Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who rose from poverty to Brazil’s presidency before crashing into disgrace in a corruption scandal, made a spectacular comeback as leader of Latin America’s biggest economy at the age of 77.

Lula, as he is affectionately known, scraped ahead of far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro to win a third term at the helm, election authorities confirmed.

Just 18 months ago, the bearded leftist hero with the trademark raspy voice was a political pariah, imprisoned in a corruption scandal that divided the nation.

Disgust with his Workers’ Party (PT) propelled Bolsonaro into office in 2018, however the vitriolic and divisive conservative quickly lost popularity as he oversaw Covid-19 carnage, environmental destruction, and made comments criticized as racist, sexist and homophobic.

“We need to fix this country… so the Brazilian people can smile again,” Lula said during a tireless campaign in which he crisscrossed the country and appeared on popular podcasts to lure younger voters. | More On RFI.fr

Ukrainian armed forces early on Monday claimed to have recaptured more than 20 settlements in the regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv over the past 24 hours following a major counter-offensive against units of the Russian army. Moscow has issued no response to the Ukrainian claims.

“In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian armed forces drove the enemy away from more than 20 settlements” and are regaining “full control over them”, the Ukrainian army said in its daily briefing.

“In their retreat, Russian troops are hastily abandoning their positions and fleeing,” the army statement added.

Over the weekend, Ukraine claimed sweeping successes against Russia in the south and the east, including the cities of Izyum, Kupiansk and Balakliya.

On Sunday night, regions in eastern Ukraine saw widespread electricity blackouts after strikes described by Kyiv foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko as an “act of desperation following Russia’s immense losses and retreat in eastern Ukraine”. | More On RFI.fr

French President Emmanuel Macron asked Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday to withdraw Russian weaponry from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant while Putin warned of the potential “catastrophic consequences” of what he said were Ukrainian attacks on the facility.

According to the Elysee, Macron had told the Russian leader in a call that “the Russian occupation was the reason for the risks.

According to the Kremlin’s version of the call, Putin “drew attention to regular Ukrainian attacks on (Zaporizhzhia nuclear) facilities, including a radioactive waste storage facility, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences.”

The statement said that the call was made “at the initiative of the French side” and that the conversation comprised a “detailed and frank exchange of views on the situation in Ukraine.”

Putin said Russian specialists at the plant were taking steps to ensure its safety and said Moscow was ready to continue work with the UN’s atomic agency to agree on “non-politicised” solutions to problems at the facility. | More on RFI.fr

An historic Accession Council proclaimed Charles III as Britain’s new king on Saturday morning following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II aged 96. The Queen’s state funeral will take place on Monday 19 September, palace officials confirmed. Thank you for following our live blog. Read FRANCE 24’s live coverage of the day’s events. 

• The council, televised for the first time, is a centuries-old formality to recognise the new king’s sovereignty even though he automatically became monarch after Queen Elizabeth II‘s passing.
• Several hundred privy councillors including current Prime Minister Liz Truss and all of her living predecessors, Charles’s wife Camilla and his eldest son and heir William all attended the ceremony at St James’s Palace, London.
• King Charles III said his mother, who died on Thursday in Balmoral aged 96, “gave an example of lifelong love and of selfless service” that he promised to emulate. He added that he was “deeply aware” of the “duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty”. | More on France24.com

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan late on Tuesday on a trip she said shows an unwavering American commitment to the Chinese-claimed self-ruled island, but China condemned the highest-level U.S. visit in 25 years as a threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Pelosi and the rest of her delegation disembarked from a U.S. Air Force transport plane at Songshan Airport in downtown Taipei after the nighttime landing on a flight from Malaysia to begin a visit that risks pushing U.S.-Chinese relations to a new low.

They were greeted by Taiwan‘s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, and Sandra Oudkirk, the top U.S. representative in Taiwan.

Her arrival prompted a furious response from China at a time when international tensions already are elevated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced using force to bring it under its control.

The United States warned China against using the visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan. | More on France24.com

Mali’s military rulers announced on Monday they would delay until March 2024 a return to civilian rule following double coups that have been denounced by countries in the region and foreign powers.

Junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita signed a decree read out on state television saying that “the duration of the transition is fixed at 24 months (from) March 26, 2022”.

Mali has undergone two military coups, the first in August 2020, when the army ousted elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

A second de-facto coup occurred in May 2021, when strongman Goita pushed out an interim civilian government and took over the presidency.

He had pledged to return power to civilians by February 2022 but subsequently extended the timetable, incurring hard-hitting sanctions.

Regional body ECOWAS announced at the weekend that they would maintain these sanctions unless Mali’s junta made moves to restore civilian rule in the next 16 months.

Mali, along with Burkina Faso and Guinea are also currently suspended from the 15-nation body.

A new Ecowas summit is expected on 3 July, when further decisions on sanctions will be discussed. } MORE ON RFI

A jury’s finding that both Johnny Depp and his ex-wife, Amber Heard, were defamed in a long-running public dispute capped a lurid six-week trial that also raised questions about whether the two actors can overcome tarnished reputations.

The verdict handed down Wednesday in Virginia found that Depp had been defamed by three statements in an op-ed written by Heard in which she said she was an abuse victim. The jury awarded him more than $10 million. But jurors also concluded that Heard was defamed by a lawyer for Depp who accused her of creating a detailed hoax surrounding the abuse allegations. She was awarded $2 million.

Depp had hoped the libel lawsuit would help restore his reputation. However, legal and entertainment experts said that both actors’ reputations have been damaged by ugly details about their brief marriage that came out during the televised trial watched by millions.

“Both of them will work again, but I think it will be a while before a major studio will consider them ‘safe’ enough to bet on,” said former entertainment lawyer Matthew Belloni, who writes about the business of Hollywood for the newsletter Puck. “The personal baggage that was revealed in this trial was just too icky for a studio to want to deal with.” | More On France24.com

Hungary’s divisive leader has once again got his own way with the European Union – this time in tough negotiations on Russian oil at the recent summit in Brussels.

“We have protected [the government’s cap on household utility bills] and successfully staved off a proposal by the Commission that would have prohibited the use of Russian oil in Hungary,” Orban said after his return from Brussels where EU member states discussed a ban on the import of Russian gas.

“We have enough problems already,” he was quoted by the Budapest Times as saying.

“Energy prices are soaring, inflation is high, and all of Europe is teetering on the edge of a global economic crisis because of the sanctions.

“Under these circumstances, it would have been unbearable for us if we had to run the Hungarian economy with dearer oil, it would have been like a nuclear bomb, but we successfully avoided this,” he posted on Facebook.

• What can Europe learn from Orban’s victory in Hungary’s elections?

Under the compromise agreement, all Russian oil being brought into the EU by sea, is to be banned while a temporary exemption for imports delivered by the Russian Druzhba pipeline to certain landlocked countries in Central Europe remains in place. | More On RFI.fr

The United States said Monday it was looking for ways to represent the people of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua in a summit next month following threats to boycott over their governments’ exclusion.

The United States is welcoming Latin American leaders to Los Angeles for the June 6-10 Summit of the Americas, part of President Joe Biden’s efforts to promote democracy and tackle migration and climate change.

US officials said that they reached out formally last week to other nations to attend and that further invitations could come.

“We are still evaluating options on how to best incorporate the voices of the Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan people into the summit process,” an administration official said.

The State Department has previously voiced confidence at “robust” participation in Los Angeles, without divulging the invitation list so far. | More on RFI.fr

World leaders rushed to congratulate French President Emmanuel Macron for his re-election on Sunday in a second round marked by a rise in the far-right vote.

The first political leaders to congratulate Emmanuel Macron for his election victory over his far-right rival Marine Le Pen were France’s European partners. 

“We can count on France for five more years,” European Council President Charles Michel wrote on Twitter. | SOURCE : RFI