Bomb Attacks Rock Colombia After Presidential Candidate Shot
At least 19 explosive blasts rocked southwest Colombia, bringing further terror to a nation still reeling from the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate days earlier.
A bomb on a motorcycle detonated Tuesday near a police station in Cali, the nation's third-biggest city, among other attacks. Police said the violence has left at least four dead.
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Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
With Friends Like Brazil, OPEC+ Doesn't Need Enemies
The Brazilian coffee and oil industries have something in common. Espresso connoisseurs know the country's coffee production follows a natural biennial cycle, alternating periods of low and high output. One year, the trees funnel most of their energy into growing new branches; another, into producing fruit. The country's oil industry also appears to follow similar cyclicality, even if arbitrarily. Disappointing years, when growth underperforms even the most pessimistic expectations, are quickly followed by spectacular expansion periods. After a very poor 2024, the Latin American oil giant is entering one of those phases of rapid growth. On current trend, Brazil will become the second-largest source of incremental non-OPEC+ oil production this year, only behind the US and ahead of Guyana, the other South American oil star that typically gathers more attention, and Canada. The timing couldn't be worse for OPEC+, already battling with an oversupplied market and falling prices. For some time, the Saudi Arabia-led oil cartel has tried to pull Brazil into its orbit, knowing that the latter nation was becoming a huge rival to its efforts to keep oil prices inflated. But all OPEC+ overtures — to successive right- and left-wing governments in Brasilia — have failed. The most Riyadh has achieved is for Brazil to cement its freeriding status: Since February, it's been a formal member of the group's so-called declaration of cooperation, joining the likes of Russia and Kazakhstan, which formed an alliance with OPEC+ nearly a decade ago. But unlike them, Brazil isn't bound by any production obligations. Effectively, it got everything it wanted: access, influence and intelligence about what other oil nations are up to without giving away anything. That the cartel accepted the deal speaks volumes about its desperation to keep ties with Brazil alive. With friends like Brazil, OPEC+ doesn't need any enemies. The Latin American nation will add about 450,000 barrels a day of extra production in 2025 and 2026, equal to about a quarter of incremental demand during the period. The increase nearly matches the record 490,000 barrels a day it added in the 2022-2023 period. With a bit of luck, Brazil may even post its fastest growth period ever. Differing from the US shale industry, where low oil prices quickly translate in less drilling, Brazilian petroleum production is largely immune to short-term changes in oil prices. Whatever the cost of Brent in 2025 and 2026, the extra Brazilian barrels are coming. Only future projects, perhaps as late as 2028 and 2029, would be affected. For now, state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA and its foreign partners plan to develop a string of offshore oilfields, including the multiphase Buzios oilfield, which is on track to become Brazil's largest by output, overtaking Tupi. Other notable developments include the Mero and Bachalao oilfields, where Shell Plc, TotalEnergies SE and Equinor ASA hold stakes. The oil market went into 2024 also holding high expectations for Brazilian output. But a combination of delayed drilling approvals due to a strike by environmental officials, supply-chain glitches and widespread maintenance meant that production fell to an annual average of 3.44 million barrels a day, down from 3.49 million in 2023. Excluding the period during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was the largest annual decline in at least 25 years. Understandably, the events of last year meant the market felt some trepidation about betting that Brazilian output will grow this year. By now, however, it's clear a boom is following the bust. The strike by officials at the Brazilian Institute of the Environment & Renewable Natural Resources, which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has described as 'a government agency that seems to be against the government,' ended last June, opening the door to drilling. Petrobras, as the national oil company is known, has largely solved its supply-chain problems, as it started to order kit well ahead of when it needs it. And the extended maintenance of last year means that Brazilian oilfields need less annual work this time.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Church Leaders Shaken After a Man Was Detained in Their Parking Lot
A group of armed men in face coverings detained a Latino man outside a church in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey and took him away on Wednesday, in what pastors believed was a federal immigration raid. The Rev. Tanya Lopez, senior pastor of Downey Memorial Christian Church, said she was in her office on Wednesday when three SUVs with tinted windows pulled up to her church. Then, Ms. Lopez said, five men, some wearing badges and tan bulletproof vests that said 'POLICE,' rushed out of the vehicles and detained a man in the parking lot. The men, Ms. Lopez said, refused to identify which agency they worked for, and they did not share their names or badge numbers when asked. Their vehicles had out-of-state license plates. They also did not provide a warrant, she said. They took the man into a black SUV. And, Ms. Lopez said that as she shouted instructions in Spanish to the man inside the vehicle, an agent drew a rifle at her. 'It came across as essentially a final warning, to step back,' Ms. Lopez said, adding that the men then laughed at her and 'started cracking up.' She said she did not know the man and believed him to be someone just passing by the church at the time. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Washington Post
4 hours ago
- Washington Post
Pr. George's police chief is a finalist for a job in Phoenix
The city of Phoenix said Wednesday that Prince George's County Police Chief Malik Aziz is a finalist in its nationwide search for someone to lead the police department in Arizona's largest city. The news circulated among Aziz's officers in Maryland, many of whom learned of the chief's job search from a Phoenix news release announcing him as one of three finalists. The Prince George's County Police Department declined to comment. The news of Aziz's potential departure comes as Aisha N. Braveboy (D) prepares to take over as Prince George's County executive on Juneteenth. Braveboy, who has served as state's attorney since 2019, was elected to the role in early June after the job was vacated mid-term by Angela Alsobrooks (D), now a U.S. senator. It is not uncommon for new county executives to bring in their own Cabinet members or hire new people into key leadership roles. As the top law enforcement officials in Prince George's County, Braveboy and Aziz worked alongside each other since 2021, when he was hired to reform the police department amid nationwide calls for racial justice and police accountability. 'As states attorney my office had a good working relationship with Chief Aziz,' Braveboy said in a statement Wednesday. 'I wish him the best.' Acting county executive Tara Jackson said in a statement that Aziz 'has done an outstanding job leading our police department through challenging times.' At a recent news conference, Aziz touted an overall decrease in crime, with total crime down 16 percent compared with this time last year. His annual summer crime initiative is in full swing, which focuses on crime reduction and community engagement during the summer months. A Texas native, Aziz came to Maryland after decades in law enforcement in Dallas, where he garnered a national reputation as an advocate for community policing and reform. He had served as the national chair of the National Black Police Association and worked on President Barack Obama's task force on 21st century policing in 2015. He advocated for the Justice Department to collect annual demographic statistics from all police agencies to hold them accountable for diversifying their command ranks, according to the task force's final report. Alsobrooks hired Aziz in March 2021 and instructed him to overhaul a department that has long had a contentious relationship with county residents. He took over as the nation and the county were grappling with the Black Lives Matter movement and widespread calls for reform. He vowed to build a strong relationship with reform advocates and community partners. Tamara McKinney, vice president of the Heels Off Gloves On Boxing Foundation, said Aziz once showed up to a boxing ring to support the organization. When he noticed a young boxer was without boxing shoes, he found a sponsor to assist the group. They were able to buy 16 to 18 pairs of shoes for boxers who couldn't afford the equipment, McKinney said. 'I think he made a concerted effort to change the mind of the community about having such a negative outlook on police,' McKinney said. Before coming to Prince George's, Aziz had been a finalist for chief positions in cities across the country, including Milwaukee, Miami and his hometown of Dallas, where he last served as deputy chief of the Dallas Police Department. Phoenix officials said the three finalists will speak at a public forum on Monday. City officials said they hope to announce the new chief in July.
