Government news, elections, policy decisions, and political developments
◆9 sources
Flávio Bolsonaro won the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, finishing ahead of incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. With more than 97 percent of votes counted, one report put Bolsonaro on 47.75 percent and Lula on 44.66 percent; earlier near-final figures were 47.04 percent and 45.14 percent respectively. Bolsonaro performed better than polls had indicated.
◆7 sources
State Secretary Silvio Erkens, responsible for animal welfare, said he supports a ban on ritual slaughter without prior stunning. He said the practice is difficult to reconcile with animal welfare and does not belong in the Netherlands, noting that Belgium already has a ban. Erkens said he will seriously assess an initiative bill that the Party for the Animals plans to submit this month. The bill has not yet been adopted, and slaughter without stunning remains permitted in the Netherlands.
◆8 sources
The cabinet proposed that primary and secondary school pupils leave mobile phones at home or keep them stored away throughout the school day from 1 January 2027. The strengthened national guidance would extend existing classroom restrictions to breaks, common areas and school grounds.
◆4 sources
Nationalist parties made gains in Bosnia and Herzegovina's elections, with voting often following ethnic lines. Milorad Dodik, the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, was described as a major winner despite not being on the ballot. Candidates backed by Dodik for the country's three-member presidency and for the Republika Srpska both received more than half of the vote. The outcome points to continued difficulty in forming and running the country's already complex system of government, while offering little prospect of progress toward EU membership.
◆6 sources
The government placed 21 municipalities under supervision because they have not provided sufficient asylum-seeker reception places required under the Distribution Act. Scherpenzeel and Zwartewaterland were among them; three municipalities in Zeeland also failed to meet their assignments in the first allocation cycle.