Archive September 28, 2025

With five rounds to go, Ducati’s Marc Marquez, who had an unassailable lead over the Japanese Grand Prix, claimed his seventh MotoGP title and his first since 2019 with his seventh overall victory.

In Sunday’s race, Marquez finished second behind his teammate Francesco Bagnaia to win the title, outscoring his brother Alex, who is also a title contender, by three or more points by the weekend.

Marc had a 201-point advantage over his brother when Joan Mir of Honda came in third and Alex came in sixth. When Marc and Alex came to a stop, Alex waved him a warm embrace and thanked him for it.

After Marc’s cross-the-line accomplishment, the Spaniard screamed as the accomplishment hit him with his head in his hands.

a six-year wait between championships

After 2, 184 days, Marquez came to a stop in front of a large screen and watched a montage of his struggles, which included more than 100 crashes and four operations, as he recovered the title.

When he engraved his name on a silver plaque inside the oblong MotoGP trophy known as the Tower of Champions, the coronation was complete.

Marquez cried as he tried to hold back tears as he said, “I just want to enjoy the moment, but it’s true that it was difficult, it was really difficult, but I’m at peace with myself.”

“I made a big mistake in my career by returning from surgery too early, and then I fought, fought, and finally won!” I’m therefore at peace.

Bagnaia, the polesitter for Ducati and the weekend’s sprint champion, started well, and two laps later, Marquez slotted in behind his Spanish compatriot in third place.

Bagnaia reigns supreme.

By lap seven, Bagnaia was comfortably in command of the lead, but Marquez’s pace seemed to be slowing him down, giving Mir the chance to come in and take his place in third place.

When Marquez tucked into his slipstream and overtook him on lap 11, Marquez was staring straight ahead to his teammate Bagnaia, who was averaging his second victory of the year, for a gap of four seconds.

Acosta had clearly struggled for control with 11 laps left, so Mir pounced on to move up to third as the 2020 champion chased a rare podium finish after missing 10 races this season.

When Bagnaia’s bike started to smoke as Marquez began to slow down, the Ducati paddock had a few heart-stopping moments during the second half of the race. However, the Italian eventually managed to nurse his bike to the chequered flag.

Bagnaia, who has won MotoGP twice in 2022 and 2023, said, “I don’t want to take Marc’s attention because he deserves it.”

“But in any case, I’m content. I hope that I will continue in this manner from now on because I can fight like this because it’s a little sad that it’s arrived so late in the season.”

Russian interference is being discussed in the days leading up to Sunday’s vote, according to Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean, who warned of Russian interference and claimed that Moscow is “investigating millions of euros” in an alleged “hybrid war” to try to take control of what he called the “final battle for our country’s future.”

Moldova’s claims that it has been conducting a disinformation campaign and trying to stoke unrest have been refuted by Russia.

Polling stations opened on Sunday at 7 a.m. (04:00 GMT). Results are anticipated later in the day with the final polling time set for 9 p.m. (18:00 GMT).

The president will nominate a prime minister, typically from the ruling bloc or party, after the vote, who will then attempt to form a new government.

Most polls predicted the country’s pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), which had been in the lead since 2021, ahead of the election.

However, the large diaspora in Moldova is not fully accounted for by the polls, and about a third of voters are still undecided.

The pro-Russian Patriot Electoral Bloc, a group of political parties, has capitalized on voter unease over slow reforms, slow economic growth, and issues that officials claim have caused widespread disinformation.

The populist Our Party, which claims to be pro-European, and Alternativa Bloc, which has claimed to be pro-European, are two of the pro-Russian bloc’s parties, with critics claiming that they want closer ties to Moscow.

Between Ukraine and Romania, the EU member, and its geographic isolation.

In recent years, the nation has shifted westward in order to become a member of the EU in 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A 26-year-old factory worker in Balti, Iulian Cazacu, expressed disappointment with the results of two previous votes to the Reuters news agency.

There have been numerous leaders, but there hasn’t been a single normal, adequate change that would allow me to declare, “Look, life in the country has improved,” Cazacu said.

The vote was referred to as the “most consequential election in the country” by President Maia Sandu on Friday.

The outcome will determine whether we can defend our democracy and join the EU or whether Russia forces us into a “grey zone” and poses a regional risk, Sandu wrote on X.

As a result of Russia’s major drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital and the surrounding area, at least four people were killed, including a 12-year-old girl, and ten others were hurt.

Early on Sunday, the local military administration reported that Russia was attacking with drones and missiles, and that there was an air raid alert over the Kyiv region.

Timur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, claimed early findings had identified three deaths, which were quickly updated with the discovery of another body.

Tkachenko claimed on Telegram that more than 15 locations had been damaged as a result of numerous attacks, including “drone strikes on multi-story residential buildings.”

The districts of Darnytskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Solomianskyi, Holosiivskyi, and Dniprovskyi already know about the attack’s effects. He continued, “Some places have car fires in courtyards.”

As the attack continued in the morning, some Kyiv residents feared safety as they fled to metro stations deep underground.

While neighboring Poland restricted airspace close to two of its southeasterly cities, and its air force and allies scrambled jets in response, many regions across the nation were also in air raid alert.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha claimed that Russia had fired “hundreds of drones and missiles” overnight in a statement posted on X.

He claimed that there were “civilian casualties” as a result of the strikes, which destroyed residential structures.

He argued that “we must maximize the cost of further escalation for Russia.”

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, criticized the “massive” assault on the Ukrainian capital and urged residents to stay in shelters.

Five people have been hospitalized, according to Klitschko, who added that they are “in total.”

Since the start of the war, an independent observer has characterized the attack on Kyiv as one of the biggest Russian strikes on the city and the surrounding areas.

The most recent Russian attack, according to The Kyiv Post, was “one of the heaviest they had ever witnessed,” despite the report that the total number of aerial targets is still being determined.

As drones flew over Kyiv at night, anti-aircraft fire erupted.

At least four people were hurt in the southeast of Zaporizhia, according to the governor, who claimed that Russian bombings there had caused at least four injuries.

Residential buildings and infrastructure are again impacted, according to the report. The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, declared, “Once more, it is a war against civilians.”

“These actions will result in a response.” However, Yermak argued that the West’s economic repercussions against Russia must also be stronger.

Prior to the Russian strikes in Ukraine, Poland’s armed forces claimed that their ground-based air defense systems were on high alert and that they had scrambled fighter jets in their airspace.