Chile
Chileans went to the polls today to vote in a presidential election as the country continues to suffer the aftershocks of mass protests that started two years ago. The winner will preside over a referendum on a new constitution; a demand of the demonstrations, which centered on structural inequality. Gabriel Boric, a 35-year-old former student leader representing a left-wing coalition, and Jose Antonio Kast, a 55-year-old far-right former congressman, are the leading candidates. Neither one, though, is expected to win an outright majority so a run-off next month is likely.
More from the Guardian here.
Sudan
Things just got more complicated in Sudan. Military coup leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has signed a deal with Abdalla Hamdok, the ousted prime minister who had been under house arrest, allowing him to be reinstated. But the Forces of Freedom and Change, a civilian coalition that had been sharing power with the army as part of a transitional government before the October 25 coup, was left out of the agreement. Protesters unhappy with the deal took to the streets and a 16-year-old boy was shot in the head and killed. It’s hard to predict how this one will develop.
More from Al Jazeera here.
China
The saga of China’s missing tennis star Peng Shuai has taken another twist. Shuai went missing for nearly three weeks after accusing a former top Communist Party official of raping her, leading to global uproar as mega-famous tennis pros such as Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic drew attention to the case. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today said its president, Thomas Bach, had taken part in a video call with Shuai and released a statement, along with photos, saying she was fine and wanted her privacy respected. Many observers were quick to slam the IOC for swallowing the story, saying the call does not prove she isn’t acting under duress.
More from BBC here.