Brazil's Lula Criticizes US Dollar and IMF during China Visit

Brazilian President Lula da Silva speaks during the inauguration of Dilma Rousseff as the head of the New Development Bank in Shanghai, on April 13, 2023. Ricardo Stuckert, Reuters
Brazilian President Lula da Silva speaks during the inauguration of Dilma Rousseff as the head of the New Development Bank in Shanghai, on April 13, 2023. Ricardo Stuckert, Reuters
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Brazil's Lula Criticizes US Dollar and IMF during China Visit

Brazilian President Lula da Silva speaks during the inauguration of Dilma Rousseff as the head of the New Development Bank in Shanghai, on April 13, 2023. Ricardo Stuckert, Reuters
Brazilian President Lula da Silva speaks during the inauguration of Dilma Rousseff as the head of the New Development Bank in Shanghai, on April 13, 2023. Ricardo Stuckert, Reuters

The two countries have recently announced a deal to trade in their own currencies, dropping the dollar as an intermediary. Lula also criticized the IMF, accusing it of 'asphyxiating' the economy of certain countries.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized the outsize role of the US dollar in the world economy and lashed out at the IMF on Thursday during an official visit to China, AFP said.

The veteran leftist, whose government recently announced a deal with Beijing to trade in their own currencies – ditching the dollar as an intermediary – is in China to boost ties with his country's top trading partner and spread his message that "Brazil is back" as a key player on the global stage.

"Why should every country have to be tied to the dollar for trade?... Who decided the dollar would be the (world's) currency?" Lula said in Shanghai at a ceremony to inaugurate his political ally Dilma Rousseff as president of the development bank set up by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

"Why can't a bank like the BRICS bank have a currency to finance trade between Brazil and China, between Brazil and other BRICS countries?... Today, countries have to chase after dollars to export, when they could be exporting in their own currencies."

Lula also had strong words for the International Monetary Fund, alluding to accusations the IMF forces overly harsh spending cuts on cash-strapped countries like Brazil's neighbor Argentina in exchange for bailout loans.

"No bank should be asphyxiating countries' economies the way the IMF is doing now with Argentina, or the way they did with Brazil for a long time and every third-world country," he said. "No leader can work with a knife to their throat because (their country) owes money."

'Brazil is back!'
Lula, who took office in January, is looking to reposition Brazil as a global go-between and deal broker, seeking friendly ties across the board after four years of relative isolation under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

He is due to meet with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, and also visited US President Joe Biden in February.

"Brazil is back!" Lula promised in Shanghai, where he arrived on Wednesday night. "The time when Brazil was absent from major world decisions is in the past. We are back on the international stage, after an inexplicable absence."

One of the main topics on the agenda, when Lula and Xi meet on Friday, is expected to be the Ukraine war. Both China and Brazil have positioned themselves as mediators in the conflict, despite Western concerns that they are overly cozy with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both countries have refused to join Western nations in imposing sanctions on Russia for its invasion.

Trade ties
The Shanghai leg of Lula's trip highlighted another key goal of the visit –- deepening trade ties between the Asian giant and Latin America's biggest economy. China is Brazil's biggest export market, buying tens of billions of dollars' worth of soybeans, beef and iron ore.

Under the currency deal announced in March, Brazil and China have named two banks – one in each country – to conduct their massive trade and financial transactions by directly exchanging yuan for reais and vice versa, instead of going through the dollar. China has similar deals with Russia, Pakistan and several other countries.

After Rousseff's inauguration, Lula visited a research center run by Chinese telecom giant Huawei. Huawei's chair walked him through an exhibition showcasing the company's extensive presence in Brazil – a contrast with the United States, where companies are effectively barred from doing business with the firm.

Lula also met the head of China's biggest electric carmaker, BYD, which said in October that it planned to set up a vehicle manufacturing plant in northern Brazil's Bahia after Ford Motors closed its factory there. The company is already making electric buses and cars in Brazil for the Latin American market.

Lula, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, is seeking to smooth relations with China, after ties deteriorated under Bolsonaro.

The 77-year-old president was initially scheduled to make the trip in late March, but had to postpone it after coming down with pneumonia.

He is travelling with a large delegation of about 40 high-level officials, including cabinet ministers, governors and members of Congress.



Fuel to Air India Jet Engines Cut Off Moments Before Crash, Finds Probe

A firefighter stands next to the crashed Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. (Reuters)
A firefighter stands next to the crashed Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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Fuel to Air India Jet Engines Cut Off Moments Before Crash, Finds Probe

A firefighter stands next to the crashed Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. (Reuters)
A firefighter stands next to the crashed Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. (Reuters)

Fuel control switches to the engines of an Air India flight that crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 260 people, were moved from the "run" to the "cutoff" position moments before impact, a preliminary investigation report said early Saturday.

The report, issued by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, did not offer any conclusions or apportion blame for the June 12 disaster, but indicated that one pilot asked the other why he cut off fuel, and the second pilot responded that he had not.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was headed from Ahmedabad in western India to London when it crashed, killing all but one of the 242 people on board as well as 19 people on the ground.

In its 15-page report, the investigation bureau said that once the aircraft achieved its top recorded speed, "the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec".

"In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do so," it said.

The aircraft quickly began to lose altitude.

The switches then returned to the "RUN" position and the engines appeared to be gathering power, but "one of the pilots transmitted 'MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY'", the report said.

Air traffic controllers asked the pilots what was wrong, but then saw the plane crashing and called emergency personnel to the scene.

- Investigation ongoing -

Earlier this week, specialist website The Air Current, citing multiple sources familiar with the probe, reported it had "narrowed its focus to the movement of the engine fuel switches", while noting that full analysis will "take months -- if not longer".

It added that "the focus of the investigators could change during that time".

The Indian agency's report said that the US Federal Aviation Administration had issued an information bulletin in 2018 about "the potential disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature".

Though the concern was not considered an "unsafe condition" that would warrant a more serious directive, Air India told investigators it did not carry out suggested inspections as they were "advisory and not mandatory".

Air India was compliant with all airworthiness directives and alert service bulletins on the aircraft, the report said.

The investigations bureau said there were "no recommended actions to B787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers", suggesting no technical issues with the engines (GE) or the aircraft (Boeing).

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The bureau said the investigation was ongoing, and that additional evidence and information has been "sought from the stakeholders".

The UN's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) stipulates that states heading investigation must submit a preliminary report within 30 days of an accident.

US and British air accident investigators have taken part in the probe.

The plane was carrying 230 passengers -- 169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian -- along with 12 crew members.

Dozens of people on the ground were injured.

One passenger miraculously survived, a British citizen who was seen walking out of the wreckage of the crash, and who has since been discharged from hospital.

Health officials in the Indian state of Gujarat initially said at least 279 people were killed, but forensic scientists reduced the figure after multiple scattered and badly burnt remains were identified.