Austrian party chief steps back, Brazil heads to runoff, US names AI special envoy

Andreas Babler indicated a step-by-step exit from his role as SPÖ chairman, retaining the vice-chancellor post until year-end and planning to transfer the finance ministry to Markus Marterbauer, who is currently undergoing cancer treatment; Babler also brought party officials Philip Kucher and Eva-Maria Holzleitner into his team. Brazil’s presidential race has entered a runoff, with right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro leading former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after nearly all votes were tallied.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, nationalist parties emerged as the strongest bloc, with the SDA ahead of the SNSD led by Milorad Dodik, who also secured the Republika Srpska presidency. Yemen’s Saudi-backed presidential council, chaired by Raschad al-Alimi, declared an offensive to reclaim all territory following recent Houthi advances, noting heavy casualties in the Tais region. Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj said the United States will join Russia and Ukraine in expert-level talks on ending the war by the end of October.

President Donald Trump named former securities regulator Jay Clayton as the special envoy for artificial intelligence, tasking him with heading the Super Intelligence Force. The Karolinska Institute will announce the Nobel laureates in physiology or medicine later this week, kicking off the Nobel one outlet’s series of award announcements.