5,518: On Sunday, voters in Brazil elected mayors in 5,518 cities and towns across the country, and on Oct. 27, many will return to vote in 51 more cities, including Sao Paulo, where no candidate earned more than 50% in the first round. Much media coverage has underlined that most winners so far were center-right candidates backed by former President Jair Bolsonaro, but the real trend seems to be that incumbents of both left and right fared well.
75: In the latest sign that China’s relations with North Korea have become strained, the DPRK marked the 75th anniversary of its diplomatic ties with China on Sunday without major celebrations. It’s unclear why relations have cooled, but it might have something to do with North Korea’s ever-closer relationship with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
27.7: In Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began in 2011, President Kais Saied cruised toward a massive landslide win over an imprisoned opposition candidate. Outside observers warn that the country’s democracy is compromised. First reports suggest turnout fell from 49% in the runoff round of the 2019 election to just 27.7%.
6: In Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state in Mexico,Mayor Alejandro Arcos was murdered on Sunday, just six days after taking office. In the state, which is home to Acapulco, drug gangs have enough influence to organize their own anti-government demonstrations.
17: On Monday, 17 adult film stars launched a $100,000 ad campaign warning that Project 2025 — the Heritage Foundation policy blueprint for the next Republican administration — wants to ban pornography and imprison those who produce it. The ads will run on adult websites in swing states. (pun intended)
The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut, global energy markets are under mounting pressure, and President Trump appears to be backing away from some of his original demands on Tehran. Ian Bremmer argues that Iran increasingly believes it has more leverage than the United States, and that perception alone is reshaping the negotiations.
Carl Bildt answers two major political questions shaping Europe’s future: Could Canada ever join the European Union? And is UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer politically finished after Labour’s disastrous local election results?
The world is a wild place. Happy 100th Sir David Attenborough
The Pentagon has poured billions into AI warfare, from drone footage analysis to autonomous targeting. Katrina Manson, author of Project Maven and Bloomberg reporter, joins Ian Bremmer to trace how AI went from a computer experiment to key technology for the Pentagon, and why some risks and moral stakes remain unresolved.