uol said in reply that eight of the 51 properties cited in the report belonged to Bolsonaro's brother-in-law.
Making large cash payments is not a crime in itself, but can raise questions about the legality of the origins of the money.
'Looking for way to get at me'
"They are looking for a way to get at me 30 days before the election, but they won't succeed," said Bolsonaro, who is lagging in the polls behind leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of a first election round on October 2.
Lula's camp has asked the Supreme Court to open an investigation into the latest claims.
Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 on an anti-corruption platform, bolstered by the rejection of the tarnished left after a massive graft scandal involving state oil company Petrobras.
Lula's convictions in relation to that scandal were later overturned.
Source: AFP
PM Justin Trudeau vows to investigate allegations that Canadian Security Intelligence Service recruited a people-smuggler who helped Shamima Begum and her two friends enter Daesh-controlled areas of Syria.
Canada's Trudeau defends the need for intelligence services to be "flexible and creative in their approaches."
(Reuters Archive)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to "follow up" on allegations that a spy working for Canadian intelligence trafficked British schoolgirls into Syria's Daesh-controlled areas.
"I know there are questions about certain incidents or operations of the past and we will ensure to follow up on those," Trudeau said on Wednesday, a day after several UK news outlets reported on the Canadian intelligence agent's role in human trafficking and UK government's alleged cover-up.
"We will continue to ensure that proper oversight is done and as necessary, look at further steps," he added.
According to a Times report in Britain, in 2015 then-15-year-old Shamima Begun and two friends received help from a people-smuggler recruited by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to get to war-ravaged Syria from their Bethnal Green Academy in east London.
British police had launched a massive international search for the trio at the time.
"Canada knew about the teenagers' fate but kept silent while the Metropolitan Police ran a frantic, international search for the trio," the British paper said.
"Canada privately admitted its involvement only when it feared being exposed, and then successfully asked the British to cover up its role."
When pressed about the case at a news conference, Trudeau defended the need for intelligence services to be "flexible and creative in their approaches... in their work to keep Canada and Canadians safe in a very dangerous world."
At the same time, he added, CSIS must abide by Canadian laws and "strict rules" of conduct. "We expect those rules to be followed," Trudeau said.
READ MORE:'Canada spy' smuggled British school girls to Syria; UK 'covered up'
The Times report cites a new book by its former security correspondent Richard Kerbaj.
According to the book, "The Secret History of the Five Eyes," CSIS had recruited Mohammed al Rasheed as a double agent when he visited Canada's embassy in Jordan seeking asylum.
His cover was blown when he was later arrested by Türkiye in 2015 and found to be in possession of travel documents, including bus tickets, belonging to Begun and her friends.
Canada only privately admitted its involvement with Rasheed and asked Britain to help cover it up, Kerbaj's book said.
It also claims Canada could not have stopped the girls' travel as they had already crossed into Syria by the time Rasheed's handler was informed of the situation.
Now 23 and stripped of her UK citizenship, Begun remains in a displacement camp in northern Syria as she appeals the decision to bar her from Britain.
Her school friends, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, are said to have been killed in a Russian air raid or are missing.
READ MORE: What Shamima Begum's case says about the future of Muslims in the UK
Source: AFP
American forces responded to attacks on two sites in Syria, destroying a couple of vehicles and equipment that was used to launch rockets, says US military's Central Command.
Three US soldiers sustained "minor injuries" after several rockets hit both Conoco and Green Village bases in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor city.
(TRTWorld)
US attack helicopters have struck several targets used by Iran-backed militants to fire rockets at bases housing American troops in northeastern Syria, the US military's Central Command said.
"US forces responded today to rocket attacks at two sites in Syria, destroying three vehicles and equipment used to launch some of the rockets," Centcom, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Two or three suspected militants responsible for one of the attacks were killed, Centcom added.
Three US service members sustained "minor injuries" when several rockets hit both the Conoco and Green Village bases in Deir Ezzor, a strategic, oil-rich province bordering Iraq, on Wednesday.
The bases are run by the YPG/PKK-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia, allies of the United States and other coalition partners that are maintaining a mission against the remnants of Daesh.
The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organisation. In its almost 40-year terror campaign against the NATO ally Turkish state, more than 40,000 people have been killed. Türkiye, the US and the EU recognise the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
The latest exchange of fire underscored soaring military tensions even amid diplomatic efforts between Tehran and the West to try to save Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
READ MORE: US claims targeting Iran-linked groups in Syria strikes'US seeks no conflict with Iran'
The strike comes a day after another US attack targeted facilities Washington said were used by Iran-backed militias in northeast Syria.
"The United States does not seek conflict with Iran, but we will continue to take the measures necessary to protect and defend our people," the Centcom statement said.
US forces first deployed into Syria during the Obama administration's campaign against Daesh, partnering with YPG/PKK. There are about 900 US troops in Syria, most of them in the east.
Iran-backed militias established a foothold in Syria while fighting in support of its regime leader Bashar al Assad during Syria's civil war.
READ MORE:Iran reviewing US response to EU plan for nuclear deal
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Senegal President Macky Sall's ruling coalition says it won 30 of the country's 46 administrative departments, giving it a majority in parliament following Sunday's legislative election.
Sunday's polls were an important test for Sall after local elections in March saw the opposition win in major cities, including Dakar, Ziguinchor in the south and Thies in the west.
(AFP)
President Macky Sall's ruling coalition claimed victory in Senegal's legislative elections but the opposition rejected the assertion as a "prefabricated majority".
"We won 30 departments" out of the 46 in the west African country and overseas constituencies, Aminata Toure, head of the presidential coalition, told reporters late on Sunday.
"This undoubtedly gives us a majority in the National Assembly."
"We have given a majority in the National Assembly to our coalition president", Sall, she added, without giving the number of seats won by her camp or whether it was an absolute or relative majority.
Toure however acknowledged her coalition had been defeated in the capital Dakar in Sunday's vote.
The opposition was swift in rejecting Toure's claims.
Barthelemy Dias, a leader of the main opposition coalition headed by former presidential candidate Ousmane Sonko, spoke of "vulgar lies" and a "prefabricated majority" on private radio RFM.
The opposition had hoped the elections would impose a cohabitation, or divided government, on Sall and curb any ambitions he may have for a third term.
Senegal's opposition warns that people will take streets after President Macky Sall's ruling coalition wins a majority in parliament pic.twitter.com/5uvQp1wDfr
Some seven million Senegalese were eligible to vote in the election, which passed without any major incidents.
Turnout at several polling stations appeared relatively low, according to AFP news agency correspondents and observers, and the interior ministry said participation had reached 22 percent by 1 pm.
Provisional overall results are expected no later than Friday.
The national election commission has deployed 22,000 observers nationwide. Experts from the regional ECOWAS bloc were also present.
This year, eight coalitions were in the running, including Yewwi Askan Wi ("Liberate the People" in Wolof), the main opposition coalition of Sonko, which came third in the 2019 presidential election.
Ahead of the poll, Yewwi Askan Wi joined forces with Wallu Senegal ("Save Senegal"), led by former president Abdoulaye Wade.
The two groups agreed to work together to obtain a parliamentary majority and "force governmental cohabitation".
Moscow and Kiev accuse each other of bombing a jail holding Ukrainian prisoners in Russian-held territory, with Ukrainian President Zelensky calling attack "a war crime" as fighting enters its 157th day.
A Russian military truck drives past an unexploded munition in the Russia-controlled village of Chornobaivka.
(Reuters)
Saturday, July 30, 2022
Ukraine claims killing scores of Russians in Kherson fighting
The Ukrainian military has said it had killed scores of Russian soldiers and destroyed two ammunition dumps in fighting in the Kherson region, the focus of Kiev's counter-offensive in the south and a key link in Moscow's supply lines.
Rail traffic to Kherson over the Dnipro River had been cut, the military's southern command said, potentially further isolating Russian forces west of the river from supplies in occupied Crimea and the east.
Ukraine has used Western-supplied long-range missile systems to badly damage three bridges across the Dnipro in recent weeks, cutting off Kherson city and – in the assessment of British defence officials – leaving Russia's 49th Army stationed on the west bank of the river highly vulnerable.
"As a result of fire establishing control over the main transport links in occupied territory, it has been established that traffic over the rail bridge crossing the Dnipro is not possible," Ukraine's southern command said in a statement.
Ukraine calls for Russia to be recognised as 'state sponsor of terrorism'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the deaths of dozens of prisoners in a Russian-held jail showed there should be clear legal recognition that Russia was a "state sponsor of terrorism."
"Today, I received information about the attack by the occupiers on Olenivka (the prison's location), in the Donetsk region. It is a deliberate Russian war crime, a deliberate mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war. More than 50 dead," he said in his daily address.
"I am appealing especially to the United States of America. A decision is needed and it is needed now."
For live updates from Friday (July 29), click here
Ukraine restarts grain exports from its Black Sea ports under a deal brokered by Türkiye and UN aimed at easing global food shortages, but warns deliveries would suffer if Russia continues strikes, as fighting enters its 152nd day.
As the conflict enters its sixth month, there is no sign of a let-up in the fighting.
(AP)
Monday, July 25, 2022
Zelenskyy says Ukrainians won't be 'cowed'
After five months of Russian attacks,
Ukraine will continue to do all it can to inflict as much damage
on its enemy as possible, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
"Even the occupiers admit we will win," he said as he hailed
the upcoming day of Ukrainian statehood, July 28, a new annual
holiday that Zelenskyy announced in August last year. "We hear
it in their conversations all the time. In what they are telling
their relatives when they call them."
Like every day in the last months, Zelenskyy said that
Ukraine was not letting up. "We do everything to inflict the
highest possible damage on the enemy and to gather for Ukraine
as much support as possible."
He said Ukraine had an important week ahead, with the
holiday approaching in the midst of what he called a "cruel
war." "But we will celebrate against all odds. Because Ukrainians
won't be cowed."
For live updates from Sunday (July 24), click here
‘We proved that Iran lied to the International Atomic Energy Agency with thousands of documents we obtained from Iran's archives,’ says Yossi Cohen
