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.
“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.
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.
We want to have a celebration of democracy, not a problem,” she said.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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