Security threats prompt US and Australia to suspend diplomatic operations in Brazil before pivotal election day.
The United States has suspended consular services in Brazil, prompting Australia to close its embassy in the Brazilian capital, two days before Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday.
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In a statement released on Thursday, the US embassy said it would suspend consular services starting on Friday and advised American citizens seeking assistance not to visit its embassy, consulates or other diplomatic facilities.
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list 1 of 3The media battle behind Brazil’s election
list 2 of 3Lula warns against foreign interference in Brazil election at UN
list 3 of 3Brazil’s Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro still essentially tied in new poll
end of list
The statement cited security concerns but gave no further detail on the nature of the threat or any link to the election.
The US State Department said it was working closely with Brazilian counterparts to address the security concerns, adding that embassies and consulates routinely issue alerts about local threats and developments.
Australia’s ambassador to Brazil, Sophie Davies, said on social media that the Australian embassy would also close on Friday, citing the US alert, and advised Australians to avoid US diplomatic facilities.
Brazil’s federal police said they carried out preventive search and seizure warrants in Sao Paulo and the Federal District, the administrative region surrounding the capital, Brasilia, as part of an investigation into suspected plans that could threaten US diplomatic facilities.
Police said the operation followed cooperation with foreign intelligence agencies, but that investigators had found no evidence corroborating the initially reported threat, nor identified any suspects linked to criminal organisations.
An investigation was continuing after the seizure of communications equipment, according to the police.
The closures came two days before the Brazilian presidential election, which pits incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking re-election, against Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup.
If neither candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote on Sunday, a runoff will be held on October 25.
Edinho Silva, president of Lula’s Workers’ Party, called the closures “unprecedented”, saying: “It makes no sense at all. It’s one of Trump’s ways of trying to influence Brazilian public opinion.”
Lula’s allies have pointed to US tariffs and an effort by Washington to send officials to Brazil to “discuss electoral integrity” as evidence of foreign interference.
Brazilian intelligence officials briefed French and German delegations in Brasilia this month on what they described as US and Russian interference in the race.
US President Donald Trump has publicly praised Flavio Bolsonaro, a close ally, without formally endorsing him, saying he is “watching that election very closely”. %!s()
The Food and Drug Administration said on Friday its inspectors had detected cyclospora at the Mexican farm blamed for the largest foodborne illness outbreak of the parasite in US history.
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FDA inspectors said Friday they found cyclospora in two places: a wastewater tank and a drainage ditch used for lettuce cultivation. They said it was unclear how the lettuce became infected.
The agency’s announcement comes less than a month after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared an end to the multi-state outbreak, which infected nearly 13,000 people across 21 states and led to 570 hospitalizations and two deaths.
It also follows an announcement from regulators at Mexico’s own food safety authority, which conducted its own investigation and said cyclospora was not detected in the lettuce or water at the facility. That conclusion came days after the FDA was forced to retract a faulty test result that had incorrectly identified cyclospora in a sample of lettuce from Taylor Farms collected at the border.
The FDA announcement comes more than six weeks after the agency sent its investigators to the farm in Guanajuato. The visit was the agency’s first time there in more than seven years following a steep drop in international food safety inspections after the Covid pandemic.
While it’s unclear how the contamination took place, the FDA claimed the samples provide “strong epidemiological data” linking the outbreak to the Taylor Farms site.
In a separate statement, Taylor Farms attributed the contamination cited by FDA to an independent grower “who is no longer part of our supplier program”.
“Our facility remains closed in central Mexico as we work with our research team to implement enhanced safety protocols from the field to the facility,” the company said.
Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements”, according to the CDC. Other symptoms included loss of appetite and weight, stomach cramps, bloating and increased digestive gas.
The illness, called cyclosporiasis, is less common than foodborne illnesses caused by other germs, including salmonella and E coli. %!s()
Tony Gilroy returns to features after 14 years’ absence — the last three of them spent in the Star Wars TV trenches as creator, showrunner and head writer on Andor — with a movie that makes itself hard to love. Hampered by a fussy hopscotching time structure that too often halts the dramatic momentum and by a central character whose passivity fights against the warmth and magnetism of Pedro Pascal in the role, Behemoth! is an odd duck, alternately intriguing and frustrating. What it does have going for it is a series of thrilling sequences observing the workings of an orchestra employed on Hollywood’s scoring stages.
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That rarely glimpsed milieu and a virtuoso cellist protagonist might make Gilroy’s film sound like Maestro meets Tár. But the story’s internal engine seldom revs hard enough to stand up to either of those comparisons, despite its capable ensemble cast and polished craftsmanship.
Behemoth!
The Bottom Line
Adagio when it needs to be agitato.
Venue: New York Film Festival (Centerpiece — Main Slate) Release date: Friday, Dec. 4 Cast: Pedro Pascal, Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Alexa Swinton, Kaya Ralls, Erik Griffin, JoBeth Williams, Margarita Levieva, Hank Azaria, Will Arnett Director-screenwriter: Tony Gilroy
2 hours 7 minutes
One issue is that the script by Gilroy (an Oscar nominee for screenwriting and direction on Michael Clayton) gives insufficient dimension to Pascal’s character, Alex Serian, for someone meant to carry a film. He’s a sideliner in his own life, which may well be the result of living in the shadow of a family of narcissists, but that is not enough to make him interesting. Nor does it help that Alex’s failed relationships seem less a symptom of his own damage than his poor choice of partners.
The women characters generally are not drawn kindly, especially Carol Spedding (Olivia Wilde), a wealthy, married arts patron whose ferocious pursuit of Alex when he ends their affair makes her seem like a soul sister to Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. Maybe Carol’s $6 million gift to the Chicago Symphony during Alex’s tenure there enables her to feel some kind of ownership, though that’s more implied than explored. “I bleed for you and you shun me?” screeches the manic drama queen after he blocks her calls.
Alex’s flight from scary Carol lands him back in his hometown, Los Angeles, after 20 years of playing in other cities, looking to get back into session work recording orchestral film scores. It’s in those scenes on studio lots — including the Barbra Streisand Scoring Studio at Sony — that the movie is most dynamic.
That’s in large part due to the staggering range of ravishing original film music we see being performed — from dark drama to suspense to action to soaring romance — written by an assembly of nine respected composers billed as “The Behemoth! Collective.” They include Michael Abels, Emily Bear, Lukas Frank, Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Henry Jackman, Nami Melumad, Brandan Roberts and Alan Silvestri. Much of their work also plays over scenes elsewhere in the movie, including an art rock song, a requiem, a cartoon theme tune, a harp concerto and cello etudes.
For anyone who loves movies, being prompted to think about the experiential role that a great score plays is fascinating, but while Behemoth! feints toward being a celebration of film music, it never fully commits. It seems a missed opportunity that we don’t get to watch music being matched to specific beats on the screen, beyond background shots of fuzzy footage on a monitor.
Alex’s relationship with his parents was defined by their need to outshine their children. We see video of Alex playing Bach at age 6 on Johnny Carson’s show, but the film seems to suggest their nurturing of their sons’ musical gifts was just another way to burnish their own reputations.
His self-absorbed brother Andy (Will Arnett, who’s in a different movie) became something of a black sheep when he turned his back on classical viola to form a briefly successful rock band in the ‘90s. He now hosts a podcast about the TV and movie themes of their late father Peter (Hank Azaria, in a video cameo). Their mother Ginnie (an unrecognizable JoBeth Williams) was a renowned harpist, fading fast with dementia when Alex stays with her upon first returning to L.A. She once said of her husband, “He was a Peter who really wanted to be a Pierre.”
But those glimmers of insight fail to coalesce into a fleshed-out family mythology — though we do learn that Alex and Andy’s grandfather died from a stroke, immedicately after hitting a high C while playing trumpet on the same MGM stage where Alex now works. There’s simply not enough meat on the bones of the parental background or in Alex and Andy’s conversations about them to give much shape to the supposedly chaotic upbringing that formed them.
The movie is more engaged in Alex’s reflections on his own life in the two decades since he left, jumping between fizzled relationships and elite orchestra positions in Boston, Dallas and Chicago. The one woman he appears to have loved is brilliant violinist Nadia (Eva Victor), who bailed to marry a billionaire businessman (Matthew Lillard). Victor (Sorry, Baby) is a vivid screen presence, but Nadia isn’t around long enough to leave much of an impression before Alex’s memories jump to her funeral six years later.
It’s on that solemn occasion that he first sees Nadia’s prodigiously gifted daughter Viviana when she plays an original piano composition of astonishing maturity. That piques Alex’s curiosity about the possibility that he might be the girl’s father; his paternity sleuthing gives the movie a much-needed kick.
While Alex’s romantic past is too thinly outlined to be compelling, Pascal’s internalized performance becomes more affecting once the character’s paternal instincts emerge. This happens first with Bronte (Kaya Ralls), a bright young cellist he coaches for an audition with the prestigious San Francisco Symphony. (Professional musician Ralls is a natural in her first acting role.)
But it’s when he starts following Viviana’s success as a composer and musician across multiple genres that the film finally gains some emotional heft. An interlude during which their professional paths cross, when 15-year-old Viviana (Alexa Swinton, terrific) is hired to take over scoring duties on a major movie from a temperamental Euro-diva (Thomas Kretschmann, amusingly playing a male Lydia Tár), is lovely. But it comes too late in a movie that gives us few reasons to care about its opaque central character.
Behemoth! is handsomely shot by Damián García, who previously worked with Gilroy on Andor, but in the end it’s satisfying only as a sensory experience in which music acquires physical form, an aspect greatly enhanced by the advanced sound technology of Dolby Atmos. %!s()
The South African men trying to end violence against women: 'Every man needs to play a part'
Image source, Christian Parkinson/ BBC
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Image caption,
Kgomotso Mathekga says a lack of male role models is fuelling violence against women in his neighbourhood
ByChristian Parkinson
Reporting fromJohannesburg
"I witness men hitting women all the time," says Kgomotso Mathekga, 30. "Especially when they are both drunk."
"I once had an argument with my girlfriend," he admits, "and I grabbed and slapped her."
Mathekga is speaking frankly during a gathering of men aimed at helping reduce the high levels of violence against women in South Africa.
The meeting is held in a narrow street in a Johannesburg informal settlement known as Organic Market. It is a maze of corrugated metal shacks and unpaved roads, close to Alexandra township.
"Now I feel pain," Mathekga continues. "We broke up and I no longer see my child. I feel like I've contributed to the problems in South Africa, instead of being the gentleman that I know I am."
At a nearby tavern, a group of men have pulled their chairs into a circle in the dust.
At the centre stands Itumeleng Stephen Tamaga, known locally as Bra Steve.
He raises his fist.
"We are men!" he shouts.
The group clap and cheers. Some sip bottled beer.
"Listen guys," Bra Steve says. "We must stand together to fight against gender-based violence and femicide."
Bra Steve is the local organiser of Father A Nation, a non-profit that works with men and boys to promote positive masculinity and help end violence against women.
The group's meeting comes as South Africa grapples with renewed anger over renewed cases of femicide and violence against women.
The discovery of the bodies of 12 women over three months, in the city of Ekurhuleni, near Johannesburg has reignited questions about the scale of what many people see as being a crisis of violence against women.
Image source, Christian Parkinson/ BBC
Image caption,
Bra Steve says: "We must restore dignity to the men around here"
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged that his government has not done enough and announced measures he hopes can make women feel safer.
The country has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with 5,427 people murdered between April and June this year alone.
In that period, according to the South African Human Rights Commission, 569 women were killed, an average of six a day, and 1,052 others survived attempted murder.
A report in 2022 by the Human Sciences Research Council found that more than 35% of South African women experienced physical or sexual violence, many from their own intimate partners.
For Bra Steve, part of the solution to the crisis is helping men to understand the issue and take responsibility for their actions.
"We are a lost generation," he says. "We must restore dignity to the men around here."
Amongst the group of men outside the tavern is Zizipho Mtwesi, the project co-ordinator of Father A Nation.
Reflecting on recent weeks, he says more should be done.
The latest measures announced by Ramaphosa, including better street lighting and a review of unsolved cases, are too little, he says, and too late.
"When I think about all of these recent murders in Johannesburg, I get angry. Why do we have to wait for this to happen for us to act?"
He looks around and gestures at the meeting. "We are trying to reach men before things like these murders happen again."
Image source, Christian Parkinson/ BBC
Image caption,
Craig Wilkinson tells the group to "choose what kind of man you want to be"
Craig Wilkinson is the founder of the group. "We get men to talk, to process their feelings," he explains.
"And as they do, this healing takes place. And the second phase is teaching and training positive masculinity.
"We ultimately hope that this will eliminate the scourge of gender-based violence."
He stands up, moving into the centre of the group, calling out to the men.
"You as a man are a powerful force for good," he tells them. "You choose what kind of man you want to be. Women need to be safe."
Father A Nation operates across South Africa, teaching healthy masculinity and running training programmes across dozens of schools and colleges.
Mystery surrounds the spate of murders which has sparked South Africa's latest moment of soul-searching about the safety of its women.
Police have not ruled out potential links between some of the Ekurhuleni deaths but have not said they are investigating a serial killer. Suspects in some of the cases have appeared in court.
But the spate of deaths has sparked new concerns and in Organic Market some women are more fearful than ever.
Outside a nearby shack Linkie listens with interest as she cleans clothes in a large metal bucket.
"We are not safe when we are outside our place," she says.
"We are afraid when we see a car behind us when we walk. We feel afraid. We feel scared. What if this guy's going to kidnap me or do something to me?"
It is a feeling shared by many women here. In the local hair salon, sporting a mane of thick pink braids, is Providence Maseko.
She comes to the door to speak to Bra Steve.
Figure caption,
Women held a memorial run in Johannesburg after the discovery of Moselakgomo's body
"Safety here is very bad," she says, "Maybe you are the serial killer. How do I know who to trust?"
Bra Steve laughs. "We must talk about these things," he urges. "Come to our meetings and we can learn to trust each other."
Maseko tells me that she now takes an e-hailing taxi everywhere in the hope that it is safer.
Back at the tavern, the men's meeting is wrapping up.
"As we try to stop gender-based violence," says Zizipho, "each and every man needs to know that they need to play a part in this.
"And if they wouldn't allow these things to happen to their own daughters or own mothers, they mustn't allow it to be done to someone else's daughter, which is their wives or their girlfriends."
Mathekga is impressed with what he has heard.
"I would love them to keep on practising what we have learned, because we no longer have role models," he says. "Our fathers and our uncles, they are there in prison. We must now become role models and help make this country better."
Paramount TV media chair George Cheeks, whose domain has included all of CBS in addition to the Paramount cable networks, is said to be in line for an expanded oversight at the newly merged Paramount-Warner Bros. entity (which will be named “Skydance,” the company revealed Friday).
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Skydance would not comment, but Cheeks has been seen as a strong lieutenant overseeing the TV properties under Paramount ever since Skydance took control of the company last August. Prior to that, Cheeks was one of the three co-CEOs of Paramount Global — and was the only one of that triumvirate to make the transition to the new company.
Speculation and rumors of how the structure on the TV network and studio side might play out have been heavy over the past few days, now that the question of how the streaming structure at the merged company has been settled (with HBO boss Casey Bloys on top and Paramount direct-to-consumer head Cindy Holland exiting).
Many of the questions in the more traditional Hollywood world of TV networks and studios — still a hefty revenue driver — have centered on what roles Skydance head David Ellison might have in mind for Warner Bros. TV Group and WBD U.S. Networks chairman/CEO Channing Dungey and Cheeks. Both execs are well-liked and respected, and both boast tremendous domains, consisting of both studios and networks.
One scenario making the rounds has Cheeks potentially overseeing all of the vast TV holdings of the combined company, but so far, there’s no firm confirmation and a final structure isn’t expected to be announced until next week.
All eyes will also be on what role Ellison picks for Dungey, whose tenure at Warner Bros. TV Group continues to be extremely successful. Under Dungey, the studio produces more than 80 original series for more than 20 platforms, including HBO, HBO Max and others, with series like “Ted Lasso,” “Abbott Elementary”, “The Bachelor” franchise, “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” “The Pitt,” “Running Point,” “Shrinking,” “Rooster,” “The Voice” and the upcoming “Harry Potter” series. So far this year, the division has landed 13 new series orders and 13 series renewals, while “The Pitt” just landed six Emmys — including its second for outstanding drama.
Dungey also took on oversight of WBD’s U.S. Networks in 2025, including Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, Cooking Channel, HLN, OWN, Science Channel, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, Tru TV and Turner Classic Movies.
When Variety spoke to Dungey last month, she said she had met with Ellison in more of a “getting to know you” setting. Beyond that, she expressed her desire to stick with the company post-merger: “I love my team at Warner Bros. Television Group. I love our shows, our talent. And I’ve become very happy in my U.S. networks role, which was something that I didn’t see coming almost two years ago. The best-case scenario for me is something that allows me to continue to play around in both of these spaces.”
Among the possible setups that observers have spitballed was the idea of splitting their oversight between networks and studios. But if Cheeks does take control of the entire TV business, the biggest question will be whether Dungey will opt to remain and report to him. Insiders say the two have a good rapport, particularly as Warner Bros. TV has been a hefty supplier of series to CBS over the years — including the successful crop of Chuck Lorre comedies that have aired on the Eye.
Beyond that, the question also remains as to how Warner Bros. TV (run by president Brett Paul and creative affairs president Clancy Collins White), CBS Studios (run by president David Stapf), and Paramount TV Studios (run by Matt Thunell) will all be integrated.
CBS Studios is also a major enterprise, producing more than 60 series, while Paramount TV Studios has a hefty slate including the Taylor Sheridan shows.
Currently, Stapf and Thunell report to Cheeks, while Paul and Collins White report to Dungey. There could be a scenario where Warner Bros. TV, CBS Studios and Paramount TV Studios continue as separate labels.
Cheeks had previously been president and CEO of CBS, having joined Paramount in March 2020. This repped his second stint there, having first joined MTV Networks (a part of the then-Viacom company) in 1998 and later taking on roles including exec VP of business affairs and general counsel for the Viacom Music and Entertainment Groups.
Cheeks later moved to NBC in 2012 as president of business operations and late-night programming, then became co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and later as vice chairman of NBCUniversal Content Studios.
Deadline was first to report of Cheeks’ potential new role at Skydance. %!s()
Image source, Christian Parkinson/ BBC
Image source, Christian Parkinson/ BBC
Image source, Christian Parkinson/ BBC
