International
Brazil’s Bolsonaro defends police after custody death
AFP
President Jair Bolsonaro defended Brazil’s federal highway police Monday after officers were accused of asphyxiating to death a man they forced into the trunk of their patrol car in a traffic stop gone awry.
Brazil was shocked last Wednesday by eyewitness videos that showed police putting 38-year-old Genivaldo de Jesus Santos into the hatchback trunk of their SUV with what appeared to be a teargas canister emitting a thick cloud of white smoke.
Officials in the northeastern state of Sergipe, where the incident occurred, said an autopsy found Santos, whose family says he suffered from schizophrenia, died of asphyxiation.
“I regret what happened,” but the Federal Highway Police (PFR) “do an exceptional job,” said Bolsonaro, a former army captain who has cultivated close ties with the police and military.
“Justice will be done in this case, beyond a doubt. We all want that,” the far-right leader told a news conference.
But the case should be handled “without exaggeration, and without pressure from the news media, who always take a side: that of the criminals,” he added.
Video from the scene in the city of Umbauba shows officers pinning Santos to the ground, then forcing him into the back of their car and tossing a smoking canister inside.
“They’re going to kill him!” a bystander shouted.
As Santos screamed and kicked frantically, the officers held down on the door until his legs, which were trapped outside, went limp.
The federal highway police said Santos had become “aggressive,” leading officers to use “lower-impact immobilization techniques.”
The officers involved have been suspended, and prosecutors have opened both criminal and civil investigations in the case.
The death triggered outrage in Brazil and abroad.
Human Rights Watch called it “deeply disturbing” and urged a “prompt, thorough and independent investigation.”
International
Netanyahu orders shortened preparation for Gaza city operation against Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday ordered a “shortening” of the preparation period before troops enter Gaza City, where around one million Palestinians are taking refuge.
“In anticipation of the approval of plans for the operation in Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the timelines to be shortened for taking the last terrorist strongholds and defeating Hamas,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
The brief text, which may serve as a pressure tactic on both Hamas and the displaced Palestinian population, does not specify any dates.
The Israeli military has also not provided details beyond reiterating that “preliminary operations” have already begun in some neighborhoods of Gaza’s capital.
Military spokesperson Effie Defrin said in an online briefing that “the army now controls the gates of Gaza City” and that forces are stationed in the southern Zeitoun neighborhood and the northern Jabalia area.
“Additional forces will join the fighting in the near future,” Defrin added.
According to Gazan sources, attacks and bombings have increased in these two locations, along with the demolition of homes. The military has also called up 60,000 reservists, according to a Defense Ministry statement.
International
UN official urges international action against U.S. sanctions on ICC judges
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Thursday that the U.S. imposition of new sanctions on judges and deputy prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) should prompt the international community to take measures to protect them.
“The relentless escalation of U.S. reprisals against international institutions and their personnel must stop,” Türk said in a statement issued from his office in Geneva.
The ICC itself condemned Trump’s actions against two prosecutors and two judges investigating Israel for crimes in Gaza, asserting that it will not be intimidated by pressure or threats.
The UN High Commissioner called for the removal of sanctions against this group of magistrates, as well as those previously imposed on four other judges and a prosecutor from the same institution, and on the UN Human Rights Council-appointed rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese.
Practically, Türk noted that other governments could protect them by urging companies operating under their jurisdiction not to enforce these sanctions.
“States must step forward to defend the institutions they created to uphold human rights and the rule of law. Those who work to document, investigate, and prosecute serious violations of international law should not work in fear,” he emphasized.
International
Trump threatens to cut California school funding over trans policies
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to cut funding to schools in California that do not comply with his policies regarding the transgender community, which have sought to restrict rights since his return to the White House.
“Any school district in California that does not follow our policies on transgender individuals will not receive funding,” he wrote in a brief post on his Truth Social account.
One such grant has already been canceled by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
A representative from the Administration for Children and Families, part of HHS, told Fox News that the grant for California’s sex education program was withdrawn due to the state’s refusal to remove what the federal office called “radical gender ideology” from its curriculum.
“California’s refusal to comply with federal law and remove the abhorrent gender ideology from federally funded sex education materials is unacceptable,” said Andrew Gradison, acting secretary of the office.
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