Quebec separatists eyed a return to power in Canada's majority French-speaking province Monday in an election that could test Prime Minister Mark Carney's message of national unity to confront the United States. Carney is popular in Quebec, and the possible success of the separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ) is not seen as a repudiation of his stance toward President Donald Trump, whose trade war and annexation threats have infuriated Canadians. FRANCE 24's Christopher Guly reports from Ottawa.

Conservative Senator Flavio Bolsonaro pulled off a surprise on Sunday in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election by finishing ahead of the incumbent left-wing President Lula, whom he will face in the runoff on October 25. Suspicions of U.S. interference have been hanging over the campaign, even as Donald Trump has never hidden his closeness to the far-right former president Bolsonaro - Flavio’s father - and his animosity toward Lula da Silva. FRANCE 24's Emerald Maxwell reports.

Eve Irvine is pleased to welcome Felipe Krause, the head of Oxford University's Brazilian Studies Programme. Brazil's election reflects a political landscape that has become increasingly polarized, explains Krause. And he describes the current mood as one of “tired polarization: People are just exhausted. They feel that the political class is just kind of offering more of the same". The first round reveals a significant consolidation of the Brazilian right in government. Brazil's expanding middle class is increasingly attracted to entrepreneurialism and individualism, constituencies that "Bolsonarismo" has proved particularly effective at reaching.