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Today's Brief: Runoffs, Concessions, and Delegations

The Homebrew · · Posted · AI-drafted daily brief, synthesized from Left, Center, and Right coverage. Facts may be inaccurate — verify with the cited sources below.

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth term Sunday, taking 51.8% of the vote with all ballots counted, and Flávio Bolsonaro refused to concede and asked for the results to be annulled, the Associated Press reported in a story published by CBS News. In Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat to a student-backed slate. "The Students' List has won," he told supporters, the Associated Press reported in a story published by CBS News. And senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were in Tehran on Monday for talks aimed at averting renewed fighting, the Associated Press reported in a story published by the New York Post, as President Trump told Fox News, "Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal?", according to CBS.

Brazil. Lula led Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, by nearly 4.4 million votes, Brazil's electoral court said, the Associated Press reported in a story published by CBS News. Bolsonaro's refusal to concede followed an evening of chaos at some polling places after a last-minute decision by a Supreme Court justice to extend voting by two hours, a decision that may trigger legal action by Bolsonaro, according to the AP. "This was a defeat for denialism and lies," Lula told supporters, adding, "This country will not accept being anyone's backyard," the AP reported. His next term begins Jan. 5, 2027, and he won after finishing second in the first round, according to the AP. Seven conservative presidents have been elected in Latin America in the past 18 months, NPR's Carrie Kahn said, according to NPR.

From the right, Breitbart reported that Justice Cristiano Zanin's single-justice ruling extended voting to 7 p.m. local time after Lula's campaign reportedly complained of a bus shortage in Bahia, calling it an "unprecedented, single-justice ruling."

Serbia. Vučić said his party projects the Students' List will take 135 to 140 of Parliament's 250 seats, with his SNS party around 105, the Associated Press reported in a story published by CBS News. He blamed Serbia's independent media and alleged interference by unnamed European countries and an "American deep state" for the loss, according to the AP. Vučić had resigned the presidency last month to seek the prime minister's job; support for him eroded after a train-station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in 2024, setting off youth protests, the AP reported. "It is clear that we have lost these elections," he said, Mother Jones reported.

Iran and the Gulf. Iranian officials said indirect negotiations with the U.S. continue but that Tehran will not change its positions even if strikes resume, CBS reported. The Tehran delegations include Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman and Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, the AP reported; AFP reported in a story published by CBS News that Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will also take part. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said messages were being passed to the U.S. through intermediaries, according to the AP.

A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and disabled, and its crew was reported safe, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center said Monday, CBS reported. Brent crude sat around $115 a barrel early Monday, according to CBS. The Saudi-led coalition said Monday it intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh, after the Houthis claimed a new attack on the city's airport hours after it resumed flights, CBS reported.

Israel votes Tuesday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party is neck and neck with former military chief Gadi Eisenkot ahead of Israel's first nationwide election since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, NBC News reported. Netanyahu, 77, faces long-running charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery, which he has dismissed as a politically motivated witch-hunt, according to NBC. Defense Minister Israel Katz called a Channel 12 report of a rift between Netanyahu and army chief Eyal Zamir over Iran "entirely baseless and false," CBS reported.

From the right, Breitbart reported that Trump renewed his endorsement on Truth Social: "Vote for Bibi Netanyahu for Prime Minister, we have to finish the job that we started!" Final polls showed neither Netanyahu's coalition nor the opposition reaching the 61 seats needed for a majority, according to Breitbart.

In the West Bank, the Israeli military said crossings into Israel will stay closed until after the election, CBS reported. More than 2,700 people have been displaced in Hebron, Palestinian officials said, after a Friday shooting attack killed two Israeli soldiers, according to CBS. The military said it operated in more than 400 locations over the weekend and arrested 40 Palestinians it claimed were affiliated with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, CBS reported.

Midterms. At a rally in Port Huron on Sunday, Trump called Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, a "jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member," CBS reported; NBC reported that Trump offered no evidence for his claims about El-Sayed. Asked at a town hall this month whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood, El-Sayed said "absolutely," according to CBS. Sen. Bernie Sanders, rallying with El-Sayed in Grand Rapids, said Trump and his allies were using Islamophobia because they have "nothing to say" about issues such as health care and housing, CBS reported. From the right, Breitbart reported a capacity crowd in Port Huron; "We love him because he loves us," one attendee said.

Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the Justice Department's suit to block certification of Alaska's Senate results if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, telling CNN's Dana Bash, "You are not being a real person," the Guardian reported. Democratic challenger Mary Peltola and her family suffered minor injuries in a car crash Saturday, and her upcoming events in Fairbanks and Bethel will be rescheduled for later in the week, her campaign said, according to the Guardian and agencies.

Democrats are on pace for 229 House seats in the CBS News model, a lead that has held but not grown, CBS reported. Of 15 districts drawn to favor Republicans, only five are rated likely or solid Republican by the Cook Political Report, NPR reported.

World. Jordanian security forces arrested three men Monday after a dawn shootout over Friday's attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Karak that killed nine people, CBS reported. All three were wounded, and no group has claimed responsibility, according to CBS.

Japanese prosecutors indicted a U.S. Marine on murder and robbery charges in the killing of a 39-year-old woman at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa, a court spokesman told AFP, CBS reported. Japan's foreign minister said officials are reviewing off-base conduct rules for U.S. troops, according to CBS.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned home after nearly a year in exile, her team told CBS. "I don't know anything about it, but I think she's a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel Prize," Trump said, CBS reported.

From the right, Reuters reported in a story published by the New York Post that Russia's FSB claimed it thwarted a Ukrainian drone plot against part of Moscow's air defenses and an electricity facility and arrested two men; there was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Health and culture. The U.S. has recorded more than 4,580 measles cases this year as of Oct. 22, more than double all of 2025, according to CDC data cited by NPR. Pennsylvania has confirmed at least 1,338 cases and five deaths, the state health department said, NPR reported.

Eric Bauza, the voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, died Sunday at 46, his manager said, CBS reported. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner listed hypertensive cardiovascular disease, according to CBS.

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