International

Brazil’s Bolsonaro gets in spat with heckler

AFP

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro got into an altercation Thursday with a social media personality who questioned and insulted him, grabbing the man by the shirt and arm after he called the leader a “bum.”

Video of the incident outside the presidential residence shows Bolsonaro clutching the heckler in an apparent attempt to grab his cell phone as the man filmed himself criticizing the far-right leader.

News site G1, which published the video, identified the man as Wilker Leao, a self-described lawyer, army corporal, politics junkie and military enthusiast with 127,000 followers on TikTok.

The incident happened outside the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia as a grinning Bolsonaro, looking casual in an untucked, short-sleeve blue shirt, greeted supporters who crowded around his waiting motorcade to take pictures with him.

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Filming with his phone, Leao approached the president and asked why he had entered an alliance with a corruption-stained group of parties known as the “Centrao” and signed legislation restricting plea bargains, often used in anti-graft investigations.

An unidentified person pulled Leao away and threw him to the ground. Undeterred, Leao approached again, calling the president — who had gotten in his car — a “coward,” “bum” and “the Centrao’s sweetheart.”

Bolsonaro then exited the car and appeared to make a grab at Leao’s phone.

“Come here, I want to talk to you,” the president said, first grabbing Leao by the front of his football jersey, then clutching his left arm with both hands.

The president’s security detail then intervened and escorted Leao away.

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Several minutes later, Bolsonaro allowed Leao to approach again — a line of bodyguards between them — and spoke briefly with him.

“I have to get things passed in Congress, right?” the president said, before returning to his car and leaving.

Neither Leao nor the president’s office immediately responded to requests for comment.

Bolsonaro, a 67-year-old ex-army captain, is running for reelection in October against leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010).

Leao, who regularly posts videos of himself asking hostile questions of both left- and right-wing supporters, said he was no fan of Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT), either, calling them “bums” too.

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International

Ecuador’s Noboa vows to continue “war” on criminal groups

Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa said on Sunday that his government will continue the “war” against criminal organizations and warned that he will not yield to criminal gangs operating in the South American country.

During his state-of-the-nation address before the National Assembly, Noboa stated that criminal structures “will tire first” before his administration abandons its fight against violence and drug trafficking.

The president reaffirmed his hardline security strategy amid ongoing concerns over organized crime and drug-related violence in Ecuador.

International

Iran says agreement with U.S. to end Middle East conflict is in final stages

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baqai, said Saturday that Tehran and the United States were in the “finalization phase” of a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking to Iranian state television Irib, Baqai explained that Iran had initially sought to draft a memorandum consisting of 14 clauses as part of the negotiations.

“We are currently in the phase of finalizing these memorandums of understanding,” he stated.

Shortly before Baqai’s remarks became public, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was “a possibility” that Iran could agree to a deal to end the conflict as early as Saturday.

“There is a possibility that later today, tomorrow, or within the next couple of days, we may have something to announce,” Rubio told reporters in New Delhi, adding that he hoped for “good news.”

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Despite acknowledging progress in the negotiations, the top U.S. diplomat warned that President Donald Trump could still decide to resume military strikes against Iran if talks fail to produce a final agreement.

International

WHO Warns Ebola Outbreak Is Spreading Rapidly in DR Congo

The World Health Organization on Friday raised the risk level of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from “high” to “very high,” the highest alert category used by the organization.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak is spreading rapidly across the country, particularly in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu.

“The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is spreading rapidly,” Tedros stated during a press conference.

He explained that the WHO had previously classified the risk as high at both the national and regional levels, while maintaining a low risk assessment globally.

“We are now revising our risk assessment to classify it as very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level,” he added.

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A WHO spokesperson told AFP that “very high” represents the organization’s highest risk category.

The outbreak has expanded across North Kivu and South Kivu, regions divided by the frontline between Congolese government forces and the armed group M23, which is reportedly backed by Rwanda and has seized large areas of territory since 2021.