International
Rosangela da Silva hopes to be a different kind of Brazilian first lady
AFP | Eugenia Logiuratto
Rosangela da Silva, a sociologist and left-wing activist who married Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in May, has promised to give new meaning to being first lady if her husband wins Brazil’s election.
“I am as in love as if I were 20 years old,” the former two-term president has said of his wife, a long-time member of the Workers Party.
He is 76, she 56. This age difference seems to have breathed new life into Lula, a leftist icon in Brazil. He was deeply saddened by the 2017 death of Marisa Leticia, his wife of 30 years, with whom he has four children.
His first wife, Maria de Lourdes, died in 1971.
“When you lose your wife, and you think, well, my life has no more meaning. Then suddenly, this person appears who makes you feel like you want to live again,” Lula told Time magazine in an interview published in May.
Rosangela da Silva was born in the south of Brazil and earned a sociology degree from the university in Curitiba, capital of Parana state. She worked there for 20 years for Itaipu Binacional, a public utility that runs the Itaipu dam, one of the world’s biggest.
In 1983 she joined the Workers Party, which Lula had co-founded two years earlier.
– A kiss outside prison –
Brazilian press reports say the two have known each other for decades, but Lula’s press people say their romance began only in late 2017 at an event with left-leaning artists.
But the love affair between this smiling woman with long chestnut hair and the aging lion of the Brazilian left became widely known only in May 2019, while Lula was serving a prison sentence on a corruption conviction.
“Lula is in love, and the first thing he wants to do when he gets out of prison is get married,” said one of his lawyers after a visit with Lula.
In the end, the two wed only this year. It was a discreet ceremony — by Lula’s standards. The 200 guests included celebrities like singer Gilberto Gil, who had served as culture minister under Lula.
While Lula was in prison, “Janja,” as Rosangela is nicknamed, would pen affectionate tweets about him. “All I want to do is hug you and cuddle with you non-stop,” she wrote on his 74th birthday.
In November 2019, shortly after Lula’s release from prison, they shared a kiss before a crowd gathered outside the prison in Curitiba, where Lula had spent 18 months locked up.
While she has been active in Lula’s campaign, on stage and on social media, Rosangela da Silva is very private with her personal life. The magazine Veja says she was previously married for more than 10 years and has no children.
– Campaign song –
“I want to give new meaning to the role of first lady, by focusing on topics that are priorities for women, such as food insecurity or domestic violence,” she said last month.
Since the Supreme Court vacated Lula’s conviction in early 2021, allowing him to run for president again, Janja has traveled with him often, including to other countries.
She was one of the stars of his campaign kickoff on May 7, playing a new version of the song that was his signature tune during his first presidential campaign in 1989.
And she is helping to organize a campaign event on Monday bringing together celebrities, intellectuals, social activists and top Brazilian musicians.
International
7 in 10 mexicans born poor stay poor, new report finds
Seven out of ten Mexicans born into poverty remain poor throughout their lives, highlighting an urgent need for public policies focused on promoting social mobility through equal opportunity, according to civil society organizations.
The 2025 Social Mobility Report in Mexico, published by the Espinosa Yglesias Center for Studies (CEEY), reveals that 73% of individuals born into the bottom 20% of income households in Mexico — Latin America’s second-largest economy — continue to live in poverty based on income.
The report signals a worrisome stagnation in social mobility, defined as the ability of individuals to improve their socioeconomic standing compared to that of their parents. This lack of upward movement indicates that one’s economic origins are largely inherited, according to CEEY.
Geographically, disparities are stark:
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In northern Mexico, 37% of those born in poverty remain there.
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In the south, that number rises dramatically to 64%.
Gender gaps are also evident. Among those born in wealthier households, women experience less upward mobility, with a rate of 47% compared to 53% for men.
The report also notes that 48% of economic inequality in Mexico stems from inequality of opportunity — placing Mexico among the top ten countries with the highest opportunity inequality across 50 nations analyzed globally.
International
Spain hits record 46°C in June amid scorching heatwave
Spain registered a record-breaking temperature of 46°C (114.8°F) on Saturday, June 28, in El Granado, Huelva — a southern town near the Portuguese border — marking the highest temperature ever recorded in June in the country, according to Spain’s national meteorological agency, Aemet.
The temperature was officially recorded at 4:40 p.m. local time, surpassing the previous June record of 45.2°C (113.4°F)set in Seville back in 1965, also in the Andalusia region.
Like many parts of Southern Europe, Spain is experiencing a severe heatwave, with large areas of the country facing temperatures above 40°C even though summer has just begun.
As one of Europe’s countries most vulnerable to climate change, Spain has endured its three hottest years on recordfrom 2022 to 2024, marked by repeated heatwaves and temperature extremes.
Climate scientists have long warned that global warming is amplifying the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events such as heatwaves and droughts — trends now evident across the Iberian Peninsula and the broader Mediterranean region.
International
Trump administration sues Los Angeles over sanctuary city policies
The Republican administration of Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Monday against Los Angeles officials, challenging the city’s sanctuary policies as illegal amid an intensifying federal immigration crackdown.
The Department of Justice accused the Democratic-led city of interfering with federal immigration enforcement, arguing that its sanctuary policies have contributed to “violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement” recently seen in Los Angeles.
“The sanctuary city policies were the cause of violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in an official statement.
The lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, names Mayor Karen Bass, City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, and the entire City Council as defendants.
While Los Angeles had long been considered a sanctuary city for immigrants, the City Council officially adopted the designation through a municipal ordinance in November last year, following Trump’s election to the presidency.
The legal action seeks to limit local authorities’ cooperation with federal immigration agents under Trump’s policies.
With over one-third of its population being immigrants, Los Angeles has become a flashpoint in the battle against Trump’s anti-immigration agenda, which began with his campaign promise to deport millions.
Tensions in the city escalated earlier this month after an increase in workplace immigration raids, sparking mass protests downtown. The situation further intensified when Trump overrode California Governor Gavin Newsom and ordered the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops and 700 U.S. Marines to the area.
7 in 10 mexicans born poor stay poor, new report finds
Spain hits record 46°C in June amid scorching heatwave
Trump administration sues Los Angeles over sanctuary city policies
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