The plaza where the violence took place, hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, marked the second anniversary of the attack on government buildings with a celebration.
Lula, who underwent surgery last month to treat brain bleeding, made an appearance at the Three Powers Plaza in the capital Brasilia on Wednesday to denounce the riots from January 8, 2023, which he has described as a coup against his presidency.
In response to the attack, which saw thousands of protesters break into the presidential residence, Supreme Court building, and Congress, he also used the occasion to demonstrate defiance.
“Today is the day to say loud and clear: We’re still here”, Lula told his supporters.
“We’re here to say that we are alive and that democracy is alive, contrary to what the January 8, 2023, coup plotters had planned”.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva takes part in a ceremony marking the second anniversary of the January 8 attack in Brasilia, Brazil, on Wednesday]Andressa Anholete/Reuters]
The attack on January 8 came just seven days after Lula, a left-wing leader, had been inaugurated for a non-consecutive third term.
Lula was not in the presidential palace at the time, nor was Brazil’s Congress in session. However, the attack damaged dozens of law enforcement personnel and protesters, who were also hurt.
Many of the rioters were attempting to erect a military front against Lula’s presidency.
Lula won the run-off election by one of the fewest margins in Brazilian history against current president Jair Bolsonaro in October 2022. Just over 2.1 million votes separated the two candidates.
However, the far-right Bolsonaro refused to publicly acknowledge his defeat following the election because he had been making false accusations long before the election that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud.
Bolsonaro supporters squatted through Brazilian police headquarters and blocked highways, which led to widespread protest. A bomb threat in the capital was even reported in the lead-up to the inauguration.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a ceremony marking the second anniversary of the January 8 attack in Brasilia, which saw government property ravaged]Andressa Anholete/Reuters]
Before Lula took office, Bolsonaro fled the country to Florida. He has since returned to the country, where he faces numerous legal cases and investigations.
Some of his actions relate to the election’s dissemination of false information, as well as his involvement in the 2023 attack.
As retribution for using government resources to stoke distrust in the voting process, Brazil’s electoral court ruled in June 2023 that Bolsonaro could not run for office until 2030.
Federal police also formally charged Bolsonaro and 36 of his allies with conspiring to overturn the election results of 2022 in November 2024. Prosecutor-general Paulo Gonet has yet to decide whether to formally charge the former president.
Other investigations have examined whether Bolsonaro knowingly hid inconsequential information while working or spreading false information during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, on Wednesday, Bolsonaro asserted on social media that United States President-elect Donald Trump had invited him to Washington, DC, for his inauguration on January 20.
According to Bolsonaro, “My lawyer, Dr. Paulo Bueno, has already sent a request to Minister Alexandre de Moraes for me to obtain my passport back so that I can attend this honorable and significant historical event.”
One resource expected to be swept up in the conflict is the rare earth minerals, which are essential to the production of electronics, vehicles, and weapons, as President-elect Donald Trump prepares for a second trade war with China once he takes office on January 20.
Despite what their name suggests, rare earths are abundant everywhere on earth, with estimates from the US Geological Survey and the International Energy Agency indicating that China accounts for 70% of their production and 90% of processing.
The 17 elements, which include scandium, promethium and yttrium, are used to make everything from smartphones, semiconductors, and EV batteries, to F-35 fighter jets, drones, wind turbines, radar systems and nuclear reactors.
In a time of increased geopolitical tensions, governments around the world are increasingly concerned about the vulnerability of rare earth supply chains.
After President Joe Biden’s administration announced its most recent restrictions on the sale of advanced chips and machinery to the nation, China banned exports of gallium, germanium, and antimony from the US last month.
Given that the US has additional sources of gallium and germanium, the move was widely considered symbolic.
After declaring rare earths to be property of the state in October and outlawing the export of tools for extracting and separating the materials late last year, Beijing’s use of them as a tool for geopolitical advantage escalated.
In response to a dispute over the maritime border between the parties, the Chinese government’s decision to briefly ban the exports of these minerals to Japan was also brought up.
US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, the United States, on January 7, 2025]Evan Vucci/AP]
With Trump promising to impose a number of new trade restrictions on China, which range from a 10% tariff on Chinese goods over Beijing’s failure to halt fentanyl exports to a 60% tariff for unfair trade practices, Beijing may also have to impose additional restrictions on rare earths.
Trump’s tariffs could increase the cost of the minerals, even if the Chinese government didn’t retaliate by imposing export bans.
“Looking ahead 12–18 months, the global geopolitical landscape is rife with wildcards that could in an instant materially impact the outlook for supply chains and the economies they serve”, Ryan Castilloux, a rare earths expert at Canada-based research and advisory firm Adamas Intelligence, told Al Jazeera.
Washington is particularly concerned about rare earths such as neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium, Castilloux said, which are used to make powerful neodymium magnets – also known as NdFeB magnets.
Due to the lack of an alternative source of minerals for the US and its allies to develop, Castilloux said, projects to produce the minerals are being pursued elsewhere, including three US states and Estonia, rare earth magnets, which are multiple times stronger than standard magnets.
Washington has made the establishment of a “sustainable mine-to-magnet supply chain” a top priority.
The work being done to build a pipeline that can meet all US defense requirements by 2027, according to Danielle Miller, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial base resilience, in March, was “on track.”
Despite plentiful reserves of rare earths in numerous countries, from Angola and Australia to Brazil, Canada and South Africa, expanding the supply chain beyond China is a challenging undertaking.
According to Neha Mukherjee, a senior analyst for critical minerals at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, China has been able to maintain its dominance of the industry due to its economies of scale, government subsidies, and accumulation of massive stockpiles that have allowed it to compete against rivals at “irrationally low prices.”
Samples of rare earth minerals on display at the Mountain Pass Rare Earth facility in Mountain Pass, California, the United States, on June 29, 2015]David Becker/Reuters]
Rare earths are produced in small quantities as a result of the mining of other minerals, such as iron ore. Due to this, the 17 minerals’ quantities and consequently prices of various rare earths can vary significantly.
Mukherjee claimed that China is determined to maintain stable rare earth prices in order to support its domestic electric vehicle (EV) industry, even if doing so would devastate the mining industry.
Operating rare earth mines and processing facilities is traditionally a difficult proposition for many investors due to China’s near-monopoly and unbeatable prices.
“They’re discouraging anyone from becoming a competitor. It just doesn’t make viable economics to develop a mine when you can buy the semi-processed materials at a competitive rate”, Mike Walden, senior director of TechCet, a consulting firm specialising in electronics supply chains, told Al Jazeera.
The timeline is also long, taking 10-20 years from exploration to construction, Walden added.
The Mountain Pass Mine in California’s Mojave Desert, which was first discovered in the 1870s, was reopened by MP Materials in 2018 and marked a turning point for US efforts to secure rare earth supplies.
Since then, the business has set up a Texas magnet factory.
Other rare earth-related facilities outside China include a mine in Yellowknife, Canada, a magnet recycler in the US state of Texas, and a rare earth magnet factory in the US state of South Carolina, with more projects in development across North America.
The US Department of Defense and the Department of Energy have awarded rare earth companies more than $ 440 million since 2022, along with additional tax credits provided by the Inflation Reduction Act.
If China stopped its exports of rare earths, such projects might help the US, Walden warned. However, the nation may still struggle to become completely self-sufficient, according to Walden.
There are operational facilities in North America, the king of this is said. Does it have to be sufficient to meet all the demand in North America? That is not the answer. Does it satisfy North America’s strategic demand? The answer to that appears to be yes”, he said, referring to Washington’s priority areas such as defence and energy.
A mining machine at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals in Inner Mongolia, China on July 16, 2011]Reuters/Stringer]
Rare earth minerals are still frequently sent there for processing even as mines have been opened or reopened outside of China, according to analysts.
The processing of heavy rare earths, a subset of rare earths that are less abundant but crucial to the production of EVs, wind turbines, and fiber optic cables, is dominated by China, which accounts for 99 percent of the country’s production of these substances.
Not just the North Atlantic is attempting to catch up, either. In January, Brazil’s first rare earth mine at Serra Verde opened for commercial production after 15 years in development.
Europe has rare earth processing facilities in France, Estonia, and Germany, but has yet to open any mines despite holding massive rare earth deposits in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Spain.
The government is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into expanding these facilities, which include significant mining and processing facilities.
According to Mukherjee of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, these initiatives are still insufficient to lessen China’s dependence.
“There’s a dire need for a circular economy. There’s a dire need for recycling facilities. There should be a lot of funding directed in that direction because there is a dire need for US-developed processed midstream and upstream facilities,” she said.
Some of the reservations, especially in Europe, are related to the environmental costs associated with the separation and removal of radioactive materials, such as uranium and thorium.
Mining and processing produce large quantities of waste rock and can unleash residual concentrations of rare earths, radionuclides, heavy metals, and acids into the surrounding air, soil and groundwater, according to a 2021 Canadian study.
In Malaysia in 2019, Lynas Rare Earths, Australia’s largest rare earth processing company outside of China, was the target of significant protests due to the toxic waste that their there produces.
A truck carrying rare earths travels towards Lynas Rare Earths ‘ Mount Weld processing plant, northeast of Perth, in Western Australia, Australia, on August 23, 2019. ]Melanie Burton/Reuters]
To meet the higher environmental standards demanded by many governments, according to analysts, some of these concerns could be addressed with new technology and automation, but this would require both money and time.
The industry could, ironically, get a further boost if Beijing were to block its exports, said Adamas Intelligence’s Castilloux.
According to him, “the last time China restricted rare earth exports, it caused years of demand destruction as many end-users looked to reduce their consumption or turn to alternatives in the years to come” .
“A restriction on magnet exports, even if short-lived, would likely hypercharge government investments into alternative supply chains at home and abroad”.
There is a lot of uncertainty about how Trump might approach the rare earth industry now that he is only a few days away from re-emerging in the White House.
Due to the US’s dependence on a “foreign adversary” to acquire rare earths, he issued an executive order declaring them to be a national emergency during his first term in office.
Trump has also voiced opposition to important funding initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which are widely anticipated to reduce environmental laws that prevent the establishment and operation of mines.
Despite their significant impact on the economy, some analysts worry that Trump might impose tariffs on imported minerals like rare earths or ask the secretary of commerce to launch a Section 232 investigation into the risks to national security as he did with aluminium in 2018.
In the meantime, the industry is preparing for a bumpy road ahead, said Walden, and stockpiling resources accordingly.
With a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao, Barcelona’s young stars Gavi and Lamine Yamal resigned after Dani Olmo’s player license was suspended.
Before the game on Wednesday, Spanish playmaker Olmo was given a temporary suspension before the match, but he or Pau Victor, who are both in the same position, were unable to play against Copa del Rey champion Athletic.
After 17 minutes, Gavi put Barcelona ahead from close range, and Yamal, a teen winger, added the second shortly after the break.
Real Madrid, the reigning champion of Spain and Europe, will face Mallorca in the second semifinal on Thursday.
“We don’t care]who we face in the final]. After the game, Yamal told Movistar, “It will be difficult, and we want to win it, which is crucial, and return home with the trophy.”
Barcelona’s Gavi forces home the opening goal]Pedro Nunes/Reuters]
Raphinha volleyed home from a fine Jules Kounde cross and forced Unai Simon into a good save with a free kick, making Barcelona’s qualifying as LaLiga runners-up.
When the Catalans broke the deadlock, Alejandro Balde cut the ball back for Gavi, who was playing in Olmo’s attacking midfield, to turn home.
The 20-year-old pointed at an imaginary watch in his celebration, a nod to Olmo, who regularly produces the same gesture after scoring.
Inaki Williams dallied on the ball too long as Athletic’s best attacking move of the first half came to an end.
Yamal, 17, should have added Barcelona’s second after Raphinha’s shot was saved but miscued an attempted lob.
Wojciech Szczesny, on his second start in goal for Barcelona, made a good save to keep Inaki Williams at bay before the break.
When Gavi slipped in Yamal, who finished with aplomb, to double Barcelona’s lead early in the second half.
“Athletic are a very physical team that demands a lot of running.” We suffered above all towards the end, but we were able to play well, and we’re very happy”, Yamal added.
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal celebrates scoring their second goal]Pedro Nunes/Reuters]
Veteran Polish forward Robert Lewandowski spurned a fine chance to add the third, firing off-target when well-placed.
Nico Williams was hired to try and turn the game around after Ernesto Valverde was fired as Barcelona’s manager in 2020.
The Spain international, heavily linked with Barcelona in the summer, was not fit enough to start, but made a positive impact from the bench.
Oscar de Marcos fired a goal from the winger, but the Athletic defender had just scuffled and the goal was denied.
After Frenkie de Jong’s poor backpass diverted a slight deflection off Alvaro Djalo on his way to the Ghana international, Inaki Williams also had a goal that was ruled out for offside.
In response to persistently high inflation  and the threat of widespread tariffs and other potential policy changes, US Federal Reserve officials at their meeting December 17-18 anticipated a slower pace of interest rate cuts this year.
Minutes from the meeting, released on Wednesday after the typical three-week lag, also showed clear division among the Fed’s 19 policymakers. Some expressed support for keeping the central bank’s key rate unchanged, the minutes said. Additionally, the majority of the officials described the decision to reduce rates as a decisive one.
Ultimately, the Fed chose to cut its key rate by a quarter-point to about 4.3 percent. One official, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, dissented in favour of keeping rates unchanged.
However, it was widely agreed that their key rate should be changed after they had reduced rates for three consecutive meetings.
Fewer rate cuts are likely to increase consumer and business borrowing costs this year, including those for homes, cars, and credit cards.
According to the minutes, policymakers claimed that the Fed “was at or near the point where it would be appropriate to slow down the pace of policy easing.” Fed officials predicted just two cuts for the year in projections released following the meeting, compared to a previous forecast of four.
Trump tariffs
The minutes also revealed that “almost all” Fed policymakers believe that inflation is likely to rise above what they had anticipated, partly because of “the likely effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy” and inflation has remained high in some recent readings.
The Fed’s staff economists considered the economy’s future path particularly uncertain at the December meeting, in part because of incoming President-elect Donald Trump’s administration’s “potential changes to trade, immigration, fiscal, and regulatory policies”, which the staff said are difficult to assess in terms of how they will impact the economy. As a result, they included several different scenarios for the economy’s future path in their presentation to policymakers.
Because they anticipated Trump’s proposed tariffs would keep inflation at a high level, the staff predicted that inflation would be roughly the same as it would be in 2024.
After the Fed officials’ last-minute rate cut outlook, the stock markets crashed. Following the meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated at a press conference that the decision to lower rates had been a “close call.”
Powell added that many Fed officials have slashed their expectations for rate reductions because of recent signs of persistent inflation. According to the Fed’s preferred measure, inflation ticked up to 2.4 percent in November, compared with a year ago, above the Fed’s 2 percent target. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, it was 2.8 percent.
In addition, some officials have started to consider the potential impact of Trump’s proposals, such as widespread tariffs, on the economy and inflation next year, the minutes said.
Economists at Goldman Sachs, for example, have estimated that Trump’s tariff proposals could push inflation up by nearly a half-percentage point later this year.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller stated earlier on Wednesday that he still supports rate reductions this year, in part because he anticipates inflation to continue to decline below the target. He added that he didn’t change his preference for lowering borrowing costs and didn’t anticipate that tariffs would worsen inflation.
After the US President-elect refused to allow military action to seize Greenland, European officials have warned Donald Trump against threatening “sovereign borders.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who criticized the remarks on Wednesday, said that no matter how powerful they may be, every nation is bound by the principle of inviolability of borders.
He added Trump’s statements a day earlier had sparked “notable incomprehension” among other European Union leaders he had spoken with.
“Borders must not be moved by force. “Every nation, whether in the East or the West, is subject to this principle,” Scholz later wrote on X.
There is concern about recent US statements in discussions with our European partners. It is clear: We must stand together”.
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, also weighed in on Wednesday, saying Greenland was “European territory” and there was “no question of the EU letting other nations in the world, whoever they may be … attack its sovereign borders”.
While EU officials largely avoided jumping into the pit, a spokesperson did confirm to reporters that Greenland was covered by a mutual defense agreement that required its members to assist one another in the event of an attack.
However, according to Paula Pinho, a spokesperson for the EU Commission, “we are actually talking about something that is incredibly theoretical and on which we won’t want to go into more detail.”
“We need Greenland,” the statement read.
The unsettling comes after Trump once more made a statement on Tuesday that he wanted the US to retake control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, a major waterway in Latin America, in 1999.
When a reporter asked him if he would oppose using military force or economic coercion to impose himself, Trump responded, “I’m not going to commit to that.”
“We need Greenland for national security purposes”, Trump later said, nodding to the island’s strategic position in the Arctic, where Russia, China and the US have jockeyed for control in recent years.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, French government spokesperson Sophie Primas warned there was a “form of imperialism” in Trump’s statements.
“Today, we are seeing the rise in blocs, we can see this as a form of imperialism, which materialises itself in the statements that we saw from Mr Trump on the annexation of an entire territory”, she said.
“More than ever, we and our European partners need to be conscious, to get away from a form of naivety, to protect ourselves, to rearm”, she added.
For his part, Greenland’s Prime Minister, Mute Bourup Egede has not weighed in on the US president-elect’s most recent comments. However, Mute, who supports full independence from Denmark, has previously opposed Trump’s past suggestions of purchasing the island.
Officials in Denmark, meanwhile, struck a more conciliatory tone than their European counterparts.
Copenhagen is “open to a dialogue with the Americans about how we can work together, possibly even more closely than we already do, to ensure that American ambitions are realized,” according to foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
However, he also ruled out the island becoming part of the US.
Mexican America
The broad expansionist agenda of Trump, who takes office on January 20, also raged Europeans, among others.
On Wednesday, Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc condemned the president-elect for repeatedly saying he would seek to make Canada the “51st” state. On Wednesday, Trump said he was open to using economic coercion to make that happen.
“The joke is over”, said LeBlanc, who serves as the point person for US-Canada relations.
“It’s a way for him, I think, to sow confusion, to agitate people, to create chaos knowing this will never happen”.
Meanwhile, Mexico responded to Trump’s stated desire to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”.
In honor of a historical name that was used in an early map of the area, President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested that Mexico should be renamed “Mexican America” throughout all of North America, including the United States.
