Gen Z is making moves
October 28, 2026
For Gen Z, changing jobs can mean a bigger paycheck. Younger workers continue to see the largest gains from switching, offering a glimpse into how career mobility is evolving across generations.
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Machado returns to Venezuela – but when will democracy?
11h
On Sunday, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned home after ten months in exile.
In the time since she last set foot on Venezuelan soil, the United States arrested authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro on narco-terrorism charges and installed Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as acting president. As the Trump administration slowly negotiated with Rodríguez to hold elections, it made a flurry of oil deals, including one that gives the US the rights to more than 65 billion barrels and involves a Venezuelan businessman under investigation for money laundering. The country was also struck by two devastating earthquakes that killed thousands. Machado, meanwhile, gifted her Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump, in an effort to facilitate her return and Venezuela's transition to elections, in which she would expect to be heavily favored to win.
Much has changed since Machado left. But now that she's back, the big question is: what is the timeline for Venezuela to hold its first free-and-fair elections in over a decade? And does the Trump administration care? The answers (possibly 2027 but more likely 2028; and it does, while not making it a priority) reveal as much about the future of Venezuela as they do about the Donroe Doctrine in Latin America.
Shortly after removing Maduro from power, the US embarked on a strategy of simultaneously rebuilding Venezuelan oil infrastructure and reforming its political institutions. Or as Trump said at the time: "We're going to run it, fix it. We'll have elections at the right time," but also: "We're going to take our oil back." On both fronts, the Trump administration has had considerable success: coercing Rodríguez into reforms to Venezuela's Supreme Court and opening the oil industry to foreign investment (headlined by a $7 billion investment from Chevron), which has already enabled a 17.6% spike in production after years of decline.
At the UN General Assembly, Trump made these commercial motivations clear in announcing "to the victor belong the spoils." After removing Maduro in violation of international law and announcing a desire to profit from the endeavor before heads of state from around the world, the US made clear that its priority was business first, rule of law and democracy second.
That put Machado in an awkward position after the US intervention as she lobbied the Trump administration to help her return to Venezuela – without much success. After she reached the country on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced public support for Machado's return, but the administration had long privately discouraged it. And while the US State Department has laid out a plan for the return of democracy, the benchmarks that must be met before elections can be held are steep – including the formation of a new Supreme Court and National Electoral Council, the restructuring of Venezuela's enormous national debt, and the declaration of a vacancy in the presidency, followed by elections six months later. Achieving those goals won't be fast, meaning an election is more likely to arrive in 2028 than 2027.
It's in Rubio's interest to ensure a democratic transition – as a key accomplishment that could burnish his credentials for a 2028 presidential run or preserve his political future in Florida, home to many Venezuelan expats. But he's one actor in an administration more focused on business opportunities and other foreign policy challenges, as the US readies for more potential strikes on Iran after the midterms.
Machado is in a tight spot. If she galvanizes public demonstrations in favor of elections, she risks drawing the ire of both Rodríguez and Trump, which could set back the cause and her political career. She also needs to maintain credibility with the Venezuelan people, which means criticizing the potentially exploitative oil deals – but making sure she directs those attacks towards the incumbent Venezuelan government, not the Trump administration (whose support she needs).
She will likely start campaigning across Venezuela but without any certainty of an election, while facing threats to her safety. The latter is nothing new for the Nobel winner, who lived in hiding for extended periods during Maduro's tenure, but the long run-up to elections is concerning in an unstable country with a history of political violence. The State Department's strategy of cautiously rebuilding Venezuela's institutions first is legitimate – it takes infrastructure and planning to have free-and-fair elections to replace a government that has systematically rigged them – but the slow pace of democratization carries its own risks.
To the Trump administration's critics, it's hard to take the gradual strategy in good faith amid the backdrop of Trump's accusation that Brazil's election on Sunday (in which incumbent President Lula da Silva came back to defeat the more Trump-friendly Flávio Bolsonaro) was "rigged" – it wasn't – and empowerment of businessman Alejandro Betancourt, who is currently under criminal investigation, in Venezuela's oil sector. To the administration's supporters, Machado's return is a positive milestone, as the State Department reforms the Venezuelan system to allow her to run for the presidency – while it directs more of its focus on America-first policy priorities: combating drug trafficking (made easier with Rodríguez than Maduro) and leveraging commercial opportunities.
At its core, that is the Donroe Doctrine: a United States that acts unilaterally in its own interest in its hemisphere, without second-guessing international law or norms around sovereignty. There is an interest in promoting democracy, but US-friendly leaders are the more pressing goal. (And, as Brazil showed Trump, those don't always come from elections.) The Donroe Doctrine has likewise led to the American pressure campaign against Cuba, which has involved a thus far unsuccessful search for an equivalent to Delcy Rodríguez in order to manage an aspirational democratic transition: a unilateral move to install a more palatable head of state who can eventually preside over the establishment of a new political order.
The path forward for Machado and Venezuelan democracy is uncertain. There are going to be elections eventually. The prospects for Venezuela returning to a functional representative government are the best they have been in decades. But the transition to democracy is being slow-played by an administration that has deprioritized it, has only two years left in its term, and is experiencing a collapse of political support in the US. Building a sustainable democratic model is difficult in the best circumstances – building it in this environment... well, let's see.
Machado's return is a step forward. Now, Venezuela's democratic institutions must return from their exile.
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What recent elections say about voter frustration
11h
In this ‘ask ian,’ Ian Bremmer says recent elections around the world point to a common trend: voters are increasingly unhappy with their governments as inflation, security concerns and economic pressures shape political outcomes.
Ian cautions against seeing recent results as a broad victory for either the left or the right. Instead, “a lot of people continue to be really angry with their existing governments,” with high turnout reflecting growing interest in politics. In Brazil, Ian says affordability and concerns over social benefits helped drive Lula’s victory, while in Serbia, young voters rallied against a government they saw as unaccountable.
Ian argues that this sentiment is spreading across countries, including Europe and Israel, and could be reflected in upcoming US midterm elections.
The tough path ahead to power in Israel
13h
Israelis turned out in droves on Tuesday for an election billed as one of the most consequential in the country’s history – and they still don’t know who won.
About 77% of Israel’s eligible voters cast ballots, the highest in more than two decades, to decide whether to give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition another term or hand power to a loosely organized opposition led by former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot.
Most votes are counted, and no clear winner has emerged. As it stands, results show that Netanyahu’s bloc will likely win about 54 seats, Eisenkot’s about 48, and the two Arab parties are expected to win the remaining 18 or 19 seats. With no clear winner, Israel looks to be in political gridlock.
What happens next? First, more vote counting. Official results will likely not be complete until Friday. But then comes the complex task of forming a government.
In Israel’s political system, a party needs support from at least 61 lawmakers to govern. Once the results are finalized, the Israeli president will task the candidate most likely to command a majority with forming a government. But both Netanyahu and Eisenkot face hurdles to creating a majority. They need agreements – and potentially to make significant policy concessions – with other parties, but deep ideological differences make that difficult.
That could leave Arab parties with a pivotal role. Arab citizens make up roughly a fifth of Israel’s population, and they turned out in record numbers on Tuesday, with turnout in most Arab-majority cities up five percentage points from 2022. The two main Arab-led parties, Ra’am, a conservative Islamist party, and the Joint List, a broad alliance of center and center-left Arab parties, could win a potential record 19 seats, up from 10 in the outgoing parliament.
But neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot is eager to work with them. For Netanyahu, Arab party leaders rallied supporters to oust him, and joining forces with them would risk alienating his far-right coalition partners. For Eisenkot, he would likely have to compromise on security, foreign policy, and policing in Arab cities to gain their support, potentially driving away his own allies.
“There is a bold scenario where Eisenkot will present a minority government to get a vote of confidence in the Knesset,” says Arie Kacowicz, professor of international relations at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “But he needs the active support of at least one, if not two, Arab parties.”
If neither side forms a majority, Israel could head to another election, with Netanyahu remaining in power as a caretaker prime minister in the meantime. It wouldn’t be unprecedented: Israel held five elections between 2019 and 2022 because of a similar deadlock.
What does this mean beyond Israel? A prolonged political stalemate could complicate Israel’s response to its foreign policy challenges – from Iran, to Hezbollah in Lebanon, to Hamas in Gaza. Netanyahu might remain in office, but as a caretaker prime minister with limited authority and certainly no mandate to govern. That could make major diplomatic and security decisions harder, particularly as Israel tries to repair strained relationships abroad with Europe and other former allies. Regardless of who, if anyone, forms a government, they might be distracted by domestic politics and worried their coalition might fall apart.
For now, Israelis have cast their ballots. But they may have to wait a while to learn who will lead them.
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Fuel costs halt three-year cruise around the world
14h
Ship owner Villa Vie Residences told passengers the cruise would end its journey early in Cambodia because refueling costs have jumped more than 300% since the start of the Iran war. Some passengers have now flown home, while others are still waiting in the port city of Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The ship, Odyssey, was one of the few designed for long-term residency, with some passengers planning to live on the ship for decades. It first began its journey in October 2024.
Flávio Bolsonaro lands in the US, European leaders plead with Putin, South Africa sends troops to quell unrest
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Brazil’s Bolsonaro Jr flees to the US after election loss
Bem-vindo a Miami! Flávio Bolsonaro, the right-winger who lost Brazil’s presidential runoff to incumbent lefty Lula on Sunday, landed in the Magic City with his family on Wednesday morning. Bolsonaro, who is under investigation for money laundering in Brazil, fled after Brazilian police demanded his passport late Sunday. The US has granted him political asylum. Bolsonaro, along with prominent Trump-aligned voices in the US, rejects the election results and says the legal charges against him are “lawfare.” Harboring Bolsonaro will complicate Trump’s relationship with Latin America’s largest economy, where Lula will begin his fourth term as president in January. But with Bolsonaro’s brother Eduardo also in US exile, while their father Jair remains under house arrest for plotting a coup to overturn his own 2022 re-election loss to Lula, this could also allow other prominent rightwing voices in Brazil to eclipse the Bolsonaros as leaders of the conservative opposition.
Finland and Norway phone Putin
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a rare phone call yesterday with Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine, breaking with Europe’s policy of not holding direct talks with Russia. The two countries, which border Russia, emphasized that they were not speaking on behalf of Europe – but said that ending the war required direct discussions. However, other European leaders, including Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen and Sweden’s Ulf Kristersson, criticized the three-way call, saying that it risked dividing Europe’s front. Nothing concrete appears to have come out of the conversation. As the four-year war drags on, the call comes at a precarious moment: talks between the US, Russia, and Ukraine are due to take place in Abu Dhabi next month, while US President Donald Trump takes an increasingly favorable stance on Russia, clearing the path for the US to buy millions of dollars of Russian diesel earlier this month.
South Africa deploys troops to tamp down on anti-immigrant violence
South Africa deployed 500 soldiers to the city of Durban yesterday as xenophobic violence continues to rock the country. Since the beginning of the year, protesters have taken to the streets across South Africa, blaming migrants for the country’s staggering unemployment rates, one of the highest in the world. Demonstrations have frequently turned violent, with a foreign national beaten to death during a march in Durban last week. Anti-immigrant violence has escalated to the point that several African nations, including Mozambique, Ghana, and Nigeria, have repatriated thousands of citizens over safety concerns. President Cyril Ramaphosa linked the recent wave of violence to misinformation surrounding a recent court ruling. Some had interpreted the decision as granting undocumented immigrants citizenship and voting rights, raising tensions ahead of next week’s municipal elections.
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So many summits, so little substance. Or is that really the case?
Three major UN environmental summits are occurring late this year. What do they actually accomplish?
On the ground at COP17 in Yerevan, Armenia, Eurasia Group's María José Valverde looks beyond the speeches and negotiations at the practical initiatives these conferences can produce: funding Indigenous-led conservation, researching cattle that produce less methane, and attracting investment to restore degraded farmland.
“These conferences can do real good,” she explains. But with climate change and nature loss accelerating, can those individual successes add up fast enough?
Sudan marks a grim anniversary this week. Tens of thousands still remain missing after the RSF’s siege of El Fasher. The RSF also remains in control of the city, and the civil war continues to drag on with seemingly no end in sight. To mark the occasion, the British government has sanctioned 15 Sudanese military leaders from both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rebel RSF over their involvement in sexual violence during the atrocities in El Fasher. But the sanctions are a relatively small response to what some have called one of the worst massacres of the century. Since Sudan’s civil war began, more than 14 million people – roughly a quarter of the population – have been displaced, while an estimated 150,000 have been killed.
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Student protests get concessions in France, India and China’s dam battle, Bolsonaro ordered to remain in Brazil
October 27, 2026
France offers concessions to protesters
After weeks of student-led protests over poor conditions in French schools, the government has promised to dedicate €4 billion ($4.5 billion) to school renovations, improve teaching, implement other education reforms, and to replace its controversial university admissions platform by 2028. But while representatives from two student groups welcomed the concessions, they said the government had not yet met their demands and called for protests to continue. The groups also asked for 250,000 additional university places after its admissions platform left many unable to attend, while the government pledged just 15,000. Even so, the 2028 deadline allows President Emmanuel Macron to pass the problem to his successor, with far-right Marine Le Pen currently leading polls.
Protests escalate in India over Chinese dam
India has deployed security forces to the remote Siang Valley in northeast India after protests over a proposed mega-dam turned violent last week. Protesters set fire to a police station and the country’s National Hydroelectric Power Corporation offices to protest the dam, which India plans to build in response to a major Chinese hydropower project further upstream. India fears China’s hydropower project, which will be the world’s largest, could let it control the river's flow and potentially reduce its stream by up to 85% during dry seasons. The river currently supplies water to more than 100 million people in China, India, and Bangladesh. But protesters say India’s proposed dam could flood an estimated 27 villages in the province and affect at least 40 more, sparking protests as water becomes an increasingly contested resource.
Bolsonaro ordered not to leave Brazil after election loss
Just two days after losing Brazil’s presidential election, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro has been ordered to surrender his passports to prevent him from fleeing the country. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who also oversaw the trial that convicted Flávio’s father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, for attempting to overturn the 2022 election, ordered the move because of Flávio’s potential involvement in an ongoing money laundering investigation. When Flávio Bolsonaro’s Senate term ends early next year, his special judicial immunity will also expire, potentially opening the door to prosecution over corruption allegations that plagued his presidential campaign. The Supreme Court’s actions risk further inflaming tensions in an already polarized country, particularly after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s remarkable second-round comeback, which many on the Brazilian right have claimed was the result of a stolen election.
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In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer breaks down Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s historic re-election victory and what it means for the country’s political future and democracy.
Ian says Lula’s win defied a broader conservative wave across Latin America, despite his opponent Flávio Bolsonaro appearing favored after the first round. Higher-than-expected turnout and Lula’s expanded social benefits helped drive the result, while concerns over the election process have fueled claims that the vote was stolen.
Ian acknowledges “significant irregularities” around voting access but says they did not change the outcome, noting that Lula won by three points. He warns that the growing refusal by political leaders and their supporters to accept election results they dislike poses a broader threat to democracy.
Overall, Lula’s victory marks a notable shift for a region that has recently seen a string of conservative electoral wins. Ian says Brazil’s result is particularly significant given its size and influence as Latin America’s largest economy, but warns that the country’s political divisions are far from settled.
Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva staged an astonishing comeback on Sunday to win a record fourth term, breaking a string of recent right-wing victories in Latin America. His opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro, has so far refused to accept the results – echoing his father, Jair Bolsonaro, who refused to accept a loss to Lula in 2022.
Lula’s victory marked the first time that a Brazilian candidate has finished second in the first round of the election, only to come back to win the runoff. And yet Lula, now 80 years old, won 51.8% of the runoff vote with a margin of more than four million votes.
Lula’s strategy shifted significantly after his first-round loss, launching an intense online campaign which saw him gain 10 million votes – compared to Bolsonaro’s gain of just 3.6 million. This was driven by increased turnout – the abstention rate dropped from 21% to 19% – and the re-allocation of votes that had been cast for other candidates in the first round.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro has called for the election to be annulled, claiming election interference: A judge extended voting by two hours on the day because voters had struggled to reach polling sites due to weather and public transport disruptions.
But given the margin of victory, his challenges are unlikely to see much success. What’s more, leaders around Latin America, including right-wingers like Colombia’s Abelardo de la Espriella, Peru’s Keiko Fujimori, and Chile’s José Antonio Kast have already congratulated Lula on his victory. The Trump administration, which is close to the Bolsonaro family but did not formally endorse either candidate, has yet to release a statement on the election.
However, Lula now faces a rocky term in office. He doesn’t control Congress or the Senate, where Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party won the largest share of seats earlier this month. Conservative forces now dominate key state governorships as well. And he faces a challenging economic outlook: public debt is now over 82% of GDP, its highest since the pandemic, while forecasts suggest the economy will grow just 2.3% next year. On top of all of this, Lula, who turns 81 tomorrow and will enter his final term, must also find a successor to lead his leftwing Workers Party, which he has now dominated for more than 40 years.
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That ban is much to the dismay of inmate Andre McKechnie, who sued Victoria’s Department of Justice and Corrections and argued that the ban violated his right to “enjoy his culture as an Australian.” But on Monday, Victoria’s Supreme Court rejected his challenge. Invented in the 1920s as an alternative to the then-popular Marmite, Vegemite was banned in 2006 from Victoria’s prisons over concerns that its pungent smell could be used to conceal contraband or throw drug sniffing dogs off the scent.
Venezuela’s opposition leader finally returns, Students win big in Serbia election, Algeria to send troops to Niger
October 26, 2026
Venezuela’s leading opposition figure returns home
After ten months in exile, Maria Corina Machado is back in Venezuela. Until now she has been largely sidelined by the Trump administration, which ousted strongman Nicolás Maduro in January and installed his deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, instead. Machado wants elections by July, and polls show she is the country’s most popular political figure. Rodríguez has pledged a vote, but given no timetable, and is currently holding US-backed talks with parts of the opposition that exclude Machado. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has focused on securing control over Venezuela’s vast oil resources, striking controversial deals that Machado herself has criticized. Washington has tacitly allowed Venezuela to bar Machado’s return at least half a dozen times in recent weeks. But with popular pressure growing inside of Venezuela, the White House relented. Now the intrigue begins: Rodríguez is pliant but widely reviled, while Machado is popular but has criticized Trump’s approach so far.
Students oust Serbian longtime leader
Serbia’s student-backed protest movement ousted Aleksandar Vučić and his SNS party in Sunday’s parliamentary election. The Student List party – candidates endorsed by the student protesters – won 140 seats to SNS’s 103, giving them an outright majority. Although many expected Vučić to contest the results, he quickly conceded. Now, student leaders face a major question: how do you actually run a country? Their movement over the last two years was built around opposition to corruption they associate with Vučić and the SNS, but will have to start delivering on their promises of reform. Many of the Student List candidates who won lack political experience: they are former academics or popular figures who were chosen because they had no ties to either the ruling party or the traditional opposition. They now face the daunting task of unwinding 14 years of SNS rule while also learning how to govern a country.
Algeria to send troops to Niger amid security concerns
Algeria announced over the weekend that it would send troops to its southern neighbor Niger, its first overseas military deployment since it sent forces to Egypt during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. Islamist insurgencies have intensified across Niger and the broader Sahel following a series of military coups in recent years, and Algeria is increasingly concerned about security along its southern border. It’s also worried about its energy interests in the region, including a planned pipeline that would transport natural gas from Nigeria through Niger and to Algeria. The move is a significant change for Algeria, which has typically avoided military involvement abroad in recent decades and maintains tense relationships with several of its neighbors. Until recently, its constitution restricted the military from operating outside the country’s borders. But a constitutional amendment in 2020 opened the door to foreign deployments, and Algeria now appears ready to put that authority to use.
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As AI becomes part of everyday life, access to technology is only part of the equation. Last week, Microsoft announced it's expanding its community-first approach to AI literacy, including new no-cost training with the Public Library Association and expanded support through Elevate for Changemakers and TechSpark. Together, these efforts put trusted local institutions at the center, helping communities build the skills, judgment, and confidence to navigate AI responsibly.
Read more here.