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  • Brazil’s Lula still has power to influence politics

    Brazilian ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is lifted by supporters after attending a Catholic Mass in memory of his late wife Marisa Leticia, at the metalworkers' union building in Sao Bernardo do Campo, in metropolitan Sao Paulo, Brazil, 7 April 2018 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Lula is lifted by supporters at the steelworkers’ union building in Sao Paulo

    Brazil’s former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s surrender on Saturday capped a dramatic few days in Brazil. But the political spectacle is likely to continue as the country heads towards presidential elections in October.

    “We are going to return to the time where just a few people have a lot of money, and a lot of people have nothing,” Lula supporter Gisele Veloso says.

    She was on the verge of tears as she stood outside the steelworkers’ union in the early hours of Thursday morning. It was just after the Supreme Court ruled that Lula had to start serving his 12-year prison sentence for corruption and tensions were running high.

    Spectacular fall from grace

    For many, Lula still holds a special place. He was Brazil’s first working-class president and helped lift millions out of poverty. He promised change in a country known for its gaping inequalities.

    But it has been a stunning fall from grace for a man who was once the most popular leader in Brazilian history. Convicted and jailed for corruption and money laundering, he now has a less flattering claim to fame as the country’s most famous criminal.

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    Media captionLula forced his way through crowds of his supporters to turn himself in

    For millions, including those who had voted for him in the past, he turned out to be just as corrupt as the politicians who came before him. There are now plenty of people who are eager to see him locked up.

    Messy months ahead

    Even so, it’s unlikely that this is the last we will hear of Lula. Leaders in the Workers’ Party (PT) have already said he remains their candidate for October’s elections.

    It is possible for Lula to campaign behind bars – for now. So the next few months will be messy and emotional.

    Parties have to put forward names of their preferred candidates by 15 August. The Electoral court then has until mid-September to analyse them.

    Lula: Only death will take me off streets A quick guide to Brazil’s scandals

    Because of what is known as the “Clean Sheet” law, which was introduced in 2010, anybody with a criminal conviction is banned from public office for eight years. At that point, Lula’s nomination is expected to be thrown out.

    But that means for several months, we could have a convicted criminal attempting to be the country’s next leader. This is Brazil and politics is nothing if not complicated – and at times unbelievable.

    An act of rejection

    For Thiago de Aragão, a partner at political consultancy Arko Advice, this is the end of an era – one that Lula’s Workers’ Party was warned about.

    “They knew that this would happen,” he says, adding that they have lined up possible candidates to replace him, including the former mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad.

    “From within the Workers’ Party, breaking with Lula is not an option,” he says, adding that Lula has in the past few years become bigger than the party he founded.

    “Because of that, a candidate from the party that is not fully endorsed or linked to Lula does not stand a chance,” he adds.

    They have a strategy and that, according to Mr de Aragão, is to keep pushing Lula as a candidate until the last moment. When the electoral court throws his candidacy out, that’s when they’ll put forward another candidate.

    “They will make this an act of rejection,” he says. “The energy from that moment will then be transmitted to the candidate that will be chosen to run on Lula’s behalf.”

    From far-left to far-right

    Brazilian politics is increasingly polarised. Trailing behind leftist Lula in the presidential polls is far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro. So could he become number one?

    Many experts doubt it.

    “The existence of a candidate like Bolsonaro is a product of the existence of Lula,” says Mr de Aragão.

    If that’s the case, then it throws the elections wide open. There is a great deal of uncertainty as to the political future of this country. Ask a Brazilian who to vote for and many just shrug their shoulders – they have no idea.

    One thing is certain though, Lula’s influence is here to stay.

    “He will still be able to do politics even through his silence,” says João Paulo Orsini Martinelli, a criminal lawyer in São Paulo. “His existence will still be there and he’s still a gravitational force within Brazilian politics. He’s a player.”

    Additional reporting by Anna Jean Kaiser

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  • ICC ‘undeterred’ by way of US sanctions danger

    Image copyright Reuters Image caption US workforce in Afghanistan might be subjected to ICC investigations

    Mr Bolton stated neither Afghanistan nor any govt signatory to the ICC’s statute had requested an investigation.

    However, ICC prosecutors also have the facility to take unbiased action, despite the fact that any prosecutions should be licensed by means of a panel of judges.

    The 2nd space Mr Bolton addressed used to be the Palestinian transfer to deliver US best friend Israel earlier than the ICC over allegations of human rights abuses in Gaza and the occupied West Bank – a transfer pushed aside by Israel as politicised.

    Mr Bolton said: “we can no longer co-function with the ICC. we can provide no assistance to the ICC. we will be able to not join the ICC. we can let the ICC die on its own. in spite of everything, for all intents and functions, the ICC is already useless to us.”

    What did the ICC say in reaction?

    The ICC launched a statement following Mr Bolton’s speech, stressing it was once an “impartial and impartial judicial establishment” and that it didn’t intrude until it used to be absolutely essential.

    Symbol copyright Reuters Symbol caption The court in the Hague used to be founded in 2002 by means of a treaty referred to as the Rome Statute

    “The court’s jurisdiction is topic to the principle jurisdiction of states themselves to research and prosecute allegations of these crimes and bring justice to the affected groups. it is only whilst the states concerned fail to achieve this at all or truly that the ICC will exercise jurisdiction.” the statement said.

    “The ICC, as a court docket of regulation, will continue to do its paintings undeterred, according with those ideas and the overarching idea of the rule of law.”

    What steps may the united states take?

    ICC judges and prosecutors can be barred from coming into the us and their budget in the us can be targeted.

    “we can prosecute them in the u.s. felony system. we will do the similar for any corporate or state that assists an ICC investigation of usa citizens,” Mr Bolton said.

    More “binding, bilateral agreements” would be signed to forestall countries submitting US electorate to the court docket’s jurisdiction.

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  • Trump urges inquiry into nameless Big Apple Times editorial

    US President Donald Trump speaks to the press aboard Air Force One Symbol copyright AFP

    US President Donald Trump has suggested the justice division to research an anonymous New York Occasions article by way of an reliable in his management.

    He stated Legal Professional General Jeff Sessions “have to be investigating who the writer of that piece was as a result of i truly consider it’s nationwide safety”.

    Mr Trump also said he was making an allowance for taking motion towards the newspaper, inflicting its percentage price to dip.

    But it is doubtful what criminal grounds any prosecutor may act on.

    The Whodunnit editorial difficult Washington Does ‘lodestar’ guide us to Trump writer?

    The Dept of Justice stated in response: “the dep. does not confirm, deny or another way recognize the existence or non-life of investigations.”

    Mr Trump used to be requested via reporters aboard Air Pressure One on Friday whether or not he was once was taking into account taking action over the The Big Apple Times op-ed.

    “We Are going to see,” mentioned Mr Trump, who was on his way to a rally in North Dakota. “I Am that at the moment.”

    Participants of his management and inside circle from the vice-president downwards had been lining as much as condemn the column and deny authorship.

    Nameless Trump op-ed passes key exams Linguistic clues to NYT insider?

    Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has recommended Mr Trump to habits lie detector checks to seek out out who wrote the piece.

    In Wednesday’s column, the writer slammed Mr Trump’s “amorality” and said a number people officials were part of a “quiet resistance” throughout the management.

    The writer mentioned they have been “working diligently from inside of to frustrate portions of his agenda and his worst tendencies”.

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    Media captionTrump calls senior respectable’s nameless editorial ‘gutless’

    Mr Trump told Fox & Buddies in an interview broadcast earlier on Friday that the op-ed used to be “unfair”.

    “What Is unfair, I Do Not thoughts once they write a e book and so they make lies as it gets discredited,” Mr Trump said.

    He said it is more difficult “while somebody writes and you cannot discredit because you have no thought who they’re”.

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  • Michael Moore premieres Trump ‘warning’ film Fahrenheit ELEVEN/9 at Toronto

    Michael Moore Symbol copyright Reuters Symbol caption Michael Moore spoke to the clicking about his film

    Oscar-profitable documentary maker Michael Moore has mentioned his up to date film approximately Donald Trump is “a siren call” to a “despairing, dispirited public”.

    Moore’s movie Fahrenheit ELEVEN/NINE explores why Mr Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the US presidential election.

    Its identify refers to NINE November 2016, the day of the election consequence, in addition as his 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/ELEVEN.

    His new movie premiered on the Toronto Film Pageant, the place he mentioned: “we are in a battle to get our country back.”

    The documentary film-maker won an Oscar in 2003 for Bowling for Columbine, in regards to the 1999 Columbine High School shootings and US gun culture.

    Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Symbol caption Chris Pine stars as Robert the Bruce

    Variety’s critic Stuart Oldham praised the film, pronouncing it “alternatives up the place Braveheart left off”. But The Hollywood Reporter was much less complimentary, announcing it was “something of a grind”.

    Toronto gave Outlaw King a major slot after Netflix pulled out of the Cannes Movie Festival in advance this 12 months in a dispute over whether or not collaborating films should have cinema releases.

    The Hollywood Reporter said Toronto used to be “the first time an important movie pageant has ever opened with a movie no longer slated for an immense theatrical release”.

    Symbol copyright Toronto International Movie Competition Image caption Peterloo was once directed by means of Mike Leigh

    The BBC’s Neil Smith mentioned an target market of press and industry delegates were left bemused because the discussion in his historic drama concerning the 1819 Peterloo Massacre changed into muffled and indistinct.

    Following court cases, the 2-and-a-half hour epic used to be halted and restarted after a 10-minute delay.

    Many audience members selected to go away in place of stay up for its resumption.

    The film, which features Maxine Peake and Rory Kinnear, is ready in and around Manchester, dramatising a calm professional-democracy demonstration in St Peter’s Fields that used to be forcibly damaged up at the value of no less than 10 lives.

    BBC Culture said the movie was once “purest Mike Leigh within the highest feel” and “must resonate in the provide”.

    Observe us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. in case you have a narrative suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

  • Israeli teen ‘dies in fall at Yosemite while taking selfie’

    Visitors walk past Columbia Rock in Cook's Meadow in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Symbol caption Yosemite Nationwide Park attracts hundreds of visitors from across the global every year

    An Israeli teenager has fallen to his loss of life in California’s Yosemite National Park whilst trying to take a selfie, reports say.

    Tomer Frankfurter, 18, have been on a -month go back and forth to the united states, Israeli media quoted his mom as saying.

    She mentioned she used to be told that her son were seeking to take a selfie whilst he slipped and fell 820ft (250m).

    Israel’s overseas ministry mentioned the youngster’s body was being introduced back for burial.

    In June, rock climbers fell to their deaths in Yosemite even as seeking to scale the granite rock formation, El Capitan.

    Every Other climber died in May at the Half Dome top above Yosemite Valley and a British climber lost his life in a rock fall on El Capitan final September.

    Yosemite Nationwide Park just recently reopened after being threatened via huge wildfires that experience raged across California.

  • Ohio officer who Tasered woman ‘violated department policy’

    Symbol copyright Police handout Image caption Officer Kevin Brown is accused of violated police protocols

    The officer mentioned he informed the girl to stop thrice as she tried to depart the store, in step with the document.

    He deployed his stun gun, hitting her in the back from about 10ft (3m) away before walking her back into the store.

    “you know what, sweetheart, this is why there is not any grocery stores in the black group, as a result of all this occurring,” the officer is heard telling the girl.

    “i did not need to do that, but y’all knew what you have been doing. Sweetheart, the very last thing I want to do is Tase you favor that,” Mr Brown is heard pronouncing in the grocery store manager’s administrative center.

    Officers got rid of the barbs and he or she was once taken to Cincinnati Children’s Health Center Clinical Center.

    She was once charged with robbery and obstructing official industry, however the charges have been later dropped.

    Symbol copyright Police handout Image caption the woman was once placed in handcuffs after the arrest

    The video has sparked outrage amongst native politicians and neighborhood leaders.

    Councilman Wendell Young, a former police officer, stated it gave the impression Mr Brown “polices the way he feels”.

    “I simply have no idea if you happen to have room at the police department for individuals like this. This man, from what i’m listening to, has serious problems,” he stated.

    the lady’s mother Donna Gowdy instructed CBS that his process is “to protect these kids”.

    “Should You cannot care for an ELEVEN-12 months-old child, then you really need to get off the police drive,” she mentioned.

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  • North Korean ‘spy’ charged over NHS cyber attack

    Jeanette Manfra, chief cybersecurity official for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), speaks about the Wannacry virus Symbol copyright Getty Pictures Symbol caption The U.s. and UK mentioned in December that North Korea was once chargeable for the malware attack

    US prosecutors have charged a North Korean guy speculated to have been all in favour of creating the malicious software used to cripple the united kingdom ’s Nationwide Well Being Carrier.

    The 2017 incident left NHS workforce reverting to pen and paper after being locked out of computer systems.

    Park Jin Hyok is alleged to be linked to the Lazarus Group.

    The hacking collective may be blamed for the hack on Sony Photos in 2014.

    The U.s. Division of Justice blames the North Korean-subsidized cyber staff for causing leading injury.

    “the size and scope of the cyber-crimes alleged by means of the criticism is dazzling and offensive to all who recognize the rule of regulation and the cyber norms usual by way of accountable international locations,” said the Assistant Lawyer Common for National Safety, John Demers.

    “The criticism alleges that the North Korean govt, thru a state-backed workforce; robbed a imperative financial institution and citizens of alternative international locations; retaliated in opposition to loose speech so as to cool it half an international away; and created disruptive malware that indiscriminately affected victims in additional than A HUNDRED AND FIFTY different nations, causing loads of hundreds of thousands, if not billions, of dollars ’ value of wear and tear.”

    North Korea robotically denies being desirous about hack attacks attributed to them.

    Mr Park is charged with one depend for conspiracy to devote pc fraud and abuse, and twine fraud.

    Prosecutors stated Mr Park was once believed to be in North Korea.

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    Media captionTechnology defined: what’s ransomware?

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  • Trump op-ed in Big Apple Instances passes the key assessments

    New York Times office Symbol copyright Reuters

    The First rule when writing opinion pieces is: do not be dull. Judging by way of its content material and the reaction it has provoked, the anonymous op-ed by way of a senior White Space authentic revealed via the new York Times has passed this take a look at.

    However has it handed the test justifying anonymity?

    Newshounds supply anonymity to resources on grounds: first, to protect them; 2d, as a result of there may be an editorial justification for conveying their views. this is applicable to information experiences and opinion pieces alike. Many US newspapers obey a church and state method to information and opinion, during which the editors of news pages at the brand new York Instances do not know what’s going to be within the opinion pages. that is done for prime-minded purposes, despite the fact that it moves many newshounds in different international locations, similar to Britain, as naïve, ludicrous, unwanted and impractical.

    Trump reliable: ‘I am a part of the resistance’ Does ‘lodestar’ guide us to Trump writer?

    despite the fact that there’s a separation among the inside track and opinion pages, the strategy to anonymity is knowledgeable through those same two concepts: coverage of sources, and editorial justification. A reporter may have used the words in the op-ed to tell a news tale; but occasionally there is such a lot the supply wants to say that imparting it in op-ed shape is healthier. Wrapping it in a news story does not essentially upload so much.

    This begins to handle considered one of the criticisms fabricated from the thing. in the Washington Post, which has this week been sporting the reporting from inside the White Area of its affiliate editor Bob Woodward, Erik Wemple argues that newshounds were getting this kind of element from assets regularly when you consider that Trump’s election. Therefore, Wemple says, the op-ed has “now not a lot of reports price”.

    Some Other complaint made through Wemple is that that is “a PR stunt”. Is it? And if it supplied definitely exposure for the new York Times, so what? there’s nothing innately mistaken with opinion items creating a noise and raising the profile of a selected organ. it will handiest be a stunt, within the pejorative experience of that phrase, if the only real function was once to spice up that organ’s logo. that isn’t the case here.

    A more intriguing argument is that made via David Frum Within The Atlantic. He says that the writer of the op-ed has provoked a “constitutional hindrance”. They Have Got “thrown the government of the United States Of America into even more bad turmoil. He or she has enflamed the paranoia of the president and empowered the president’s wilfulness”.

    President Trump himself has accused the writer of cowardice.

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    Media captionTrump calls senior legit’s anonymous editorial “gutless”

    But no person must conflate the journalistic motivation of the brand new York Occasions with either the non-public morality of the individual or the political duty of White Area officials. A newspaper’s task isn’t to disclaim cowards a platform, or be sure that a department of presidency purposes neatly. it’s to find issues out, analyse them, and tell the citizenry, the better to habits a democracy.

    The author of this op-ed could also be a coward. The White House may now be marginally in the direction of full-blown hindrance, despite the fact that for now, I doubt it’s any worse than after the e-newsletter of Michael Wolff’s Hearth and Fury.

    Why the Woodward impact damages Trump Woodward on Trump – the explosive fees

    The questions for the brand new York Occasions are: has this taken the story on, aided our figuring out of the Trump management, and given readers helpful information? Sure, sure, and sure.

    Has it undermined journalists? Is it a mere PR stunt? And is it uninteresting? No, no, and no.

    “Put Up and be damned,” stated Wellington, in 1824 – however the principle is timeless.

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  • Roy Moore sues Sacha Baron Cohen for defamation over TV stunt

    Composite image of Roy Moore and Sacha Baron Cohen Image copyright Reuters Symbol caption Roy Moore (L) says he was tricked into showing on Sacha Baron Cohen’s show

    Former US Senate candidate Roy Moore is suing the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for defamation after falling sufferer to a TELEVISION display prank.

    In a cartoon for his collection Who’s The United States?, Baron Cohen pretends to be an Israeli anti-terrorism skilled demonstrating a “paedophile detector”.

    When the “device” is waved near Mr Moore, it beeps.

    In closing year’s Senate campaign, Mr Moore was once dogged via allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies.

    His attorneys say the satirist falsely accused their consumer of being a sex perpetrator. they are in search of $95m (£73m) in damages from Baron Cohen and from the Showtime and CBS networks.

    Sacha Baron Cohen ridicule activates Georgia lawmaker to hand over Sarah Palin ‘duped’ for Baron Cohen TELEVISION collection Combined opinions for Baron Cohen display

    Representatives for Baron Cohen have not replied to the lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Washington. A spokeswoman for Showtime mentioned it did not comment on pending litigation.

    Mr Moore, 71, stood as a Republican candidate in ultimate year’s Senate race in his house state of Alabama, however lost to Democratic opponent Doug Jones.

    He have been anticipated to win in the conservative state, however his marketing campaign was dogged via allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers. He strongly denies any wrongdoing.

    In Might, Mr Moore filed a defamation lawsuit in opposition to girls who made allegations against him, pronouncing they have been part of a “political conspiracy” to undermine his campaign.

    ‘Severe stress’

    Mr Moore stated he had travelled to Washington to look on what he concept used to be an Israeli TV display in the trust that he used to be to receive an award for his pro-Israel stance.

    The complaint says: “Defendant Cohen’s character falsely and fraudulently offered a false and fraudulent ‘instrument’ supposedly invented by means of the Israeli Army to locate paedophiles.

    “in the course of the section, Defendant Cohen’s ‘instrument’ – as a part of the fake and fraudulent routine – purports to locate Pass Judgement On Moore as a sex offender, thus defaming him.”

    The criticism says Mr Moore, his wife and their entire family suffered “severe emotional misery and ache… particularly given his standing as a distinguished conservative and God fearing individual of religion”.

    In the show broadcast in the US in July, whilst the beep sounds, Mr Moore tells Baron Cohen: “I support Israel. I Do Not enhance this kind of stuff.” He then walks out.

    Mr Moore was once not the primary public determine duped into a fake interview in a Baron Cohen show.

    In July, Georgia lawmaker Jason Spencer, ridiculed for losing his trousers and the usage of racial slurs on Who’s The Usa?, stated he could resign.

    The Republican state representative initially refused to quit after the display aired.