October 2026

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil's presidential runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro, according to live coverage of the second round. The result closes a race that had entered the runoff described as a total tie. Clarín cast the outcome as the recovery of a veteran progressive figure who keeps the Palacio del Planalto for four more years.

Bolsonaro declared himself the "true elected president of Brazil" and thanked Donald Trump and Javier Milei. He had lost Brazil's presidential runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Brazil's presidential runoff ended with a victory for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Flávio Bolsonaro asked for the second round to be annulled. The result set off a selloff across Brazilian and Argentine markets on Monday.

Two high-speed trains collided in Toledo, Spain, on Wednesday 28 October, killing at least 64 people and injuring 150, La Nación reported. The crash involved an AVE train and an Iryo service, according to Infobae.

Renato Iván Tavella, 27, was arrested at a hotel in downtown Buenos Aires by detectives from the Homicide Division of the City Police, following a joint investigation by Córdoba and Buenos Aires City police forces. Authorities link him to the killing of Daniela Villalba in the Cofico neighbourhood of Córdoba and are examining his role in the death of Tatiana Micaela Fernández, a sex worker found dead in Retiro.

France imposed partial curfews after a weekend of mass looting, with nearly 2,400 people detained. The government of President Emmanuel Macron asked for the curfews to be "localized" in order to curb the looting.

A Houthi missile attack on a military camp in southern Yemen killed at least 30 pro-government soldiers, with reports of more than 100 wounded. The toll was reported on Monday, the day the strike was first covered.

The United States government confirmed that American companies are concerned about the Malvinas sovereignty law promoted by President Javier Milei, and said it is watching the Argentine Congress's sovereignty defense legislation closely. A US envoy raised the issue of US "interests" in the law.

Argentina's Chamber of Deputies approved a private property bill that reincorporates restrictions on land purchases, a measure the ruling bloc brought to the floor alongside its own 'Inviolabilidad de la Propiedad Privada' legislation. The session also took up the opposition's Ley de Tierras, and the ruling bloc set the agenda and drove the proceedings.

The United States proposed dissolving the special United Nations committee where Argentina has pursued its claim over the Malvinas. The proposal targets the UN's decolonization body, the forum Argentina has used to press the sovereignty dispute.

The Argentine government filed a criminal complaint against 25 people detained during incidents at a university march, on counts of injuries, damage and resisting authority. The march was held in support of the University Financing Law, and residents of Azul also mobilized to demand the law be enforced.

The UN Security Council failed in its sixth secret ballot to choose the next secretary-general, leaving the selection pending. No candidate has yet secured the required support to win the post.

Brazil's presidential election is going to a runoff between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro, with the race described as a total tie heading into the second round.

Argentina's severance-payment scheme, the Fondo de Asistencia Laboral (FAL), is set to begin operating in November, with companies required to take steps to avoid sanctions from the tax authority ARC. The fund covers a universe of roughly 2 billion dollars in indemnity payments.

Mauricio Macri publicly backed a mayor who challenged President Javier Milei to cut taxes, then deleted his message. The episode unfolded amid negotiations between Macri's PRO and Milei's La Libertad Avanza.

Argentina's government asked the United Kingdom to halt oil exploitation in the Malvinas/Falklands and warned it would take the matter to an international court. The dispute centers on the Sea Lion offshore oil project, which Argentina wants stopped. President Javier Milei suspended a planned trip to London and a talk at Oxford amid rising tension over the dispute.

The Buenos Aires provincial ombudsman's office obtained a precautionary injunction against the repeal of the land law. The injunction was granted by a court, which also ordered the government to preserve information on rural lands in Buenos Aires province.

El Niño is strengthening and changing Argentina's climate map, with more rain than normal forecast in some provinces through the end of the year. The phenomenon is described as exceptional and potentially one of the most intense of recent decades.

The UN Security Council failed on its fifth attempt to designate the next Secretary-General, leaving the race open. Rafael Grossi moved up to second place in the contest, while Rebeca Grynspan remains the favorite with Grossi close behind.

Argentina's government asked the United Kingdom to stop oil exploitation in the Malvinas/Falklands and warned it will take the matter to an international court. It also denounced that a British company carried out illegal flights from the islands to Chile and said it will seek sanctions over those flights.

Argentina's country risk rose for 12 consecutive days to 642 points, its highest level since 2025, while the stock market fell and bonds declined. The risk gauge approached 630 points, a level last seen in March, according to Infobae's six-point explainer on the surge.

Argentina's government is enduring its worst financial week of the year without a policy response, as President Javier Milei finds himself caught between the country's political and economic divide. Coverage frames the moment as a crossroads, weighing the risk associated with Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof against the risk attached to Milei himself, or to both at once.

A prosecutor has requested a series of measures to verify the explanations Manuel Adorni gave about his personal wealth, and the case is being handled as an illicit enrichment investigation. The requested steps include opening his virtual wallets, with the Justice system putting bitcoin holdings under scrutiny.

Commerce, industry and agriculture account for half of all business closures in Argentina since 2023, with thousands of firms shutting down during Javier Milei's presidency. The three sectors are the worst hit in the era Milei, and the closures have become a central economic and political issue.