It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, September 06, 2022
Israeli researchers make rare find of ancient ivory plaques Reli Avisan from Tel Aviv University holds a rare collection of decorated ivories that would have been embedded on wooden furniture in ancient Jerusalem in the First Temple Period, found in the City of David in East Jerusalem, on Monday. No less than 1,500 ivories were discovered during the excavation of a palatial building outside the Old City Walls and the first time archeologists have found evidence of a luxury item mentioned in the Bible: tiny ivory panels. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo
Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday that archeologists in Jerusalem discovered an assemblage of ivory plaques from the First Temple period, among the few found anywhere in the world.
The find was made by researchers from the authority and Tel Aviv University in the Givati parking lot in the City of David in the Jerusalem Walls National Park.
"These fine items were apparently inlaid in a couch-throne placed in a palatial structure," said a statement from the authority. "The discovery ... sheds new light on the power and importance of Jerusalem at the time of the Judahite Kingdom."
The items will now be displayed for the first time at the 23rd Conference of the City of David Studies of Ancient Jerusalem on Sept. 13. The City of David Foundation funded the excavation.
"To date, we only knew of decorated ivories from the capitals of the great kingdoms in the First Temple period, such as Nimrud, the capital of Assyria, or Samaria, the capital of the Israelite Kingdom," Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University's Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures, and Yiftah Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement.
"Now, for the first time, Jerusalem joins these capitals. We were already aware of Jerusalem's importance and centrality in the region in the First Temple period, but the new finds illustrate how important it was and places it in the same league as the capitals of Assyria and Israel."
Gadot and Shalev said the ivory finds move forward the understanding political and economic status of the city as part of global administration and economy. Made from elephant tusk, decorated ivories are among the rarest finds in archaeological assemblages
"The prestige of ivory is also associated with the great skill required to work with it and create decorations," Gadot and Shalev said. "The assemblage of ivory discovered in the City of David was probably imported, and originally made by artisans from Assyria. "The ivories may have come to Jerusalem as a gift from Assyria to Jerusalem's nobility.
The researchers said afer comparing complete objects that appear on wall plaques from the palace of the Assyrian King Sennacherib at Nineveh, they believe the ivory plaques from Jerusalem were originally inlaid in a couch throne and had been situated on the second floor of the opulent structure.
A display of a rare collection of decorated ivories unearthed by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University, that would have been embedded on wooden furniture in ancient Jerusalem in the First Temple Period, in the City of David in East Jerusalem, on Monday. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo
Dr. Yiftah Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority holds a rare collection of decorated ivories that would have been embedded on wooden furniture in ancient Jerusalem in the First Temple Period, found in the City of David in East Jerusalem, on Monday, Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo
Reli Avisan from Tel Aviv University holds a rare collection of decorated ivories that would have been embedded on wooden furniture in ancient Jerusalem in the First Temple Period, found in the City of David in East Jerusalem, on Monday. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo
An overview of an excavation site where the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University found a rare collection of decorated ivories, that would have been embedded on wooden furniture in ancient Jerusalem in the First Temple Period, in the City of David in East Jerusalem, on Monday. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo
California governor signs fast-food bill with potential $22 an hour minimum wage California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act that could raise fast-food workers minimum wage to $22 an hour next year. File photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI. | License Photo
Sept. 5 (UPI) -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a landmark Labor Day bill into law Monday that could boost the state's minimum wage for fast-food workers to $22 an hour next year, despite loud protests from the restaurant industry.
AB 257, called the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or Fast Act, will create a Fast Food Council comprised of workers' delegates, employers' representatives and state officials. Together, the 10-member council will determine pay, hours and working conditions for fast-food restaurants with more than 26 employees throughout California.
"Today's action gives hardworking fast-food workers a stronger voice and seat at the table to set fair wages and critical health and safety standards across the industry," Newsom said in a statement. "I'm proud to sign this legislation on Labor Day, when we pay tribute to the workers who keep our state running as we build a stronger, more inclusive economy for all Californians."
Newsom's signing was celebrated by advocacy groups Fight for $15 and the Service Employees International Union which called the new law a "historic victory for fast-food workers' decade-long fight for fair pay and a voice on the job."
The regulations will apply to California fast-food restaurants that are part of chains with more than 100 units nationwide. The new law is estimated to impact about 150 companies and 19,000 locations, according to Restaurant Business.
Since California's state legislature approved AB 257 on Aug. 29, the restaurant industry has blasted the measure saying it will increase fast food prices and hurt smaller franchise operators. The National Restaurant Association warns other states, including New York, Illinois, Oregon and Washington, will likely follow.
"The expected higher wage mandates alone could raise costs for California quick-service restaurants by $3 billion and that cost will likely spread to struggling independent restaurants as well," Sean Kennedy, the NRA's EVP of public affairs, said in a statement. "At a time when California restaurants are struggling with skyrocketing inflation in food prices and operating costs, this bill will push many owners closer than ever to shutting their doors in their communities."
The International Franchise Association also slammed the new law warning consumers can expect to pay 20% more for menu items
"By signing this bill, Gov. Newsom is siding with special interests rather than the people and small businesses of California," IFA CEO Matthew Haller said in a statement.
"This bill has been built on a lie, and now small business owners, their employees and their customers will have to pay the price," Haller said. "This bill is a fork in the eye to franchise owners and customers at a time when it hurts most."
AFL-CIO announces largest ever voter mobilization AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler speaks at a news conference with AFL-CIO leadership to discuss issues about racial injustice within voting rights and the empowerment of working people, in Washington, DC., on Thursday, July 15, 2021. The organization announced its largest ever voter mobilization program Friday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The AFL-CIO launched its largest every voter mobilization program on Friday, which aims to connect 100,000 volunteers with nearly 8 million voters before the midterm elections.
The effort aims to empower working people and connect with union members to ensure they receive truthful and accurate information on ballot measures and candidates, the organization said in a statement.
"Working people are fired up and ready to mobilize like never before to restore America's promise," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said. "We've launched the largest organizing drive in history to empower workers who for far too long have been ignored and taken for granted by a political system designed to benefit the wealthy and well-connected."
The organization noted that this drive comes amid record-high support for labor unions. A recent Gallup poll found that 71% of Americans support unions, the highest figure since 1965.
Voters in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will be the main targets. Much of the program will be dedicated to in-person meeting with union members and other workers, instead of TV ads.
"This mobilization's focus on personal connections to engage working people on issues that have a real impact on our families and communities will cut through the political noise to make a critical difference locally and nationally this November and beyond," Shuler said.
Gina McCarthy, Biden's top climate adviser, to step down Gina McCarthy, the top White House climate adviser, delivers remarks during a visit to Brandywine, Maryland, on December 13, 2021. McCarthy announced she will be stepping down Sept. 16.
Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Gina McCarthy, the top White House domestic climate adviser will step down on Sept. 16, completing a move that had been expected for months.
Her departure comes weeks after President Joe Biden signed the largest-ever U.S. law aimed at combatting climate change, Politico reported
According to the New York Times, McCarthy, 68, has told associates that the travel associated with her job was tiring and she never intended to stay for President Biden's full term.
McCarthy was tapped to head the newly created White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy as part of the climate and energy team Biden appointed upon taking office.
A native of Massachusetts, McCarthy previously led the Environmental Protection Agency for four years during former President Barack Obama's term. She also served as an environmental adviser to several Massachusetts governors and was Connecticut's commissioner of environmental protection.
Last month Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which will invest $369 billion to confront the climate crisis. It provides federal dollars to companies that invest in solar and wind power and help the U.S. transition away from fossil fuels. It also lays out a reduction in greenhouse gases in the United States by 40% by the end of the 2020s.
Large waterspout caught on camera off Florida coast
Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A waterspout swirling water high up into the air off the Florida coast was caught on camera by a witness Friday morning.
Bryan Shepherd captured video when he spotted the weather phenomenon off the coast of New Smyrna Beach about 8:15 a.m. Friday.
The waterspout followed an early morning thunderstorm and comes amid several days of strong storms in Central Florida.
Weather forecasters said the storms are expected to continue through Friday
I BELIEVE THAT IT WAS A WATERSPOUT THAT TOOK DOWN FLIGHT MH370
Bayer settles kickback and fraud allegations for $40 million
Bayer Corp. and related entities have agreed to pay $40 million to settle allegations of kickbacks and fraud in marketing the drugs Trasylol, Avelox and Baycol, the Justice Department said Friday. Photo by Sir Velpertex di Crantx/Wikimedia Commons
Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Bayer has agreed to pay $40 million to settle alleged violations of the False Claims Act, according to the Department of Justice. The settlement announced Friday arose from two lawsuits filed by a former Bayer employee.
Lauri Simpson's lawsuit charged that Bayer Corp. and related corporate entities paid kickbacks to hospitals and physicians to get them to use the drugs Trasylol and Avelox in treating patients.
Her suit alleged that Bayer caused false submissions to Medicare and Medicaid, breaking the law in 20 states and District of Columbia.
Simpson will receive some $11 million from settlement proceeds, according to the Justice Department.
"Simpson diligently pursued this matter for almost two decades," said Department of Justice' Civil Division head Brian M. Boynton in a statement. "Today's recovery highlights the critical role that whistleblowers play in the effective use of the False Claims Act to combat fraud in federal healthcare programs."
U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger said in the Justice Department statement that as alleged in the lawsuit, Bayer engaged in a series of unlawful acts, including kickbacks and marketing the drugs off-label while downplaying their safety risks.
Simpson's second suit against Bayer related to the statin drug Baycol. That civil action accused Bayer of downplaying the drug's risks and committing fraud by inducing the Defense Logistics Agency to renew contracts for Baycol.
Baycol and Trasylol were withdrawn from the market for safety reasons, according to the Justice Department.
FBI returns Ancient Roman mosaic of Medusa to Italy
Special Agents Elizabeth Rivas and Allen Grove traveled to Italy for
the repatriation of the mosaic to its home in Rome. Photo courtesy of FBI
Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A mosaic of Medusa believed to have been made in the early days of the Roman Empire has been returned to Italy by the FBI.
The mosaic was shipped and arrived in Italy in April and experts are now working to clean and restore it, the FBI said in a news release on Friday.
The FBI said it first became aware of the mosaic in late 2020 when an art attorney had reached out on behalf of an anonymous client who possessed the historic art.
The client had no documentation on the provenance of the artwork, which would describe where the mosaic came from, and so was unable to sell it.
The mosaic was cut up into 16 pieces and stored on termite-infested pallets, each weighing between 75 and 200 pounds, in a Los Angeles storage facility since the 1980s.
"The pieces of the mosaic were largely intact thanks to the climate-controlled facility they'd been kept in," FBI officials said in the news release.
Allen Grove and Elizabeth Rivas, special agents with the FBI Art Crime Team, worked to determine where the mosaic belonged so that the agency could return it.
The agents first reached out to a local art expert, who said the mosaic was likely from Italy or north Africa, then contacted the Carabiniere -- the Italian counterpart of the FBI.
Officials with the Carabiniere told the FBI a few months later that the mosaic had been entered into cultural property records in 1909.
"The only modern record of the mosaic's existence was a 1959 newspaper ad that appeared to show it for sale in the Los Angeles area," according to the FBI.
The person who had possessed the mosaic agreed to pay for it to be sent to Italy in specialized shipping crates so that the pieces would arrive undamaged.
"We worked with the owner and made sure we documented the condition and had everything we needed to ship it back to Italy," Grove said.
"We then worked with the Italian consulate here in Los Angeles. This is something of great interest to Italy; they came and inspected the mosaic and helped us facilitate the logistics of actually getting it back to Italy."
Rivas added that the FBI was "very happy" that the lawyer and their client had contacted them.
"If they hadn't, it could've been in storage for another hundred years," Rivas said. "It's a successful example of how we can work together to get pieces back to where they belong."
Diesel exhaust may harm health of women more than men, study says
Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Breathing diesel exhaust fumes may be more harmful for females than males, prompting more changes in women's blood components related to inflammation, infection and cardiovascular disease.
That's according to preliminary findings from a small study scheduled to be presented Sunday at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
The findings, while preliminary, "show that exposure to diesel exhaust has different effects in female bodies compared to male and that could indicate that air pollution is more dangerous for females than males," Neeloffer Mookherjee, a professor at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, said in a Thursday news release.
Her research team collaborated on the new research with a team led by Chris Carlsten, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
Mookherjee said that a better understanding is important because respiratory diseases such as asthma are known to effect females and males differently, with females more likely to have severe asthma that does not respond to treatments.
"Therefore," she said, " we need to know a lot more about how females and males respond to air pollution and what this means for preventing, diagnosing and treating their respiratory disease."
According to previous collaborative work by researchers at the two Canadian universities, breathing diesel exhaust has been shown to create inflammation in the lungs and affect how the body deals with respiratory infections.
The new research involved looking for any effects in the blood from diesel exhaust and exploring how these effects differ in females and males.
The study's scheduled presenter at the European conference, Dr. Hemshekhar Mahadevappa, is a research associate of Mookherjee's at the University of Manitoba.
The small study involved 10 healthy participants, all non-smokers, five female and five male. Each person spent four hours breathing filtered air, and four hours breathing air containing diesel exhaust fumes at three concentrations: 20, 50 and 150 micrograms of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, per cubic meter. They had a four-week break in between each exposure.
The current European Union annual limit value for PM2.5 is 25 micrograms per cubic meter, but much higher peaks are common in many cities, the release said.
Twenty-four hours after each exposure, the participants donated blood samples.
Researchers used a technology called liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze the blood plasma: the blood's liquid component transporting blood cells and hundreds of proteins and other molecules around the body, the release said.
Comparing blood samples, the scientists found levels of 90 proteins that were "distinctly different" between female and male volunteers following exposure to diesel exhaust, the release said.
These proteins included some known to play a role in inflammation, damage repair, blood clotting, cardiovascular disease and the immune system.
The next step, researchers said, is further study of the functions of these blood proteins to better understand their role in the difference between female and male immune responses.
Exposure to air pollution, especially diesel exhaust, is a major risk factor in diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Zorana Andersen, a professor from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, noted in the release, offering outside commentary on the study.
Andersen, chair of the European Respiratory Society's Environment and Health Committee, urged governments globally to respond by setting and enforcing limits on air pollutants.
Messias Figueiredo, 56, is a well-known figure at left-wing protests -- instantly recognizable with his rectangular glasses and an ever-present red boom box emblazoned with Brazilian former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's picture AFP / Rafael Martins
Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's social programs helped lift tens of millions of people from poverty and chip away at deep-rooted inequality and discrimination in Brazil -- gains supporters hope will now resume.
AFP spoke to Lula voters about the October 2 election pitting the leftist ex-president (2003-2010) against far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.
Writer, producer and cultural commentator Jonathan Raymundo, 33, is fed up with Bolsonaro's Brazil.
"I can't take it anymore. Violence against women, blacks and the LGTB+ community has reached alarming levels in this country. We need love, affection, happiness... and Bolsonaro is the opposite of that," says Raymundo, a black history and philosophy teacher with bright pink hair.
Raymundo is the founder of an Afro-Brazilian cultural festival in Rio de Janeiro, "Wakanda in Madureira," inspired by the fictional kingdom of the Black Panther superhero.
Explaining his outrage, he cites some of Bolsonaro's most controversial remarks: saying a woman was "not worth raping" because she was "too ugly;" talking about weighing black people in "arrobas," a unit of measurement used for animals and, in centuries past, for slaves; saying he could not do anything about Brazil's soaring Covid-19 deaths because he was "not a gravedigger."
Raymundo is nostalgic for the "fundamental advances" for historically disadvantaged groups under Lula and his Workers' Party (PT), he says.
"Brazil is at a crossroads, with the chance to transform itself into a great country. But that will only happen if it knows how to include its racial diversity in the spheres of power," he says.
Raymundo wants to see a new generation of leaders emerge, but "for now, there's no alternative," he says.
Historian Jonathan Raymundo, supporter of Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, says he is fed up with President Jair Bolsonaro's BrazilANDRE BORGES AFP
"We need Lula as president again."
In the northeastern city of Salvador, computer science teacher Messias Figueiredo, 56, is a well-known figure at left-wing protests -- instantly recognizable with his rectangular glasses and an ever-present red boom box emblazoned with Lula's picture.
"It's an instrument of peaceful political struggle," says Figueiredo, who blasts campaign jingles and pro-Lula commentary from his sound system as he marches.
"He enabled millions of Brazilians to escape poverty. He led the best government in this country's history."
Above all, he loves Lula because he, too, is from the impoverished northeast, "a region that has always lagged behind the rest of the country," he says.
He praises the former president for bringing investment to the region, opening universities there and launching construction of a massive canal to bring water from the Sao Francisco river to the semi-arid Sertao region.
"We can't take this fascist, genocidal, inhuman government anymore," he says through his loudspeaker, accusing Bolsonaro of "decimating" the environment and "massacring" Brazil's indigenous peoples.
Public health worker and union leader Aline Xavier, 33, credits Lula with helping her "beat the statistics," get an education and make a career for herself, despite being a black woman from the poor suburbs of Sao Paulo.
The PT "opened the door for me to have a voice... and not be excluded because I was a woman and black," she says.
Xavier, head of a municipal employees' union, believes in "everything Lula does," she says.
A graduate of a public school that opened under the PT, she disdains the Bolsonaro administration for its "neoliberal policies, attacks on workers' rights and intolerance for minorities."
Lula, she hopes, will restore "a government that goes into marginal areas, that gives opportunities to blacks, to working and single moms, that recognizes you can't have meritocracy if you don't have equality."
"Lula is the only one who can get our country back," she says.
Divisive Campaign Clouds Party As Brazil Turns 200 By Louis GENOT 09/06/22
Brazil celebrates the 200th anniversary of its independence Wednesday, with the festivities clouded by a divisive election race and accusations that President Jair Bolsonaro is using the festivities to bolster his campaign.
Trailing in the polls to leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of October's elections, Bolsonaro is planning a massive show of strength to mark the occasion, including military parades in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro and rallies by his supporters in cities across the country.
Last year on Brazil's national day, the far-right president triggered an outcry with a fiery speech saying "only God" could remove him from office and vowing to stop heeding rulings by Supreme Court Justice and top electoral official Alexandre de Moraes, whom Bolsonaro considers an enemy.
That year, Bolsonaro supporters broke through a security cordon in Brasilia on the eve of the festivities and threatened to invade the Supreme Court.
The race for the October 2 election has left Brazil deeply divided as it marks the anniversary of the date in 1822 that Dom Pedro I, then the sprawling South American colony's regent, declared its independence from Portugal.
Bolsonaro is trailing Lula in the polls heading into the first-round election, which will be followed by a runoff on October 30 if no candidate wins more than half the valid votes.
But the incumbent looks determined to flex his muscle on Independence Day.
"September 7 will be politicized by definition this year, coming in the home stretch of the campaign," said political scientist Paulo Baia of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).
"It will be tense and potentially violent," he told AFP.
Bolsonaro will start the day presiding over an official military parade on Brasilia's Esplanade of Ministries.
Tens of thousands of spectators are expected, with a heavy security presence.
A pro-Bolsonaro rally is planned just after -- with critics accusing the president of blurring the line between his official duties and his campaign.
The incumbent will then fly to Rio de Janeiro, where his supporters are planning a motorcycle rally to the city's iconic Copacabana beach.
There, the military plans to put on another spectacle, with a cortage of navy ships tracing the coast, an air show and a paratroop display.
A group of pastors from Brazil's powerful Evangelical Christian community has rented a stage in Copacabana where the commander in chief could address the crowd.
Donations have also poured in from another largely pro-Bolsonaro group, Brazil's giant agribusiness sector, to help fund Independence Day events across the country.
The Bolsonaro camp has been highly active on social networks, urging supporters to turn out en masse for the day.
Bolsonaro's congressman son Eduardo raised eyebrows on Twitter Monday by calling on Brazilians "who have legally purchased guns" -- a contingent his father has sought to expand with aggressive gun-control rollbacks -- to enlist as "volunteers for Bolsonaro."
Such comments have added to fears of violence around the election if Bolsonaro, who regularly attacks Brazil's voting system as fraud-ridden -- without evidence -- follows in the footsteps of his political role model, former US president Donald Trump, and refuses to accept the result.
Lula, Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010, apparently plans to keep a low profile Wednesday, but has rallies scheduled for Thursday and a meeting with Evangelicals, a key voting bloc, on Friday.
Brazil's Bolsonaro Still The 'Bibles, Bullets And Beef' Candidate
Former Military Police Major Elitusalem Gomes de Freitas, wearing a t-shirt bearing the name of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, poses for a picture carrying his guns and the Brazilian flag, in the city of Nova Iguacu
Four years after President Jair Bolsonaro rode to victory on a groundswell of support from Brazil's "Bibles, bullets and beef" coalition, that powerful trio of groups is still the core of his base.
AFP spoke to Bolsonaro backers from the "BBB" constituencies -- conservative Christians, security hardliners and farmers -- about the October 2 election pitting the far-right incumbent against leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010).
Former Rio de Janeiro police officer Elitusalem Gomes Freitas, 42, says his admiration for Bolsonaro began well before the ex-army captain's 2018 campaign, when the now-president was still a congressman for Rio.
"When officers were killed in the line of duty, other politicians never sent condolences. Bolsonaro did," says Freitas.
"He went to the funerals and paid tribute to our colleagues."
Freitas, a powerfully built man who spent two decades as a cop before getting into local politics, is now running to represent Rio in Congress, as Bolsonaro once did.
Pictures on his social networks show him with a stern face, a rifle, a Brazilian flag and a black T-shirt stamped with the word "Bolsonaro."
He calls himself a pro-gun father, conservative and "terror of the left."
Bolsonaro's win four years ago "generated huge expectations among conservatives," he says.
"But problems that have been dragging on for 30 years don't get solved in four."
Still, he loves Bolsonaro's "integrity," after what he calls the "robbery" of Lula and his Workers' Party.
Like Bolsonaro, he alleges nefarious powers are plotting a "secret vote count" to steal the election.
"The people accusing Bolsonaro of planning a coup are inverting the narrative. They're the real coup-mongers," he says.
Retired math teacher Mariza Russo Feres, 68, says she prays every day "for Brazil and the president God will choose."
The Evangelical pastor's wife fears Lula returning to power.
"I'm afraid of communism," she says, sitting in a pew at the church where her husband preaches in the upscale Sao Paulo neighborhood of Pinheiros.
She sees Bolsonaro as the defender of family values, and Lula as a threat.
"For example, abortion is anti-Christian, and we're worried about a candidate... imposing it on us," she says, referring to pro-abortion rights statements by Lula, who later back-tracked, facing negative reactions in a country that remains largely conservative on the issue.
Feres also cites the left's supposed imposition of "gender ideology" in schools.
Bible in hand, she kneels, closes her eyes and prays for the country.
Farmer Carlos Alberto Moresco, 47, says he is far from "idolizing" Bolsonaro. You won't find any campaign posters for the incumbent on his farm, Fazenda Onca.
But the facts speak for themselves, he says: Bolsonaro has been the best president in recent history for Brazil's agribusiness industry, opening new markets in Asia and investing in infrastructure that helped boost exports.
"He was very smart in choosing his ministers. Our (former) agriculture minister (Tereza Cristina) was an agricultural engineer," says Moresco, who grows corn and soybeans on the 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) he rents outside the central-western farm town of Luziania.
He is also a fan of the Bolsonaro administration's program to regularize land titles for more than 350,000 farmers who lacked legal deeds.
"He gave dignity to these people who were barely scraping by. Today, with titles to their land, they can take out loans and farm with dignity," he says.
"When someone's loyal to my values and principles, I'm loyal to them. Our president values rich and poor alike, that's why I say he deserves four more years."
Mariza Russo Feres, at the church where her husband preaches in Sao Paulo, Brazil, fears former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returning to power
Brazilian farmer Carlos Moresco believes President Jair Bolsonaro has been the best leader in recent history for Brazil's agribusiness industry
Brazil celebrates the 200th anniversary of its independence Wednesday, with the festivities clouded by a divisive election race and accusations that President Jair Bolsonaro is using the festivities to bolster his campaign. FRANCE 24's International Affairs Armen Georgian tells us more.
Brazil judge suspends easing of gun laws, citing election violence fears
Author: AFP|
Update: 06.09.2022 Gun enthusiasts at the Shot Fair Brazil in Joinville,
A Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Monday temporarily suspended several provisions implemented by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro that allowed people to buy weapons, citing a "risk of political violence" during the electoral campaign.
"The start of the election campaign exacerbates the risk of political violence," which "makes the need to restrict access to weapons and ammunition extremely and exceptionally urgent," Justice Edson Fachin wrote.
Fachin said he made the decision "in light of recent and unfortunate episodes of political violence."
He did not specify whether he was referring to local events, such as the July shooting of a Workers' Party (PT) treasurer by a Bolsonaro-supporting police officer, or the attempted assassination in neighboring Argentina Thursday of the Vice President Cristina Kirchner.
According to the court, Fachin's decision establishes that only "people who concretely demonstrate an effective need" can have weapons, one of the rules that Bolsonaro, an enthusiastic backer of gun ownership, had relaxed by decree.
It also determines that purchasing restricted-use firearms should only be allowed for reasons of "public security or national defense, not based on personal interest," as for hunters, sports shooters and collectors, who can buy assault rifles.
That category of gun buyers, which jumped from 117,000 registrations to more than 673,000 under the Bolsonaro administration, is of particular concern to security experts, who fear episodes of violence as the polarized election on October 2 approaches.
The vote pits Bolsonaro against leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro's constant questioning of the electronic voting system has raised fears that his followers will reject any eventual defeat, and could replicate scenes such as the assault on the US Capitol in 2021 after former president Donald Trump lost at the polls.
Monday's decision comes into immediate effect until the full federal Supreme Court concludes its deliberations on the constitutionality of the decrees, which have been suspended for the past year.
Lawyer Bruno Langeani, a member of the NGO Instituto Sou da Paz, told AFP the decision was an "important" one that "indicates an understanding on the part of the Supreme Court that weapons can be a destabilizing element in the elections."
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court last week restricted the carrying of weapons in polling stations, in another sign of concern about possible episodes of violence.
Live: Last reactor at Zaporizhzhia taken offline after renewed shelling
FRANCE 24 - 1h ago
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of risking nuclear disaster by shelling near Europe's largest nuclear plant, which officials said disrupted power lines on Monday and took the sole remaining reactor offline. Meanwhile, a US intelligence report indicated that Russia is buying ammunition from North Korea, which US officials said is an effect of the sanctions against Russia. Follow FRANCE 24’s liveblog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
Live: Last reactor at Zaporizhzhia taken offline after renewed shelling
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of risking nuclear disaster by shelling near Europe's largest nuclear plant, which officials said disrupted power lines on Monday and took the sole remaining reactor offline.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), citing information supplied from Ukraine, said the plant's backup power line had been cut to extinguish a fire but that the line itself was not damaged and would be reconnected.
The UN nuclear watchdog said the plant had enough electricity to operate safely and would be reconnected to the grid once backup power was restored.
The IAEA's presence at the plant was reduced to two staff members from six on Monday. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi will issue a report on Ukraine, including the plant, on Tuesday and then brief the UN Security Council, the IAEA said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday warned of a near "radiation catastrophe" and said the shelling showed Russia "does not care what the IAEA will say".
Shelling forces Ukraine nuclear plant off grid as Zelensky warns of 'disaster'
Mon, September 5, 2022 at 9:30 PM·4 min read
The last working reactor at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was disconnected from the grid after shelling caused a fire, with the UN's atomic watchdog due to brief the Security Council about the crisis on Tuesday.
Soon after it invaded in February, Moscow largely took control of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of southern Ukraine and is now aiming to absorb them into Russia through referendums -- as it did with Crimea in 2014.
Russia also blamed Western sanctions for its halting of gas supplies to Germany and on top of the crisis in Europe, there are fears of a nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia -- Europe's biggest atomic facility.
"Today the last power transmission line connecting the plant to the energy system of Ukraine was damaged due to another Russian provocative shelling," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address on Monday.
"Due to Russian provocation, the Zaporizhzhia plant is one step away from a radiation disaster."
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (ZNPP) has been shelled in recent weeks, with Ukraine and Russia blaming each other for the attacks as fears grow of a possible nuclear incident.
Ukraine's state-run power company Energoatom said Monday that the last working reactor -- Power Unit No. 6 -- was disconnected from the grid because shelling had started a fire.
The IAEA said it was informed by Ukraine that the line would be reconnected when the fire is extinguished.
The atomic watchdog was due to release a report Tuesday on its mission to the plant last week, with its chief Rafael Grossi scheduled to also brief the UN Security Council on the situation.
In 1986, Ukraine -- a part of the Soviet Union at the time -- was the scene of the world's worst nuclear disaster, when a reactor at the Chernobyl plant exploded and spewed radiation into the atmosphere.
The attacks at ZNPP have prompted comparisons with that disaster, and the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday accused Russia of "reckless behaviour".
- Kherson referendum on hold -
After failing to capture Kyiv in the first weeks of the war, Russia has focused its attacks on the south and east of Ukraine.
Authorities installed by Moscow in the Kherson region of Ukraine on Monday suggested that plans for a referendum on joining Russia had been delayed.
Kirill Stremousov, a pro-Moscow official in Kherson, told Russian state TV that the referendum plans were on hold -- but later moderated his comments saying it was not a pause, without mentioning a date for the vote.
"The referendum will take place no matter what. No one will cancel it," Stremousov said in a video posted on Telegram.
Ukrainian forces have claimed gains in their counter-offensive in the south, saying they have recaptured several areas and destroyed targets including a warehouse containing referendum ballot papers.
Russia's defence ministry said meanwhile it continued to inflict heavy losses on the Ukrainian army.
At his vineyard in southern Ukraine, near the city of Mykolaiv, Pavlo Magalias oversaw the harvest of his grapes with the sound of artillery resonating behind him.
"I'm the winegrower closest to the frontline", said the 59-year-old, who is originally from Moldova.
Despite the bombs, Magalias said he has never thought of leaving.
"The war isn't going to kill everybody," he told AFP. "Life will win out." - Europe's energy crisis -
Russia is a major energy exporter, and it has slashed gas supplies to Europe following Western sanctions over the invasion.
Power bills have soared across Europe, fuelling already rocketing inflation.
The Kremlin has blamed the "collective West -- in this case the European Union, Canada and Britain" for the halt of Russian gas supplies to Germany, after key infrastructure was closed indefinitely for repairs.
Fears are growing of crippling winter gas shortages in Europe.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Monday that it would keep two nuclear plants on standby beyond the end of the year "in case needed" for electricity -- partly delaying a nuclear exit planned under former chancellor Angela Merkel.
Germany has already moved to restart mothballed coal power plants and fill gas storage ahead of the winter to guard against an energy shortfall.
Earlier Monday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, who said France was ready to deliver more gas to allow Germany to export more electricity.
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