Sao Paulo Pushes Out Favela Residents, Drug Users to Revive Its City Center
Economy
Maria Regina Holanda was working in the grocery store she owns in May when she felt the sting of the tear gas. Outside, protesters tried to block police they believed were trying to forcibly remove them from the Favela do Moinho, in Sao Paulo's Campos Eliseos neighborhood.
'It was a terrible feeling,' said Holanda.
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Man jailed after ‘hunting down police' with crossbow
Man jailed after 'hunting down police' with crossbow A man who stabbed a neighbour and shot an officer with a crossbow after attempting to 'hunt down' police has been jailed. On Wednesday, Aylesbury Crown Court heard Jason King had stabbed neighbour Alistair Mahwuto with a 'small knife' during an altercation which had arisen as a result of a 'long-standing' dispute. Police were called to the scene on School Close in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, where King shot repeatedly at officers with a crossbow out of his upstairs window before chasing them with the weapon and shooting an officer, the court was told. The 55-year-old was later shot once by police in the stomach after refusing to put down the weapon when confronted by officers, the court heard. On Wednesday, King was jailed for nine years with a further three years on extended licence having previously pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, having an article with a blade or point, having an offensive weapon, wounding with intent and affray regarding the incident on May 10 last year. The sentencing hearing heard that on the day before the shooting, King said his windows had been broken by a neighbour and had called police. Sentencing King, Judge Jonathan Cooper said he had been motivated in part during the shooting by 'revenge' and a 'sense of grievance' towards his neighbours and police who he believed had not handled the incident regarding his window appropriately. Judge Cooper said: 'I note that you purchased the crossbow, I don't accept it was for recreational purposes.' 'I consider that this was an attempt by you to arm yourself in the event of need,' he added. The judge said that King's actions, including chasing officers and continuing to shoot at them, were evidence of him 'attempting to settle a score with police'. 'It was as if you were trying to hunt down the officer, chasing him, aiming at his body,' he added. Prosecutor Graham Smith said the officer had seen King 'grinning' as he exited his address before shooting him in the leg, resulting in a two to three-centimetre wound near to an artery. King 'persisted' in pointing the crossbow at other officers who confronted him and, given that he had already shot an officer, police decided to shoot him, the prosecutor said. Mr Smith said it was the prosecution's case that it was 'great fortune' the officer who was shot had not suffered greater injuries and that King had appeared to be 'hunting' and 'stalking' the police. In a statement read to court, Mr Mahwuto, 63, who suffered a two-centimetre wound as a result of the stabbing, said the incident had 'affected me more than I would have ever imagined' and that a doctor had said his wound could have been fatal had it been a few centimetres higher. The officer shot by King said the incident had 'changed my outlook on life a bit', and that he feels more 'protective' about his colleagues now. In a statement read by Mr Smith, the officer said: 'I don't want anyone else to experience what I experienced, I hear jobs coming through on the radio and I don't want my colleagues going out to them.' He added that it had 'knocked' his confidence, and a doctor had told him the injury could have been 'catastrophic'. In mitigation, Mark Kimsey, defending, said King accepted the incident was 'very frightening' for those involved, and that he had been suffering from a 'worsening mental condition'. Mr Kimsey said it was 'not illegal' to possess the crossbow and that 'an adult is entitled to own an item without a licence'. He said: 'The item is one that can be freely purchased by anybody and cost less than £20 and was described as a 'pistol' crossbow.' Mr Kimsey added: 'It appeared at the time the defendant believed he was able to speak to the neighbour's dog, and speak in dog,' adding that King thought he had contact with an 'Egyptian god'. King, of School Close, High Wycombe, waved and made a heart gesture with his hands towards members of his family who were seated in the public gallery. The defendant, wearing a green long-sleeved top and a wooden beaded necklace, shook his head and interrupted the judge at points during the hearing. An investigation into the shooting of King by the police watchdog praised the 'courage, professionalism and sound judgment' of officers involved in the incident.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Officers were ‘covered in blood' after Pc shot with a crossbow
A police officer who was shot by a man with a crossbow said he lost so much blood that his colleagues were 'covered' in it. On Wednesday, a sentencing hearing at Aylesbury Crown Court heard police had been called after Jason King stabbed neighbour Alistair Mahwuto with a 'small knife' during an altercation, arising out of a 'long-standing' dispute. Police attended the scene in School Close in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, where King shot repeatedly at them using a crossbow before chasing them with the weapon and shooting officer Pc Curtis Foster, the court was told. The 55-year-old was later shot once by police in the stomach after refusing to put down the weapon when confronted by officers on May 10 last year, the court heard. Footage released by Thames Valley Police shows King, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, running across a road, pursuing the officers while pointing a crossbow. Pc Foster said of the incident: 'My recollection of the early moments when I arrived on scene was the street was empty, it was eerily quiet, no sign of the suspect and we then saw the victim who showed us a stab wound in the abdomen. 'I ascertained King had a crossbow when he removed the upstairs window to his property. He literally took the whole window out of its frame and then he was pointing something out of the window and I could see a red glint and then I realised it was a crossbow and that's when he took two shots at me out the window.' The officer added that he knew something had 'impacted' him but his adrenaline levels were 'so high' that he could not feel much pain. As a result, Pc Foster carried on running and helped clear members of the public away from the scene, despite his injury. Bodyworn camera footage shows the officer saying he thinks he has been shot and telling people to 'get back' into their houses as there is a man armed with a crossbow. Pc Foster said: 'I kind of first realised I was bleeding quite a lot when I could feel it running down my leg, and then I touched my leg above my trousers and my whole palm of my hand was red where it had gone through my trousers already so I thought yeah, I'm losing quite a lot of blood already.' He continued: 'There was a lot of blood. 'My two colleagues that turn up initially on scene were covered in my blood, that's how much blood I'd lost and when we got to the hospital the doctor had a feel of it and said I was really lucky it didn't strike an artery, it was a couple of centimetres away from hitting an artery in my leg.' Another clip shows King being confronted by an armed officer who shouts at him to 'stay still' before the officer fires one shot. The officer then runs over to King while other voices can be heard calling for paramedics. The armed officer, who cannot be named, said shooting King was 'the worst thing I've ever had to do' but that it 'neutralised a threat and kept everyone safe'. Further footage shows a police dog handler shouting to colleagues that King had attempted to shoot police dog Merlyn. Pc Foster has since made a full recovery from his injuries, police have said, while King was taken to hospital and discharged 10 days later. Judge Jonathan Cooper jailed King for nine years with a further three years on extended licence. He previously pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, having an article with a blade or point, having an offensive weapon, wounding with intent and affray.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
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Exclusive-Judge in US crosshairs warns Brazil banks not to apply sanctions locally
By Ricardo Brito and Brad Haynes BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who recently had sanctions imposed on him by the U.S. government, told Reuters that courts could punish Brazilian financial institutions for seizing or blocking domestic assets in response to U.S. orders. Those remarks raise the stakes in a standoff that has hammered shares of Brazilian banks caught between U.S. sanctions and the orders of Brazil's highest court. In a late Tuesday interview from his office in Brasilia, Moraes granted that U.S. law enforcement regarding Brazilian banks that operate in the United States "falls under U.S. jurisdiction." "However, if those banks choose to apply that law domestically, they cannot do so — and may be penalized under Brazilian law," he added. His remarks underscore the potential consequences of a Monday ruling by fellow Supreme Court Justice Flavio Dino, who warned that foreign laws cannot be automatically applied in Brazil. That ruling was followed by a sharp rebuke from the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, which warned on social media hours later that Moraes was "toxic" and that "non-U.S. persons must tread carefully: those providing material support to human rights abusers face sanctions risk themselves." The U.S. Treasury Department slapped the sanctions on Moraes last month under the Global Magnitsky Act, a law designed to impose economic penalties on foreigners deemed to have a record of corruption or human rights abuse. The order accused him of suppressing freedom of expression and leading politicized prosecutions, including against former President Jair Bolsonaro, a staunch Trump ally on trial before Brazil's Supreme Court on charges of plotting a coup to reverse his loss in the 2022 election. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and denounced the case as politically motivated. In his interview, Moraes said decisions by foreign courts and governments can only take effect in Brazil after validation through a domestic process. He said it is therefore not possible to seize assets, freeze funds or block the property of Brazilian citizens without following those legal steps. The global reach of the U.S. financial system means foreign banks often restrict a wider range of transactions to avoid secondary sanctions. Moraes said he was confident that the sanctions against him would be reversed via diplomatic channels or an eventual challenge in U.S. courts. But he acknowledged that for now they had put financial institutions in a bind. "This misuse of legal enforcement places financial institutions in a difficult position — not only Brazilian banks, but also their American partners," he said. "That is precisely why, I repeat, the diplomatic channel is important so this can be resolved quickly - to prevent misuse of a law that is important to fight terrorism, criminal organizations, international drug trafficking and human trafficking," he added. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to request for comment. Moraes had "engaged in serious human rights abuse," said a Treasury Department spokesperson. "Rather than concocting a fantasy fiction, de Moraes should stop carrying out arbitrary detentions and politicized prosecutions." NO CHOICE The clash could have serious consequences for Brazilian financial institutions, said two bankers in Brazil, who requested anonymity to discuss the matter candidly. Most large banks are supervised by the U.S. government in some way due to their international presence or exposure, either through a foreign branch or issuance of foreign securities, said the former director of an international bank in Brazil. The choice for these banks, under pressure from the U.S., may be to invite sanctioned clients to seek a different institution to keep their assets, the banker added. The director of a major Brazilian bank said that, in practice, Monday's court ruling means any action taken by Brazilian banks based on rules involving the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which oversees U.S. sanctions, will need approval from Brazil's Supreme Court. At the same time, he added, failing to comply with an OFAC decision could cut a bank off from the international financial system. "Brazil doesn't really have a choice," said the banker. "Given how interconnected everything is, and the disparity in economic power between the U.S. and Brazil, we're left in a position of subordination. There's not much we can do." He stressed that the court would need to come up with a solution "that doesn't put the financial system at risk." Shares of state-run lender Banco do Brasil, where most federal officials including judges receive salaries, fell 6% on Tuesday, the largest drop among Brazil's three biggest banks. The bank said in a Tuesday statement it was prepared to deal with "complex, sensitive" issues involving global regulations. Sign in to access your portfolio
