Monday morning’s top world news: Brazil’s first-round presidential vote brought a surprise lead for Flávio Bolsonaro and a likely runoff, while President Trump’s Gaza ceasefire deadline expired overnight without a clear outcome. Here are the key stories.
Brazil election heads to runoff after first-round surprise
With about 85 percent of votes counted in Brazil’s first-round presidential election, Flávio Bolsonaro led incumbent Lula da Silva with 48.47 percent against 43.49 percent, according to results reported overnight. Neither candidate crossed the 50 percent threshold needed for an outright win, and pollster Datafolha projected a runoff vote on October 25. The early counts were skewed toward southern states that favour Bolsonaro, with Lula’s northeast strongholds counted later. Pre-election polls had shown Lula narrowly ahead, so the first-round Bolsonaro lead is an upset — and continues the right-wing wave seen across Latin America in recent years.
Gaza ceasefire deadline passes with no clear outcome
President Trump’s Sunday deadline of 6 PM Eastern (3:00 AM in Pakistan) for Hamas to accept his 20-point Gaza peace plan passed overnight with no new moves from either side. Hamas responded on Friday in principle, offering to release the hostages and hand Gaza’s administration to a technocrat body, but no acceptance of the full plan has been confirmed. Trump also did not follow through on his “all hell” warning, so the outcome of the expired deadline remains uncertain.
Market snapshot: Bitcoin traded flat around $84,584 and Ethereum around $2,700, with no new institutional or regulatory moves in crypto markets. Brent crude held near $102 from the Friday close, with physical markets still tight. There were no new developments in China–UK/USA tariff policy.