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Daily Briefing: Brazil elects a leftist

Nicole Fallert   | Paste BN

Leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian presidential runoff. Also in the news: South Korea mourned the deaths of more than 150 people who got trapped and crushed after a huge crowd surge in Seoul. The Supreme Court takes up a case on affirmative action today.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Happy Halloween! Need a last-minute costume? Find one here.

Now, here we go with Monday's news.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has done it again 

Twenty years after first winning the Brazilian presidency, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday in an extremely tight election that marks an about-face for the country after four years of far-right politics. It is a stunning reversal for da Silva, 77, whose 2018 imprisonment over a corruption scandal sidelined him from the 2018 election that brought Bolsonaro, a defender of conservative social values, to power. Yet he faces headwinds in a politically polarized society where economic growth is slowing and inflation is soaring. Read more

Deadly 'hell-like' crowd surge in Seoul 

Concerned relatives raced to hospitals in search of their loved ones Sunday as South Korea mourned the deaths of more than 150 people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who got trapped and crushed after a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in a nightlife district in Seoul. Witnesses said the crowd surge Saturday night in the Itaewon area caused “a hell-like” chaos as people fell on each other “like dominoes.” Local officials released preliminary death tolls but acknowledged many of the dead remained at the scene.  Read more

📷 The aftermath of the deadly crush 📷

The crush happened in the leisure district of Itaewon, where local media said 100,000 people were expected for Halloween festivities. In the streets, ambulances lined up; emergency responders rushed the injured on stretchers and motionless bodies lay under blue blankets — these scenes were broadcast on TV footage and captured in photos of the carnage. Click here for images from the scene. Warning: Graphic visuals.

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Supreme Court hears arguments in disputes over race-conscious college admissions

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday about one of the most challenging and controversial questions to reach its docket this year: whether colleges may consider the race of prospective students in the interest of diversity. Read more

One thing to know: The UNC and Harvard litigation are among several this term that require the court's 6-3 conservative majority to confront the fraught issue of race in America as well as questions about the extent to which the government may consider race to remedy discrimination.

  • Back to Brown v. Board: How the high court reconciles contrasting visions of the 1954 decision could have sweeping implications. Efforts by employers to counteract decades of discrimination in hiring, for instance, could be affected by the decision.
  • Diversity and inclusion programs proliferated after Black Lives Matter emerged. But if the Supreme Court bans race consciousness in university admissions, it could have a "chilling effect" on these initiatives, experts say.
  • This is just the start of a new term for the justices, who are expected to weigh in on LGBTQ rights, voting and elections and immigration within the coming months.

Fears of a global food crisis loom after Russia halts grain deal with Ukraine

A chorus of international condemnation echoed Sunday over Russia's sudden decision to halt participation in a grain export deal with Ukraine, raising concerns over threats to the global food supply. The Russian Defense Ministry, citing an alleged Ukraine drone attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet off the coast of occupied Crimea, announced the suspension Saturday. Ukraine denied the attack, blaming Russia for mishandling its own weapons. "Russia is blackmailing the world with hunger,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian aid organization, estimates 345 million people will encounter acute food insecurity this year. Read more

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Week 9 college football winners and losers: Tennessee makes case for No. 1

It's getting easier to make the argument that No. 3 Tennessee is more than just one of the top success stories in the Bowl Subdivision or even simply a contender for the College Football Playoff — the Volunteers may just be the best team in the country. Earning that label means taking it away from No. 1 Georgia, which might be a stretch. The defending national champions remained undefeated by storming out to a 28-3 halftime lead against Florida and holding on for a 42-20 win. Read more

One more thing

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note, shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to Paste BN here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

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