International

The majority of the Supreme Court rejects Bolsonaro’s appeals in the case of the coup d’état

The majority of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) of Brazil rejected on Wednesday the appeals presented by former President Jair Bolsonaro to try to remove two judges within the framework of the process in which he is accused of leading a coup plot against the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The president of the Supreme Court, Luiz Roberto Barroso, who is an instructor in the trial, rejected Bolsonaro’s request to challenge two of the magistrates and most of the judges of the high court voted in the same direction, in a telematic session.

The defense of the Brazilian far-right leader claimed that magistrates Cristiano Zanin and Flávio Dino would not be impartial in the trial, because before assuming their positions in the STF they filed judicial complaints against Bolsonaro.

Barroso was the first of the eleven Supreme Court magistrates to publish his vote on these four appeals in the court’s electronic voting system and was seconded by at least five judges, which makes the decision irreversible.

The two magistrates involved cannot vote and the rest of the judges have until midnight on Thursday to rule on the appeals presented by Bolsonaro and others involved.

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According to Barroso, Bolsonaro’s new appeals have no news with respect to previous petitions that he himself has already rejected, and requests for recusal from judges are not protected in the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The majority of the Supreme Court also rejected the appeal of former minister Walter Braga Netto, a retired Army general accused of being one of the leaders of the coup plot, who requests the recusal of magistrate Alexandre de Moraes.

Braga Netto’s defense alleges that one of the charges is a plan to murder De Moraes, so this magistrate would have to challenge himself for not being able to be a judge and victim at the same time.

The First Chamber of the Supreme Court has already scheduled three extraordinary sessions for March 25 and 26 in which it will decide whether to accept the coup accusations against Bolsonaro and seven other defendants and whether to open criminal proceedings.

The complaint against Bolsonaro and his closest nucleus, filed in February by the Prosecutor’s Office, accused the former president and 33 other suspects of attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, armed criminal organization and coup d’état, among other crimes.

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The conspiracy, according to the accusation, began after then-President Bolsonaro lost the October 2022 elections to the current president.

The coup plot would have first tried to prevent Lula’s inauguration and then led to the violent assault on the headquarters of the three powers of the State on January 8, 2023, a week after his inauguration, when thousands of ultras pressured the Army to overthrow the new Government.

International

Trump orders U.S. control of Strait of Hormuz after failed Iran talks

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the United States will take control of the Strait of Hormuz“effective immediately,” following the collapse of negotiations with Iran held in Islamabad.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had ordered the U.S. Navy to block vessels attempting to enter or exit the strategic waterway, a key route for global energy trade.

“The meeting went well, agreement was reached on most points, but the only really important one — nuclear weapons — was not approved,” Trump said, referring to the talks with Iranian representatives.

The president also stated that he had instructed authorities to intercept ships in international waters that had paid tolls to Iran to transit the strait, calling such payments “illegal.” He further accused Tehran of hindering an agreement by deploying mines in the area, describing the move as “international extortion.”

Trump added that the United States will undertake efforts to clear mines from the strait and expressed confidence that a future agreement ensuring free navigation could eventually be reached.

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The announcement came after Vice President JD Vance and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner briefed the president on the outcome of the negotiations, considered the highest-level contacts between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

While Trump acknowledged that enough progress had been made to maintain a temporary truce, he criticized Iran for remaining unwilling to abandon its nuclear ambitions, calling its position “very inflexible” on the central issue.

International

Child Found Malnourished in Van in France; Father Admits Confinement

French gendarmes discovered a child in a van in Hagenbach, in northeastern France, after a neighbor reported hearing what she described as “childlike noises” coming from the parked vehicle.

After unlocking the van, officers found the boy lying in a fetal position, unclothed and covered with a blanket, surrounded by garbage and near human waste, according to a statement from the Mulhouse prosecutor, Nicolas Heitz.

Authorities said the child appeared pale and severely malnourished. Due to prolonged confinement in a seated position, he was no longer able to walk. He was immediately taken to a hospital in Mulhouse for medical care.

The boy’s father, who lived with his partner and two daughters aged 10 and 12, admitted to keeping the child confined and depriving him of proper care.

According to the prosecutor, the man said he placed the child in the van in November 2024, claiming he wanted to “protect him” because his partner intended to have the boy admitted to a psychiatric facility.

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The suspect also stated that he allowed the child out of the vehicle in May 2025 and permitted him to enter the family apartment around mid-year, when the rest of the family was on vacation.

The man’s partner—who is not the child’s mother—also faces charges, including failure to report abuse. However, she has denied all accusations.

International

Europe Faces Jet Fuel Shortage Risk Amid Hormuz Disruption

The Airports Council International Europe has warned of a potential “systemic shortage” of jet fuel if maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is not restored within the next three weeks, according to a letter reviewed by AFP on Friday.

In the document, addressed to the European Commission and first reported by the Financial Times, the European airport lobby stated that a “systemic jet fuel shortage will become a reality” in the European Union unless stable and significant transit through the strait resumes soon.

The association, which represents around 600 airports across 50 countries, called on Brussels to implement “urgent monitoring of fuel availability and supply” over the next six months.

Jet fuel prices have surged amid the conflict in the Middle East and the ongoing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy transport.

The conflict escalated on February 28 following joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iran.

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In response, Tehran imposed several countermeasures, including blocking maritime traffic through the strait, a route through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil, jet fuel, and gas supply passes.