Evening Brief, Sunday 25 October

Brazil opened polling stations at 8:00 Brasília time for a runoff that has tightened into a statistical dead heat. More than 158 million voters can cast ballots in more than 517,000 polling sections across the country, with voting also taking place in 186 cities abroad. Brazilian law bars the publication of exit polls, so the first official figures after polls close will carry unusual weight.

Flávio Bolsonaro entered the runoff with the first-round lead, taking 47.03% of valid votes on 4 October against 45.16% for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a margin of 2,224,965 votes. Datafolha and Quaest polls published on 24 October put Flávio Bolsonaro on 51% of valid votes and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 49%, within a two-point margin of error. Since Brazil adopted the two-round system in 1989, no candidate who finished second in the first round has gone on to win the presidency.

The campaign mixed kitchen-table discontent with a bitter fight over the Bolsonaro family. Jair Bolsonaro was convicted in 2025 of plotting a 2022 coup, and his son has promised to free him if elected. Donald Trump called the case a "witch hunt" and imposed tariffs linked to the trial, while Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva accused Washington of trying to sway the vote. Six governorships are also being decided, and São Paulo alone accounts for 21.5% of voters.

Israeli forces expanded operations across the occupied West Bank after two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others wounded in a gun attack near Hebron on Friday. The Israeli military said the two Palestinian gunmen were shot dead, weapons were found in their car, and the army later acted at more than 400 locations over the weekend. It said it arrested 40 Palestinians it described as affiliated with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The displacement in Hebron is now the political centre of the operation. The office of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said more than 2,670 Palestinians had been displaced by Israeli forces, most of them women, children and elderly people. Other estimates ranged from about 1,500 to 2,231, while Israel Katz, Israel's defence minister, said about 2,000 people had been ordered out of the neighbourhood where the attackers lived. Israeli authorities said several demolished structures were illegal and located in Area C, the part of the West Bank under full Israeli control.

Benjamin Netanyahu visited the attack site with members of his right-wing government and tied the response to Israel's election week. He warned that enemies were trying to hit Israelis before the vote.

The military also barred Palestinian workers from entering Israeli communities for work from Sunday through Monday, and said all land crossings between Israel and the West Bank would close throughout Election Day on Tuesday. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called for urgent international action, and a Palestinian vice president described the operation as collective punishment.

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh reopened two terminals on 25 October after a two-week closure that followed a cruise-missile strike on a passenger terminal. Terminal 1 is handling domestic flights and Terminal 2 international flights, though the international terminal is being used only by Saudi carriers. Foreign airlines remain suspended, and Riyadh Air has moved departures to Al Qassim airport in the centre of the kingdom.

Yemen's Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, repeated the day before the reopening that the airport remains a military target. He warned airlines, airport staff and travellers to avoid the site, and said the Houthis would keep carrying out operations there. The warning put the Saudi government on notice in stark terms.

Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said Saudi forces intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at the capital early on 25 October, along with a drone in the Riyadh region and a cruise missile aimed at Khamis Mushait. A later coalition update put the tally at two drones and a ballistic missile launched against Riyadh province. Residents in the capital heard three explosions, and phone alerts told them to take shelter.

The Houthis said they had launched seven attacks on Saudi territory, naming Riyadh airport, Aramco facilities at Yanbu, the Rabigh refinery, east-west pipeline stations, King Fahd airport in Dammam, Najran airport and the Khamis Mushait air base. Saudi civil defence said debris fell in the Mecca and Medina regions after interceptions, while the Houthis denied targeting either holy city.

France's Interior Ministry reported 1,314 detentions after a second weekend of protests over the cost of living, public services and support for high school students. The ministry counted 410,000 demonstrators nationwide on Saturday, down from 550,000 the previous weekend, while the CGT union put turnout at almost 800,000. In Paris, police counted 110,000 marchers and the CGT said 250,000.

The Paris march was shifted away from the centre toward the outskirts, a route change that drew criticism. Police used tear gas and a water cannon near the Porte de Vincennes at the end of the procession. Hélène Denéchère, a spokeswoman for the Paris police prefecture, confirmed the looting of a shop and damage to a car dealership, and said about 500 "troublemakers" were present at the end of the march. By Sunday, the prefecture reported 142 people detained in Paris, 126 of them in police custody.

Interior Minister Laurent Núñez said around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes were deployed, 20% more than on 17 October. The provisional national tally also listed 75 firefighter interventions to tackle fires and 24 looted shops. The ministry said many investigations had already been opened, but gave no figure for injured protesters. It described the night after the marches as calm.

Clashes also reached Marseille, Toulouse, Nice, Tours, Lyon and Bordeaux. In Lyon, about 10,000 people gathered despite a police ban over a wide perimeter, while in Bordeaux police fired tear gas after protesters threw firecrackers and objects. Orléans saw a large march without incidents, with police counting 11,000 people and organisers 29,000.

Donald Trump announced at a campaign rally in Perry, Georgia, that Audi plans to build its first United States factory near Macon. The German luxury brand, owned by Volkswagen, said the plant would make premium SUVs for North American buyers and could produce up to 200,000 vehicles a year. Audi said the investment would create about 4,500 jobs and form part of a plan to make America the third pillar of its production network, alongside Europe and China.

Trump credited his tariff policy for the decision, and Gernot Döllner, chairman of Audi's management board, joined him on stage. The investment figure varies slightly across reports, from more than $4 billion to $4.25 billion. The timetable is also untidy. Trump said construction would start in November 2026, while Audi's own release says construction begins in 2027 and production follows in the early 2030s. A US official said the plant would assemble the Q7, Q8 and Q9 SUV models.

The announcement landed less than ten days before the 3 November midterm elections, with Republicans trying to defend narrow margins in Congress. It also caused discomfort in Germany. Isabel Cademartori, an SPD lawmaker, criticised Audi's appearance alongside Trump as campaign help for an autocrat and called it a new low for Volkswagen. The group has not yet made the final decision, which rests with its supervisory board.

A 60-year-old man was killed by a falling tree near Castle Douglas in Dumfries during Storm Boelo, Police Scotland said. The accident happened at Mid Kelton at about 10.30am on Sunday, during an amber wind warning that ran across most of Scotland from Saturday night to Sunday night. The Met Office had warned of risks to life from flying debris, damaged buildings, power cuts and travel disruption.

Winds reached 85mph at Machrahanish in Argyll and Bute and 82mph in the Inner Hebrides, while the Glasgow region saw gusts of up to 62mph. Flooding hit towns and cities in the west, waves broke over sea walls at Largs and Tarbert, and fallen trees closed trunk roads in both directions. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency had 17 flood warnings and 11 flood alerts active on Saturday afternoon.

The Scottish Government said 40,000 people in Scotland were still without power on Sunday after 26,000 households had been reconnected, and strong winds slowed repairs. The Energy Networks Association said more than 82,000 UK homes were without power, with 345,000 restored after Storms Austen and Boelo. Enedis counted 59,000 homes without power in France at midday, mainly in Brittany and Normandy, and Freiburg in Germany lost power to 10,000 households.

Transport operators also cut services. Schiphol airport cancelled at least 90 flights, Belfast International cancelled about 15 in the morning, and ferries between Belfast and Scotland and England were halted. Network Rail Scotland reported fallen trees, damaged power lines and flooding, while the Scottish Government's Resilience Room met under First Minister John Swinney and warned that adverse weather could return early in the week.