President Joe Biden welcomed Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Washington on Friday for wide-ranging talks on climate and strengthening democracies, an issue of shared importance after both leaders faced far-right mobs storming their governments' halls of power to try to overturn their election victories.
The trip comes a month after thousands of protesters stormed the Brazilian capital, ransacking its Supreme Court, Congress and Presidential Palace.
“Both our nations’ strong democracies have been tested of late … very much tested,” Mr Biden said at the start of their Oval Office meeting. “But both in the United States and Brazil, democracy prevailed.”
Known simply as Lula, Mr da Silva is a progressive who served more than a year and a half in jail for money laundering. He defeated the far-right, populist leader Jair Bolsonaro in October’s elections.
Mr da Silva said that he was moving to restore Brazil on the world stage after Mr Bolsonaro’s term.
“Brazil marginalised itself for four years,” he said. “His world started and ended with fake news.”
Mr Biden joked that the complaint “sounds familiar,” an apparent knock on former US president Donald Trump.
Mr da Silva, 77, who led Brazil for seven years in the early 2000s, faces similar challenges at home to Mr Biden's.
The leaders discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, insecurity in Haiti, migration and climate change, including efforts to stem deforestation of the Amazon, the White House said.
“Lula and Biden are both dealing with strong anti-democratic sentiment, stoked by the leaders that they defeated in their respective elections,” said Andre Pagliarini, an associate professor at Hampton Sydney College in Virginia.
Mr Bolsonaro, who denounced last month’s riots, has been living in Florida since his defeat, but his supporters remain a strong presence in Brazil.
Brazilian authorities have arrested almost 1,500 protesters since January 8, an event that in many ways mirrored the January 6 insurrection when supporters of former president Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol Building.
“These are large, multiracial democracies with a tremendous amount of economic inequality,” Mr Pagliarini told The National.
“Both are former slave societies and both countries face the challenge of resolving these long-standing tensions.”
Economically the two countries are inextricably linked as well.
China recently replaced the US as Brazil’s biggest trading partner but the US is still a crucial economic and political ally.
Mr Pagliarini believes trade, democracy and military support for Ukraine will be on the agenda when the two leaders meet.
He expects the US leader to press Mr da Silva on his lack of support for Ukraine and China’s expanding presence in Latin America.
This will be Mr da Silva's first trip outside South America since he took office in January and is widely expected to be seen as an effort to “restore” the close US-Brazil relations, which grew strained under Mr Bolsonaro.
“I think it's going to lay a foundation for a longer conversation between the two leaders and greater co-operation between the governments,” said Tom Shannon, who was US ambassador to Brazil under president Barack Obama.
Mr Biden made similar efforts to restore US relations with a wide array of countries when he took over from Mr Trump in January 2021.
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Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
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The biog
Prefers vegetables and fish to meat and would choose salad over pizza
Walks daily as part of regular exercise routine
France is her favourite country to visit
Has written books and manuals on women’s education, first aid and health for the family
Family: Husband, three sons and a daughter
Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country
The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns
Her motto is to never stop working for the country
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 80-100
Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
SPECS
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MATCH INFO
First Test at Barbados
West Indies won by 381 runs
Second Test at Antigua
West Indies won by 10 wickets
Third Test at St Lucia
February 9-13
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
Disability on screen
Empire — neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis; bipolar disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Rosewood and Transparent — heart issues
24: Legacy — PTSD;
Superstore and NCIS: New Orleans — wheelchair-bound
Taken and This Is Us — cancer
Trial & Error — cognitive disorder prosopagnosia (facial blindness and dyslexia)
Grey’s Anatomy — prosthetic leg
Scorpion — obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety
Switched at Birth — deafness
One Mississippi, Wentworth and Transparent — double mastectomy
Dragons — double amputee
European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
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Price: From Dh650,000
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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