Tom Phillips

Brazilian governor apologies after joking about deadly methanol poisoning crisis São Paulo’s teetotal governor, Tarcísio de Freitas, says of scandal that has killed three that he would only worry when ‘they start faking Coca-Cola’

“The remark went viral and unleashed a torrent of criticism, with many comparing it to Bolsonaro’s callous and incompetent response to Covid, which killed more than 700,000 Brazilians.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

🤦🏽‍♂️

Venezuela on edge over Trump regime change whispers: ‘If it does happen we are ready’ Allies of President Nicolás Maduro vow to resist any military intervention but experts suspect Venezuela’s leaders were rattled by Trump’s decision to bomb Iran

“Many observers suspect Trump’s counter-narcotics crusade is really a pretext to depose Maduro, either by sparking an internal rebellion against Hugo Chávez’s authoritarian heir or perhaps through direct military intervention within Venezuela itself” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

"I had a great talk with the president of Brazil. He's a good man ... Yeah, we'll start doing business" - Trump on Lula just now 👀

Brazil’s president asks US to scrap tariffs in ‘friendly’ call with Trump Presidents spoke on a video call as expert speculates that Haiti could be an area where the two leaders can cooperate

“We exchanged numbers”

‘Not even animals escape the extreme barbarity’: wildlife caught in Rio’s rampant gun crime From capuchin monkeys to mantled hawks - Instituto Vida Livre has treated a myriad of shot animals in a city blighted by gun crime

No Guardian: "Animais selvagens são apanhados no fogo cruzado do Rio. De macacos-prego a gaviões-pombos, o Instituto Vida Livre trata de uma miríade de animais abatidos numa cidade devastada pela criminalidade com armas de fogo" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

‘Not even animals escape the extreme barbarity’: wildlife caught in Rio’s rampant gun crime From capuchin monkeys to mantled hawks - Instituto Vida Livre has treated a myriad of shot animals in a city blighted by gun crime

"Not even animals escape the extreme barbarity we’ve been living through" 😥 www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

‘History will remember who showed up’: Keir Starmer faces call to attend Cop30 summit Response from leaders and key climate figures comes after PM’s aides advised non-attendance over concerns Reform may attack him

“A final decision has not yet been taken on the prime minister’s attendance at Cop30, which will begin with a leaders’ summit in Belém, on the mouth of the Amazon, led by Brazil’s president, Lula”

Renowned ‘sponge city’ architect Kongjian Yu dies in Brazil plane crash The 62-year-old Chinese landscape architect was killed with three others while filming in the Pantanal wetlands

'Yu used ancient Chinese water systems to reimagine modern architecture, building systems to help cities conserve and re-use rainwater. "It’s important to make friends with water,” he once said.' www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

👀👀

What a lovely man with a big heart. I miss our conversations about China, from which I always learned so much. RIP.

Trump on Lula: "He seemed like a very nice man, actually ... at least for about 39 seconds we had excellent chemistry - it's a good sign."

Brazilians protest in their thousands against granting Bolsonaro amnesty Huge crowds pack the streets to oppose endeavours to help ex-president escape jail

“Huge crowds packed the squares and beaches of some of Brazil’s biggest cities to voice their opposition to rightwing endeavors to help Bolsonaro escape jail for his failed power grab”

Thanks Paulo! Zero chance of 6ft2 Tom fitting in those beds I'm afraid!!

‘Insane journeys’: inside the narco-subs that cross oceans carrying hundreds of millions of pounds of cocaine Poorly paid crews risk their lives on voyages in ‘propeller-driven coffins’ to smuggle drugs from Brazil to Europe

Even on dry land, clambering into a transatlantic narco-sub is NOT a fun experience www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

The downfall of Jair Bolsonaro – podcast Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has been handed a 27-year sentence for an attempted coup – is there any way his political career can continue? Tom Phillips reports

Today’s podcast on the downfall of Jair (with the brilliant @helenpidd.bsky.social) www.theguardian.com/world/audio/...

Trump has fanned the flames of divisive politics around the world, says Sadiq Khan Exclusive: London mayor says US president has ‘perhaps done the most’ to encourage far right

Exclusive: Sadiq Khan has accused Donald Trump of doing more than anyone else to encourage the intolerant far right across the globe as the US president arrives in the UK.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

"ANALYSIS-Brazil's Bolsonaro is going to prison. Here is how he can get out..." explains @reuters.com Dig a tunnel? Climb a wall??

‘Diplomatic abuse’: Brazil minister on US revoking his 10-year-old daughter’s visa Alexandre Padilha’s father fled dictatorship for the US – now the health chief’s family is a target of Trump’s bully tactics

No Guardian: "Ministro brasileiro fala da revogação do visto de sua filha de 10 anos pelos EUA. O pai de Alexandre Padilha fugiu da ditadura para os EUA e agora, a família do ministro da Saúde é alvo das táticas de intimidação de Trump" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

‘Diplomatic abuse’: Brazil minister on US revoking his 10-year-old daughter’s visa Alexandre Padilha’s father fled dictatorship for the US – now the health chief’s family is a target of Trump’s bully tactics

“When Alexandre Padilha’s father most needed help during the dictatorship, the US took him in. So more than 5 decades later, it came as a nasty surprise when Padilha’s 10-year-old daughter became the youngest victim of Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Brazilian authorities.”

Brazil must read of the weekend, by @ceclynch.bsky.social

Britain will ‘never surrender flag’ to far-right protesters, Starmer says PM condemns attacks against police, racist intimidation of minorities and use of flag to instil fear

EXC - Keir Starmer condemns far right racism and violence at yesterday's march

Says there will be "no surrender" of British flag to those who promote hate

Our story here - www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Hermeto Pascoal: The whole world in his hands Pints of beer, a table, a pig – anything can be a musical instrument for the ever innovative Hermeto Pascoal. 'In my head there is always more stuff,' he tells Tom Phillips

Rest in Peace, Hermeto Pascoal, you genius. It was an absolute pleasure to meet you and your cuddly toys in Curitiba back in the day www.theguardian.com/music/2011/n...

Brazilian musician identified as victim of 1976 killing by Argentina military The bossa nova pianist Francisco Tenório Cerqueira Júnior went out for cigarettes after a concert in Buenos Aires – a forensic team has finally revealed his fate

“For nearly 50 years, his fate has remained a mystery, sparking desperate searches, raising suspicions of government complicity, and inspiring international documentaries. Now the mystery has been solved,” writes @harrietbarber.bsky.social

Operation World Cup: the murder plot at the heart of Brazil’s trial of the century Intricate plan to murder top judge, president- and vice-president elect was central to Jair Bolsonaro coup hopes

"This [plan] wasn’t printed out in a cave. It wasn’t printed out hidden away in a room of terrorists. It was printed out in the presidential palace." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

How dangerous is Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's new president? - podcast How did a far-right, pro-torture, dictatorship-praising populist become Brazil’s president-elect? The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, describes his run-in with Bolsonaro and the ...

"How dangerous is Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's new president?" we asked in the first ever episode of the @guardian podcast Today in Focus back in 2018. Now we know. www.theguardian.com/world/audio/...

Brazil’s supreme court finds Bolsonaro guilty of plotting military coup Former president faces decades-long jail sentence for seeking to forcibly cling to power after losing 2022 election

Guilty www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Brazil: first judge in Jair Bolsonaro coup plot trial votes to convict Four other supreme court justices to cast their votes in coming days, with verdict expected by Thursday or Friday

"Brazil nearly went back to being a dictatorship … because a criminal organization made up of a political group led by Jair Bolsonaro doesn’t understand that the alternation of power is a principle of republican democracy​" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Boris Johnson was paid £240,000 after Maduro meeting, invoice shows Johnson’s office sent invoice to hedge fund manager, which was paid, weeks after meeting Venezuelan leader last year

“Johnson later suggested he had been acting as a diplomatic backchannel, but weeks after attending the 45-minute meeting, the Guardian can reveal, Johnson received £240,000 from Petermann.”

Still haven't worked out a good translation for 'núcleo crucial'... ☹️