FirstFT: Calls grow for Bolsonaro to be expelled

The White House is facing calls to expel Jair Bolsonaro from the US following riots that saw supporters of Brazil’s former president raid the country’s Congress, supreme court and presidential palace.

Bolsonaro, who has previously questioned the results of October’s election, has been staying in self-imposed exile in Florida for the past two weeks. He was admitted to hospital yesterday for observation due to “abdominal discomfort”, according to his wife Michelle.

Meanwhile, in Brazil police yesterday began dismantling dozens of anti-government protest camps that had been erected following Bolsonaro’s election defeat. Thousands of pro-democracy campaigners in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo chanted “No amnesty! No amnesty! No amnesty!” as they demanded retribution for the former president.

Several Democratic lawmakers in the US, including Joaquin Castro and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called for Bolsonaro to be removed from the country and returned to Brazil.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the US had not received any official requests from Brazil’s government about Bolsonaro’s status in the country, but added that if it did, “we’d treat them seriously”.

Five more stories in the news

1. Potentially classified documents discovered at Biden think-tank office The White House said it was co-operating with the US Department of Justice and the National Archives after the discovery of potentially classified documents from Joe Biden’s time as vice-president at a think-tank office in Washington.

2. UK and EU make breakthrough on Northern Ireland London and Brussels have secured a breakthrough in the corrosive dispute over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading relations, clearing the way for a new push to resolve the longstanding issue.

3. Virgin Orbit rocket fails to reach orbit A historic attempt to launch the first commercial satellites from western Europe failed last night when Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket suffered an “anomaly” that prevented it from reaching orbit. Shares in Nasdaq-listed Virgin Orbit fell more than 20 per cent in pre-market trading this morning following the setback in Cornwall, England.

4. Morgan Stanley CEO contender to depart Morgan Stanley chief operating officer Jonathan Pruzan, a leading contender to become the bank’s next chief executive, has decided to leave at the end of this month. Internally the all-male list of candidates to replace current chief executive James Gorman is referred to as the “four horsemen”.

5. US greenhouse gas emissions rose again in 2022 The US has fallen further behind its Paris climate agreement targets after emissions increased by 1.3 per cent last year, according to preliminary estimates by environmental consultancy Rhodium Group, despite the passage of sweeping clean energy legislation last year.

The day ahead

‘Three amigos’ summit US president Joe Biden, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau meet today in Mexico City for a trilateral summit to discuss security, climate change, migration and economic integration.

Monetary policy US Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell will be one of many central bank policymakers to appear at an event hosted by Sweden’s Riksbank. His counterpart at the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, will also appear at the same event as will governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey and Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda.

Company earnings Investors will be watching for a potential bankruptcy declaration from Bed Bath & Beyond, which is scheduled to report results this morning, having warned last week that there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.

Supreme Court The court will hear oral arguments on whether unions are legally protected when destroying employers’ property amid labour disputes. The case involves a Seattle concrete company which sued its local Teamster union after some cement hardened when workers went on strike.

Martin Wolf will be joined online by other leading thinkers at an event to promote his new book, The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, on January 31 for a subscriber-exclusive event. Register for free here.

What else we’re reading

Xi Jinping’s plan to reset China Amid a chaotic exit from Covid-19 lockdowns, Beijing is looking to reduce its international isolation and boost its growth rate. The motivation behind the reset: a confluence of economic, social and foreign policy stresses that have reached critical levels, say Chinese officials and government advisers.

Joe Biden’s claim to presidential greatness Like Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson, Joe Biden is an underestimated former vice-president who is excelling in the Oval Office. Though a second term may seem a stretch, don’t bet against him, writes Gideon Rachman.

Western allies assess tank coalition for Ukraine Britain has become the first western country to consider providing Kyiv with heavy battle tanks. Ammunition stocks for Ukraine’s Soviet-era fleet are running low and its allies are racing to build a coalition to supply modern tanks to fend off a possible renewed Russian offensive later this year.

TikTok undercuts rivals with cheap ads An increasing amount of ad spend is moving away from Twitter and Meta to TikTok, as the social media platform offers lower rates and better engagement than its rivals, advertisers say, setting up a battle for growth amid a slowdown in online spending.

New York’s legal cannabis market tries to avoid a bad comedown New York has set aside 150 coveted licences for those with previous cannabis-related legal convictions. The idea is to share the bounty of a legal cannabis industry with those who bore the brunt of the government’s war on drugs. Will it work?

Take a break from the news

Who is the Peruvian novelist and playwright who won the Nobel Literature Prize in 2010? Give 1-down a try in our crossword puzzle.