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.
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.
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.”
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.
International
Abelardo de la Espriella sworn in as Colombia’s president for 2026-2030
Lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in Friday as Colombia’s president for the 2026-2030 term during an inauguration ceremony held at the USC Arena of the Santiago de Cali University in Valle del Cauca.
“I swear to God and promise the Colombian people to faithfully uphold the Constitution and the laws of Colombia,” De la Espriella, 48, said as he took the oath before Senate President Honorio Henríquez, who subsequently placed the presidential sash on him, formally marking the transfer of power from former President Gustavo Petro.
At the same time, members of the Colombian Army performed the traditional 21-gun salute from the José María Córdova Military Cadet School in Bogotá. After receiving the presidential sash, De la Espriella was applauded by those attending the ceremony and greeted by his family.
The new president later swore in Vice President José Manuel Restrepo. The ceremony also included the participation of 74-year-old farmer Luis Felipe Yagüé, whom De la Espriella invited as an honorary guest as a symbol of his support for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
De la Espriella arrived at the venue with his wife, Ana Lucía Pineda, and their four minor children. More than 1,000 national and international guests attended the ceremony, which began more than an hour later than scheduled.
Among the international figures present were King Felipe VI of Spain and presidents Javier Milei of Argentina, Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, Santiago Peña of Paraguay, José Raúl Mulino of Panama, Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic, José Antonio Kast of Chile and Nasry Asfura of Honduras. FIFA President Gianni Infantino also attended.
Former Colombian presidents César Gaviria, Andrés Pastrana, Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque were also present. Former President Ernesto Samper and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Juan Manuel Santos, however, were not invited to the ceremony.
After the inauguration ceremony concluded, De la Espriella traveled to the Pichincha Military Canton in Cali, where he was scheduled to deliver his first address as head of state to Colombia’s senior military commanders.
International
Appeals Court blocks Trump’s White House ballroom project without congressional approval
A U.S. appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump must obtain approval from Congress before moving forward with his plan to build a large ballroom on the White House grounds, at the site where the East Wing of the presidential residence previously stood.
The decision was issued in a 2-1 ruling, with the judges determining that a project of such magnitude falls under Congress’ authority and cannot be carried out solely through executive action.
In its ruling, the court sided with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the organization that filed the lawsuit seeking to halt the construction. The judges found that the plaintiffs had convincingly demonstrated that Congress had never granted the executive branch the authority to “redesign or rebuild the White House, the People’s House, to satisfy the wishes of any particular president.”
Following the decision, Trump announced that he would appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, calling the decision incorrect.
“We will immediately appeal it to the Supreme Court,” the president wrote in a message posted on his social media platforms.
Trump also argued that the ruling could pose a security risk to the presidential complex, claiming that it threatens the safety of White House employees, future workers, visitors, heads of state, and other dignitaries.
The president has repeatedly said that the project would not require taxpayer funding and that its financing would come from private donations by business leaders close to his administration, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
However, a previous estimate published by The Washington Post placed the project’s cost at approximately $600 million and suggested that nearly half of the funding could come from public resources, contradicting Trump’s claims.
International
Rubio warns Cuba U.S. pressure campaign will continue through Trump’s term
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the Cuban government will not find a way out of the pressure campaign imposed by Washington and warned that waiting for the end of President Donald Trump’s second term will not change the situation for the island.
In an interview with U.S. outlet Axios, Rubio said the American administration will continue blocking any mechanisms Cuba uses to ease the impact of sanctions and other measures implemented by Washington.
Rubio argued that Havana can no longer rely on the possibility that time will bring a change in U.S. policy.
“Without a doubt, this situation is not going to disappear in the next two and a half years,” Rubio said, referring to the remaining period of Trump’s current term.
The U.S. official also said Cuba is facing an increasingly difficult scenario following the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in January. According to Rubio, the event led to new restrictions on oil supplies to the island, worsening Cuba’s economic and energy crisis.
Rubio’s comments come amid continued tensions between Washington and Havana, with the U.S. government maintaining its policy of sanctions and diplomatic pressure on the Cuban authorities.
Abelardo de la Espriella sworn in as Colombia’s president for 2026-2030
Appeals Court blocks Trump’s White House ballroom project without congressional approval
Rubio warns Cuba U.S. pressure campaign will continue through Trump’s term
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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