AFP USA

Disney’s feel-good animated sequel “Zootopia 2” ruled the Thanksgiving box office in North America, taking in $156 million over the five-day holiday weekend, industry estimates showed Sunday. “Zootopia 2,” the buddy cop comedy featuring a menagerie of talking animals battling stereotypes, is the much-anticipated follow-up to the 2016 hit, which won the Oscar for best animated feature. Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman and Idris Elba are all back for round two.”This is an outstanding opening for an animation follow-up sequel,” said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research, adding that Disney and Pixar are consistently making more with second episode sequels than with the first film.”On average, they start 71 percent bigger,” Gross said, also noting the film’s excellent performance in China.Globally, the film earned a whopping $556 million, which The Hollywood Reporter said was the biggest ever worldwide launch for an animated film.Dropping to second place with $93 million was “Wicked: For Good,” Universal’s second chapter in the musical saga of Oz’s most notable witches — the green-skinned, outcast Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and popular pink-wearing Glinda (Ariana Grande).The “Wizard of Oz” retelling is based on the long-running Broadway musical, itself adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel.In third place with $10 million at the US and Canadian box office was Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” the third installment in the crime heist franchise, Exhibitor Relations reported. The film reunites Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and Woody Harrelson as Robin Hood-style illusionists targeting dangerous criminals.”Predator: Badlands,” the latest film in the decades-old sci-fi horror franchise, was in fourth place with $6.6 million.And Paramount’s “The Running Man” — a new take on Stephen King’s dystopian novel about a murderous game show starring Glen Powell — ended up in fifth place with $5.5 million.Rounding out the top 10 were:”Eternity” ($5.2 million)”Rental Family” ($3.1 million)”Nuremberg” ($1.1 million)”Sisu: Road to Revenge” ($1 million) “Regretting You” ($705,000)

The United States and Ukraine on Sunday hailed “productive” talks on Washington’s plan to halt Russia’s war with its neighbor, but both sides also cautioned that the high-stakes negotiations were far from over.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that more work was required, and a source in Kyiv’s delegation characterized the discussions as “not easy.”The talks in Florida come as Kyiv faces mounting military and political pressure, along with the fallout from a domestic corruption scandal.Washington has put forward a plan to end the nearly four-year conflict and is seeking to finalize it with Moscow and Kyiv’s approval.The negotiations, which follow talks in Geneva, could set the stage for an upcoming visit to Moscow by President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, who is expected to discuss Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”We had another very productive session, building off Geneva, building off the events of this week,” Rubio told reporters.”But there’s more work to be done. This is delicate. It’s complicated,” he added.”There are a lot of moving parts, and obviously there’s another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week when Mr. Witkoff travels to Moscow.”Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also attended the meeting in Hallandale Beach, north of Miami.Ukraine’s security council secretary Rustem Umerov led Kyiv’s delegation, which also included Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, and presidential adviser Oleksandr Bevz.Umerov described the Florida talks as “productive and successful.”A source close to the Kyiv delegation, however, told AFP that “the process is not easy because the search for formulations and solutions continues.” Another source briefed on the developments told AFP that “the Americans really want the final points to be agreed upon” ahead of the US talks in Moscow.”The wording is complicated, especially with regard to territories, because they see themselves exclusively as mediators, not as a party” supporting Ukraine, the source added.The US talks come amid turbulence for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government. A blockbuster corruption probe forced him to sack his chief of staff and top negotiator, Andriy Yermak, on Friday.Rubio had met with Yermak only a week ago in Geneva.- Flurry of diplomacy -An initial 28-point US proposal — drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies — would have required Kyiv to withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region, and the United States then would de facto recognize the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.The United States pared back the original draft following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.After the Florida negotiations, French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host Zelensky for talks in Paris on Monday.Rubio is set to skip a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels, despite allies’ concerns about the US plan for Ukraine. But Witkoff is expected in Moscow for talks with Putin.The flurry of diplomacy comes as the war — which has killed tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel and displaced millions of Ukrainians — shows no sign of easing.- Russian oil terminal hit – Ahead of the Florida talks, Russia’s forces targeted Ukraine’s capital and the region for two nights in a row as they advanced on the front line. A drone attack in the outskirts of Kyiv killed one person and wounded 11 late Saturday, the regional governor said.Hours earlier, a Ukrainian security source said Kyiv was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers in the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil.One of Russia’s largest oil terminals halted operations on Saturday following a drone attack.The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a group that includes US oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil and which owns the terminal, called the strike a “terrorist attack.”Ukraine, which did not comment on the incident, regularly targets Russian energy facilities in a bid to sap the country’s war chest.burs-ac/sst

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday hosted high stakes talks with a Ukrainian delegation on Washington’s plan to end Russia’s war with its neighbor — discussions a source close to Kyiv’s team characterized as “not easy.”The talks in Florida come as Kyiv faces mounting military and political pressure, along with the fallout from a corruption scandal. They could set the stage for next week’s visit to Moscow by President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, who is expected to discuss Ukraine diplomacy.”This is not just about peace deals. It’s about creating a pathway forward that leaves Ukraine sovereign, independent and prosperous,” Rubio said at the start of the negotiations.Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were also attending the meeting in Hallandale Beach, north of Miami.Ukraine’s security council secretary Rustem Umerov led Kyiv’s delegation, which also included Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, and presidential adviser Oleksandr Bevz.”We are discussing about the future of Ukraine, about the security of Ukraine, about no repetition of aggression of Ukraine, about prosperity of Ukraine, about how to rebuild Ukraine,” Umerov said as the talks kicked off.A source close to the Kyiv delegation, however, cautioned that “the process is not easy because the search for formulations and solutions continues.” The exchanges had nevertheless been “constructive,” the source told AFP.The US talks come amid turbulence for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government. A blockbuster corruption probe forced him to sack his chief of staff and top negotiator, Andriy Yermak, on Friday.Rubio had met with Yermak only a week ago during another round of talks in Geneva.In a separate post on the platform X, Umerov said he was in “constant contact” with Zelensky as the Florida meeting progressed. “We have clear directives and priorities: safeguarding Ukrainian interests, ensuring substantive dialogue, and advancing on the basis of the progress achieved in Geneva,” Umerov wrote.”We are working to secure real peace for Ukraine and reliable, long-term security guarantees.”- Flurry of diplomacy -Washington has put forward a plan to end the nearly four-year conflict and is seeking to finalize it with Moscow and Kyiv’s approval.An initial 28-point proposal — drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies — would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognize the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.The United States pared back the original draft following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.After the Florida negotiations, French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host Zelensky for talks in Paris on Monday.Separately next week, Rubio is set to skip a meeting of NATO foreign ministers despite allies’ concerns about the US plan for Ukraine. However, Witkoff is expected in Moscow to discuss Ukraine diplomacy.The flurry of diplomacy comes as the war — which has killed tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel and displaced millions of Ukrainians — shows no sign of easing.- Russian oil terminal hit – Ahead of the Florida talks, Russia’s forces targeted Ukraine’s capital and the region for two nights in a row as they advanced on the front line. A drone attack in the outskirts of Kyiv killed one person and wounded 11 on Saturday night, the regional governor said.Hours earlier, a Ukrainian security source said Kyiv was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers in the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil.One of Russia’s largest oil terminals halted operations on Saturday following an attack by sea drones.The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a group that includes US oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil and which owns the terminal, called the strike a “terrorist attack”.Ukraine, which did not comment on the incident, regularly targets Russian energy facilities in a bid to sap the country’s war chest as the conflict grinds through its fourth year.The CPC pipeline, which begins in Kazakhstan and ends at the terminal, is a major conduit for Kazakh oil and one of the world’s largest by volume, handling around one percent of global supplies.burs-ac/

The Afghan suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington may have been radicalized after entering the US, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said when questioned about his motive on Sunday talk shows.Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, faces a first-degree murder charge in the November 26 shooting that left a 20-year-old guardsman dead and another critically wounded.”I will say we believe he was radicalized since he’s been here in this country,” Noem said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we’re going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him, who were his family members, who talk to them,” said Noem during a separate interview on ABC.Lakanwal entered the United States in 2021 as part of a massive airlift by then-president Joe Biden’s administration during the US military withdrawal and subsequent return to power of Taliban forces.A resident of the western US state of Washington, Lakanwal allegedly drove cross-country to carry out the shooting a few blocks from the White House — an attack that shocked Americans on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday. Officials from President Donald Trump’s administration, which reportedly granted Lakanwal US asylum in April 2025, have blamed Biden’s administration for lax vetting during the Afghan airlift.Noem told ABC’s “This Week” that Lakanwal was “maybe vetted” after entering the United States but said it was “not done well.””Crooked Joe Biden, Mayorkas, and so-called ‘Border Czar’ Kamala Harris really screwed our Country by letting anyone and everyone come in totally unchecked and unvetted!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform Sunday. Officials said that before coming to the United States, Lakanwal had served in a CIA-backed Afghan “partner force” unit fighting the Taliban. US government officials have since suspended visas for all Afghan nationals and frozen decisions in all asylum cases.

Hondurans began voting for president on Sunday amid threats by US President Donald Trump to cut aid to the country if his preferred candidate loses.Honduras could be the next country in Latin America, after Argentina and Bolivia, to swing right after years of leftist rule.Polls show three candidates neck-and-neck in the race to succeed leftist President Xiomara Castro, whose husband, Manuel Zelaya, also led the country before being toppled in a 2009 coup.Trump’s favorite is 67-year-old Nasry “Tito” Asfura of the right-wing National Party.His main challengers are 60-year-old lawyer Rixi Moncada from the ruling Libre party and 72-year-old TV host Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party.Polls opened at 7:00 am (1300 GMT) for 10 hours of voting, with the first results expected late Sunday.Trump has conditioned continued US support for one of Latin America’s poorest countries on Asfura winning.”If he (Asfura) doesn’t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad,” he wrote Friday on his Truth Social platform, echoing threats he made in support of Argentine President Javier Milei’s party in that country’s recent midterms.In a stunning move on Friday, he also announced he would pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, of the National Party, who is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for cocaine trafficking and other charges.Some Hondurans have welcomed Trump’s interventionism, saying they hope it might mean Honduran migrants will be allowed remain in the United States.But others have rejected his meddling in the vote.Nearly 30,000 Honduran migrants have been deported from the United States since Trump returned to office in January.The clampdown has dealt a severe blow to the country of 11 million people, where remittances represented 27 percent of GDP last year.- Fears of election fraud -Moncada has portrayed the election as a choice between a “coup-plotting oligarchy” — a reference to the right’s backing of the 2009 military ouster of Zelaya — and democratic socialism.Moncada has held ministerial portfolios under both Zelaya and Castro.Nasralla also served in Castro’s government but fell out with the ruling party and has since shifted to the right. Asfura was a building entrepreneur before being elected mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, where he served two terms.Preemptive accusations of election fraud, made both by the ruling party and opposition, have sown mistrust in the vote and sparked fears of post-election unrest.The president of the National Electoral Council, Ana Paola Hall, warned all parties “not to fan the flames of confrontation or violence” at the start of the single-round elections, in which Hondurans are also picking members of the unicameral Congress and local mayors.- ‘Narco state’ president pardoned -Asfura has distanced himself from his party’s figurehead, Hernandez, who was imprisoned in the United States last year after being convicted of turning Honduras into a “narco state” while president between 2014 and 2022.”I have no ties (with Hernandez)…the party is not responsible for his personal actions,” Asfura told AFP on Friday.Long a transit point for cocaine exported from Colombia to the United States, Honduras is now also a producer of the drug.Despite making narco-traffickers the target of a major military build-up in the Caribbean, Trump on Friday took Hernandez’s defense.Announcing his decision to pardon the former president, Trump claimed the Honduran “has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” without elaborating. 

US President Donald Trump sharply escalated his threats against Venezuela on Saturday with an ominous warning that the country’s airspace should be considered “closed,” raising fears of imminent military action.Caracas, which views a large US military buildup in the Caribbean as a pressure campaign to oust President Nicolas Maduro, slammed Trump’s warning as a “colonialist threat.””To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,” Trump wrote on social media, “please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”He did not elaborate, but after months of deadly US strikes on alleged drug-running boats, speculation is mounting that Washington may launch some sort of military operation on Venezuelan soil.Trump’s warning comes days after US aviation regulators told airlines to use increased caution near Venezuela over the mounting tensions, prompting multiple major carriers to suspend flights.Maduro’s government then issued a ban on the airlines for “joining the actions of state terrorism promoted by the United States government.”A statement by the Venezuelan foreign ministry called the US president’s latest remarks a “new extravagant, illegal, and unjustified aggression against the people of Venezuela.”It warned that the airspace disruptions would also mean a halt to repatriation flights of Venezuelan migrants from the United States, a key Trump administration initiative.Venezuela’s military on Saturday also conducted exercises along coastal areas, with video broadcast on state TV showing antiaircraft weapons and other artillery being maneuvered.- ‘By land’ -Though Trump has not publicly threatened to use force to remove Maduro, he said this week that efforts to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking “by land” would begin “very soon.”Maduro’s re-election last year was widely rejected by the international community as fraudulent, while Washington also claims the leftist leader heads an alleged terrorist-designated drug cartel.A steady buildup of US naval and air assets in the region has seen the world’s largest aircraft carrier move to the Caribbean, while American fighter jets and bombers have repeatedly flown off the Venezuelan coast in recent days.US media reported that, despite the bellicose posturing, Trump and Maduro spoke last week.The New York Times reported on Friday that Trump and Maduro had discussed a possible meeting, while the Wall Street Journal on Saturday said the conversation also included conditions of amnesty if Maduro were to step down.Amid fears that Trump may launch a major operation in Venezuela, members of US Congress — both Democrats and the president’s own Republican Party — have expressed anger that he has not sought legislative approval.”President Trump’s reckless actions towards Venezuela are pushing America closer and closer to another costly foreign war,” top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said Sunday on X.”Under our Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war,” he added.Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, until recently a close Trump ally, said similarly: “Reminder, Congress has the sole power to declare war.”- Congress -However, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham cheered on Trump, writing on X that the president’s “strong commitment to end this madness in Venezuela will save countless American lives.”Suggesting Maduro should flee, he said: “I hear Turkey and Iran are lovely this time of year…”Trump is also facing congressional pressure over recent media reports that the US military launched a second missle at survivors of a strike on an alleged drug boat in September.Leaders of both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have released separate statements saying they would be investigating the strike, which legal experts say could amount to a war crime.With Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress, the Trump administration has so far largely escaped probing of its controversial anti-trafficking campaign.Since the operation began in September, at least 83 people have been killed in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.Washington has yet to release evidence that the vessels it targeted were used to smuggle drugs or posed a threat to the United States, and experts say the strikes amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers.

Hondurans go to the polls on Sunday in a presidential election dominated by US President Donald Trump’s threats to cut aid to the country if his right-wing champion loses.Honduras could be the next country in Latin America, after Argentina and Bolivia, to swing right after years of leftist rule.Polls show three candidates neck-and-neck in the race to succeed outgoing President Xiomara Castro: 60-year-old Rixi Moncada of the ruling leftist Libre party, 72-year-old TV host Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party, and 67-year-old Nasry “Tito” Asfura of the right-wing National Party.Trump has threatened to cut US support for one of Latin America’s poorest countries if Asfura loses.”If he (Asfura) doesn’t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad,” Truth wrote Friday on his Truth Social platform, echoing threats he made in support of Argentine President Javier Milei’s party in that country’s recent midterms.In a stunning move on Friday, Trump announced he would pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, of Asfura’s National Party, who is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for cocaine trafficking and other charges.Moncada accused the US leader on Saturday of interfering in the campaign.Some Hondurans welcomed Trump’s interventionism, saying they hoped that he might show clemency towards Honduran migrants in the United States if his man won.”We have Donald Trump on our side!” Erick Baca, a 20-year-old student in Tegucigalpa told AFP happily.Esmeralda Rodriguez, a 56-year-old fruit vendor, rejected Trump’s threats however, saying: “I vote for whomever I please, not because of what Trump has said.”Nearly 30,000 Honduran migrants have been deported from the United States since Trump returned to office on January.He has also revoked the temporary protected status of a further 51,000 Honduran migrants, making them vulnerable to expulsion.The clampdown has dealt a severe blow to the country of 11 million people, which received $10 billion in remittances from overseas citizens in 2024, representing 27 percent of GDP.- Fears of election fraud -Moncada has portrayed the election as a choice between a “coup-plotting oligarchy” — a reference to the right’s backing of the 2009 military ouster of then-president Manuel Zelaya — and the current government’s brand of democratic socialism.Moncada has held ministerial portfolios under both Zelaya and Castro, who are married.Nasralla also served in Castro’s government but fell out with the ruling party and has since shifted to the right. Asfura was a building entrepreneur before being elected mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, where he served two terms.Preemptive accusations of election fraud, made both by the ruling party and opposition, have sown mistrust in the vote and sparked fears of post-election unrest.Besides electing a president, Hondurans will on Sunday also choose members of the unicameral Congress and local mayors.- ‘Narco state’ president pardoned -Asfura has distanced himself from his party’s figurehead Hernandez, who was imprisoned in the United States last year after being convicted of turning Honduras into a “narco state” while president between 2014 and 2022.”I have no ties (with Hernandez)…the party is not responsible for his personal actions,” Asfura told AFP on Friday.Long a transit point for cocaine exported from Colombia to the United States, Honduras is now also a producer of the drug.Despite making narco-traffickers the target of a major military build-up in the Caribbean, Trump on Friday took Hernandez’s defense.Announcing his decision to pardon the former president, Trump claimed the Honduran “has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” without elaborating. 

The United States is freezing all asylum decisions, officials said Friday, as President Donald Trump hardens his anti-migrant stance after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard members this week in Washington.Wednesday’s attack on the soldiers — one of whom died from her injuries — has ignited a fresh crackdown on foreigners in the United States, with Trump also pledging to suspend migration from “third world countries.”Joseph Edlow, director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said his agency has “halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”That followed Trump’s announcement late Thursday of plans to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the US system to fully recover.”Asked which nationalities would be affected, the Department of Homeland Security pointed AFP to a list of 19 countries — including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar — already facing US travel restrictions since June.Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the US had temporarily stopped issuing visas to all individuals traveling on Afghan passports.”The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people,” he said.- ‘Monster’ -The shooting has brought together three politically explosive issues: Trump’s controversial use of the military on American soil, immigration, and the lingering legacy of the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who allegedly opened fire on the guardsmen just a few blocks from the White House, had been part of a CIA-backed “partner force” fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.He entered the United States as part of a resettlement program following the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for Washington DC, said Friday that Lakanwal would be charged with murder over the attack. Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member deployed in the US capital as part of what Trump called a crackdown on crime, died from her wounds.The second injured soldier, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, was “fighting for his life,” Pirro told the Fox News program Fox & Friends.Attorney General Pam Bondi has pledged to seek the death penalty against Lakanwal, describing him as a “monster.”- ‘Long planned’ -In his social media post Thursday, Trump also threatened to reverse “millions” of admissions granted under his predecessor Joe Biden, in a new escalation of his anti-immigration stance.Separately, the USCIS said it would reexamine the green cards — permanent residency cards — issued to individuals who had migrated to the US from the same 19 countries also cited by the Department of Homeland Security.More than 1.6 million green card holders, roughly 12 percent of the total permanent resident population, were born in the countries listed, according to US immigration data analyzed by AFP.Afghanistan has over 116,000 green card holders.Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, a group that helped resettle Afghans in the country after the military withdrawal, blasted Rubio’s move to halt all visa issuances.”They are using a single violent individual as cover for a policy they have long planned,” he said in a statement.Lakanwal had been living in the western state of Washington with his family and drove across the country to the capital before Wednesday’s shooting, officials said.Trump has insisted that Lakanwal had been granted unvetted access to the United States because of lax asylum policies after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan under former president Biden.However, AfghanEvac said the Afghans had undergone “some of the most extensive security vetting” of any migrants. It added that Lakanwal applied for asylum under Biden but received it later, under Trump.

Lawyers for Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro filed a new appeal Friday requesting the annulment of his coup-plotting conviction, which saw him sentenced to 27 years in prison.The defense is requesting “the annulment of the criminal process” and that Bolsonaro be acquitted, according to a document seen by AFP, three days after the Supreme Court ordered Bolsonaro to begin serving his prison term.Bolsonaro was tried and convicted by a five-member section of the Supreme Court by a vote of 4-1.Now his lawyers are appealing to the full 11-member court for it to throw out his trial, citing that lone, initial vote against conviction as grounds for the new appeal. An earlier appeal was already thrown out.”The unfair conviction imposed on Jair Messias Bolsonaro,” the defense petition says, “must be submitted for the scrutiny of the Full Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court so that, in the end, his innocence is recognized and declared.”It was not immediately clear if this appeal can proceed with a chance of success.The smaller court section that convicted Bolsonaro and rejected an initial appeal said all avenues for such challenges had been exhausted.Bolsonaro, the brash former army captain who fired up Brazil’s right and reshaped the country’s politics, is ending a divisive career jailed at a police headquarters in Brasilia.The 70-year-old was convicted in September over a scheme to stop Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office as president after winning the 2022 elections. The plan included a plot to kill the veteran leftist.Prosecutors said the scheme failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass.- Ankle monitor -Section number one of the Supreme Court rejected an appeal to his sentence earlier this month, and on Tuesday ruled the judgment was final.Bolsonaro, who was president from 2019 to 2022, maintains that he is innocent and a victim of political persecution.He has won support from US President Donald Trump, who has slammed a “witch hunt” of his ally and imposed sanctions and punitive tariffs on Brazil. Many of the tariffs have since been rolled back.Bolsonaro had been under house arrest until last Saturday, when he was detained at police headquarters in the capital Brasilia for tampering with his ankle monitor using a soldering iron.Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said there were signs Bolsonaro was planning to flee during a planned vigil organized by his son outside his home.The justice pointed to the location of the nearby US embassy, and Bolsonaro’s close relationship with Trump, suggesting he may have tried to escape to seek political asylum.Bolsonaro has since been detained in the police headquarters, in a room equipped with a TV, mini-fridge, and air-conditioning.His lawyers are seeking a return to home confinement, citing health issues related to a 2018 stabbing attack.With Bolsonaro out of the running, Brazil’s large conservative electorate is without a champion heading into 2026 presidential elections, in which Lula, 80, has said he will seek a fourth term.

US President Donald Trump on Friday made a major intervention into Honduran politics days before the country’s presidential election, pardoning a convicted ex-leader and threatening to cut US support if his preferred candidate loses.Trump said he will pardon ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted last year in a US court of drug trafficking charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison.Hernandez, who led the Central American nation from 2014 to 2022, was accused by US prosecutors of facilitating the import of some 400 tons of cocaine into the United States.He was extradited to the United States just weeks after leaving office, when the current president, leftist Xiomara Castro, came to power.Trump’s stunning announcement came in a social media post proclaiming support for Nasry Asfura, the candidate of Hernandez’s right-wing party in Honduras’s presidential election on Sunday.The US president had earlier endorsed Asfura, but his latest comments went further, apparently conditioning future aid to Honduras on his victory.”If he doesn’t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.Trump had made a similar threat before Argentina’s election last month.Asfura, when reached by AFP on the phone, denied any links to Hernandez but celebrated Trump’s re-upped endorsement.Hernandez “was president of the Republic, the party is not responsible for his personal actions,” Asfura said.- Three-way race -Asfura, a 67-year-old construction magnate and former mayor of the Honduran capital, is running in a tight three-way race against leftist lawyer Rixi Moncada and fellow right-wing TV host Salvador Nasralla.Trump on Friday accused Nasralla, 72, of running as a spoiler candidate to draw votes away from Asfura.Noting that Nasralla served as Castro’s vice president before resigning, Trump said he “is now pretending to be an anti-Communist only for the purposes of splitting Asfura’s vote.”Trump also bashed Moncada, the political heir to Castro, as a “communist” and said her victory would be a win for Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro “and his Narcoterrorists.”The pardoning of Hernandez comes despite a major US operation in Latin America, which Washington says aims to halt drug trafficking, in which over 80 people have been killed in strikes in international waters.A jury in New York convicted Hernandez in March 2024 of having facilitated the smuggling of hundreds of tons of cocaine — mainly from Colombia and Venezuela — to the United States via Honduras since 2004, starting long before he became president.Former US president Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, said after Hernandez’s sentencing last year that he had “abused his power to support one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world.”Trump said in his social media post on Friday that Hernandez “has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” without elaborating.