Brazil’s former right wing President Jair Bolsonaro was convicted in mid-Sept for plotting a coup against current center-left President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva. Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison by the Federal Supreme Court and barred from running for public office again until 2060.
(“After Bolsonaro,” Economist, Sept. 14, 2025; “A Series of Loses,” Economist, Oct. 2, 2025)
The Associated Press reports Russia and Vietnam developed a backdoor mechanism to elude U.S. and western sanctions targeting Russia. Profits from a joint Russia-Vietnam oil and gas enterprise in Siberia, are being used to pay off military contracts, avoiding open transfers of cash through the global banking system..
(“Russia, Vietnam Using Energy Profits to Avoid Possible US Sanctions Over Arms Deals,” Associated Press, Sept. 18, 2025)
In 2017 Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico with 155 mile per hour winds. The island’s rural mountainous regions were hardest hit, whose residents lost power and cellphone access. After houses in some communities were almost entirely wiped out, people were forced to build their own -make-shift shelters.
(“Puerto Ricans Are Devising a Food System of Tomorrow,” Grist, Sept. 3, 2025)
