23 h. ago Former Brazil president Bolsonaro admits trying to break ankle monitor during house arrest

Bolsonaro, 70, was arrested and kept in a cell at the country’s federal police headquarters in the capital, Brasilia

Politics

67 h. ago Bolsonaro claims after arrest he tampered with ankle tag from ‘curiosity’

Ex-president says he used soldering iron on device and is now in custody because of fears he was going to abscondBrazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has claimed he tried to damage his electronic ankle monitor “out of curiosity” after he was arrested at his villa owing to suspicions he was poised to abscond.In a video released by the supreme court, Bolsonaro – who was recently sentenced to 27 years in prison for masterminding a military coup – can be heard admitting to a security official that he had used a soldering iron to tamper with the black tag. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Brazil’s former President arrested over escape plan days before starting 27

Bolsonaro is an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called his trial a ‘witch hunt’

Politics

3 d. ago Brazilian police arrest Bolsonaro amid suspicions he was about to flee

Move comes after fears the far-right former president was about to seek refuge at a foreign embassy to avoid prisonBrazil’s former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been arrested at his villa in the capital, Brasília , amid suspicions he was poised to abscond to a foreign embassy to avoid going to prison for masterminding a military coup.In a brief statement, federal police confirmed officers had executed a preventive arrest warrant at the request of the supreme court. The 70-year-old politician was taken to a federal police base, 7 miles from the presidential palace he occupied from 2019 until 2022, when he lost the election and tried to launch a military coup. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Brazil hails US tariff rollback as ‘significant progress' and seeks more exemptions

Brazil's Vice President Geraldo Alckmin says U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to remove additional import tariffs on some Brazilian agribusiness products marks significant progress

Politics

4 d. ago Cop30: dozens of countries threaten to block resolution unless it contains roadmap to fossil fuel phase

Exclusive: The Guardian understands Brazil had been planning to drop a roadmap to a transition away from fossil fuels amid opposition from petro statesCountries supporting a phase-out of fossil fuels at the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil have threatened to block any agreement that does not include such a commitment, in a significant escalation of tensions at the crunch talks, the Guardian can reveal.The simmering row over a potential roadmap for the “transition away from fossil fuels” boiled over on Thursday night when a group of at least 29 countries signed a strongly worded letter to Brazil, the Cop presidency. The leaked letter demanded that the roadmap be included in the outcome of the talks, which are due to end on Friday but likely to carry on into the weekend. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Cop30 conference centre evacuated as fire breaks out – as it happened

UN secretary-general António Guterres earlier used speech at Belem summit to urge countries to find compromises in final hours of negotiationsInside the halls of Cop30 you see people from all around the world, and it can be easy to forget that there are many people who remain unrepresented.On Thursday morning, Magne Tony was standing with compatriots from French Guiana outside the entrance to the conference centre, trying to push pieces of paper into the hands of arriving delegates and observers headed: “Our Amazon is dying”.The main problem is that France are in 9,000 kilometres from Amazonia, from South America, and they’re taking decisions. [But] they don’t really know what is the problem really. They’re taking the decisions from their own mind and the problem is that they’re far from reality.That’s why we decided to alert the people in the world about [our] problems: water coming up, getting enough to eat, more heat – in some parts of French Guiana, people don’t have water.These...

Events

5 d. ago Cop30 live: current climate pathway ‘a death sentence for many’, says UN secretary

António Guterres uses speech at Belem summit to urge countries to find compromises in final hours of negotiationsInside the halls of Cop30 you see people from all around the world, and it can be easy to forget that there are many people who remain unrepresented.On Thursday morning, Magne Tony was standing with compatriots from French Guiana outside the entrance to the conference centre, trying to push pieces of paper into the hands of arriving delegates and observers headed: “Our Amazon is dying”.The main problem is that France are in 9,000 kilometres from Amazonia, from South America, and they’re taking decisions. [But] they don’t really know what is the problem really. They’re taking the decisions from their own mind and the problem is that they’re far from reality.That’s why we decided to alert the people in the world about [our] problems: water coming up, getting enough to eat, more heat – in some parts of French Guiana, people don’t have water.These crises, a consequence of Wes...

Society

5 d. ago Cop30 live: ‘We need to think about how to live without fossil fuels’ Brazilian president Lula tells summit

Brazilian president underlines need to reduce emissions as Turkey set to host next year’s summitOne big piece of news out of Belém last night was that Turkey will host Cop31 next year, with Australia leading the actual negotiations, under a deal to end an unprecedented stand-off between prospective host countries.The unusual arrangement, which was being negotiated overnight and is expected to be officially announced today, would see the event take place in Antalya, a 2000-year-old Mediterranean city that has become the country’s tourism capital. Turkey would manage the event while Australia would preside over the diplomatic wrangling to stop the planet from heating and keep people safe from the breakdown of a stable climate. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Guterres and Lula to push negotiators at COP30 as deadline looms

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are jumping into the United Nations climate talks as they get to crunch time

Events

1 week ago Protesters blockade Cop30 summit over plight of Indigenous peoples

Munduruku people demand to speak to Brazil’s president, saying they are never listened toCop30: click here for full Guardian coverage of the climate talks in BrazilProtesters blockaded the main entrance to the Cop30 climate conference for several hours early on Friday morning, demanding to speak to Brazil’s president about the plight of the country’s Indigenous peoples.About 50 people from the Munduruku people in the Amazon basin blocked the entrance with some assistance from international green groups, watched by a huge phalanx of riot police, soldiers and military vehicles. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Von der Leyen dodged Starmer request for meeting on EU money demands

European Commission president had ‘scheduling’ issues at COP30 summit in Brazil and did not meet the UK premier

Politics

2 w. ago Swinney calls for swift and decisive action in tackling climate crisis

Gillian Martin is representing Scotland at the Cop30 summit in Brazil.

Events

2 w. ago Lula’s balancing act: Cop30 Amazon summit juggles climate and social priorities

Brazil’s president welcomes world leaders while navigating divided government, promising action on deforestation and emissionsHow could the Tropical Forest Forever Facility tackle deforestation?Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has welcomed world leaders to Belém for the first climate summit in the Amazon, where conservationists hope he can be a champion for the rainforest and its people.But with a divided administration, a hostile Congress and 20th-century developmentalist instincts, this global figurehead of the centre left has a balancing act to perform in advocating protection of nature and a reduction of emissions. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Majority of Brazil's Supreme Court votes to reject Bolsonaro's appeal, upholding 27

Most justices on Brazil's Supreme Court panel have rejected former President Jair Bolsonaro’s appeal

Politics

2 w. ago Over 100 US leaders to attend Cop30 climate summit as Trump stays away

Dozens of US state and local leaders will be at talks in Brazil with president’s team expected to send no representativesThe Trump administration appears to be sitting out this month’s United Nations climate talks known as Cop30, telling the Guardian it will not deploy any high-level representatives to the negotiations.But dozens of US subnational leaders attend to promote their climate efforts. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Awkward moment Prince William and Sir Keir Starmer appear to fumble handshake alongside Brazil's president at green summit

As the Prince and Prime Minister emerged on to the stage alongside Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, they fumbled with their positions as they decided who would stand in the middle.

Politics

2 w. ago The era of fine speeches and good intentions is over. Brazil’s Cop30 will be about action | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

This is our message to world leaders: make this the ‘Cop of truth’, before people lose faithLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the president of BrazilToday, in the Brazilian Amazon, the Belém summit opens ahead of the 30th United Nations climate change conference (Cop30). I have convened world leaders in the days leading up to the conference so that we can all commit to acting with the urgency the climate crisis demands.If we fail to move beyond speeches into real action, our societies will lose faith – not only in the Cops, but in multilateralism and international politics more broadly. That is why I have summoned leaders to the Amazon: to make this the “Cop of truth”, the moment we demonstrate the seriousness of our shared commitment to the planet.Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the president of Brazil Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Experts call for new taxes on worst polluters to help poorer nations with climate crisis

Report to be discussed at Cop30 says global agreements should target carbon intensive activities and ‘ultra high net worth individuals’New taxes on the super-rich, fossil fuels, financial transactions and highly polluting and carbon-intensive activities should be explored as key ways of raising the finance needed to help poor countries, governments have been told in an influential report.The proposal is one of the top recommendations of a new blueprint for global climate finance, the Baku to Belém roadmap, drawn up by the governments of Brazil and Azerbaijan, the current and the previous president of the UN climate Cop process. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Brazil's Lula puts forward new vision for protecting the Amazon rainforest

Brazil’s leader, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, says he wants the future of the Amazon rainforest to be built around a major fund that will pay countries to keep their forests standing

Events