Lula holds off far right with victory in Brazil presidential election

Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has defeated right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in Brazil’s contentious presidential race, pulling off a remarkable comeback after a first-round loss that galvanised the country’s political right.Around 9:13pm Brasilia time (00:13 GMT), Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court called the race for Lula, who had earned 51 percent of the vote. More than 51.49 million ballots were cast for the incumbent.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Brazil’s Lula, Bolsonaro draw thousands to election-eve rallieslist 2 of 3Brazil’s Lula and Bolsonaro about even ahead of election run-off: Polllist 3 of 3What to know as Brazil prepares for tense presidential run-offend of listBolsonaro, meanwhile, netted 48.68 percent of the vote, or 48.8 million ballots. Just over 2.6 million votes separated the two candidates.With his victory, Lula has made history. No other politician in modern Brazilian history has lost the first round of a presidential election, only to win the second round.Still, the vote process was marred by allegations of voter suppression, after reports emerged that public transportation in some areas had been suspended.Lula’s allies accused ...