Latest news with #nationalsovereignty
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Exclusive: Lula plans new 'national sovereignty' policy for strategic minerals
BRASILIA, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters on Wednesday of his plans for a new national policy treating strategic minerals as a matter of "national sovereignty" in order to avoid exporting minerals without adding value locally. "We won't allow what happened in the last century to happen again, where Brazil exports raw minerals and then buys products with very high added value," the president, known as Lula, said in the interview. "We want to add value in Brazil." Lula's comments came as a new 50% tariff hit U.S. imports from Brazil amid a political spat between the two countries linked to an investigation against the South American country's former president, Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro, under house arrest since late Monday, is standing trial on charges of plotting a coup to overturn his 2022 electoral defeat. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing. U.S. President Donald Trump, seen as a Bolsonaro ally, has decried what he calls persecution of Brazil's former leader. Trump has long sought to secure U.S. supplies of critical minerals, complaining of China's near-total control of the industry and striking deals with Ukraine to secure critical minerals in exchange for defense help. Currently, Brazil lacks a complete mapping of its mineral wealth, Lula said, adding that his government would start this process by setting up the national council on mineral materials and standards. The council will safeguard Brazil's control of its mineral wealth, allowing the country to become a global leader in the energy transition, Lula said, adding that businesses will not face difficulties following the council's creation. "Few countries in the world have the opportunity that Brazil has in this area," Lula said.
LBCI
01-08-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Lebanon's Interior Minister honors Army on 80th anniversary
Interior Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar marked the 80th anniversary of the Lebanese Army on Friday with a message of praise and gratitude, emphasizing the military's role as a pillar of national sovereignty and unity. In a post on X, Al-Hajjar wrote, 'Eighty years of honor, sacrifice, and loyalty. Our army is the guarantor in times of uncertainty, and the pillar of stability in times of change.' He went on to describe the Lebanese Army as 'a fundamental pillar of the state in extending its authority across the entire Lebanese territory,' and offered a salute to 'every soldier, every officer, and every martyr who fell defending Lebanon.'
Malay Mail
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Kelantan deputy MB: Illegal border crossings in Kelantan raise serious security concerns
KOTA BHARU, July 6 — The presence of dozens of illegal crossings along the Kelantan-Thailand border has raised serious national security concerns, said Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Mohamed Fadzli Hassan. He emphasised that Kelantan's border is an integral part of Malaysia's international boundary with Thailand and must be protected with utmost vigilance. 'The border spans approximately 105 kilometres, with most of it covering Sungai Golok, which separates Kelantan from Thailand's Narathiwat province. 'There are only three official entry points, namely Rantau Panjang, Bukit Bunga and Pengkalan Kubor. However, behind these checkpoints lie dozens of illegal crossings frequently used for cross-border activities,' he said in a statement on his official Facebook page today. Mohamed Fadzli also noted that the region's geography and close familial ties between communities on both sides of the border further heighten its vulnerability to security threats. In light of this, the state government stressed the need to strengthen border enforcement through increased personnel deployment, enhanced security assets and coordinated efforts among all relevant agencies. He added that the state government is fully committed to working together to ensure the nation's borders remain secure. 'This is a shared responsibility to safeguard our sovereignty, protect public safety and secure the future of our nation,' he said. — Bernama
The Independent
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump calls LA a ‘trash heap' of ‘chaos and disorder' in Fort Bragg troop rally after sending Marines to quell protests
President Donald Trump on Tuesday turned what was meant as a celebration of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, for soldiers at one of the nation's most storied military bases, into a bellicose campaign-style rally as he attacked Democratic elected officials and denigrated the country 's second-largest city as a c esspool made rotten by 'uncontrolled migration.' Speaking before a crowd of uniformed soldiers at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Trump defended his decision to send National Guard soldiers and active duty Marines to quell protests against his anti-immigrant deportation operations in Los Angeles as necessary to prevent attacks on federal law enforcement from a 'violent mob.' He claimed that had he not ordered the soldiers into federal service over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles would be on fire, and compared the guardsmen's mission to past overseas battles in which the Army had fought over its 250 years. 'Generations of army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness here at home, like is happening in California. As Commander in Chief, I will not let that happen. It's never going to happen,' Trump said, overstating the current state of affairs in LA by several degrees. Trump told the soldiers that the protests and unrest in Los Angeles represented a 'full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags, with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country,' before segueing into a partisan attack on former President Joe Biden. He accused 'stupid people or radical left people or sick people' in the previous administration of having allowed 'millions of people' to 'come into our country, totally unchecked and unvetted' and claimed those people were responsible for attacks on police in Los Angeles over the last few days. 'They're hurling bricks and cinder blocks at law enforcement ... they're breaking up the sidewalks and the curbs, breaking it up with big, strong hammers. These guys are professionals. These are not amateurs,' he claimed. 'These are animals, but they proudly carry the flags of other countries, but they don't carry the American flag. They only burn it.' The president cast his effort to use military force to tamp down protests against his immigration policies as a battle against a foreign foe rather than repression of the free speech rights guaranteed to all by the U.S. Constitution, telling the soldiers who'd been ordered to attend his speech that his administration would 'not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.' 'That's what they are. Lot of those people were let in here by the Biden administration. They just poured right in. They came from prisons. They came from jails from all over the world. They came from mental institutions. They were the leaders of gangs. They were drug lords, allowed to come into our country,' he said. Trump's partisan commentary to the troops touched on many of the anti-immigrant tropes that have long been a staple of his political stump speech during his three campaigns for the presidency, including claims that other countries have deliberately sent criminals and mental patients to the United States to claim asylum with the consent of the Biden administration and the aid of Democrats in state and local governments. He also praised the thousands of National Guard soldiers and Marines he has dispatched over the past two days for 'standing guard to protect federal property and personnel and uphold the supremacy of federal law' while accusing Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of fomenting the violence against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. 'In Los Angeles, the governor of California, the mayor — they're incompetent and they paid troublemakers, agitators and insurrectionists, they're engaged in this willful attempt to nullify federal law and aid the occupation of the city by criminal invaders,' he said. Continuing, the president praised his own election as a turning point when the country rejected Democratic rule and slammed Los Angeles as having 'gone from being one of the cleanest, safest and most beautiful cities on earth to being a trash heap with entire neighborhoods under the control of transnational gangs and criminal networks.' Echoing the openly racist rhetoric of European far-right parties, Trump blamed 'uncontrolled migration' for the city's supposed condition of 'chaos, dysfunction and disorder' and suggested that European leaders should adopt his anti-immigrant stance. 'They have it in Europe too. It's happening in many of the countries of Europe. They don't like it when I say it, but I'll say it loudly and clearly. They better do something before it's too late,' he said. The president's rabidly partisan denunciation of duly elected officials in the nation's most populous state came just hours after he made a chilling threat against free speech rights of Americans in the nation's capital ahead of the military parade he has ordered up to celebrate his own birthday on Saturday. Speaking in the Oval Office following an impromptu event to discuss forest management ahead of the upcoming summer wildfire season, Trump was riffing on what he described as violent excesses by protesters who've been demonstrating against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles when he was asked about the possibility of protests against the June 14 parade. The president said it would be an 'amazing day' and cited the 'tanks ... planes ... all sorts of things' that will be on display during the spectacle, which is ostensibly meant to mark the Army's 250th. He compared the parade, which breaks from the American tradition that largely eschews militaristic or jingoistic displays of the sort routinely seen in authoritarian countries, to European celebrations of the end of the Second World War. 'We won the war, and we're the only country that didn't celebrate it, and we're going to be celebrating big on Saturday. We're going to have a lot of and if there's any protest that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,' Trump said. He reiterated the explicit threat a moment later, telling 'those people who want to protest' that they would be 'met with very big force' once more. He also opined further that any protest against the parade on Saturday would consist only of 'people who hate our country.'
LBCI
06-06-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Berri backs President Aoun's stance, says Israeli aggression targets all Lebanon
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri affirmed that his position is fully aligned with that of President Joseph Aoun regarding national sovereignty and in condemnation of the Israeli attacks on Beirut and Ain Qana. Berri stressed that the assaults are not aimed at a specific sect or region but at all of Lebanon and its people—Christians and Muslims alike—as well as the broader Arab and Muslim communities, especially as they prepare to celebrate Eid al-Adha.
