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☆ A $44.95 Million Home Lists in Puerto Rico, as Property Prices There Reach New Heights
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( E.B. Solomont | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Be the first to know about the biggest and best luxury home sales and listings by signing up for our Mansion Deals email alert. A home in Puerto Rico is coming on the market for $44.95 million, which would set a record for the U.S. territory, said listing agent Ricardo Rodriguez of Puerto Rico Sotheby’s International Realty.

☆ Brazil senator says he attended election conspiracy meeting with Bolsonaro
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ricardo Brito | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A Brazilian senator said on Thursday that a close ally of former President Jair Bolsonaro tried to persuade the senator to join a conspiracy to overturn the far-right leader's electoral loss last year. Senator Marcos do Val told a news conference that he had been invited to a meeting on Dec. 9 with then-President Bolsonaro by his associate, former lawmaker Daniel Silveira. At the meeting, Silveira asked the senator to try to get the head of the electoral court to make compromising comments in a taped conversation that could lead to the judge's arrest, Val said. The senator told reporters that Bolsonaro "sat in silence" while Silveira laid out the plot against Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court judge running Brazil's top electoral authority (TSE). Silveira told the former president that Val, a Bolsonaro supporter, could be trusted and asked Bolsonaro to present "the idea that would save Brazil" to him, according to the Veja report.

☆ A fungus pandemic is unlikely, but not impossible. There's real science behind the mushroom zombies in HBO's new series 'The Last of Us.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The new HBO Max series "The Last of Us" depicts a zombie apocalypse caused by a fungus pandemic. Here's the science fact and fiction behind the show, and the possibility of a fungal pandemic. The new scenario, first realized in the video game that the show is based on, is making viewers wonder whether a fungus pandemic can happen in real life. "A fungal pandemic is definitely possible," Norman Van Rhijn, a mycologist researching fungal infections at the University of Manchester, told Insider in an email. Still, fungal infections are on the rise worldwide, and researchers are concerned that more and more people are at risk.

☆ 3 dead, 1 missing as rain pounds New Zealand’s largest city
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Authorities said Saturday that three people had died and at least one was missing after record levels of rainfall pounded New Zealand’s largest city, causing widespread disruption. He said the city was in for a big cleanup and that people should remain indoors if possible. On Friday evening, more than 15 centimeters (6 inches) of rain fell in just three hours in some places. Hundreds of people were stranded at Auckland Airport overnight after the airport stopped all flights and parts of the terminal were flooded. “It’s been a long and challenging night at Auckland Airport, we thank everyone for ongoing patience,” the airport wrote.

☆ Americans are going 'recession brunette' as economic woes force cutbacks on luxuries like hair-coloring
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

With prices still high, and recession concerns looming, people are going "recession brunette." Jacque Garza went recession brunette. Alonso charges $550 to dye a client's hair brunette, with little pops of lighter color to add dimension. If I had the money I would a hundred percent be blonde," Fitzgerald, the 25-year-old recession brunette, said. "It definitely has made me realize, okay this person can afford to do this to their hair right now.

☆ U.S. bars Panamanian ex-President Martinelli from entering the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The United States will bar former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli and his immediate family from entering the country, accusing him of accepting bribes, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. Martinelli, who was in office from 2009 to 2014, "accepted bribes in exchange for improperly awarding government contracts during his tenure as the president," Blinken said in a statement. Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil Justice Moraes fines Telegram for not complying with court order
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes fined on Wednesday messaging app Telegram for failing to comply with a court order that called for the suspension of accounts of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Telegram will be fined 1.2 million reais ($236,527), the decision said. Moraes gave Telegram five days to pay the fine from the day of the decision. In March 2022, Moraes ordered the suspension of messaging app Telegram, saying it had repeatedly refused to adhere to judicial orders to freeze accounts spreading disinformation. The suspension was revoked days later, after the company complied with court requests.

☆ Brazil's Yanomami region looks like ‘concentration camp,’ says official
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

“It looks like a concentration camp,” Tapeba, a doctor appointed to the position by Brazil’s new government, said in a radio interview. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, visits the Yanomami Indigenous Health House (Casai) in the Boa Vista rural area, Roraima state, Brazil, on Saturday. “It’s an extreme calamity, many Yanomami are suffering from malnutrition and there is a total absence of the Brazilian state,” Tapeba said. This can only be resolved by removing the gold miners and that can only be done by the armed forces,” he said. Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the removal of the gold miners.

☆ Brazil police say gang leader likely ordered killing of British journalist, Amazon expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 23 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal police said on Monday they had a "strong conviction" a gang leader known as "Colombia" ordered the brutal murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, killed in the Amazon rainforest last June. The gang leader, Ruben Dario da Silva Villar, is already in police detention after being charged along with three other people for double homicide and concealment of corpses. According to police, Villar was the leader and key financier of an armed criminal group engaged in illegal fishing in the Amazon. Pereira and Phillips vanished last year in a trip to the remote Javari Valley, on the border between Peru and Colombia. Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by Sarah Morland and Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Lula replaces Brazil's army commander, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Lisandra Paraguassu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired the army commander, General Julio Cesar de Arruda, on Saturday, a source with knowledge of the matter said. His replacement will be General Tomas Miguel Ribeiro Paiva, army commander of the southeast, the source said. Brazil's army and the Ministry of Defense did not immediately comment on the matter. Lula said this week that intelligence services failed on Jan. 8, when government buildings in Brasilia were stormed by supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro. Lula has said recently that his government would purge hardcore Bolsonaro loyalists from the security forces.

☆ Brazil defense minister says military not directly involved in Brasilia riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Brazil Minister of Defense Jose Mucio said on Friday that the country's armed forces were not directly involved in the riots by supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed government buildings calling for a coup. Mucio met on Friday with Lula and the commanders of the armed forces aiming to reduce tensions. He said the riots were not discussed and the meeting focused on plans for military procurement and investments in Brazil's defense industry, with business leaders present, the minister said. "I understand that there was no direct involvement of the Armed Forces, but if anyone was personally involved (in the riots) that will be investigated," Mucio told reporters after the meeting. The storming of government building will not happened again "because the Armed Forces will anticipate it," Mucio said.

☆ Brazil police raid governor's house over capital riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The raid targeted Rocha's house and workplaces, police said. Rocha was not on site during the raid, which was followed by lawyers from his defense team. This raid it is unnecessary and fruitless," his lawyer Cleber Lopes said, adding that the governor had no connection to the violence. The operation drew criticism from lawyers, as Rocha was head of the Brazilian Bar Association before he became governor. It included 24 warrants covering five states and the capital Brasilia, it said in a statement.

☆ Brazil's Lula says intelligence services failed ahead of Brasilia riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ricardo Brito | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday his intelligence services had failed on Jan. 8, when Brasilia buildings were stormed by supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro. "We made an elementary mistake: my intelligence did not exist (that day)," Lula told TV channel GloboNews in an interview. "We have Army intelligence, Air Force intelligence, ABIN (Brazil's Intelligence Agency); none of them warned me." The Brazilian insurrection resembled the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. The Brazilian president said he was also set to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Brazil later this month, as Reuters first reported last month.

☆ Brazil's Lula removes soldiers from guarding presidential residence
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has removed 40 troops guarding the presidential residence after expressing distrust in the military for failing to act against demonstrators that ransacked government buildings on Jan. 8. Most of the troops guarding the Alvorada palace, as the presidential residence is called, are from the army, but some are also members of the Navy, Air Force and a militarized police force. The president's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on who would replace the troops guarding the residence. Several thousand Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Congress, the Planalto presidential palace and the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the result of the October election narrowly won by Lula. There were many people from the armed forces who were complicit," Lula told journalists.

☆ Bolsonaro's ex-justice minister arrested in Brazilian capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Brazil's former Justice Minister Anderson Torres, who was in charge of public security in Brasilia during the invasion of government buildings a week ago, was arrested in Brasilia on Saturday on suspicion of "omission" and "connivance". Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Torres' arrest on Tuesday. According to Anderson Torres, the document was "leaked out of context" after being seized when he was not at his residence, and was probably part of a pile of papers for disposal. "Everything would be taken to be shredded in due course," the former minister said in a post on Twitter on Thursday. Justice Minister Flavio Dino had given Torres until Monday to return, after which he said he would have started extradition procedures.

☆ Brazil has made no request to U.S. about Bolsonaro, Torres -minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Brazilian Supreme Court has ordered the arrest of the former minister, Anderson Torres, who has said he would turn himself in but is now in Florida, as is Bolsonaro. Dozens of U.S. Congress members asked the United States to revoke Bolsonaro's visa after his supporters stormed Brasilia earlier this month. New Justice Minister Flavio Dino told a news conference he would wait until next week to re-evaluate Torres' case, indicating that an effort to request his extradition could happen if the former minister does not turn himself in. The arrest warrant against Torres was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, after the storming of public buildings in Brasilia last Sunday. The former justice minister, who says he is vacationing in Orlando, claimed that the reported document was likely among others in a stack being thrown out and was "leaked" in his absence to create a "false narrative."

☆ Brazil's prosecutors asks Supreme Court to investigate Bolsonaro's role in Brasilia riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian federal prosecutors on Friday asked the Supreme Court to investigate the role of former President Jair Bolsonaro in the anti-democratic acts that resulted in the storming of government buildings by his supporters in Brasilia last Sunday. Reporting by Ricardo Brito Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil police find draft decree in ex-minister's house to revert election -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Ricardo Brito | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

My conscience is clear regarding my actions as minister," Torres wrote. Analysts said the measures proposed in the document would amount to an unconstitutional conspiracy to meddle in the election. A lawyer for the former justice minister, Demostenes Torres told Reuters he was not aware of the document, but noted that it was "impossible" to change the election result. The document was ready for presidential signature, the source told Reuters, requesting anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. He briefly posted a video this week on social media suggesting Lula had in fact lost the election.

BRASILIA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The leader of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro's political party said on Wednesday that any member identified in videos taking part in the ransacking of government buildings on Sunday would be immediately expelled from the party. Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the right-wing Liberal Party, said his party, the largest in Brazil's Congress, condemned the rampage on Sunday in which Bolsonaro supporters vandalized the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace. While the PL party has recognized the election result, Bolsonaro has suggested without any evidence that the election was stolen by manipulating Brazil's electronic voting system. Bolsonaro, whose nationalist populism sharply polarized Brazil's electorate during his four-year term, has been named honorary president of the PL. He and his wife Michelle Bolsonaro will have offices at party headquarters with paid salaries.

Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro's justice minister from 2021 to 2022, took a job as Brasilia security chief after leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office on Jan. 1. "This was a structured sabotage operation, commanded by Bolsonaro's ex-minister Anderson Torres," Ricardo Cappelli, the official leading a post-invasion federal intervention into Brasilia's public security, told CNN Brasil. "Torres took over as secretary for security (in Brasilia), dismissed the whole chain of command and then took a trip. The shakeup of capital security highlights a wider challenge facing Lula, whose new government must now deal with a sweeping criminal investigation of the Brasilia riots while establishing a fresh chain of command among police and security forces. For example, the appointment of Torres, 47, at the Justice Ministry followed years of friendly relations with Bolsonaro's family.

The government of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva bolstered security measures nationwide as flyers appeared on pro-Bolsonaro social media calling for mass demonstrations in Brazilian cities to "retake power." Ricardo Cappelli, the federal official in charge of public security in the capital since Sunday, said all security forces had been mobilized to prevent protests and that there would be no repeat of rioting. So far, 727 of the over 1,500 involved in Sunday's riots have been imprisoned. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Moraes's arrest warrant for Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro's former justice minister who oversaw public security in Brasilia during Sunday's riots. The former president, whom Lula has blamed for inflaming the protests, did not mention Sunday's riots.

[1/2] A Brazilian flag is seen through broken glass following the anti-democratic riots, at Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, January 10, 2023. What many banks point to is the assumed risk premium already built in to Brazilian real interest rates. But beyond Brazilian markets, the wide global markets calm surrounding the weekend events was equally curious. After all, Brazil is the 12th largest economy in the world and one of the biggest food and raw materials exporters. Among the 10 biggest risks it lists by likelihood is emerging markets political risks that threaten political institutions.

It was totally avoidable.”Now, Bolsonaro is in Orlando, where he has supporters among the state's growing number of Brazilian Americans. After Bolsonaro's loss, unfounded claims of election fraud, reminiscent of those in the U.S., began to surface in Brazil. Bannon had said prior to the Brazilian election that Bolsonaro would lose only if “the machines” steal the election. Leading to the presidential elections in Brazil, Trump allies exported many of the former president's campaign strategies to the Latin American country. After Bolsonaro's October loss, tens of thousands of supporters began camping outside military facilities throughout Brazil to protest his loss.

☆ Brazil must 'combat terrorism,' top court justice says after capital riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRASILIA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said on Tuesday the country must firmly combat "terrorism" and "anti-democratic people attempting a coup" after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed Brasilia earlier this week. "Democracy will prevail and Brazilian institutions will not bend," said Moraes, who leads a probe into anti-democratic protests that has already yielded several arrests. Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Editing by Steven GrattanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil's Supreme Court orders arrest of Bolsonaro's ex-justice minister, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRASILIA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered the arrest of former Justice Minister Anderson Torres, who served under former President Jair Bolsonaro and who was in charge of public security in Brasilia during Sunday's invasion of government buildings, a source told Reuters on Tuesday. Torres, who was removed from office on Sunday, is currently in the United States, raising questions about his next move. The Supreme Court said it could not confirm the arrest warrant. Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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