International

Bolsonaro ex-minister arrested for ‘influence peddling’

AFP

A Brazilian former education minister accused of influence peddling, allegedly at the request of President Jair Bolsonaro, was arrested Wednesday, police and a defense lawyer said.

Milton Ribeiro resigned in March over allegations that he channeled public funds to allies of two influential Evangelical pastors at Bolsonaro’s “special request.”

Newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo revealed an audio recording of Ribeiro saying he gave priority in deciding school-funding requests to municipalities governed by “friends” of the pastors.

One mayor reportedly said he had been asked for a kilo of gold in exchange for having his school-funding request cleared.

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The claims triggered calls from opposition lawmakers for Ribeiro and Bolsonaro to be investigated.

Bolsonaro, a conservative Catholic, won the presidency in 2018 with solid backing from Brazil’s powerful Evangelical Christian movement.

He is keen to keep the Evangelical vote as he seeks reelection in October, trailing in the polls to leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro and Ribeiro, himself a Presbyterian pastor, have denied wrongdoing.

“Based on documents, testimony and the final report of the preliminary investigation… possible indications of criminal practice in the granting of public budgets were identified,” Brazilian police said in a statement.

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Ribeiro’s arrest, it said, was the result of an operation across four Brazilian states Wednesday morning to dismantle a criminal network, with officers armed with five arrest warrants and 13 search warrants.

He risks a sentence of between two and five years for influence peddling and two to 12 years for corruption, the police said.

Ribeiro’s lawyer Daniel Bialski in a statement described his client’s arrest as “unjust” and “indisputably unnecessary.”

The Ministry of Education confirmed its premises were searched on Wednesday and said it intended to cooperate with investigators.

In March, Bolsonaro defended Ribeiro and called the claims “cowardly.”

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On Wednesday, the president appeared to distance himself from his former minister.

“Let him answer for his actions, I pray to God that he has no problem. But if he does, it shows that I have no influence on the police,” the far-right president told the Itaitiaia radio station.

“I have 23 ministers, about a hundred secretaries of state… If someone does something wrong, will they blame me?” he added.

Ribeiro, 64, took office in July 2020 — the third education minister in the cabinet of Bolsonaro, whose government was shaken by an avalanche of resignations and dismissals.

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International

Hiroshima survivor who embraced Obama dies at 88

The emotional embrace between Barack Obama and Hiroshima survivor Mori—who was eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945—resonated around the world.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other local media, Mori died on Saturday at a hospital in Hiroshima.

Mori, known for his research on the fate of American prisoners of war in Hiroshima, was thrown into a river by the force of the explosion on August 6, 1945, during the atomic bombing of the city.

In a past interview with AFP, ahead of his meeting with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 2016, Mori recalled the chaos and desperation that followed the blast.

He described how, after emerging from the water, he encountered injured civilians seeking help amid the devastation, an experience that stayed with him throughout his life.

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In 2016, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare. During the visit, Mori was visibly moved as he met the president, sharing a brief but powerful moment that symbolized remembrance and reconciliation.

The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of approximately 140,000 people, including those who succumbed to radiation exposure in the aftermath.

Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people and contributing to the end of World War II.

International

Colombia seeks ‘total suffocation’ of armed groups with regional support

Colombia is advancing a strategy aimed at the “total suffocation” of illegal armed groups, seeking to corner them in border regions with the support of Ecuador and Venezuela, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an interview with AFP.

According to the minister, coordinated pressure from neighboring countries—backed by United States—aims to dismantle criminal networks that use cross-border routes to traffic Colombian cocaine toward North America and Europe.

For decades, armed groups involved in Colombia’s internal conflict have relied on border territories as strategic rear bases to evade military operations and maintain logistical support.

However, Sánchez said that dynamic is beginning to change.

“We expect a total suffocation between both nations so they have no spaces where they can live or feel safe […] to close off any room they might have,” he stated during the interview in Bogotá, less than five months before the end of President Gustavo Petro’s term.

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Regional developments have reinforced this strategy. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, Washington has increased its influence in Caracas, where interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has implemented a renewed anti-narcotics policy.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa—a key U.S. ally in the region—has launched a two-week security plan under strict curfews to combat criminal gangs, with U.S. support.

Sánchez argued that these combined efforts leave illegal organizations with fewer escape routes and operational spaces, effectively placing them in a “dead end.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.