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.

In Bulgaria, the remains of medieval ruler Tsar Samuel have been laid to rest in the capital Sofia, after being flown back from the border with Greece by Bulgarian fighter jets. Their return follows decades of negotiations with Athens, in exchange for the return of religious artefacts. Nicholas Rushworth has more.

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.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Sunday on an unannounced visit in a show of support for the country in its war with Russia. Merz's visit comes just a day after Russia warned foreigners and diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital, saying that "massive" new airstrikes would hit the city. FRANCE 24's correspondent in Kyiv Gulliver Cragg has more.

Bosnia is heading to the polls on Sunday after a general election campaign dominated by parties that identify closely with the ethnic divisions of its 1990s war. Voters will elect a vast number of officials across multiple tiers of government, in a complex system that has held the partitioned country together since the 1995 peace deal. FRANCE 24's correspondent in Belgrade Laurent Rouy has more.

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.

Delano D'Souza is pleased to welcome Carlos Mascarell Vilar, political scientist based in Spain. From his own perspective, Emmanuel Macron's visit to Spain needs to be understood by European power, political legacy, and geoeconomics. France and Spain are seeking to reinforce their bilateral relationship at a moment when the balance of power within Europe is changing rapidly, particularly with the growing importance of countries in the east such as Poland. For Macron, strengthening the Madrid-Paris axis is also part of a broader effort to advance European defence and strategic sovereignty.

Andy Burnham put the idea of Britain rejoining the EU on the table on Wednesday, breaking a taboo for a UK prime minister and reopening the divisive Brexit debate. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Monte Francis, Catherine Barnard, Professor of European Law at the University of Cambridge, says that Burnham "is sending the message that actually it's been pretty cold being on the outside of the EU so we're now looking at the alternatives".

Teenagers in France have been blockading their schools and demonstrating since last week to protest a string of grievances. Standing in front of the Lycée Hélène Boucher, FRANCE 24 journalist Antonia Kerrigan said students there said there were "class sizes of more than 36 people". Click on the video for more. 

British police said on Monday that five men arrested near an air base used by the United States were released on bail, as officers probed whether a "foreign state" could be involved in a suspected bomb plot. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Monte Francis, Yan Saint-Pierre, CEO of Modern Security Consulting Group, explains that many of the hybrid warfare cases seen recently "involve local nationals, this is not about exporting terror", adding that foreign actors aim to have "as many layers as possible to complicate any investigation and accurate denunciation of culprits".

Russian drones struck Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences in the historic heart of Kyiv on Monday, in the latest deadly daytime attack on the capital. Volodymyr Zelensky has long been pleading with Ukraine’s allies for more military aid to fend off Russia. But Ukrainian weapons producers say the country could be bringing in significant revenue of its own, if only they were allowed to export their products. FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg reports from Kyiv.

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. 

Tensions are running high in Northern Ireland after the High Court in Belfast approved a controversial parade. Around 2,000 protesters have blocked the route into a Catholic area where the Protestant march was due to pass. It is the first time in nearly 30 years that the Orange Order has been allowed to march along this route, which was a notorious flashpoint before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement largely brought an end to the bloodshed of the Troubles. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has appealed for calm on all sides, saying he does not want to see Northern Ireland “go backwards.”