RT News - October 31st 2022

Ukraine is to send a dozen cargo ships on Monday under an UN-brokered grain export deal, despite Russia pulling out of the agreement due to a recent Ukrainian attack.

Great joy and great sorrow - these emotions are being felt all across Brazil following a nail-biting presidential election. The results were not predictable until the very last minute, when the left-wing candidate Lula da Silva won by an extremely small margin of less than one percent.

Ethiopia's government and rebels from the northern Tigray region hold their highest-level peace talks since a devastating civil war erupted there nearly two years ago.

Several opposition politicians in Moldova were detained amid protests against high energy prices and declining living standards. One of them suffered a heart attack in police custody and was taken to a hospital.

Criminals in Finland obtain weapons from Ukraine – police reports. Arms supplied to Kiev have also allegedly been found in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. As the US openly acknowledges it can't control where the weapons sent to Ukraine end up, EUROPOL warned of this situation happening and western countries continuing to supply without controls.

Namibia's government seeks reparations from Germany for genocide which took place 1904-1908. 75,000 people were killed and Germany has acknowledged responsibility but refuses to pay reparations for the citizens and has instead offered "aid" .

In Senegal, fishermen worry over the impact of gas extraction by western countries who stop access to traditional fishing waters. 19 fishermen have been killed by coastguards so far as they try to continue their fishing. "BP" and "Cosmos Energy" are the operators.

Update on the deadly bridge collapse in Morbi, India where 130 were killed and more injured.

Western powers are living behind a "wall of denial" - that's according to a UN envoy, as they ignore the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.
=====================

Via RT website 30 Oct, 2022 22:32 BRAZIL

Lula defeats Bolsonaro in Brazilian election

The president-elect calls his political comeback a “victory of democracy”

Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva clinched victory over his right-wing rival Jair Bolsonaro in a tightly contested second round of the Brazilian election on Sunday. The country’s election authority announced Lula’s narrow win with 50,90% of the vote to Bolsonaro’s 49.10%.

“This isn’t a victory of mine or the Workers’ Party... It’s the victory of a democratic movement that formed above political parties, personal interests and ideologies so that democracy came out victorious,” Lula told a cheering crowd of supporters in Sao Paulo on Sunday night.

The president-elect acknowledged that following such a tight race a challenge to his future mandate will be “immense,” and stressed that “it is necessary to rebuild the very soul of this country, recover generosity, solidarity, respect for differences and love for others.”

Lula, who is set to take office on 1 January 2023, promised to be a president for all 215 million Brazilians, not just those who voted for him. “There are no two Brazils. We are one country, one people – a great nation.”

Bolsonaro has yet to publicly concede defeat. The incumbent repeatedly warned during his campaign that he would contest the results if he were to lose by a narrow margin, calling into question the reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system.

After polls closed nationwide at 5pm local time (8pm GMT), initial results showed Bolsonaro ahead. However, just as in the first round, his lead eventually narrowed as more votes from da Silva’s strongholds were counted. In the first round on October 2, da Silva received over 48% of the vote, which was not enough to claim immediate victory.

Lula da Silva, who represents Brazil’s Workers’ Party, has focused his campaign on overcoming social inequality and alleviating poverty. Among the measures he proposes are raising taxes on the rich, widening the social safety net, and increasing the minimum wage.

Bolsonaro’s campaign slogan has been ‘God, family, homeland, and liberty’. His vision of Brazil’s future includes privatizing the country’s state-owned oil company, opening the Amazon region to more mining, and easing gun regulations.

In the run-up to the showdown, the rivals repeatedly traded insults during campaign events. In a televised debate on October 17, Lula called Bolsonaro a “tiny little dictator” and pledged to defend freedom and democracy. The incumbent fired back, calling Lula “a national embarrassment,” due to the corruption scandals that took place when Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT) was in power.

Lula, who governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010, was barred from running for president in 2018 after being jailed on corruption charges that were later overturned.
=============================