Welcome to today’s daily update for Sunday, October 25, 2026. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Breakdown
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has triumphed over Flavio Bolsonaro in the Brazilian presidential elections, marking the first leftist president to win in South America during this election cycle.
Lula, who has served as Brazilian president for three non-consecutive terms, is known for advocating for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and the promotion of social welfare programs. Under his leadership, Brazil has significantly reduced poverty and food insecurity and strengthened ties with global powers. He has also positioned Brazil as a major voice on the global climate stage, prioritizing the elimination of illegal logging and ranching in the Amazon and attempting to push climate action forward.
However, spending has remained high during his third term, with public debt soaring to 82% of GDP. In 2017, he was also convicted of corruption and money laundering by authorities, who claimed that he had taken part in the Petrobras scandal – a scandal saw the Brazilian state-owned oil giant offer more than $2 billion in kickbacks to executives at the company alongside government employees.
Flavio Bolsonaro, on the other hand, is the son of Jair Bolsonaro, who led the nation for one four-year term in between Lula’s past two terms. The senior Bolsonaro promoted similar policies to current right-wing administrations across the globe: he advocated against abortion, relaxed gun laws, promoted the private sector, and stimulated economic growth.
However, he has been heavily criticized for his mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic – which resulted in the second-highest national death toll globally – and rollback of environmental protections on the Amazon, contributing to some of the critical rainforest’s highest-ever deforestation rates. Bolsonaro was also convicted in 2025 of staging a coup against the Brazilian government, leading to an ongoing sentence of more than 27 years. His son, Flavio, was expected to take a similar approach to the candidacy, and he likely would have pardoned his father with an electoral win.
As the two candidates faced off in Brazil’s elections several weeks ago, the election remained too close to call. Bolsonaro edged out Lula in the initial polls, bringing home 47.03% of the vote against Lula’s 45.16%. Nevertheless, neither candidate succeeded in obtaining the 50% majority required to win, resulting in a runoff.
Over the following few weeks, supporters for Lula conducted massive protests and rallies on the streets, garnering major attention for the incumbent.
Yesterday, the results of the Brazilian election were confirmed, with Lula winning a marginal majority over Bolsonaro to secure his next four-year term. Lula won 51.79% of the vote, while Flavio won 48.21%, sparking celebrations across cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
I feel incredible … This is Brazil telling the world that the extreme right is fascist, that the extreme right is against black people, is against the poor, against the state, against gay people ... We are going to reorganize the democratic forces in this country.
Reginaldo Lopes, Lula ally
The decision is the first vote for a leftist candidate in South America during this election cycle, which has seen right-wing leaders take power in Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay. Many of these leaders have allied themselves with the Trump administration, championing oil and agribusiness investments at the expense of inequality and the environment.
The Global Snapshot
SpaceX has confirmed that they have secured more than $40 billion in debt financing – a way of raising capital – this year in order to purchase new graphics processing units (GPUs) for AI investment. Based on recent announcements from CEO Elon Musk, those purchases seem to be targeting Nvidia chips, but the investment model will allow the company to take this debt off of their quarterly reports. This allows them to remain investment-friendly while taking on massive debt, pouring capital into AI infrastructure. Starlink satellites are currently SpaceX’s most profitable industry, making up around 84% of total profits, but AI – which Musk has labeled Super Intelligence, or SI – has surged to $7.56 billion in revenue in recent months.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has conceded his defeat in the Serbian presidential elections, granting students and youth groups the win they have been seeking for more than two years. Vučić has held the Serbian presidency for more than nine years, but the final two have seen turmoil and anger after a series of incidents. In 2024, a roof collapse at a train station killed 16 people just months after a renovation, which many perceived as a sign of government corruption and highlighted the following lack of accountability. The ensuing protests quickly ballooned into massive demonstrations advocating for Vučić’s resignation, arguing that he had sparked democratic backsliding via media restrictions and unequal elections. Now, after student-backed candidates won more than 135 seats in Serbia’s 250-seat parliament, Vučić has accepted his defeat, sparking massive celebrations across Serbia.
Fact of the Day (The Fact Site): The first band to ever perform live on all seven continents was Metallica. They completed this unique feat within a single calendar year in 2013, and their final show, titled “Freeze ‘Em All,” took place on December 8 at the Carlini Station in Antarctica.
Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go, they merely determine where you start. (Nido Quebein)
Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Asunder (adv or adj, uh-SUN-der) - Asunder is most often used as an adverb – often with a verb such as tear or rip – to mean “apart” or “into pieces.” It is more rarely used as an adjective meaning “apart from each other,” as in “standing with legs wide asunder.”
In a Sentence: The park was torn asunder by yesterday’s microburst, and many of its trails have been blocked by fallen trees.
Image: Mídia Ninja / CC BY-NC 4.0
Enjoyed this breakdown? Subscribe to help support our publication!