International

In Brazil election run-up, even samba is political

AFP | Eléonore Hughes

In Pedra do Sal, the birthplace of samba in Rio de Janeiro, supporters chant “Ole, Ola, Lula” as they sway rhythmically, brandishing flags, T-shirts and caps bearing the likeness of Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

In a nod to the symbolism of samba’s Afro-Brazilian character in a country of divisive identity politics, the leftist ex-president chose the Portela samba school for one of his final rallies before Sunday’s first round of presidential elections.

“Samba is a way to resist oppression, it is the voice of the people. And Lula represents the people,” says Karen Gama, a 24-year-old black Brazilian who attended the rally last week with stickers of Lula’s Workers Party stuck to her chest and rear.

She was among thousands dressed in red — the color of Lula’s Workers Party — who turned out to listen to the former steelworker who is seeking a third term as president, already having served from 2003 to 2010.

His main rival is far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, whose government is closely allied to conservative and evangelical movements often hostile to samba and its association with Afro-Brazilian culture and religions.

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Pragmatic

“By coming here, he (Lula) returns to his popular base,” says Joao Diamante, who grew up in a Rio favela.

Diamante, a chef, said he was able to study gastronomy thanks to the university scholarships put in place under the Lula presidency for young people from low-income backgrounds.

“We came here to cheer on the only president who valued us, black people and minorities. We were extremely attacked during the Bolsonaro mandate,” says Douglas Williams, a 30-year-old nurse with an LGBTQ flag wrapped around his head.

Samba has not always been associated with left-wing ideas, says Wagner Pralon Mancuso, a professor of political science at the University of Sao Paulo.

“There are well-known samba schools that exalted Brazil during the military dictatorship (1964-1985),” he says.

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More recently, several Rio samba schools supported Marcelo Crivella, a pastor of the evangelical right, in his successful 2016 campaign for the mayorship of the city.

Samba “schools are pragmatic because they depend on public funds,” explains Marco Teixeira, a political scientist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

And Veiga de Almeida Guilherme Guaral, an academic who studied the links between politics and samba, says that “today, schools remember that the governments of Lula supported cultural events.”

‘Form of resistance’

Earlier this month, the band Samba Independente dos Bons Costumes, believing themselves in friendly territory, were booed off the stage when they played a pro-Lula song at a Rio concert.

“Art is an essential political tool in our democracy, and samba is political in essence,” the group said in a response on Instagram.

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“In other words, much more than a musical genre, samba is an instrument of socio-political change.”

Claudio Cruz, the owner of a samba bar in central Rio, agrees.

“Samba has always been a form of resistance to inequality, so it is more than normal that the world of samba supports Lula today,” says Cruz, who has installed a 10-meter (33-foot) helium-filled figurine of Lula on the sidewalk outside his bar.

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International

Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states, while three others —California, Oregon and Pennsylvania— currently have moratoriums in place.

The United States is set to carry out three executions on the same day, a rare occurrence that has not happened since 2010, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.

President Donald Trump has sought to expand the use of capital punishment for what he describes as “the most heinous crimes.” In April, the Department of Justice proposed expanding execution methods to include firing squads, lethal gas and electrocution.

Tennessee is scheduled to execute Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines, 66, on Thursday. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of a woman, according to local media.

In Oklahoma, Carlos Cuesta-Rodríguez, 70, is scheduled to be executed for a 2003 murder.

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Meanwhile, Alabama plans to execute Jeremy Williams, 42, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.

The United States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the highest number since 2009, when 52 executions were recorded.

Florida conducted the largest number of executions last year, with 19, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, with five each.

Of the executions carried out in 2025, 39 were conducted by lethal injection. Three were carried out by firing squad and five through nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves forcing nitrogen gas into a face mask, depriving the prisoner of oxygen.

The United Nations has condemned nitrogen gas as a cruel and inhumane method of capital punishment.

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International

Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 265 as Rescue Teams Race Against Time

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Colombia on Monday, the strongest to hit the country this century, has so far left 265 people dead and around 3,500 injured.

In Cali, Pereira and other cities in western Colombia, rescue teams are working around the clock as they search for survivors. The first 72 hours following the earthquake will be reached at 7:34 a.m. local time (12:34 GMT), a critical window for rescue efforts as the chances of finding survivors generally decline significantly after that point.

Among those anxiously awaiting news is Valeria Cardona, a 26-year-old student searching for two of her cousins in Cali.

“We have some suspicions about their location, but there are no signs of life,” she said. “Hope is the last thing you lose, but we are anxious about receiving news we don’t want to hear.”

A team of members from the Topos Aztecas, the renowned Mexican volunteer rescue group, has also arrived in Cali to join the search. The rescuers had been working in neighboring Venezuela, where a double earthquake on June 24 left more than 6,000 people dead.

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“We all came from Venezuela, from La Guaira. The 41 days we spent working there made us stronger because we overcame hunger, pain and sleepless nights,” said Héctor Méndez, 80, president of Topos Aztecas.

Méndez encouraged those affected by the disaster not to lose hope and emphasized the commitment required from rescue teams during an emergency.

“Do not feel like victims. This is not an office or workshop schedule. This is real life, where the best part of the human spirit emerges. These are things of nature that happen,” he said.

International

German Authorities Investigate More Than 100 New Cases Against Convicted Nurse

German authorities announced Monday that they are investigating more than 100 additional cases involving a nurse who was sentenced to life in prison in November for the murder of 10 patients.

The man, who was 44 at the time of his conviction, worked in palliative care at a hospital in Würselen, near Aachen. He was also found guilty of 27 attempted murders.

Aachen prosecutors are now examining 121 new cases, a spokesperson for the office said.

Prosecutors leading the investigation are preparing a new indictment that could be filed next year. Nearly 40 bodies have so far been exhumed as part of the investigation, which covers alleged incidents dating back to September 2022.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the city of Cologne are investigating 18 additional cases. According to a spokesperson, the oldest case dates back to 2010.

Before working at the Würselen hospital, the nurse is believed to have worked at a clinic in eastern Cologne, according to local media reports.

At the time of his November conviction, the court ruled that the severity of his crimes was particularly serious, a finding that would make it difficult for him to obtain early release after 15 years in prison.

Between December 2023 and May 2024, the nurse administered overdoses of sedatives or painkillers to terminally ill patients, most of them elderly, according to the indictment in the original case.

His alleged motive was to sedate patients who required care so that he could minimize his workload during night shifts, prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, the nurse worked «without enthusiasm» and «without motivation». When faced with patients requiring extensive care, he allegedly became «irritated» and showed a lack of empathy.

The case has revived painful memories in Germany of Niels Högel, a former nurse and serial killer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2019 for the murders of at least 85 patients.