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Brazil’s Lula Welcomes Citizens Rescued from Gaza, Condemns ‘Inhumane Violence’ 

Brazilian citizens, who were repatriated from the Gaza Strip, are greeted by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva upon arrival at the Air Force base of Brasilia, Brazil November 13, 2023. (Reuters)
Brazilian citizens, who were repatriated from the Gaza Strip, are greeted by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva upon arrival at the Air Force base of Brasilia, Brazil November 13, 2023. (Reuters)
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Brazil’s Lula Welcomes Citizens Rescued from Gaza, Condemns ‘Inhumane Violence’ 

Brazilian citizens, who were repatriated from the Gaza Strip, are greeted by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva upon arrival at the Air Force base of Brasilia, Brazil November 13, 2023. (Reuters)
Brazilian citizens, who were repatriated from the Gaza Strip, are greeted by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva upon arrival at the Air Force base of Brasilia, Brazil November 13, 2023. (Reuters)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday welcomed 32 nationals that his government managed to rescue from the Gaza Strip this week following a month of negotiations, receiving them at the Brasilia Air Base after a nearly day-long flight.

The Brazilians crossed the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday and were taken to Cairo, where this morning they boarded an Embraer presidential airplane loaned by Lula and traveled to Brazil via Las Palmas, Spain.

Lula greeted passengers with hugs and kisses after their arrival late on Monday evening, offering his support to Brazilians still in or arriving from the Gaza Strip and condemning the killing of civilians in Gaza.

"I have never seen such brutal, inhumane violence against innocent people," Lula said in a short speech on the tarmac.

The flight was the tenth in an operation launched by the South American country last month to repatriate citizens in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip after a war broke out in the region last month.

Monday's flight brings the total of those rescued to 1,477 people, including three Bolivians, 11 Palestinians and one Jordanian citizen, as well as 53 pets.

The Gaza Strip has been under bombardment by Israel, which aims to annihilate Hamas, the militant group which runs the Gaza Strip and which attacked Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people.

Gaza medical authorities say more than 11,000 people there have been confirmed killed, with about 40% of them being children.

Lula echoed earlier criticisms of both Hamas for its attack against Israel and Israel for its reaction.

"If Hamas committed an act of terrorism and did what it did, the state of Israel is also committing several acts of terrorism by not taking into account that children are not at war, that women are not at war," he said.

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World

Mexican Army Kills Leader of Jalisco New Generation Cartel

A vehicle sits charred after being set on fire, on a road in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
A vehicle sits charred after being set on fire, on a road in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
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Mexican Army Kills Leader of Jalisco New Generation Cartel

A vehicle sits charred after being set on fire, on a road in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
A vehicle sits charred after being set on fire, on a road in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)

The Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” in an operation Sunday, a federal official said.

The official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said it happened during a military operation in the western state of Jalisco.

It followed several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states, The Associated Press reported. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations.

Videos circulating social media showed plumes of smoke billowing over the city of Puerto Vallarta, a major city in Jalisco, and sprinting through the airport of the state's capital in panic.

The US State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is one of the most powerful and fasted growing criminal organizations in Mexico.

In February, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.

It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military—including helicopters—and a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital’s police force and now head of federal security.

The DEA considers this cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico's most infamous criminal groups, with a presence in all 50 US states where it distributes tons of drugs. It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the US market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines.

World

Secret Service Kills Armed Man Trying to Access Trump Florida Estate

A Palm Beach County Sheriff Office vehicle patrols a road block near the Mar-a-Lago club in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, 22 February 2026. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
A Palm Beach County Sheriff Office vehicle patrols a road block near the Mar-a-Lago club in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, 22 February 2026. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
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Secret Service Kills Armed Man Trying to Access Trump Florida Estate

A Palm Beach County Sheriff Office vehicle patrols a road block near the Mar-a-Lago club in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, 22 February 2026. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
A Palm Beach County Sheriff Office vehicle patrols a road block near the Mar-a-Lago club in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, 22 February 2026. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH

US Secret Service agents fatally shot a man armed with a shotgun who breached the security perimeter of President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Although the president often spends weekends at his resort, he and first lady Melania Trump were at the White House when the breach occurred.

Officials said the incident happened around 1:30 am (0630 GMT).

The suspect was spotted by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property, carrying a shotgun and a fuel can, the Secret Service said.

Agents confronted the man and told him to disarm but he raised his gun.

He was identified as Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of North Carolina.

"The only words that we said to him was 'drop the items,'" Palm Beach County sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters.

"At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position," Bradshaw said.

A deputy and two Secret Service agents then shot him. The man was pronounced deceased and no US officers were injured.

The Secret Service said no one under its protection was present in Mar-a-Lago at the time.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed Democrats for an ongoing partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Secret Service.

"It's shameful and reckless that Democrats have chosen to shut down their Department," she wrote on X.

Democrats oppose any new funding for DHS until major changes are implemented in the way the Trump administration conducts its massive and sometimes violent deportation campaign.

Trump has been the target of several assassination plots or attempts.

Earlier this month, Ryan Routh, 59, who plotted to assassinate the president at a Florida golf course in September 2024, two months before the last US election, was sentenced to life in prison.

Routh's planned attack on Trump came two months after an assassination attempt on the Republican leader in Pennsylvania, where 20-year-old Matthew Crooks fired several shots during a rally, one of them grazing Trump's right ear.

That attack, in which a rallygoer was killed, proved to be a turning point in Trump's return to power. It yielded a now famous photo of a bloodied Trump raising his fist to the crowd and urging his followers to "fight, fight."

Crooks was immediately shot and killed by security forces and his motive remains unknown.

World

Iran Reportedly Agreed Secret Shoulder-fired Missile Deal with Russia

A Russian soldier holds a "Verba" launch unit. Photo: A grab from a Russian army video
A Russian soldier holds a "Verba" launch unit. Photo: A grab from a Russian army video
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Iran Reportedly Agreed Secret Shoulder-fired Missile Deal with Russia

A Russian soldier holds a "Verba" launch unit. Photo: A grab from a Russian army video
A Russian soldier holds a "Verba" launch unit. Photo: A grab from a Russian army video

Iran agreed a secret 500 million euro ($589 million) arms deal with Russia to acquire thousands of advanced shoulder-fired missiles, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The agreement, signed in Moscow in December, commits Russia to deliver 500 man-portable "Verba" launch units and 2,500 "9M336" missiles over three years, the FT said, citing leaked Russian documents seen by the FT and several people familiar with the deal.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Under the ⁠deal the deliveries ⁠are scheduled in three tranches, running from 2027 through 2029, the FT said.

The deal was negotiated between Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport and the Moscow representative of Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), the FT said.

Tehran ⁠formally requested the systems last July, according to a contract seen by the FT. In June last year, US forces struck Iran's three main nuclear sites as the country joined Israel's military campaign against Iran.

President Donald Trump said Iran's key nuclear facilities were destroyed in the attack. However, according to a preliminary US intelligence assessment at the time, the US airstrikes did not destroy Iran's ⁠nuclear ⁠capability and only set it back by a few months.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said Tehran had recovered from the damage incurred during the war and that its capabilities are better than ever.