International

Mapuche woman chosen to lead drafting of Chile’s new constitution

AFP/Editor

A woman from Chile’s indigenous Mapuche people was chosen Sunday to lead the drafting of the country’s new constitution, in a bid to spread power more equitably in the South American nation.

The new constitution will replace the one inherited from Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, blamed for the social inequalities that sparked deadly protests in 2019.

In a vote in Santiago delayed by clashes between protesters and police, academic Elisa Loncon was elected head of a new 155-member body charged with writing the new text, which is meant to pry power from the hands of the country’s elite.

The 58-year-old independent from the majority Mapuche people got 96 votes out of 155.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

“This agreement will transform Chile,” Loncon said on stage, where she held up a Mapuche flag.

She said the constitutional convention installed on Sunday would be representative of Chile’s diversity.

“It is a dream of our ancestors and this dream has come true. It is possible, brothers and sisters, to re-found this Chile, to establish a relationship between the Mapuche people… and all the nations that make up this country,” she said.

Chilean President Sebastien Pinera wished Loncon “wisdom, prudence and strength” in pushing for the new constitution.

Jaime Bassa, a constitutional lawyer elected the convention’s vice-president, said its members had the difficult task of healing “wounds that arose from the social process that brought us here” after the 2019 protests.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Election official Carmen Gloria Valladares read out, one-by-one, the names of the 155 members elected to the constitutional convention in May.

They included lawyers, teachers, a homemaker, scientists, social workers and journalists. Half are women.

The new body’s delegates were sworn in at a ceremony for the historic process, which was held up when protesters and a special police unit clashed in streets nearby.

After the meeting opened with the singing of the national anthem, the sound of protesters’ whistles and shouts of “No more repression!” could be heard.

When some demonstrators approached Valladares’s table, sharply raising tensions, she temporarily suspended the session.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

We want to have a celebration of democracy, not a problem,” she said.

International

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.