It's a coin-flip election in Brazil, with little separating the country's left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his far-right rival Flavio Bolsonaro. The results of the run-off vote will become clear in a few hours.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado announced on Sunday that she has returned to her homeland following almost a year in exile, after covertly leaving Venezuela in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She returns as doubts about her country’s democratic future and the role of the US are growing.

Brazil is also heading to the polls today for a run-off vote that will decide who leads the country. The race is on a knife edge between incumbent left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. The son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, Flávio scored a major upset in the first round earlier this month, taking the lead in the vote. The campaign has been dominated by corruption scandals, economic difficulties and allegations of US interference, which Washington has denied. France 24 correspondent Jan Onoszko reports the latest from Rio de Janeiro.

It is the first time in Brazil's history since the return of democracy in the country that a candidate who lost in the first round managed to come back and win in the runoff. The left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva obtained 51.7% of the votes, compared with 48.2% won by right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and sight-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro faced off Friday in their second and final debate ahead of Sunday's presidential runoff election. The two candidates repeated their campaign proposals, focusing on the cost of living and security, while exchanging ⁠allegations of corruption. France 24 Jan Onoszko telles us the latest from Rio de Janeiro.

With less than two weeks to go before the US midterm elections, former President Barack Obama has hit the campaign trail, rallying support for Democratic candidates in the key states of Michigan and Ohio. He criticised the Trump administration, blaming the White House for rising living costs, a major concern for voters. Democrats are hoping to regain control of Congress, with polls showing several closely contested races. Ophelie Jacobson has more.

Brazilians are set on Sunday to choose between leftist incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and far-right candidate Flavio Bolsonaro in the run-off vote of a deeply polarizing presidential election, and one which will determine whether the US significantly expands its growing influence in Latin America.

And now, in a rather surprising development, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is directly urging Cubans to cooperate with the CIA. Havana has responded by mocking what it calls the Trump administration’s “desperation”.

With the US midterm elections less than two weeks away, concerns are growing over whether President Donald Trump would accept a major Republican defeat. Trump has called for legal action to block the certification of Alaska’s Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses to his Democratic challenger, Mary Peltola, arguing that another candidate with the same name on the ballot could confuse voters. Our Washington correspondent Fraser Jackson has more.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he had instructed his administration to file a lawsuit to block the certification of the US Senate race in Alaska if Republican Senator Dan Sullivan loses, arguing that voters would be confused because two Republicans on the ballot have similar names. The legal battle is ramping up questions over whether Trump will accept a potential midterms defeat.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro faced off Friday in their second and final debate ahead of Sunday's presidential runoff election. The two candidates repeated their campaign proposals, focusing on the cost of living and security, while exchanging ⁠allegations of corruption.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said his country may launch “another little Epic Fury” on Iran, referring to the joint Israeli-American military operation that sparked the war with Iran at the end of February.

A brutal targeted attack on an Australian female MP, who lost both her legs as a result, has reignited concerns over the rising levels of violence against women in public life. Also Cornell University is facing a no-confidence vote over its handling of an alleged gang rape in 2024. Annette Young speaks to Annie E. Clark, a survivor of campus sexual assault and Dr Sara Wilf of George Mason University about why institutions continue to struggle with sexual assault cases.

Insults traded on social media and a combative debate have intensified the pressure ahead of a fiercely contested presidential run-off on Sunday, with only a few points separating leftist pro-union President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and far-right challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president and Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro.

The backlash over an Ohio campaign advertisement attacking Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor, spread beyond the state's borders Thursday, causing fresh headaches for Republicans with less than two weeks until the midterm elections.

🗳️ On October 25, a runoff election in #Brazil could change the political landscape of #LatinAmerica. In the first round, #FlavioBolsonaro, son of ex-president Jair #Bolsonaro, beat incumbent President Luiz Inacio #Lula da Silva by a little over two million votes. 👉 But why should you care about who will win this second round? Our journalist Vitoria Barreto explains.

New York's city council voted Thursday in favor of a measure to ban horse-drawn carriages in Central Park, a tourist attraction that has been controversial for years. Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to sign the ban into law which would go into effect starting in June 2028

Human rights defenders are sounding the alarm over the United Arab Emirates’ nomination of its former envoy Lana Nusseibeh to be the next UN Secretary General. They say electing a diplomat from the UAE, a country with a questionable human rights record that is accused of backing forces behind a massacre in Sudan, could spell “catastrophe” for the UN.

US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday defended an explosive attack ad by Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign against his Democratic rival in the Ohio governor’s race, telling fellow Republicans to "stop whining" about it and go win the race. The ad features ​Democrat Amy Acton’s ‌estranged mother, Donna Arthur, disputing Acton’s account of a childhood she says involved a period of homelessness and sexual abuse. ⁠Arthur, whom Acton says she has not seen since 1978, urges Ohioans not to vote for her daughter. Acton has said she was sexually abused by her stepfather when she was 12. Her mother stayed with the ‌stepfather, who was charged with rape but fled the state and was never tried. He died in 2004. Acton said she ⁠and her brother were removed from her mother's custody for severe abuse, neglect and sexual abuse. Acton's brother has supported her account. FRANCE 24's Catherine Viette reports.

Brazil's future is within the margin of error ahead of Sunday's presidential runoff: most of the latest polls put the far-right's Flavio Bolsonaro ahead of left-wing incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – a lead that's narrowed after last weekend's acrimonious debate.