Our daily journey around the world

🇻🇦⛪ The Vatican is hosting a global meeting to discuss the Catholic Church’s future. The Vatican’s three-week synod, presided over by Pope Francis, will cover several contentious topics previously considered off-limits for discussion – including the role of women in the Church, a proposed plan for “radical inclusion” of LGBTQ+ Catholics, and new accountability measures for bishops to prevent abuses. This year, women and laypeople will be able to vote on specific proposals alongside bishops for the first time in history.

🇪🇺🇺🇦 The EU is working towards adding Ukraine as a member. EU leaders will reportedly begin negotiations over Ukraine’s potential addition in December, weeks after officials are set to issue a "progress report" on how well Ukraine and other aspiring EU members – including Turkey, Serbia, and Albania – are meeting the conditions for joining. If the report is positive for Ukraine, it could be added to the world’s richest trading bloc by early 2024. Among other things, this move would give Ukraine a presence in all EU institutions, allow Ukrainians to travel freely within EU member states (as well as access their social service benefits), and require that EU law take supremacy over Ukrainian courts.

🏃🇮🇳 Athletes competing at a track meet in India ran away from the event to avoid drug tests. At the Delhi State Athletics Championship last week, the number of participants fell 50% after news spread that National Anti Doping Agency officials were present and requesting samples, per The Indian Express. Over the course of the event, seven of the eight participants in the men's 100-meter final dropped out, a junior steeplechase athlete kept running after crossing the finish line to evade NADA officials, and several winners skipped the medal ceremony to avoid giving a sample.