International

Brazil’s Bolsonaro, silent after election loss, to skip G20

Photo: Arthur Menescal / Bloomberg

| By AFP |

Brazil’s outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro will not participate in the G20 summit in Indonesia, the foreign ministry said Monday, without explaining his unusual absence from the meeting.

Aside from a brief speech two days after his razor-thin election loss to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva late last month, the far-right Bolsonaro has all but disappeared from public view, and is unusually silent on social media, with his official agenda empty.

The Brazilian delegation to the meeting of the world’s 20 most developed nations “is being led by Foreign Minister Carlos Franca,” the ministry told AFP.

It is the first time since the start of his mandate in January 2019 that Bolsonaro — who remains in office until January 1, 2023 — will not be at the summit to represent Brazil.

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With Bolsonaro out of sight and keeping mum, all eyes are on the politician known simply as Lula as he prepares his transition to a third term as president of the Latin American giant.

Lula was on Monday traveling to Egypt for the COP27 global climate summit, under the heavy weight of expectation that Brazil will signal a turnaround in the protection of the Amazon.

The rainforest has experienced rampant deforestation under Bolsonaro, who prioritized what he saw as economic development through mining and agriculture in the vast area.

Bolsonaro’s handling of the Amazon’s destruction contributed largely to Brazil’s international isolation.

At the G20 summit in Rome last year, Bolsonaro was spotted awkwardly meandering alone around a room, as other leaders chatted amiably.

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Another leader who is shunning the G20 meeting is Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who is isolated due to the war he is pursuing in Ukraine.

Related Topics:Bolsonaro Brazil Elections G20

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Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.