Argentines will vote in general election (WaPo) this Sunday amid a deepening economic crisis. Center-left candidate Alberto Fernandez has led widely in polls over incumbent center-right President Mauricio Macri, and a victory for Fernandez would mark the return of the populist Peronist movement.

Macri sought gradual pro-market reforms to the more closed economy he inherited from Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who is now Alberto Fernandez’s running mate, and in 2018 Macri accepted the International Monetary Fund’s largest-ever bailout (FT) to plug a budget gap. The vote comes as the Argentine economy is projected to contract by just over 3 percent (Buenos Aires Times) this year.

In a speech (White House) at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called for a “fundamental restructuring” of the U.S.-China relationship and condemned Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong protesters and of Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region. Pence also criticized what he called U.S. companies’ kowtowing to China, including the National Basketball Association.

Chad P. Brown and CFR’s Jennifer Hillman write that the October trade truce between Beijing and Washington failed to address important issues.

South Korea: The country plans to give up its status (Yonhap) as a developing nation at the World Trade Organization, according to the finance minister. U.S. President Donald J. Trump has pushed for some countries to be stripped of the status.

The government’s annual crime report did not include statistics (NYT) on religious-based crimes, despite many recent reports of caste- and religious-based hate crimes. It also excluded data on violence against journalists.

India/Pakistan: The two countries agreed to allow Sikh pilgrims from India to cross over their shared border (Al Jazeera) to visit a holy site without visas.

The United States is considering leaving around five hundred troops in northeastern Syria and sending new tanks and equipment to safeguard oil fields there, according to a Wall Street Journal report. U.S. troops had begun exiting the region amid a recent Turkish incursion against Kurdish forces.

CFR President Richard N. Haass writes that the U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria reinforces doubts that Washington is a reliable ally.

Lebanon: Anti-government demonstrators in Beirut rejected (Al Jazeera) President Michel Aoun’s appeal for talks with protest leaders and called on Aoun to resign.

The government declared today a public holiday (BBC), as thousands of people take part in organized marches against U.S. and European Union sanctions. President Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to give a speech.

CFR looks at why millions in Zimbabwe are on the brink of starvation.

Uganda: Authorities said they arrested sixteen men (Reuters) on suspicion of taking part in gay sex. The men lived and worked at a sexual health charity.

British police said they are investigating the deaths of thirty-nine Chinese nationals who were found in a refrigerated truck as a human trafficking case (SCMP). The truck arrived at a port east of London from Belgium.

France: Close to $11 billion has been pledged (AP) for a global fund to help developing countries address climate change, France’s finance minister announced. Almost half of the expected contributions come from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

The country will vote for its president and lawmakers on Sunday. The presidential election is predicted to go to a runoff (Economist) that includes front-runner conservative Luis Lacalle Pou.

More than fifty thousand people in northern Los Angeles County were forced to evacuate their homes (NYT) due to a wildfire. Another fire, north of San Francisco, had burned more than sixteen thousand acres by Thursday.