Brazil's Lula approval rating edges down to 28%, pollster Datafolha says
SAO PAULO, June 12 (Reuters) - Approval of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government ticked down to 28% from 29% in April, pollster Datafolha said on Thursday.
The government's disapproval rate increased to 40% from 38% in the same period.
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Reuters
6 hours ago
- Reuters
The future of Iran
Follow on Apple or Spotify. Listen on the Reuters app. For decades, Iran was able to project power across the Middle East using its network of proxies. That meant any strikes against it could threaten to trigger a formidable response. But Israel's recent attacks have exposed just how vulnerable Tehran is. In this special episode of Reuters World News, we look at how Iran went from monarchy to Islamic Republic - and what its future could look like. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit to opt out of targeted advertising. Further Reading Iran's divided opposition senses its moment but activists remain wary of protests, opens new tab Iran strikes Israeli hospital; Trump to decide on US role in conflict within 'two weeks', opens new tab Israeli scientists scramble to save work after Iranian missile hits labs, opens new tab
The National
a day ago
- The National
Owen Jones: How does opposing Israeli violence make me an extremist?
I'm not referring here to our inability to 'learn the lessons', as the stock phrase goes, of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and indeed Gaza. Even such phraseology suggests these are policy mistakes, or unfortunate messes, rather than grave crimes. No, what we need to learn is that the real dangerous extremists in society are those who incite mass violence with catastrophic human consequences, and stop letting them get away with it. Iraq really should have finished off the warmongers, and yet here we are, having to listen to diatribes in support of bombing Iran where the so-called 'case' for dropping bombs on fellow human beings is even weaker. Indeed, the US administration this time is even more extreme and clearly deceitful. Nobody thinks Iran has nuclear weapons. Benjamin Netanyahu has been publicly claiming that the country will imminently develop them for the last three decades. Donald Trump's own Director of National Intelligence declared that the US intelligence perspective was that 'Iran is not building a nuclear weapon' just three months ago. Smoke rises after an attack on Iran (Image: Majid Asgaripour, via REUTERS) In a rational world, anyone advocating for British involvement in bombing Iran would be dismissed as a dangerous lunatic. Our media outlets would note that Iraq was plunged into a sectarian bloodbath and a playground for al-Qaeda, before that was supplanted by the even more extreme Daesh. We would recall the hideous war crimes committed by the US there, not least in Fallujah. We would be forced to recall how the triumphalism about Afghanistan gave way to a bloodbath, before the Taliban once again regained power in a stronger position than ever. We would be forced to listen to the hubris that accompanied intervention in Libya, which became regime change in total defiance of the original mandate, and led to the country becoming a violent failed state. Our media outlets would note that the Israeli prime minister is a wanted man evading justice, subject to an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity issued by the International Criminal Court, an institution our country is a founding member of. They would note the consensus among genocide scholars – including those in Israel itself – that genocide has been committed in Gaza. The heinous crimes in the illegally occupied and colonised West Bank would be noted, as well as the mass slaughter of civilians in Lebanon. That Israel is invading, occupying and attacking Syria as a matter of course would be noted, alongside statements by Israeli ministers openly calling for the establishment of a "Greater Israel" illegally annexing land which does not belong to it. Pressure from the British media – in this context – would go on like this: 'Will the Prime Minister rule out intervening in Iran given the catastrophes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, the first two causing the needless deaths of hundreds of British service personnel, the wider chaos and destruction aside?' our journalists would demand. 'Will Britain rule out allying with Israel in a war of aggression ruled illegal by experts, given its prime minister is subject to an arrest warrant for war crimes?' they would ask. 'Is the Prime Minister not concerned about Israel's possession of nuclear weapons, given its illegal occupation of land that doesn't belong to it, its openly expansionist commitments, and given it is so credibly accused of grave war crimes and indeed genocide?' But there is no such pressure, at all. Instead, British media outlets simply bang the drum for war, giving credibility to claims Iran will imminently acquire nuclear weapons and that it poses a unique threat. They present Israel as the victim, even though the country launched an unprovoked war of aggression. Those who oppose this insanity are – as before – portrayed as dupes of a foreign tyranny. The real pressure on Starmer is over whether he will join forces with the US to drop bombs on Iran. READ MORE: SNP councillor forces Labour to take action against Israeli arms sales What we've failed to do is to destroy the careers and reputations of genuinely dangerous extremists who have power and influence. If you agitate on behalf of a proscribed organisation such as Hamas, you face being jailed on the grounds you are inciting support for its demonstrable violence. Yet if you use your platform to incite support for what is, in practise, infinitely more lethal violence, you are treated as respectable and indeed mainstream. It is those who oppose Western violence – despite the incontrovertible evidence of bloody disaster – who are instead smeared as dangerous extremists. When are we going to finally have a reckoning which deals with these people? They should become public pariahs, shamed forever for having helped create catastrophes which left millions dead, maimed, displaced, traumatised. READ MORE: JK Rowling called The National 'anti-woman' – here's my response Right now, the British Government is moving to proscribe Palestine Action, essentially making them a terrorist organisation, because they spraypainted planes at an RAF Airbase in protest at British complicity in genocide. This is an example of the world turned on its head: That those who are doing all they can to stop UK involvement with objectively obscene violations of international law are officially treated as the real criminals. Well, history will be a savage judge. We have failed, in the here and now, to crush the extremists responsible for death and destruction on an unimaginable scale. If we want to prevent a future of violent barbarism, that failure has to end.
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
Where is the Ayatollah? Madcap ‘Supreme Leader' holed up in lair – but still an ‘easy target' for Trump's bunker busters
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IRAN'S supreme leader has scurried away to an underground bunker in a Tehran suburb amid threats to his life, according to reports. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is believed to be cowering away in the secret lair as Israeli missile attacks rain down nearby. 9 Smoke rises following what Iran says was an Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot in Tehran Credit: Reuters 9 Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks to a group of people and officials Credit: AP 9 A fire blazes in the oil depots of Shahran, northwest of Tehran Credit: AFP 9 B-2 Spirit drops a GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb Credit: USAF 9 Two informed sources inside the country told Iran International the country's ageing dictator is holed up in the bunker in Lavizan, a neighbourhood in Tehran. It is among the areas in Iran to have been rocked by explosions over the past few days. Khamenei's family are also with him, the sources added, including his son Mojtaba - who is seen as a potential heir to the supreme leader. The Ayatollah also reportedly sought refuge in this bunker during Iranian strikes in April 2024 and October 2024. It comes as the conflict between Israel and Iran continues to escalate - and Donald Trump weighs up whether to get directly involved. Both countries having fired missile barrages at each other over the past week. Israel claims its attacks against Iran are necessary to stop it crafting a nuclear bomb - which Israeli officials claim is an imminent risk. However, this view is disputed by some in the US intelligence world, and Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful. Donald Trump withdrew from a nuclear deal with Iran and several other countries during his first term in 2018. A diplomatic source told Iran International that Israel could have taken out Khamenei on the first night of its operations. Iran's murderous hospital blitz foiled by Israel at last minute, president reveals But Israel reportedly chose to give him a final chance to abandon Tehran's uranium enrichment programme. Trump will decide whether the US will get directly involved in a war with Iran within the next two weeks, the White House has said. In a Truth Social Post, Trump said: "We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. "He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. "But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin." The US is currently the only country to wield 30,000lb "bunker buster" bombs that could take out underground targets beyond the reach of conventional munitions. 9 Trump pictured in the Oval Office Credit: The Mega Agency 9 These Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs can burrow deep inside the ground before blowing up. Trump claims he vetoed an Israeli proposal to assassinate Khamenei, according to US officials. But one senior Israeli official has put out a strongly worded threat to the Iranian supreme leader. Defence minister Israel Katz said: "Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed – he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals. "He considers the destruction of the state of Israel to be a goal. Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist." Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is ready to "remove" the nuclear threat from Iran. Israel is itself widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, although the country maintains ambiguity over this. However, other top Israeli figures have taken a more cautious tone on regime change. President Isaac Herzog told Axel Springer Global Reporters: "We don't have a goal on Khamenei, nor do we have a goal on regime change. "But it could be historically a clear side effect of major historical consequences that will do good to the Iranian people." Russia, a close international partner of the Iranian regime, has said it would react "very negatively" if Khamenei is killed. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Sky News that the supreme leader's assassination would "open the Pandora's box". 9 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a televised message Credit: Reuters
