SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian Supreme Court Justice André Mendonca on Tuesday removed the head of the country’s federal police and its intelligence chief from their posts, deepening a crisis at the top court and drawing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government into the turmoil ahead of October national elections.
Mendonca, an appointee of former President Jair Bolsonaro, said in his ruling that federal police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues, a Lula nominee, and the intelligence director of the force, Leandro Almada, headed an organization that allegedly produced six illegal reports on the justice's activities through the end of August.
Mendonca currently chairs two politically sensitive investigations: one into the collapse of Banco Master, which has ensnared several politicians, and another into alleged frauds in Brazil's pension system. The first has hit mostly figures of the country's opposition, while the latter has raised questions of wrongdoing by one of Lula's sons.
Brazil’s government did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press on whether it will appeal.
William Marcel Murad, the federal police's executive director, said in a statement that the director-general has the force's “full confidence” and that agents “will not be shaken by attacks.”
Lula is bidding for reelection in October against Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president who is currently serving his 27-year prison sentence at home for an attempted coup.
Mendonca’s decision to remove the federal police chief comes amid a major clash between him and fellow justice Alexandre de Moraes, who sentenced Bolsonaro to prison last year. Last week, Mendonca unsealed federal police documents that showed that Banco Master owner Daniel Vorcaro frequently sought de Moraes' legal advice before his arrest.
De Moraes had previously denied wrongdoing involving Vorcaro, though his wife provided legal services to Banco Master as part of a 130 million reais ($25 million) contract. Since Mendonca's decision to unseal documents last week, de Moraes is under pressure from politicians, the media and legal experts to resign. He is yet to make public comments about the case.
Brazil's main media reported last week that Mendonca was seeking a suspension for de Moraes from the court until it decides whether he should be investigated in the potential graft case. De Moraes, in turn, said in another ruling that Mendonca should be investigated by the court and potentially impeached by the Senate for interviewing Vorcaro in August without the presence of federal police agents or prosecutors.
On Monday, Brazil's Independence Day, tens of thousands of supporters of opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro filled Sao Paulo's key artery, with many calling for de Moraes' removal. Demonstrators held a giant inflatable figure of Mendonca and wore shirts in support of the Supreme Court justice.
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Supreme Court Justice Andre Mendonca, left, and Justice Alexandre de Moraes attend a plenary session of the court in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, speaks with Federal Police Director General Andrei Rodrigues, center, next to Justice Minister Wellington Cesar, far left, during Independence Day celebrations in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have ignited fires at several oil facilities and wounded dozens of people, raising the stakes in renewed fighting between a U.S. ally and an Iranian proxy just days after deadly clashes in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.
Meanwhile, Britain's government said it is banning goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel responded by saying it will close the British consulate in Jerusalem.
Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
A wave of Houthi attacks ignited fires at several oil facilities and utilities in Saudi Arabia’s southern region, injuring at least 73 people, officials said.
The attacks early Tuesday marked a major escalation in the renewed conflict between an important U.S. ally and the Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. They follow weeks of intensifying clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen, which shattered a four-year truce in the country’s civil war.
The flare-up brings further instability to a region scarred by nearly three years of wars, raising fresh concerns for the global economy. It also threatens to squeeze shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a critical route for oil and global trade that has helped cushion the blow as Iran chokes off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The attacks hit “civilian and economic facilities” in the Saudi cities of Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait, said Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Al-Malki said the wounded included women and children.
The U.K. announced it is banning trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying an expansion program there is endangering efforts to establish a Palestinian state.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said that “settler terrorists” are carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. He said the U.K. will ban imports of all goods from the settlements as well as some services.
Miliband said France and Canada will join the U.K. in the ban.
Israel will close the British consulate in Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Tuesday. He said Israel will also expel U.K. representatives from a joint military center monitoring the Gaza ceasefire and end U.K. training of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in the West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's government has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and which would make up the main part of a future Palestinian state.
The international community considers the settlements illegal or illegitimate, and the Palestinians say they are the main barrier to lasting peace. But Netanyahu’s government views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.
A child was among at least two people killed on Tuesday by Israeli troops in Gaza, according to hospital officials.
A 10-year-old boy died after forces opened fire near tents sheltering displaced Palestinians east of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital. It said Israeli fire also killed a 69-year-old man south of Khan Younis.
Hospital officials said both victims died on the Palestinian side of the “yellow line” that separates areas of Gaza occupied by the Israeli military. Palestinians near the dividing line have faced heightened danger from Israeli fire.
Separately, an Israeli strike in Nuseirat refugee camp wounded 10 people, Al-Awda Hospital said.
Residents in several areas said they received evacuation warnings, followed by strikes in Khan Younis, Bureij refugee camp and Gaza City.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attacks.
The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed additional sanctions on Iran’s aviation industry, targeting three dozen commercial and private airlines and foreign cargo service providers in its new push to isolate Tehran from trading partners.
The new penalties are part of the White House's “Operation Economic Outcast” campaign aimed at severing the Iranian government's financial lifelines. They focus on the remaining facets of Tehran’s aviation industry, which Washington has heavily sanctioned for years.
The U.S. accused 36 entities targeted this week of supporting Iran's efforts to use its aviation sector to move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
People walk under a billboard showing Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi with a phrase from the Islamic book Quran that reads in Arabic; "In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy - in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate" in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
