Brazil’s presidential race goes to second round as Flávio Bolsonaro leads incumbent Lula - The Guardian

On Sunday night, as the scale of the far-right triumph in Brazil sank in, an adapted football chant rang out in one of Rio’s most leftwing areas. “Let’s turn this around, Lu-laaaaa! Let’s turn this around, Lu-laaaaa! Let’s turn this around, Lu-laaaaa!” crestfallen progressives bellowed while drowning their sorrows after witnessing an excruciating election setback for their leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. But the scale of the challenge facing the veteran leftist looks immense after Flávio Bolsonaro’s shock first-round win, which analysts attribute to a complex lattice of social, political and religious phenomena. “Flávio Bolsonaro’s result shows that Bolsonarismo is a far-right movement … that has put down deep roots in Brazilian society,” said Bernardo Mello Franco, a political columnist for the Rio broadsheet O Globo. “His father [Jair Bolsonaro] was convicted and jailed for attempting a coup d’état [in 2022-23] yet despite this, his allies won elections across the country, and his son is the frontrunner in the second round of the presidential election.”Among the main drivers behind Bolsonaro’s strong showing:1.

World·PhotosBrazilian authorities are investigating whether a recent surge in wildfires in the Amazon rainforest have been set on purpose for political motives ahead of the second round of presidential elections later this months. Fires a point of contention during election campaign that has rarely touched on climate changeThe Associated Press · Posted: Oct 16, 2026 11:45 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. A deforested area of the Amazon rainforest burns in Autazes, Brazil, on Oct. 12. Brazilian authorities are investigating whether a recent surge in wildfires have been set on purpose for political motives ahead of the second round of presidential elections later this months. (Bruno Kelly/Reuters)Brazilian authorities are investigating whether a recent surge in wildfires in the Amazon rainforest have been set on purpose for political motives ahead of the second round of presidential elections later this months.

Saudi-led coalition accuses Houthis of obtaining missile parts from regional states. At least five people have been killed in the vicinity of the al-Maashiq presidential palace in Yemen’s port city of Aden after Houthi missile strikes. Yemeni health minister says five people were killed and 16 others injured in the Houthi missile attack that targeted the al-Maashiq Presidential Palace in Yemen’s Aden on Thursday. The Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said in a social media post on Thursday that Houthis had targeted the al-Maashiq presidential palace with five missiles. The government says the prime minister and other officials are safe, but two of his bodyguards were killed in the attack. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the vicinity of the palace. Al Jazeera correspondents reported earlier on Thursday that there were explosions near the palace. The palace is considered the headquarters and the seat of power for the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government.

WorldYemen's Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace complex in the southern city of Aden on Thursday, killing five people, the government said, while the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen detailed dozens of attacks on Saudi infrastructure in the escalating conflict. Al-Maashiq Palace is the seat of Yemen's Saudi-backed and internationally recognized governmentThomson Reuters · Posted: Oct 15, 2026 2:59 PM EDT | Last Updated: October 15Listen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Smoke billows from the presidential palace complex following an attack by Yemen's Houthis, according to government officials, in Aden, Yemen, on Thursday, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video, verified by Reuters. (Social media/Reuters)Yemen's Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace complex in the southern city of Aden on Thursday, killing five people, the government said, while the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen detailed dozens of attacks on Saudi infrastructure in the escalating conflict.

Argentina's President Javier Milei and Eduardo Bolsonaro at the Hispanic Heritage Gala in Washington, DC. Alex Wroblewski /AFP/Getty Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

The messages, reported by a Brazilian daily, say the platform recommended Bolsonaro’s profile and his WhatsApp channel. Employees at Meta have acknowledged in internal communications that the Instagram accounts of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were negatively affected by restrictions during the country’s election, media reports say. The messages, reported on Friday by Brazilian daily Folha de S Paulo, also acknowledged the platform recommended the profile of Lula challenger Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, as well as his WhatsApp channel. Folha, the Sao Paulo-based paper, cited messages it had reviewed. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4US records 4,410 measles cases as outbreak growslist 2 of 4How Iran messaging highlights cost of war ahead of US midterm electionslist 3 of 4White House press secretary Katie Zacharia fired after five days on the joblist 4 of 4AOC transfers $1m to Michigan candidate El-Sayed in progressive pushend of listMeta told the Reuters news agency that the technical issues cited in the report were already public and the conversations it referenced related solely to the severity of the issues, not political interference.