From a historic comeback in Brazil to a student revolution at the ballot box in Serbia and a weekend of protests across Europe, the last 48 hours have redrawn political maps and tested governments on three continents. Here are the day's biggest global developments.
Brazil: Lula wins a historic fourth term
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won re-election on Sunday, October 25, 2026, defeating right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro with 51.76 percent of the vote in a runoff, according to USA Today and Al Jazeera. The 80-year-old leftist, who trailed Bolsonaro in the first round on October 4, added more than 10 million votes between rounds — the first candidate since Brazil's return to democracy to win the presidency after finishing second in round one. Bolsonaro, the son of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro and an ally of United States President Donald Trump, refused to accept the result, saying he would seek annulment over a Supreme Court decision to extend voting by two hours. Lula, who will be sworn in on January 5, 2027, told supporters: "This country doesn't accept being anybody's colony."
Serbia: students topple a 14-year ruler
In Serbia, long-serving leader Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat to a student-led movement in parliamentary elections on October 25, ending a grip on power that began in 2014. Vucic said the Students' List would take 135 to 140 of the 250 parliamentary seats against around 105 for his Serbian Progressive Party. The movement grew from protests after 16 people died in the Novi Sad station canopy collapse in November 2024, and its victory drew congratulations from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset. Tens of thousands celebrated in Belgrade as Vucic blamed independent media and foreign interference for the loss — claims his critics reject.
Europe: a weekend of protests and clashes
Across Europe, protests over living costs, education and the Gaza war turned violent over the weekend. In France, between 410,000 people (Interior Ministry estimate) and 800,000 (union estimate) marched on Saturday, with 1,314 arrested, 53 police officers injured, 75 fires reported and 24 shops looted, according to French authorities cited by multiple outlets. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu was due to meet student leaders on Monday. In Italy, hundreds of young demonstrators forced their way into Rome's Colosseum on Saturday waving Palestinian flags, while protesters clashed with riot police in Turin and shops in Milan barricaded storefronts. In Barcelona, more than 120 people were arrested at a student-led protest, and demonstrations also took place in Tirana, Brussels and Lisbon. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen launched her presidential campaign in Orleans on Sunday, promising to "restore the rule of law."
United States and Iran: deal or renewed strikes?
The United States-Iran standoff sharpened as President Donald Trump told a Georgia rally he needed to stop targeting Iranian leaders to work out who Washington should negotiate with, claiming Iran had lost its top leaders, aircraft and ships. Trump has said strikes could resume after the November 3 midterm elections and has moved a third aircraft carrier group toward the Persian Gulf, but ruled out an immediate strike on Sunday. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talk of a new war would not change Tehran's positions, while reports say Iran has set seven conditions for talks, arguing negotiations would be meaningless while Washington seeks to strip its nuclear capacity and Strait of Hormuz control. Qatar's mediation push remains stalled.
Venezuela: Machado returns after a year in exile
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returned to Venezuela after nearly a year in exile, according to reports covered in The Morning Post's October 26 early edition, in a homecoming her supporters framed as a defiant moment for the country's opposition. Machado, the Nobel laureate who has led opposition to the Caracas government from abroad, returned as Venezuela remains under intense United States pressure, including the Shield of the Americas security umbrella and Caribbean boat strikes that Washington says target drug trafficking. Her next steps — and the government's response — will be closely watched in the coming days.
Czech Republic: Prague protests over public media funding
Thousands of people also protested in Prague over the Czech government's plan to fund public media from the state budget, a proposal demonstrators say threatens the independence of public broadcasters. The protests followed a rushed parliamentary vote on the public media overhaul, and they continued into Monday as part of a wider European weekend in which students, unions and civic groups took to the streets over education standards, living costs and democratic institutions. Protesters argue that moving public media funding onto the state budget would give governments of any stripe a lever over newsrooms that are supposed to hold them to account. Government supporters of the change argue that a stable, budget-based funding model would end years of uncertainty over licence-fee income and protect public media from commercial pressure. The dispute matters beyond the Czech Republic because it sits at the intersection of two of the weekend's biggest themes: who pays for independent journalism, and who gets to set the terms. With elections and media reforms moving across the continent, Prague's crowds were a reminder that the fight over public media is not an abstract debate about budgets — it is about whether citizens trust what they hear when the next crisis arrives.
What to watch next
Three questions will dominate the week ahead: whether Brazil's courts accept or reject Bolsonaro's annulment challenge; whether Serbia's student movement can turn protest into a functioning government; and whether France's Monday meeting between Lecornu and student leaders calms a protest movement that has now run for weeks. On Iran, the watchpoint is simpler and starker: whether the post-midterm window brings a deal, a delay, or a return to strikes.