Brazil First Lady Tests Positive for Virus

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro talks with his wife Michelle Bolsonaro during a ceremony marking International Women's Day at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil March 6, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro talks with his wife Michelle Bolsonaro during a ceremony marking International Women's Day at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil March 6, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo
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Brazil First Lady Tests Positive for Virus

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro talks with his wife Michelle Bolsonaro during a ceremony marking International Women's Day at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil March 6, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro talks with his wife Michelle Bolsonaro during a ceremony marking International Women's Day at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil March 6, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

Brazil's first lady Michelle Bolsonaro tested positive for the new coronavirus Thursday, the government said, after her husband spent two weeks in quarantine with it.

The announcement came five days after President Jair Bolsonaro said he was over his illness and had resumed his normal work routine.

Michelle Bolsonaro, 38, "is in good health and will follow all established protocols," the president's office said.

Bolsonaro, 65, has faced criticism for his handling of the pandemic as Brazil has surged to become the country with the second-highest number of infections and deaths in the world, after the United States: more than 2.5 million and 91,000, respectively.

The far-right president, who has compared the virus to a "little flu," has fought to end state and local stay-at-home measures to contain it, arguing the economic fallout could be worse than the disease itself.

He is instead pushing the drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment, and took it himself when he was infected, despite numerous studies finding it has no benefit against COVID-19.

He again touted the medication Thursday, but did not say whether his wife was taking it.

"I would like to first thank God, and second the medication I was given, hydroxychloroquine," he said in his weekly Facebook live address.

"It worked for me."

He also revealed he was again feeling poorly and was taking antibiotics for an undisclosed illness.

"I just took a blood test, I was feeling a little weak yesterday. They found a bit of an infection," he said.

"After 20 days sitting at home, you come down with other problems. I guess I got moldy lungs."

Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro's leftist nemesis, for his part said he suspected the president faked his coronavirus diagnosis to push hydroxychloroquine as a cure.

"I think Bolsonaro invented his infection so he could do propaganda for this treatment," the former president (2003-2010) told a video news conference.

After Bolsonaro came down with a fever and tested positive for coronavirus on July 7, he spent three weeks in quarantine in the presidential palace, holding meetings remotely.

In his first public event since his illness, he greeted a crowd of supporters in the northeastern state of Piaui Thursday, removing his face mask to loud cheers.

Five of Bolsonaro's ministers have also tested positive for the virus. The latest came Thursday: Science and Technology Minister Marcos Pontes.



Rubio Says US Sanctioning ICC Judges for Targeting Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to traveling journalists at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 12, 2025 after the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to traveling journalists at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 12, 2025 after the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
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Rubio Says US Sanctioning ICC Judges for Targeting Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to traveling journalists at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 12, 2025 after the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to traveling journalists at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 12, 2025 after the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the US was sanctioning two judges of the International Criminal Court for targeting Israel.

"Today, I am designating two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, pursuant to Executive Order 14203," Rubio said in a statement, referring to the order President Donald Trump signed in February sanctioning the ICC, Reuters reported.

"These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel's consent," he said.

The United States and Israel are not members of the ICC.

The US sanctions in February include freezing any US assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States.


US Imposes Sanctions on Vessels Linked to Iran, Treasury Website Says

A crew member raises the Iranian flag on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, as it sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
A crew member raises the Iranian flag on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, as it sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
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US Imposes Sanctions on Vessels Linked to Iran, Treasury Website Says

A crew member raises the Iranian flag on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, as it sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
A crew member raises the Iranian flag on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, as it sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on 29 vessels and their management firms, the Treasury Department said, as Washington continues targeting Tehran's "shadow fleet" it says exports Iranian petroleum and petroleum products, Reuters reported.

The targeted vessels and companies have transported hundreds of millions of dollars of the products through deceptive shipping practices, Treasury said.

Thursday's action also targets businessman Hatem Elsaid Farid Ibrahim Sakr, whose companies are associated with seven of the vessels cited, as well as multiple shipping companies.


Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Faces Foreign Aid Shortfall of up to 50 billion Euros Next Year

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. File Photo/The AP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. File Photo/The AP
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Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Faces Foreign Aid Shortfall of up to 50 billion Euros Next Year

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. File Photo/The AP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. File Photo/The AP

Ukraine is facing a foreign aid shortfall of 45-50 billion euros ($53-59 billion) in 2026, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

He added that if Kyiv did not receive a first tranche of a loan secured by Russian assets by next spring, it would have to significantly cut drone production.

Speaking in Brussels as EU leaders were set to take a decision on Moscow's seized sovereign wealth, Zelenskiy said this would mean that Ukraine would have far fewer drones than Russia, and would not be able to conduct long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities.