International

Brazil seeks arrest of Bolsonaro ally over Brasilia riots

Photo: EVARISTO SA / AFP

January 11 | By AFP | Florian Plaucheur with Louis Genot in Rio de Janeiro |

Brazilian authorities seeking to punish the mob that stormed the halls of power in Brasilia issued arrest warrants Tuesday for two former senior officials, one of them a close ally of far right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.

One of them is Anderson Torres, who used to be Bolsonaro’s justice minister and lately served as security chief in the capital.

He was fired after Sunday’s stunning violence, which was reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 insurrection in Washington, and brought global condemnation.

Anderson’s failure to act as thousands of Bolsonaro supporters overran congress, the presidential palace and the supreme court is “potentially criminal,” judge Alexandre Moraes of the Supreme Court said.

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He also issued an arrest warrant for Fabio Augusto, who led the military police in Brasilia and was also removed from his job after Sunday’s mob violence. News reports said he is already in custody.

“Brazilian democracy will not be struck, much less destroyed, by terrorist criminals,” the judge wrote in his decision.

Torres was on vacation in the United States on Sunday as the mob ran amok. On Tuesday he denied any complicity in the events and said he will return to Brazil and defend himself.

Bolsonaro has also been in the United States since the end of December, skipping the inauguration of successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

On Tuesday, Bolsonaro left the Florida hospital where he had been receiving treatment for intestinal problems stemming from a stabbing in 2018.

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Most detainees released

The security forces in Brasilia have come under stinging attack over how they responded initially to the riot. Video posted on social media showed some of them filming the violence rather than intervening to halt it.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino said around 50 arrest warrants had been issued for people not caught in the act of pillaging and for others not present but accused of organizing the attack.

Police have arrested more than 1,500 people so far but said on Tuesday that “599 people were released, mostly old people, people with health problems, the homeless and mothers with children” on humanitarian grounds.

Most of the arrests took place on Monday as police cleared protest camps set up in the capital.

Lula had condemned “terrorist acts and criminal, coup-mongering vandalism” when he returned to work at the pillaged presidential palace on Monday.

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But on Tuesday he said “Brazilian democracy remains firm,” in a post on Twitter.

“Let’s recover the country from hatred and disunity,” added the 77-year-old former trade unionist, who took office on January 1 for his third term as president after defeating Bolsonaro in the deeply divisive election.

Police said 527 people remain detained while others were being processed.

Those that were released were taken on buses to a bus station from where they would be able to return to their home regions.

From one of the buses, passengers shouted: “Victory is ours!” Some people put their arms outside the vehicles with clenched fists — a symbol of resistance — or making the “V” victory sign.

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Other detainees were taken to police stations to then be transferred to the Papuda prison complex, an AFP reporter said.

‘Humiliation’

“Now we’re going to rest and prepare ourselves for another battle because if they think they will intimidate us, they are very wrong,” Agostinho Ribeiro, a freed Bolsonaro supporter, told AFP.

He said the detainees’ treatment at a police gymnasium where they were held had been humiliating and compared it to a Nazi concentration camp, while blaming the rioting on left-wing “infiltrators.”

Hundreds of soldiers and police mobilized to dismantle an improvised camp outside the army’s headquarters in Brasilia on Monday.

There, some 3,000 Bolsonaro supporters had set up tents — used as a base for the sea of protesters who ran riot for around four hours on Sunday.

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Bolsonaro has alleged his electoral defeat was due to a conspiracy against him by Brazil’s courts and electoral authorities.

Lula, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, met with the leaders of both houses of Congress and the chief justice of the Supreme Court on Monday.

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.

International

Artemis II crew prepares for Earth return and splashdown recovery

Astronauts from the Artemis II mission are expected to be extracted from the Orion spacecraft approximately two hours after splashdown, scheduled for 20:07 UTC this Friday (6:07 p.m. in San Salvador), according to NASA.

Following recovery, a rescue team will transport the crew by aircraft to the USS John P. Murtha. Once onboard, they will undergo medical evaluations before boarding another flight to the Johnson Space Center.

On Thursday, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, continued preparations for their return to Earth.

Their activities include stowing equipment used during the mission, securing cargo and storage compartments, and installing and adjusting crew seats to ensure all items are properly fastened. The crew will also review the latest weather updates, recovery operations status, and reentry timeline, while preparing for post-landing procedures.

At 21:53 UTC (9:53 p.m. in San Salvador), Orion’s thrusters are scheduled to perform a second trajectory correction maneuver, refining the spacecraft’s path back to Earth. During this operation, Hansen will monitor guidance, navigation, and propulsion systems.

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NASA explained that during Friday’s reentry, the service module will separate about 20 minutes before Orion reaches the upper atmosphere southeast of Hawaii. If necessary, a final trajectory adjustment will fine-tune the flight path before the capsule begins a series of roll maneuvers to safely distance itself from jettisoned components.

Just before atmospheric interface, Orion will reach a peak speed of approximately 3,800 km/h. As it descends to about 400,000 feet (around 121.9 km), communications will be interrupted for approximately six minutes due to plasma formation around the capsule during peak heating.

NASA expects the crew to experience up to 3.9 G during a nominal reentry profile. After exiting the blackout phase, the capsule will jettison its forward bay cover. Drogue parachutes will deploy at around 22,000 feet (6.7 km), followed by the three main parachutes at approximately 6,000 feet (1.8 km).

Artemis II marks NASA’s first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon. The mission aims to validate capabilities for deep space human exploration and lay the groundwork for future long-term scientific missions on the lunar surface.