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Saudi Gazette
a day ago
- Saudi Gazette
Trump hits Brazil with 50% tariffs and sanctions judge in Bolsonaro case
SAO PAULO — US officials said on Wednesday that they will sanction Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of authorising "arbitrary pre-trial detentions" and suppressing "freedom of expression". Judge Moraes has been leading the investigation into allegations that Brazil's former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies plotted a coup after he lost the 2022 election. Bolsonaro has denied those allegations and has called Judge Moraes a "dictator". Shortly after the sanctions were announced, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that raised tariffs on Brazil to 50%. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazil was willing to negotiate with the US on trade, but called sanctions targeting de Moraes an "unacceptable" interference in the country's justice system. He said on X that Brazil had accumulated "a significant trade deficit in goods and services with the United States over the past few decades" and that the measures undermine "national sovereignty and the historical relationship between the two countries".Trump had threatened to impose the steep tariffs earlier this month in a letter he shared on social media to it, Trump accused Brazil of "attacks" on US tech companies and of conducting a "witch hunt" against executive order on tariffs excludes several of Brazil's major exports from the steep taxes, including orange juice, some aircraft parts and energy order also ties the tariffs directly to Brazil's "politically motivated persecution, intimidation, harassment, censorship and prosecution" of has threatened to match any tariff imposed by the US is Brazil's second-largest trade partner after China, so the hike would hit the South American nation is the US's 15th largest trading partner and among its main imports from the US are mineral fuels, aircraft and its part, the US imports gas and petroleum, iron, and coffee from announcing the sanctions against Judge Moraes on Wednesday, US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent accused Moraes of carrying out "an unlawful witch hunt against US and Brazilian citizens and companies."Bessent added that the judge is "responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions – including against former President Jair Bolsonaro"."Today's action makes clear that Treasury will continue to hold accountable those who threaten US interests and the freedoms of our citizens," he BBC has reached out to Judge Moraes for addition to leading the investigation into Bolsonaro, Judge Moraes had previously ordered some social media accounts, including American ones, to be shut down for publishing US president's company Trump Media, which operates his Truth Social platform, is among the US tech companies fighting Brazilian court rulings over orders suspending social media country had also briefly banned Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, after the platform refused to shut down accounts that were deemed by Brazil to be spreading misinformation about the 2022 Brazilian presidential month, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that social media companies can be held responsible for content posted on their latest sanctions mark a new escalation in an increasingly tense relationship between Brazil and the US under Trump's second Trump's first term, the US president and former Brazilian president Bolsonaro enjoyed a friendly relationship when their presidencies overlapped, and the two had met at the White House in men subsequently lost presidential elections and both refused to publicly acknowledge who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022, is standing trial for allegedly attempting a coup with thousands of his supporters storming government buildings in the capital in January 2023 after Lula was victorious in the Moraes has imposed a raft of pre-trial restrictions on Bolsonaro, including a night-time and weekend curfew and 24-hour surveillance to prevent him from fleeing the has also been ordered to refrain from contacting foreign governments and their embassies in Brazil, and to wear an ankle in July, Trump compared Bolsonaro's prosecution to the legal cases he has similarly faced."This is nothing more, or less, than an attack on a Political Opponent - Something I know much about!" Trump had said. In response, Bolsonaro thanked the US president for his support. — BBC
Saudi Gazette
a day ago
- Saudi Gazette
More than 30 killed in nursing home hit by Beijing floods
BEIJING — Flooding killed 31 residents at a care home for elderly people on the outskirts of Beijing this week, local officials have said. Footage showed emergency teams wading through chest-high water trying to rescue those trapped in the home in the Miyun District. Many of those who died were reportedly immobile. Local officials have admitted there were "loopholes in emergency planning" and said the incident was a painful lesson that served as "a wake-up call". A total of 44 people have died in the Beijing floods, which have come during a summer of extreme weather across China. Record heatwaves hit the eastern regions earlier this month while separate floods swept the country's south-west. About 77 elderly residents were inside the home when the floods hit, trapping about 40 of them as water levels rose to almost 2m (6ft), according to Chinese media. The facility - situated in Taishitun Town - primarily cares for those who are severely disabled, low-income, or receiving minimal living allowances, local media reports."For a long time, the central area of the town where the nursing home is located had been considered safe, so it was not included in the evacuation scope of the plan," a Chinese official said at a press conference on Thursday."This reveals that there are loopholes in our emergency planning. Our understanding of extreme weather has been insufficient, and this painful lesson has served as a wake-up call."In nearby Hebei province, 16 people died as a result of extreme rainfall, officials said. In the city of Chengde, eight were killed, with 18 still unaccounted is no stranger to flooding, particularly in the summer months. One of the deadliest in recent memory occurred in July 2012, when 190mm of rain drenched the city in a day, killing 79 summer, floods have wreaked havoc across swathes of people were killed and 10 people went missing in Shandong province earlier this month when Typhoon Wipha struck eastern China. Two weeks earlier, a landslide killed three people in Ya'an city, in the country's weather, which experts link to climate change, has increasingly threatened China's residents and economy - especially its trillion-dollar agriculture disasters in the first half of the year have cost China 54.11 billion yuan ($7.5bn; £5.7bn), its emergency management ministry said earlier this month. Flooding accounted for more than 90% of the losses, it added. — BBC
Saudi Gazette
2 days ago
- Saudi Gazette
Hawaiians cram roads away from coasts as tsunami waves arrive
LOS ANGELES — Many Hawaiians have heeded official advice to leave coastal areas, after a powerful earthquake thousands of miles away near Russia caused tsunami waves to reach the US state and other parts of the Pacific. Waves several feet high were recorded on the islands of Maui, Oahu and Hawaii on Tuesday evening, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, urging people to take "urgent action" to protect lives and property. The centre later downgraded its tsunami warning for Hawaii to a tsunami advisory, though cautioned that flooding was still possible. Governor Josh Green struck a hopeful tone, saying he had yet to see a "wave of consequence" in the state. He had earlier advised people in low-lying areas to move to higher ground, and noted that that roads were getting busy as people evacuated their homes. Other areas of the US west coast - including California and Alaska - made their own preparations while under a lesser tsunami advisory from the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC).Follow live updates on the tsunamiAn NTWC warning means that widespread flooding is expected or occurring, while an advisory indicates that there is a potential for strong currents or waves that could be Dr Lucy Jones anticipated that the waves could damage harbours and waterfront properties in Hawaii - and possibly in California - but would not cause a catastrophic loss of life in the tallest waves could be several feet high in Hawaii, Dr Jones noted, but by comparison, they reached 42ft (13m) during a deadly tsunami in Japan in Hawaiians have taken no on Maui, which was devastated by wildfires two years ago, were among those who moved to higher ground while the warning was in Dorn told the BBC that he was no stranger to tsunami warnings, having lived a block away from the ocean in the coastal city of Kihei, on Maui, for 30 years. But he and his wife were treating this one differently."We try and take them all seriously, but most people kind of take them a bit lightly," he said of the warning sirens that had been blaring since the first alert was and his wife had evacuated to higher ground and were planning to spend the night in their van at an inland shopping Dorn said that before leaving their home, he had moved his electronics up to their loft, hoping that even if seawater penetrates the building it would not reach the biggest concern was the traffic, especially if electrical poles fell and blocked roads."Traffic's always a problem, and its getting worse. And it's at its worst in any emergency like this," he Maui resident, Roger Pleasanton, told the BBC that the traffic was "like New York City right now"."I was going to go to the grocery store, but I think I may have to skip the groceries and get out of here," he Maui prepared for the arrival of the waves, shelters were opened and water facilities were shut off to protect them from possible had been 10 years since Felicia Johnson, a lifelong resident of the island, last fled from a tsunami. Late on Tuesday, she again found herself moving to higher Johnson, 47, had watched the water level recede and then rise significantly - describing a pattern typically seen with tsunamis."It's eerily weird," she exclaimed, while packing her truck to spend a night with her family and friends in the compared the situation to the fire that hit Lahaina two years ago, devastating the island and its community."All I can do is leave the house. I'm leaving, so I'm definitely worried something's coming. But I mean, what can you cry about?"We went through this with the fires, and there was no warning, and it was just so devastating. Now, we have so much warning that if we don't go it's our fault."Waves reaching 5.7ft (1.74m) have been recorded at Kahului, Maui, and one of 4.9ft was recorded in Hilo, management authorities warned people to remain outside the coastal evacuation zone until the all-clear was California, the first waves were comparatively small. The first measurements from the National Tsunami Warning Center show a wave of 1.6ft hitting Arena Cove, north of San Monterey to the south, a height of 1.4ft was National Weather Service (NWS) warned of potentially higher crests near Port San Luis, roughly halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. People were being asked to avoid the Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles County, some were relaxed about the Mejia, 25, and his two cousins were packing up their longboards in their convertible when his mom called."She said, 'Did you see there was a huge earthquake and there's maybe gonna be a tsunami?' I was like, 'No, I've been in the water!'"Instead of speeding off, the trio sat in their car and peered out at the ocean, talking about heading back in and riding tsunami tsunami evacuation route signs line many roads along the US west Canada, wave heights have so far remained below 1ft. — BBC
