Lula's China Trip Channels Xi's Trade Defiance
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No matter how much he insists he doesn't want to, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sure looks like he's picked a side in the standoff between Brazil's two largest commercial partners.
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Brazil's Lula signs law to expand affirmative action, boosting quotas for Blacks in government jobs
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday signed a new law to expand the country's affirmative action policies, increasing the quota for government jobs reserved for Blacks from 20% to 30% and adding Indigenous people and descendants of Afro-Brazilian enslaved people as beneficiaries. The changes apply to candidates applying for permanent and public employment positions across Brazil's federal administration, agencies, public foundations, public companies and state-run mixed-capital companies. As approved by Congress, the quota will be revised in 2035. 'It is important to allow this country for one day to have a society reflected in its public offices, in the Prosecutors' Office, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Attorney-General's Office, in the Internal Revenue Service, everywhere,' Lula said at the presidential palace in the capital, Brasilia. 'We still have few women, few Black people, almost no Indigenous people.' Brazil's first law on racial quotas for government jobs was approved in 2014 by then President Dilma Rousseff, and it extended to public administration positions an affirmative action policy that was in place for access to state-run universities. Brazil's government said in a statement that Blacks and mixed-race people held 25% of top government jobs in 2014, a figure that rose to 36% in 2024. 'Still, Black people are under-represented in the public service and hold lower-wage positions,' the government added. Management and Innovation Minister Esther Dweck said the new law was needed due to a low number of new government jobs being opened for candidates in the last decade, when the previous quota was in place. 'We could not reverse the scenario of low representation (for minorities) in the public service,' Dweck said in a speech Tuesday. Brazil's government said 55% of the country's population is made up of Black or mixed-race people. It added that more than 70% of Brazilians living below the poverty line are also Black or mixed race, while only 1% of people from those ethnicities are in leadership positions in the private sector. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
CNN
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Fetterman chief of staff departing amid office turnover
Sen. John Fetterman's chief of staff Krysta Juris is departing her role and the office is elevating another adviser to fill the position, the Pennsylvania Democrat said on Tuesday. 'I'm grateful for Krysta's work. She's been an invaluable member of the team for over two years and I wish her all the best,' Fetterman said in a statement his office provided to CNN. In the statement, he also announced that Cabelle St. John will take on the role, describing her as 'a trusted advisor since day 1 in the office.' Fetterman's office is known to have had notable staff turnover though Juris' departure, which was first reported by Axios, comes at a time when the senator is facing increased scrutiny. In an interview with CNN last month, Fetterman roundly dismissed allegations that he's unfit to serve in the Senate, attacking a recent report detailing claims of erratic behavior as a 'hit piece' and vowing to serve out his term. The senator pushed back on assertions from former and current staffers published in New York Magazine that he had been exhibiting reckless and volatile behavior. 'It's a one-source hit piece, and it involved maybe two or three and anonymous disgruntled staffers saying just absolute false things,' Fetterman told CNN at the time. Fetterman has before been open about receiving treatment for clinical depression. He checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression in 2023 and has spoken out about how his 2022 campaign worsened his mental health. The New York Magazine report detailed on the record allegations from a former staffer and anonymous allegations from current staffers that Fetterman might be off his medication. The senator denied any suggestion that he may not be taking his medication, saying his doctors think he is 'great,' and that he has been attending regular check-ups and following his wellness regimen. Adding to the mounting scrutiny, the Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board published a scathing op-ed on Sunday, criticizing the senator for missing votes and regularly skipping committee hearings. The board wrote, 'It's time for Fetterman to serve Pennsylvanians, or step away.' Fetterman addressed the op-ed on Monday at a forum with fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican, that aired on Fox Nation, shrugging it off as 'just not accurate.' 'I'm here, I'm doing that job,' Fetterman added. The senator told CNN last month that he plans on serving out the remaining four years of his Senate term but would not say whether he plans on running for reelection for his competitive seat in 2028. 'We're not talking about '28,' Fetterman told CNN. 'Who knows what's going to happen in '28.'
