Monday, October 5, 2026 · Morning Edition

Today

By StaffNews Desk

Good morning. The Brazilian right came within reach of toppling the left: [Flávio Bolsonaro surged to a surprise first-round lead over Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, taking about 47% of the vote to Lula's roughly 45% with counting nearly complete](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-10-05/bolsonaro-takes-surprise-brazil-election-lead-over-lula-video), forcing a runoff on Oct. 25.

The engine is the cost of living, and everywhere it is breaking governments. In Spain, [Pedro Sánchez called early elections after his government lost a legislative vote last week on emergency measures tied to the housing crisis](https://www.npr.org/2026/10/05/nx-s1-5991404/spain-snap-elections). In US swing states with key Senate races, gas, electricity and housing prices have all soared. The administration's answer is a gesture: [Trump is dangling one-time payments before the vote that may offer Medicare recipients only limited relief from rising premiums](https://time.com/article/2026/10/04/trump-is-promising-health-care-checks-before-the-midterms-how-far-will-they-go-).

On repression, [Amnesty International called for ICE to be abolished after documenting a pattern of human rights violations across the US stretching back decades](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/05/abolish-ice-human-rights-violations-amnesty-international). And capital is in the dock: as its term opened, [the Supreme Court took up Boulder, Colorado's suit against Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy, seeking to hold the companies liable for climate damages](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/new-supreme-court-term-begins-climate-change-case-seeking-hold-energy-rcna600247).

In Washington, [House Democrats hit Trump after Trade Representative Jamieson Greer wouldn't commit to imposing Russia sanctions Congress enacted](https://www.semafor.com/article/10/05/2026/house-democrats-slam-trump-over-russia-sanctions), while the administration barrels ahead on AI and data centers even as voter hatred of them crosses partisan lines. In Maine, Democrats are still struggling to beat Susan Collins, whose 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh remains an issue as she seeks reelection.