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Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
The latest news and top stories on Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president. A former metalworker and prominent trade unionist, he co-founded the Workers’ Party and previously served as president from 2003-2011, overseeing significant poverty reduction and economic growth. Re-elected in 2022, his current tenure focuses on advocating new development models and strengthening cooperation across the Global South. He champions the New Development Bank’s role in emerging economies, pushing for reforms in traditional financial institutions and a more multipolar international system.
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro leaves the DF Star hospital in Brasilia on September 14. Photo: AFP
Americas and the Caribbean

Brazil’s Bolsonaro backs son’s presidential bid, undergoes hernia surgery

The former president, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup, was allowed to leave prison for the operation.

China-Latin America relations

Brazil weighs visa-free entry for Chinese tourists and business travellers

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Americas and the Caribbean

Brazil’s Lula vows to veto bill slashing Bolsonaro’s 27-year prison term

Americas and the Caribbean

Brazil’s Congress passes bill to cut Bolsonaro’s 27-year prison sentence

If successful, the legislation could see Brazil’s former president serve a little over two years in prison for coup plot.

The bill provoked protests in cities across Brazil on Sunday. Photo: AFP
China exports

Why China sees Brazil as ‘last untapped blue ocean market’ for investment boom

Chinese investment in Brazil is soaring as firms eye the vast potential growth in South America’s ‘blue ocean market’.

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TikTok

TikTok to invest more than US$37 billion in Brazil data centre

China is Brazil’s top trading partner and is seeking to expand economic and political ties across the region amid tensions with the US.

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China-Latin America relations

Trump seizes on China ‘ban’ in Brazil soy trade, but data shows US gains small

China halted imports of soybeans from five Brazil-based exporters after pesticide-treated wheat was found mixed into cargo bound for Beijing.

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US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday that US farmers are benefiting from China’s recent ban on select Brazilian soybean shipments. Photo: Getty Images/TNS
China manufacturing

Factory of factories: China’s manufacturers join wave of overseas expansions

With many of their clients moving or building sites abroad, China’s factory owners are following suit, seizing a ‘last chance’ for new revenues.

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Climate change

Opinion | How Cop30 laid bare the new geopolitics of climate action

Fractures, even among the Global South, show the energy transition is not just a technical challenge but a deeply political negotiation.

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Diplomacy

Opinion | Why next year’s G20 could be make or break for global development

As the US prepares to chair the G20, it faces a strategic choice: engage or revert to a narrower agenda.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Americas and the Caribbean

Brazil’s Bolsonaro begins 27-year prison sentence for coup attempt

Top court closes the case against Brazil’s far-right former president, who was convicted of plotting a coup after his 2022 election defeat.

Jair Bolsonaro is seen through the door of the Federal Police headquarters, where he is imprisoned, in Brasilia on Sunday. Photo: AFP
Brazil

Brazil’s top court upholds jailing of Bolsonaro after ‘attempt to flee’

Top court panel unanimously rules the former president should remain arrested after admitting he broke his ankle monitor.

Venezuela

Several international airlines cancel flights to Venezuela after US warning

Flights cancelled following an FAA warning of a ‘potential risk’ amid a major buildup of American forces in the region.

Brazil

Brazil’s Bolsonaro blames ‘hallucinations’ for violating ankle monitor

Supreme Court justice ordered ex-president’s arrest after the monitor violation, following his 27-year sentence for attempting a coup.

A person holds a cut-out of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro during a vigil in Brasilia on Saturday. Photo: Reuters
Americas and the Caribbean

Brazil’s Bolsonaro’s arrested amid escape plot fears

Supreme Court Justice orders arrest, confirming Bolsonaro showed intent to ‘break his ankle monitor’ in clear attempt to escape and flee Brazil.

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro gestures after taking medical tests at a hospital in Brasilia in August. Photo: AFP
United Nations

Fire breaks out at Brazil’s Cop30 talks, forcing delay at critical phase

Fire forces evacuation at summit site in Belem as nations attempt to resolve contentious climate issues.

Climate change

Can Brazil’s Cop30 spark a climate breakthrough in the Amazon?

Brazil accelerates talks, urging nations to finalise climate plans, aid distribution, and transparency by Friday.

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China-Latin America relations

Brazil ends 60-year ordeal of tortured Chinese detainees during military regime

Court voids dictatorship-era convictions of nine Chinese citizens, easing a long diplomatic strain and clearing the last surviving defendant.

Lawyer Sobral Pinto defending the nine Chinese nationals who were convicted, tortured and expelled from Brazil in 1964. Photo: handout
Americas and the Caribbean

Brazil’s Bolsonaro could be in jail within weeks after coup plot verdict upheld

The former president was convicted in September for attempting to prevent President Lula from taking power after the 2022 polls.

Japan

Pikachu protest at Cop30 takes on Japan’s fossil fuel empire

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation financed over US$7 billion in loans for coal and gas projects from 2016 to 2024, study shows.

Climate change

Outside In | Takeaway from Cop30: climate action needs to be up close and local

A focus on adaptation means a pivot to action on floods, typhoons, heatstroke deaths, wildfire damage – issues of immediate survival.

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Construction workers put up large umbrellas in Wan Chai on May 23, when a very hot weather warning was issued. Hong Kong has suffered 50 to 60 hot nights (over 28 degrees) every year since 2020, compared with around 20 a year a decade earlier. Photo: Dickson Lee
Climate change

Editorial | As the US sits out Cop30, China and others must pick up the slack

Technology and investment partnerships, especially among developing nations, could reinvigorate efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Indigenous leaders gather in the Cop30 Village during the UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil on November 12. Photo: Reuters
Brazil

Protesters force way into UN climate summit venue, clash with security

The clash in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belem underscored frustration among Indigenous groups who demand more say in how forests are managed.

China-Latin America relations

China refuses to back Brazil’s crucial rainforest fund

Beijing says wealthy countries should shoulder more responsibility as Lula prepares personal appeal to Xi at the G20 summit in South Africa.

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Climate change

Opinion | How Cop30 can advance a new template for South-South climate leadership

Proven monitoring, policy lessons and the moral weight of the Amazon venue give the Global South a rare convergence of tech capability and political urgency.

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Leaders gather during the launch of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility in the framework of the Cop30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Para State, Brazil, on November 6. Photo: AFP
Natural disasters

Powerful Brazil tornado kills 6, injures over 700: ‘it destroyed everything’

The twister flipped cars and wrecked buildings in Rio Bonito do Iguacu, a town of 14,000 people.

Damaged vehicles and buildings are seen in Rio Bonito do Iguacu in Brazil on Friday. Photo:Parana State Government via AFP
China-Latin America relations

China joins support for Brazil’s Forest Fund but delays financial commitment

Brazil’s finance chief urges patience, saying Beijing wants a role in designing the new fund before pledging money.

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China-Latin America relations

Brazil’s Lula opens Cop30 demanding courage – and cash – to save the planet

Chinese Vice-Premier Ding urges nations to honour Paris pledges with fairness and justice, calling for global climate action.

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