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Bolsonaro's electoral outlook contrasts sharply with former U.S. President Donald Trump, another right-wing populist who challenged the results of his failed re-election campaign. Bolsonaro never conceded his narrow defeat in the October election and continues to question the reliability of Brazil's voting system. RISING CONSERVATIVE STARSStill, conservative powerbrokers allied with Bolsonaro are ready to reshuffle the deck for the next election cycle. He said a TSE decision to bar Bolsonaro from running would only boost the ex-president's political appeal. Any right-wing substitute could win with his endorsement, he added, while side-stepping the high rejection rates Bolsonaro faced as a candidate last year.

☆ Hong Kong transgender protesters say government is not abiding by landmark ruling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Jessie Pang | Thomson Reuters | Jessie Pang Joined Reuters In After An Internship. She Covers Hong Kong With A Focus On Politics | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Tyrone SiuHONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters) - A group of Hong Kong transgender people staged a small protest on Friday against a delay by authorities in changing the gender indicated on their identity documents, saying they have yet to be fully recognised despite a landmark court ruling in February. "The government is using administrative tactics to deliberately delay the whole process," Tse told Reuters. Another protester, Emery Fung, 28, who has a gender marker change application pending, said he had not been given a timeline despite trying to ask the authorities numerous times. The department would not confirm whether it had suspended applications for gender marker changes since the ruling, as reported by media, nor say how many people were affected. 'HUGE PRESSURE'Kelley Loper, an expert in human rights law at the University of Hong Kong, criticised the government's failure to implement the decision swiftly.

☆ China travel rebound bets turn toward airports, away from airlines
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"We are optimistic on a rebound in regional and international travel and continue to get exposure through airports and airplane leasing." Shares of Air China, China Eastern and China Southern have gained between 7% to 17% in the past four months, with Air China and China Southern trading above their 5-year average forward earnings, according to Refinitiv data. Airports under perform AirlinesIn the battle for Chinese travelers, local airlines are expected to fare better than regional airlines such as Qantas (QAN.AX), Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI) and Cathay Pacific (0293.HK), mainly because Chinese airlines kept more widebody planes and staff ready. All three Chinese airlines are expected to swing to profit in 2023 after reporting big losses last year, according to Refinitiv data. Analysts expect Chinese airlines will see profits peak next year as international traffic makes a fuller rebound.

☆ A Spanish firm wants to kill one million octopuses a year using 'ice slurry' baths at first-ever factory farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A proposed commercial octopus farm is sparking outrage among experts and animal rights campaigners. The farm would slaughter roughly one million octopuses each year by submerging them in icy water. In a report released Thursday, the activist group said that Nueva Pescanova intends to slaughter around one million octopuses each year by submerging them in a freezing "ice slurry." In particular, it said, the slaughter of the octopuses "involves proper handling that avoids any pain or suffering to the animal." "To kill them with ice would be a slow death," Dr. Peter Tse, who studies octopus cognition at Dartmouth, told the BBC.

☆ The 20 best airports in the world according to passengers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Aviation ranking website Skytrax has revealed the world's best airports for 2023. "Changi Airport is honoured to be named World's Best Airport for the 12th time," Changi CEO Lee Seow Hiang said in a press release. Of the top 20 airports, nine are in Europe, eight are in Asia, two are in North America, and one is in Australia. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Vancouver International Airport came in at numbers 18 and 20, barely making the list. In fact, Seattle once again won the award for being North America's best airport, and LaGuardia's Terminal B won "world's best new airport terminal."

"Wu-Tang: An American Saga" is back for its third and final season on Hulu. How to watch 'Wu-Tang: An American Saga'"Wu-Tang: An American Saga" is available to watch exclusively on Hulu. You can stream "Wu-Tang: An American Saga" for free if you sign up for a Hulu trial. How many episodes are in 'Wu-Tang: An American Saga' season 3? "Wu-Tang: An American Saga" will end with season 3; it is the final season of the series.

☆ Brazilian justice confirms senator told him about election conspiracy meeting with Bolsonaro
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LISBON/SAO PAULO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes confirmed on Friday that Senator Marcos do Val told him about an election conspiracy meeting he allegedly attended with former President Jair Bolsonaro and former lawmaker Daniel Silveira last year. Moraes said during an event held in Lisbon that Do Val approached him to talk about the meeting. The justice said he then asked the senator to testify formalizing the allegations, but Do Val declined to do so. Do Val told reporters on Thursday that Bolsonaro, narrowly defeated by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in an October vote, "sat in silence" while Silveira laid out the plot against Moraes at the meeting. Silveira was arrested by police on Thursday on a warrant issued by Moraes, who accused him of disobeying court rulings.

☆ 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.

☆ Fact Check-Source code behind Brazil’s voting machine was released for external inspection in October 2021
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Social media users have falsely claimed that the source code behind Brazil’s electronic voting machines was not made available for external inspection and that it is being hidden because it proves fraud. One user shared a clip of protesters gathered in front of the National Congress in Brasilia with a caption that reads: “All we want is the source code from the voting machines. The code was made available for inspection to several supervisory bodies, including the country’s Armed Forces, Federal Police, accredited non-profit organizations and Brazilian Bar Association (here). The source code behind Brazil’s voting machines was released for inspection by external bodies in October 2021 – a year before the election. A report by the country’s Armed Forces found no problems with the October 2022 vote, but did say there were vulnerabilities in the code that could be exploited.

☆ 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.

"We had such a hard time, and I would rather have more Chinese people come than the government restricting their entry so I can do business." "Tour bus operators who have had their vehicles idly parked for over three years are now gearing up for (bus) inspections," said Thai Tour Bus Association President Wasuchet Sophonsatien. Thailand, Japan, the United States, South Korea, Australia, Macao, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan were the most-searched destinations. Yue Hua Entertainment Korea, which manages Tempest, did not respond to a request for comment. "The pandemic outbreak on the mainland is still vigorous and needs time to recover, while domestic consumption remains weak on the mainland."

Bolsonaro, a far-right nationalist, left Brazil for Florida on Friday after losing to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil's most fraught vote in a generation. Bolsonaro's U.S. trip insulates him from any immediate legal jeopardy in Brazil, where he is under investigation in at least four criminal probes. Under Brazil's constitution, a sitting president can only be arrested if he is convicted by the Supreme Court. From September, Lula will be able to install his own prosecutor general, who has the power to charge Bolsonaro if his cases remain with the Supreme Court. Bolsonaro also faces 12 requests for investigation at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) for baseless claims Brazil's electoral system is liable to fraud, as well as alleged abuses of power for granting economic benefits to win votes.

DePape pled not guilty on Wednesday to all charges and denied all the allegations, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. In November, DePape pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges in relation to the attack on the House speaker's husband. A San Francisco police officer testified earlier in December that he witnessed the October attack. Prosecutors say the suspect, demanding to see the Democratic House speaker, had broken into her home and attacked her husband. After the attack, Paul Pelosi underwent surgery for a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands.

☆ In Hong Kong, designers try out new assistant: AI fashion maven AiDA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The show put more than 80 outfits from 14 designers in the spotlight, all of which were created with the help of the artificial intelligence software AiDA, short for "AI-based Interactive Design Assistant”. Masked in monochrome blue, wearing outfits that ranged from down jackets to translucent skirts, models strutted past rows of critics and fashion designers. “AiDA is an assistant for fashion designers just to help them, you know, to work together," Wong said. The AiDA system is supported by AI technologies such as image recognition, detection, and image generation, Wong said. AiDA was officially launched with the Fashion X AI show, and is available to designers in Europe and Asia Pacific.

☆ 'Asia's El Chapo' extradited to Australia to face drug trafficking charges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Alasdair Pal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WELLINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Australian Federal Police (AFP) said on Thursday it had taken the head of a global drug trafficking syndicate, dubbed 'Asia's El Chapo', into custody after he was extradited from the Netherlands. The AFP did not identify the person arrested by name, and does not typically disclose the names of arrested individuals before trial. A person familiar with the case said the man arrested was Canadian citizen Tse Chi Lop, one of the world's most prominent drug lords. A second man was arrested by the AFP in June in connection with the case. "The AFP will make Australia a hostile environment for all trans-national serious organised crime syndicates that target our communities."

☆ Fact Check-Bolsonaro did not ‘annul’ Brazil’s election and the military did not find evidence of ‘fraud’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Brazil’s electoral court certified president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s win on Dec. 12, 2022, contrary to claims that the election was fraudulent and annulled by President Jair Bolsonaro. There is no evidence that Bolsonaro has annulled the election results or has the power to do so, however. The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) is the highest body of the electoral system. Reuters previously debunked similar claims about Brazil’s presidential election (here) and fact checks misinformation in Brazil in Portuguese (here). Brazil’s supreme electoral court, who has power to annul elections in the country, certified the results of this year’s general election.

☆ Asia-Pacific stocks climb as Hong Kong scraps Covid restrictions for incoming travelers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Pedestrians cross a road in front of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Asia-Pacific shares opened in positive territory as investors look ahead to a highly anticipated Federal Reserve meeting and U.S. CPI data reading. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.67% after Chief Executive John Lee announced further easing of Covid restrictions. The Nikkei 225 in Japan added 0.40% to close at 27,954.85, while the Topix inched up 0.43% to 1,965.68. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.29%.

☆ Bolsonaro challenges Brazil election he lost to Lula
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro challenged the election he lost in October to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and is arguing that votes from some machines should be "invalidated" in a complaint that election authorities met with initial skepticism. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has challenged the election he lost last month to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, arguing votes from some machines should be "invalidated" in a complaint that election authorities met with initial skepticism. Brazil's currency deepened losses after news of the electoral complaint, closing 1.3% weaker against the U.S. dollar. Gleisi Hoffmann, the president of Lula's Workers Party (PT), described Bolsonaro's election complaint as "chicanery." "The election was decided in the vote and Brazil needs peace to build a better future."

The complaint was met with skepticism by election authorities and other political figures who have recognized Lula's victory. The head of Brazil's Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, said the election result was "unquestionable," while the center-right Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) called Bolsonaro's challenge "senseless." When the PSDB challenged the result of the 2014 presidential election, the investigation took one year and no irregularities were found. Vice President Hamilton Mourao, on a trip to Portugal, acknowledged on Wednesday that Bolsonaro's challenge was unlikely to succeed but said Brazil's electoral process needed more "transparency." Analyst Andre Cesar at Hold Legislativa consultancy said, however, that the challenge would provide ammunition for an ongoing protest movement of Bolsonaro's hardcore supporters.

☆ Asia-Pacific markets mixed as investors weigh risks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Abigail Ng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

People walk past the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) on October 01, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Shares in the Asia-Pacific were set to rise on Tuesday as investors weigh risks. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% ahead of central bank governor Philip Lowe's speech at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia. The Kospi and the Kosdaq in South Korea each fell 0.34%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was about flat.

[1/2] Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gives a press statement at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, November 1, 2022. Bolsonaro's claim seems unlikely to get far, as Lula's victory has been ratified by the TSE and acknowledged by Brazil's leading politicians and international allies. Bolsonaro's right-wing electoral coalition, which filed the complaint, said its audit of the vote count had found "signs of irreparable... malfunction" in older voting machines. "There were signs of serious failures that generate uncertainties and make it impossible to validate the results generated" in several older models of the voting machines, Bolsonaro allies said in their complaint. Brazil's currency deepened losses after news of the electoral complaint, losing 1.5% against the U.S. dollar in afternoon trading.

☆ Asia-Pacific markets little changed ahead of China activity data release
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Abigail Ng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

A man walks past the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. Shares in the Asia-Pacific were little changed on Tuesday ahead of a slew of economic data from China, and following the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was slightly lower. Japan's economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter, official data showed. China is set to report industrial production and retail sales data.

☆ Hong Kong's economy shrinks for third straight quarter, outlook dims
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's economy contracted 4.5% in the third quarter from a year earlier, advance government data showed on Friday, weighed down by rising global interest rates and a slump in trade. It was the third consecutive quarter of year-on-year contraction for the Asian financial hub's gross domestic product (GDP), and marked the worst contraction since the second quarter of 2020. "Looking forward, the markedly deteriorating external environment will continue to pose immense pressure on Hong Kong's export performance," a government spokesman said in a statement, adding that geopolitical tensions and uncertainties over COVID-19 will add downside risks. Cases of negative equity in Hong Kong's residential mortgage loans registered a near nine-fold increase in the third quarter from the previous one, with a fall in house prices accelerating during the period. "(Hong Kong) economic outlook remains cloudy on all fronts if the border remains partially opened in the fourth quarter," said Samuel Tse, an economist at DBS Bank.

☆ Brazil election marked by disinformation networks, says Carter Center
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAO PAULO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The Carter Center said on Friday that Brazil's presidential election was marked by a proliferation of sophisticated disinformation attacking the voting system and then questioning the impartiality of the national electoral authority. The U.S.-based non-profit group, a pioneer of international election observation since the 1980s, said that both the winning leftist candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and far-right President Jair Bolsonaro were targets of disinformation. In the second round of the election, the focus shifted to questioning the impartiality of the TSE, the Carter Center said. In the final weeks of the campaign, the court decided to expand its ability to rapidly remove content from social media platforms, a move the Carter Center said "raised concerns about interference with fundamental rights." Lula, a former president, narrowly won the run-off by 50.9% against 49.1% for Bolsonaro in Brazil's most divisive election in decades.

☆ Asia markets slip ahead of U.S. jobs report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Pedestrians cross a road in front of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Friday as markets continued to process the U.S. Federal Reserve's 75 basis point interest rate hike. The monthly U.S. employment report is scheduled to be released later. Economists expect 205,000 jobs were added in October, and forecast the unemployment rate remained at 3.5%, according to Dow Jones. The S&P 500 lost 1.06% to finish at 3,719.89, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.73% to settle at 10,342.94.

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