Britain raises China hackles with plans of overseas naval bases and Gridlock over Donald Trump’s wall continues.
Conservative leaders throng Brazil as South American nation swings right
Jair Bolsonaro, 63, was sworn in as Brazil’s 42nd President Tuesday, cementing, as The New York Times reports, the South American country’s shift to the far right after years of left rule.
Taking oath, he announced Brazil’s “liberation from socialism, inverted values, the bloated state and political correctness”, The Guardianreported.
The former army captain, who pegged his campaign on ridding the country of its recent economic woes, corruption and crime, survived a near-fatal knife attack during the election, described as Brazil’s most divisive since the end of military rule three decades ago.
The latest world leader to have won his term by a riding a populist revolt against the governing class, Bolsonaro scored a sweeping victory over Fernando Haddad of Brazil’s Workers’ Party this October, promising to divide power in a “progressive, conscientious and responsible way”.
He is a vocal opponent of homosexuality, having been quoted as saying, according to a CNN report, that he’d rather see his son die in an accident than have a homosexual in the family, and has been known to make deeply sexist comments.
The guests at his swearing-in ceremony in Brasilia included global leaders of the conservative bent, including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
US President Donald Trump tweeted a congratulatory message, telling Bolsonaro that the “USA is with you”.
Congratulations to President @JairBolsonaro who just made a great inauguration speech – the U.S.A. is with you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019
Dear Mr. President @realDonalTrump, I truly appreciate your words of encouragement. Together, under God’s protection, we shall bring prosperity and progress to our people! https://t.co/dplAFNJGdA
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) January 1, 2019
In its report on Bolsonaro’s swearing-in, CNN called him the “Trump of Tropics”. According to CNN, Bolsonaro has “shown a willingness to pull out of international agreements and go it alone on the international stage”.
London mayor Sadiq Khan criticised for anti-Brexit New Year display
As the world rang in the New Year, the famous London Eye was lit up in the colours of the European Union flag, earning the British capital’s mayor Sadiq Khan some serious flak.
The UK is expected to exit the EU, in an exercise termed “Brexit” that has deeply divided the nation, by March this year.
The message of the New Year’s display at London Eye was clear: That the capital would stay “open-minded” and “outward-looking” even after Brexit, The Guardian reported.
As the fireworks went off along the river Thames, the words “London is open” were read out in English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian and Spanish. Khan also tweeted in the same vein.
Sending a message across the globe: London's diversity will always be our strength. Our one million EU citizens are Londoners, they make a huge contribution, and no matter the outcome of Brexit – they will always be welcome.
Happy New Year, London. ??#LondonIsOpen #LondonNYE pic.twitter.com/OR8qWqOER1
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 1, 2019
To the one million EU citizens who have made our city your home: you are Londoners, you make a huge contribution and you are welcome here.
I'm proud that we welcomed in 2019 with a message of support to you. #LondonIsOpen ??#HappyNewYear2019pic.twitter.com/U9co1s2XTg
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 1, 2019
According to a report in the Evening Standard, 59.9 per cent of Londoners voted in favour of remaining in the EU, with the percentage rising to 70 per cent in some areas.
The London Eye display drew a severe backlash from Brexiters, as the people who support the UK’s exit are known.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen told: “It’s low, it’s very low to politicise what is an international public event.”
According to the Daily Mail, “Mr Khan was accused of ‘absolute disrespect’ and of shoving his political views in the faces of the 17.4million voters who chose to leave in the 2016 Referendum as people vented their fury on social media”.
Khan later told Sky News: “As we bring 2019, it’s an opportunity for us to celebrate the contribution made to our city by Europeans. Here in London we have more than a million Londoners who are EU citizens and we should reflect on that.”
Britain raises China hackles with plans of overseas naval bases
The UK is working on plans to build two new military bases in the Caribbean and southeast Asia after Brexit, Bloomberg quoted UK newspaper The Sunday Telegraph as reporting.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the bases stemmed from an effort to make UK “a true global player” after the country’s exit from the European Union.
Chinese analysts told the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based paper, that building a facility in southeast Asia was “likely to further complicate the strategic landscape in a region already fraught with maritime disputes and geopolitical rivalry between Beijing and Washington”.
“It is clearly a muscle-flexing gesture targeting China and shows closer engagement of external powers in the South China Sea disputes,” Xu Liping, a professor at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted as saying.
Experts said the move “would risk further inflaming tensions between Beijing and London after a British warship sailed close to the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea”.
Gridlock over Donald Trump’s wall continues
Amid the US government’s partial shutdown, President Donald Trump has invited Congressional leaders from both parties to the White House for a briefing on border security issues, The Guardian reports.
It will be the first time after the shutdown, triggered by a disagreement over the funding for a border wall along the US-Mexico border, that top Democrats and Republicans will meet the President.
The Guardian reported that the meeting will take place Wednesday afternoon.
Reuters said Trump had invited the two top Democrats and Republicans from both the Senate and the House of Representatives for the meeting. But it is still unclear who all will attend.
Explaining the continuing political gridlock, The Guardian said the Democrats, now in control of the House of Representatives, had refused the idea of using taxpayer money to build the wall, a key campaign promise for Trump, and will introduce their own legislation to reopen the government without accepting the demand.
“They will vote quickly on several bills to reopen the government, while Republicans insist they will not pass any such legislation in the Senate, which they still dominate, that the president will not sign,” it added.