Kamala Harris is making history as the first woman of color projected to become vice president of the United States, shattering barriers that have kept men — almost all of them white — entrenched at the highest levels of American politics for more than two centuries.The 56-year-old California senator is also the first person of Black and South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency. She represents the multiculturalism that defines America but is largely absent from Washington’s power centers. Her Black identity has allowed her to speak in personal terms in a year of reckoning over police brutality and systemic racism.Harris has been a rising star in Democratic politics for much of the last two decades, serving as San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general before becoming a U.S. senator. After Harris ended her own 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, Joe Biden tapped her as his running mate. They will be sworn in as president and vice president on Jan. 20.Biden’s running mate selection carried added significance because he will be the oldest president ever inaugurated, at 78, and hasn’t committed to seeking a second term in 2024.Harris often framed her candidacy as part of the legacy — often undervalued — of pioneering Black women who came before her, including educator Mary McLeod Bethune, civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer and Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first Black candidate to seek a major party’s presidential nomination, in 1972. “We’re not often taught their stories,” Harris said in August as she accepted her party’s vice presidential nomination. “But as Americans, we all stand on their shoulders.”That history was on Sara Twyman’s mind recently as she watched Harris campaign in Las Vegas and wore a sweatshirt featuring the senator’s name alongside Chisholm.”It’s high time that a woman gets to the highest levels of our government,” said Twyman, who is 35 and Black.Despite the excitement surrounding Harris, she and Biden face steep challenges, including deepening racial tensions in the U.S. in the wake of a pandemic that has taken a disproportionate toll on people of color and a series of police killings of Black Americans. Harris’ past work as a prosecutor has prompted skepticism among progressives and young voters who are looking to her to back sweeping institutional change over incremental reforms in policing, drug policy and more.Jessica Byrd, who leads the Movement for Black Lives’ Electoral Justice Project and The Frontline, a multiracial coalition effort to galvanize voters, said she plans to engage in the rigorous organizing work needed to push Harris and Biden toward more progressive policies.”I deeply believe in the power of Black women’s leadership, even when all of our politics don’t align,” Byrd said. “I want us to be committed to the idea that representation is exciting and it’s worthy of celebration and also that we have millions of Black women who deserve a fair shot.”Harris is the second Black woman elected to the Senate. Her colleague, Sen. Cory Booker, who is also Black, said her very presence makes the institution “more accessible to more people” and suggested she would accomplish the same with the vice presidency.Harris was born in 1964 to two parents active in the civil rights movement. Shyamala Gopalan, from India, and Donald Harris, from Jamaica, met at the University of California, Berkeley, then a hotbed of 1960s activism. They divorced when Harris and her sister were girls, and Harris was raised by her late mother, whom she considers the most important influence in her life. Kamala is Sanskrit for “lotus flower,” and Harris gave nods to her Indian heritage throughout the campaign, including with a callout to her “chitthis,” a Tamil word for a maternal aunt, in her first speech as Biden’s running mate. When Georgia Sen. David Perdue mocked her name in an October rally, the hashtag #MyNameIs took off on Twitter, with South Asians sharing the meanings behind their names. The mocking of her name by Republicans, including Trump, was just one of the attacks Harris faced. Trump and his allies sought to brand her as radical and a socialist despite her more centrist record, an effort aimed at making people uncomfortable about the prospect of a Black woman in leadership. She was the target of online disinformation laced with racism and sexism about her qualifications to serve as president.Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington said Harris’ power comes not just from her life experience but also from the people she already represents. California is the nation’s most populous and one of its most diverse states; nearly 40% of people are Latino and 15% are Asian. In Congress, Harris and Jayapal have teamed up on bills to ensure legal representation for Muslims targeted by Trump’s 2017 travel ban and to extend rights to domestic workers.”That’s the kind of policy that also happens when you have voices like ours at the table,” said Jayapal, who in 2016 was the first South Asian woman elected to the U.S. House. Harris won election to the Senate that same year. Harris’ mother raised her daughters with the understanding the world would see them as Black women, Harris has said, and that is how she describes herself today. She attended Howard University, one of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, and pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s first sorority created by and for Black women. She campaigned regularly at HBCUs and tried to address the concerns of young Black men and women eager for strong efforts to dismantle systemic racism. Her victory could usher more Black women and people of color into politics.San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who considers Harris a mentor, views Harris’ success through the lens of her own identity as the granddaughter of a sharecropper. “African Americans are not far removed from slavery and the horrors of racism in this country, and we’re still feeling the impacts of that with how we’re treated and what’s happening around this racial uprising,” she said. Harris’ candidacy “instills a lot of pride and a lot of hope and a lot of excitement in what is possible.”Harris is married to a Jewish man, Doug Emhoff, whose children from a previous marriage call her “Momala.” The excitement about her candidacy extends to women across races. Friends Sarah Lane and Kelli Hodge, each with three daughters, brought all six girls to a Harris rally in Phoenix in the race’s closing days. “This car is full of little girls who dream big. Go Kamala!” read a sign taped on the car’s trunk. Lane, a 41-year-old attorney who is of Hispanic and Asian heritage, volunteered for Biden and Harris, her first time ever working for a political campaign. Asked why she brought her daughters, ages 6, 9 and 11, to see Harris, she answered, “I want my girls to see what women can do.”
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Month: November 2020
Australian Exporters Brace for More China Trade Pain
Australia’s trade war with China is intensifying with state media in Beijing reporting that seven categories of imports are to be restricted. China is Australia’s largest trading partner, but tensions have become increasingly inflamed over allegations of political interference and cyber espionage, and the coronavirus pandemic.
“Deeply troubling” is how officials in Canberra have responded to reports that Chinese buyers have been told by authorities not to purchase Australian coal, copper, wine, barley, sugar, lobsters and timber. It is not clear why, and Australia is waiting for answers.
Simon Birmingham, the minister for trade, tourism and investment, said Chinese authorities had denied any coordinated effort was being taken against Australia.
A third of Australia’s farm exports are sold to China, and there are mounting fears that businesses are caught up in escalating diplomatic tensions.
In 2018, Australia banned Chinese telecom giant Huawei from its 5G network over national security concerns. Since then, there have been allegations of Chinese interference in Australia’s domestic politics and cyber espionage, as well as the detention of Australian citizens in China. Canberra has also taken a firmer stance on territorial issues in the South China Sea. The result is that bilateral relations are at their worst in decades.
Beijing has accused Australia of “anti-China hysteria.”
Canberra’s call earlier this year for a global investigation into the origins of COVID-19 further infuriated the Chinese.
Opposition lawmaker, Madeleine King, the shadow minister for trade, said it was a move that she supported, but complains that it was mishandled by the government.
“We support that, but we do take issue with that it was raised at a media appearance by the minister and that is not the way you run diplomacy, or how you set about achieving these things. And I think, you know, everyone can see that was a bit of a fail by the government but tomorrow is another day and you have to start to build this relationship back up,” Kind said.
State media in China is accusing Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison of “rash participation in the U.S. administration’s attempts to contain China.”
Canberra has tried to balance its ties with China, its biggest trading partner, and its long-standing security alliance with Washington.
One key area of trade has, so far, been immune from the dispute between Canberra and Beijing. Australia’s multibillion-dollar iron ore exports are a critical part of the huge infrastructure and housing projects that are helping to keep China, the world’s second-biggest economy, afloat.
However, Australian resources giants BHP and Rio Tinto are highly dependent on Chinese demand, and analysts say they will be re-evaluating the political risks associated with working with China.
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As US Election Hangs in Balance, China Seeks to Reduce Tensions
This week a top Chinese diplomat expressed hopes that whoever wins the U.S. presidential election, the two countries will work to reduce tensions over trade and other issues.
In a carefully worded statement, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng on Thursday said he expects whoever wins the election to meet China halfway and avoid the path of conflict and confrontation. He did not say which of the two presidential candidates he expects to win but made it clear Chinese officials are looking for ways to improve relations.
“We hope that the next U.S. government will meet China halfway; uphold the principles of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation; focus on collaboration; manage differences; and push forward bilateral ties along the right track,” Le said while replying to a question posed at a news conference.
Relations between Beijing and Washington this year plummeted over the coronavirus pandemic, but before then Trump’s China policy changed through his presidency.
Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a meeting in the first months of his administration. However, relations worsened during a trade war and as the coronavirus health crisis grew in 2020, Trump strongly criticized China over in allowing the outbreak to become a global pandemic.
Biden has called for more attention on human rights issues in China and the situation in Hong Kong. He also has supported keeping pressure on China for its trade methods.
American experts think there is little reason for China to celebrate whoever wins the presidency because the damage done by Chinese trade and investment policy is felt across the political spectrum in the U.S.
“If China expects an incoming Biden administration to simply “forgive and forget” China’s misbehavior on trade, tech, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and other issues, they’re likely in for a rude awakening,” Scott Kennedy, Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business & Economics, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) told VOA.FILE – China’s Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng speaks at a forum in Beijing, China, Oct. 22, 2019. In a carefully worded statements, Le said on Thursday that Beijing hopes “the next U.S. government will meet China halfway.”Some experts think the trade war will continue even if a Biden administration takes charge but the two sides would demonstrate some spirit of accommodation in some areas. At the same time, there will be more efforts to reduce U.S. trade dependency on China.
“It is likely that the trade war will continue although it may be somewhat adjusted and the Biden administration will be more pragmatic. It will push for more exports of American goods to China. But it will be less vehement on China when it comes to public rhetoric,” said Rana Mitter, a China expert and professor at the University of Oxford.
The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said Thursday that it serves both China and the U.S. to maintain and promote healthy and steady growth of bilateral relations to meet the common aspiration of the international community, he said.
“China’s attitude toward the bilateral relations is clear and consistent,” said Le. “Although there are differences between the two countries, they also have extensive common interests and room for cooperation,” the Vice Foreign Minister said.
The days-long vote counting in the American presidential election has generated intense interest on China’s government-controlled social media.
Topics relating to the U.S. election have been trending on China’s most popular social media platform Sina Weibo for days, with “#US Presidential election” registering about several billion reads.
There are no free elections in China, where the Chinese Communist Party choses leaders through a closed, internal process. Through state-controlled media, the party frequently highlights negative news in western democracies.
The state-controlled Global Times this week published an opinion piece titled, “Chinese people showing interest in U.S. presidential election for laughs, comicalness” and cited examples of posts from social media users ridiculing the court battles and protests in some places during vote counting.
VOA’s own digital traffic indicates a surge of interest in news about the election from people in mainland China.
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Ethiopia Tensions Prompt Sudan to Close Parts of Border
Sudan has partially closed its border with Ethiopia, according to Suna, the Sudanese news agency.
The closure was announced Thursday by the acting Wali (governor) of Kassala State and Secretary General of the state’s government, Fathal-Rahman Al-Amin, according to Suna.
He said a committee will decide what to do about civilians seeking refuge in Sudan.
The move follows tension in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray where the federal government has launched a military campaign.
The Ethiopian Air Force reportedly bombed military facilities in Tigray on Friday.
On Wednesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered troops into Tigray in reaction to a deadly attack on a federal military base in the regional capital, Mekele.
Abiy’s administration blames the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the regional government, for the attack.
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Biden Projects Confidence as Lead Increases in Key States
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden stopped short of declaring victory as he spoke from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Friday night but projected confidence as votes continue to be tallied in key battleground states. VOA’s Penny Dixon voices this update from White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara.
Producer: Kim Weeks
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US Has 3 Straight Days of Over 100,000 New COVID Infections
The U.S. reported more than 121,000 new coronavirus cases Friday, the third day in a row the nation has recorded more than 100,000 new infections.Infections are surging in all regions in the United States as the COVID-19 death toll continues to climb.U.S. hospitalizations have significantly increased, forcing hospitals in Midwestern and Southern states to take urgent action to accommodate floods of new patients.Midwestern states have been especially hard hit, with a record number of infections reported in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Oklahoma.Since the surge in the U.S. began in mid-September, some states have periodically imposed piecemeal lockdown measures, including Maine, which has extended its mask- wearing requirement to apply to all public spaces.Officials in Denver, Colorado, on Friday urged residents to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. to try to reduce a growing wave of coronavirus cases.India’s health ministry said Saturday that it had recorded more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases and nearly 600 coronavirus-related deaths in the previous 24-hour period.India has a total of 8.4 million COVID cases, according to Johns Hopkins statistics. Only the United States has more cases, with its 9.7 million tally.An empty street is seen after 10 p.m. on the first day of the national night time curfew due to new coronavirus measures, in Rome, Italy, Nov. 6, 2020.The International Monetary Fund approved a $370 million extended credit facility arrangement for Afghanistan on Friday. The IMF said in a statement that the 42-month arrangement “aims to support Afghanistan’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, anchor economic reforms, and catalyze donor financing.”France, Italy and Russia reported new daily records for coronavirus cases Friday.France registered 60,486 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday, after posting a record of over 58,000 on Thursday, health ministry data showed. The ministry also reported 828 new deaths.Italy announced Friday 37,809 new coronavirus infections over the previous 24 hours, the country’s highest ever, while Russia also recorded its highest daily tally at 20,582.Britain began a four-week lockdown Thursday, while Greece begins a three-week shutdown Saturday.Anyone traveling from Denmark to Britain must now self-isolate for 14 days. Denmark was removed Friday from Britain’s corridor of travel, following a coronavirus outbreak on mink farms in the Scandinavian country.Denmark has announced it is culling more than 15 million minks to halt the spread of a mutated form of the coronavirus that has appeared in the minks.Authorities ordered more than a quarter of a million people in a northern region where the mink farms are located to go into lockdown. There is no evidence the mutation poses a threat to people, but officials said they were taking no chances.In Italy, new coronavirus restrictions were imposed on Friday. Under the so-called soft lockdown, the country has been divided into three zones according to the severity of the outbreak, with differing restrictions for each zone.In Pakistan, authorities said they would impose a mini lockdown in selected areas of major cities to try to stem the tide of coronavirus cases. The country reported 1,376 new cases and 30 deaths from the coronavirus on Friday.In South America, the situation is brighter in Ecuador, where the infection rate has plunged 44% to 800 new cases a day.
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16 Million Italians Begin Lockdown as Death Toll Hits Six-month High
In parts of Italy, 16 million people went into lockdown Friday as the country moved to prevent another wave of coronavirus in hard-hit areas despite stiff opposition from local authorities. Italian health authorities have zoned the country into red, orange and yellow, depending on identified risk factors — red for high risk and yellow for low risk. Lombardy, Piedmont and Aosta Valley in the north as well as Calabria in the south are considered high risk and are in the red zone. These regions closed all nonessential businesses and activities. Residents may leave their homes only for work, medical reasons or emergencies, and essential shopping. Mayors like Calabria’s have pushed back against the red zone restrictions, expected to last 15 days, which halt bar, restaurant and gym operations. Restaurants may provide only takeout service. Mask-wearing is encouraged: People wearing masks may briefly step out of their homes to exercise. Meanwhile, hairdressers can keep their shops open. Italy’s Health Ministry reported a record 37,809 cases on Friday after performing more than 234,000 swab tests in 24 hours. The ministry said this new infection record, which was 9% higher than the previous day, was accompanied by 445 deaths, the highest daily death toll in six months. The densely populated Lombardy region contributed nearly 10,000 cases. People who live in medium-risk regions, such as Puglia and Sicily in the south, can move about freely in their region but cannot travel outside their region. In the yellow zone, including Rome, only the national restrictions apply. The national restrictions include a nighttime curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. In addition, schoolchildren age 12 and older have switched to remote learning. Italy has reported a total of more than 862,681 coronavirus cases, with a total death toll of 40,638, the sixth highest in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.
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Biden Confident of Impending Election Victory as Pennsylvania Lead Tops 20,000 Votes
Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s lead over U.S. President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania climbed from 5,000 votes early Friday to about 29,000 votes by late night, and that margin is expected to grow as remaining ballots are counted. Taking this pivotal state would propel Biden over the required threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidential election.Biden is also ahead in Georgia by more than 4,000 votes and maintains clear leads in Arizona and Nevada, although these races have not yet been called for either candidate.Addressing supporters Friday, amid speculation he would be projected the winner in Pennsylvania, Biden stopped short of claiming victory.“We don’t have a final declaration of victory yet, but the numbers tell us a clear and convincing story, we’re going to win this race,” said Biden.If Biden does take Pennsylvania, his Electoral College lead would increase to 273 votes over Trump’s current 214 vote total.In this U.S. system of indirect democracy, the popular vote is used to determine official electors in each state, who are allocated based on state population.A Biden win in Pennsylvania would also block Trump’s path to victory.Trump is leading in the two remaining unresolved races in North Carolina and Alaska. Without winning Pennsylvania, Trump could not overtake Biden’s lead even if he sweeps all the other states that have yet to be called.Biden surpassed Trump by 4 million votes in the national election. Biden won over 74 million votes to Trump’s 69 million, with more than 150 million votes cast overall, the most ever in a U.S. election.Legal disputesTrump on Twitter Friday warned Biden not to claim early victory.“Joe Biden should not wrongfully claim the office of the President. I could make that claim also. Legal proceedings are just now beginning!” he said in a Tweet on Friday.Trump made his claim of victory in a speech election night.The Trump campaign is disputing the vote count in several states, saying in a statement Friday, “this election is not over.” The campaign says the president will ultimately win as a result of expected recounts in close state races and its legal challenges based on unsubstantiated allegations of vote fraud and irregularities.Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Friday there will be a recount in that state because Biden’s lead there is less than 0.5% of the vote. Georgia officials said about 9,000 military and overseas ballots were still outstanding and could be accepted if they arrive on Friday and were postmarked on Tuesday or earlier.The Trump campaign also called for a vote recount in Wisconsin, where Biden is winning by more than 20,000 votes.Trump, without evidence, accused Democrats on Thursday of engineering massive fraud and irregularities to prevent him from winning reelection as president.“This is a case where they are trying to steal an election, they’re trying to rig an election, and we can’t let that happen,” he said during a White House news conference.Trump accused state officials of barring his campaign from observing the vote count, called mail-in voting a “corrupt system” that lacks “any verification measures,” and said he expects contested election litigation to end up in the Supreme Court. He also spoke without offering evidence of a “corrupt voting apparatus” in states led by Democratic governors.No evidenceTrump’s unsubstantiated claims drew quick rebukes from some of the president’s fellow Republicans.Sen. Mitt Romney, a former Republican presidential nominee who has been a Trump critic, said Friday on Twitter that Trump “is wrong to say that the election was rigged, corrupt and stolen.” He added that “doing so damages the cause of freedom” and “recklessly inflames destructive and dangerous passions.”Benjamin Hovland, who serves on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, told VOA there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the country, which he said would be very difficult to pull off, and require, “a vast conspiracy of people willing to commit thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of felonies.”Lawyers representing Trump and Republicans also filed lawsuits alleging vote counting irregularities and demanding that the counting of mail-in ballots be halted in Pennsylvania, where an early Trump lead evaporated as more mail-in ballots were counted.Democrats had urged supporters to vote by mail to prevent the spread of the coronavirus while Trump called on his voters to show up in person on election day.Democrats confidentEarlier Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, said Biden’s election victory was “imminent,” but called for patience as votes are tallied.“The right to vote is a sacred right in our country. And having that vote counted as cast, it is the fundamental foundation of our democracy,” Pelosi said during a news briefing Friday.Biden also said Friday he is already anticipating assuming the presidency, and his team is prioritizing plans to contain the surging coronavirus pandemic in the country.“On day one we are going to put our plan to control this virus into action,” Biden said.
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Trump Chief of Staff Meadows Diagnosed With COVID-19
President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows has been diagnosed with the coronavirus as the nation sets daily records for confirmed cases for the pandemic.Two senior administration officials confirmed Friday that Meadows had tested positive for the virus, which has killed more than 236,000 Americans so far this year.Meadows traveled with Trump in the run-up to Election Day and last appeared in public early Wednesday morning without a mask as Trump falsely declared victory in the vote count. He had been one of the close aides around Trump when the president came down with the virus more than a month ago but was tested daily and maintained his regular work schedule.
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Pressure on Police as Presidential Vote Counting Nears an End
Election officials across the United States are increasingly calling on police and federal law enforcement to help keep the peace as the number of ballots left to be tallied winds down.From Philadelphia to Phoenix, lines of uniformed police officers are becoming commonplace, separating partiers and protesters from workers counting ballots inside government buildings and other venues.So far, the gatherings, while loud, have been peaceful. But officials warn that tensions are simmering as the nation gets closer to declaring a winner.“It’s just troubling for my employees. I have employees who are nervous leaving the building, and rightfully so,” Joe Gloria, the registrar of voters in Clark County, Nevada, told reporters Friday, voicing concern for a second day in a row.“We have a relatively large force of law enforcement plus our county security that’s here in place,” he said, praising the response as excellent.“They’re monitoring social media for any threatening type of messages,” Gloria said, adding, “We’re doing everything we can to protect our employees.”But not all has gone smoothly.Supporters of Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, briefly clashed during competing demonstrations Thursday night into Friday morning outside the Maricopa County Department of Elections in Phoenix, Arizona.Hours earlier, election officials announced the establishment of a free-speech zone – putting up fencing and bringing in police to protect election workers from “the threat of intimidation” because some protesters were carrying handguns or rifles.The eyes of the nation are on Maricopa County and it is imperative that we balance the protection and well-being of our election workers and volunteers with the constitutional right of protesters who may wish to demonstrate outside the Elections Department. Read more: Police say two suspects in a plot to attack the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia traveled from Virginia in a silver Hummer (Esha Sarai/VOA)Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said the men were first spotted late Thursday evening, after Philadelphia police got a tip from the FBI that they were making the 450-kilometer trip while “in possession of weapons and ammunition.”Outlaw said police approached the men after noticing one was wearing a handgun in a holster on his hip while the other appeared to have a gun concealed under his jacket.The men were identified Friday as Joshua Macias, 42, and Antonio Lamotta, 61, both of Chesapeake, Virginia, according to the Philadelphia Attorney General’s Office.Neither Lamotta nor Macias had the necessary permits to carry guns in Philadelphia and were subsequently arrested on weapons charges.Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner says the investigation into an apparent plot to attack the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia is active. (Esha Sarai/VOA)”At this time, we do not have indications that the story is bigger than these two individuals,” he said, though he called the investigation “very active.”But the arrests, and the involvement of the FBI and Department of Homeland Security in the investigation, did little to deter supporters of both presidential candidates from holding competing rallies outside the Philadelphia Convention Center later Friday.”They tried to intimidate us, so we threw a party,” Mike, a Philadelphia resident celebrating with Biden supporters, told VOA.Trump supporters, many from other states, also gathered nearby, demanding observers be allowed to monitor workers tallying the vote.”I came here to show my support for President Trump,” said Olivia Ingrassia, who traveled to Philadelphia with her mother from Long Island, N.Y. “We’re not going to stand for this. This is fraud, and I stand with the president. He’s going to fight through this.”Federal and state officials have been Mike, a Biden supporter, came out to support the ‘count every vote’ movement in Philadelphia on Nov. 6, 2020. (Esha Sarai/VOA)Before the election, law enforcement officials, including officials at the FBI, also expressed concern that disinformation from domestic sources or from U.S. adversaries could help spark violence, though they insisted they were ready.“Our preparations for [the 2020 election] take into account the current climate of the country,” an FBI official told VOA at the time.Reuters contributed to this report.
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Bannon Lawyer Quits Fraud Case After Inflammatory Remarks
A lawyer for President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, quit defending him in a federal fraud case a day after Bannon made inflammatory comments about Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray. In a letter dated Friday, defense attorney William Burck told a federal court judge in New York City that he was withdrawing from the case. He did not give a reason why. Reached by email, Burck declined to discuss the decision. The lawyer quit after Bannon suggested on an online broadcast that Fauci and Wray should be beheaded for being disloyal to the president. The remarks prompted Twitter to permanently suspend Bannon’s account. FILE – President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon speaks with reporters in New York, Aug. 20, 2020.”I’d put the heads on pikes” as a warning to federal bureaucrats, Bannon said on video. “You either get with the program or you are gone.” Bannon, 66, is facing charges he ripped off Trump supporters as an organizer of a group called “We Build The Wall” that portrayed itself as eager to help the president build a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors have accused Bannon and co-defendants of misappropriating money from the group, which raised $25 million from thousands of donors who thought their cash would be used to build the wall. Prosecutors declined comment Friday. There was no new lawyer for Bannon named in the court record.
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Prosecutor: Ivory Coast Opposition Leaders Face Prison for Forming Rival Government
Opposition candidates in Ivory Coast’s election face charges of terrorism and up to life in prison for denouncing the vote and creating a rival government after President Alassane Ouattara’s victory, a public prosecutor said Friday.The opposition boycotted the October 31 ballot after Ouattara decided to run for a third term in a country that has a two-term limit.When results showed Ouattara won with 94% of the vote, former President Henri Konan Bedie and ex-Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan said they did not recognize the vote and announced a transition government.Ouattara, in power since 2010, says approval of a new constitution in 2016 restarted his mandate and allowed him to run again.FILE – Pascal Affi N’Guessan, leader of Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), speaks during a campaign rally in Gagnoa, Ivory Coast, Oct. 10, 2015.The standoff has raised the risk of long-term instability in Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer and one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.The creation of a breakaway government was “intended to attack the authority of the state,” lead prosecutor Richard Adou told reporters.Twenty people were arrested outside Bedie’s house on Tuesday, when police in riot gear surrounded it. Nine were released, but the other 11, including Bedie’s second in command, Maurice Kakou Guikahue, are having their cases heard, a defense lawyer and a spokesman for Bedie’s PDCI party told Reuters.”Several other people who took part in this operation and who managed to escape are being actively sought,” prosecutor Adou said.Affi is one of those sought by police, Adou said. Bedie remains under effective house arrest.Bedie and Affi were not immediately reachable for comment.
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EU Set to Impose Tariffs on $4 Billion in US Goods Next Week
The European Union is poised to move next week to impose tariffs on $4 billion of U.S. imports in retaliation for U.S. subsidies for plane-maker Boeing, EU diplomats said, teeing up an eleventh-hour showdown with U.S. President Donald Trump.A majority of EU governments have backed imposing the widely expected tariffs once EU trade ministers meet next Monday, the latest twist in a trans-Atlantic trade saga that has spanned 16 years and four U.S. presidents.Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is edging closer to victory in the U.S. election, but Republican Trump would remain president until January 20 and has plenty of leeway to increase U.S. tariffs on Europe that were imposed in a parallel case over subsidies for Airbus.U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last month warned that any EU tariffs would “force a U.S. response” and Trump has threatened to “strike back harder.”Brussels views its own tariffs, authorized by the World Trade Organization last month, as important leverage in negotiations to end a dispute that began in 2004.”I would expect the tariffs to be imposed next Tuesday or Wednesday,” an EU diplomat said.In October 2019, Washington imposed tariffs on Airbus planes and other European products from cheese to olives and single-malt whisky. Combined, the two cases represent the world’s largest ever corporate trade dispute.Washington argues there is no legal basis for EU tariffs because underlying subsidies to Boeing have been repealed. European officials argue that only the WTO can decide on compliance and that last month’s green light stands.Both sides accuse the other of failing to obey WTO rulings but are seen as determined to maximize their positions ahead of probable negotiations.If Biden wins, the avowed trans-Atlanticist is expected to work quickly to mend fences with Brussels on a host of issues and could use talks over the aircraft subsidies as a gesture of goodwill as he tries to build a more united front against China.After holding off on tariffs to avoid clashing with the U.S. presidential campaign, EU governments formally cleared tariffs on Tuesday, Election Day, but must now decide their timing.Farmers, construction, casino tablesTariffs will hit U.S. planes and parts, fruits, nuts and other farm produce, orange juice, some spirits and other goods from construction equipment to casino tables, diplomats said.The European Commission said it was fine-tuning what it regards as its retaliation rights in case no agreed solution could be found with Washington, including an immediate suspension of U.S. tariffs.Lighthizer’s office had no immediate comment. One senior U.S. source said Trump was not expected to feel constraint about expanding U.S. tariffs, even if he loses the election.The United States is authorized to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion of European goods but has not used the whole quota. It could raise duties on various goods or expand the target list.Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., said any EU tariffs on spirits would further devastate an industry that has already seen a 41% drop in U.S. whiskey exports to Europe because of previous EU tariffs.European producers have voiced similar complaints about U.S. tariffs. Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are under mounting pressure to prevent the aircraft feud from hurting other industries.New EU tariffs will also hand Britain, which left the bloc this year, delicate decisions about whether to join neighbors in imposing tariffs at a time when it is caught between trade negotiations with both the United States and EU.Britain, a partner of France-based Airbus, has pledged to “keep all options open.”
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Denmark Starts Lockdown, Millions of Minks Culled Due to COVID Mutation
A lockdown in Denmark began Friday as officials ordered millions of minks – farmed for their fur – to be destroyed after a mutated variation of COVID-19 was discovered on more than 200 farms in the region.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the lockdown was aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus. It comes two days after the government ordered the cull of all 15 million minks bred in the European country’s 1,139 mink farms. The nation is the world’s leading mink fur producer.
The lockdown will affect about 280,000 residents in the region, and the government is urging them all to be tested for coronavirus.
Speaking to reporters, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said that finding COVID-19 in mink was not a new development. It has happened in other countries and was first discovered in Denmark in June. But he said, “We have indications this unique mutation has reduced response to antibodies, which can ultimately affect the efficiency of a potential vaccine.” He said the testing on the mutation are continuing.
Kofod said as of Thursday, 216 mink farms have been infected. Speaking at the same news conference, Denmark’s State Serum Institute chief Tyra Grove Krause said the mutated COVID-19 strain had been found in 12 people on five mink farms.
Experts say the coronavirus evolves constantly, and, to date, there is no evidence that any of the mutations pose an increased danger to people. But Danish authorities say they are not taking chances.
Denmark officials had informed the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international health bodies.
When asked about the situation in Denmark during a briefing at WHO headquarters in Geneva, WHO Technical Lead for COVID-19 Maria van Kerkhove said transmission of the virus between animals and humans was “a concern,” but added such mutations are normal and the agency has been tracking them since the pandemic started.
Kerkove said WHO officials are working with offices in regions where there are mink farms, “and looking at biosecurity and to prevent spillover events.”
Overall, Denmark has reported 53,180 cases of coronavirus and 738 deaths.
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US Removes Anti-China Militant Group From Terror List
The United States has revoked the terror designation of a separatist Chinese group that allegedly operates out of Afghanistan and claims to be fighting for the rights of China’s Muslim minority Uighurs.
Beijing accuses the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, of plotting terrorism in the far western Chinese resource-rich region of Xinjiang, home to some 10 million Turkic-speaking Uighur Muslims.
Global rights groups, Uighur exiles and Western countries have lately intensified criticism of China over allegations it is holding around a million members of the minority community in internment camps in Xinjiang on the pretext of fighting Islamic radicalism.
“I hereby revoke the designation of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, also known as ETIM, as a ‘terrorist organization,’” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a brief October 20 directive published on Thursday.
Washington listed ETIM as terrorist group in 2003.
The separatist group also had set up bases in Pakistan but close security collaboration and intelligence sharing between Pakistan and China in recent years, say officials, has effectively dismantled ETIM activities on Pakistani soil.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin denounced the U.S. decision as “whitewashing” terror groups.
“The East Turkestan Islamic Movement is a terrorist organization listed by the U.N. Security Council and known as a terrorist group by the international community. Terrorism is terrorism. The United States should immediately correct its mistakes, refrain from whitewashing terrorist organizations, and stop reversing the course of international counter-terrorism cooperation,” the spokesman said.
Beijing denies the allegations it is suppressing the rights of the minority community but defends a massive crackdown underway in Xinjiang against suspected ETIM-linked loyalists there.
China released a rare documentary earlier in the year, showing some of the deadly attacks allegedly orchestrated by the militant group in Xinjiang, which shares borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
While latest U.S. estimates put the number of ETIM fighters in Afghanistan at around 100, the United Nations reported in July this year that “approximately 500” militants linked to the group operate in Raghistan and Warduj districts of Badakhshan province. The assessment also noted ETIM’s presence in neighboring Takhar and Kunduz provinces.
The U.S. military in Afghanistan also reported in early 2018 it had carried out bombings of militant camps training Taliban insurgents and ETIM fighters in northeastern Badakhshan, which borders China and Tajikistan.
U.S. officials at the time said the action was part of their efforts to “support Afghanistan in reassuring its neighbors that it is not a safe sanctuary for terrorists who want to carry out cross border operations.”
The Taliban, which controls or contests nearly half of Afghan territory, denies the presence of al-Qaida or ETIM-linked militants in insurgent-held territory.
A Taliban spokesman Friday again vehemently rejected the charges, when asked whether it is harboring fighters linked to the separatist Chinese group or the al-Qaida terror network.
“No foreign citizens are present in areas under our control in Afghanistan, nor the Islamic Emirate [Taliban] allows anyone to use our soil to threaten other nations,” Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA. He asserted the charges are part of “the enemy’s intelligence-driven campaign” to malign the insurgent group.
The Taliban sealed a landmark agreement with the U.S. in February to close the 19-year-old Afghan war. The deal binds the insurgents to renounce ties with al-Qaida and prevent transnational terrorist groups from using Afghan soil for international attacks.
In return all U.S. and NATO troops have committed to stage a complete “conditions-based” withdrawal from Afghanistan by May 2021.
The deal opened the first peace negotiations between the Taliban and representatives of the Afghan government in September, but the dialogue has for most part stalled without any significant breakthrough.
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Cameroon Christians Protest Abduction of Cardinal, Traditional Ruler
Suspected rebels in northwest Cameroon abducted a Catholic cardinal and a traditional ruler Thursday night. The Roman Catholic church in Kumbo says hundreds of supporters assembled at the cathedral Friday calling for the immediate release of Cardinal Christian Tumi and the chief of the Nso people, Sehm Mbinglo. The church says the 90-year-old cardinal and the chief, known as the Fon, were abducted Thursday night with their delegation just south of the town. “These are authorities that have been ordained by God and placed there to look over his people and so it is high time all the population, not only the Nso man but everybody should go out today and let the Fon and the Cardinal be released. This is something outrageous,” Genesis Lukong, the secretary general of the Catholic Men’s Association, told VOA via telephone from Kumbo, in Cameroon’s Northwest. Administrative officials in Kumbo’s Bui administrative unit confirmed the attack and blamed anglophone rebels. The cardinal was released Friday morning, but Mbinglo remains captive. Sub-Chief of the Nso people Fidelis Chin says Mbinglo’s health has been waning and he needs regular medical care. “Any struggle that touches the Fon of Nso, that touches our tradition, that touches religion, is against the Nso people,” Chin said. “I call on all Nso elite, wherever they are, to come out. Let’s tell these Amba boys that enough is enough.” It’s not the first time that separatists have abducted Mbinglo. Mbinglo fled the area three years ago after rebels abducted him three times and killed two of his sons. The rebels accused him of collaborating with the central government. Tumi led talks with the rebels each time to secure the chief’s safe return.Catholic Lawrence Nsahbinla was part of the negotiations. “It is not normal to abduct a man of God at his age,” Nsahbinla said. “And then they abducted him with his royal highness the Fon of Nso who was coming back to be reinstated in his dynasty. Two important personalities for the Christians and for the Nso man. This is something that the Christians and the Nso man have to take seriously and put an end to all these devilish actions.” Teachers abductedThe abduction of the chief and the cardinal is the second such incident in Kumbo this week. On Tuesday, gunmen attacked a Presbyterian school and abducted 11 teachers. The teachers were released Thursday unharmed. The rebels have been fighting in western Cameroon since 2017 to carve out an English-speaking state from the majority French-speaking nation. The United Nations says the ongoing violence has claimed more than 3,000 lives and displaced more than 530,000 people.
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Poland Sets Record for Daily COVID-19 Cases
Health officials in Poland reported a record number of coronavirus-related deaths on Friday as the first treatments began for patients at a makeshift hospital in the country’s national stadium. The government reported 445 deaths and 27,086 new infections in its latest report. The caseload was the second highest number of in a single day during the pandemic — second only to Thursday’s total. The figures coincided with the admission of the first patient at a new field hospital located in Warsaw’s National Stadium. The rapidly growing number of COVID-19 cases has placed Poland among the 20 most-affected countries in the world. If the level of infections reaches 70 people per 100,000 or if 30,000 patients are hospitalized, a full national lockdown will take effect, according to the government. The health ministry said the health care system is facing shortages of hospital beds, equipment and medical personnel. The health ministry added that, as of Friday, COVID-19 patients occupied 19,479 of 29,407 available hospital beds and were using 1,703 of 2,238 available ventilators.
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Palestinian Officials Protest Malawi’s Plan to Open Embassy in Jerusalem
Palestinian authorities are protesting Malawi’s plan to open an embassy in Jerusalem, which, if carried out, would make it the first African country to do so. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sent an envoy to Malawi Thursday asking President Lazarus Chakwera to withdraw the plan, calling it a violation of a U.N. resolution on the disputed territory.Briefing reporters after presenting a protest letter to Chakwera at the State House in the capital Lilongwe, Palestinian envoy Hanan Jarrar said Malawi’s decision is a cause of great concern.
“This is a main concern for us. This is the issue of sovereignty; this is the issue of recognizing the state of Palestine. This is the issue of violating international law and violating international parameters when it comes to the status of Jerusalem,” Jarrar said.
The letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked Chakwera to reconsider Malawi’s plans for an embassy in Jerusalem. Israel considers the city its eternal capital, but Palestinians want East Jerusalem, seized in a 1967 Middle East war, as part of a future state.
Jarrar said Jerusalem is still a disputed territory and any action that seeks to alter the character and status of the city violates U.N. Security Council Resolution 476, approved in 1980 and reaffirmed in 2016 by Resolution 2334.
“Malawi should be with international community. Malawi shouldn’t choose to be on the wrong side of history. Malawi shouldn’t choose to follow an apartheid state,” Jarrar said.
Currently, only the United States and Guatemala have embassies in Jerusalem.Malawi’s Foreign Minister Eisenhower Mkaka (left) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem over plans to open an embassy there (Photo – Malawi government website)Chakwera first announced the decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem in his state of the nation address in September, sparking a heated debate among Malawians.
Chakwera told parliament recently that Malawi is a sovereign state and its decision cannot be influenced by any foreign nation or institution.
“I wish to appeal to this august house and the nation that we should never conduct our foreign policy and international cooperation at the behest of pressure from anybody. We should conduct our diplomacy and international relations on the basis of mutual respect and equality of all states under international law,” Chakwera said.
After delivering the letter, Jarrar said she could not tell Chakwera’s position on the matter.
“His excellency was very clear on the position of Malawi recognizing the state of Palestine in 1989. He was very clear about that and he said that he appreciates this kind of engagement. He appreciates the letter sent by President Mahmoud Abbas. He will have a look at it and they will discuss it internally,” Jarrar said.
Sheriff Kaisi, a political science lecturer at Blantyre International University, told VOA that Malawi should tread carefully to avoid being caught up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over disputed territory.
“We are saying the embassy should be established but why not in Tel Aviv? Because if you look at Israel, you will find that many countries have their embassies in Tel Aviv, not particularly in Jerusalem. So, this is why we are saying ‘why Malawi is putting itself at a tight corner?’ This issue is about security. Because if you go into war zone, definitely expect the fragments of the war zone to come to you as well,” he said.
Kaisi said Chakwera should have held wider national consultations before he made his decision.
Malawi’s Foreign Minister Eisenhower Mkaka is currently visiting Israel, advancing Chakwera’s plan to open an embassy in Jerusalem next year.
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US Speeds Arms Sales for Taiwan as Island Revamps China Strategy
U.S. officials are speeding arms sales to Taiwan this year as the Asian island revamps its defense strategy against old, and more powerful, foe China, and experts on both sides say Washington is extra keen to show support.
Taiwan is shifting toward asymmetric warfare — the use of unconventional tactics against a stronger enemy — and analysts believe the U.S. government figures the right defensive weaponry should follow. U.S. officials for their part want to show China they will consistently oppose perceived threats of force against Taiwan, the experts say.
“Probably Washington’s consensus is that the Chinese intimidation is growing, the cross-Strait balance is tilting, heavily, and Taiwan’s arms procurement strategy or items have been in the past too much focused on force-on-force capability rather than asymmetrical capability,” said Alexander Huang, a strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan.
Three years of sales
In the latest case, the U.S. State Department approved a $600 million arms package Tuesday that includes four unmanned maritime patrol aircraft, along with maritime radar and other hardware to support the aircraft.
On October 21 the department greenlighted the potential sale of three weapons systems, including missiles, artillery and sensors. The full price was estimated at $1.8 billion. Five days later it approved a $2.37 billion sale of 100 Boeing-made Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems. Two other arms sale authorizations were announced earlier in the year for a total $800 million.
“Now what we’re seeing is the transfer of weaponry that can certainly help Taiwan become fortress Taiwan, quote unquote, to make it that impenetrable fortress against Chinese attack,” said Derek Grossman, a senior analyst with the Rand Corp. research institution.
Washington cleared sales for Taiwan twice in 2019. They covered three separate arms systems, including F-16 fighter jets and M1A2T battle tanks for a total price of about $10.2 billion. A single $330 million spare parts sale was approved in 2018. President Donald Trump’s administration came out with its first arms package in June 2017 – the only one that year – for a total of $1.42 billion.
Threats from China
China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists lost and rebased in Taipei. Beijing does not rule out the use of force to unify the two sides, and Chinese military planes flew into a zone Taiwan claims as its airspace a number of times in October.
Taiwan and China ended formal negotiations in 2016, when Beijing took issue with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s refusal to see both sides as part of a single country. Opinion surveys in Taiwan show most people oppose unification with China.FILE – Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen delivers a speech during a visit to Zuoying navy base in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Sept. 26, 2020.“Beijing’s increasing threats against Taiwan and incursions into Taiwanese airspace demonstrate the need for Taipei to bulk up militarily where it can,” said Sean King, vice president of the Park Strategies political consultants in New York.
Taiwan welcomes arms sales to upgrade technologically as signs of support from China’s chief geopolitical rival and keeper of the world’s strongest armed forces. Taiwan’s government has the money to buy whatever weaponry Washington offers, said Joanna Lei, a former legislator in Taipei and CEO of Chunghua 21st Century Think Tank in Taiwan.
US calculations
Only the U.S. side, not Taiwan, has authority over timing of arms sales, a media official with the government in Taipei said Thursday. State Department spokespeople have said the sales are aimed at helping Taiwan maintain defense in a self-sufficient way.
The U.S. government sees Taiwan as one in a chain of Asian allies that it can use, as needed, to counter Chinese expansion.
White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said last month Taiwan should prepare for an invasion from China.”I think Taiwan needs to start looking at some asymmetric and anti-access area denial strategies and so on and really fortify itself in a manner that would deter the Chinese from any sort of amphibious invasion or even a gray zone operation against them,” O’Brien told an Aspen Institute event.
Trump hopes to lay down a “marker” for the frequency of arms sales and have that trend outlast his presidency, King said. Sales are popular across party lines in the U.S. Congress as a way to resist China, Grossman said.
Under the previous two U.S. presidents, arms sales to Taiwan were “frequently delayed or aborted” because of Washington’s concerns about relations with China or due to political disagreements in Taiwan, the Jamestown Foundation policy research organization said in a July 2019 study.
Stronger frequency of sales would prepare China to accept them as routine, said Denny Roy, senior fellow at the East-West Center think tank in Honolulu.
“Many U.S. officials are trying to make arms sales to Taiwan regular and routine, so that there is a steady pipeline flow, rather than a long buildup between each transaction which results in a major showdown with Beijing every year or two,” Roy said.
Some U.S. policymakers see arms sales as a way to make Taiwan strong enough that the United States would bear less of a “burden,” Huang said. The U.S. government is obligated to consider defending Taiwan with it own forces if the island is attacked.
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Australian Research Unearths 700 Million-Year-Old Evolutionary Link Between Sea Sponges, Humans
Researchers in Australia say a jelly-like sea sponge found along the Great Barrier Reef could provide clues about an elusive part of the human DNA. Their newly released study, which looks at 700 million years of evolution, concludes that elements of the human genome, what scientists describe as “an incredibly complex and ever-changing instruction manual of life,” work in the same way as the genome of the prehistoric sea sponge.Researchers at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney say that while the DNA of humans and these simple, yet highly adaptable aquatic invertebrates are not similar, they do share a comparable set of instructions that control how information contained in a gene is decoded and used. The scientists believe these genetic links have been preserved across millions of years of evolution.Lead researcher Emily Wong said the new study has allowed them to better “read” and understand how our genetic library works.“We focused on sequences in the genome called enhancers, and they are responsible for switching on and off genes,” she said. “We found that similar sequences are deeply conserved all the way from humans to sea sponges. So, that is over 700 million years of evolution. We are really excited about this discovery because it is the first time that such a deeply conserved enhancer has been discovered.”Long before the dinosaurs, the sea sponge was one of the species that dominated life on Earth.The researchers believe that it is not only people that share a genetic link to sea sponges, but most likely the entire animal kingdom.The study could have implications for biomedical advances and health care.A senior researcher said, “the more we know about how our genes are wired, the better we are able to develop new treatments for diseases.”The academic work was a collaboration between various Australian universities and research organizations and has been published in the journal Science.
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Russia Sets New Daily Record of COVID Cases
Russia reported 20,582 new COVID cases Friday, a record daily high. Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, did not give any details about what steps public health officials would take to curb the uptick. With more than 1.7 million COVID infections in Russia, only the United States, India and Brazil have more coronavirus cases. India reported more than 47,000 new COVID cases Friday. Anyone traveling from Denmark to Britain must now self-isolate for 14 days. Denmark was removed Friday from Britain’s corridor of travel, following a coronavirus outbreak on mink farms in the Scandanavian country. Denmark has announced it is culling more than 15 million minks in an effort to halt the spread of a mutated form of the coronavirus that has appeared in the minks.
The coronavirus is sweeping across Europe again. England began a four-week lockdown Thursday, while Greece begins a three-week shutdown Saturday.Italy starting is beginning new coronavirus restrictions across the country. In the so-called ‘soft lockdown’ the country has been divided by colors according to risk with set of restrictions differing by color.An aerial view of vehicles queuing at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at the Alliant Energy Center complex, as the coronavirus disease outbreak continues in Madison, Wisconsin, Nov. 5, 2020.US hits another daily record
On Thursday, the United States recorded its highest number of COVID cases since the start of the pandemic – more than 117,000 new infections. The rapid spread of the virus in the U.S. comes as voters await the final results of the country’s presidential election. The virus is “coming after all of us,” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said. “This virus doesn’t care if we voted for Donald Trump, doesn’t care if we voted for Joe Biden.”The virus in the U.S. is especially spreading across the Midwest and the so-called Great Plains region that spans large parts of the central and western U.S. The U.S. has 9.6 million of the world’s 48.6 million cases.
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Cameroon: Kidnappers Free 11 Teachers
Media reports say eleven teachers kidnapped Tuesday from two church-run English speaking schools in northern Cameroon were released late Thursday afternoon.
Unidentified assailants took the teachers hostage on Tuesday during a raid on the schools in the town of Kumbo. No one has claimed responsibility for the raid.
According to the Abadolu Agency, Samuel Fonki, head of the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon, said no ransom was paid and that the church and teachers’ unions pressured their kidnappers to free them.
Kumbo is an area where the Cameroon government has been in an ongoing conflict with insurgent separatists who want to break away from the predominantly French-speaking country.
The kidnapping comes less than two weeks after unidentified gunmen raided a mostly English-speaking school in western Cameroon, killing seven children. So far, there has been no public confirmation of any arrests in connection with the school attacks.
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Biden Erodes Trump Leads in Georgia, Pennsylvania as Election Results Trickle In
Democratic candidate Joe Biden has moved closer to claiming victory in the U.S. presidential election as updated vote counts erode President Donald Trump’s leads in Georgia and Pennsylvania.Biden currently leads in the popular vote as well as the Electoral College count, 253-214, with a majority of 270 needed to claim the presidency for a four-year term.Vote counting is still under way in four states that will decide the election: Arizona and Nevada, where Biden is ahead; Pennsylvania, where Trump’s early lead has, as of early Friday, decreased to 18,000 votes, and Georgia, where Biden has pulled ahead by 917 votes.In the U.S. Electoral College system, the popular vote winner in each state — with two exceptions, Maine and Nebraska — receives all of that state’s electoral votes, which are allocated on the basis of population.Meanwhile Trump, without evidence, Thursday accused Democrats of engineering massive fraud and irregularities to prevent him from winning reelection as president.“This is a case where they are trying to steal an election, they’re trying to rig an election, and we can’t let that happen,” said Trump during a news conference.In contrast, Biden earlier in the day urged patience while states tabulate the record number of votes, more than 150 million, cast in this year’s election.“Each ballot must be counted. And that’s what we’re going to see going through now. And that’s how it should be. Democracy sometimes is messy,” Biden said during a briefing.Counting under wayIf Biden holds his vote leads in Arizona, with its 11 electors, and Nevada with six, he will reach the 270 Electoral College majority and become the country’s 46th president at his inauguration in January, no matter the outcome in Georgia and Pennsylvania.Trump needs to hold all the states he has been leading in and pick up either Nevada or Arizona, in each of which Biden is currently leading.In Pennsylvania and Georgia, Trump’s lead shrank as the vote count continued. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said Thursday the remaining votes being counted are almost entirely mail-in ballots. So far those have significantly favored Biden.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 7 MB480p | 10 MB540p | 13 MB720p | 31 MB1080p | 55 MBOriginal | 145 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioThe Biden campaign had urged supporters to vote by mail to stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic, while Trump has, without evidence, denounced mail-in voting as fraudulent and a scam.Trump cited the disproportionate number of late votes being won by Biden as possible vote interference by what he called the corrupt voting apparatus of states with Democratic governors.“We were winning in all the key locations by a lot, actually, and then our numbers started miraculously getting whittled away in secret,” Trump said on Thursday.Twenty electoral votes are at stake in Pennsylvania. Trump has more comfortable leads in two other states that have not yet been called: Alaska and North Carolina.As of early Friday, Biden was leading by around 11,500 votes in Nevada, which has six electors, and by about 47,000 in Arizona, which has 11 electors. Many more votes are still to be counted in both states.Biden leads the national popular vote 73.5 million to 69.5 million, but it is the Electoral College that will determine the winner after a contentious, months-long campaign.On Twitter, Trump demanded that the vote count be stopped. But if the vote count were frozen in its late Thursday morning state, Trump would lose, becoming the third U.S. president in the last four decades to lose reelection after a single term.LawsuitsTrump on Thursday also cited irregularities, such as state officials barring his campaign from observing the vote count, called mail-in voting a “corrupt system” that lacks “any verification measures,” and said he expects contested election litigation to end up in the Supreme Court.Lawyers representing Trump and Republicans filed lawsuits alleging vote counting irregularities and demanding that the counting of mail-in ballots be halted in Pennsylvania, where Trump’s lead was dwindling as more mail-in ballots were counted.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 9 MB480p | 12 MB540p | 16 MB720p | 32 MB1080p | 63 MBOriginal | 76 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioThe vote count across the U.S. has been slowed by the vast number of mail-in ballots — about two-thirds of the more than 101 million ballots cast before Tuesday’s official Election Day — and which are taking longer to count. Many people who voted by mail said they wanted to avoid long lines at polling stations on Tuesday and coming face to face with others amid the country’s unchecked coronavirus pandemic.Biden’s campaign urged voting by mail, and the result is that his vote count has swelled in numerous states as those ballots are tallied. Trump mostly urged Election Day in-person voting by Republicans, claiming without evidence that mail-in voting would lead to an election rigged against him. Those ballots were generally counted earlier.Trump’s lawyers also called for a recount in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin, where Biden was projected the winner of the state’s 10 electors on Wednesday. They contended that there were irregularities at some voting stations.Trump claimed victory in the early hours of Wednesday, but Biden has stopped short of saying he has won.“I’m not here to declare that we’ve won,” Biden said Wednesday. “But I am here to report that when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners.”
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US Reports Record Number of COVID-19 Cases
The United States on Thursday recorded its highest number of COVID cases since the start of the pandemic — more than 117,000 new infections.The news about the rapid growth of the virus in the U.S. comes as voters await the final results of the country’s presidential election.The virus is “coming after all of us,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said. “This virus doesn’t care if we voted for Donald Trump, doesn’t care if we voted for Joe Biden.”The virus in the U.S. is especially spreading across the Midwest and the so-called Great Plains region that spans large parts of the central and western U.S.The U.S. has 9.6 million of the world’s 48.6 million cases.The coronavirus is also sweeping across Europe. England began a four-week lockdown Thursday. Greece will begin a three-week shutdown on Saturday.Denmark has announced it is culling more than 15 million minks in an effort to halt the spread of a mutated form of the coronavirus that has appeared in the minks.India reported more than 47,000 new COVID cases Friday.India follows the U.S. in the number of coronavirus cases with 8.4 million. Brazil has the third-highest number of infections at 5.6 million.
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