Daily News Brief

October 31, 2022

Top of the Agenda

Leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, won Brazil’s presidential runoff (Reuters) yesterday, defeating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro by less than two percentage points. Bolsonaro did not concede the election last night nor make any public statement. Heads of state from around the world congratulated Lula on his victory. 

Brazil’s race was closely watched (AP) internationally due to Bolsonaro’s attempts to sow doubt in the country’s electoral system. Immediately after the vote, prominent conservative pundits had not claimed it was rigged. In his victory speech, Lula pledged to ramp up monitoring and surveillance of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest, which soared under Bolsonaro.

Analysis

“It’s Lula, in one of the biggest comebacks in modern political history. Two years ago he was in prison. Now he’ll get a chance to repeat the magic of his 1st presidency in [the] 2000s—but with a much more difficult global economy, and a VERY divided Brazil,” Americas Quarterly’s Brian Winter tweets.

“So far, 2022 has been a grim year in the fight against catastrophic global warming,” Reuters’s George Hay writes. “As such, the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as Brazil’s president counts as a tangible boost.”

This In Brief looks at the stakes of Brazil’s election.

Pacific Rim

Authorities are investigating (Yonhap) the circumstances around a crowd crush that killed at least 154 people in Seoul’s nightlife district on Saturday. A period of national mourning will last until November 5.

U.S./South Korea: The countries began their first large-scale joint air drills (Yonhap) in almost five years today. The training follows a series of missile tests by North Korea.

South and Central Asia

Rescue efforts are still underway (The Hindu) after a newly restored, colonial-era cable bridge in Gujarat collapsed into a river yesterday.

Afghanistan: Opium prices in the country have risen more than 50 percent (FT) since the Taliban outlawed the drug in April, according to the British consultancy Alcis. Prices for methamphetamines also appear to have risen.

Middle East and North Africa

The videos appeared on social media as Iran’s anti-government demonstrators defied an ultimatum (Reuters) from President Ebrahim Raisi to stop protesting after seven weeks.

For Foreign Affairs, Zoe Marks, Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, and Erica Chenoweth discuss Iran’s women on the front lines.

Brussels/Egypt: The European Union and Egypt signed a deal (Reuters) on a $79 million border management program that aims to reduce irregular migration to Europe from Egypt’s northern coast.

Sub-Saharan Africa

The blasts targeting the country’s education ministry (BBC) killed at least one hundred people on Saturday. 

This Backgrounder looks at al-Shabab.

DRC/Rwanda: The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) asked Rwanda’s ambassador to leave the country (AP) after fighters from the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group clashed with the DRC’s military over the weekend. The DRC has accused Rwanda of backing the rebels.

Europe

World leaders urged Russia to rejoin the deal (NYT) after Moscow withdrew over the weekend due to alleged Ukrainian drone strikes on its Black Sea fleet. 

Czech Republic: Tens of thousands of people protested rising extremism (Reuters) in the country in the same Prague square where far-right political demonstrators rallied two days earlier.

Americas

The journalist was among a group of reporters (Miami Herald) demanding the release of their arrested colleague yesterday. 

United States

The man suspected of bludgeoning the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer on Friday had posted conspiracy theories (CNN) about the 2020 election and the 2021 Capitol riot on social media. The suspect reportedly shouted, “Where is Nancy?” during the attack, which came less than two weeks before the country’s midterm elections.

For the Renewing America initiative, CFR’s Jacob Ware writes that violence during election seasons undermines U.S. democracy.

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