Brazil's government expressed outrage on Saturday after dozens of immigrants deported from the United States arrived by plane in handcuffs, calling it a "flagrant disregard" for their rights.

The foreign ministry said it would demand an explanation from Washington over the "degrading treatment of passengers on the flight".

The spat comes as Latin America grapples with US President Donald Trump's return to power bringing a hard-line anti-immigration agenda, promising crackdowns on irregular migration and mass deportations.

When the plane landed in the northern city of Manaus, Brazilian authorities ordered US officials to "immediately remove the handcuffs," the justice ministry said in a statement.

Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski told President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of "the flagrant disregard for the fundamental rights of Brazilian citizens," the statement said.

Brazil will request "explanations from the US government about the degrading treatment of passengers" on the Friday night flight, the foreign ministry said on X.

The government said 88 Brazilians were aboard the aircraft.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was barely 10 am on Thursday, October 31, but after serving coffee, the young dervish in a white tunic inevitably asked: "Would you also like a raki?" Tirana's Bektashis may claim to be Muslims, but they follow the very Balkan tradition of offering guests this traditional plum or grape brandy.

Ever since Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama made the surprise announcement in the New York Times on September 21, and at the UN the following day, that he intended to give sovereign state status to the world headquarters of this Sufi movement to make it "a center of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence," Albanians have been wondering whether their government leader, known for his love of making headlines, is really serious.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When is the Lunar New Year?

The Lunar New Year is based on a calendar that uses both the lunar and solar cycles to determine its dates.

This means the date for the Lunar New Year changes each Gregorian year, based on the cycle of the moon.

For 2025, January 29 will mark the beginning of Lunar New Year.

Celebrations will continue until February 12, when the full moon appears.

Celebrations around the Lunar calendar are not only held by the Chinese community and its diaspora.

Lunar New Year is celebrated in many Asian countries, including in Vietnam, the Koreas, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

While some traditions are shared, others are unique to each country's cultural identity.

For example, Korea celebrates Seollal and Vietnam observes Tết — both unique holidays tied to the Lunar New Year.

While customs, rituals and the length of celebrations may vary from culture to culture, one thread runs through all: it's a time to honour a fresh start.

What are the zodiac animals?

The zodiac is an imaginary belt around our solar system that contains twelve constellations.

It's often represented by a circular diagram and contains symbols of animals associated with each of the constellations.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Qatar announced early Monday that an agreement has been reached to release an Israeli civilian hostage and allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, easing the first major crisis of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The statement from Qatar, a mediator in ceasefire talks, said Hamas will hand over the civilian hostage, Arbel Yehoud, along with two other hostages before Friday. And on Monday, Israeli authorities will allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement said the hostage release — which will include soldier Agam Berger — will take place on Thursday, and confirmed that Palestinians can move north on Monday. Israel’s military said people can start crossing on foot at 7 a.m.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel on Saturday was to begin allowing Palestinians to return to northern Gaza. But Israel put that on hold because of Yehoud, who Israel said should have been released on Saturday. Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement.

The release of Yehoud and two others is in addition to the one already set for next Saturday, when three hostages should be released.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alphabet Inc’s Google, already facing an unprecedented regulatory onslaught, is looking to shape public perception and policies on artificial intelligence (AI) ahead of a global wave of AI regulation.

A key priority comes in building out educational programs to train the workforce on AI, an Alphabet executive said.

“Getting more people and organizations, including governments, familiar with AI and using AI tools, makes for better AI policy and opens up new opportunities — it’s a virtuous cycle,” Alphabet global affairs president Kent Walker said.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Donald Trump imposed tariffs and sanctions on Colombia hours after its leftist president refused to allow two military planes carrying deported migrants to land, punishing a US ally for stepping even partially out of line with his immigrants.

In a social media post Sunday, Trump said he ordered an emergency 25% tariff on all Colombian goods coming into the US, which will be raised to 50% in a week. Oil, gold, coffee and flowers top the list of exports, according to Colombia’s tax authorities.

Trump’s action upended decades of warm relations between the two countries and may be devastating to the Andean nation’s fragile economy. Relations between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro had been widely expected to be strained, though the deterioration was swifter and more damaging than almost anyone anticipated.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trump floated the idea of military intervention in Mexico in his first term, but his team now appears to be considering the idea more seriously.

"How much should we invade Mexico?" a transition team member told Rolling Stone in November 2024 for a report on Trump's musings about combating cartels in Mexico. "That is the question."

Trump's new national security advisor, Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret, has pushed the idea of using special operators. And Trump's "border czar," Tom Homan, has said that special operations forces could be used to take the cartels out, or "take them off the face of the Earth."

Direct action raids — hard-hitting missions US special operations is known for and which Trump appears inclined to pursue — on Mexican soil would bring disastrous consequences, especially if conducted without an invitation from Mexico, the operator and other experts BI spoke with warned. But other, less kinetic missions, like training foreign troops or improving foreign internal defense, could prove worthwhile, they said.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A US woman has become the world's longest-living recipient of a pig organ transplant, after living healthily with her new kidney for 61 days.

Towana Looney, 53, received the experimental organ in November after spending nearly eight years on the organ transplant list with little hope of finding a match.

She donated a kidney to her mother in 1999 but developed kidney failure several years later after a complication during pregnancy.

But now, she said she feels like "superwoman" after the successful transplant, laughing about outpacing family members on long walks around New York City.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four passengers and two crewmembers were hurt on Friday when a United Airlines flight from Lagos, Nigeria to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia made a sudden in-flight movement, according to United Airlines.

Video taken by passengers shows chaos on board, with trays, food and other objects strewn across the flight’s floor.

Flight 613 made an emergency landing back in Lagos where the six injured people on board were taken to a nearby hospital, the airline said. They have all since been released, United Airlines spokesperson Leslie Scott told CNN.

It is unclear what caused the in-flight jolt; United Airlines has said the cause was not severe turbulence, and that it is “working with aviation authorities in the US and Nigeria to understand the cause.”

Flight data accessed from FlightRadar24 shows Flight 613 descending abruptly from cruising altitude approximately 93 minutes after takeoff.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four female Israeli soldiers were reunited with their families on Saturday after being released under the terms of a ceasefire deal agreed with Hamas.

Israel later released 200 Palestinian prisoners in the second exchange of a fragile ceasefire.

Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag waved and smiled while flanked by Hamas militants before being escorted to ICRC vehicles, which transported them to Israeli forces.

Experts said the hostages likely acted under duress as they smiled, with Hamas attempting to show that it remained in control in Gaza.

Pictures later showed them being emotionally embraced by relatives in Israel.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.