NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Racial justice: A Black man died after being beaten by supermarket security guards in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre on the eve of Friday’s Black Consciousness Day observations, sparking outrage as videos of the incident circulated on social media. A clip showed one guard restraining Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas just outside a Carrefour supermarket while the other pummeled him with repeated blows to the face. Carrefour released a statement lamenting Freitas’ “brutal death,” and said it will “adopt the appropriate measures to hold the people responsible for this criminal act.” It also said it will end its contract with the security company. Police promised the incident is being investigated and that the people involved had been detained.
2 Brexit talks: The European Union on Friday issued one of its most upbeat assessments of the state of post-Brexit trade negotiations, as the talks face an ever tighter deadline for a deal to enter into force for the start of the new year. In Brussels, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “we’ve seen in the last days better progress.” Until now, the talks have failed to make much headway on key issues, notably fishing rights, business regulations and state aid. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said negotiations will continue next week, well past the midNovember date previously seen by the two sides as a deadline.
3 Election dangers: Burkina Faso will vote in presidential and legislative elections on Sunday amid escalating extremist violence that’s killed more than 2,000 people this year and displaced one million residents. Oppositions candidates accuse President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who is seeking a second fiveyear term, of failing to secure the once peaceful nation, which has plunged into a humanitarian crisis and been overrun by jihadist attacks linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State since taking office in 2015. Leading the charge against him is Eddie Komboigo, head of the Congress for Democracy and Progress. Kabore is expected to be reelected and needs more than 50% of the vote to win in the first round.
4 Pompeo visit: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrapped up a trip to Israel on Friday with a visit to a museum in Jerusalem that honors Christian Zionists. The museum visit came a day after Pompeo became the first U. S. secretary of state to visit an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. He also announced a new policy allowing settlement products exported to the U. S. to be labeled “made in Israel” and a new initiative to combat the Palestinianled international boycott movement. Christian Zionism is a belief by some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 were in accordance with biblical prophecy. The Trump administration has broken with decades of U. S. policy to support Israel’s claims to territory seized in war and to weaken the Palestinians.
5 Deadly crash: Authorities in central China said nine people were killed after a truck plowed into a funeral procession Friday. The accident in Henan province’s Huabin county injured four others. The county said authorities were investigating why the truck failed to avoid the procession, which was moving along a local highway. The security ministry in Beijing also sent a team, in an apparent show of concern over its effect on public order in the province, one of China’s most populous with more than 100 million people. China’s roads have long been among the world’s deadliest, but police in recent years have increased their presence to reduce the number of overcrowded or poorly maintained vehicles, crack down on speeding and raise awareness about driving while tired or impaired.