berlin. the race for the white house enters the home stretch after a contentious presidential debate. democratic candidate joe biden and president trump both hoping for big wind to build momentum. we ask who really came out on top. also coming up, the leaders of israel and sued on agree to normalize relations in a u.s.-brokered deal -- the leaders of israel and sudan.

unrest and inequality bring chile to a historic crossroads. millions of voters will decide this weekend if they will scrap the nation's constitution written under agosto pinochet. ♪ welcome to the program. u.s. president donald trump and his democratic challenger faced off in a final tv debate less than two weeks before election day. the exchange was a lot more civil than the ill tempered first debate. the coronavirus pandemic dominated the agenda along with

race relations, taxes, and the economy. >> republicans in longwood, florida were thrilled with their candidate's performance. >> we love and adore him. tonight, he was doing a fabulous job. >> back in 2016, i voted against hillary, not necessarily for trump, but now i'm on board the trump train. >> but biden supporters feel the same. >> i think he held his own and make great points. >> a very different tone defined this head-to-head between the presidential hopefuls. gone with the chaos and interruptions of their first meeting. this was more of a conventional debate with the coronavirus pandemic given the most minutes on the clock. skirting around the dire covid-19 situation, trump proffered a rosy view. >> it will go away, and as i

say, we are rounding the turn. we are rounding the corner. it's going away. we have a vaccine that is coming. it's ready. it's going to be announced within weeks, and it's going to be delivered. >> biden condemned trump's record of dealing with the crisis. >> 220,000 americans dead. anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the united states of america. >> the issue of race was also in focus. >> the fact of the matter is there is institutional racism in america, and we have always said -- we have never lived up to it, that we hold these truths to be self-evident, all men and women are created equal. we have never, ever lived up to it, and we have constantly been moving the needle further and further to inclusion, not exclusion. this is the first president to come along and says, that's the end of that. >> nobody has done more for the black community than donald trump. if you look, with the exception

of abraham lincoln -- possible exception. >> a claim that has been repeatedly challenged by critics as patently false. nonetheless, voters finally got something was ambling a substantive debate, but it may be too late to have a major impact on election results. a record number of americans have voted early, and polls show most -- most voters have decided how they will fill in their ballot. gerhard: any clear winner in this debate? >> most of the polls see joe biden as the winner, but it really depends. if you look at right-wing media, they think president trump did a good job, in part because he was less aggressive than what we saw of him in the first debate and then the townhall that came instead of the second debate, and that in part because of the mute that was introduced as a new rule.

the moderator did a very good job as well. biden, in contrast, was not very strong in the debate, but did come across as presidential, as a unifier. he also did not do any major mistakes. what stood out was the amount of misleading claims made, in particular by president trump. a lot was taken out of context or straight up false information. biden, of course, also had some false claims, but certainly not to the extent that the president did. there were lots of conspiracy theories also put forward by president trump that may work very well within his base, but a majority or a lot of people here in america are increasingly growing tired of that kind of rhetoric. gerhard: are there any undecided

voters left who could have been swayed by this performance? >> it's a fairly small amount of undecided voters. we are looking at a very polarized society, as you know. a majority of the voters made up their minds weeks before the debates took place. the majority opinion as they have little impact on voters' decision. another problem the trump campaign is facing is early voting. because of the pandemic, we are seeing a record turnout here. already 50 million voters have cast their ballots, and they, of course cannot change their minds anymore. gerhard: stay with us a while because i want to talk about another thing that has happened that trump was key in orchestrating. sudan has established ties with israel, the third to do so under u.s.-brokered deals this year. the u.s. has said it will remove

sudan from the list of state-sponsored terrorism if khartoum remunerate's victims of terror attacks. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu welcomed the deal. >> today, we declare another dramatic breakthrough for peace. another arab country joins the circle of peace. this time, it is sudan. what a great development. they adopted in 19 seven the tenets of the arab league. today, khartoum is saying yes to peace with israel,es to recognition of israel, and yes to normalization with israel. this is a new era. this is proceeding with three arab countries in the last few weeks.

gerhard: the u.s. brokered this deal. what was in a for washington? >> the same that was in the deal with the united arab emirates that the trump administration brokered. donald trump early needs -- donald trump really needs success stories for brokering deals. it did not go well for a large portion of his presidency. remember north korea, iran, russia. it looks very much like a deal made between the united dates and sudan, then sudan was taken off a list of a sponsor of terrorism list. sudan is trying to make clear it has nothing to do with the new relationship between israel and sedan, but we do have economic advantages of being taken off the list, and it looks like it is a deal in exchange for a foreign policy success story from the trump administration in an effort to strengthen trump's position remove loose or to the election. gerhard: thank you.

now to some of the other stories making headlines today -- libya's warring factions have signed a piece fire -- a cease-fire and ending almost a decade of conflt. the agreement comes after five days of talks in geneva hosted by the united naons. the yuan hailed thdeal as a historian -- the united nations hailed the deal as a historic turning point. the streets of nigeria's biggest city work home friday after days of unrest following tuesday's shooting of peaceful demonstrators protesting police brutality. amnesty international says the military and police killed at least 12 people. the country's one -- the country's president warned protesters against undermining national security. in europe, governments are scrabbling to contain an alarming surge in coronavirus.

several countries are setting fresh records for daily cases. the crisis is prompting leaders across the continent to tighten restrictions and impose lockdowns once more. our reporter starts in the belgian capital brussels. ♪ >> flash mob protest in belgium. hospital workers protesting their caseload. many medics are testing positive for the virus, and that's battening staff shortages. belgium is expected to record a daily rate of 20,000 new infections by next week. >> we do have a significant influx of covid-19 patients that we hope to of all -- hope to

avoid. therefore the intensive care unit gradually fills up. so far, all of our patients are infected with coronavirus to varying degrees. >> millions of britons have headed into lockdown as coronavirus measures become increasingly stricter. the welsh government has ordered its 3 million residents to stay at home after 6:00 p.m. in scotland, most of the country's bars and restaurants are closed until at least november 3. >> cannot socialize. cannot even be out in people's house. i just saw someone just going on with it. >> a region in ain has banned travel in and out. it's infection rate is three times the national average.

the capital, madrid, has been under a similar lockdown for the past two weeks and now faces a night curfew between midnight and 6:00 a.m. spain became the first western european country to exceed one million cases earlier this week, and it's death toll, like so many other nations, continues to climb. gerhard: to chile know where this sunday, millions of voters will make a decision that could dramatically reshape the country. the country has scheduled a referendum on rewriting the constitution written but -- written by august of pinochet. >> the route to chile's referendum went through this subway station. students mostly protesting a rise in pairs.

-- a rise in fares. a heavy-handed reaction by security personnel led to stunning scenes in the streets of santiago and other cities. dozens died during riots, arson, and looting that caused extensive damage and prompted a military presence on the streets. but the peaceful protesters persevere,alling for an overhaul of chile's social and economic model and gaining the key demand -- a vote on tossing out the magna carta, written during the brutal leadership of agosto pinochet. this will be a historic event. for the first time in the history of the public, we will be consulted on if we want a new constitution and who should draft it. >> the subway stations were cleaned up after the demonstrations and rioting a

year ago, but emotions have been peaking again. peaceful antigovernment demonstrations wer marred by the burning of two churches. vandals chairing the collapse of a church spire. not what those promoting a yes vote on a change to the constitution want their protest to be remembered for. >> we are not seeing any change. health care is the same. pensions. that's what we are fighting for. for more than a year, our pensions, wages, everything, but i don't see any change. >> after year of social upheaval, and out in the street because i want changes to our health system. >> on the other side, thousands have hit the streets to protest against change. no, they say, to a rewrite of the constitution. by shifting to a new constitution, we are in great danger of all into something like what happened to venezuela. if it happened to venezuela, why wouldn't it happened to us?

we will keep the constitution make the necessary reforms to it. >> no voters will help those left behind since the magna carta was adopted. yes voters say start from scratch with the participation of the people. gerhard: why are people so dissatisfied how chile is run now? >> this is a dissatisfaction that has been growing over the years, not just with the current government. on one side, you have chile, that has been praised internationally as a key leader of latin america, when you look into development. when you look at key indicators, that's one side. the other story is increasing inequality. when it comes to public health, education, those are a lot of problems in the society, and a lot of them are just better.

we have this price hike of the public transport system that started the protest. there's a lot of hope for this new constitution. gerhard: the current constitution date -- dates back to when the country was a dictatorship run by agosto pinochet. sunday's vote, a chance for chile to really start over. >> it will be a new framework. it is important to note what a new constitution would look like and what the current constitution is lacking. it was drafted, as mentioned, during the pinochet dictatorship. later, it was approved. the problem is someone could vote two or three times, which is a really big problem with the constitution. the other problem is they need a really high quorum to do this change.

they need to be several other reforms, too. gerhard: the referendum is only a first step, isn't it? other things need to happen. >> it is. the chilean society has other problems right now. we talk about poverty, education, pension systems, several reforms need to be done, and a really important one is security and the national police. they've had 8500 accusations of human rights violations only in the last year. some people are aiming and wanting to have chile with peace. it is important to know that for a long standing peace the only chance is to have also long-standing justice, and the current system, that is not the case, unfortunately. gerhard: thank you very much for joining us. you're watching "dw news." still

to come -- brazil's football legend pele turns 80. the three-time world cup winning striker is seen by many as the greatest player of all time. we hear how he is feeling on his birthday. first, johannesburg's hill graham district is infamous for many reasons. many in the neighborhood are determined to change that. one group of residents meets every week because it wants the region to be famous for something that is quite ordinary -- clean streets and green parks. our africa correspondent met up at them. >> these volunteers meet up every saturday to clean up their neighborhoods. >> you need to stay in a clean place.

>> he has a problem with rubbish. it's everywhere. the city's waste collection service cannot cope on its own, so the volunteers decided to form their own organization. it's called clean city. >> the organization is supported by local businesses so they can give rewards to the volunteers. when they have dissipated 12 times, they receive a voucher for supermarkets. >> the organization has launched a program called adopt a street to help residents feel more connected to their community. in the days of apartheid, only white people were allowed to live here. later, it became a melting pot with people from different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. as the population and unemployment grew, problems started to emerge. it became known for violence and prostitution,ut that reputation is beginning to

change and people are enjoying the district's improved image. >> it is bringing pride to their own environment. you don't have to just eat something out of a plastic or drink something out of a bottle and throw it on the ground. we are starting to get that change of behavior in the people and the community and eventually , the crime elements, they move out. >> he says crime, particularly robberies, needs to be addressed. he takes us to the block of flats where he works as a caretaker. he says while the situation has improved dramatically in the last few years, coronavirus has rolled back some of those improvements. >> people are struggling, so

they're trying to find something for their kids. >> he wants to do what he can to make the locals a little bit happier next weekend and make the neighborhood a little more pleasant. even if he cannot solve all the area's problems in self, he and many others are happy to live here -- even if he cannot solve all the areas problems himself. ♪ gerhard: brazil's football great pele turns 80 today. he is still regarded by many fans as the best player the game has ever seen after winning

three world cup titles. events have been taking place around brazil to mark the milestone birthday. the man himself has been displaying his famous since of humor. >> brazil's love for pele is as strong as ever. a huge mural in his hometown has been unveiled to celebrate his 80th birthday. the tribute is just one of many. pele shot to fame as a 17-year-old in brazil in the 1958 world cup. he repeated the trick in 1962 and also guided an iconic resulting to the trophy in 1970. all these years on, and the man named player of the century remains an icon. sao paulo football museum has opened an exhibition honoring him on his birthday, and despite brushes with ill health in recent years, he has lost none of his sparkle.

>> on my 80th birthday, i thank everyone who has already sent me a message. others have already sent me and email. now that i'm 80, i need to thank god for giving me the health to get this far and stay so lucid, even if i'm not always so intelligent. >> dubbed king of football, pele is still immensely thankful for what the game has done for him. >> i hope that when i get to heaven, god welcomes me the same way that everyone welcomes me nowadays, and that is thanks to our beloved football. >> at 80 years of age, pele continues to be one of brazil's most enduring figures. gerhard: an amazing career. what makes them so special?

he is different from every other player we know, isn't he? >> yes, i think mainly it's because he's the only man ever to win three world cup's, but also, it was the way he played the game -- with such style, such panache. some of the goals he scored were incredible, and he transcended soccer in many ways. he was the first ever brazilian sports minister when he tried out politics in 1995. i think he was the first truly global football superstar that everybody knew. even in the u.s., here he is playing for new york cosmos in the 1970's. that's why fifa called him the player of the 20th century. >> i guess the birthday wishes have been flowing in today. >> they have. anyone who is anyone in world football has been chiming in today. the fifa president says what

most people think about pele's he was a player with such effortless flair, and i think we can all agree with that. normal x footballers have birthdays, there is not this parade of congratulations. of course, the current brazilian superstar has 64 goals for brazil, but pele is still the record score for brazil with 77 goals. numerous the most expensive player in the world. 220 2 million euros, but i think most fans agree he is not quite at the level of pele yet, and there are other football experts who say cristiano ronaldo may be

at the level of pele. missy has never won the cup, nor burnell do with portugal, so my book still goes to pele. gerhard: in the u.s., some lucky residents of the brookfield zoo in chicago have been getting some early halloween treats including chimps, lions, and a five month old snow leopard. look at the pumpkins. some of the gourds were carved and filled with a variety of spooky items such as bones. others just contained human favorites -- fruit, spices, and even meet.

you're watching "dw news." i will be back after a short break with "the day." please join me. don't forget you can get more information and other news around the clock on our website, dw.com. thanks for watching. ♪

♪ >> are watching france 24 live from paris. stories making world headlines. france has set another record with 42,000 cases reported in the last 24 hours. the country has eclipsed one million cases nationwide. the majority of the population will be under a nighttime curfew as of midnight tonight. protests in poland for a second night. thousands gather to speak out against a high court ruling outlawing abortions in most cases. our correspondent is standing by with the latest. su b