World

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called on the United States government to return former intelligence chief Alexandre Ramagem to Brazil to serve a prison sentence. Ramagem was sentenced to 16 years in Brazil for his involvement in a coup plot supporting former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro after Bolsonaro's loss to Lula in the 2022 election. In an interview with a local news outlet on Tuesday, Lula expressed optimism about Ramagem's return, stating he must come back to serve his sentence, highlighting the ongoing legal and diplomatic tensions between the two nations.

As Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, a new report from Tel Aviv University reveals a sharp increase in severe violence against Jews in Western countries in 2025. According to the report, the number of people murdered due to antisemitic violence in the West reached a record high in over 30 years, with 20 killed in four deadly attacks. Incidents involving physical harm, vandalism against Jewish institutions, and online hate also rose across all surveyed Western nations compared to 2022, the year preceding Hamas's October 7 attacks and Israel's subsequent wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and with Iran.

Following the capture of former President Nicolas Maduro by US special forces, Venezuela's then-Vice President Delcy Rodriguez condemned the operation as a kidnapping and announced the country would resist the United States. However, her tone shifted dramatically within a day. US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that Rodriguez was "essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again." The new interim president then invited the US government that same day to "work together on a cooperative agenda." Shortly after, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled a three-phase plan for cooperation.

In Colombia's largest Pacific port of Buenaventura, police on November 20, 2025, thwarted an attempt to smuggle 14 tonnes of cocaine (valued at $390 million). This marks the Colombian police's largest cocaine seizure in a decade and is seen as a sign of President Gustavo Petro's intensified campaign to intercept drugs.

The US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, announced by President Donald Trump, took effect on Monday. This move comes after Iran effectively closed the narrow maritime passage in retaliation for the US-Israeli air attacks that began on February 28, putting the fragile two-week ceasefire at risk and causing already soaring oil prices to rise even further.

Diplomatic efforts to renew ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran are ongoing, with parallel negotiations focusing on a deal regarding Iran's uranium enrichment program. High-level delegations from both countries met in Islamabad, Pakistan, over the weekend, but the talks concluded without an agreement. Despite Pakistan's attempts to mediate a second round, a critical stumbling block remains the duration of a moratorium on uranium enrichment, highlighting the deep-seated tensions between the two nations.

An 86-year-old French woman, Marie-Thérèse, is being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Louisiana, USA, after moving to the country last year to reunite with her American love, Billy, whom she first met in the 1960s. Her son told French outlet Ouest-France that she was arrested in Anniston, Alabama, in April, with her hands and feet handcuffed "like a dangerous criminal," highlighting the harsh treatment allegedly faced under the US regime's immigration policies.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with United States Vice President JD Vance on April 11 in Islamabad, during high-level talks between Washington and Tehran. Almost simultaneously, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense announced the arrival of a Pakistani military force at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the kingdom’s Eastern Province under the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) signed last year.

A full US naval blockade of Iran's coastline came into effect on Monday at 14:00 GMT. The Trump administration purportedly aims to pressure Tehran into accepting its terms to end the war by squeezing the Iranian economy. Iran's armed forces have condemned the blockade as "an illegal act" that "amounts to piracy."

At least three tankers, including the Panama-flagged Peace Gulf, transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday via a new route through Iranian territorial waters, mandated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This route between Larak and Hormuz islands has been enforced after the IRGC declared the main shipping lanes "restricted" due to alleged mine risks, effectively shutting the strait to most international traffic following US-Israeli attacks on February 28.

Ahead of the deadline set by United States President Donald Trump for Iran last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an urgent call to the White House. He warned the president against pursuing a ceasefire with Tehran. After the temporary truce was announced, Netanyahu was quick to clarify that the Israeli army would not stop its operations in Lebanon. Many observers interpreted his actions as an attempt to ensure his own political survival by prolonging the war.

Turkey's Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Ufuk Ulutaş, stated in an interview with Kun.uz and a speech at the International Institute of Central Asia that Turkey and Uzbekistan must boost investments in transport-logistics corridors and expand cooperation in underdeveloped economic sectors, including agriculture and regional production. This statement comes against the backdrop of escalating tensions in the Middle East and their impact on global trade chains.