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  • Putin leading Russia to ‘chaos’, anti-war politician says

    Putin leading Russia to ‘chaos’, anti-war politician says

    Two years after his high-profile bid to challenge Vladimir Putin in Russia’s 2024 presidential election, prominent anti-war Russian politician Boris Nadezhdin finds himself trapped in a escalating standoff with Kremlin authorities, barred from exiting the country and facing criminal charges that could keep him behind bars for months or longer.

    Nadezhdin, 61, first rose to public prominence when he launched an independent campaign against Putin, a leader who has systematically eliminated organized political opposition in Russia. His platform centered on ending Russia’s more than four-year-long military campaign in Ukraine, a war that has been accompanied by sweeping domestic censorship and harsh repression of anti-war sentiment. Now, he is set to appear in court Friday on charges of extremism, following his arrest earlier this week.

    Weeks before September’s tightly controlled parliamentary elections, Nadezhdin had been preparing to run as an independent anti-war candidate in the race. He told Agence France-Presse in an interview outside his home in Dolgoprudny, a commuter town just outside Moscow, that Putin’s leadership is pushing the nation toward catastrophe. “We must tell people the truth: the course Putin is steering the country on is a path towards chaos — and perhaps, God forbid, even toward disaster,” Nadezhdin said.

    The politician, who broke with the Kremlin in 2020 after holding government posts in the 1990s, told AFP he never expected to remain free for this long following his 2024 presidential challenge. Back then, he rallied thousands of Russians to gather signatures to secure a spot on the ballot, a show of grassroots support that caught the attention of authorities. “Honestly, for two years, I was waiting for them to make me a foreign agent or force me to leave, but it never happened,” he said.

    That changed earlier this month, when armed police arrested Nadezhdin on Monday. He says he believes he was intended to be imprisoned immediately after the arrest, but a last-minute change of plans at the highest levels of government let him remain at home pending his court date. Already, authorities have labeled him a “foreign agent,” a designation that opens individuals up to continuous legal scrutiny and public marginalization. The new extremism charge stems from a 2023 social media video Nadezhdin shared, which briefly included an image of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison last year. Nadezhdin dismissed the charge as baseless “nonsense,” arguing authorities acted out of fear that his anti-war platform would gain traction in the parliamentary vote.

    “Right now, every single deputy is for Putin, for the war and so on. And there was going to be someone different. I think that was the reason,” he explained. The charge carries a maximum 15-day short-term jail sentence, but like many other Kremlin critics, Nadezhdin faces the risk of being caught in the so-called “prison carousel,” a system where authorities repeatedly re-arrest defendants on new short-term charges to keep them in custody indefinitely. A conviction would also bar him permanently from running for public office, eliminating his ability to participate in the September vote.

    After his brief initial detention, Nadezhdin’s family, shaken by the arrest, urged him to flee Russia to avoid imprisonment. But Nadezhdin, who has lived in Dolgoprudny his entire life, said that leaving his home at 61 years old is not a simple choice, and he opted to wait for Friday’s court ruling to decide his next steps. His window for exile closed on Thursday, when he received official notification that authorities had banned him from leaving the country, effectively making the choice for him.

    In the lead-up to his arrest, Nadezhdin’s campaign had made quiet progress: volunteers distributed thousands of “for peace” election leaflets across his district for weeks, and even managed to open an official campaign headquarters before the crackdown. Nadezhdin has argued that the consequences of the war are now visible to all Russians, pointing to worsening fuel shortages caused by intensifying Ukrainian strikes across Russian territory. Though he has not outlined specific terms for ending the war, nor called for Russia to withdraw from the territories it seized, Nadezhdin has repeatedly called on voters to reject Putin’s ruling United Russia party.

    As the September election approaches, coming more than four and a half years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s domestic approval ratings have softened, and the Kremlin has tightened its grip on the electoral process to prevent any unexpected opposition gains. Even amid sweeping restrictions on political activity, Nadezhdin says he remains committed to pushing for change through legal, electoral means. He argues that efforts to elect anti-war candidates are the first step toward his ultimate goal: a peaceful transfer of power in Russia. “I always act strictly within the law — until the end,” he said. “These efforts must be aimed at bringing about a peaceful change of power in Russia.”

  • Protests erupt across Ukraine against defence minister’s ouster

    Protests erupt across Ukraine against defence minister’s ouster

    Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a sudden political shakeup by President Volodymyr Zelensky has sparked rare public unrest across the war-torn nation, as thousands took to the streets this Thursday to denounce the ousting of popular reformist Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

    Fedorov, who was appointed to the defence portfolio just six months prior, had quickly built a reputation as an agent of change for Ukraine’s beleaguered military. Tasked with rooting out long-standing graft and modernizing armed forces strained by years of combat, crippling manpower shortages, and widespread fatigue, he led sweeping overhauls of military digitization, implemented open, transparent procurement processes, and accelerated the development and deployment of long-range drone capabilities that have recently become one of Ukraine’s most effective asymmetric tools against Russian forces. Under his leadership, the Ukrainian government also raised frontline soldiers’ salaries and introduced landmark plans for phased demobilization, a long-sought reform for troops who have been deployed for years.

    But his aggressive push to upend entrenched systems put him on a collision course with top military leadership, culminating in his removal as part of a broader cabinet reshuffle announced by Zelensky this week. In a fiery post-ouster press conference in Kyiv, Fedorov delivered a blistering public rebuke to Ukraine’s newly appointed Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky, accusing the top general of sowing national division and issuing a formal ultimatum to Zelensky demanding his firing.

    “Instead of focusing on how to defeat Russia through asymmetric tactics — that is the commander-in-chief’s core job — he has focused on splitting this country,” Fedorov told reporters, standing in front of a display of images of military drones. “In this configuration, I personally don’t know how to win the war.”

    By late Thursday, thousands of Fedorov’s supporters had gathered in public spaces across major Ukrainian cities to protest the decision. In central Kyiv, AFP correspondents counted more than 1,000 demonstrators, who sang the Ukrainian national anthem, waved national and European Union flags, and chanted calls for Fedorov’s reinstatement and slogans decrying the decision as shameful.

    “I believe that his dismissal is a slap in the face of the Ukrainian people,” 30-year-old Kyiv business owner Vlada Roman told AFP at the rally. “Zelensky is afraid of effective people. I hope after today’s rally, he will change his mind.”

    Unrest was also reported in other major population centers including Lviv, Odesa, and Dnipro, a rare development in wartime Ukraine, where broad national unity in the face of invasion has mostly quelled public dissent against Zelensky’s leadership. In recent months, however, growing public frustration over high-profile corruption scandals, mismanagement of military mobilization and conscription, and the prolonged stalemate of the war has sparked intermittent waves of public outcry.

    The political aftershocks of Fedorov’s ouster quickly spread, with Ukraine’s deputy air force commander Pavlo Yelizarov announcing his resignation in protest of the decision. Political analysts have framed the reshuffle as a clear win for Syrsky and entrenched military interests, noting that Zelensky opted to side with the uniformed leadership over an outsider minister pushing for systemic change.

    “He fell out with various generals and with different established drone suppliers. In other words, he really did start implementing many useful reforms that threatened certain vested interests,” said political analyst Anatoliy Oktysiuk. He added that Zelensky’s decision to remove Fedorov has “undermined himself politically” at a critical moment in the conflict.

    Supporters of Fedorov have described his removal as political retribution for his anti-corruption and modernization efforts. The shakeup also comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Ukraine’s war effort: after months of Russian territorial advances, Kyiv’s forces have recently managed to halt Russia’s momentum, and have launched consistent long-range drone strikes targeting Russian energy infrastructure and military positions, putting Ukraine in one of its strongest operational positions in months. Fedorov’s removal has cast uncertainty over the future of the military reforms that have supported these recent gains.

    International observers and Ukrainian stakeholders have also raised questions about how the change will be received by Ukraine’s key Western backers, who have long pushed for greater anti-corruption and military modernization reforms in Kyiv. On Thursday, the European Union Ambassador to Ukraine publicly praised Fedorov, crediting him with securing a “victory in cognitive warfare” for Ukraine.

    Current Interior Minister Igor Klymenko is widely regarded as the most likely candidate to replace Fedorov, though it remains unclear whether he will secure enough votes in Ukraine’s parliament to confirm the appointment. In a separate move Thursday, Ukraine’s parliament also confirmed Sergiy Koretsky, the former head of state energy firm Naftogaz, as the country’s new prime minister as part of the broader cabinet reshuffle.

  • Climate change, urban growth fuel Lagos flooding

    Climate change, urban growth fuel Lagos flooding

    Nigeria’s bustling commercial hub Lagos, a low-lying coastal mega-city home to roughly 20 million people, is facing an escalating flood crisis driven by overlapping forces of climate change and uncontrolled rapid urbanization, experts and local residents confirm. The disaster, which has destroyed homes, religious spaces, and personal property across the city, has become an annual threat that grows more severe with each rainy season.\n\nThe crisis hit close to home for 42-year-old Samuel Akpan, a pastor at the Apostolic Church of Nigeria in Lagos’ upscale Lekki district. After hours of relentless overnight torrential rain swept through the region recently, Akpan spent the entire following day pumping floodwater out of his church parsonage. Inside the sanctuary, sodden chairs and waterlogged cushions sat piled in knee-high water that completely engulfed the building, while Akpan’s children’s ruined schoolbooks lay scattered across the waterlogged grounds. \n\nLagos’ natural geography already puts it at high risk: its entire coastal territory sits barely above sea level, with 180 kilometers of shoreline and a sprawling network of internal waterways. But scientists and environmental analysts say human-driven factors have turned periodic flood risk into a chronic emergency. The World Economic Forum lists Lagos as one of the world’s fastest sinking cities, dropping at a rate of up to 87 millimeters per year. This sinking is accelerated by two key urban trends: unregulated groundwater extraction to serve a booming population, and rising sea levels driven by global climate change.\n\nMore than half of Lagos’ households lack access to treated piped water, forcing most residents to drill private boreholes to access drinking water. This constant removal of groundwater disrupts the geological stability of the ground, worsening the city’s sinking rate. Meanwhile, Lagos draws thousands of new migrants from across Nigeria every day, all drawn by the promise of better economic opportunity. The United Nations estimates the city’s annual population growth rate at 6 percent, one of the fastest in the world. This rapid growth has spurred unplanned, widespread construction of residential, commercial, and industrial developments across previously undeveloped land — particularly in Lekki, which hosts a special free trade zone and is slated to host a new international airport. \n\nClimate data confirms that the risk is growing. Nigeria’s rainy season runs from May to November, and official forecasts show total annual rainfall has climbed well above the 2012–2022 average of 1,721 millimeters. Last year’s total rainfall hit 1,952 millimeters, and this year’s forecast projects between 1,650 millimeters and 3,030 millimeters. Scientific analysis also confirms that rainstorms hitting Lagos are now far more intense than they were just a decade ago. A late June extreme weather event that swept across West Africa, from Ivory Coast to Nigeria, killing roughly 100 people in flooding, was explicitly “supercharged” by human-caused climate change, according to World Weather Attribution, a global coalition of climate scientists.\n\nCompounding the natural and climate-driven risks are crippling infrastructure gaps and poor waste management. Indiscriminate dumping of plastic and solid waste clogs open drainage channels, preventing floodwater from draining into the Lagos Lagoon. It is common to see heaps of rotting garbage piling along sidewalks — garbage bins remain a rarity across most of the city — while discarded plastic bottles and bags float freely in waterways. Development has also destroyed much of Lagos’ natural flood defense: widespread destruction of coastal wetlands, unregulated land reclamation, and the replacement of permeable natural terrain with concrete and asphalt have drastically reduced the land’s ability to absorb excess rainwater during heavy storms. \n\n”Annual flooding in Lagos is caused by heavy rainfall, inadequate drainage, clogged gutters laden with debris, and fast urban growth that hinders natural water absorption,” explained independent environmentalist Olumide Idowu. Tokunbo Wahab, Lagos state’s top environmental official, echoed that assessment, noting that “illegal dredging and land reclamation” have created “significant environmental challenges” as the city struggles to accommodate its exploding population.\n\nThe crisis has sparked local controversy over the government’s flagship 700-kilometer Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project, which will connect Lagos to the city of Calabar near the Cameroon border. Many Lekki residents say construction of the highway has dramatically worsened flooding in their neighborhoods. “Water has never entered the house before,” said Babatunde Vaughn, a technology consultant whose apartment sits just 150 meters from the highway project. Vaughn noted the highway was the only major new development between last year’s rainy season and this year’s, adding “it didn’t flood this way” before construction began. \n\nBut Nigeria’s Minister of Works Dave Umahi and Hitech, the Nigerian construction firm building the highway, reject those claims. Umahi recently told residents that the highway actually acts as a buffer, protecting nearby communities from coastal flooding. \n\nEnvironmental advocates say many solutions to the crisis are readily achievable for the Lagos state government. Key recommendations include updating outdated building codes to reflect increasing rainfall risk, enforcing stricter regulation of unplanned urban development, and expanding and upgrading the city’s drainage network to handle heavier storms. For residents like Uche Adibua, a 46-year-old Okota resident whose apartment has flooded repeatedly since the start of this year’s rainy season, the new normal is untenable. “It is like we are under siege with the flood,” Adibua said. “It didn’t happen before.”

  • Ukraine state energy boss Koretsky becomes new PM

    Ukraine state energy boss Koretsky becomes new PM

    In a move that has stirred political controversy across Ukraine, the country’s parliament has formally confirmed Sergiy Koretsky, the longtime head of state-owned energy giant Naftogaz, as Ukraine’s new prime minister. The appointment is the centerpiece of a sweeping high-level government shakeup ordered by President Volodymyr Zelensky, which has already drawn public pushback over the removal of a popular senior cabinet member.

    At 48 years old, Koretsky comes to the prime minister’s office with a track record of steering Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure through extreme wartime pressure. Zelensky has framed Koretsky’s appointment as a strategic choice to prepare the nation for another harsh winter, a period that has consistently seen Russia intensify targeted attacks on Ukraine’s energy network to disrupt civilian life.

    The reshuffle began earlier this week when former prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko stepped down on Tuesday. When announcing the leadership changes, Zelensky gave only a vague explanation, stating that Kyiv was adjusting its political strategy to match emerging new challenges and tasks. He has not yet provided a detailed public justification for the overhaul of the country’s top political leadership team.

    Koretsky used his first parliamentary address following his confirmation to highlight his record leading Naftogaz, the backbone of Ukraine’s national heating supply system. “We weathered the harshest winter and ensured an uninterrupted supply of gas to Ukrainians, despite significant losses of our own production,” he told lawmakers. “We have proven that government administration can and should be effective,” he added.

    Koretsky was at the helm of Naftogaz during last winter’s widespread Russian assault on energy infrastructure, when Russian drone and missile strikes triggered mass blackouts and heating outages across the country amid subzero temperatures. His experience keeping energy systems operational under attack is widely cited as the key qualification Zelensky administration officials have highlighted for the new premier.

    The most contentious part of the reshuffle has been the ousting of popular reformist defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, which sparked public outrage almost immediately. Early Thursday, protests broke out in multiple Ukrainian cities, with demonstrators gathering to demand Fedorov’s reinstatement to his post.

    The leadership overhaul comes at a critical juncture in Ukraine’s more than four-year war with Russia. Moscow has recently ramped up deadly ballistic missile strikes across Ukrainian territory, while Kyiv is moving forward with plans to begin domestic production of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles to boost its defensive capabilities.

  • ASIC warns of sophisticated pump-and-dump scams targeting elderly Australians

    ASIC warns of sophisticated pump-and-dump scams targeting elderly Australians

    Australia’s corporate investment regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has issued an urgent public warning over a sharp rise in increasingly sophisticated pump-and-dump investment scams that have stolen millions of dollars from vulnerable Australian citizens, with elderly Australians bearing the brunt of the harm.

    These coordinated scams operate by leveraging deceptive tactics that many investors struggle to identify: scammers impersonate well-known financial institutions, forge endorsements from high-profile respected finance industry figures, and lure victims into private messaging groups on platforms such as WhatsApp. Once recruited, victims are pressured to purchase shares of low-value, lightly traded public companies to artificially inflate the stock price. After the price reaches a targeted peak, scammers sell off all of their own holdings for a profit, which triggers an immediate collapse in the share price and leaves victim investors holding worthless assets worth only a fraction of their original investment. What makes these scams particularly convincing, ASIC officials note, is that victims actually purchase legitimate shares through registered retail brokers, leading many to mistakenly trust the scheme is authentic.

    One recent, well-documented example illustrates how destructive these scams can be: a targeted stock’s price surged rapidly to nearly $US11 before crashing back to just $US1 in a matter of days, erasing nearly all of the victims’ investment overnight. Scammers have repeatedly used counterfeit endorsements and stolen identities of prominent finance experts; in one high-profile case, scammers created a fake social media post carrying the Commonwealth Bank logo, featuring a man impersonating former CommSec economist Tom Piotrowski to push fraudulent stock recommendations.

    Testimonies collected by ASIC from scam victims lay bare the catastrophic personal and financial toll of these schemes. One 74-year-old retired victim, who was lured into the scam via the fake Piotrowski post, explained how the scammers built trust by sharing a few small, initially profitable stock tips before pressuring her to invest increasing amounts of her retirement savings. The scam included forged branding from both ASIC and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), leading her to trust the offering was legitimate. “It had the logo, it had ASIC’s name on it, and it had AFCA’s name on it. Now if you see that, how can it be wrong?” she said, noting that after the share price collapsed overnight, she was left unable to return to work and surviving on a small aged pension. Another anonymous victim described being so traumatized by the loss that he did not leave his apartment for a full month. Reports from victims document life-altering harm including ruined retirement savings, home foreclosures, and even relationship breakdowns leading to divorce.

    ASIC data confirms that these pump-and-dump scams are growing at an alarming rate, with scammers continuously refining their tactics to appear more legitimate. “These scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and scammers are exploiting the trust Australians place in recognised experts, financial institutions and investment brands by faking their platforms and endorsements,” ASIC chair Sarah Court explained in the regulator’s warning. Court emphasized that legitimate investment opportunities never come from unsolicited messages from strangers on social media or messaging apps, and urged all Australians to treat any unsolicited stock tip shared through platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram as a scam. The regulator has called on the public to remain extremely cautious of any investment opportunity promoted through social media or private messaging groups, particularly those that use well-known public identities to build credibility.

  • Jackie O accused of using bullying claim as tactic to escape multimillion-dollar deal

    Jackie O accused of using bullying claim as tactic to escape multimillion-dollar deal

    A high-stakes legal dispute unfolding in Australia’s radio industry has taken a sharp new turn, with parent company ARN alleging that star host Jackie O Henderson’s workplace bullying complaints against her long-time co-host Kyle Sandilands were filed in bad faith, as a strategic maneuver to exit her existing contract and secure a preferred programming timeslot. The explosive allegations are laid out in formal court documents submitted to Australia’s Federal Court by ARN, through its subsidiary CBC (Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation), which first published the details on Thursday.

    Henderson, one half of the once-popular KIIS FM breakfast duo with Sandilands, has already filed a legal claim alleging she was unlawfully terminated from her multimillion-dollar role at the station, centered on her accusations that Sandilands engaged in repeated workplace bullying that violated her employment rights. But ARN’s formal defense directly contradicts this narrative, arguing that the bullying allegations are not rooted in genuine workplace harm, but in a premeditated push to renegotiate Henderson’s contract.

    “Ms Henderson and Henderson Media reserved their right to make a report to SafeWork NSW was not done in good faith and for a proper purpose,” ARN stated in the publicly released court filings. The company added that the entire bullying complaint process was designed to pressure CBC into abandoning the terms of Henderson’s existing binding contract, and granting her an alternative programming daypart that the network was under no legal obligation to provide.

    ARN further noted that under Australian workplace regulations, Henderson could have filed her bullying allegation while continuing to fulfill her contractual obligations to work alongside Sandilands during the investigation process. The company argues this path was never pursued because Henderson had already decided she wanted to move to a different timeslot and new show, a claim backed by a citation of an affidavit from Henderson’s own manager, Gemma O’Neill.

    The public rift between the long-time co-hosts first erupted in February, when an on-air exchange between Sandilands and Henderson turned hostile. During that segment, Sandilands publicly attacked Henderson, calling her “off with the fairies” and criticizing what he called her unfocused work performance stemming from a “fixation” with astrology. “You’re off with the fairies, you’re unfocused, you don’t give a s***,” Sandilands said on air at the time.

    In June, ARN finalized a separate settlement with Sandilands, details of which were made public in an official filing to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Under the terms of the agreement, Sandilands will receive a total payout of $12.09 million over the next three years, and the network will also enter a revenue-sharing partnership with the host that includes $1.5 million in allocated advertising airtime for Sandilands’ projects over the three-year term.

  • Italy court to deliver verdict in deadly bridge collapse

    Italy court to deliver verdict in deadly bridge collapse

    Nearly eight years after one of Italy’s deadliest infrastructure disasters claimed 43 lives, an Italian court is scheduled to issue its long-awaited verdict on Thursday for the collapse of Genoa’s Morandi Bridge. The landmark structure, a critical link on the highway connecting France and Italy, crumbled during torrential rain on August 14, 2018, sending dozens of vehicles and their occupants plummeting into the void below. On the eve of the verdict announcement, crowds of victims’ relatives and reporters from dozens of international and domestic media outlets gathered outside the Genoa court building to await the outcome of the four-year legal process.

    Fifty-seven defendants have stood trial throughout the proceedings, facing charges that range from manslaughter and endangerment of public transport safety to falsification of official government documents. Prosecutors have collectively requested more than 400 years of combined prison sentences for all accused parties.

    For many family members, the verdict carries more symbolic than personal weight. Egle Possetti, who leads a support committee for victims’ relatives, lost her sister, nephew, niece, and brother-in-law when the bridge’s ninth pillar gave way. Speaking to reporters from AFP as she entered the court Thursday, Possetti acknowledged that a conviction would not reverse the tragedy or bring her loved ones back. “But clearly the most important thing for the victims is that the truth finally comes out,” she said. She also voiced the frustration shared by many grieving families, noting that through years of trial hearings, “not a single person has said, ‘I bear some responsibility.’ That has been hard.” The court is expected to release its ruling after 12:00 GMT.

    Investigative findings from magistrates paint a damning picture of systemic neglect. Official documents confirm that between the bridge’s inauguration in 1967 and its collapse 51 years later, no minimal structural reinforcement or critical maintenance work was ever completed on the stays of pillar nine. While limited upgrades were carried out on the adjacent 10th and 11th pillars, planned reinforcement work on pillar nine was repeatedly delayed. Lead prosecutor Walter Cotugno famously described the decaying infrastructure as “a ticking time bomb” long before the disaster occurred.

    The majority of defendants are senior executives and lead technicians from Autostrade per l’Italia (ASPI), the company that manages nearly half of Italy’s entire motorway network, and Spea, the private engineering firm contracted to oversee the bridge’s ongoing maintenance. High-profile accused include Giovanni Castellucci, ASPI’s general manager at the time of the collapse, and Antonino Galata, Spea’s former chief executive, alongside multiple senior officials from Italy’s infrastructure ministry. Castellucci faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted, as prosecutors hold him directly responsible for repeatedly postponing critical reinforcement work on pillar nine. Notably, Castellucci is already serving a prison sentence for his role in a separate 2013 highway accident that left 40 people dead when a bus crashed through viaduct barriers.

    Defense attorneys for the accused have centered their case on an alternative narrative, arguing that the collapse was caused by an unidentifiable, hidden construction defect—specifically, internal corrosion of the bridge’s support cables—rather than intentional or negligent lack of maintenance.

    While their former top executives remain on trial, both ASPI and Spea reached an out-of-court settlement with prosecutors prior to the verdict. The agreement requires the firms to pay 29 million euros ($30 million) in compensation to the Italian state. At the time of the 2018 disaster, ASPI was owned by the Atlantia group, which was controlled by Italy’s wealthy Benetton family. Widespread public outrage over the disaster and evidence of systemic neglect forced the Benetton family to sell its entire stake in the company to the Italian state in the aftermath of the tragedy.

  • US unveils new 25% tariff on certain imports from Brazil

    US unveils new 25% tariff on certain imports from Brazil

    In a move that escalates transatlantic trade tensions between the world’s two largest agricultural economies, the Trump administration formally announced a 25 percent tariff on a broad swathe of Brazilian imports this Wednesday, capping off a 12-month investigation into what Washington calls unfair Brazilian trade practices. The new levy is scheduled to enter into force on July 22, forming a core part of the administration’s push to reestablish its trade tariff agenda after a major legal setback earlier this year. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a wide range of Trump’s globally imposed tariffs, leaving the White House eager to reassert its trade authority.

    Senior U.S. trade officials confirmed that a number of key products have been granted exemptions from the new tariff, including Brazilian beef, coffee, select aircraft components, and goods that the U.S. does not manufacture domestically. The tariff action was authorized under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act, a statute that allows the executive branch to impose trade penalties on countries deemed to engage in unfair trade practices. Administration officials have already launched multiple other Section 301 investigations this year targeting a range of trading partners, including probes over alleged failures to combat forced labor in global supply chains.

    U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer laid out the Biden administration’s — correction, Trump administration’s — case for the tariffs in an official statement, arguing that Brazil’s “unreasonable acts, policies, and practices” have harmed American commerce by unfairly advantaging domestic Brazilian producers and artificially limiting American access to Brazil, which ranks among the world’s largest export markets. Beyond general trade barriers, senior administration officials specifically called out Brazilian policies on digital trade, and flagged what Washington calls unfair competition stemming from Brazil’s state-owned instant payment system PIX. Officials also claimed Brazil grants preferential trade treatment to other major partners including Mexico and India at the expense of U.S. exporters. Greer emphasized that Washington remains open to negotiated solutions to resolve the long-standing trade issues identified in the year-long probe.
    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio went further in his public criticism of Brazil’s left-wing government, saying on social media platform X that the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva “has not negotiated with the US in good faith.” Rubio added that “Lula has put his own ego ahead of making a deal for the welfare of the Brazilian people, and these tariffs are the price for that.” A senior anonymous U.S. official rejected widespread claims that the Section 301 investigation and resulting tariff are being used for political purposes, noting that the door for diplomatic resolution remains open even after the announcement. While the administration says it does not anticipate retaliatory action from Brazil, it has explicitly warned that any reciprocal measures would be met with additional U.S. countertariffs.

    Brazil swiftly pushed back against the U.S. announcement on Thursday, with Lula’s office issuing a sharp statement rejecting the tariffs and promising reciprocal countermeasures in response. “There is no justification for unilateral measures against our country,” the statement read. Brazilian officials have repeatedly dismissed all U.S. allegations of unfair trade practices as unfounded and absurd, rejecting the core findings of the year-long American investigation.
    The tariff announcement also intersects with Brazil’s upcoming presidential election scheduled for October, where Lula, the incumbent left-wing leader, is locked in a tight race with right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, eldest son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. Earlier this month, Flavio Bolsonaro spoke at a public hearing hosted by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office in Washington, where he urged American officials not to impose the new tariffs. Bolsonaro argued that the duties would politically benefit his rival Lula ahead of the election. This is not the first time trade tensions have flared between the two countries during this Trump administration term: last year, the White House imposed steep tariffs on Brazilian goods in response to the coup trial against Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for his role in the 2022 Brazilian Capitol attacks. Most of those earlier tariffs were rolled back after bilateral negotiations between the two governments.

  • Messi magic sends Argentina into World Cup final as England fall short

    Messi magic sends Argentina into World Cup final as England fall short

    In a breathtaking World Cup semi-final showdown that delivered drama from the first whistle to the final stoppage time, 39-year-old Lionel Messi produced another iconic performance to steer Argentina to a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over England, booking the South American champions a spot in Sunday’s World Cup final against European titleholders Spain.

    Played out against a backdrop of long-running historical tension between the two nations over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, Wednesday’s clash in Atlanta was always set to be more than just a football match. Messi acknowledged the weight of the moment after the final whistle, calling the fixture “quite a special one, especially playing against England with all the historical context.” When the full-time whistle blew, several Argentine players marked the win by displaying a banner reading “Las Malvinas son argentinas” — “The Falklands are Argentine” — a move that openly defies FIFA regulations banning political symbols from match venues.

    The match unfolded in a way that will haunt English football for years to come. Anthony Gordon put the Three Lions ahead in the 55th minute, putting England 60 minutes away from their first World Cup final appearance in six decades. But rather than pushing to extend their lead, England manager Thomas Tuchel made the controversial decision to shift to a defensive setup, substituting attacking players for defenders in a bid to protect the one-goal advantage. He substituted goalscorer Gordon for defender Ezri Konsa in the 72nd minute, a choice that immediately shifted the momentum of the game entirely in Argentina’s favor.

    Tuchel defended his call post-match, arguing that the tactical switch was a necessary response to growing gaps in England’s defense. “In the moment, no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very, very close,” he said. “Straight after our goal, without any substitutions, we conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances so we tried to help.” But leading football outlets were critical of the call. The UK’s *The Times* noted that Tuchel’s changes were only intended to hold Argentina at bay, not put the game to bed — a strategy that could never work against a side of Argentina’s quality. *The Guardian* added that the defensive shift invited Argentina to seize control of the front foot, writing that “Tuchel played with fire. Argentina dominated the closing stages. It was their attack versus England’s defence.”

    Messi capitalized on the opened space, pulling the strings for his side as they pinned England deep in their own half for the final 30 minutes. The equalizer came just after Tuchel’s reshuffle, when Messi slipped a precise pass to Enzo Fernandez outside the penalty box, who drilled a stunning shot into the net past the England keeper. With England reeling and Argentina throwing everything forward, the winning goal came in stoppage time: Messi sent a deft, pinpoint cross into the box that substitute Lautaro Martinez headed home, completing the comeback.

    England’s stars including Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane stood stunned on the pitch as Argentina celebrated. The defeat extends England’s decades-long drought of major tournament finals, marking the fourth time in the last five major tournaments that the Three Lions have reached at least the semi-final stage without claiming a spot in the final.

    For Argentina, the win keeps their historic bid for back-to-back World Cup titles alive. Should they win on Sunday, they will become the first national men’s side to claim consecutive World Cup crowns since Brazil in 1962. They will face a Spanish side that pulled off a stunning 2-0 semi-final upset over defending champions France on Tuesday, shutting down star forward Kylian Mbappe to book their place in the final. The title decider will be hosted in New Jersey this weekend.

    Messi, who is already the tournament’s joint-leading scorer with eight goals to go with four assists, has proven once again that at an age when most elite footballers have long retired, he remains the undisputed heart of the Argentine side. This is far from the first comeback the 39-year-old has dragged his side through at this tournament: in the round of 16, Argentina fought back from a two-goal deficit to beat Egypt, with Messi leading that charge as well.

    Argentine manager Lionel Scaloni praised his squad’s resilience after the semi-final win, saying “The other day I said this group never stops surprising me. And I’ll tell you the truth, we’re going to try to win, we’re going to leave everything out there. It’s incredible. We are unique, truly, and it’s not arrogance, it’s from the heart.” Tens of thousands of Argentine fans have traveled to support the side throughout this World Cup, packing the streets of Atlanta in the lead-up to Wednesday’s semi-final to cheer on their team ahead of the biggest match of the tournament so far.

  • Australia’s last manganese smelter to close after Liberty Bell Bay sale collapses

    Australia’s last manganese smelter to close after Liberty Bell Bay sale collapses

    Australia’s industrial landscape has suffered a significant blow, with administrators confirming the permanent, immediate closure of the nation’s last remaining manganese smelter at Liberty Bell Bay in northern Tasmania after a planned sale of the facility fell apart. The shutdown brings months of tense uncertainty for workers to a devastating end and leaves a major gap in the region’s long-standing industrial core.

    Administrators from EY Parthenon announced Thursday that they had begun an orderly wind-down of operations after the proposed acquisition by an international consortium collapsed, leaving no viable path to keep the smelter operating. The facility first entered voluntary administration in March, following deepening financial troubles for its former owner, the London-based GFG Alliance. A ray of hope emerged in May, when administrators confirmed they had reached a tentative purchase agreement with a consortium led by Perth-based Adroit Capital and U.S. private equity firm White Oak. That progress quickly unraveled last month, however, when one of the deal’s key financial backers pulled out of the agreement, ultimately killing the transaction entirely.

    In a formal statement following the announcement, EY Parthenon explained that without a commercially viable sale or the funding required to keep operations running, the difficult decision to close immediately was unavoidable. Administrators also cited ongoing volatility in the global economy as a contributing factor that strained the facility’s viability throughout the sale process.

    Around 250 full-time positions will be eliminated as part of the shutdown, with only a small skeleton crew remaining on site temporarily to manage asset sales, wrap up operational tasks, and comply with strict environmental and regulatory requirements. Workers were notified of the closure during a briefing on Thursday morning, with formal details on redundancy packages expected to be released next week. Administrators noted that all eligible employees are receiving the full support available to them through this difficult transition period.

    The closure caps more than a year of ongoing uncertainty for the smelter and its workforce. GFG Alliance first scaled operations back to limited production in May of 2023, citing persistent shortages of manganese ore. In a bid to save the facility, the Tasmanian state government extended a $20 million loan to help the company purchase new ore supplies. While the ore was delivered to the site in October, it was never put into production as financial pressures worsened. After the smelter entered voluntary administration in March, the Tasmanian and federal governments jointly contributed $9.6 million to cover worker wages during the search for a new buyer.

    Political and labor leaders have described the shutdown as a devastating outcome for northern Tasmania. In a joint statement, Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Federal Industry Minister Tim Ayres called the news a “sad day” for the Bell Bay region and the surrounding communities of George Town and northern Tasmania, where workers and local leaders had campaigned for months to save the smelter. “Both the Commonwealth and Tasmanian governments are now focused on ensuring workers and their families are supported during this time, with immediate on-ground support now available,” the pair added.

    Union representatives, who have led the campaign to save the facility, say workers are reeling from the sudden announcement after months of fighting to keep the plant open. Most workers will see their employment end as early as next Monday. The Bell Bay Joint Unions released a statement Thursday expressing widespread “shock and disappointment” among the workforce, warning that the economic impact of the shutdown will extend far beyond the smelter’s gates. “This loss will have devastating effects on the local economy and entire community,” the union group said, while urging both state and federal governments to continue working with administrators to explore any possible path to restart the sale process and revive the facility.