Around the world in 43 seconds

🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russia formally (and illegally) annexed four occupied Ukrainian territories on Friday. The move capped a week where the Kremlin held referendums in Russian-occupied territories, widely denounced as illegal under Ukrainian and international law. Also on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the country is applying for "accelerated" NATO membership – though Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would only support the traditional, lengthy process.

🇧🇷 Brazilians voted nationwide yesterday following one of the most violent election seasons in history. The world’s fourth-largest democracy headed to the polls in an election pitting incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro against his predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, both of whom are projected to advance to a runoff election. About 40 mainly local Brazilian politicians from the left and right were killed in the first half of this year, while ~170 others were victims of attempted murders, beatings, kidnappings, and/or death threats. And so far in the back-half of the year (July through September 23), 140 attacks on politicians have occurred, per the WSJ.

🇮🇩 A stampede at an Indonesian football match left at least 125 people dead on Saturday. The incident, which occurred in the city of Malang in the East Java province, marks the second-deadliest stadium disaster in modern soccer history. Local officials said the stadium was overcrowded, and the crowd panicked after police fired tear gas at spectators who ran onto the field before the game ended.