Global Pulse

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  • Brazil’s Congress overrides Lula’s veto of a bill to reduce Bolsonaro’s sentence

    Brazil’s Congress overrides Lula’s veto of a bill to reduce Bolsonaro’s sentence

    SAO PAULO — In a high-stakes political upset that has reshaped Brazil’s political landscape months ahead of October’s presidential election, Brazil’s National Congress voted Thursday to override a presidential veto and enact a controversial sentencing reform bill that will slash former President Jair Bolsonaro’s 27-year prison term for his conviction on coup plotting charges. The legislative move marks a major political blow to incumbent leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro’s long-time rival, and signals a notable erosion of Lula’s governing power in Congress ahead of his reelection bid.

    The new legislation, which immediately faces planned legal challenges in Brazil’s Supreme Court, revises sentencing rules for defendants convicted of multiple political crimes. Under the new policy, when a defendant is found guilty of multiple offenses including crimes against democratic rule of law and leading a coup attempt, their final sentence will only reflect the single count carrying the maximum penalty, rather than an aggregate of all convictions. While the exact remaining sentence for Bolsonaro has not yet been finalized, political and legal analysts project the reform could cut as much as 20 years off the former right-wing leader’s original 27-year sentence. Bolsonaro, who was convicted and began his sentence in November 2024, is currently serving time under house arrest.

    Conservative opposition lawmakers successfully rallied centrist senators and federal deputies to secure a comfortable majority to override Lula’s veto of the bill, which was originally passed by Congress in 2024. Bolsonaro’s supporters had openly predicted the outcome before voting got underway, and many framed the move as a stepping stone to broader political pardons. “This is a first and much awaited step by those who are afflicted. The next stage is full amnesty,” said Sen. Espiridião Amin, a prominent Bolsonaro ally.

    Senate leaders claimed ahead of the vote that the reduced penalties would only apply to cases directly connected to the convictions of Bolsonaro, his allies, and supporters charged in connection with the 2023 coup attempt. But legal experts have already signaled they will challenge this narrow framing in court, noting the legislation’s wording applies broadly to eligible cases.

    Pedro Uczai, congressional whip for Lula’s Workers’ Party in the Chamber of Deputies, confirmed the party will file an appeal with the Supreme Court to have the legislation annulled, arguing the reform violates Brazil’s constitution. As of Thursday evening, the court had not yet received the formal complaint.

    Bolsonaro’s congressional allies have been open that the bill will benefit not just the former president, but also hundreds of his supporters convicted for their role in the January 8, 2023 riot that destroyed multiple government buildings in Brazil’s capital Brasilia. The attack, which sought to overturn Lula’s 2022 election victory, was widely compared to the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

    Alexandre Knopfholz, a lawyer and legal scholar, told the Associated Press the bill’s wording could also reduce penalties for offenses committed by large crowds, extending legal leniency to dozens of rioters already charged in connection with the Brasilia attack. Knopfholz emphasized that even if the Supreme Court upholds the new legislation, Bolsonaro will not be released from detention automatically, and additional legal proceedings will be required to adjust his sentence.

    Thursday’s vote marks the second high-profile congressional defeat for Lula in 24 hours, capping a rough week for the incumbent ahead of his campaign for a fourth non-consecutive term. On Wednesday evening, the Senate rejected Lula’s nominee for a Supreme Court seat — the first time a sitting president’s Supreme Court pick has been rejected in 132 years.

    “They want to release Bolsonaro, his jailed generals and stop federal police investigations that implicate them,” said Lindberg Farias, a lawmaker and Lula ally, calling Thursday’s vote “a day of infamy.”

    The legislative battle has already spilled over into the upcoming presidential campaign. Lula, who narrowly defeated Bolsonaro in 2022 to return to the presidency, will face Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president’s eldest son, as his main challenger in October. During Thursday’s vote, Flávio Bolsonaro laid out his campaign pitch to voters: “If it is God’s will, I will govern this country. I will hug you and take care of you, no matter what your political view is.”

    As of Friday morning, Lula had not issued any public comment on the back-to-back congressional defeats. Political analysts say the vote is a clear warning sign for Lula’s reelection prospects, though many note there is still five months until election day, and public attention could shift to other events including the upcoming men’s soccer World Cup.

    “This vote is another sign that Bolsonaro is not finished as a political actor, his son will be competitive against Lula,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.

  • Trump says he’s lifting certain tariffs on Scotch whisky after royal visit

    Trump says he’s lifting certain tariffs on Scotch whisky after royal visit

    In a social media announcement made Thursday, former U.S. President Donald Trump revealed that he will lift specific tariffs on Scotch whisky, a decision that came just days after King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom completed an official visit to the White House this week.

    Trump posted that the British monarch and his wife convinced him to take a step no other political or diplomatic party had managed to push through, noting that the request barely required any formal asking on their part. He added that industry stakeholders across both countries have long pushed for this policy adjustment, particularly surrounding rules surrounding the wooden barrels used to age both Scotch whisky and American bourbon.

    This tariff announcement fits a longstanding pattern of the Trump administration using alcohol trade policies as a leverage point in international trade negotiations. Just one year prior, Trump made headlines threatening to impose a steep 200% tariff on imported European wine, a move that would have delivered a devastating financial blow to winemaking operations across France and Italy. That threatened tariff ultimately never took effect.

    In response to past U.S. tariff measures, foreign trading partners have repeatedly retaliated with their own targeted tariff threats against American bourbon and other U.S.-made goods. In a previous resolution that eased cross-Atlantic trade tensions, the Trump administration ultimately granted a full tariff exemption for cork, a decision that was widely celebrated by Portugal, the world’s top supplier of the material used to seal most wine bottles.

    Following Trump’s social media announcement, Chris Swonger, president and chief executive officer of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, confirmed that the policy change would remove the existing 10% tariff on whisky imported from the United Kingdom. In an official statement, Swonger applauded the former president’s move to reinstate what he called a tested “zero-for-zero” framework for fair, reciprocal trade between the U.S. and the UK. He added that the tariff removal will strengthen longstanding transatlantic economic ties, deliver much-needed market stability for spirit producers on both sides of the Atlantic, and create space for industry growth, capital investment, and job support at a time of global economic uncertainty.

  • Israeli forces kill Palestinian teen in West Bank raid

    Israeli forces kill Palestinian teen in West Bank raid

    A fresh wave of Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank has left two Palestinians dead, including a 16-year-old teenager, amid a documented sharp escalation in civilian casualties and forced displacement that has reached levels not seen since the 1967 occupation, United Nations data confirms.

    The most recent fatal incident unfolded Wednesday evening in the al-Hawooz neighborhood of Hebron, where Israeli forces launched a large-scale raid into the densely populated urban area. Medical sources confirm 16-year-old Ibrahim al-Khayyat sustained a critical gunshot wound to the abdomen during the operation, which saw Israeli troops deploy dozens of military vehicles, block major thoroughfares, and order local shop owners to close their businesses mid-day.

    During the incursion, troops opened live fire and launched tear gas canisters directly at local residents, leaving two people injured. Both casualties were transported to the local Red Crescent hospital for emergency care, where al-Khayyat was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. In addition to the fatality, Israeli forces took at least one Palestinian into custody during the raid, which also targeted the headquarters of a local charitable association.

    The Hebron killing came hours after a separate Israeli incursion in Silwad, a town located northeast of Ramallah, that left another Palestinian, Abd el-Halim Hammad, dead. These two deaths are part of a consistent, daily pattern of Israeli search-and-arraid operations across the occupied West Bank that regularly involve the use of live ammunition against Palestinian civilians.

    UN data compiled on the ongoing crisis shows that Palestinian fatalities at the hands of Israeli forces in the West Bank have spiked dramatically since October 2023. Since that time, at least 1,080 Palestinians have been killed, with at least 35 additional deaths recorded already this year. Thousands more have sustained injuries from military activity in the region.

    Parallel to the increase in military operations, UN officials also record a significant surge in violence carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities. The data shows an average of 140 settler attacks per month, nearly twice the frequency recorded before October 2023. These attacks have grown increasingly organized, with a clear goal of forcing Palestinian communities out of Area C — a section of the West Bank that makes up roughly 60% of the total territory, and remains under full Israeli military and administrative control.

    According to latest UN displacement figures, approximately 40,000 Palestinians have been forcibly removed from their homes in the West Bank since January 2023. More than 3,000 of these displacements are directly tied to targeted attacks by settlers. UN officials note that the current scale of forced displacement is the worst it has been since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967.

  • Saudi Arabia to pull investment from LIV Golf tour

    Saudi Arabia to pull investment from LIV Golf tour

    British media outlets have reported that Saudi Arabia plans to end its massive multibillion-dollar backing of the LIV Golf breakaway tour by the close of the 2025 season, a move that fits into a wider pattern of scaling back high-profile international and domestic ventures amid shifting economic pressures tied to regional conflict.

    Anonymous sources familiar with the tour’s plans told the BBC that LIV Golf will publicly unveil a revised “new strategic framework” this Thursday, with leadership actively pursuing new outside private investors to take over Saudi Arabia’s stake. Multiple reports from Sky Sports News add that Yasir al-Rumayyan, the current chairman of LIV Golf and governor of Saudi Arabia’s $1 trillion Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth vehicle that has bankrolled the tour since its 2021 launch, is expected to step down from his role as part of the restructuring.

    Since LIV Golf launched as a direct competitor to the long-established PGA Tour, PIF has injected more than $5 billion into the breakaway circuit, which lured top golf stars including Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Cameron Smith away from traditional tours with unprecedented eight-figure signing bonuses. The investment was part of a broader Saudi strategy to expand the kingdom’s global footprint in sports and entertainment, a core pillar of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 initiative to diversify Saudi Arabia’s oil-dependent economy. However, the venture has proven far less financially viable than initial projections: official filings show LIV Golf has accumulated losses exceeding $1.1 billion outside the United States, with estimated losses in the hundreds of millions to billions more in the U.S. market.

    The LIV Golf pullback is not an isolated adjustment. Long before the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran, Saudi officials had already begun reassessing dozens of high-cost, high-ambition projects across sectors. In December 2024, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan publicly noted the kingdom had “no ego” standing in the way of deprioritizing non-essential ventures to reallocate capital. Earlier this year, construction was suspended on the Mukaab, a 400-meter-tall cube-shaped megaproject planned for central Riyadh. Officials also shelved plans for a luxury desert ski resort and a large-scale dam for an artificial recreational lake, all part of the kingdom’s urban development push.

    The scaling back has extended to other international sports ventures as well. Earlier this week, the World Snooker Tour announced that the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, which had only run two editions after a 10-year hosting agreement was signed, would be permanently canceled. The joint statement from the Saudi Billiard and Snooker Federation and event promoter Matchroom confirmed the decision to scrap future editions of both the snooker masters and the hosted World Pool Championship was reached by mutual agreement.

    Last week, The New York Times reported that Saudi Arabia had also pulled out of a $200 million sponsorship deal to support New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House. Met General Manager Peter Gelb told the outlet Saudi officials framed the decision as a direct response to economic damage stemming from the war in Iran and the disruption to oil transit through the Strait of Hormuz. “They are only doing the projects that are essential,” Gelb recounted of his conversation with Saudi representatives, noting the Met financing “falls outside what is essential.”

    Speaking to Al Arabiya Business on Wednesday, Rumayyan acknowledged that the conflict around Iran has directly shifted PIF’s investment priorities, confirming that “the war would add more pressure to reposition some priorities.” He made history Wednesday by publicly confirming for the first time that The Line, the iconic 170-kilometer car-free linear city at the heart of the $500 billion Neom futuristic development project, is no longer a core near-term priority for the kingdom. “Everyone thinks The Line is Neom, but The Line is one project in Neom,” Rumayyan explained. “Is it necessary to have The Line by 2030? I think no. It’s good to have, but not a must-have.”

    The decision to exit LIV Golf aligns with a broader strategic shift for PIF, which now aims to redirect a larger share of its capital to domestic projects rather than international high-profile investments. Rumayyan confirmed the fund’s new target allocation: 80 percent of investments will go to domestic initiatives, while just 20 percent will be deployed abroad, down from a recent peak of 30 percent allocated to international ventures.

  • US Congress votes to end record government shutdown

    US Congress votes to end record government shutdown

    After 75 days of gridlock that made it the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history, Congress passed a last-minute funding bill Thursday to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), bringing an end to weeks of disrupted critical public services and unpaid federal work. However, the core political clash over immigration enforcement that triggered the shutdown remains unresolved, setting the stage for a new round of partisan conflict later this year.

    The bipartisan funding package, which was first approved by the Senate and cleared the House via voice vote just hours before emergency funding set aside to cover employee salaries was set to expire, will keep key DHS agencies fully funded through the end of the 2025 fiscal year on September 30. Agencies restored to full operations include the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Secret Service.

    Notably, the bill excludes funding for two agencies at the heart of the partisan standoff: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Border Patrol. The shutdown first began on February 14, when Senate Democrats refused to back full immigration enforcement funding without new restrictions on controversial enforcement tactics, such as workplace raids in sensitive community locations and the routine use of unmarked uniforms and masks by officers. Congressional Republicans rejected these conditions, calling for full, unconditional funding for all border and immigration agencies.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson had blocked the Senate-approved compromise from a floor vote for more than five weeks, arguing the deal failed to address critical national security needs by leaving immigration enforcement agencies unfunded. But mounting pressure from the White House, centrist House Republicans, and senior DHS officials warning of imminent payroll shortfalls that would force widespread furloughs forced Republican leadership to schedule the vote. The 75-day shutdown already outstripped all previous partial funding lapses by a wide margin, and deep internal rifts within the House Republican conference were laid bare throughout the impasse: hardline conservatives rejected any partial funding deal that excluded ICE and Border Patrol, while moderates warned that prolonged disruption to critical security agencies would trigger severe political backlash ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

    “After Republicans spent months blocking disaster relief and funding for the TSA, Coast Guard, and our cyber defense agency, it is a very good thing that this bill is finally on track to be signed into law to fund these agencies,” said Senate Democratic funding chair Patty Murray, who also criticized Johnson for dragging out the impasse for no substantive reason: “Speaker of the House Mike Johnson extended the DHS shutdown for over a month for no reason at all. This is the same bill the Senate unanimously passed five weeks ago.”

    Following the vote, Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy, who had publicly urged Johnson to move the bill forward, celebrated the progress: “Thank you to (President Donald Trump) for agreeing and demanding action. Not another day should go by with our safety and security at risk.”

    The prolonged shutdown already caused measurable harm to federal operations and the workforce. Thousands of DHS employees worked without pay for more than two months, and reports indicate that over 1,000 TSA frontline staff have quit their roles amid the financial uncertainty. Planning for major upcoming events, including 2026 FIFA World Cup matches hosted across U.S. cities this summer, was also thrown into jeopardy due to lost agency preparedness funding.

    With the bill now headed to Trump’s desk for his expected signature, the underlying partisan divide over immigration policy remains fully intact. House Republicans are now moving forward with a plan to approve up to $70 billion in separate funding for ICE and Border Patrol through the budget reconciliation process, a procedural move that would allow the measure to pass the Senate without Democratic support.

    Lawmakers have departed Washington for a scheduled recess, and all eyes now turn to the next phase of the funding fight. The standoff underscores just how deep partisan polarization over immigration remains just months before midterm elections that will decide which party controls Congress for the next two years, and it highlights the ongoing challenges House Republican leadership faces in balancing the demands of hardline faction members and moderates while advancing the White House’s policy agenda. The question of whether Congress can avoid a second shutdown when current partial funding expires later this year remains unanswered.

  • US House votes to end government shutdown over immigration operations

    US House votes to end government shutdown over immigration operations

    After more than two months of disrupted federal operations tied to a bitter partisan standoff over immigration policy, U.S. lawmakers have passed a funding package for the Department of Homeland Security, bringing an end to the longest partial government shutdown in the agency’s 20-year history.

    The House of Representatives signed off on the Senate-approved bipartisan measure via a voice vote on Wednesday, immediately restoring operating funds to most DHS components after the 76-day funding lapse that impacted millions of federal workers and critical border and security operations. President Donald Trump has publicly backed the legislation, which now heads straight to the Oval Office for his final signature before it takes effect.

    Notably, the stop-and-go funding package does not allocate new money for two of DHS’s highest-profile immigration enforcement arms: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Border Patrol. The omission comes after months of fierce pushback from congressional Democrats, who have demanded sweeping changes to the Biden (correction: Trump-era) immigration enforcement policies before approving additional funding for the agencies. Republican leadership has already signaled that it will pursue standalone funding legislation for ICE and Border Patrol in the coming weeks, separating that contentious fight from the broader DHS funding deal to end the shutdown.

    This is an ongoing developing breaking news story. Additional details on the legislative timeline for separate immigration enforcement funding and the implementation of the DHS funding package will be added as they become available. Readers can refresh this page for the full updated version, or access real-time breaking news alerts through the BBC News mobile app, or by following @BBCBreaking on the X platform.

  • Argentine workers mark May Day with protests over Milei’s labor-law overhaul

    Argentine workers mark May Day with protests over Milei’s labor-law overhaul

    On Thursday, thousands of Argentine working people gathered in the streets of Buenos Aires for annual May Day demonstrations, turning the traditional celebration of labor rights into a mass show of opposition to President Javier Milei’s sweeping rollback of decades-old worker protections. The march was organized by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Argentina’s largest union federation, which framed the action as a fight to preserve “decent employment” in the face of Milei’s transformative changes to the country’s 50-year-old national labor code.

    Argentina’s labor regulations, first enshrined in 1974, have long provided Argentine workers with extensive legal protections and benefits. For decades, however, economists and business leaders have argued that these rigid rules created prohibitive operational costs for companies, driving away much-needed foreign direct investment and pushing nearly half of the country’s workforce into the informal, off-the-books sector where workers receive no legal protections or benefits. Successive administrations spanning multiple political ideologies attempted to liberalize the labor market to address these issues, but every reform effort collapsed in the face of fierce pushback from Argentina’s historically powerful labor unions, which have been a core political force in the country since the rise of Peronism in the 1940s.

    Despite widespread union opposition that included weeks of rolling protests and a full nationwide strike, Milei, who swept to power on a libertarian free-market agenda, successfully pushed his labor reform package through congress in February, securing one of the most significant legislative wins of his young presidency. The new legislation makes sweeping changes to the country’s labor rules: it expands the maximum legal workday from eight hours to 12, extends the probation period for new hires, simplifies the process for companies to dismiss workers, reduces legal protections for striking workers, and caps judicial discretion for severance pay awards. Proponents argue the changes will encourage formal sector hiring and make Argentina more competitive for global investment, but critics say they erode hard-won labor rights and leave working people vulnerable.

    Opponents of the reform have turned to the courts to block the new law, launching a constitutional appeal to challenge its legality. Last week, a court overturned an earlier injunction that had suspended the law’s implementation at the unions’ request, clearing the way for the reforms to take effect. Union leaders have announced they will file a new legal challenge, and the dispute is now on track to reach Argentina’s Supreme Court for a final ruling.

    The political clash over labor reform comes at a fragile moment for Milei’s presidency. His flagship policy promise to curb Argentina’s decades-long sky-high inflation has made little progress in recent months, while national unemployment has begun to climb. For Argentina’s labor movement, which was a foundational pillar of the Peronist movement that dominated Argentine politics for nearly 80 years, the labor overhaul represents an existential threat to both worker rights and the movement’s long-held political influence.

    Ahead of Thursday’s protest, CGT leader Jorge Sola told local radio that widespread social discontent has built up across the country, driven by more than just falling household consumption. “It is due to family debt, job losses and worse working conditions than what we had before,” Sola said, capturing the simmering anger that brought thousands of workers onto the capital’s streets for the May Day demonstration.

  • Mills quits Maine Senate race leaving Democrat novice in running

    Mills quits Maine Senate race leaving Democrat novice in running

    In a surprise but widely foreshadowed development, 78-year-old Maine Governor Janet Mills announced Thursday morning she is withdrawing from the 2026 Democratic Senate primary, ending national Democrats’ high-stakes bid to unseat incumbent Republican Susan Collins with a tested, well-known statewide leader.

    Mills, a two-term popular governor with a decades-long career in Maine politics, was handpicked by national Democratic establishment figures, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who actively recruited her to run. Party leaders viewed Maine’s open-seat contest ( framed as Collins’ final campaign ) as one of their best chances to flip a Republican-held seat and retake control of the U.S. Senate in this year’s midterm elections. But from the early stages of her campaign, structural and demographic headwinds undermined her bid.

    In an official statement announcing her exit, Mills framed her decision as rooted in a modern political reality: “While I have the drive and passion, the commitment and experience, and above all else – the fight – to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources.”

    Mills’ exit clears a nearly unobstructed path to the Democratic nomination for 41-year-old Graham Platner, a first-time candidate, Marine Corps veteran, and small-business oyster farmer who has upended Maine’s Democratic primary in recent months. When Platner launched his grassroots campaign last August, he quickly tapped into a nationwide hunger for new working-class progressive leadership, raising $3 million in just his first seven weeks in the race. He has earned high-profile endorsements from across the Democratic ideological spectrum, including progressive standouts Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as centrist Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, alongside widespread backing from national progressive activist groups and major trade unions.

    Platner’s populist message, which blames billionaires and entrenched corrupt politicians for eroding working-class living standards and damaging the environment, has resonated deeply with primary voters, even amid high-profile controversy. Critics have unearthed old social media posts they call homophobic and misogynistic, and revealed that Platner previously had a skull tattoo, since covered, that resembles the Nazi SS Totenkopf insignia. Platner has forcefully disavowed his past comments, explaining the tattoo was chosen impulsively during a night of drinking with fellow Marines while deployed to Croatia, and he had no knowledge of its white supremacist history at the time. Voters have largely shrugged off the scandals, leaving Platner’s polling lead intact.

    Long before her exit, Mills had been dogged by questions about her age that set up a stark generational contrast with her much younger challenger. If elected, Mills would have become the oldest first-term senator in U.S. history, and her age became a unavoidable political liability coming on the heels of 82-year-old President Joe Biden’s 2025 decision to abandon his re-election bid and the recent deaths of several senior Democratic members of Congress. Local political observers also noted that even voters who approved of Mills’ tenure as governor largely expressed a desire for new generational leadership in the Senate race.

    “ I’ve been struck by how many voters I’ve talked to who really liked Janet Mills, who think she’s been a great governor, but think it’s time for some new voices, ” Josh Keefe, political reporter for *The Maine Monitor*, told BBC’s *Americast*. “ They think it’s time to sort of turn it over to the younger generation. ” Keefe added that Mills also misread the mood of the primary electorate, running a campaign centered heavily on opposition to Donald Trump, while Maine Democratic voters were seeking a broader, forward-looking vision for the party’s future. By contrast, Keefe noted, Platner’s message addresses the root economic grievances that have fueled the rise of Trumpism, rather than just focusing on opposition to the former president.

    Mills’ exit now sets up a general election showdown between Platner and three-term incumbent Susan Collins, the only remaining Republican member of Congress representing a New England state. Collins, first elected to the Senate in 1996, has already proven notoriously difficult for Democrats to unseat, holding her seat in 2020 by a 9-point margin. At 73, Collins has confirmed this will be her final campaign, and a pro- Collins political group has already launched a $2 million advertising assault on Platner, kicking off what is projected to be one of the most expensive Senate races of the 2026 cycle.

    For national Democrats, the stakes could not be higher: the party needs to flip four Republican-held seats to retake Senate control, and Maine remains one of their most competitive pickup opportunities. Early head-to-head polling shows Platner holding a narrow lead over Collins, but local observers warn that Collins remains a formidable political force in Maine, while Platner is a completely untested outsider who presents a new kind of challenge for the long-serving incumbent. “ Susan Collins is kind of a juggernaut in Maine, ” Keefe said. “ Platner is just a complete anomaly in Maine politics, however, and certainly she’s never faced anyone like him. ”

  • Horse racing in Japan is on the rise. A Kentucky Derby winner could be next

    Horse racing in Japan is on the rise. A Kentucky Derby winner could be next

    As horse racing faces growing uncertainty across the United States — marked by shrinking fan bases, widespread track closures, and the erosion of its unique competitive edge amid the expansion of legalized sports betting — a quiet revolution in the sport is unfolding thousands of miles away. Japan has emerged as a new global powerhouse of thoroughbred racing, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into every segment of the industry from selective breeding to elite training facilities, and steadily producing top-tier competition that is closing in on the sport’s most coveted American prize: the Kentucky Derby.

    For decades, Japanese horse racing centered almost exclusively on turf tracks, a legacy that still makes the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the iconic Paris-based turf race, a long-held ultimate goal for the nation’s racing community. But over the past 10 years, Japan has deliberately shifted its focus to developing world-class dirt-track runners, a strategic pivot that has brought the country within touching distance of a historic Kentucky Derby win.

    This year, two Japanese contenders — Danon Bourbon and home-grown Wonder Dean — carry the nation’s hopes into the starting gate at Churchill Downs, coming off a nail-biting near-miss in 2024 when Japanese horse Forever Young finished just off the top spot in the race. Japan has already notched a landmark victory with Forever Young in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and racing industry leaders say a Kentucky Derby win is now well within reach.

    “We are getting closer,” Hiroshi Ando, racing manager for the Japanese delegation, told the Associated Press outside the contenders’ barn at Churchill Downs earlier this week. “For Japan, I think we’re able to change Japanese racing history again, like we did with Forever Young in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Our ambition is the Kentucky Derby right now, if possible.”

    Japan’s rise to elite racing status did not happen overnight. Its modern success traces back to the early 1990s, when U.S. racing legend Sunday Silence — winner of the 1989 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic — garnered little breeding interest from American stables and was exported to Japan to work as a stallion. Sunday Silence went on to become Japan’s leading sire for 13 consecutive years between 1995 and 2008, and his bloodline now runs through winning thoroughbreds across every major global racing circuit.

    Interest in mainstream dirt racing gained momentum in 2011, when Japan’s Victoire Pisa claimed the nation’s first Dubai World Cup title, a win that cemented confidence in Japan’s ability to produce elite dirt runners. Most recently, American Pharoah — the 2015 Triple Crown winner who ended a 37-year drought in American racing — has been stationed at a Japanese breeding stud through July, and industry figures are already eager to see how his offspring, out of top Japanese mares, will perform on the track in coming years.

    “Obviously he produced a lot of good horses in Japan, too, so Japanese people love American Pharoah babies,” Ando noted. “I’m really interested to see how his babies perform because we have many good Japanese mares.”

    Japan’s gradual climb to competitiveness at the Kentucky Derby is evident in the steady improvement of its entries over the decades: its first contender, Ski Captain, finished 14th in 1995; Master Fencer placed sixth in 2019, followed by another sixth-place finish from Derma Sotogake in 2023; and Forever Young came within a hair of the win with a third-place finish in 2024.

    For Japanese racing fans, the Kentucky Derby’s 7 p.m. post time at Churchill Downs falls on early Sunday morning in Japan, but growing participation from Japanese horses has turned the race into a must-watch event that has boosted national fan engagement and betting interest.

    “Last couple years, Japanese racing people understand the Kentucky Derby,” Ando said. “Even the public knows the Kentucky Derby now, which is great for betting, great for the industry.”

    Ando, who called the Kentucky Derby’s one-of-a-kind atmosphere “addictive,” says he is eager to keep bringing Japanese contenders to the race. The consistent annual presence of Japanese horses at Churchill Downs is no coincidence: it is the outcome of a deliberate, long-term investment strategy that has reshaped the entire Japanese racing ecosystem.

    Back in 1981, the Japanese Racing Association (JRA) launched the Japan Cup to grow domestic interest in elite racing and position Japan as a global competitor. Today, the event is the richest turf race in the world, boasting an $8.2 million purse that attracts top contenders from across the globe.

    Tom Hashimoto, general manager of the JRA’s New York Representative Office, explained that Japan’s progress came from decades of deliberate learning from international peers, not just the United States but also leading European racing programs. “Developed not in a short period, (but) we make it. It took step by step and learn from other countries, and now we are very lucky to have so many good thoroughbreds,” Hashimoto said.

    The core of Japan’s strategy, he emphasized, is sustained, holistic investment across every layer of the sport: “The important thing is, how does the money fund the horse racing industry as a whole? Not only the racing: breeding, training, training, training and racing and back to breeding. We have to invest the money to all the aspects of horse racing.”

    As the 2025 Kentucky Derby approaches, all eyes in global horse racing will be on whether Japan’s decades of targeted investment finally delivers the historic win the nation’s racing community has spent years working toward.

  • First direct US-Venezuela flight in years arrives in Caracas

    First direct US-Venezuela flight in years arrives in Caracas

    After nearly a decade of severed air connectivity and strained diplomatic ties, the first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela touched down in Caracas on Thursday, marking the most visible milestone yet in the rapid normalization of relations between the two nations following Washington’s removal of former leftist leader Nicolás Maduro.

    The inaugural American Airlines service departed Miami International Airport at 10:26 a.m. local time (1426 GMT), touching down at Simón Bolívar International Airport less than three hours after takeoff. A second Envoy Air flight followed shortly after the American Airlines arrival, launching the resumption of regular direct air links that were completely halted in 2019 amid spiraling bilateral tensions.

    Notably, the flight manifest included senior U.S. officials traveling to Caracas for high-level government meetings — a development that would have been considered unimaginable just six months ago, according to diplomatic sources on the ground.

    For frequent transnational travelers with ties to both countries, the resumption of direct flights eliminates years of logistical hassle and extended travel times. Claudia Varesano, a 44-year-old traveler who maintains family and business operations in Venezuela, has long commuted between the two nations but was forced to rely on connecting routes through third countries that stretched short trips into all-day journeys. “A three-hour flight would become an eight-hour flight. I’m celebrating today because I’m a frequent traveler. I can go, have breakfast and come back,” Varesano told reporters ahead of arrival.

    Isabel Parra, a Venezuela-born travel agent who had not returned to her home country since 2018, echoed that excitement, saying she felt “super excited” to step back on Venezuelan soil after years of traveling via layovers in Curaçao, the Dominican Republic, or Bogotá. “For years we had to go through those intermediate stops, so having this direct flight is a real pleasure,” Parra said. She added that the inaugural flight carried a steep $3,000 price tag, but expects ticket costs to drop sharply once American Airlines launches a second daily round-trip route on May 21, increasing service capacity.

    To mark the historic occasion, American Airlines outfitted the flight with a specialty Venezuelan-themed menu, featuring local favorites including cachapas (traditional sweet corn pancakes) and Venezuelan-style chicken salad. Greeting passengers upon departure from Miami — a major hub for the Latin American diaspora and a long-recognized gateway to the region — were city representatives and Félix Plasencia, Venezuela’s ambassador to Washington.

    The resumption of direct flights comes as the two nations rapidly rebuild economic and diplomatic ties after years of estrangement. Roughly 1.2 million Venezuelans currently reside in the United States, many of whom split time between the two countries or send regular remittances back to family. Analysts widely expect the thaw in relations, paired with restored air links, to draw increased U.S. business investment into Venezuela, which holds the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves.

    Despite the progress on normalization, significant complexities remain in the bilateral relationship. U.S. President Donald Trump has simultaneously pushed aggressive deportation policies targeting Venezuelan migrants, terminating a humanitarian protection program that shielded thousands of migrants from deportation back to the country’s high-crime areas.

    The diplomatic shift traces back to a January 3 U.S. special forces raid in Caracas that resulted in the capture of Maduro, a longstanding U.S. antagonist, who was extradited to New York to face federal drug trafficking charges that he and his supporters deny. Maduro was succeeded by his former vice president Delcy Rodríguez, who has moved to cooperate extensively with Washington despite her historical ideological alignment with Maduro’s leftist government. Trump has publicly praised Rodríguez’s policy opening to U.S. companies, and has eased broad sanctions imposed on Venezuela in recent years, including lifting personal sanctions targeting Rodríguez. In line with this opening, Venezuela has moved to fully open its critical oil and mining sectors to private international investment.

    American Airlines, a Texas-based carrier with an extensive route network across Latin America, first launched service to Venezuela in 1987 and at its peak carried more passengers between the two countries than any other airline. The carrier suspended all service in 2019, when relations collapsed after the U.S. and a bloc of Western and Latin American nations refused to recognize Maduro’s 2018 re-election, citing widespread electoral irregularities.

    Even with the resumption of flights, U.S. travel guidance retains limited warnings: the State Department still urges U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to Venezuela due to persistent widespread violent crime, but lifted its full blanket ban on all travel to the country in March.

    The launch of direct flights also comes amid a period of upheaval for the global aviation industry, which has faced severe financial pressure from a sharp spike in global oil prices following recent military escalations between the U.S., Israel, and Iran.