International
Gun ownership soars under Bolsonaro: NGO

AFP
The number of registered gun owners in Brazil rose by almost six times since President Jair Bolsonaro came to power and eased restrictions, an NGO said on Tuesday.
In 2018, when Bolsonaro began his mandate, there were 117,467 gun owners registered as hunters, sport shooters and collectors, according to army figures collected by the Brazilian Forum of Public Security (FBSP) NGO.
In June 2022 that figure had jumped to 673,818.
“There was a very big increase in the number of firearms in circulation in the country under the Bolsonaro government,” Renato Sergio de Lima, the FBSP president, told AFP.
FBSP estimates that there are 4.4 million privately owned firearms in Brazil, based on Army and Federal Police data. Those two bodies are the ones that issue gun registrations to civilians.
“The problem is that a third of those (1.5 million) are in an irregular situation, with their registration elapsed,” said Lima.
That makes it impossible to know if the weapons remain with their legal owners or whether they have found their way into the hands of criminals, FBSP said.
Since coming to power, ex-army captain Bolsonaro has issued several decrees softening restrictions on gun ownership, such as increasing the number of weapons and amount of ammunition people can own.
Some of those decrees are being studied by the supreme court to decide whether or not they were constitutional.
In its public security annual, FBSP said Brazil registered 47,503 murders amongst its 213 million population in 2021, a drop of 6.5 percent on 2020.
“But this good news hides an extremely perverse reality, that in 2020 Brazil accounted for one in every five intentional violent murders on the planet, according to UN data,” despite making up just 2.7 percent of the world’s population.
International
Erin brings strong winds and storm surge despite weakening offshore

Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 2 storm on Tuesday but continues to pose a threat to parts of the U.S. East Coast with potentially dangerous flooding, according to meteorologists.
Although the hurricane’s eye is expected to remain offshore, experts are concerned about Erin’s size, as strong winds extend hundreds of kilometers beyond the storm’s center.
In its 18:00 GMT bulletin, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) lifted tropical storm warnings for the Bahamasand Turks and Caicos Islands, but kept them in effect for parts of North Carolina.
Erin was located several hundred kilometers southeast of North Carolina and was moving northwestward.
“This means there is a risk of potentially life-threatening flooding of 60 to 120 centimeters above ground level,” said NHC Director Michael Brennan.
He also warned of the possibility of destructive waves, combined with storm surge, that could cause severe damage to beaches and coastal areas, making roads impassable.
International
Three U.S. Warships deploy near Venezuela to combat drug trafficking

Three U.S. naval vessels are moving toward the coasts of Venezuela, according to international media reports on Tuesday, after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump is ready to combat and curb international drug trafficking.
Reports indicate that the ships will reach Venezuelan waters within the next 36 hours as part of a recent U.S. deployment aimed at countering international narcotics operations.
The announcement coincides with Leavitt’s statement that Trump is prepared to “use the full extent of his power” to halt drug flows into the United States. The naval deployment involves approximately 4,000 military personnel.
“The President has been clear and consistent. He is ready to use every element of U.S. power to prevent drugs from flooding our country and to bring those responsible to justice. The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela—it is a narco-terror cartel,” the spokesperson said during a press conference.
International
Cuban authorities free salvadoran convicted in 1997 hotel bombing

Salvadoran national Otto René Rodríguez Llerena was released after serving a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a terrorist attack at a hotel in Cuba in 1997, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
During his trial, Rodríguez Llerena admitted to placing an explosive device at the Meliá Cohiba Hotel under the orders of anti-Castro exile leaders. He was arrested the following year when he returned to Havana with another load of explosives that failed to detonate.
“The Cuban government reiterates its commitment to combating terrorism, respecting human rights, and the need for the international community to hold accountable those who promote such acts,” the statement read.
He was released on August 15 and is the second Salvadoran to complete his sentence. In December of last year, another Salvadoran, Ernesto Cruz León, was released after planting bombs at tourist centers, one of which killed an Italian tourist identified as Fabio Di Celmo.
A third Salvadoran, Francisco Chávez Abarca, also received a 30-year sentence from Cuban courts in 2010 after being extradited from Venezuela through Interpol for actions against Cuba.
Rodríguez Llerena had requested conditional release in 2016, arguing that his actions had not caused any direct fatalities, but no further information was released about his situation until now.
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