by tyler | Mar 1, 2024 | americas, CNN
Here is a look at the life of Jair Bolsonaro, former president of Brazil.
Birth date: March 21, 1955
Birth place: Campinas, Brazil
Birth name: Jair Messias Bolsonaro
Father: Percy Geraldo Bolsonaro, dentist
Mother: Olinda Bonturi Bolsonaro
Marriage: Michelle Bolsonaro; Ana Cristina Valle (divorced); Rogéria Bolsonaro (divorced)
Children: with Michelle Bolsonaro: Laura; with Ana Cristina Valle: Jair Renan; with Rogéria Bolsonaro: Flavio, Carlos and Eduardo
Education: Agulhas Negras Military Academy, 1977
Military: Army, Captain
Religion: Roman Catholic
A conservative provocateur, Bolsonaro has a predilection for making inflammatory statements. His rhetorical targets include women and the LGBTQ community. In 2003, he told a congresswoman that she was not worthy of being raped. During a 2011 interview with Playboy magazine, Bolsonaro said he would be incapable of loving a gay son. He has expressed a sense of nostalgia for Brazil’s past as a military dictatorship.
Bolsonaro served seven terms as a congressman in the Chamber of Deputies. While in congress, his priorities included protecting the rights of citizens to own firearms, promoting Christian values and getting tough on crime. In 2017, he said, “A policeman who doesn’t kill isn’t a policeman.”
Bolsonaro changed his party affiliation numerous times, ultimately campaigning for president as a member of the Social Liberal Party.
When Bolsonaro took office in 2019, Brazil was suffering through a prolonged period of economic malaise and rising insecurity. His ascent was preceded by a corruption scandal that rocked political and financial institutions. During his inaugural address, Bolsonaro vowed to transform Brazil into a “strong and booming country.”
1986 – Bolsonaro writes an opinion column for the magazine Veja that criticizes the Brazilian Army’s pay system. He is subsequently disciplined for insubordination.
1989-1991 – Councilman for Rio de Janeiro.
1991-2018 – Congressman representing Rio de Janeiro in the Chamber of Deputies.
July 22, 2018 – Bolsonaro announces he is running for president.
August 15, 2018 – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former president of Brazil, announces he has submitted the necessary paperwork to register as the Workers’ Party candidate to run against Bolsonaro. Lula da Silva campaigns from prison, where he is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption.
September 1, 2018 – Brazil’s top electoral court bars Lula da Silva from running for reelection while incarcerated. Ultimately, a former mayor of São Paulo named Fernando Haddad steps in as the Workers’ Party candidate.
September 6, 2018 – Bolsonaro is stabbed in the stomach during a campaign rally. He spends more than three weeks in the hospital recovering.
October 7, 2018 – Voters cast ballots in the first round of elections. Although Bolsonaro wins more votes than Haddad, he doesn’t surpass the 50% threshold. A runoff is set for later in the month.
October 28, 2018 – Bolsonaro wins the runoff. The final tally shows Bolsonaro with 55.13% and Haddad with 44.87%.
January 1, 2019 – Bolsonaro is sworn into office. On the same day, he issues a series of executive orders. One order could potentially strip away many LGBTQ civil rights protections by eliminating LGBTQ issues from the list of matters handled by the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights. Another order gives the Agriculture Ministry the authority to designate indigenous lands, paving the way for agricultural development in areas that were previously off limits.
January 15, 2019 – Signs an executive order temporarily eliminating a regulation that limits firearms purchases only to individuals who provide a justification for owning a gun. The regulation gave police discretion to approve or deny gun sales.
January 28, 2019 – Officials say Bolsonaro has undergone successful surgery to remove a colostomy bag he was fitted with after being stabbed four months ago.
February 28, 2019 – Bolsonaro meets with Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaidó in Brasilia. During a joint news conference, Bolsonaro pledges Brazil’s support to help ensure “democracy is re-established in Venezuela.”
May 3, 2019 – A spokesman for Bolsonaro announces that the president has canceled a trip to New York, where he was set to be honored with a Person of the Year award from the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. The trip was scrapped amid political backlash. The event’s original host venue, the American Museum of Natural History canceled and some corporate sponsors dropped out. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had called Bolsonaro “a dangerous man.”
May 7, 2019 – Bolsonaro signs an executive order relaxing gun control restrictions. The executive order makes it easier for guns to be imported and boosts the amount of ammunition an individual can purchase annually.
July 11, 2019 – During a news conference, Bolsonaro says that he wants his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, to serve as ambassador to the United States. He says that Eduardo is friendly with the children of US President Donald Trump.
August 23, 2019 – Bolsonaro announces a plan to send army troops to fight wildfires sweeping through the Amazon rainforest.
August 26, 2019 – At the G7 summit in France, French President Emmanuel Macron announces a $20 million emergency fund to help Brazil with the fires. Bolsonaro responds that he cannot accept Macron’s “intentions behind the idea of an ‘alliance’ of the G7 countries to ‘save’ the Amazon, as if we were a colony or no man’s land.” The dispute devolves after a Facebook user posts a meme ridiculing the appearance of Macron’s wife on Bolsonaro’s page and the president jokes, “Don’t humiliate the guy…haha.”
September 8, 2019 – Bolsonaro undergoes a hernia operation to treat complications from prior surgeries conducted as he recovered from a stab wound.
December 24, 2019 – Tells the Band TV network that he was hospitalized overnight after falling in the presidential palace December 23. He says he had brief memory loss, but that he has recovered.
April 19, 2020 – Bolsonaro joins a rally in the country’s capital, where protesters called for an end to coronavirus quarantine measures and some urged military intervention to shut down Congress and the Supreme Court. He later defends his participation, saying that he was not calling for military action against the country’s other branches of government.
June 23, 2020 – Bolsonaro is ordered by a federal judge in Brasilia to wear a face mask in public or face a fine. The decision extends to all government employees in the Federal District, where the capital Brasilia is located.
July 7, 2020 – Bolsonaro announces he has tested positive for Covid-19, following months of downplaying the virus.
March 16, 2021 – A Brazilian court orders Bolsonaro to pay damages to a journalist after he made remarks that questioned her credibility.
April 27, 2021 – Brazil’s Senate launches an inquiry into the federal government’s response to Covid-19.
July 14, 2021 – Bolsonaro is admitted to the hospital to investigate the cause of persistent hiccups that are leading to abdominal pains, according to Brazil’s Special Secretariat for Social Communication.
December 3, 2021 – Brazil’s Supreme Court orders an investigation into Bolsonaro’s false claim that people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 may have a higher risk of contracting AIDS. The inquiry is launched in response to a request by the country’s parliamentary commission which has been investigating Bolsonaro’s government’s response to the pandemic.
January 3, 2022 – Bolsonaro is admitted to a hospital with a blockage in his intestine.
June 29, 2022 – A Brazilian court rules that Bolsonaro must pay “moral damages” of 35,000 reais (approximately $6,700) to a Brazilian journalist after making remarks with sexual innuendo about her in 2020.
October 2, 2022 – In the presidential election, Bolsonaro finishes with 43.2% versus Lula da Silva’s 48.4%. Either candidate needed to surpass 50% to be elected in the first round of voting, so the two will face each other in a runoff on October 30.
October 30, 2022 – Bolsonaro loses his bid for a second term, after receiving 49.1% of the vote against Lula da Silva, who wins with 50.9%.
November 22, 2022 – Bolsonaro files a petition with Brazil election authorities formally contesting the results of the presidential vote, alleging that some voting machines had malfunctioned and any votes cast through them should be annulled. The petition is rejected the following day.
January 10, 2023 – Is discharged from a Florida hospital and arrives at a residence in Orlando. Bolsonaro said he was receiving treatment for complications related to his 2018 stabbing. Bolsonaro’s hospitalization came after hundreds of his supporters stormed the capital Brasilia on January 8, trashing government offices and drawing strong condemnation from the international community.
January 13, 2023 – Brazil’s Supreme Court says it has accepted the public prosecutor’s request to investigate Bolsonaro’s alleged involvement in the January 8 attacks on government buildings in Brasilia.
June 30, 2023 – Brazil’s highest electoral court bars Bolsonaro from running for political office until 2030, after finding him guilty of abusing his power and misusing public media during the 2022 election campaign. Speaking to Brazilian radio station Itatiaia, Bolsonaro says he plans to appeal the court’s decision.
August 17, 2023 – Brazilian hacker Walter Delgatti Neto tells Brazil’s Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) that during an August 2022 meeting, Bolsonaro asked him if he could hack into voting machines and offered to pardon the hacker if he suffered any legal consequences.
February 8, 2024 – In a statement, Brazilian Federal Police announce that four people were arrested and 33 search warrants were executed as part of a probe into an alleged attempted coup to keep Bolsonaro in power as president. Fabio Wajngarten, a lawyer representing Bolsonaro, confirms that Bolsonaro is among their number under investigation.
February 25, 2024 – Bolsonaro leads a protest rally of his supporters in São Paulo as he denies allegations that he took part in a coup plot in an attempt to stay in power after losing the 2022 presidential election.
by tyler | Mar 1, 2024 | CNN, cnn10
February 29, 2024
Note for Teachers: In an earlier version of this episode, one of our segments incorrectly said Leap Years only occur in centuries that are evenly divided by 400. However, Leap Years occur in all years divisible by four, except for century years, which must be divisible by 400 to be leap years.
Today on CNN 10, we cover the Smokehouse Creek Fire raging through the Texas Panhandle, one of the largest fires in the state’s history. Then we travel to North Korea, where a group of Russian tourists became the first foreigners to visit the “hermit kingdom” in years. And, we get to know one history-making gymnast at Fisk University, an HBCU in Tennessee that is working to make the sport more inclusive. All that and more on this episode of CNN 10.
Click here to access the printable version of today’s CNN 10 transcript.
CNN 10 serves a growing audience interested in compact on-demand news broadcasts ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show’s priority is to identify stories of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re making news, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society.
Thank you for using CNN 10
by tyler | Mar 1, 2024 | CNN, cnn10
March 1, 2024
Note for Teachers: In yesterday’s episode, one of our segments incorrectly said Leap Years only occur in centuries that are evenly divided by 400. However, Leap Years occur in all years divisible by four, except for century years, which must be divisible by 400 to be leap years.
Today on CNN 10 we cover elections both domestic and abroad, focusing on US democratic primaries in Michigan and parliamentary elections in Iran. Then, we bring you the latest updates on the Smokehouse Creek wildfire in Texas, a historic blaze that’s already scorched more than 1 million acres of land. Finally, see the small hole a furry neighbor just bear-ly squeezed through as it hibernated underneath a North Carolina resident’s home. All that and more on this episode of CNN 10.
WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
1. Odysseus is the first US made spacecraft to land on the moon in how many years?
2. Who was the first Black woman to become a judge in the US?
3. This past weekend marked two years since Russia escalated its war into a full-scale invasion of what country?
4. We highlighted this story where scientists confirmed the discovery of a new species in what country?
5. “Inside Safe” is a new program that’s aiming to help provide shelter for people experiencing homelessness in which city?
6. In a southwest England town, thousands were evacuated after the discovery of what?
7. What’s the name of the fire this week that torched more than one million acres of land?
8. It is believed to be the first time since the pandemic that tourists have returned to North Korea. Which country were these tourists from?
9. This school in Nashville, Tennessee, became the first HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) to have a gymnastics program?
10. Which state had primaries this week that raised concerns to President Biden as some progressives and Arab American Democrats issued an “uncommitted” protest vote?
Click here to access the printable version of today’s CNN 10 transcript
CNN 10 serves a growing audience interested in compact on-demand news broadcasts ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show’s priority is to identify stories of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re making news, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society.
Thank you for using CNN 10
by tyler | Feb 28, 2024 | CNN, cnn10
February 23, 2024
Today on CNN 10, we talk about the unfolding humanitarian crisis in war-torn Sudan. Our International Climate Editor reviews the European Union’s ambitious plan to cut 90 percent of its carbon pollution by 2040. Then, we take you to an ice training class for kids in Sweden. All that and more on this episode of CNN 10.
WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
1. This person was a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin before he died in a Siberian prison north of the Arctic Circle.
2. What’s the name of the new artificial intelligence model that OpenAI claims can create “realistic” 60-second videos from text prompts?
3. Who was the first African-American woman to become a pilot?
4. In a proposed United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Gaza, the US called for what in Israel’s war against Hamas?
5. About how many pieces of debris or “space junk” is orbiting the planet?
6. At a North Carolina aquarium, there’s an investigation over the surprising pregnancy over which sea creature?
7. US Customs and Border Protection are using what type of technology to help detect drugs being smuggled into the US?
8. We highlighted how a young migrant girl from Colombia found a home in New York City. She also excelled nationally in which game?
9. Which country in Africa has been through a devastating war that’s caused millions of people to be displaced?
10. The European Commission recently announced one of the world’s most ambitious goals to tackle what?
Click here to access the printable version of today’s CNN 10 transcript
CNN 10 serves a growing audience interested in compact on-demand news broadcasts ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show’s priority is to identify stories of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re making news, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society.
Thank you for using CNN 10
by tyler | Feb 28, 2024 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at the life of Robert Levinson, who went missing in Iran in 2007.
Birth date: March 10, 1948
Birth place: Flushing, New York
Birth name: Robert Alan Levinson
Father: Name unavailable publicly
Mother: Name unavailable publicly
Marriage: Christine (Gorman) Levinson
Children: Douglas, Samantha, David, Daniel, Sarah, Stephanie and Susan
Education: City College of New York, B.A., 1970
During his career at the FBI, Levinson specialized in investigating organized crime in Russia.
His family said Levinson suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure.
1970s – Levinson is hired by the FBI after six years with the Drug Enforcement Agency.
1998 – Levinson retires from the FBI.
1998-2007 – Levinson works as a private investigator.
2006 – Levinson is hired as a contractor by Tim Sampson, head of the Illicit Finance Group within the Office of Transnational Issues at the CIA, to write reports for the agency. The contract is for approximately $85,000. Three CIA employees, including Sampson, later lose their jobs for overstepping their authority as analysts and withholding information about Levinson after he disappeared.
March 8-9, 2007 – According to State Department officials, Levinson travels to Kish Island in Iran and checks into a hotel. Reportedly, Levinson is in the Middle East to investigate cigarette smuggling on behalf of a client. During the visit, he meets with American fugitive Dawud Salahuddin, who is the last person to acknowledge seeing him on March 9.
June 1, 2007 – US President George W. Bush says he is “disturbed” by Iran’s refusal to provide any information on Levinson. “I call on Iran’s leaders to tell us what they know about his whereabouts.”
December 2007 – Levinson’s wife, Christine Levinson, meets with government officials in Iran, but does not learn anything about her husband’s disappearance.
2008 – The CIA pays the Levinson family more than $2 million to head off a lawsuit, according to family attorney David McGee.
March 3, 2011 – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that evidence is growing that Levinson is alive and being held somewhere in southwest Asia.
December 2011 – The Levinson family publicly releases a “proof of life” video they received in November 2010. In the video, Levinson says, “I have been treated well, but I need the help of the United States government to answer the requests of the group that has held me for three-and-a-half years. And please help me get home. Thirty-three years of service to the United States deserves something. Please help me.”
March 6, 2012 – The FBI offers a $1 million reward for information leading to his safe return.
September 2012 – Christine Levinson attempts to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the UN General Assembly in New York. He does not meet with her but tells CNN, “They told me (Levinson) was in Iran, and of course the question came up in my mind, what was an American intelligence officer doing in Iran…an individual is lost, how are we supposed to find him among 7 billion people spread across the globe? What we can do is assist, help and cooperate, which we have been doing, and we are doing… as a humanitarian gesture and action.”
January 2013 – The Levinson family releases a series of photographs they received in April 2011. In the photos, a bearded, shackled Levinson, wearing an orange jumpsuit, holds signs written in broken English.
September 27, 2013 – US President Barack Obama speaks by phone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. One of the topics discussed is Levinson.
December 12, 2013 – The Associated Press and The Washington Post report that Levinson was working for the CIA when he disappeared in 2007, possibly investigating corruption among Iranian officials. The AP says it first learned of Levinson’s CIA ties in 2010 but delayed publishing the information at the government’s request. The next day the New York Times reports it has known of Levinson’s CIA work since 2007 but also delayed publishing the information to avoid jeopardizing his safety.
December 13, 2013 – White House Spokesman Jay Carney says Levinson “was not a US government employee when he went missing in Iran.”
December 2013 – Salahuddin, the last person to acknowledge seeing Levinson, tells the Christian Science Monitor that both he and Levinson were detained by Iranian police on March 9, 2007.
January 21, 2014 – In an interview with CNN, Levinson’s family discloses that they have known for some time that he was working for the CIA. They accuse the US government of failing to do enough to find Levinson.
March 9, 2015 – The FBI increases the reward for information on Levinson to $5 million.
February 11, 2016 – The Senate passes a resolution recognizing that Levinson is the longest held US civilian in US history and urges Iran to “act on its promises to assist in the case of Robert Levinson.”
March 21, 2017 – Levinson’s family files a lawsuit against Iran with the US District Court in Washington, DC. The complaint states that the family is filing suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act “for injuries suffered by each of them as a result of Iran’s unlawful acts of hostage taking, torture and other torts.”
November 4, 2019 – The Department of State Rewards for Justice Program announces a reward of up to $20 million for information leading to the safe return of Levinson, in addition to the FBI’s previously announced reward of $5 million.
March 9, 2020 – On the 13th anniversary of Levinson’s abduction, the FBI renews its “repeated calls to Iran to uphold its prior commitments to cooperate and to share information which could lead to Bob’s return.”
March 25, 2020 – The family of Levinson announces that they believe he is dead. “We recently received information from U.S. officials that has led both them and us to conclude that our wonderful husband and father died while in Iranian custody,” they said in a statement.
October 1, 2020 – A US court orders the government of Iran to pay more than $1.4 billion to Levinson’s family for compensatory and punitive damages.
December 14, 2020 – Senior US government officials say they have identified and sanctioned two senior Iranian intelligence officials who were involved in the abduction and “probable death” of Levinson.
by tyler | Feb 28, 2024 | CNN, us
Here is a look at the life of Liza Minnelli, award winning singer and actress.
Birth date: March 12, 1946
Birth place: Los Angeles, California
Birth name: Liza May Minnelli
Father: Vincente Minnelli, director
Mother: Judy Garland, actress and singer
Marriages: David Gest (March 16, 2002-April 2007, divorced); Mark Gero (December 4, 1979-January 27, 1992, divorced); Jack Haley Jr. (September 15, 1974-April 9, 1979, divorced); Peter Allen (March 3, 1967-July 24, 1974, divorced)
Nominated for four Emmy Awards and won once.
Nominated for two Academy Awards and won once.
Nominated for three Tony Awards and won two. Also received a Special Tony Award in 1974.
Has struggled with addictions to alcohol and painkillers.
Has suffered numerous health problems, including hip replacement surgery, throat surgery and encephalitis.
1949 – Makes her first film appearance, uncredited, “In the Good Old Summertime,” playing Judy Garland’s daughter.
1960s – Begins her cabaret career playing in nightclubs across the United States.
1963 – Appears Off-Broadway in the musical, “Best Foot Forward.”
1964 – Appears onstage with her mother at the London Palladium.
May 11, 1965 – Broadway debut in the musical, “Flora the Red Menace.”
1965 – Wins Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for “Flora the Red Menace” and is the youngest actress ever to receive a Tony at the time.
1968 – Makes her first film appearance as an adult in “Charlie Bubbles.”
1972 – Has a variety special on NBC called “Liza with a Z: A Concert for Television.”
1973 – Wins Best Actress Academy Award for “Cabaret.”
1973 – Wins Emmy Outstanding Single Program-Variety and Popular Music for “Liza with a Z.”
January 6-26, 1974 – Her one-woman show, “Liza,” runs on Broadway.
1974 – Receives a special Tony Award for “adding luster to the Broadway season.”
1978 – Wins Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for “The Act.”
1990 – Receives the Grammy Legend Award, a special merit award given out annually to members of the recording field for ongoing contributions and influence.
October 23, 2000 – Is stricken with viral encephalitis.
September 21, 2001 – During the first major sporting event in New York since the 9/11 attacks, Minnelli sings “New York, New York” during the 7th inning stretch at Shea Stadium.
October 2003 – David Gest sues wife Minnelli for $10 million claiming lingering emotional and physical damage due to beatings he suffered at her hands. The case is dismissed September 2006.
2004 – Minnelli is sued by her former bodyguard, M’Hammed Soumayah, for assault and battery, breach of contract and sexual harassment. She countersues claiming he violated the confidentiality terms of his employment. The case is settled out of court in November 2009 and all settlement terms are confidential.
January 2007 – Ending months of acrimonious charges from both sides, Minnelli and Gest work out their differences and agree to divorce without fault on either side.
December 13, 2007 – Collapses during a Christmas concert in Sweden and is flown back to the United States.
July 11, 2011 – Receives the Legion of Honor award from France.
March 2015 – Her spokesperson Scott Gorenstein announces that Minnelli has entered a treatment facility for her addictions. She is there through part of April, according to her publicist.
March 27, 2022 – Minnelli and Lady Gaga appear on stage together to present the Oscar for best picture.
