Brazil’s ex-President Collor de Mello arrested after corruption sentence

After a Supreme Court justice ordered former Brazilian president Fernando Collor de Mello to begin serving time in jail, he was detained.

The former leader was detained on Friday at 4am (07:00 GMT), according to Collor’s attorney Marcelo Bessa, while visiting Brasilia, where he planned to surrender himself following the arrest order from Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

According to a statement from Bessa, the 75-year-old politician was being detained by federal police in the state’s capital, Maceio, in northeastern Maceio.

The top court sentenced Collor, the country’s first military dictatorship, to eight years and 10 months in prison in 2023 on corruption and money-laundering charges, following the top court’s ruling on Thursday.

Collor’s attorney already had an opinion on the matter in an&nbsp, initial&nbsp, statement&nbsp, released late on Thursday, but added that the former president would comply with the order.

Following the prosecution’s claim that Collor had received $ 30 million in bribes from a then-subsidiary of the state-run oil company Petrobras, Brazilian authorities were convicted in 2023.

Collor was elected president in 1990, but he did not succeed him as president until after the Supreme Court found him not guilty in 1994 when Congress impeached him two years later.

In the end, he was elected to the Alagoas state as a senator.

He unsuccessfully applied for governor of Alagoas, so he abruptly left Congress in early 2023.

Brazil’s first president has not broken the law, according to Collor de Mello.

Since the military dictatorship of 1964-1985, four of the nation’s seven presidents have either been found guilty, imprisoned, or imprisoned.

Could Canada really become the US’s 51st state?

Could Canada become the state of the nation in the state of 51? Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the UN, speaks with Redi Tlhabi.

After Donald Trump suggested that Canada could become the 51st state of the United States, the country’s relationship with the US is once more in the spotlight. On both sides of the border, the comment has sparked political unrest and tension.

Is the threat of annexation therefore plausible?

Will Trump-Bukele ties worsen the threat to migrant rights?

During the Trump immigration crackdown, Redi Tlhabi speaks with experts about concerns about human rights violations.

With hundreds detained in mega-prisons like those in El Salvador, the widespread concern over human rights violations and the erosion of due process has been caused by US President Donald Trump’s repeated deportations of immigrants.

Could deportations and human rights violations worsen as Trump ties up with El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele, whose administration has been subject to widespread criticism for its authoritarian policies?

Iran to sign $4bn oilfields deal with Russia in bid to bolster ties

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has announced that Iran will cooperate with Russian companies in a $4 billion energy agreement as they work to bolster ties while attempting to withstand Western economic sanctions.

Paknejad stated earlier on Friday on state television that the agreement aims to work with Russian companies to develop seven Iranian oilfields.

Tehran and Moscow have forged closer ties since the start of the Ukrainian military conflict, signing a strategic partnership treaty in January, ranging from military cooperation to energy, banking, and agriculture.

The pair’s effort to break down barriers in all areas of cooperation is reflected in Friday’s agreement.

Iran’s efforts to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States come as a result of consultations with its allies in Moscow and Beijing earlier this week.

OPEC

Putin’s top envoy for OPEC relations, Alexander Novak, met with Paknejad on Thursday in a meeting with the Russian deputy prime minister.

The group, which includes OPEC and its allies led by Russia, suggested that the group increase oil output for the second month in a row at the time of the meeting.

The proposed increase highlights a member dispute over whether to comply with production quotas.

It comes in response to US President Donald Trump’s calls for OPEC to lower oil prices and his return to a “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, whose oil exports Washington wants to reduce to zero.

Additionally, the two nations announced on Friday that Moscow may offer Tehran 1.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas this year at an undetermined price.

Paknejad claimed the agreement was still pending, but that Gazprom, a Russian company, was in charge of implementation, was working with the countries to reach an agreement as soon as possible.

Qatar and Turkmenistan have long been interested in establishing a similar hub in Iran.

long history

Russia has long cooperated with Iran in the fields of energy production and supply, and it supported Iran’s construction of its first nuclear reactor in Bushehr, which is located in Iran’s southern region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian met in the Kremlin in January to discuss the potential supply of up to 55 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to Iran, starting with smaller volumes of up to 2 bcm.

A 55 bcm increase in flow would be comparable to the Nord Stream 1 undersea pipelines to Europe, which lost all of their gas in the Ukraine war in 2022 after being blown up by explosions in 2022.

Eubank fined after missing weight limit before Benn showdown

After reaching the weight limit of 14g (0. 5 oz) over the weight limit for Saturday’s long-awaited fight with fellow Briton Conor Benn at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Chris Eubank Jr will be fined 375, 000 pounds ($500, 000).

Benn, who weighs 71 kg (146. 4 lbs.), was lighter than expected for the 12-round Ring Magazine middleweight bout, which was set at 72. 57 kg (160 lbs.).

In a hotel in London, Eubank was weighed in behind closed doors for the second time, coming in at a weight of 72. 597 kg (160.05 lb).

A rehydration agreement between the boxers prevents them from putting on more than 4.54 kg (10 lbs) between Friday’s weigh-in and a second check on Saturday morning.

Later on Friday, the pair will face-to-face for a ceremonial weigh-in.

Benn, 28, who has won only 23 fights with 14 knockouts, has been mostly a welterweight, two classes down, while Eubank, 35, has previously fought at super-middle.

The British Boxing Board of Control has already fined Eubank $100,000 for slapping Benn with an egg at a press conference in February, making her the IBO middleweight champion.

When Chris Eubank Sr. and Nigel Benn’s sons tested positive for trace amounts of the fertility drug clomifene, the fight between the sons of former world champions was called off in 2022.

In 2023, the World Boxing Council found that Benn had intentionally done doping, blaming “highly elevated consumption of eggs” as a justification for the test failures.

At a press conference on Thursday, Eubank spoke of his brother Sebastian’s suffering and his difficult relationship with his father.

He said, “These things are what pain is to me.” The rehydration clause, the weight loss cap, and other factors are not significant.

Car bomb kills senior Russian general near Moscow

According to the Investigative Committee, which investigates serious crimes in the nation, a home-made explosive device tore through a parked car in the town of Balashikha, east of Moscow.

Authorities identified Lieutenant-General Yaroslav Moskalik as the victim of Friday’s attack, which appeared to be consistent with previous assaults on Russians in connection with Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine.

The Investigative Committee stated in a statement on Friday that “the explosion occurred as a result of the detonation of a homemade explosive device filled with destructive elements.”

A Volkswagen Golf blew up outside a block of apartments in Balashikha, prompting investigators to launch an investigation into the deadly attack. Who might be responsible for the incident was not disclosed in the statement.

Second victim was identified.

A second person was also killed, according to Russian media Kommersant.

A car was gutted by a blaze that was captured on social media.

Moskalik lived in Balashikha, but the Volkswagen he owned wasn’t registered with him, according to the Agentstvo investigative news site, which cited leaked information.

A massive explosion, which was captured on security camera, caused fragments to fly into the air, according to footage from the Izvestia newspaper. When someone is seen approaching the car, the explosion occurs.

Moskalik participated in the “Normandy Format” discussions on Ukraine in 2015, amidst the conflict between Kyiv and separatists supported by Russia, according to the Kremlin website.

In 2021, Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, appointed him lieutenant-general.

In addition to the fatal attacks on Russians during the Ukrainian War, there have been fatal attacks on Russians in the past, including the fatal explosion in a Saint Petersburg cafe in April 2023 that resulted in the death of prominent military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky.

The most outrageous assassination claimed by Kyiv since the start of the conflict was Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian military’s chemical weapons unit.