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Testimony contained in documents released by supreme court detail alleged plot to overturn result of 2022 Brazilian election Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro presented top military officials with a plan to carry out a coup d’état after his defeat in the October 2022 election, two former commanders have told the police, according to newly released judicial documents. In testimonies made public on Friday, former army commander Marco Antônio Freire Gomes and former air force commander Carlos Baptista Júnior said Bolsonaro held several meetings in December 2022 in which he presented a document that would have served as the basis to overturn the results of the election, which he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Hpx92ml

Mo Yan is widely celebrated in China but now faces a lawsuit accusing him of smearing the Communist party amid an increasingly febrile atmosphere online At first glance, a Nobel prize winning author, a bottle of green tea and Beijing’s Tsinghua University have little in common. But in recent weeks they have been dubbed by China’s nationalist netizens as the “three new evils” in the fight to defend the country’s valour in cyberspace. Last month a patriotic blogger called Wu Wanzheng filed a lawsuit against China’s only Nobel prize-winning author, Mo Yan, accusing him of smearing the Communist army and glorifying Japanese soldiers in his fictional works set during the Japanese invasion of China. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/8kJSx1t

Backbenches respond to new guidelines with chorus of ‘what about me?’ but minister is untroubled Michael Gove stood before the house with his elaborately courteous mien dialled up to the max. The secretary for levelling up is so polite now that it reads as a kind of schoolboy humility as he gallops through his words, mindful of the great honour of his colleagues’ attention. “The United Kingdom is a success story,” he said, “a multinational, multi-ethnic, multifaith democracy, stronger because of our diversity.” This was the preface to the government’s new extremism guidelines , and there’s a world in which a celebration of diversity would be a reassuring starting point. That’s not, unfortunately, the world we’re in: the text of this guidance, as Gove describes it, doesn’t make a huge amount of sense, the subtext warps and weaves with every intervention, and the context makes a joke of the whole thing. Let’s not forget the lovely manners, though. Continue reading... from The Guardi

The government’s new approach is not a serious effort to tackle rising hatred and division It is never a good sign when a minister needs to spend as long talking about what a new policy doesn’t do as what it does. Much of Michael Gove’s Thursday was occupied with stressing the limits of the new extremism definition . It will not be statutory, the communities secretary pointed out. It will “in no way threaten” free speech. It will not be used against environmental groups. It would not be used in response to an individual comment , he added, responding to the inevitable questions that arose because the crackdown coincided with the Guardian’s  revelation that one of the Conservatives’ top donors, Frank Hester, said in 2019 that Diane Abbott “should be shot”. What the new measure will do, said Mr Gove, is help the fight against extremism. It won’t. Had community cohesion and tackling hatred truly been a priority, a full public consultation and proper engagement with faith groups would h

Scandal is hard-wired into a system that makes parties over-reliant on mega-donors, as the opposition will discover soon enough Some political controversies are complicated. The row about offensive remarks made by Frank Hester , a businessman and Conservative donor, is not in that category. What he said was simply racist – declaring an impulse of hatred for all black women induced by the fact of Diane Abbott MP being a black woman. He says he abhors racism. Downing Street belatedly acknowledged the problem, although some Tory MPs still don’t get it. The main reason for such obtuseness is also not complicated. Mr Hester gave the party £10m. The pernicious influence that big money can have on politics is something voters intuitively understand and don’t like. Not all party donations are crudely transactional. Some philanthropists feel a duty to finance democracy. But there are all kinds of access advantages and policy favours potentially available from proximity to power that might ma

Former prominent Conservatives have said a big backer’s comments were racist and sexist. It’s hard to disagree When the far right is rising in Europe, there is a very real concern that Britain’s ruling class is not being alert enough to its dangers. Since Brexit, the Conservative party has been transfixed by the threat of Faragist nationalism, marginalising its thoughtful voices and turning to “ deep state ” conspiracies. The Tories feel menaced by the Reform party, which draws about half its support from voters who backed the Conservatives at the last election. The Conservative party reasons that if it cannot beat the radical right it must join them. This is bad for Britain. Ministers trade in performative cruelty to refugees , and vulnerable and poor people. With a political and media ecosystem that has permitted society’s divisions to be openly stoked, arsenic is being poured into the water supply of our national conversation. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in t

Guardian’s imaging team identifies 20 anomalies with the picture that may require further inquiry Analysis: Attempt to dispel Princess of Wales rumours misfires The release of the first official picture of the Princess of Wales and her three children since her operation was undoubtedly meant to end speculation about her recovery. But that has backfired spectacularly after the princess was forced to admit she had edited it. Catherine apologised on Monday after the manipulation of the picture led international picture agencies to refuse to distribute it on grounds of editorial standards. 1. Jumper cuff does not match wrist edge. 2. Blurred edge detail jolts from one line to another. 3. Definitively inconsistent detail at base of jumper. 4. Strong horizontal line running through hair and jacket zip, indicating different focus and detail. 5. Visible selection lines within lower hair areas. 6. Edge of knee detail potentially blurs too quickly for the depth of field. 7. Suspect/