Israel's Close Election, Bolsonaro Flees Brazil, and Mbappe Says Sorry to China

Israel held a national election, but the results are still unclear. Benjamin Netanyahu leads the Likud party, which is a right-wing political group. His bloc of allies got more votes than the other side, but not enough to take control of the government. That means neither Netanyahu nor his rival, former general Gadi Eisenkot, can form a government on their own right now.

Both leaders acted like winners after the votes were counted. Netanyahu said he would build a strong right-wing government. Eisenkot told his supporters that the people of Israel had voted for change. But the real surprise of the night was how well the Arab political parties did, with voter turnout the highest it had been in at least 20 years.

Even so, both Netanyahu and Eisenkot said they would not work with the Arab parties. In the days ahead, Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, will meet with leaders from each party that won seats in the parliament, called the Knesset. He will ask them to suggest a prime minister, and tough talks between parties will follow to try to agree on a government. If no deal can be reached, Israel could hold yet another election — the country has already held six since 2019.

In Brazil, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro flew to the United States after his party lost the presidential election. The winner was Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a left-wing leader now serving his fourth term as president. Lula called Flavio's departure shameful, saying he should have stayed in Brazil to face any legal questions. Flavio is accused of being involved in money laundering, which means hiding money gained through illegal activity, though he denies any wrongdoing.

Brazil's Supreme Court had ordered Flavio to hand over his passports, but he left the country anyway. The United States issued a visa, allowing him and his family to enter. His father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, made a similar move after losing the 2022 election and was later sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup — meaning he tried to illegally take over the government. U.S. President Donald Trump approved of Flavio coming to the U.S. but did not officially endorse him during the election campaign.

French soccer star Kylian Mbappé got into trouble after a video appeared online in which he joked about Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong was the founder of the People's Republic of China and is deeply respected there, so making jokes about him is considered very offensive. In the video, which was later taken down, Mbappé was talking about an internet meme where his face was placed on the image of a so-called 'Chinese dictator.' A dictator is a leader who holds total power, often in a harsh or unfair way.

Several Chinese companies that had paid Mbappé to advertise their products ended those deals right away. China's state television also stopped showing soccer events connected to him. After the backlash, Mbappé posted an apology and said he was sorry for any offense caused. The situation is a reminder that a single comment can cause major problems, especially when it touches on something that is very sensitive in another country's culture.