Politics

Flavio Bolsonaro Faces Corruption Probe Weeks Before Brazil Election: September 12, 2026

BRASÍLIA — Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, a leading right-wing candidate in Brazil’s presidential election, is under investigation for alleged ties to disgraced banker Daniel Vorcaro, according to court documents unsealed this week and reported by Al Jazeera and Reuters.

Documents show Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça opened a probe in July, at federal police request, into possible corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion linked to Vorcaro, former head of failed lender Banco Master. Police have put the alleged fraud at roughly $2.3 billion, with some 800,000 bank clients among the victims.

Data from Vorcaro’s phone showed about $12 million transferred to a U.S.-based fund linked to Flavio’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, in 2025, allegedly for the film “Dark Horse” about their father, former President Jair Bolsonaro. Eduardo told Reuters the transfers were not bribes. Flavio has denied wrongdoing, saying he sought private investment for the film.

Voters go to the polls October 4, with Flavio challenging incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Both candidates have called for full transparency in the expanding Banco Master scandal.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Reuters

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Colombia’s President Ends All Peace Talks With Armed Groups: September 12, 2026

BOGOTÁ — Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella on Friday formally shut down all peace negotiations with illegal armed groups, fulfilling a campaign promise to dismantle former President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” strategy, Anadolu Agency reported.

Executive resolutions revoked credentials for government negotiators and ended dialogue tables involving the National Liberation Army (ELN), FARC dissident factions, the Clan del Golfo cartel, and urban criminal gangs in Medellín, Buenaventura, and Quibdó.

The presidency said the government was ending “dialogue processes, the socio-legal forums, and the ‘false peace,’” and would offer neither political recognition nor judicial leniency to illegal combatants. De La Espriella said more than 7 billion Colombian pesos (about $1.7 million) had been spent on negotiator fees alone, excluding security and logistics costs.

Barely a month into office, he said groups that truly want to disarm must submit to the justice system, while those who keep attacking civilians will face the full force of security forces.

Sources: Anadolu Agency

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Nigeria Parliament Boycotts South Africa Over Attacks on Migrants: September 12, 2026

ABUJA — Nigeria’s parliament has suspended official visits to South Africa and ordered legislators to boycott South African-hosted legislative activities until further notice, citing attacks on Nigerians and other African migrants, Reuters reported.

House spokesperson Akin Rotimi said Friday the step was “a strong expression of concern over the safety, dignity and welfare of Nigerians living and conducting legitimate businesses in South Africa.” The directive does not apply to governmental visits and meetings.

Nigeria’s minister of state for foreign affairs has said 98 Nigerians have died in mob and hate-related incidents in South Africa since 2022. This year, 1,695 Nigerians have been voluntarily evacuated amid xenophobia-related tensions, according to Nigeria’s acting high commissioner in Pretoria.

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola led a July delegation to Abuja aimed at easing tensions and said Pretoria condemned “all forms of xenophobia.” Neither Nigeria’s foreign ministry nor a South African government spokesperson immediately commented to Reuters on the parliamentary boycott.

Sources: Reuters (via TimesLIVE)

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Putin Warns Europe as Russian Strikes Kill Civilians in Ukraine: September 12, 2026

KYIV — Russian strikes killed three civilians and wounded dozens across Ukraine, local officials said Saturday, after President Vladimir Putin warned that sending European troops into Ukraine would amount to direct conflict with Russia, the Associated Press reported.

Two people were killed and one wounded when drones struck a residential area overnight in Zaporizhzhia, regional head Ivan Fedorov said. One person died and three were wounded in Kryvyi Rih. In Odesa and surrounding areas, 35 people were wounded in what regional head Oleh Kiper called a “massive attack,” including a residential high-rise whose upper floors were destroyed.

Speaking to reporters at the BRICS summit in India on Friday, Putin said European governments considering troops in Ukraine would mean “a war with Russia,” while claiming Moscow does not threaten Europe. Some European leaders have discussed a possible postwar peacekeeping force — a prospect the Kremlin rejects.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Deutsche Welle he would meet Putin if both were invited to the Group of 20 summit in Miami in December. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday that if Zelenskyy wants a meeting, Putin has said he could fly to Moscow.

Sources: Associated Press

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Israel-Lebanon Talks Postponed Amid Southern Lebanon Strikes: September 12, 2026

BEIRUT — The next round of United States-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon has been postponed as Israeli forces continue to strike and demolish buildings across southern Lebanon, AFP and AP reported via Al Jazeera.

An unnamed U.S. official told AFP that talks planned for this month in Rome will not happen until October. Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors are instead to meet at the State Department next week on a June framework agreement under which the Lebanese army would disarm Hezbollah in “pilot zones.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, visiting war-hit Nabatieh on Saturday, said there would be “no new negotiations with Israel at the moment,” while pledging withdrawal, return of prisoners and displaced people, and reconstruction as national principles.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon to stop Hezbollah from re-establishing itself. The same day, Israeli forces detonated 1,100 tonnes of explosives at what they called a Hezbollah command complex in the Ali al-Taher Ridge. Local reports put at least 29 people killed in the Nabatieh area in the past two weeks.

Sources: Al Jazeera (AFP/AP)

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Saudi Arabia Shuts East-West Oil Pipeline After Iraq-Origin Drone Attack: September 12, 2026

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has closed its 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) East-West oil pipeline after drones launched from Iraq attacked the line, the BBC and Al Jazeera reported, widening pressure on global energy routes already strained by the U.S.–Iran war.

Saudi officials said Friday’s strikes hit areas in the Riyadh and Medina regions, causing injuries and damage still being assessed. The Energy Ministry said the Abqaiq-to-Yanbu pipeline was shut as a precaution while teams secured the line. Reuters has reported the pipeline had been moving 4% to 5% of global oil supply.

Iraq’s prime minister’s office said the attack originated in Maysan province, which borders Iran, and that the provincial operations commander had been removed pending an investigation. Riyadh said it would not retaliate for now after a call from Baghdad but reserved the right to take all necessary measures.

Al Jazeera cited security sources telling Reuters that Iraq also ordered the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran closed as a precaution. Brent crude has traded above $100 a barrel amid Houthi advances on Yemen’s Red Sea coast and continued Hormuz disruption.

Sources: BBC, Al Jazeera, Reuters

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North Korea Fires Ballistic Missiles After Trilateral Drills: September 12, 2026

SEOUL — North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles toward the sea off its eastern coast on Saturday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, a day after Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo wrapped up five days of trilateral maritime drills.

The JCS detected the launches from the Wonsan area around 5:20 a.m. local time. The missiles flew about 250 kilometers (155 miles). South Korea’s presidential National Security Office held an emergency meeting with the Defence Ministry and other agencies.

U.S. Pacific Command said the launch “does not pose an immediate threat” to U.S. territory or allies and reaffirmed commitments to South Korea’s defense. North Korean Defense Minister Kim Song Gi had denounced the Freedom Edge exercises earlier in the week and warned of “strong and reflective countermeasures.”

Pyongyang last fired a short-range ballistic missile barrage into the East Sea on August 20 during separate U.S.–South Korea exercises. Reporting was compiled by Al Jazeera from AFP, Reuters, and the Associated Press.

Sources: Al Jazeera, AFP/Reuters/AP

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BRICS Agrees Joint Declaration as Leaders Meet in New Delhi: September 12, 2026

NEW DELHI — The BRICS group of emerging economies has agreed on a joint declaration as leaders began summit talks in New Delhi, sources told Reuters on Saturday, a diplomatic breakthrough for a bloc seeking more global clout.

Four sources said the text is unlikely to name any country but will condemn unilateral aggression. Leaders were expected to approve the document later Saturday. Host Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the meeting saying the Global South is “in the front row when it comes to global crises, but in the back row when it comes to decision-making,” and renewed India’s call for U.N. Security Council reform.

Attendees include Russian President Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Negotiators had to bridge Iran–UAE tensions over the Gulf conflict; BRICS foreign ministers meeting in New Delhi in May failed to issue a joint statement.

The grouping — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates — accounts for more than 40% of the world’s population and nearly a quarter of the global economy. Members want greater say in reforming the IMF, World Bank, and WTO.

Sources: Reuters

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Uganda Races to Settle Tooro Succession Before King’s Burial: September 11, 2026

Uganda’s government is mediating last-ditch talks to resolve a succession dispute in the Tooro Kingdom so that King Oyo Nyimba can be buried on Saturday, a kingdom spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

Oyo, crowned in 1995 at age three and dead at 34 after cancer treatment in the United States, is due for burial at the Karambi Royal Tombs on the 31st anniversary of his coronation. Kingdom spokesperson Vincent Mugume said a new king must be in place to perform burial rituals reserved for the successor.

A royal-clan succession committee named cousin Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a news anchor and editor at state broadcaster UBC, as the next Omukama. Oyo’s sister, Princess Ruth Komuntale, said his will directs that a lawfully recognized biological son should inherit. Queen mother Kemigisa denounced the committee’s move and said the family had been placed under house arrest after royal guards were removed — claims the military did not immediately answer.

Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire urged both sides to bury the king first, then settle the succession calmly under custom and law.

Sources: Reuters via Straits Times, Reuters

Peru Joins U.S.-Led Shield of the Americas Alliance: September 11, 2026

Peru will join the U.S.-led Shield of the Americas, a regional security alliance that shares intelligence and cooperates against drug cartels, President Keiko Fujimori announced Thursday after talks in Lima with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Fujimori, sworn in in July after a security-focused campaign, said Peru knew from past fights with terrorism how hard it is to confront today’s criminal networks. Rubio called the pact a shield against transnational groups that “in many cases, have more money and better military equipment than the state.”

Peru is the world’s second-largest cocaine producer after Colombia. Protesters outside the government palace opposed deeper U.S. military involvement. Rubio said Washington would act only at partners’ request.

The visit capped Rubio’s three-country South America tour. Washington has also pressed Lima over Chinese investment, including the Chancay megaport, and earlier designated Peru a major non-NATO ally while advancing a possible $1.5 billion foreign military sale tied to Callao Naval Base.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Andina

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