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Brazil raises $620 mn in huge concession auction

AFP/Editor

Brazil wrapped up a massive auction Friday for concessions to operate 22 airports, a rail line and five ports with a total take of $620 million and planned investments of $1.75 billion in all.

The three-day auction was seen as a risky bet by some analysts, coming as Brazil reels from a new surge of Covid-19 that is weighing down Latin America’s biggest economy.

But President Jair Bolsonaro’s government mostly managed to attract strong bids, seeking to show Brazil remains an attractive destination for private investors.

Despite the pandemic, which has now claimed nearly 350,000 lives in Brazil, the government was keen to underline its committment to long-delayed plans for large-scale privatizations and concessions of state-run companies and infrastructure.

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That was a key campaign promise in 2018 from Bolsonaro, who comes up for reelection next year.

“We’re very happy because we’ve shown Brazil is a country with a bright future,” said Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio de Freitas.

His ministry closed out the week with the 216-million-reais ($38-million) lease of five port terminals in the northeastern state of Maranhao and southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

On Wednesday, it raised a higher-than-expected $600 million for 30-year concessions to operate 22 small and medium airports — the biggest day of the event it billed as “Infra Week.”

French group Vinci and Brazilian group CCR were the winning bidders.

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Thursday was the only lackluster day of the auction: the 35-year concession for the Fiol 1 freight rail line in the northeastern state of Bahia drew just one bidder, who won with a minimum bid of $5.75 million.

The government says it expects total investments of at least $1.75 billion over the lifetime of the projects.

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International

Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka

Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.

The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.

An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.

The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.

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Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.

Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.

Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.

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Internacionales

Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages

May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.

In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.

Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.

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International

Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.

During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.

“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.

“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”

Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.

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On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.

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