18/08/2025

MONDAY | AUG 18, 2025

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Air Canada to resume flights

Lula razzes Trump over tariff-hit grapes BRASILIA: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that he hopes Donald Trump can come and get to know the real Brazil, as the South American powerhouse reels from Washington’s 50% tariffs. In a video taken while he planted grapes, one of the tariff-hit goods, Brazil’s leftist leader addressed Trump. “I hope you can visit someday so we can talk and you can get to know the true Brazil, the Brazil of people who love samba, carnival, soccer, the United States, China, Russia, Uruguay and Venezuela. We love everyone,” Lula said. The tariffs imposed on Brazil are among the steepest to hit a US trading partner. And unlike with other countries, the measures against Brazil have been framed in openly political terms, with the Republican president justifying the move by alleging Brasilia is conducting a “witch hunt” against his ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is being tried for an alleged coup attempt against Lula in 2022, and the United States recently sanctioned the judge in the case, along with seven other Supreme Court magistrates. Lula has backed the Supreme Court and promises to defend “the sovereignty of the Brazilian people”. His administration has also vowed to combat Trump’s tariffs, including by lodging an appeal if necessary. The levies, which affect several key exports from the largest economy in Latin America, sweep aside centuries-old trade ties and a surplus that Brasilia put at US$284 million (RM1.2 billion) last year. In his message on X, Lula said he was giving an example of “planting food, and not planting violence, or planting hate”. “I hope that someday we can talk, President Trump, so you can learn about the quality of the Brazilian people.” – AFP Summit notes found in printer ANCHORAGE: Preparatory documents for the summit between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin were discovered in a hotel printer in Anchorage, according to a US media report, German Press Agency (dpa) stated. The radio network NPR reported that eight pages were found on Friday morning in the business centre of the Captain Cook Hotel, located about a 20-minute drive from the Elmendorf-Richardson military base, where the two presidents met to discuss the Ukraine war. The documents, published by NPR, include a detailed schedule with specific meeting rooms, names and phone numbers of officials from the US State Department, the menu for the planned lunch, and mini-biographies with photos of the summit participants. The lunch menu included green salad, filet mignon and halibut with creme brulee for dessert. Also in the materials left behind were pronunciation guides for the Russian names, including “POO-tihn” for the Russian president. Security experts criticised the incident. “It strikes me as further evidence of the slopiness and the incompetence of the administration,” Jon Michaels, a law professor at UCLA in Los Angeles, told the broadcaster. “You just don’t leave things in printers. It’s that simple,” he said. – Bernama

walked off the job on Saturday for the first time since 1985, after months of negotiations over a new contract. In anticipation of the stoppage, the airline began cancelling flights on Friday, forcing more than 100,000 travellers to scramble for alternatives or stay put. Air Canada said flights would restart yesterday evening, but some would still be cancelled over the next week as the schedule stabilises and returns to normal. Hajdu said: “This is not a decision that I have taken lightly. The potential for immediate negative impact on Canadians and our economy is simply too great.” The airline also said customers on cancelled flights were being offered a full refund. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which is representing the workers, slammed the Canadian government’s intervention as “rewarding Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them

exactly what they wanted”. “This sets a terrible precedent,” it said. The union later pointed out that Maryse Tremblay, the chair of the Canada Industrial Relations Board, previously worked as legal counsel for Air Canada. Tremblay ruling on whether to end the strike was “an almost unthinkable display of conflict-of-interest”, the union said. In addition to wage increases, the union says it wants to address uncompensated ground work, including during boarding. Rafael Gomez, who heads the University of Toronto’s Centre for Industrial Relations, said it is “common practice, even around the world” to compensate flight attendants based on time spent in the air. An average passenger, not familiar with common industry practice, could think, “‘I’m waiting to board the plane and there’s a flight attendant helping me,’ but they’re technically not being paid for that work’,” he said. – Reuters/AFP

TORONTO: Air Canada said it planned to resume flights yesterday after the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) acted on a directive from Labour Policy Minister Patty Hajdu to end the cabin crew strike that caused the suspension of around 700 daily flights. The CIRB directed Air Canada to resume operations and for all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants to return to their duties, the airline said in a statement. The directive came after the government on Saturday moved to end the strike and require binding arbitration to break a contract impasse, an action that the country’s largest carrier had sought but unionised flight attendants fiercely opposed. Thousands of Air Canada cabin crew o Industrial Relations Board issues directive to end strike

Striking workers at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. – AFPPIC

Bolivia votes as support for left wanes LA PAZ: Voters in Bolivia cast their ballots yesterday in a general election that has been overshadowed by inflation at a four-decade high and the absence of former leftist president Evo Morales, who is barred from running. the election will head to a runoff on Oct 19. Morales, who co-founded MAS and governed the country from 2006 to 2019 under its banner, has been barred from running for another term as president.

Leading the race are opposition conservative contenders Samuel Doria Medina, a business magnate, and Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, a former president, but neither commands more than 30% support, opinion polls show, with around a quarter of Bolivians undecided. The race marks the first time in almost two decades that polling indicates Bolivia’s incumbent Movement for Socialism, or MAS, could face defeat. Support for MAS-affiliated and other left-leaning candidates trails the opposition, totaling around 10%, according to the latest Ipsos CEISMORI survey. If no presidential candidate wins more than 40% support with a 10 percentage point lead,

Full official results are due within seven days. Voters will also elect all 26 senators and 130 deputies, and officials assume office on Nov 8. With a crowded field and no dominant MAS party candidate, the election marks a “crossroads moment” for Bolivia, said Southern Andes analyst Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche of the International Crisis Group. Bolivia’s fragile economy is top-of-mind for voters. Price-rises have surged past other Latin American countries this year, and fuel and dollars have run scarce. Annual inflation doubled to 23% in June, up from 12% in January, with some Bolivians turning to cryptocurrencies as a hedge. Many

Medina (left) and Quiroga are leading presidential contenders. – REUTERSPIC Bolivians, especially those who work in the informal economy, were now struggling to make ends meet, said economist Roger Lopez. “Prices of the basic food basket are going up fast,” said Lopez. – Reuters