The count that was still open at the evening drop landed Sunday night: Lula 51.8% to Flávio Bolsonaro's 48.2%, a margin of ~4.4 million votes (electoral court, via Reuters/CNN). It's the first time since direct elections returned in 1989 that a candidate won the runoff after finishing second in the first round — Lula added 10M+ votes in three weeks. Bolsonaro refused to concede, calling Supreme Court Justice Zanin's two-hour voting extension "unacceptable" and saying he'll seek annulment. Checkable wrinkle: both camps had asked for extensions — Lula's over suspended public transport in key areas, Bolsonaro's over rain closing southern polling stations. Lula governs 2027–2030 facing a Congress where Bolsonaro's party holds its largest bench in decades. Sources: Reuters · CNN · NPR.

Nobel laureate María Corina Machado announced her return Sunday after 10+ months in exile: first seen at the Santa Rosa church in Lara state, then driven into Caracas Sunday night through crowds swarming her car. Her adviser told Reuters she'll push for a date for free elections. The friction is on the record: Trump, asked Sunday, said he didn't know about the return, called her "a very nice woman," and stressed the U.S. is "doing really well" with interim President Delcy Rodríguez — Maduro's former deputy, whom Washington backs and who signed the oil deals. Rubio framed her safe return as a product of U.S.-supported reconciliation talks (hundreds of prisoners freed, exiles returning). She returns to a transition that has so far excluded her. Sources: Reuters · CNN · USA Today.

The blame circle from last week narrowed Sunday. Musk posted that SpaceX did restrict commercial Starlink, saying Ukraine violated its terms by using it for "offensive drone strikes" — and insists Starshield, the military system, is controlled by the U.S. government. Zelenskyy, on Meet the Press Sunday, said Kyiv believes the U.S. government was behind the restrictions and that SpaceX acted on a "message from [the] American government." Ukrainian officials dispute Musk's premise: commercial Starlink doesn't work over Russian territory, so the alleged deep-strike use is technically impossible, they say — drone missions ran on Starshield. Agreed core: service was restored Saturday, Ukraine's defense ministry reports stable links above 400 km/h, and nobody has put their name on the Starshield cap itself. Sources: NPR via WHRO · WaPo.

Trump campaigned for Mike Rogers in Port Huron Sunday, still branding Democrat Abdul El-Sayed a "vicious, violent jihadist" (his Friday wording). Sunday morning, Rogers broke with him on Meet the Press: "I've never called him a terrorist" — while keeping his own line that El-Sayed is a DSA-aligned radical who once "pledged support to the Muslim Brotherhood." Reuters' analysis calls the jihadist branding false and aimed at peeling off Jewish and Black Detroit voters who backed El-Sayed's primary opponent. The counter-rally ran the other frame: Sanders in Grand Rapids Sunday night called the attacks Islamophobia meant to divide voters who agree on costs and health care. El-Sayed led the RCP average by ~1.9 pts early Sunday. The seat could decide Senate control. Sources: Washington Examiner · Reuters · WaPo.

Brent slipped ~1.3% to $115.16 early Monday (0018 GMT), WTI to $101.67, after Friday's ~$3 surge closed Brent up 6.2% on the week. The dip tracks reports that Qatari mediators were in Tehran Sunday working a de-escalation with the U.S. The attacks didn't stop: Houthis claimed strikes on Saudi airport/oil facilities Saturday, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted more missiles and drones Sunday and partially restarted its main airport. A ~$1 dip on a $115 barrel changes nothing at the pump yet. Sources: Reuters via Hindu BusinessLine · Reuters via 98.5 The River.