World, in brief

Flavio Bolsonaro, a right-wing senator and the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, came first in Brazil's presidential election on Sunday. [1][2]

With 99.9% of votes counted he had 47%, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, had 45.1%. [2]

A candidate needs more than half the valid votes to win outright, so the two meet again in a runoff on 25 October. [3][4]

Most polls had Lula finishing first, and the last Quaest poll before the vote had him on 46% to Bolsonaro's 45%. [5][4]

Analysts told Reuters that many people voted for Flavio to get Lula out, not because they liked Flavio. [6][5]

One analyst said those protest votes had been expected only in the runoff, so Flavio may have less room to grow there. [5]

Jair Bolsonaro was barred from running and is serving 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after he lost the 2022 election. [1]

Jair endorsed Flavio to run in his place, and Flavio has promised an amnesty that would free his father if he wins. [1][4]

The right did well in Congress too: 34 of the 54 senators elected on Sunday were from the right or far right. [2]

Jair's wife Michelle and his son Carlos won Senate seats, and his youngest son, Jair Renan, won a seat in the lower house. [2][5]

Lula, 80, wants a fourth term; he called the result unexpected and said he had expected to win in the first round. [1][7]

Brazil's top electoral court said it found no evidence of foreign interference, after Lula accused Donald Trump of trying to sway the vote. [1][2]

Why it matters. Watch where the 5.3 million votes of the two knocked-out right-wing candidates go, and whether Lula can win back people who chose Flavio only to vote Lula out. [5][6]

Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's internationally recognised government, announced on Sunday a military operation to retake all land held by the Houthis. [8][19] The Houthis, an armed group backed by Iran, have held the capital Sanaa for more than a decade and took the whole Red Sea coast in September. [20] Hours before his speech, they cut the main road between Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, and Aden, the Yemeni government's temporary capital. [21][20] Sources on both sides said more than 70 fighters died around Taiz in a day. [19]

Why it matters. Al-Alimi was unlikely to announce it without the approval of Saudi Arabia, his main backer, the BBC says. [8] The Houthis answer by firing at Saudi oil sites, so the fight now reaches the Gulf's oil. [8]

The US Air Force has flown all its bombers home from RAF Fairford, a British base it has used to strike Iran, the US Defence Department said on Sunday. [22][23] At least 10 of 12 B-1 bombers left that day, some only a week after they arrived. [22] A US official told the New York Times that warnings of a threat to the base had become more urgent in the past 24 hours. [22] Six people were arrested and then released on bail after a scare at the base in late September. [24]

Why it matters. British authorities link that scare to Iran, which denies any role, and Iran has called any base used to attack it a target. [24] Trump said on Saturday he is still deciding on new strikes on Iran. [24]

Milorad Dodik, a pro-Russian Bosnian Serb leader, was not on the ballot in Sunday's general election, because a court banned him from office for six years. [11] He was convicted last year of defying the international envoy who oversees the 1995 peace deal that ended Bosnia's war. [25] His ally Zeljka Cvijanovic still won the Serb seat on the country's three-person presidency with about 55.6%. [11] Turnout was a record low of 41.5%. [11]

Why it matters. Dodik told a rally on Friday that Bosnia 'is dead', and he wants its Serb half to break away. [25][11] An analyst said the ban on him is not working, and that he is using it. [25]

Thousands of supporters of Imran Khan, Pakistan's former prime minister, set off on Sunday from Lakki Marwat, 275km from the capital, Islamabad. [26] Khan, a former cricket star, has been in prison since 2023 and is serving 14 years for corruption, which he calls political. [26] His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), says talks broke down because Pakistan's government would not let its leaders consult him. [27] Authorities have stacked shipping containers to block the roads into Islamabad. [26][28]

Why it matters. The march is led by Sohail Afridi, who runs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for the party and calls his people 'soldiers of Imran Khan'. [29] Federal ministers have warned they could put his province under federal control, and he expects to be near Islamabad by Thursday. [30][26]

Federal forces were in full control of Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region, on Sunday, after the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) left the city. [31][32] The TPLF, which runs Tigray, began fighting the army again on 23 September. [31] The same day, the leaders of Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan met in Egypt and signed a joint declaration. [33] It said the Red Sea should be controlled by the countries on its coast, and landlocked Ethiopia is not one of them. [33]

Why it matters. Ethiopia accuses Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan of backing the rebels, which all three deny. [33] Egypt gets about 95% of its water from the Nile, the river Ethiopia has dammed. [34]

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Sunday there is no military solution to the war with the US, as talks appear stuck. [35][36] The US and Israel started the war in late February, and an outline deal in June collapsed over the Strait of Hormuz. [35] Iran's parliament speaker said the strait stays shut until seven Iranian conditions are met. [9] Separately, Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad resigned with no reason given. [37]

Why it matters. Paknejad had just said that money for oil Iran has sold is 'still coming'. [37] The head of the state oil company now runs Iran's oil ministry while the war squeezes Iran's economy. [37]

Crude oil exports from the Middle East rose above their pre-war level on four days in the last week of September, the ship-tracking firm Kpler says. [10] They reached 19.5 to 22.5 million barrels a day, against an average of 18 million before the war. [10] Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state oil company, has cut its November price for Asian buyers to the lowest in six years. [38] Attacks on ships around Hormuz continue. [10]

Why it matters. Saudi Arabia is selling cheaper to win back Asian buyers now that its oil can move again. [38] The figures miss ships that switch off their trackers, so the true flow is not known. [10]

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday Ukraine is ready for talks with the US and Russia this month, possibly in the United Arab Emirates. [39] He spoke beside Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who was visiting Kyiv. [39] A Russian drone hit Kyiv's Northern Bridge for a second day, and bridges in the city have now been hit four days running. [40] Russia also said it hit two cargo ships carrying military equipment to Odesa. [41]

Why it matters. India's foreign minister said for the first time that India is passing messages between Russia and Ukraine on Black Sea shipping and grain. [42] Both Russia and Ukraine say they will step up long-range attacks while the talks are planned. [39]

Near-final counts gave Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs's United List 35.3% and 42 of the 100 seats in Saturday's election. [12] It is the biggest win in a Latvian election since the country left the Soviet Union in 1991. [12] The two parties already in his coalition, National Alliance and New Unity, both passed the 5% needed for seats. [43] Talks on a new government began on Sunday. [44]

Why it matters. Kulbergs has ruled out working with pro-Russian parties, so Latvia, which borders Russia and Belarus, looks set to keep a pro-Ukraine government. [12][44]

Donald Trump on Sunday named Jay Clayton, the US director of national intelligence, as the US president's new head of artificial intelligence policy. [45] Clayton runs the 18 US spy agencies and once led the US stock market regulator. [45] He will lead a group Trump calls the 'Super Intelligence Force', with the head of the US trade regulator and the US Defence Department's technology chief. [46] Trump has opposed strict laws on AI safety. [46]

Why it matters. Trump is under pressure before November's midterm elections to answer worries about the risks of AI. [46] A senior Democratic senator welcomed Clayton but said the Trump administration has resisted real safeguards. [45]

The FBI arrested Wanying Zhang, 34, at Los Angeles airport on Sunday as she was about to fly to China. [47] Prosecutors say she went to Seattle in 2025 on Chinese officials' orders and sent them photos, video and car number plates of a son of Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te. [47][48] She is charged with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. [47]

Why it matters. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, and the US is bound by law to help the island defend itself. [47] The arrest came days after the US delivered two new F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan. [47]

Japanese police arrested a 20-year-old US Marine on suspicion of murdering a 39-year-old woman in a hotel in Naha, the main city of Okinawa. [49][50] Police say he took her wallet and backpack, and he denies it. [49] Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, called the crime exceptionally brutal and lodged a protest with the US. [49][50] Okinawa hosts about 70% of the US military sites in Japan. [49]

Why it matters. Crimes by US troops have set off protests on Okinawa for decades. [49] Japan has asked the US to enforce stricter discipline among its forces. [50]

Darya Shipilova, 28, a technician at an anti-plague research institute in Irkutsk, in Siberia, died on 2 October. [51] Local media say she broke a test tube holding the plague germ on 25 September. [51] Russia's health watchdog says she had pneumonia of unknown cause and found no germs linked to her work. [52] About 200 people have been put under medical watch, local media report. [51]

Why it matters. Pneumonic plague is highly infectious and can kill if not treated early. [52] The US State Department is watching the case and asked Russia to share accurate information quickly. [52]

Thousands marched in Delhi and Mumbai on Sunday for a third day, demanding that Gyanesh Kumar, head of India's Election Commission, resign. [15][53] The commission has struck 130 million names off the voter lists, saying it is removing duplicates and people not entitled to vote. [53] Protesters say the cuts help Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, and both deny it. [15] Three women journalists accused Delhi police of sexually harassing them at a protest. [53]

Why it matters. Delhi police passed the journalists' complaint to their crime branch for an inquiry. [53] A voter list decides who can vote, so the fight is over who takes part in India's next elections.

Up to 500 French high schools will be partly or fully closed on Monday, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said. [14][54] Students began protesting on 17 September over too few teachers, crowded classes and run-down buildings. [54] Twenty-four schools have been burned or ransacked, 78 staff injured and more than 5,000 people arrested, most of them children. [54] Organisers have called new marches for Tuesday. [54]

Why it matters. France's government blames far-left activists for the violence. [14] A right-wing group in the European Parliament now wants a vote on cutting EU money to the far-left alliance that includes France Unbowed, a French party. [55]

Britain's Green Party voted 1,022 to 813 on Sunday to call Zionism a form of racism and to back one democratic state across historic Palestine. [56] The party won 6% of the vote at the 2024 general election. [56] Israel's foreign ministry called the vote a stain on Britain's history, and British Jewish groups condemned it. [57][56] The party's leader, Zack Polanski, did not vote. [56]

Why it matters. Polanski is standing on Thursday in the London seat left empty when former prime minister Keir Starmer quit as an MP. [56][58] Labour could lose that seat to the Greens, and about 16% of people in the area are Muslim. [58]

Trade ministers from the G20, a group of the world's 20 biggest economies, failed to agree a statement against countries making far more than they can sell. [16] The US, which chairs the group this year, says only a handful of members objected. [16] China said on Sunday that most members disagreed. [59] The EU's trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, goes to Beijing on Thursday for two days of talks to avoid a trade war. [18]

Why it matters. The complaint is aimed at China, which the EU accuses of flooding markets with cheap high-tech goods. [18] China has threatened to hit back at any EU move against it. [18]

Britain is drawing up possible tariffs on Chinese electric cars, the Times reported on Sunday. [17] Ministers may match the EU's 45% tax on them. [17] EU officials had warned Prime Minister Andy Burnham that otherwise British cars could face new barriers in Europe, Britain's biggest car market. [60] The British government told Reuters no tariffs have been imposed yet. [17]

Why it matters. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds had argued that China would hit back and cost British carmakers sales there. [60] Tariffs would also make cars dearer for British drivers, many of whom have bought cheaper Chinese models. [60]

An early Israeli inquiry found that the co-pilot who attacked his captain on Wednesday's flydubai flight to Tel Aviv acted alone, CBS News reported. [61] He planned to crash the plane into skyscrapers in Tel Aviv, an Italian newspaper said. [61] The UAE had sent Israel the crew's names and nationalities in advance, and Israel raised no warning. [62] Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered a review of security on all foreign flights to Israel. [63]

Why it matters. The co-pilot, from Oman, had been barred from flying in his own country over his extreme views, the Wall Street Journal reported. [64] Australian counter-terrorism police are looking at his links to Australia, where he studied. [65]

Israeli strikes killed at least six Palestinians in Gaza over the weekend, medics said. [66] Mary Abu Dawud and her mother Maysaa, both Christians, died when an apartment block in Gaza City was hit. [67][66] Israel said it killed Saqr Qais, head of the Turkish charity Deniz Feneri, and called him a Hamas member without giving evidence. [68] Gaza's health ministry says 1,445 people have been killed since last October's ceasefire. [69]

Why it matters. Israel's defence minister ordered all crossings into Gaza and the West Bank closed on 7 October, the anniversary of Hamas's 2023 attack. [66] In the West Bank, Israeli forces and settlers killed one Palestinian and wounded more than 15 on Sunday. [70]

Israeli forces shot dead a man in southern Syria early on Monday, saying he tried to break into a military post. [71] More than seven Israeli bulldozers and vehicles were seen digging trenches near Al Rafid, along the 1974 line between Israeli and Syrian forces. [71] Syria, Qatar and Jordan condemned Israel's work on the 'Sufa 53' military road, which it began in 2022 inside the buffer zone set by the 1974 deal. [72]

Why it matters. Syria calls the digging a flagrant breach of the 1974 agreement. [72] Israel gave no name for the man it killed, and no evidence that he was armed. [71]

Lebanon's prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said on Sunday his country wants a new chapter with Iran, based on respect and staying out of each other's affairs. [73] He agreed to a meeting that Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, asked for. [73] Lebanon wants Iran to send a new ambassador, since the current envoy's permit was renewed only as a private citizen. [73]

Why it matters. Salam said Lebanon cannot sit and wait for a deal between the US and Iran. [73] He repeated Lebanon's demand that Israel pull out fully and stop its attacks. [73]

Iraq's prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, ordered an inquiry after Iran-backed militias drove vehicles over US and Israeli flags at parades in Baghdad on Friday. [74] The parades celebrated the withdrawal of US-led forces from Iraq. [74] His spokesman said people involved have been arrested, without saying how many. [74] The marchers also carried pictures of Iran's former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war. [74]

Why it matters. The militias belong to the Popular Mobilisation Forces, which are officially part of Iraq's security services. [74] Al-Zaidi has promised to disarm armed groups outside state control now that US troops have gone. [74]

Syrian security forces were sent to Suqaylabiyah, a Christian town in central Syria, after young Sunni men from a nearby town started a fight there on Saturday. [75] State TV said several people were arrested and calm returned, with no reports of deaths. [75] It was the second clash between religious groups in the area this year. [75]

Why it matters. Syria's Sunni-led government, in power since Bashar al-Assad fell in December 2024, has so far spared Christians the worst violence while it courts the US. [75] Two other minorities, the Druze and the Alawites, have suffered far more. [75]

Egypt on Sunday charged Mohamed Ashraf, a journalist at the fact-checking site Matsadaash, with joining a terrorist group and spreading false news. [76] Matsadaash means 'don't believe'. [76] He and five colleagues, the site's whole newsroom, were arrested last week. [76] Ashraf will be held for 15 days, and where the other five are being held is still unknown. [76]

Why it matters. Egypt accuses the site of publishing false news for the Muslim Brotherhood, a group it banned in 2013, and the site's co-founder denies any link. [76] Rights groups call the arrests part of a crackdown on the press. [76]

Nicaragua said on Saturday it is leaving the Central American Parliament, a six-country body set up to promote human rights and democracy. [77] The day before, the Organization of American States, a group of governments in the Americas, had asked Nicaragua to free political prisoners. [77] Nicaragua left the OAS in 2023 and the UN Human Rights Council in 2025. [77]

Why it matters. President Daniel Ortega and his wife, co-president Rosario Murillo, call such bodies tools of outside interference. [77] The exit takes effect at once. [77]

Two people died and one was missing after torrential rain hit Catalonia, in north-east Spain, from Saturday into Sunday. [78][79] One died when a wall fell at a campsite in Tordera, and another drowned in a flooded garage. [78] More than 100mm of rain fell overnight in many places. [78] Officials warned of extreme danger in parts of Barcelona and Girona. [78]

Why it matters. People near the Besos River were warned it could burst its banks. [78] Officials told residents of five districts to avoid all journeys that were not essential. [79]