International
Lula visits Shanghai on first stop of China trip
April 13 |
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was visiting the financial hub of Shanghai, China, on Thursday, on a trip to strengthen ties with the South American giant’s largest trading partner and rally political support for his efforts to mediate the conflict in Ukraine.
Lula arrived in China on Wednesday night and is scheduled to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Friday before concluding his visit on Saturday.
The Brazilian government said the two sides were expected to sign at least 20 bilateral agreements during Lula’s trip, a reflection of improving relations after a bumpy period under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula would also attend in Shanghai the official ceremony in which his close advisor and former Brazilian President Dilma Roussef will be sworn in as head of the New Development Bank, a Chinese-backed institution.
The organization is presented as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, controlled mainly by the United States and its Western allies. The bank focuses on the group of developing countries known as BRICS, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The institution, established more than seven years ago, has approved 99 loan projects worth more than $34 billion, mainly for infrastructure projects, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Much of that credit has gone to Brazil for projects such as a subway system in the country’s financial capital, Sao Paulo.
During his meeting with Xi, Lula is expected to discuss trade, investment, reindustrialization, energy transition, climate change and peace agreements, according to the Brazilian government.
China is Brazil’s largest export market, buying tens of billions of dollars worth of soybeans, beef, iron ore, poultry, pulp, sugar cane, cotton and oil every year.
Brazil is the largest recipient of Chinese investment in Latin America, according to Chinese state media, although Lula has taken a position against Chinese organizations buying Brazilian companies.
One of the agreements Lula will sign in China will be for the production of the sixth satellite built in a bi-national program, a device that will monitor biomes such as the Amazon rainforest.
Beijing recently lifted restrictions on Brazilian beef, imposed in February after the discovery of an unusual case of mad cow disease.
Politically, the visit by leftist Lula symbolizes Brazil’s return to international relations after succeeding Bolsonaro in January.
The often brusque conservative populist leader and members of his family provoked tensions with Chinese authorities on several occasions by talking about the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic or telecommunications firm Huawei. Bolsonaro admired conservative nationalists and showed little interest in international affairs or traveling abroad.
Lula, who will visit a Huawei research center in Shanghai on Thursday, traveled to Argentina and Uruguay in January and the United States in February, a sign of the importance he places on international affairs, experts say. He toured the world during his first presidency, especially in his second term, when he passed through dozens of countries, and has been to China on two previous occasions.
A key piece of Lula’s strategy abroad is his proposal that Brazil and other developing countries, including China, mediate to achieve peace in Ukraine. However, his proposal that Ukraine give up Crimea to facilitate peace has upset Kiev and its staunchest supporters.
China has also tried to play a role in ending the conflict, albeit in a very close way to Moscow. It has refused to condemn the invasion, criticized economic sanctions on Russia and accused the United States and NATO of provoking the conflict.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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