Latin America

Republicans have proposed the remittance tax as part of a broader push to crack down on undocumented immigration.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has denounced a provision in a tax bill being considered in the United States Congress that would impose duties on remittances — a term used to describe the money people send abroad for non-commercial reasons, often as gifts to family and loved ones.

On Thursday, during her morning news conference, Sheinbaum addressed the tax bill directly, calling the remittances proposal “a measure that is unacceptable”.

“It would result in double taxation, since Mexicans living in the United States already pay taxes,” she said.

She added that her government was reaching out to other countries with large immigrant populations to voice concern about the US proposition.

“This will not just affect Mexico,” she said. “It will also affect many other countries and many other Latin American countries.”

According to World Bank data from 2024, India is the top recipient of international remittances, with $129bn coming from abroad, followed by Mexico with more than $68bn.

In Mexico, in particular, experts estimate that remittances make up close to 4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

But a far-reaching tax bill championed by US President Donald Trump includes language that would impose a 5-percent excise tax on remittances sent specifically by non-citizens, including visa holders and permanent residents.

That bill would affect nearly 40 million people living in the country. US citizens, however, would be exempt from the remittance tax.

Trump has led a campaign to discourage immigration to the US and promote “mass deportation” during his second term in office, as part of his “America First” agenda.

Proponents of that platform say taxing remittances would serve as clear deterrence to immigrants who come to the US looking for better economic opportunities for themselves and any loved ones they hope to support back home.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration think tank, told The Associated Press news agency that he believes barriers to remittances can help curb undocumented immigration to the US.

“One of the main reasons people come here is to work and send money home,” Krikorian said. “If that’s much more difficult to do, it becomes less appealing to come here.”

Under the bill being weighed in the House of Representatives, the 5-percent tax would be paid by the sender and collected by “remittance transfer providers”, who would then send that money to the US Treasury.

But President Sheinbaum and other leaders have called on Republicans in Congress to reconsider that provision, given the unintended consequences it could create. Sheinbaum even suggested that the tax could be seen as unconstitutional in the US.

“This is an injustice, apart from being unconstitutional,” she said on Thursday. “But in addition, it is the tax on those who have the least. They should charge taxes to those at the top, not those at the bottom.”

Critics of the measure point out that remittances can help stabilise impoverished areas abroad, thereby limiting the likelihood of undocumented migration from those areas.

Additional barriers to sending remittances could create economic setbacks for those communities, not to mention make the process more difficult for US citizens who are exempted from the proposed tax.

Still, even if the tax bill is defeated or the provision on remittances removed, the Trump administration has signalled it plans to move forward with other measures designed to discourage migrants from sending funds abroad.

On April 25, Trump posted on his media platform, Truth Social, a list of “weekly policy achievements”.

On the final page, the top bullet point under “international relations” was “finalizing a Presidential Memorandum to shut down remittances sent by illegal aliens outside the United States”. Trump called the document a “MUST READ”.

Two-year-old Maikelys Espinoza Bernal was reunited with her mother in Venezuela following calls for her return.

A Venezuelan toddler who was separated from her parents after they crossed the United States-Mexico border together has been returned to Venezuela, to where her mother was deported in April.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro thanked the administration of United States President Donald Trump for the return on Wednesday of two-year-old Maikelys Espinoza Bernal to her mother, Yorely Bernal.

“We must be thankful for all the efforts, for [Trump special envoy] Rich Grenell for his efforts … and thank Donald Trump, too,” Maduro said, calling the child’s return “an act of justice”.

Both of the toddler’s parents were accused by the Trump administration of involvement with the Tren de Aragua gang, a claim for which the government has offered no evidence and is firmly denied by family members.

The child’s father, 25-year-old Maiker Espinoza, was among at least 137 Venezuelans sent to a prison in El Salvador in March.

Venezuelan officials had sought the return of Maikelys, and footage shown on state television showed First Lady Cilia Flores holding Maikelys after she arrived at an international airport near the capital of Caracas.

The child was reunited with her mother and grandmother in an event at the presidential palace attended by Maduro, who has voiced occasional criticism of Trump’s deportation push but reached an agreement in March to receive Venezuelans deported from the US.

The Trump administration has invoked sometimes vague and unsubstantiated claims of Tren de Aragua membership to send Venezuelan migrants to CECOT, a maximum security prison in El Salvador, notorious for abusive conditions, without due process under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

The toddler’s father, 25-year-old Maiker Espinoza, has been accused by the Trump administration, without evidence, of being a “lieutenant” in Tren de Aragua who oversees “homicides, drug sales, kidnappings, extortion, sex trafficking and operates a torture house”.

“At no time has my son been involved with them,” his mother, Maria Escalona, told the news agency Reuters this month, of claims that her son is a member of Tren de Aragua. “I think this is political – they are using the case of my son to cover up the horror that is being committed against all these innocents.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also accused Yorely Bernal of recruiting young women for narcotics smuggling and sex work, but has not provided any evidence for those claims and deported her to Venezuela in April.

The Trump administration has invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used wartime law that grants the president powers to expeditiously expel people from the country without usual protections, under the pretext that irregular migration to the US constitutes a foreign “invasion”.

A report by the US intelligence community found no evidence for public claims by the Trump administration that Tren de Aragua was coordinating activities with the Maduro government as part of a clandestine attack on the United States.

On Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard fired two top members of the intelligence body that authored that assessment.

As Bolivia hurtles towards a hotly contested August 17 presidential election, two major shake-ups may shape the outcome of the race.

On Wednesday, incumbent President Luis Arce announced he would abandon his bid for re-election after a five-year term defined by turmoil.

“Today I firmly inform the Bolivian people of my decision to decline my candidacy for presidential re-election in the elections next August,” he wrote on social media.

“I do so with the clearest conviction that I will not be a factor in dividing the popular vote, much less facilitate the making of a fascist right-wing project that seeks to destroy the plurinational state.”

That same day, Bolivia’s constitutional court also ruled that Arce’s former political mentor, now rival, Evo Morales, could not run for another term as president, upholding a two-term limit.

But the left-wing Morales, the embattled former president who previously served three terms in office and attempted to claim a fourth, remained defiant on social media afterwards.

“Only the people can ask me to decline my candidacy,” Morales wrote. “We will obey the mandate of the people to save Bolivia, once again.”

The two announcements on Wednesday have added further uncertainty to an already tumultuous presidential race, where no clear frontrunner has emerged so far.

Arce’s decline

Since his election in 2020, Arce has led Bolivia, following a political crisis that saw Morales flee the country and a right-wing president briefly take his place.

But Arce’s tenure has been similarly mired in upheaval, as his relationship with Morales fractured and his government saw its popularity slip.

Both men are associated with a left-wing political party known as the Movement for Socialism (MAS), which Morales helped to found. Since its establishment three decades ago, the group has become one of the most prominent forces in Bolivian politics.

Still, in the lead-up to August’s election, Arce saw his poll numbers decline. Bolivia’s inflation over the past year has ballooned to its highest level in a decade, and the value of its currency has plummeted.

The country’s central bank has run low on its reserves of hard currency, and a black market has emerged where the value of the Bolivian currency is half its official exchange rate. And where once the country was an exporter of natural gas, it now relies on imports to address energy shortages.

While experts say some of these issues predate Arce’s term in office, public sentiment has nevertheless turned against his administration. That, in turn, has led some to speculate that Bolivia could be in store for a political shift this election year.

Arce himself has had to deal with the power of a rising right-wing movement in Bolivia. In 2022, for instance, his government’s decision to delay a countrywide census sparked deadly protests in areas like Santa Cruz, where some Christian conservative activists expected surveys to show growth.

That population increase was expected to lead to more government funds, and potentially boost the number of legislative seats assigned to the department.

Arce also faced opposition from within his own coalition, most notably from Morales, his former boss. He had previously served as an economy and finance minister under Morales.

The division between the two leaders translated into a schism in the MAS membership, with some identifying as Morales loyalists and others backing Arce.

That split came to a head in June 2024, when Arce’s hand-picked army general, Juan Jose Zuniga, led an unsuccessful coup d’etat against him. Zuniga publicly blamed Arce for Bolivia’s impoverishment, as well as mismanagement in the government.

Morales has seized upon the popular discontent to advance his own ambitions of seeking a fourth term as president. After the coup, he launched a protest march against his former political ally and tried to set an ultimatum to force changes.

After dropping out of the 2025 presidential race on Wednesday, Arce called for “the broadest unity” in Bolivia’s left-wing political movement. He said a show of strength behind a single candidate was necessary for “defeating the plunderers of Bolivia”.

“Only the united struggle of the people ensures the best future for Bolivia. Our vote will be united against the threat of the right and fascism,” he wrote on social media.

Morales continues to fight term limits

But a wild card remains on the left of Bolivia’s political spectrum: Morales himself.

Considered Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, Morales remains a relatively popular figure, though recent scandals have dented his broad appeal.

First elected as president in 2005, Morales was re-elected twice. But his attempts to remain in office culminated with the 2019 election and subsequent political crisis, which saw Morales resign and flee abroad amid accusations that his victory was the result of electoral fraud.

Morales has long sought a fourth term as president. In 2016, a referendum was put to Bolivia’s voters that would have scrapped presidential term limits, but it was rejected. Still, Morales appealed to Bolivia’s Constitutional Court, and in 2019, it allowed him to seek a fourth term.

That led to accusations that Morales had overturned the will of the voters in an anti-democratic power grab.

But the court has since walked back that precedent, reversing its decision four years later in 2023. It has since upheld that decision on term limits multiple times, most recently on Wednesday, effectively barring Morales from the upcoming August race.

Separately, last October, Morales faced charges of statutory rape for allegedly fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while president. Morales has denied any wrongdoing and has sought to evade warrants issued for his arrest.

Media reports indicate he is holed up with supporters in the rural department of Cochabamba in the north of Bolivia.

Still, in February, Morales announced his bid for re-election. And on Wednesday, he denounced the Constitutional Court’s latest ruling upholding Bolivia’s two-term limit as a violation of his human rights. He also framed it as part of a broader pattern of foreign interference.

“It is a political and partisan ruling that obeys the orders of the eternal enemy of the people: the US empire,” he wrote on social media.

Brazil, China call for direct talks as the “only way to end the conflict” between Russia and Ukraine.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has pledged to press his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to attend negotiations with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkiye, adding to calls on Moscow to enter talks and end its three-year war.

Lula is expected to stop in the Russian capital on the way back from attending a regional forum in China.

“I’ll try to talk to Putin,” Lula said at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday before his departure.

“It costs me nothing to say, ‘hey, comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate, dammit,’” he said.

The negotiations, expected to take place on Thursday in Turkiye’s commercial hub, Istanbul, would be the first direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow since 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

Lula’s comments come after the Ukrainian foreign minister urged Brazil to use its influence with Russia to secure a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy.

Brazil and China issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling for direct negotiations as the “only way to end the conflict”.

Zelenskyy earlier dared Putin to meet him in Turkiye, saying if he does not show up, it would show that Moscow is not interested in peace.

He also urged United States President Donald Trump, currently on a tour of Middle Eastern countries, to also visit Turkiye and participate in the talks.

Trump had announced that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would participate in the talks in Istanbul.

A State Department official said Rubio was expected to be in Istanbul on Friday.

The Kremlin has not yet specified whether Putin will attend in person, stating only that the “Russian delegation will be present”.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Moscow was ready for serious talks on Ukraine, but doubted Kyiv’s capacity for negotiations.

Jose “Pepe” Mujica, a former leftist rebel who became Uruguay’s president from 2010 to 2015, has died at the age of 89.

Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi announced his death in a social media post on Tuesday. Mujica had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2024.

“It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of our comrade Pepe Mujica,” Orsi wrote. “Thank you for everything you gave us and for your deep love for your people.”

Mujica became an icon even beyond Uruguay’s borders, as he led his country to pursue environmental reforms, legalise same-sex marriage and loosen restrictions on marijuana.

He also was celebrated for maintaining his simple lifestyle even during his presidency, when he eschewed the presidential palace in favour of the farmhouse where he grew flowers. He told Al Jazeera in 2022 that such opulence can “divorce” presidents from their people.

“I believe that politicians should live like the majority of their people, not like how the privileged minority lives,” Mujica explained.

News of Mujica’s death has been met with tributes from around the world, particularly from figures on the Latin American left.

“We deeply regret the passing of our beloved Pepe Mujica, an example to Latin America and the entire world for his wisdom, foresight, and simplicity,” Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on social media.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, meanwhile, remembered Mujica’s optimism in a post of his own.

“If you left us anything, it was the unquenchable hope that things can be done better,” he wrote.

For his part, Colombian President Gustavo Petro offered a tribute to Mujica that doubled as a call for greater collaboration and integration across Latin America.

“Goodbye, friend,” Petro wrote in the wake of Mujica’s passing, as he envisioned a more unified region. “I hope that Latin America will one day have an anthem.”

Mujica became a symbol to a generation of political leaders helping to steer their countries out of military dictatorships during the latter half of the 20th century. Like Petro, Mujica was likewise a former rebel fighter.

As a young man in the 1960s, he led armed fighters as part of the far-left Tupamaros movement, which was known for robbing banks, taking over towns and even exchanging gunfire with local police.

Mujica was arrested multiple times and spent nearly a decade in solitary confinement, in a prison where he endured torture.

A government crackdown on the left-wing fighters helped pave the way for a coup in 1973, followed by a brutal military dictatorship that perpetrated human rights abuses like forced disappearances. But in 1985, Uruguay began its transition to democracy, and Mujica and other rebel fighters were released under an amnesty law.

He started to become a force in Uruguay’s politics, joining the Frente Amplio or Broad Front, a centre-left coalition with other former fighters.

After he was elected president at age 74, Mujica staked out progressive stances on civil liberties and social issues including abortion and gay marriage, and he even pushed for the legalisation of marijuana. He also emphasised the development of green energy practices, putting Uruguay at the forefront of addressing the climate crisis.

His long-term partner Lucia Topolansky, whom he met during his time with the Tupamaros, was also politically active, and she served as his vice president after they were married in 2005.

While president, Mujica famously shunned the presidential residence and remained at his flower farm on the outskirts of the capital of Montevideo. He also drove a weathered blue Volkswagen Beetle, one of his trademarks. His modest lifestyle led some to dub him the “world’s poorest president”.

“We elect a president, and it’s as if they’re a candidate to be king, someone with a court, a red carpet, who has to live in a fancy palace,” he told Al Jazeera in 2022, before adding with characteristic bluntness: “Don’t blame the pig, but those who scratch his back.”

Mujica remained a prominent public figure even after leaving the presidency, attending the inauguration of political leaders across Latin America and offering support to candidates in Uruguay, among them Orsi, who was elected in 2024.

“The problem is that the world is run by old people, who forget what they were like when they were young,” Mujica said during a 2024 interview with the news agency Reuters.

Mujica was informed in September 2024 that radiation treatment had effectively targeted cancer of the esophagus, but a doctor reported in January 2025 that the cancer had returned and spread to his liver.

The former rebel and president did not seem overly concerned.

“Honestly, I’m dying,” Mujica told the weekly magazine Busqueda in what he said would be his last interview. “A warrior has the right to rest.”

Vatican City – It felt like the square could talk in one voice: “Leone! Leone! Leone!”

Thousands of people in St Peter’s Square chanted in chorus the name adopted by Robert Prevost as he ascended to the papacy on Thursday: Leo XIV.

Just an hour and a half earlier, white smoke had billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, announcing that a conclave of cardinals had elected a new leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Now, it was time to meet Pope Leo himself. A solemn silence fell across the square. The faithful waited to hear the pope’s first message, which would set the tone for his papacy.

“Peace be upon you,” said Leo XIV, appearing on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.

He proceeded to repeat a blessing uttered by his late predecessor, Pope Francis, just weeks earlier: “God loves us, God loves everyone, and evil will not prevail. We are in the hands of God.”

It was a closely watched moment, with red-hatted cardinals poking out of nearby windows to catch their first glimpse at the newly minted pontiff.

Pope Leo XIV was elected on the second day of the conclave, and his opening remarks as leader signalled continuity with Francis, who died on April 21 at age 88. But experts say he is likely to strike a middle path, between furthering Francis’s inclusive agenda and embracing Vatican tradition.

“Peace” was one of the most used words in his brief speech — a choice meant to echo the words that Jesus pronounced after Easter, as Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni explained during a news briefing.

Leo XIV called on Catholics to seek “a disarmed peace and a disarming peace” through “dialogue” and “building bridges”, in a brief speech heavy with themes of unity.

“Bravo! That is what we need!” one audience member in the square shouted as the new pope spoke.

Another, 29-year-old Kasper Mihalak from Denmark, was squeezed in the middle of the crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of the first North American pope.

“I am really excited. Cardinal Prevost, now Leo XIV — it’s gonna be amazing! He said a lot about peace during his speech. I think the world now really needs it,” Mihalak said.

Rosaria Venuto could hardly hold back her tears. Early in the morning, she picked up her two children and drove four hours from Ascoli Satriano, a small town in the southern Italian province of Apulia, to be in St Peter’s Square.

“I am deeply moved to have the chance to be here and live through this joy and be a small part of this historical event,” she said.

His own man

Born in Chicago, a midwestern city in the United States, Leo XIV spent more than two decades in Peru, where he acquired dual citizenship.

There, he worked in some of Peru’s poorest areas, and he eventually became the bishop of Chiclayo, in the country’s agricultural north. Then, in 2023, Pope Francis appointed him to lead a powerful office that manages bishops across the world.

Phil Pullella, a Vatican expert who has covered the papacy for more than four decades, said that background offers a degree of continuity with Francis, who hailed from Argentina and advocated against poverty.

“He knows about poverty in Latin America,” Pullella said of Leo XIV. “So, he’s not the same thing as if they had elected some cardinal of New York, for example.”

That continuity was likely appreciated by conservative camps at the Vatican, as well as liberal-leaning ones, Pullella added.

“He comes from the wealthy world, but he witnessed firsthand the problems of the Global South in a poor country,” he said.

Still, Pullella noted that the way Leo XIV dressed showed that “he is going to be his own man”.

Instead of the simple white cassock that Pope Francis wore in 2013 when he was elected, Leo XIII added a traditional red cape over his vest, symbolising the spiritual and temporal powers of his office.

“In a sense, he is going back a little bit to that kind of tradition,” Pullella said. “He would not have been elected had he not had the votes of the conservative bloc.”

A unifying figure

Leo XIV’s election came as a surprise to many. Many observers were betting on a new pope by nightfall, but few expected only three rounds of voting.

The crowd was stunned when white smoke started to pour out of the tiny chimney by early evening, at around 6:09pm local time (16:00 GMT).

That was the signal that — of the 133 cardinals under the age of 80 who were eligible to vote — a candidate had received the two-thirds majority needed to become pope.

This year’s conclave had the distinction of being the most international in the Vatican’s history: The participating cardinals hailed from more than 70 countries, representing divergent views for the Catholic Church’s future.

The diversity was part of the legacy of Pope Francis, who appointed cardinals from underrepresented countries like Laos and Haiti to broaden the church’s global appeal.

Francis spent 12 years as head of the Catholic Church, shaking up the establishment by adopting a distinct style and tone, focused on austerity and advocacy for marginalised populations.

The late pope’s efforts caused excitement among reformers but also dismay among conservatives, who accused him of diluting the Church’s teachings. Experts say that led to a deep polarisation within the church, with some members criticising Francis for decentralising the church’s authority.

Those experts point out that Leo XIV’s experience in the Roman Curia — the church’s government — was likely a selling point among conservative conclave voters looking for stability in the years ahead.

What’s in a name?

While Pope Leo XIV’s first moves are yet to be revealed, his choice of name is noteworthy.

Bruni, the Vatican spokesperson, noted that “Leo” is a direct reference to Pope Leo XIII, who adopted a new social doctrine in the late 19th century.

In 1891, Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical — or papal letter — known as the Rerum Novarum. It called on Catholics to address the “wretchedness” facing the working class, amid the upheavals of industrialisation and political changes like the unification of Italy.

That encyclical marked a radical new approach to workers, and it triggered the creation of Catholic newspapers, social cooperatives and banks — a social movement that is still alive today.

Bruni said the current Pope Leo hoped to draw a parallel to that time, with its technological revolutions.

“It is not a casual reference to the men and women of their work at a time of artificial intelligence,” Bruni explained.

Robert Orsi, a professor of religious studies at Northwestern University, said the name choice could also signify other historical parallels.

Leo XIII “strongly put down a movement called Americanism,” said Orsi.

“This movement was a kind of nationalist impulse within Catholicism, with national churches claiming to have their own identities, their own particular ways of doing things,” he explained. “And I think by choosing the name Leo XIV, this pope was, without a doubt, signalling a return to a global Catholicism.”

Pullella also believes it is noteworthy that, while Leo XIV mentioned his parishioners in Peru, he avoided highlighting his ties with the US.

“I think it’s very significant that he did not give a shout-out to the United States. He didn’t say, ‘I’m from America.’ He didn’t speak in English,” Pullella said.

That sent a message that “basically he’s not owned by the United States”, Pullella added. Leo XIV has previously been critical of the administration of US President Donald Trump over issues like nationalism and migration, just as the late Pope Francis was.

Still, Orsi predicted the Vatican under the new Pope Leo would be “subtle and wise” in how he deals with Trump in the years to come.

The increased price tag is a result of Trump’s tariffs on auto imports which car companies ultimately will pass on to consumers for cars that will hit dealer lots in June.

Ford Motor Company has raised prices for three of its vehicles produced in Mexico, becoming one of the first major carmakers to adjust sticker prices following US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The new prices took effect on vehicles produced on May 2 or later, according to the news agency Reuters, which first reported the story on Wednesday.

Prices on the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV, Maverick pick-up — one of its most affordable and popular vehicles— and Bronco Sport will increase by as much as $2,000 on some models, according to a notice sent to dealers, which was reviewed by Reuters.  A Ford spokesperson said the cars with the raised price tag would arrive at dealer lots in late June.

Ford said the trade war would add about $2.5bn in costs for 2025, but it expects to reduce that exposure by about $1bn. General Motors said last week that tariffs were projected to cost it between $4bn and $5bn following the imposition of hefty levies on foreign imports of automobiles, but it expected to offset that by at least 30 percent.

Trump’s tariffs have unleashed weeks of uncertainty across the auto sector, as major carmakers in the United States and Europe have pulled forecasts, shifted production and caused companies to idle plants.

Following weeks of pushback from the auto industry, Trump softened his tariffs on foreign auto parts imports to give carmakers credits for what is produced in the US and to avoid double-tariffs on raw materials used in production. However, the White House has not rescinded a 25-percent tariff on the 8 million vehicles the US imports annually.

Ford is in a better position to weather tariffs than some of its competitors because of its strong US manufacturing base. The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker assembles 79 percent of its US-sold vehicles domestically, compared with GM’s 53 percent, according to an analyst note from Barclays.

Pricing pressure

Ford and GM also face significant levies on imports from China and South Korea, respectively. GM estimated that the costs on its Korean imports totalled about $2bn, while Ford declined to specify the expenses around importing vehicles from China.

Automakers that rely on exports to the US are facing increased pricing pressure. A dozen major carmakers, including Toyota and GM, import at least 40 percent of the vehicles they sell in the US, with some, such as Volkswagen and Hyundai Motor, importing more than 60 percent, according to 2024 data from S&P Global Mobility.

Before Ford’s move, most carmakers had not taken the step of boosting prices, but had warned that it was on the way. Porsche said it would have to boost its selling cost if tariffs remained in place, while US Volkswagen’s Audi brand also suggested potential price increases, without providing any details.

By contrast, BMW expects US car tariffs to decline from July, based on its contacts with US officials – a more upbeat assessment of the trade climate than many rivals. GM’s finance chief, Paul Jacobson, told analysts last week that the automaker was not expecting imminent price increases, saying they “feel good about where the pricing environment is today”.

Bolsonaro, who lost his re-election bid in 2022, had major abdominal surgery last month.

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has been discharged after spending three weeks in hospital recovering from major abdominal surgery.

The right-wing politician, who led the South American country between 2019 and 2022 before losing his re-election bid, was being treated for an intestinal obstruction before his release on Sunday.

He has had several medical complications, including six surgeries, since a 2018 stabbing that left him with lasting injuries.

The 70-year-old Bolsonaro had earlier on Sunday said on social media that he was set to be discharged, and even suggested that he would try to attend a rally on Wednesday being planned by supporters.

“I’m going home renewed. My next challenge: joining the Peaceful March for Humanitarian Amnesty on Wednesday, May 7,” Bolsonaro wrote.

The rally is being held in support of an amnesty for supporters of the former president who stormed government buildings following Bolsonaro’s loss to current Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022. Bolsonaro had refused to publically acknowledge his defeat at the time.

Bolsonaro had been touring the country attempting to drum up support for an amnesty for the January 2023 riots when he was hospitalised after experiencing severe abdominal pain during a political event in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte in April.

The ex-president, who is aligned with right-wing figures in the United States and elsewhere, has his own legal troubles, after Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled in March that he should stand trial for being part of an alleged plot to overturn his 2022 election loss.

Thirty-three others have been accused of being part of the coup plot, which reportedly included a plan to poison President Lula and kill a Supreme Court judge.

Bolsonaro has already been barred by the Supreme Court from running in any elections until 2030 over his abuse of power while he was in office, and spreading rumours that the country’s electronic voting system was rife with fraud.

Police believe attackers targeted LGBTQ fans attending American star’s free concert on Rio’s Copacabana Beach.

Brazilian police have arrested two people in connection with an alleged plot to detonate explosives at a Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro that drew more than two million people.

The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro said on social media on Sunday that it had thwarted a bomb attack that had been planned by the suspects for the free concert, held on the famous Copacabana Beach on Saturday.

The police added that an adult “responsible for the plan” had been arrested along with a teenager in an operation codenamed “Fake Monster” – a reference to “Little Monsters”, the star’s pet name for her fans.

The suspects, it said, had recruited people online to “carry out attacks using improvised explosives” in the aim of “gaining notoriety on social media”. Police working in coordination with the Justice Ministry carried out raids across Rio de Janeiro state as well as in the states of Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, and Mato Grosso.

Felipe Cury, secretary of the Rio Police, said on Sunday that authorities believed the suspects sought to target Brazil’s LGBTQ community as they had “clearly” stated they were planning an attack “motivated by sexual orientation”.

Rio Police Chief Luiz Lima said the group behind the plot disseminated hate speech and violent content online “in order to attract more viewers, more participants – most of them teenagers, many of them children”.

The show, which Rio City Hall said attracted 2.1 million people, went ahead without disruption even though Brazilian authorities said they had arrested suspects in the hours preceding the event.

A spokesperson for Lady Gaga said in a statement that the star and her team had not been aware of safety concerns “prior to and during the show”, only learning about the threat the next morning.

The statement added: “Her team worked closely with law enforcement throughout the planning and execution of the concert and all parties were confident in the safety measures in place.”

Security was tight at Saturday’s concert, with 5,200 military and police officers deployed to the beach where fans revelled in the pop singer’s classic hits like the song Born This Way, which became an LGBTQ anthem after its 2011 release.

The free beach concert stood out at a time of exorbitant ticket prices for live music around the world.

Alvarez sets up a bout with ex-welterweight champ Terrence Crawford after beating Scull by unanimous decision.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has re-unified the IBF super middleweight championship with his WBA (Super), WBC and WBO belts with a unanimous decision victory over William Scull, setting up a bout with former welterweight champion Terence Crawford in September.

Cuba’s Scull, who had an advantage in height and reach over Alvarez, was unable to find an answer to the Mexican’s methodical stalking and effective body blows as he suffered the first loss of his professional boxing career on Sunday.

“For me, it’s a boring fight. [Scull was] not trying to win, just trying to survive. I hate these kinds of fights,” Alvarez said in his post-fight interview after all three judges awarded him the victory (115-113, 116-112, 119-109).

Alvarez, who was stripped of the IBF strap last year after choosing to fight Edgar Berlanga over the sanctioning body’s number-one contender Scull, has now become the undisputed 168-pound champion for the second time.

Scull’s quick movements were not enough to evade Alvarez’s steady onslaught early on as the Mexican landed strong body blows in the second and fourth rounds, leaving Scull momentarily off balance.

Alvarez, fighting outside the United States and Mexico for the first time, continued stalking the Cuban in the fifth round, but Scull fought back, breaking Alvarez’s guard with a right uppercut and pushing him back before catching him with a counter.

“Don’t let this guy get bigger and more confident,” Alvarez’s corner warned him at the end of the sixth round after Scull caught him with another right hand before Alvarez responded with body shots.

Alvarez landed combinations to the body in the seventh round, and caught Scull with a lead left hook near the ropes in the eighth.

Measured attacks to the body continued from Alvarez, as he landed 40 body blows in the bout while Scull managed only six, claiming the 63rd win of his professional career.

Alvarez, 34, improved to 63-2-2 with 39 knockouts after doing enough on his Saudi debut which continued his tradition of fighting during the Mexican festival weekend of Cinco de Mayo.

The Mexican said he was looking forward to returning to the ring against undefeated Crawford in Las Vegas.

“Crawford is one of the best out there, I like to share the ring with that kind of a fighter. It’s my pleasure,” he said.

American Crawford, who became the undisputed welterweight champion with a knockout win over Errol Spence Jr in 2023, said he was ready to take on Alvarez as they faced off in the ring.

“In September, I’ll show the world what greatness looks like,” Crawford said.

Alvarez signed a four-fight deal with Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Seasons promotion in February.

In recent years, the kingdom has been pouring money into boxing events as part of Saudi Arabia’s oil-funded thrust into the sporting world, which has drawn accusations of “sportswashing” its dire human rights record.

Along with Formula One, the LIV Golf tour and attracting several ageing football stars to its domestic league, Saudi Arabia was named last year as the host of the 2034 football World Cup.

Mexican president says she told Donald Trump that Mexico ‘will never accept the presence of US army in our territory’.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says she rejected an offer from her United States counterpart, Donald Trump, to send US troops to Mexico to help combat drug trafficking.

Speaking at a public event on Saturday, Sheinbaum said Trump had asked her during a call how he could help fight organised crime and suggested sending US troops.

The Mexican leader said she declined, telling Trump, “We will never accept the presence of the United States army in our territory.”

“I told him, ‘No, President Trump, our territory is inviolable, our sovereignty is inviolable, our sovereignty is not for sale,’” Sheinbaum said.

Her comments come a day after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was pressuring Mexico to allow “deeper US military involvement” in the fight against drug cartels.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the news outlet said “tension rose” during an April 16 call between the two leaders as Trump “pushed to have US armed forces take a leading role in battling Mexican drug gangs that produce and smuggle fentanyl to the US”.

Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly hit out at Mexico and the US’s other neighbour, Canada, over drug trafficking.

He has accused the two countries of allowing illegal drugs, most notably fentanyl, to flow over their borders into the US.

Trump’s administration has also tied its push to impose steep tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods to fentanyl trafficking, among other factors.

On Saturday, Sheinbaum said she had offered to collaborate with the US during her talks with Trump, including through greater information-sharing.

At the same time, the Mexican president said she had urged Trump to stop the cross-border arms trafficking that has contributed to a wave of violence that has killed more than 450,000 in Mexico over nearly two decades.

She added that Trump issued an order on Friday “to ensure that everything necessary is in place to prevent weapons from entering our country from the United States”.

A spokesperson for the US National Security Council told the Reuters news agency that Trump had been “crystal clear that Mexico must do more to combat these gangs and cartels and the United States stands ready to assist and expand the already close cooperation between our two countries”.

The spokesperson added that Trump had worked closely with Sheinbaum to achieve the “most secure southwest border in history”.

But “dangerous foreign terrorist organizations continue to threaten our shared security and the drugs and crime they spread threaten American communities across the country”, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Trump has continued to push forward with his plan to carry out the “largest deportation operation” in US history, despite several legal challenges against his hardline anti-immigration policies.

The US Department of Defense said earlier this week that it designated a second stretch on the border with Mexico as a military zone to enforce immigration laws.

The newest area is in the US state of Texas and is attached to the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso.

Like the first zone established last month in New Mexico, military personnel are authorised to take custody of migrants who irregularly cross the border until they are transferred to civilian authorities in the US Department of Homeland Security.

The United States and Canada are experiencing one of their worst measles outbreaks in years, while the virus has also crossed to neighbouring Mexico.

A total of 2,500 cases and four deaths have been reported in the outbreaks across the three countries. Vaccine hesitancy has been blamed.

Here is what we know about the outbreaks so far and why measles cases are on the rise.

What is measles?

Measles is a highly contagious viral illness that starts with symptoms including high fever, cough, runny nose, red or watery eyes, and sensitivity to light. A few days after infection, a red, blotchy rash typically appears on the face and spreads down the body. Fatigue and loss of appetite are also common.

Most people recover within two to three weeks but complications, particularly in young children and those with weakened immune systems, can be serious.

These include ear infections, diarrhoea, pneumonia and brain swelling (encephalitis) which can lead to permanent disability or death. In wealthier countries, measles causes about one death in every 5,000 cases, but in lower-income regions with weaker healthcare systems, the fatality rate can be as high as one in 100.

Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, about 3 to 4 million cases of measles were reported annually in the US, with hundreds of deaths and thousands of hospitalisations. By 2000, following widespread vaccination, measles was declared “eliminated” in the US – meaning there had been no continuous transmission of the disease for more than 12 months. Countries that have eliminated a disease through vaccines are considered to have “herd immunity” as long as vaccines continue to be offered to everyone.

What is herd immunity?

Herd immunity occurs when enough people in a community become immune to a disease, either through vaccination or by recovering from an infection.

The number of people who need to be immune in order to achieve herd immunity for the whole community varies from disease to disease. Measles, which spreads very easily, requires 95 percent of a community to have immunity.

When most people are immune, the disease has a much harder time spreading – meaning it is more likely to die before it can be transmitted to another host. This helps to protect those who cannot be vaccinated for specific reasons, including newborn babies or people with certain health conditions.

Experts say the safest way to maintain herd immunity is through vaccination due to the potentially severe effects of a measles infection.

How effective is the measles vaccine?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), measles vaccination prevented an estimated 31.7 million deaths globally between 2000 and 2020.

The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, widely used around the world, provides about 97 percent protection against the measles virus, according to public health agencies.

The vaccine is normally given to children in two stages: The first dose at 12 months and the second at about three years and four months of age (when the child is nearing pre-school age), as part of routine immunisation programmes in countries like the United Kingdom.

Breakthrough cases in vaccinated people are rare and usually mild.

Where has measles spread in North America?

North America is experiencing a significant measles resurgence, with more than 2,500 confirmed cases across the US, Canada and Mexico. Three deaths have occurred in the US and one in Mexico. The outbreak began in late 2024 in Ontario, Canada, before spreading to Texas and northern Mexico in early 2025, with Mennonite communities (Anabaptist Christian congregations), a historically under-vaccinated population, being the hardest hit.

A WHO report in April stated that measles cases in the Americas during the first three months of this year were 11 times higher than during the same period in 2024. The region now faces a “high” risk of measles outbreaks, compared with a “moderate” risk globally, the WHO said.

United States

The US has so far reported 935 confirmed measles cases across 30 states, with Texas being the epicentre of the outbreak, accounting for 683 of those cases. The outbreak has now also spread to New Mexico (67 cases), Oklahoma (16) and Kansas (37).

Three people died from measles between February and April, including two unvaccinated children in Texas and one unvaccinated adult in New Mexico. These mark the country’s first measles deaths since 2015.

In 2019, the US experienced its most significant measles outbreak since 1992, with 1,274 confirmed cases reported across 31 states, but no deaths.

Canada

Meanwhile, Canada is experiencing its worst measles outbreak in more than 25 years. Since mid-October 2024, Ontario alone has recorded more than 1,000 cases.

Canadian officials confirmed that the outbreak had originated from a large gathering in New Brunswick province that involved Mennonite communities, which strive for a simple life and tend to avoid modern technology and medicine.

Mexico

In Mexico, the number of measles cases has risen sharply this year in the northern state of Chihuahua, where 786 cases have been reported so far. Just seven cases were reported in the whole country last year. A 31-year-old, unvaccinated man from Ascension, Chihuahua, died from the disease in early April.

Why is measles spreading?

According to the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main reason measles is spreading is that fewer people are taking up vaccines. Misinformation and growing hesitancy have seen vaccination rates dropping below the level needed for herd immunity.

In some US states and Canadian provinces, exemptions – giving non-medical reasons for declining vaccines, such as for personal or religious reasons – are becoming more common. This has led to the existence of clusters of unvaccinated people who are more vulnerable to outbreaks when exposed to the virus.

The US CDC reported that during the 2023-2024 school year, exemptions from one or more vaccines were claimed by parents or carers of 3.3 percent of preschool children, compared with 3 percent the previous year. Exemptions were higher in 40 states and the District of Columbia, with 14 states reporting exemption rates exceeding 5 percent.

Health officials point to how closely connected the affected communities in the US, Canada and Mexico are, with people frequently travelling between them. Mennonite groups, in particular, have strong cross-border ties and lower vaccination rates, making it much easier for the virus to spread from one region to another.

Who are the ‘anti-vaxxers’ and what are their concerns?

Anti-vaccine advocates, often referred to as “anti-vaxxers”, oppose vaccinations for a number of reasons, including fears about side effects, distrust of pharmaceutical companies or government agencies, and religious or personal beliefs.

Mennonite groups in Ontario and Chihuahua have also historically been hesitant about taking up vaccines, and health authorities say a significant share of recent measles cases in these areas are concentrated within this population.

One of the most persistent myths driving vaccine hesitancy is the claim that vaccines cause autism. This belief stems from a 1998 study that has since been discredited and retracted.

Will Trump’s pick of RFK Jr as health secretary push vaccination levels down further?

Robert F Kennedy Jr’s appointment as US Secretary of Health and Human Services prompted concern among health experts, particularly as measles cases are on the rise across North America.

Kennedy, a longstanding vaccine sceptic, has repeated false claims that vaccines are linked to autism and that the MMR vaccine contains “aborted fetus debris”.

Health experts have debunked this claim. The rubella part of the vaccine was made using lab-grown cells which were copied from a single foetal sample taken in the 1960s. These cells have been multiplied in labs for decades and are used to grow the virus needed for the vaccine. But the cells themselves are removed during the process, so there is no fetal tissue in the actual shot.

Kennedy has been criticised for downplaying the severity of the current measles outbreak, and for promoting unproven treatments for measles. He has suggested alternatives including vitamin A supplements and cod liver oil, which experts say do not replace vaccination and are not backed by strong scientific evidence.

Kennedy has also made major changes to the Department of Health and Human Services, firing thousands of employees and cutting budgets for key agencies like the CDC, which experts say could weaken the country’s ability to respond to health emergencies.