Category World News

When asked about Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza City, US President Donald Trump warned of ‘big trouble’ for Hamas if they use Israeli captives as human shields.

On Thursday, a Brazilian Supreme Court panel found former President Jair Bolsonaro guilty of multiple charges, including leading a criminal group and attempting the violent overthrow of democratic rule. He was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison.

According to the prosecution, Bolsonaro and members of his cabinet and the military sought to orchestrate a coup after his electoral defeat in November 2022 and assassinate current president and political rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil’s judiciary associated the former president’s actions with the events that led to the ransacking of the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court in the capital Brasilia by his supporters in January 2023.

While the verdict was welcomed by other Latin American leaders like Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Chilean President Gabriel Boric, United States President Donald Trump’s administration, a staunch ally of Bolsonaro, swiftly condemned it. In the days leading up to the court panel’s verdict, Washington intensified pressure on Brazil’s government by imposing a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods and issuing personal sanctions against Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes under the Magnitsky Act, citing alleged human rights abuses.

But the Brazilian government and institutions were unshaken. Lula hailed the decision as “historic” and rejected US attempts of interference in Brazil’s internal affairs.

The verdict is indeed historic, not only because it marks the first time a Brazilian head of state was convicted on such charges but also because it demonstrates that despite Brazil’s tumultuous history, its democracy is a resilient, dynamic and adaptable system that works.

This may come as a surprise to some. After all, the country’s recent past reflects struggles with authoritarianism and repression. From the seven decades of imperial monarchy in the 19th century after independence from Portugal through the republican period, the revolution of 1930, the unstable parliamentarian regime, the military dictatorship during the Cold War and the impeachment of two presidents in the democratic era, Brazil could easily be labelled as an unstable and unpredictable state.

What is more, the country is situated in a region that has long known coups, dictatorships and authoritarianism, often backed or orchestrated by the US.

Brazil’s own military dictatorship was firmly supported by the US government. Washington encouraged and backed the military coup of 1964, which ushered in an era of bloody repression that would only end two decades later. And yet, the democratic system that followed proved resilient even when confronted with wrongdoing by political leaders.

In 1979, President Joao Baptista Figueiredo signed a law giving amnesty to both military personnel and opponents of the dictatorship in an attempt to pave the way for democratisation. It also served to cover up the military regime’s crimes and protect those responsible.

In 2021, Bolsonaro decided to break with this policy of amnesty for crimes against the state by signing legislation that criminalised coup attempts and attacks on democracy. It is this very provision that was used by the Supreme Court in its ruling against him.

This is not the only time Brazilian courts have used presidents’ own legislative agendas against them. In 2005 during Lula’s first term, the country was shaken by a major scandal of vote-buying in Congress. As part of his efforts to appease the public, the president enacted the Clean Record Law (Lei da Ficha Limpa) in 2010, which rendered any candidate convicted by a collective judicial body (more than one judge) ineligible to hold public office for eight years. In 2018, Lula himself was barred from running for president again under his own law due to a conviction for corruption.

But these are not the only examples of Brazilian democracy weathering political storms linked to its leaders. The country has been through two presidential impeachments without major shocks to the system. Right-wing President Fernando Collor (1990-1992) was removed from office due to corruption involving his campaign treasurer while left-wing President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016) lost her position for manipulating the federal budget.

The removal of both leaders did not lead to institutional instability but instead paved the way for significant reforms. Among them are the Plano Real (Real Plan) of 1994, which finally brought inflation under control, and the labour reform of 2017, which established the primacy of employer-employee agreements over existing labour legislation.

Taken together, these examples show that Brazil’s political system derives institutional strength from the application of the rule of law across the ideological spectrum.

The Brazilian case calls for a reconsideration of the longstanding but inaccurate view that Latin America is a breeding ground for unstable and unpredictable democracies. It shows that institutions are functioning and demonstrate both modernity and adaptability.

Brazil thus offers a reference point for other democracies in the region and beyond.

Kenya’s peerless middle-distance runner Faith Kipyegon has underlined her status as one of the greatest athletes of all time by convincingly claiming a fourth 1,500 metres world title to go with her three Olympic golds and world record in the event.

Kipyegon delivered a gun-to-tape run on Tuesday and destroyed the field as she came home clear in 3 minutes 52.15 seconds.

Fellow Kenyan Dorcus Ewoi ran a personal best 3:54.92 for silver while Jessica Hull won Australia’s first medal in the event when she just held on for bronze in 3:55.16.

Kipyegon now matches Hicham El Guerrouj (1997-2003) by claiming four world 1,500-metre golds, and she will also go for a second world 5,000-metre title later this week.

“Being able to defend my title and to win a fourth gold feels really special,” Kipyegon said.

“After setting the world record in Eugene [in July], I said to myself, ‘I have to go to Tokyo and defend my title.’ I knew I could run it under control.

“I won here in the 2021 Olympics just after becoming a mother, so being back here, winning again, means I can show a new gold medal to my daughter.”

4TH TIME 1500M WORLD CHAMPION 🥹💜🥰🇰🇪

This was my dream, another world title, continuing to make history.

I am so happy to have participated in #Tokyo2025, it’s bringing back so many memories from the #Olympics. The energy from the spectators and my fans is incredible! 💜💜💜 pic.twitter.com/6f8S2U6F1B

Kipyegon, 31, set her stall out from the start on Tuesday, setting an early pace that strung out the busier-than-usual field after extra athletes were reinstated following semifinal falls.

However, she seemed to ease off slightly on the third lap and Ewoi and Olympic silver medallist Hull, who has spent most of her career watching Kipyegon’s back disappear into the distance, were right on her shoulder at the bell.

There was nothing to worry about, however, as Kipyegon quickly took control again and by the time she crossed the line she was 30 metres clear.

Kipyegon will be back in the stadium on Thursday for the 5,000-metre heats, with the final on Saturday.

The diminutive all-time 1,500-metre great grew up in western Kenya’s Rift Valley, which is renowned as a breeding ground for runners.

The world record holder’s journey began in the ever-changing muddy, dusty and hilly terrain of Ndababit village, 233km (144 miles) west of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

“I used to run barefoot from my village to the primary school because in Kenya, schools are so far that you always end up running in order to reach them in time,” Kipyegon told Al Jazeera in 2023.

“I have loved [running] since I was a little girl, but I never thought I would become an Olympic champion one day,” she said.

It wasn’t until she turned 15 that the girl from a family of runners – her father was a 400-metre and 800-metre runner and her sister a 10-kilometre and half-marathon specialist – began training to become an athlete.

“I was in secondary school in 2009 when, by a stroke of luck, a coach saw me and introduced me to a runner’s lifestyle. He provided me with a proper diet and everything I needed to become a professional athlete.”

Among the long list of milestones in Kipyegon’s career, winning a second Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 after returning from a maternity break stands out as a testament to her tenacity and single-mindedness.

Kipyegon credits motherhood and her daughter Alyn with helping her stage a competitive comeback.

“It was not easy, as I could barely walk 20 minutes the first time I stepped back on the track,” she said in a social media video in 2022, as she reflected on the difficulties of returning to the track after having given birth.

“But the strength Alyn gives me has helped me overcome all challenges.”