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Brazilian police release 3 Israeli tourists after clashes with pro-Palestine locals in beach city

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian police released on Monday three Israeli tourists who this weekend were involved in a disturbance with pro-Palestine residents of a beachfront city in the country’s tropical northeast.

Bahia state police said in a statement that three men between ages 21 and 22 insulted officers and resisted arrest after they “conflicted with a group of people during a pro-Palestine demonstration” in Itacare, a city of 30,000 residents that has become a travel spot for former Israeli soldiers.

Itacare lies 1,340 kilometers (832 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro.

The protest on Saturday went viral on Brazilian social media and showed the Israeli tourists clashing with residents who questioned their presence in the city. Another demonstration that showed locals being favorable to the foreign visitors took place the same day, police said.

Several people involved in the protest against the Israeli tourists featured Palestinian flags and chants against Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza, which killed more than 72,000 Palestinians since its start.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

By WTOP Staff
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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