Fat salaries and corporate success aren’t the gateways to happiness they’re cracked up to be. But it makes sense that we might think they are. “We’re fed such an incredibly dense diet of popular media and marketing that shapes our understanding of happiness in a way that actually gets in the way of it,” says Emiliana Simon-Thomas, science director at the University of California at Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. “I think we as a society, particularly in the West, have a bit of an illusion about where happiness comes from and how to get more of it.”

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Researchers have long sought to sort fact from fiction when it comes to pinpointing what increases happiness. Here are six surprising things we often think are making us happy—but that might actually be doing the opposite.

Dodging your negative emotions

Being happy is a lofty goal. Squashing negative emotions like anger, fear, and resentment is surely a step in the right direction, right?

It turns out the opposite is true—and experts say that’s the No. 1 thing most people get wrong about the pursuit of happiness. “We have the mistaken idea that a happy, meaningful life means feeling good all the time and avoiding our negative emotions,” says Laurie Santos, a cognitive scientist and professor of psychology at Yale University. “But the evidence suggests that suppressing our negative emotions can be a recipe for making those emotions worse.”

Research has concluded that suppressing negative emotions is a “barrier to good health.” One study suggests bottling up emotions like frustration or disgust can make people more aggressive; another indicates that the habit can lead to lower social support and fewer close relationships. Additional research has linked suppressing emotions to an increased risk of early death from any cause.

It’s much healthier to reframe how we think about happiness, Simon-Thomas says, and to accept that it includes the full spectrum of emotions. Remind yourself that when you’re scrolling past beaming faces on social media, you’re only seeing part of the story, and it’s not possible or healthy for anyone to constantly be happy.



Once we redefine what happiness means, “there’s a way to relate to our unpleasant emotions that’s more restorative—more growth- and learning-oriented,” Simon-Thomas notes. It’s important to practice self-compassion, and to recognize that when we feel bad, the answer isn’t to stifle those emotions or berate ourselves. “Rather, we need to understand what they’re for,” she says. Practicing mindfulness can help some people figure out how to acknowledge and cope with difficult emotions in a healthy way, as can a specific framework called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT. The approach helps teach people to accept their inner emotions instead of avoiding them.

Living in a city

Some of the great American cultural icons—from Frank Sinatra to Jay-Z—have waxed poetic about life in metropolitan areas like New York. But waking up in a city that never sleeps isn’t necessarily good for inner peace.

Research has found that urban living often translates to stress, anxiety, and plain old unhappiness. According to one study, people who resided in cities were 21% more likely than those in rural areas to experience an anxiety disorder, and 39% more likely to have a mood disorder like major depression. In another study, those based in areas with lots of road noise were 25% more likely to report depression symptoms than people living in quiet neighborhoods. (One potential reason: Noise can interrupt sleep, which is a crucial component of mental health.) Research has linked simply being in the presence of high-rise buildings to worse moods and feelings of powerlessness.

One reason why cities have these impacts is that our brains are only wired to live in social groups of about 150 people, says Colin Ellard, a neuroscientist at Canada’s University of Waterloo, who studies how natural and built places affect emotion and physiology. Of course, most places have a bigger population than that—but in a smaller town, you won’t pass all of them on the street during your morning commute. “Once the size of our group exceeds that, we’re basically in a situation where we’re living among strangers, and that is cognitively and emotionally taxing,” he says. Feeling crowded in a high-density area can, for example, lead to higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Plus, “people struggle mentally in situations where they don’t feel in control over their circumstances,” which is common in cities—there’s nothing you can do to get the taxis to stop honking or to clear a crowded sidewalk.

Fortunately, if you’re a city-dweller and plan to remain one, there are ways to protect your mental health. Even brief exposures to natural areas like urban parks can help, Ellard says, as can trading a bus commute for a walk or bike ride. And investing in black-out curtains and a white-noise machine can help improve sleep quality in loud, bright neighborhoods.

Having tons of free time

Researchers have long known that having enough discretionary time is crucial for wellbeing—but it turns out that having too much free time may be almost as bad as having too little.

According to a study published in 2021 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, wellbeing increases in correlation with free time, but only to a certain extent. The benefits level off after about two hours, and decline around five hours of free time per day. “What we found is that if you have a lot of discretionary time, you’re not necessarily happier, and in some cases, you’re actually less happy,” says study author Marissa Sharif, an assistant professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “The reason for that is you don’t feel like you’re productive anymore, and you feel like you lack purpose and meaning.”

Still, how you spend your free time matters. When people with more than five hours spent it with others—or felt like they were passing it in a productive, meaningful way—they didn’t experience a drop in well-being. Some of the activities that helped participants feel like they were optimizing their time included exercising, participating in group activities, and pursuing a hobby like gardening or studying a new language. Scrolling through social media or using the computer, on the other hand, made people feel less happy about how they’d spent their free time.

“If you do happen to have lots of time, just think consciously about how you’re spending it,” Sharif says. “Think about how to use that time in a way that makes you feel like you have meaning, or purpose, or like you’re productive.”

Chasing success

From the time we’re little kids, many of us are taught that if we work hard, we’ll land the perfect, high-paying job, get a flashy promotion (and then another), and live happily ever after. It’s the American Dream.

But experts say checking off those accomplishments won’t actually make you happier—at least not for long. The false notion that achieving success will lead to long-lasting happiness is called the arrival fallacy, says Tal Ben-Shahar, co-founder of the online Happiness Studies Academy. “Most people believe that if you win the lottery or get that raise or promotion, or win a tournament, then you’ll be all set,” he notes. “This actually leads millions—if not billions—of people on the path to unhappiness. Because at best, what success does is lead to a temporary spike in our levels of wellbeing, not to lasting happiness.”

Almost as soon as we achieve one goal, we often become fixated on the next, ending up trapped in an endless cycle of not appreciating what we have. Plus, success frequently translates to more stress and less time for things we care about, like our families. In one classic study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, professors who had either received or been denied tenure were asked to rate their happiness, and both groups had similar scores. (That’s despite significant career differences, including higher pay and job security.) When assistant professors who weren’t yet eligible for tenure were asked how achieving such a milestone would affect them, they tended to overestimate how happy the change would make them.

Discovering the fleeting nature of happiness following a big accomplishment can feel like a letdown. But there are ways to stretch out the positive feelings success initially brings, says Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California Riverside and author of books including The Myths of Happiness. For example, if you change jobs, aim to keep feelings of novelty alive by seeking out new challenges and opportunities: “Meeting new people, learning new things—if we’re able to do that,” we’ll fend off feelings of staleness, she says. So sign up for an online course in some new skill you’d like to explore, and schedule networking coffees with colleagues you don’t know very well yet. Doing so may lift your spirits and invigorate you.

Anonymity

It’s natural to want to blend in some of the time: to keep our heads down, avert eye contact, and mind our own business. But the pursuit of anonymity isn’t doing us any favors, says John Helliwell, one of the founding editors of the World Happiness Report, a publication of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a nonprofit launched by the United Nations.

He references an experiment in which participants were asked what might happen if they lost a wallet with $200 in it. How likely did they think it was that a police officer, neighbor, local clerk, or stranger would return it? People who believed they lived in an environment in which someone would return their wallet were much happier than those who didn’t think they’d get it back. “We found it was really important for people to feel that they live in a society where other people care about them,” Helliwell says. “If you believe that other people will return your wallet, you’re more likely to return their wallets—and you’re likely to feel happier because these are the people who watch out for your kids when they’re walking to school, who tell you to ‘watch out’ if you’re about to run into a curb.”

To foster this sense of community belonging, Helliwell issues a few challenges. The next time you’re walking down the street, think to yourself: “These are all people who would return my wallet if I dropped it,” and offer them a smile instead of quickly looking away. Or start a conversation. “Turn your next elevator ride from a place to read your mail, or to look at the elevator inspection certificate, into an opportunity to say hello to someone,” he says. “Because it’s that connection that’s going to make both of you happy.”

Buying fancy things

Money and happiness have a complicated relationship. Earning a decent salary does improve how happy you are—but only to a certain point. Research suggests that Americans tend to feel happier in correlation with the amount of money they make up to about $75,000 a year per person (and $105,000 per year in more expensive North American areas); after that, emotional well-being levels off.

But exactly how we spend our money can also impact happiness, says Michael Norton, a professor at Harvard Business School and co-author of the book Happy Money. Research suggests that buying stuff—designer clothing, shiny new cars, the latest gadgets—doesn’t make us happy. Rather, as people become more materialistic, their well-being plummets.

People who spend money on experiences instead of material things, however, tend to enjoy greater happiness. That’s likely because fun activities facilitate social connection and can be appreciated for what they are, not compared to someone else’s experiences (which isn’t the case with consumer goods). Experiences don’t need to be big vacations, either: “Going out for lunch with a friend instead of buying yourself some [trivial] thing” counts too, Norton says.

Spending money on others rather than on yourself can also improve happiness, Norton’s research indicates. “Giving really does pay off more than spending on yourself,” he says. “And it’s not like you have to do a billion-dollar foundation.” Only have $5 to give? “That day is going to be a happier day.”

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(JTA) — Construction workers renovating an old tenement house in Lodz, Poland, unearthed a surprising find: an untouched cache of hundreds of Jewish artifacts believed to have been hidden in advance of the Nazi occupation of the city.

The trove — which included menorahs, kiddush and ritual washing cups and items from everyday life, all wrapped carefully in newspaper — was buried next to a building just beyond the ghetto in which Lodz’s Jews were imprisoned during the Holocaust. Only about 10,000 Lodz Jews survived until the end of the war, out of a prewar population of about 230,000. 

“A find like this comes along once in a decade,” Adam Pustelnik, the vice mayor of Lodz, said in a tweet. 

Po prostu wow. Takie znalezisko trafia się raz na dekadę. Podczas budowy przy Północnej 23 znaleźliśmy 400 zabytkowych śladów dawnej Łodzi 🛶❤️

👉 https://t.co/xUdFoxSO6k pic.twitter.com/uJNfxX51I9

— Adam Pustelnik (@AdamPustelnik) January 4, 2023

“The discovery is remarkable, especially the quantity. These are extremely valuable, historic items that testify to the history of the inhabitants of this building,” said Agnieszka Kowalewska-Wójcik, director of the Board of Municipal Investments in Łódź, according to Polish media.  She said the artifacts are being transferred to the city’s archaeological museum, adding, “I hope a special, generally accessible exhibition will be prepared.”

Before World War II, Lodz, one of Poland’s major industrial centers, was one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe, numbering over 230,000 or 31% of the city. Almost all of them were killed by the Nazis during their occupation of the city from 1939 to 1945. 

“For us archaeologists, such unusual finds are a challenge, but also a great joy. I don’t remember the last time such treasures were unearthed in Łódź.”  said Bartłomiej Gwóźdź, a local archaeologist. “At the moment, each item is carefully cleaned so that nothing is damaged, broken or destroyed.”

Two of the discovered menorahs were lit during Hanukkah celebrations this year by Lodz’s Jewish community, whose offices happen to be on the other side of the block from the building on Północna street, where the trove was discovered.

The trove is not the first notable Jewish relic to be unearthed in Lodz. In 2018, workers excavating a building that was inside the Jewish ghetto uncovered what researchers concluded was a bloody prayer shawl that had been left behind during a 1940 pogrom, when the Nazis attacked Jews who had gathered to pray on Yom Kippur.

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

The post Massive trove of prewar Jewish artifacts unearthed by construction workers in Poland appeared first on The Forward.

Police are investigating a hit-and-run in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, that left a Hasidic man injured on Friday. 

In dramatic video of the incident, a white BMW makes a left turn, colliding with the 55-year-old man, who rolls off the hood. The man is heard screaming as the car immediately accelerates away. A woman is then seen running down the sidewalk calling out “Hatzalah,” a volunteer emergency health service that operates in the area. 

Right next to my house this Friday night. What seems to be a targeted antisemitic attack.
Frightening and scary. pic.twitter.com/Go3eKdYg9D

— 𝕄𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕟 (@MeyerLabin) January 8, 2023

A second video obtained by the Crown Heights Shmira civilian patrol group and posted by local news outlets shows the incident from a different angle. In that video, the car rolls up to a red light, stops briefly and then makes the left turn. While the driver’s intent is unclear, the car appears headed toward the victim while turning.

Police said the victim was taken to Cobble Hill Health Center for treatment. According to Meyer Labin, who lives near the site of the crash, the man suffered a serious leg injury.

No arrests have been made. 

In a tweet, New York State Attorney General Letitia James called the incident “horrific” and asked anyone with information to come forward to police. 

This is horrific.

I’m praying that this man makes a full recovery, and if you have any information about who committed this abhorrent act, contact @NYPDnews immediately.https://t.co/nQx5J3p7fE

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 8, 2023

Police officials and the Crown Heights Shmira did not immediately respond to requests for comment. While social media posts speculated that the incident was antisemitic, it was unclear whether the NYPD was investigating it as a bias crime.

The Lubavitcher movement is headquartered in Crown Heights and the streets are often busy on Fridays in the late afternoon as locals prepare for Shabbat. Police said the hit-and-run happened at around 4 p.m. One commenter on social media, explaining why the young woman in the video ran down the street calling out for an emergency ambulance, pointed out that passersby might not have been carrying cellphones as sundown neared.

Brooklyn has seen a rash of antisemitic attacks over the past few years. Last January, the Anti-Defamation League offered a $5,000 reward for information on an attack on a 21-year-old Hasidic man in Crown Heights. In May, a man wearing traditional Hasidic clothing was taken to hospital after he was punched on the street. According to the ADL, New York led the country in antisemitic incidents in 2021 with 416 incidents, a 24% increase over the previous year.

The post Hasidic man injured in Crown Heights hit-and-run appeared first on The Forward.

Editor’s Note: A version of this story was originally published on Sep. 18. 2018.

On her remarkable rise to the top of the folk-music heap in the late 1950s and early 1960s, singer-activist Joan Bae had some help from a couple of Jewish organizations; Jewish songwriters, teachers, and producers; as well as one obscure Yiddish theater song that she made famous.

Baez first picked up the guitar and opened her mouth only to discover she boasted a gorgeous soprano at age 13, after having attended a Pete Seeger concert. She caught the folk-music bug, and within a few years, while still a teenager, she gave one of her earliest public performances in Saratoga, Calif., at a retreat for a Jewish youth group from Congregation Beth Jacob of Redwood City.

Just a couple years after that, having made quite a stir on the then-vibrant Boston folk-music scene after moving there from the Bay Area with her family in 1959, Baez gave her New York City concert debut at the tender age of 19, in November 1960, at the 92nd Street Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association — the 92nd Street Y, for short. Almost two years to the day after that, at age 21, Baez appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, an astonishing feat for a 21-year-old folksinger who had only just released her third album, a live recording entitled “In Concert,” which included two songs written by a complete unknown from northern Minnesota — a Jewish guy named Robert Allen Zimmerman who had adopted the pseudonym Bob Dylan — alongside her rendition of “Kumbaya.”

Chances are good that the audiences at the Jewish retreat and the 92nd St. Y concert were treated to Baez’s English-language rendition of a song that, while often assumed to be a traditional Yiddish folk song, was in fact written for the Yiddish theater in the early 1940s by the same composer responsible for “Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn.” Baez’s hit song “Donna Donna” began life as “Dana Dana,” also known as “Dos Kelbl,” or “The Calf,” written by Sholom Sekunda and Aaron Zeitlin for the latter’s stage show. Later on, Sekunda translated the song into English, along the way changing the title to “Dona Dona.” In the mid-1950s, Arthur Kevess and Teddi Schwartz retranslated the song into English, and it was their version — now spelled “Donna Donna” but still pronounced with a long “o” — that Baez included on her eponymous debut album. The song, about a calf being led to slaughter, became a staple of Baez’s concerts and entered the canon of folk-protest (and summer-camp) songs of the 1960s.

Incidentally, that debut album — which achieved gold status (which at the time meant earning $1 million in retail sales) — was produced by Brooklyn-born Fred Hellerman, a member of the folk music supergroup the Weavers (alongside Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and Ronnie Gilbert), and whose Jewish-immigrant parents hailed from Riga, Latvia.

Over the years, Baez has credited educator and bookseller Ira Sandperl — a self-taught Gandhi scholar who was born into a leftist Jewish household in St. Louis, Mo., in 1923 — as her intellectual mentor. The two cofounded the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence in the mid-1960s, and he remained her guru of civil disobedience tactics for decades.

The daughter of a Mexican father and Scottish mother, Baez endured schoolyard taunts for being a “dirty Mexican.” She found strength, however, in her family’s devotion to the Religious Society of Friends, more commonly and informally known as the Quakers, distinguished by their belief in conscientious objection against fighting in wars, which she channeled into her activism against the Vietnam War and other subsequent military conflicts.

Baez has primarily been a song interpreter rather than a songwriter, although she has on occasion written her own songs, the best-known of which was the title track to her album, “Diamonds and Rust,” one of several tunes she has written about her relationship with Bob Dylan. Baez was an early booster of Dylan’s, taking him on tour with her as a surprise guest (often to the chagrin of her audiences) and recording dozens of his songs, including some of his most Jewish numbers, such as “I Shall Be Released,” “With God on Our Side,” and “Forever Young.”

They went their separate ways after Dylan’s European tour of 1965, captured in the documentary film, “Don’t Look Back,” and noteworthy in that Dylan never invited Baez to join him onstage. They reunited professionally in 1975 for Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Revue” tour, where the two played a duet section at each concert and after which Baez was featured prominently in the Dylan-directed tour film, “Renaldo and Clara.” Baez has also favored songs by the other two members of the Great Male Jewish Rock-Poet Trinity — Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen, as well as those by Jewish-American folk-protest singer Phil Ochs.

The post The secret Jewish history Of Joan Baez appeared first on The Forward.

Facebook parent Meta (META.O) and Google’s (GOOGL.O) video platform YouTube said on Monday they were removing content supporting or praising the weekend ransacking of Brazilian government buildings by anti-democratic demonstrators.

Tens of thousands of supporters of Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro smashed presidential palace windows, flooded parts of Congress with a sprinkler system and ransacked rooms in the Supreme Court in a more than three hour uprising.

“In advance of the election, we designated Brazil as a temporary high-risk location and have been removing content calling for people to take up arms or forcibly invade Congress, the Presidential palace and other federal buildings,” a Meta spokesman said.

“We are also designating this as a violating event, which means we will remove content that supports or praises these actions,” he said. “We are actively following the situation and will continue removing content that violates our policies.”

Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office on Jan. 1 after defeating Bolsonaro in a runoff election in October, ending Brazil’s most right-wing government in decades.

Bolsonaro refused to concede defeat and some supporters have claimed the election was stolen, with people taking to social media and messaging platforms from Twitter (TWTR.MX), Telegram and TikTok to YouTube and Facebook, to organise protests.

A spokesperson for YouTube told Reuters that the video-sharing company was “closely tracking” the situation in Brazil, where social media platforms have been ordered to block users spreading anti-democratic propaganda.

“Our Trust and Safety team is removing content that violates our Community Guidelines, including livestreams and videos inciting violence,” the spokesperson said.

“In addition, our systems are prominently surfacing authoritative content on our homepage, at the top of search results, and in recommendations. We will remain vigilant as the situation continues to unfold.”

A representative for Telegram said the private messaging app was working with Brazil’s government and fact checking groups to prevent the spread of content inciting violence.

“Telegram is a platform that supports the right to free speech and peaceful protest. Calls to violence, however, are explicitly forbidden on our platform,” a spokesperson said.

“Our moderators use a combination of proactive monitoring in public-facing parts of our platform in addition to accepting user reports, in order to remove such content.”

TikTok and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sunday’s occupation of the government buildings had been planned for at least two weeks by Bolsonaro’s supporters in groups on social media messaging platforms such as Telegram and Twitter, yet there was no move by security forces to prevent what one group called “the seizure of power by the people”.

Messages seen by Reuters throughout the week showed members of such groups organising meeting points in several cities around the country, from where chartered buses would leave for Brasilia, with the intention to occupy public buildings.

Social media companies were criticised for not doing enough when supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump invaded the U.S. Capitol two years ago.

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The Georgia special grand jury investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies unlawfully sought to interfere in the state’s 2020 U.S. presidential election results has issued its final report, a court filing showed on Monday, but it remained unclear whether criminal charges will follow.

In an order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney dissolved the grand jury now that its work is complete and set a Jan. 24 hearing to determine whether the report will be made public. The jurors recommended that their findings be released, McBurney said in the order.

The special grand jury, which was convened at the request of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, had subpoena power but not the ability to issue indictments. Willis will ultimately decide whether to bring charges against Trump or anyone else, though the jury’s report could include recommendations.

A spokesperson for Willis’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Willis opened a criminal investigation soon after a January 2021 phone call in which Trump urged top election officials to “find” enough votes to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s statewide victory.

The grand jury heard testimony from numerous state officials, including Georgia Governor Brad Raffensperger, and key Trump advisers such as U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Prosecutors have told Giuliani he is a target and could face criminal charges, as well as Trump allies who backed a scheme to appoint alternate electors in a bid to deliver Georgia’s electoral votes to Trump, rather than Biden, in the Electoral College process that determines the outcome of presidential elections.

The investigation is one of several civil and criminal probes threatening Trump and his inner circle.

Brazilian soldiers backed by police dismantled a camp of supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on state institutions since the country’s return to democracy in the 1980s.

After thousands of Bolsonaro’s backers stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on Sunday, police in riot gear amassed at the pro-Bolsonaro camp outside Brasilia’s army headquarters, while troops took down tents, Reuters witnesses said. The protesters were dispersed.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro’s leftist rival who took office on Jan. 1 after a narrow October election win, promised to bring those responsible for the violence to justice, after demonstrators broke windows and furniture, destroyed art work and stole guns and artifacts.

Lula, who was back at work at the Planalto presidential palace, met with his defense minister and the armed forces commanders to discuss the attacks that recalled the assault on the U.S. Capitol two years ago by backers of former President Donald Trump.

U.S. President Joe Biden joined other world leaders in condemning Sunday’s riots, calling them “outrageous,” while Bolsonaro, who is now in Florida, denied inciting his supporters and said the rioters had “crossed the line.”

Pro-Bolsonaro truckers, who have caused havoc on Brazil’s highways for weeks, held more protests through the night.

A toll road operator for the BR 163 highway that cuts through Brazil’s top grain-producing state Mato Grosso reported several blockades that were cleared by dawn. Police said blockages on another highway in Parana state were also cleared.

“There are still people trying to block roads and access to oil refineries,” presidential spokesman Paulo Pimenta told reporters. State-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) said its refinery operations and fuel supplies had not been affected.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the governor of Brasilia removed from office late on Sunday for 90 days over alleged security failings and demanded that social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and TikTok block accounts of users spreading anti-democratic propaganda.

Facebook parent Meta (META.O) said on Monday it was removing content supporting or praising the weekend actions. Telegram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Brazil’s financial markets held steady, with the Bovespa benchmark stock index (.BVSP) edging lower.

Lula, a former union organizer who was also president from 2003 to 2010, said the local militarized police force that reports to Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a former Bolsonaro ally, had done nothing to stop the protesters from advancing.

Lula decreed federal intervention of public security in the capital and promised exemplary punishment for the leaders of the “fascist” assault that he said was aimed at provoking a military coup that could restore Bolsonaro to power.

“All the people who did this will be found and punished,” Lula, speaking from Sao Paulo state, told reporters on Sunday night.

He blamed Bolsonaro for inflaming his supporters after a campaign of baseless allegations about election fraud after the end of his rule marked by divisive nationalist populism.

From Florida, where Bolsonaro flew to 48 hours before his term ended, the former president rejected the accusation. He said on Twitter that peaceful demonstrations were democratic but the invasion of government buildings “crossed the line.”

The assault raised questions among Lula’s allies about how security forces in the capital were so unprepared for rioters who had discussed their plans on social media for days.

The occupation of the government buildings had been planned for at least two weeks by Bolsonaro’s supporters in groups on messaging platforms such as Telegram and Twitter, yet there was no move by security forces to prevent the attack, called by one group as “the seizure of power by the people.”

Police retook the damaged public buildings in the futuristic capital after three hours and dispersed the crowd with tear gas.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino said 200 demonstrators had been arrested, although that number is expected to rise.

Dino said investigations aimed to uncover who financed the several hundred buses that brought Bolsonaro’s supporters to Brasilia and question the suspended Brasilia governor.

Bolsonaro faces legal risks from several investigations before the Supreme Court in Brazil and his future in the United States, where he traveled on a visa issued only to sitting presidents, is in question.

“Bolsonaro should not be in Florida,” Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democratic lawmaker in the U.S. Congress, said on CNN. “The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil.”

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European stock indexes rose in early trading on Monday and world stocks were at the highest in more than three weeks, boosted by investors scaling back expectations for U.S. Federal Reserve rate hikes and optimism about China’s borders reopening.

U.S. jobs data on Friday showed a jump in the workforce and easing wage growth. This, along with data pointing to a U.S. service sector contraction, was interpreted by investors as an indication that the Fed can be less hawkish. Global stocks rallied and the dollar dropped.

The upbeat market momentum continued on Monday, with Asian stocks up after China reopened its borders, bolstering the outlook for the global economy. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose to its highest in more than six months.

At 1219 GMT the MSCI World Equity index was up 0.6%, having hit its highest since Dec. 15 (.MIWD00000PUS).

Europe’s STOXX 600 was 0.5% higher, also near a one-month high (.STOXX) but London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.1%, retreating after it hit its highest since 2019 earlier in the session (.FTSE).

Wall Street was set to open higher, with S&P 500 e-minis and Nasdaq 100 e-minis both up 0.4% , .

“The market is reading that wage pressures are easing quite rapidly and seeing that as positive and potentially people whispering the words ‘soft landing’ more loudly now,” said Hani Redha, global multi-asset portfolio manager at PineBridge.

A soft landing is the ideal Federal Reserve policy goal after raising interest rates, a situation in which inflation slows but there are not enough job losses to trigger a recession.

Redha said that there was “over-excitement” in the market reaction to the U.S. jobs data, and that more wage data would be needed.

Money markets were pricing in a 25% chance of a half-point hike in February, down from around 50% a month ago . Investors will look to Thursday’s CPI data for further clues as to the Fed’s next move.

The U.S. dollar index was down around 0.2%, still near its lowest in seven months after it dropped 1.2% on Friday .

The euro was up 0.4% at around $1.0688, versus a 1.2% jump on Friday .

China’s offshore yuan neared its highest in five months versus the U.S. dollar at 6.7882 , while the Australian dollar – often seen as a proxy for risk appetite – was up 0.6% on the day at $0.6913, having touched its highest since late August earlier in the session .

“The pace of (China’s) reopening is much more rapid I think than anyone was expecting and as a result we’ll see this flow through to the fundamentals for several months to come,” said PineBridge’s Redha. PineBridge said in November it had sharply raised its China equity exposure on expectations of China’s COVID rules easing.

“China’s going to be accelerating whereas you’ll see growth decelerating everywhere else, and that’s going to be fairly positive for Asia as a region and markets like Australia which are going to benefit from the impact on commodities as China reopens,” Redha added.

Oil prices climbed by more than 3%, as China’s reopening overshadowed concerns about a global recession.

Emerging market stocks (.MSCIEF) were up 2.4% on the day, and have risen by more than 20% since their October lows.

In bond markets, European government bond yields rose, in a reversal after the previous weeks’ sharp falls. Germany’s benchmark 10-year government bond was up 4 basis points at 2.252% .

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was up 2 bps at 3.5893 , also recovering after a sharp drop on Friday.

Earnings season kicks off this week with the major U.S. banks, with analysts fearing no year-on-year growth at all in overall earnings.