Brazilians began casting their votes on Sunday in a closely watch presidential election pitting incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Nearly 160 million voters will also pick lawmakers, senators and governors in an election that will determine whether Latin America's biggest nation follows a regional swing to the right championed by US President Donald Trump. France24 International affairs commentator Douglas Herbert shares further insights.

Brazilians began casting their votes on Sunday in a closely watch presidential election pitting incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Mara Nogueira, Senior Lecturer in Urban Geography at Birbeck, University of London, says the tight race reflects the consolidation of two political camps, with many Brazilians voting not out of support for a candidate, but to keep the other out of power. She points to the cost of living, religion and social media echo chambers as key factors shaping the vote, alongside a major banking scandal that has so far had limited impact on Flavio Bolsonaro’s campaign.

Brazilians began casting their votes on Sunday in a closely watch presidential election pitting incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Nearly 160 million voters will also pick lawmakers, senators and governors in an election that will determine whether Latin America's biggest nation follows a regional swing to the right championed by US President Donald Trump. France 24 correspondent Jan Onoszko tells us the latest from Rio de Janeiro.

Twelve candidates are on the ballot, but the presidential race is centred on two rivals: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro. Lula is seeking a fourth and final term, warning that Brazil’s sovereignty is at stake amid pressure from Donald Trump. Bolsonaro, meanwhile, has highlighted his ties to the White House, saying Brazil needs better deals with the US, including over its rare mineral resources. Nick Rushworth has more on the controversial senator. Dr Andrea Aruska de Souza Santos, Director of King's College Brazil Institute in London, shares further insights.

Cornell University remains at the centre of controversy over an alleged gang rape at a fraternity on campus, with the university president now breaking his silence. In an eight-minute video statement released Saturday night, Michael Kotlikoff called the allegations, made by a woman known as Jane Doe, deeply disturbing and said the university must do better. Shirli Sitbon has this report.

Brazilians are voting for governors and lawmakers, but the biggest stakes are in the presidential race. Twelve candidates are on the ballot, but the contest is seen as a toss-up between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro. Lula is seeking a fourth and final term, warning that Brazil’s sovereignty is at stake amid pressure from Donald Trump. Bolsonaro, meanwhile, has highlighted his ties to the White House, saying Brazil needs better deals with the US, including over its rare mineral resources. Nick Rushworth has more on the controversial senator.

Alison Sargent is pleased to welcome Dr Marieke Riethof, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Politics at University of Liverpool. She sees parallels with the Brazil's 2022 election even if Flávio Bolsonaro does not have the same charisma or mobilizing capacity as his father. His programme remains a hardline political agenda that focuses on security and a reduction in the role of government. Lula, by contrast, offers a more interventionist vision, particularly in areas such as education, and socioeconomic policy. It could weaken multilateralism and reshape the country’s relationships with the United States, China, the European Union and the BRICS nations.

In the US, Flock Security cameras form an AI-powered surveillance network that records licence plates and other vehicle information. Their controversial use has become a political issue ahead of the midterm elections, and the cameras are increasingly being targeted by vandals. Caitlin Brown explains.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his main challenger Flavio Bolsonaro made their final pitch to voters Saturday with rallies in the pivotal state of Sao Paulo ahead of a nail-biter election that has been marred by scandals and mudslinging.

He was still relatively unknown in Brazil just a few months ago. The 45-year-old senator is now neck and neck with incumbent President Lula in the polls for the upcoming presidential election. Flavio Bolsonaro's victory would add Brazil to the long list of Latin American countries that have shifted to the right or far right in recent months.

Eve Irvine is pleased to welcome award-winning author Rob Franklin, joining us to discuss Great Black Hope, his acclaimed debut novel exploring race, class, respectability and belonging. Franklin wanted to write about the worlds he had spent years observing since childhood: including how class and race shape even our most intimate relationships.  At its centre is David Smith, a young Black man from a Southern bourgeois family. His education, manners and connections give him access, but he is constantly aware of the possibility of being cast out. That tension led him to think about respectability politics and the psychological cost of constantly performing an acceptable version of oneself. 

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday signed an order banning fixed-odds betting just over a week ahead of the first round of the presidential election, in a move he said was designed to tackle the pervasive problem of families falling into debt.

President Donald Trump rolled out an unusually lavish welcome for Chinese President Xi Jinping, praising their personal friendship throughout a White House state dinner and other ceremonial events. While both leaders said they held frank discussions behind closed doors, the visit produced no major breakthroughs, prompting criticism from Democratic lawmakers who argued the pageantry overshadowed pressing issues including Iran, Taiwan, AI and trade.

Erin Ogunkeye is pleased to welcome Henrietta Levin, Senior Fellow with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The US remains a powerful actor in its relationship with China. But power on paper is not the same thing as leverage at the negotiating table. Levin warns that President Trump’s highly personalized approach to Xi Jinping offers Beijing opportunities that China can easily exploit. Xi does not approach the relationship in the same way. Au contraire, he sees the United States as an adversary to be managed while China pursues its domestic priorities and strategic objectives in Asia, including on Taiwan. 

🇺🇸 🇨🇳 As Donald #Trump welcomed his Chinese counterpart Xi #Jinping for a state visit on the tarmac of an airport near #Washington, the sound of a fighter jet during the military ceremony caught the US president off guard, prompting a series of startled facial expressions.

Eve Irvine is pleased to welcome Dimitry Elias Léger, journalist and author of "Death of the Soccer God". He begins with an extraordinary but largely forgotten moment in sporting history: the Haitian-born Joe Gaetjens scoring the goal that gave the US its famous victory over England at the 1950 World Cup. But Léger is less interested in reconstructing Gaetjens’s biography than in using the football star's journey as a " jumping point" to examining diaspora, fame, mortality and moral responsibility. Success offers neither immunity from history nor escape from mortality: as he puts it, “You could be super famous and end up on death row” or die wealthy in your own bed: “Either way, you’re going to die.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, as US President Donald Trump pushes for an end to Russia’s war and Kyiv seeks to shape renewed diplomatic efforts after more than four and a half years of conflict. France 24 International affairs commentator Douglas Herbert shares further details.

Russia hammered Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, with drones in daylight attacks on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding 23, just hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to address world leaders at the UN General Assembly. Zelenskyy met US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, as Trump has expressed frustration over the lack of progress in talks aimed at ending the war and the continued escalation of aerial attacks by both sides. Emerald Maxwell reports.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has hit back at US President Donald Trump’s speech in his address to the UN General Assembly. He opened by showing images of Iranian civilians killed in US strikes, saying they demonstrated the impact of US and Israeli military action against Iran. During his speech, the US delegation walked out of the General Assembly hall. France 24 International Affairs Editor Kethevane Gorjestani has more.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is speaking before the UN General Assembly Wednesday in his first speech at the world body since the US and Israel launched the conflict with his country. His address comes a day after US President Donald Trump told the UNGA he could "annihilate the Islamic Republic" and "drive them into hell".