Pennsylvania is proving to be a key state in the U.S. presidential contest — and one of the last to finish counting votes between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden. Esha Sarai reports from Philadelphia.
…
Month: November 2020
What Divides the US?
Many Americans are surprised that the U.S. presidential election has been so closely fought, reflecting the deep divide within the country. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee hears from two different realities in America.
Camera: VOA Producer: Elizabeth Lee
…
Olympics Gymnastics Meet is a Test of Tokyo’s COVID-19 Readiness
Tokyo’s ability to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and stage next year’s Olympic Games safely will undergo a major test next week with gymnasts from four nations gathering in the Japanese capital for a friendly tournament.The meet Sunday — featuring 30 gymnasts from Japan, the United States, China and Russia — marks the first international event at a Tokyo Olympics venue since the Games were postponed in March due to the pandemic.While up to 2,000 spectators will be focused on the athletes, who will be mixed into “Friendship” and “Solidarity” teams regardless of nationality or gender, the real competition will be behind the scenes as organizers go all-out to keep the novel coronavirus at bay.”If somebody gets infected during this meet, it will be called off, and if that happens, it also puts whether we can hold the Olympics into question,” Japanese gymnast Wataru Tanigawa told an online news conference.”In that sense I feel a huge stress, but all I can do is be as careful as possible.”Measures drawn up in consultation with the International Olympics Federation (FIG) include having athletes, quarantined for two weeks prior to arriving in Japan, move only between their hotel and the venue on special buses disinfected nightly.Staff will take shopping requests, with security guards posted at hotel elevators.Before entering or leaving the competition floor, gymnasts will disinfect their hands and feet. They will bring their own chalk, formerly shared, and be tested daily.Spectators must have temperature checks with thermography and provide contact details as well as two weeks of prior health information.A false positive COVID-19 test for Japan’s three-time Olympic gold medalist Kohei Uchimura last week emphasized the stakes and alarmed organizers, who had earlier told Reuters they were feeling “the greatest pressure of their career.”Uchimura subsequently tested negative and was cleared to participate.Japan has successfully held events in stadiums with thousands of spectators, and experts say the gymnastics event could prove an important next step.”Gymnastics is one of the sports which may have relatively lower risk for spreading COVID-19,” said Koji Wada, a professor at Tokyo’s International University of Health and Welfare.”So that would be very good practice for Japan, and also for the rest of the world.”Tokyo 2020 organizers said they would be watching the meet closely.”In preparing for the Tokyo 2020 Games next year, we consider the countermeasures and other organizational methods adopted for such events, including the competition … on Nov. 8, to be an important reference,” they said in an email.
…
Pope Urges Italians to Follow Latest COVID Measures
Pope Francis is urging people in Italy to follow the latest strict measures imposed by authorities to curb the spread of the coronavirus. VOA’s Mariama Diallo has more.
…
Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan Fail to Make Progress on Disputed Dam
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan failed to agree on a new negotiating approach to resolve their years-long dispute over the controversial dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, the three countries said Wednesday. In late October, the three resumed virtual talks over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam. The renewed talks followed President Donald Trump’s comments in which he said downstream Egypt could end up “blowing up” the project, which Cairo has called an existential threat. The remarks angered Ethiopia. Foreign and irrigation ministers of the three nations met last week and delegated experts from their countries to discuss and agree on an approach so the talks could be fruitful. But differences remained, and Wednesday’s meeting failed to bridge the gaps, said Mohammed el-Sebaei, Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry spokesman. FILE – This handout picture taken on July 20, 2020, and released by Adwa Pictures on July 27, 2020, shows an aerial view Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia.Sudanese Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas also said the talks did not achieve concrete progress, and that Egypt opposed a Sudanese proposal supported by Ethiopia to maximize the role of African Union experts. Ethiopia said the countries “were unable to reach a complete agreement” on items such as the “basis for the upcoming negotiation and the time frame.” It said they would turn to the chair of the AU Executive Council and South Africa’s foreign minister “to consult on the next steps.” Key questions remain about how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs and how the three countries will resolve any future disputes. Ethiopia rejects binding arbitration at the final stage of the project. El-Sebaei, the Egyptian spokesman, said the three countries would separately report their positions to South Africa, which heads the African Union. Ethiopia is building the dam on the Blue Nile, which joins the White Nile in Sudan to become the Nile River. About 85% of the river’s flow originates from Ethiopia. Officials hope the dam, now more than three-quarters complete, will reach full power-generating capacity in 2023. Egypt and Sudan, however, have expressed concerns the dam will reduce the flow of the Nile waters to their countries. Egypt relies heavily on the Nile to supply water for its agriculture and to its more than 100 million people.
…
Ethiopia Near Civil War as PM Sends Army into Defiant Region
Ethiopia approached civil war Wednesday as its Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister ordered the military to confront the country’s well-armed Tigray regional government, accusing it of a deadly attack on a military base and declaring “the last red line has been crossed” after months of alleged provocations.Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s move against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, in one of Africa’s most populous and powerful countries, sent a shock wave through the long-turbulent Horn of Africa. Ethiopia’s neighbors include Somalia and Sudan, and the prospect of spreading instability sent a chill down observers’ spines.Tigray region, EthiopiaSignaling the gravity of the threat, the United States in the midst of its election drama issued a statement urging “an immediate de-escalation.” The United Nations expressed “alarm” and made a similar plea.”We have to guard against ‘just another tribal African war,’ ” former U.S. diplomat Payton Knopf told The Associated Press. “This is much more akin to what an interstate war would look like,” with large and highly trained ground forces, mechanized units and heavy artillery.Internet and phone lines were cut in Tigray, challenging efforts to verify the Ethiopian government’s account of events. A statement on Tigray TV accused the federal government of deploying troops to “cow the people of Tigray into submission by force” and said airspace over the region was closed.The prime minister announced “several martyrs” in the overnight attack in Mekele, the northern Tigray region’s capital, and Dansha town. The region is Ethiopia’s most sensitive, neighboring Eritrea, which fought a long border war before the two countries made peace in 2018.CounterattackAbiy, in a national address late Wednesday, said the attack was aimed at making Ethiopia vulnerable to outside enemies, without naming names. The army late Wednesday said it had launched a counterattack and asserted “massive” damage, and Abiy said the military would conduct further operations in the coming days.Ethiopia declared a six-month state of emergency in Tigray on Wednesday, saying “illegal and violent activities” were threatening the country’s sovereignty. A Tigray TV report that the Ethiopian military’s northern command had defected to the Tigray government was “not true,” the prime minister’s office told the AP.FILE – Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, center, arrives for an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Feb. 9, 2020. Ahmed on Nov. 4, 2020 ordered the military to confront the Tigray regional government after he said it attacked a base.The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s military and governing coalition before Abiy took office in 2018 and announced sweeping political reforms that won him the Nobel last year. Those reforms, however, opened space for ethnic and other grievances. The TPLF, feeling marginalized by shifts in power, left the coalition last year.Tigray officials have objected to the postponement of Ethiopia’s national election because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which extends Abiy’s stay in office. In September, the region held an election that defied the federal government and increased tensions over a region of some 5 million people that, despite its small share of Ethiopia’s population of 110 million, has had outsize influence.Last month, the federal government further angered the TPLF by moving to divert funding for Tigray to local administrations instead of the regional government.On Monday, Tigray leader Debretsion Gebremichael warned that a bloody conflict could erupt, accusing Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders of making “all necessary preparations to start war” against the region. There was no immediate Eritrea comment.Ethiopia was already stressed by a dispute with Egypt over a massive Ethiopian dam project that has drawn rare attention from President Donald Trump to Africa, and by a multilayer crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic and deadly ethnic violence.’Disastrous’ conflict feared”This war is the worst possible outcome of the tensions that have been brewing,” said William Davison, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Ethiopia. “Given Tigray’s relatively strong security position, the conflict may well be protracted and disastrous.”Abiy’s statement accused the TPLF of arming and organizing irregular militias in recent weeks. “TPLF has chosen to wage war,” his office said. “The last red line has been crossed with this morning’s attacks and the federal government is therefore forced into a military confrontation” to save the country.The TPLF has said it’s not interested in negotiating with the federal government. “What we need now is a national dialogue,” a senior TPLF official, Getachew Reda, told the AP on Sunday.Observers have worried for months about the growing tensions and their implications for the Horn of Africa, where Abiy has cast himself as a peacemaker.A report last month by the U.S. Institute of Peace said the fragmentation of Ethiopia “would be the largest state collapse in modern history, likely leading to mass interethnic and interreligious conflict … and a humanitarian and security crisis at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East on a scale that would overshadow the existing conflicts in South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.”The international community needs to rally around the idea of national dialogue in Ethiopia, the International Crisis Group wrote last week. “The alternative, given the country’s multiple and bitter divides, is a potential march to war that would be catastrophic,” it said.
…
Kosovo Former Separatist Commander Taken to War Crimes Court
A former senior commander of ethnic Albanian separatist fighters in Kosovo’s 1998-1999 war who was also the country’s former Parliament speaker was arrested Wednesday and taken to a special court in the Netherlands for war crimes, his lawyer said.Jakup Krasniqi, 69, was arrested by policemen of the European Union rule of law mission (EULEX) at his house in Negrovc village, 34 kilometers (20 miles) west of the capital, Pristina, according to lawyer Valon Hasani. Krasniqi was taken to The Hague.”The indictment has been confirmed, and it is expected that a hearing before the special chambers will be scheduled very soon,” Hasani said, without giving details of the charges.Krasniqi is the second former fighter of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, to be taken to The Hague Kosovo Specialist Chambers court after Salih Mustafa in September.Another ex-KLA commander, Rexhep Selimi, 49, said he had been charged, without giving details, and will go to The Hague on Thursday.”I have known how to, and always will, defend the freedom of the people, the state of Kosovo, the glorious KLA,” said Selimi, one of the KLA founders.Selimi is a lawmaker with the main opposition Self-Determination Movement Party and has been interior minister and head of the military academy.The court and an associated Special Prosecutor’s Office were established five years ago following a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, that included allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians. The court is mandated to investigate and prosecute allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo, or linked to the Kosovo conflict, from 1998-2000. The Kosovo government said it was closely following EULEX activities concerning Krasniqi, adding that the country’s institutions and citizens have always respected the mission’s decisions.Prosecutors in The Hague also have issued an indictment against Kosovar President Hashim Thaci, former parliamentary speaker Kadri Veseli, and others for crimes that include murder, enforced disappearances, persecution and torture. It is not clear whether a pre-trial judge has confirmed those indictments, though the six-month period to do that is over. Both men have denied committing any war crimes.Two leaders of the Kosovar war veterans’ association, Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj, also were arrested in September and transferred to The Hague, accused of allegedly endangering potential witnesses in war crimes cases the court is investigating by releasing their names publicly.The war for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia left more than 10,000 people dead – most of them ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. More than 1,600 people remain unaccounted for. The fighting ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbian troops.Kosovo, which is dominated by ethnic Albanians, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move recognized by many Western nations but not by Serbia or its allies Russia and China.
…
US Judge Unsure If He Has Grounds to Issue New TikTok Injunction
A U.S. judge said Wednesday he was uncertain if he had a legal basis to bar the U.S. Commerce Department from imposing restrictions on video-sharing app TikTok after a Pennsylvania judge already had blocked the government’s plan Friday.Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd, the owner of TikTok, argues that the previous ruling could still be overturned on appeal.U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols for the District of Columbia said he was unsure if TikTok could demonstrate “irreparable harm” to win a new injunction against the government’s order that Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google app stores remove TikTok for download by new users.On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone stopped the Commerce Department from barring TikTok’s data hosting within the United States and other technical transactions that she said would effectively ban the use of the app in the country.The Trump administration contends TikTok poses national security concerns as the personal data of U.S. users could be obtained by China’s government. TikTok denies the allegations.The restrictions were set to take effect Nov. 12. A Justice Department lawyer told Nichols the government had not decided whether to appeal Beetlestone’s order.Beetlestone, whose ruling came in a lawsuit filed by three TikTok users, noted the app has more than 100 million U.S. TikTok users.On Sept. 27, Nichols issued a preliminary injunction against the government’s order. Beetlestone’s order also blocks the app store download ban.Talks have been ongoing to finalize a preliminary deal for Walmart and Oracle Corparation to take stakes in a new company to oversee U.S. operations. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the deal had his “blessing.”
…
With Performers Infected, La Scala Season Premiere Canceled
The Dec. 7 season premiere at Milan’s La Scala opera house, a gala event that is one of Italy’s cultural highlights, is being canceled after a rash of COVID-19 infections among musicians and chorus members.The theater’s board of directors concluded Wednesday that the status of the pandemic and Italy’s virus-control measures, which include the closure of theaters, did not allow for “achieving a production open to the public and of the level and with the characteristics required” for the premiere.Lucia di Lammermoor had been on the program for the season’s opening. La Scala said the scheduled opening night performance and the shows set for the following days have been postponed.Politicians, business figures and other VIPs traditionally turn out for La Scala’s season premiere, an official holiday in Milan.The opera house reported a week ago that its entire orchestra had been told to quarantine after nine musicians tested positive for the coronavirus. The chorus was put under an earlier quarantine after 18 singers were confirmed to be infected.A government decree issued last month to battle a surge in COVID-19 infections shut down Italy’s theaters, cinemas and concert halls for a few weeks. Starting Thursday, Italian museums will also have to close their doors, at least until Dec. 2.
…
EU: Brexit Trade Talks Still Face ‘Too Many Difficulties’
With a deadline looming ever more menacingly, the European Union’s chief negotiator on the post-Brexit trade deal with Britain on Wednesday publicly blamed London for a lack of progress in the two sides’ belated attempt to reach an even rudimentary agreement.”At this stage, there are still too many difficulties remaining on important topics,” Michel Barnier said on his way to brief the envoys of the 27 member states.In a Twitter comment later, Barnier said, “Despite EU efforts to find solutions, very serious divergences remain.”Britain’s Chief negotiator David Frost walks down Downing Street in London, Oct. 19, 2020.Britain’s chief negotiator, David Frost, said he agreed that “wide divergences remain on some key issues.””We continue to work to find solutions that fully respect U.K. sovereignty,” Frost tweeted.Barnier’s comments threw a dampener on optimistic reports that progress was being made at a rapid pace on issues such as fisheries rights, one of three remaining major topics that need a compromise solution if a deal is to be found before Jan. 1, when a transition period in the Brexit divorce proceedings ends.Barnier’s stern words were in complete contradiction to the olive branch he offered London only two weeks ago after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted that the EU and Barnier fundamentally had to change tack to continue the negotiations.Both sides have been intensely negotiating since, but, as Barnier pointed out, to little effect.The lack of progress on fisheries and on the need to have common regulatory standards and fair competition to make sure Britain won’t undercut EU businesses has befuddled the negotiating teams for months, as both sides have been trying to strike a trade deal since the U.K. left the EU on Jan. 31.Without a deal, trade between both sides would fundamentally change, and hundreds of thousands of jobs would be threatened on both sides, especially in nations close to Britain such as Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Barnier insisted again Wednesday that the EU “is prepared for all scenarios.”In the trade negotiations, Britain wants to retain as many of the advantages of EU membership as possible without having to live by the bloc’s rules. The EU is insisting on stringent trade regulations to avoid having a giant buccaneering trade partner on its doorstep that could freely undercut the bloc’s state aid, social and environmental standards.After negotiating in Brussels this week, the talks are set to move to London again in the coming days.
…
South Korea OKs Single Test for COVID-19, Flu
Health officials in South Korea have approved a new test that’s designed to detect both COVID-19 and seasonal influenza from the same samples, which would help prevent disruption at hospitals as the pandemic stretches into the flu season.The country has struggled to stem the coronavirus, which some experts say could spread more broadly during cold weather when people spend more time indoors.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Wednesday reported 118 new cases of COVID-19, most of them in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area. The national caseload is now at 26,925, including 474 deaths.People have been increasingly venturing out in public after the government eased social distancing restrictions last month to support the weak economy. “Despite efforts by health authorities to trace contacts and suppress transmissions, such efforts have been outpaced by the speed of viral spread,” senior Health Ministry official Yoon Taeho said during a virus briefing.The new test, which targets genes that are specific to both COVID-19 and seasonal flu, is an evolved version of PCR tests that are used to detect COVID-19 from samples taken from noses or throats. Laboratories use machines to amplify genetic materials so that even tiny quantities of the virus can be detected.The illnesses are hard to tell apart by their symptoms, so having a diagnosis for both in three to six hours “would be convenient for patients and also reduce the burden of medical workers,” Yoon said.
…
Conservative US High Court Justices Lean Toward Catholic Agency in LGBT Dispute
Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices Wednesday appeared sympathetic to religious rights claims against Philadelphia brought by a Catholic Church-affiliated agency after the city refused to use the group in its foster care program because it would not accept same-sex couples as prospective foster parents.The almost two-hour argument via teleconference was the first major case to be heard by President Donald Trump’s appointee Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed to the court last week and participated in cases argued Monday and Tuesday.The case pits LGBT rights against religious rights. The nine justices heard an appeal by Catholic Social Services, part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which accused the city of violating the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and religion. Catholic Social Services is backed by the Trump administration in the case.The case provides Barrett and the rest of the court’s 6-3 conservative majority a new opportunity to recognize broader religious rights under the Constitution, building on other rulings in recent years in that vein.Barrett, a devout Catholic and strong proponent of religious rights, asked probing questions of both sides, but it was her conservative colleagues who appeared more openly sympathetic to the Catholic group.Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh suggested Philadelphia had targeted the Catholic group over its opposition to same-sex marriage.Alito: City ‘can’t stand’ agency message”If we are honest about what’s really going on here, it’s not about ensuring that same-sex couples in Philadelphia have the opportunity to be foster parents. It’s the fact that the city can’t stand the message that Catholic Social Services and the archdiocese are sending by continuing to adhere to the old-fashioned view about marriage,” Alito said.The Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide in 2015.A lower court ruled in 2018 that the city’s anti-discrimination measures were applied uniformly, meaning the Catholic organization’s religious rights were not violated and it was not entitled to an exemption.Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, accused Philadelphia of “looking for a fight” and noted that no same-sex couple had ever even approached the Catholic agency about serving as foster parents.A ruling against Philadelphia could make it easier for people to cite religious beliefs when seeking exemptions from widely applicable laws, such as anti-discrimination statutes.Previous rulingThe justices showed little interest in overturning a 1990 Supreme Court ruling called Employment Division v. Smith, authored by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Barrett’s conservative mentor.That ruling limited the ability of people to seek exemptions from laws that apply to everyone. Some justices, both conservatives and liberals, asked questions indicating the Catholic agency could win without tossing out the 1990 precedent.They appeared to think the city already allows for other exemptions to its anti-discrimination ordnance when placing foster children with families, which would weaken its argument that the law is applied equally to everyone.The city’s lawyer, Neal Katyal, said there were no exemptions when it came to the screening of potential parents, the process at issue in the case.Even if the court does not go as far as to overturn the 1990 precedent, Catholic Social Services wants the justices to make it easier for religious entities to mount defenses when the government accuses them of violating certain types of laws.Eleven of the 50 U.S. states allow private agencies to refuse to place children with same-sex couples, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a group backing gay rights.A ruling is due by the end of June.
…
Heralding Deal with China, Philippines Restarts Offshore Oil-Gas Exploration in Disputed Sea
The Philippine government’s lifting of a ban on offshore oil and gas exploration reopens the door to joint energy development with China, the erstwhile biggest player in a regional maritime sovereignty dispute, analysts believe. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has approved a Department of Energy proposal to resume exploration in the South China Sea, the department said October 15 in a statement online. Exploration was called off six years ago as a Sino-Philippine maritime dispute peaked. Resumption of oil and gas exploration will “infuse the economy with fresh foreign direct investments,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said in the statement. China stands to become the key foreign investor despite irritating the Philippines and five other governments with its maritime expansion since 2010, analysts say. They chafed particularly after officials in Beijing authorized the landfilling of tiny islets, in some cases for military use. China claims about 90% of the sea, including tracts that the Philippines say come under its exclusive economic zone. Two years ago this month, China and the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding to look together for undersea oil and gas, a way of defusing their corner of the broader regional dispute. The Sino-Philippine dispute culminated in 2016 with a Philippine world arbitration court victory. China snubbed the ruling, but that same year Duterte moved to make friends with counterparts in Beijing and tap it for economic aid. “Early on, the [Duterte] administration entered into memoranda of understanding with China, and that included joint development, or at least the promise of joint development, as far as the West Philippine Sea is actually concerned. So this might simply be moving forward on those MOUs, especially since the Duterte administration is winding down,” said Herman Kraft, political science professor at University of the Philippines Diliman. The West Philippine Sea is Manila’s term for the South China Sea. Manila lifted the moratorium “in good faith and with full regard of the ongoing negotiations between the Philippines and China,” Energy Secretary Cusi added in the statement. From the start at least, Philippine officials will let China jointly develop just in undisputed waters under their control and subject to domestic laws on foreign investors, said Aaron Rabena, research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation in Metro Manila. The 2018 memorandum does not specify where the two sides would explore or who would take how much of any gas and oil discovered. “I think what the government plans to do is they want to start joint ventures within Philippine territorial waters,” Rabena said. “I think they’re going to set the momentum first so that everything is legal, because it’s much easier to start with that.” The energy secretary issued return-to-work notices for three specific projects. The Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp. and PXP Energy Corp. of the Philippines operates one apiece. The third, run by Forum Energy of the United Kingdom, lies in a zone claimed by China. “I think Duterte’s position has been, he wants to maintain good relations with China,” said Rajiv Biswas, senior regional economist with IHS Markit, a London-based market analysis firm. “If the Philippines starts unilaterally taking measures to drill, it could make it more difficult to maintain good relations with China.” Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim all or parts of the South China Sea. Claimants prize the sea for its fisheries and marine shipping lanes as well as energy reserves. Malaysia gets nervous when Chinese ships pass through waters it claims, and Vietnamese boats rammed Chinese vessels in 2014 when China allowed an oil rig to be parked in a contested tract. The resumption of exploration will give the Philippine government more money to “prime the pump” during an economic downturn caused by COVID-19, said Song Seng Wun, an economist in the private banking unit of Malaysian bank CIMB. Traditional sources of income such as tourism and remittances from overseas workers have slowed this year, Song said. The economy is forecast to contract in 2020. “I suppose essentially [officials are] just going down the list of what they could possibly sell or earn money from,” Song said. “So, I suppose it is not a surprise they would go down the list and say ‘OK, what about oil, what about energy or gas?’” Exploration will help “boost economic recovery following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Secretary Cusi said in the statement, citing job creation as one way. Between 0.8 and 5.4 billion barrels of oil and from 7.6 trillion to 55.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas are yet to be tapped around the Spratly Islands, which includes the Sino-Philippine dispute zone, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates. A new start to exploration will boost “energy security” too, the secretary said. He cited “impending depletion” of an existing natural gas reserve.
…
Ethiopia Declares Emergency After Attack on Federal Military Base
Ethiopia’s government has ordered the army into the Tigray region and declared a six-month state of emergency after the prime minister accused the Tigray government of attacking a federal military base.Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said military operations began in the northern Tigray area on Wednesday morning, after he accused the region’s ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front of orchestrating a raid on a strategic military base. However, government officials have been tight-lipped about the size or the goal of the operation, and whether there have been any casualties or arrests of TPLF officials. Internet and telephone lines were shut down in Tigray as of late Wednesday afternoon. Relations between Tigray and Abiy’s government have been fraught since he took office in 2018 and sidelined the TPLF, which ruled the government in a coalition for nearly three decades. FILE – People walk in front of the head office of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the ruling party in the region, in the city of Mekele, northern Ethiopia, Sept. 6, 2020.Last month, the federal parliament also ordered the country’s treasury to halt direct budgetary support to the Tigrayan region after it held a banned regional election. Redwan Hussein, state minister for foreign affairs, told reporters in Addis Ababa that military units reported an “unprovoked assault” by militia whose aim was to loot heavy artillery. “Our defense forces in the north reported at midnight last night that they received an unprovoked assault from several corners. … They reported also that there was an attempt to loot the artillery depots,” Hussein said. “The federal defense forces had to react swiftly to maintain law and order and uphold the constitutional order of the country.” In a statement, Abiy accused the TPLF of attempting to provoke a war and vowed to respond immediately. “The last red line has been crossed with this morning’s attacks and the federal government is therefore forced into a military confrontation,” Abiy said. Political analysts said they feared Abiy’s move could result in a protracted conflict with the Tigray region. “The big danger here is that this federal intervention to remove the TPLF leadership is not going to be at all easy,” Will Davison, Ethiopia analyst for International Crisis Group, told VOA by messaging app. “That’s because Tigray has a relatively strong security apparatus. It seems that regional government has a certain amount of support from the Tigrayan people.” Wednesday’s events happened just days after government troops abandoned a command post in western Oromia, Ethiopia’s most populous region, enabling attackers to kill at least 54 ethnic Amharas at a local village. The government pinned the atrocities on the Oromo Liberation Army, an anti-government militia, and the TPLF. The TPLF denied any role in the attack.
…
US Voters Weigh In on a Variety of Ballot Initiatives
Americans voted on a variety of ballot initiatives during the 2020 elections, in addition to president and members of Congress.
According to CBS News, at least 120 initiatives were on the ballot in 32 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
Ballot initiatives offer voters a chance to directly change state laws or a state constitution.
The highest profile initiative was in California, where Proposition 22 determined if app-based companies like Uber, Lyft and others could continue classifying workers as independent contractors instead of company employees. Fifty-eight percent voted in favor of the proposition.
Here are some of the other higher profile initiatives voted on Tuesday.
• Fifty-two percent of Puerto Ricans voted in favor of a non-binding statehood initiative. The results have yet to be certified. Currently, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but do not have voting representation in Congress.
• Sixty-one percent of Floridians voted in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026. The results have not yet been certified. The initiative would raise the wage to $10 per hour in 2021 and raise it by a dollar every year until it reaches $15 per hour.
• Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota passed measures to legalize recreational marijuana for individuals 21 and older.
• Californians voted in favor of allowing people on parole to vote. They appear to have rejected a proposition that would have allowed 17-year-olds to vote in primaries or special elections, provided they will be 18 by Election Day. Voters appear to have rejected a proposition to abolish cash bail.
• Voters in Colorado appear to have approved a measure that will allot their presidential Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Coloradoans rejected an initiative that would have banned abortion after 22 weeks unless the mother’s life was in jeopardy.
• Louisiana voters approved an initiative to add wording that explains there is no explicit right to an abortion under the state’s constitution.
• Oregon approved initiatives to decriminalize the possession of drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The state also approved legalizing psychedelic mushrooms. The District of Columbia also decriminalized psychedelic mushrooms.
• Voters in Massachusetts rejected a measure to establish so-called rank-choice voting, in which voters rank the candidates instead of choosing just one. Results on a similar initiative in Alaska were yet to be counted.
…
Americans Anxiously Await Election Results as Vote Counting Continues
The winner of the U.S. presidential election remained in doubt Wednesday, with the outcome hinging on a handful of states where a flood of mail-in ballots sparked by the coronavirus pandemic remained to be counted.
President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden both won states they were expected to win in their bid for a majority in the Electoral College that determines who wins the White House in the country’s indirect form of democracy.
But the outcome of contests in several states – Georgia and Pennsylvania in the eastern part of the country, Michigan and Wisconsin in the Midwest and Arizona and Nevada in the West — was unsettled as officials counted millions of votes, some that were cast on Tuesday and many more during weeks of early voting.
By mid-morning Wednesday, Trump led in Georgia and Pennsylvania and Biden in the other four, but with the eventual results uncertain.*/
/–>/
With mail-in ballots from heavily Democratic communities now being tabulated, the Biden campaign said, “Joe Biden is on track to win this election.”
President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House, early Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Even as vote-counting was ongoing in the early hours Wednesday, Trump appeared before supporters at the White House to claim victory. He said he would go to the Supreme Court to try to have what he called the “voting” stopped, although polls had closed hours earlier and state election officials were continuing to tally ballots.
“This is a major fraud on our nation,” Trump contended, adding, “As far as I’m concerned, I already have” won.
Also Wednesday, Biden campaign manager Jennifer O’Malley Dillon said on Twitter, “If Donald Trump got his wish and we stopped counting ballots right now, Joe Biden would be the next president of the United States.”
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien countered, “If we count all legally cast ballots, we believe the president will win.” He said that any news outlets that declared that Biden had won Arizona are “just plain wrong,” and that Trump would eventually win the state by 30,000 votes.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to supporters, early Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Paul SancyaThe Biden campaign called the president’s vow to shut down the counting of ballots an “outrageous” effort to take away the democratic rights of American citizens who chose to cast their ballots before Election Day.
Earlier, Biden addressed supporters in his home city of Wilmington, Delaware, to thank them and express confidence he would prevail.
“Keep the faith guys; we’re going to win this,” Biden told cheering supporters near his home as they honked car horns.
But as vote counting continued in several key states where he trailed Trump, Biden warned, “We’re going to have to be patient.” Vote counting
Trump called for ending the election even as he trailed Biden in the Electoral College vote count, 224-213, with a majority of 270 in the 538-member Electoral College needed to claim a new presidential term starting Jan. 20.
The national winner is determined by the outcome in each of the 50 states and the national capital city of Washington, with each state winner collecting all the state’s electoral votes except in two lightly populated states where the winners in individual congressional districts come into play. A worker checks with an election supervisor at the central counting board, in Detroit, Michigan, Nov. 4, 2020.Biden led the national popular vote Wednesday morning, 68.7 million to 66.1 million, but it is the Electoral College vote that is controlling, with the most populous states having the most electoral votes and the most sway in determining who will lead the country.
Trump had told confidants in recent days that he would declare victory on the night of Election Day if he felt he was “ahead.”
“I think it’s a terrible thing when ballots can be collected after an election,” he told reporters on Sunday. “I think it’s a terrible thing when states are allowed to tabulate ballots for a long period of time after the election is over.”
Trump’s running mate, Vice President Mike Pence, said Republicans were determined to “protect the vote” but did not echo Trump in saying they had already won.
“It’s going to be a fight to the end,” said La Trice Washington, a political scientist at Otterbein University in Ohio.
Latest developments
• Democrats were on track, as expected, to retain their majority control of the House of Representatives. Republicans appeared to be clinging to their majority in the Senate, with incumbent Republican lawmakers turning back stiff challenges from Democrats in several states.
• Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate majority leader, won his seventh six-year term.
• According to an Edison Research voter exit poll, Trump improved his standing with every race and gender except white men, compared with his showing in 2016 when he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
• The FBI said it was investigating reports of robocalls discouraging people from voting in some states. But there were no signs of large-scale conflict at polls as some had feared.
• Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told reporters Tuesday there was “no indication” that a “foreign actor” successfully interfered in the election.A Chester County election worker pushes mail-in and absentee ballots for the 2020 U.S. general election to be processed at West Chester University, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Nov. 4, 2020.Large turnout
Tens of millions of people stood in lines across the country throughout the day to cast their ballots on Election Day. More than 101 million other people voted early in recent weeks, partly to avoid coming face-to-face with others amid the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.
The early vote in the waning weeks of the 2020 election amounted to more than two-thirds of the entire vote count in the 2016 election.
With the heavy early voting, the total 2020 count, by some estimates, could reach a U.S. record of 150 million or more. But with state-by-state laws controlling how soon the absentee votes could be counted — not until Tuesday night or later in some states —election experts predicted the outcome of the election might not be known for days, which is now a possibility.
The presidential election unfolded after a rancorous and combative campaign, with both Trump and Biden lobbing taunts, claiming the other was unfit to lead the country and would take it to ruination.
Last weekend, tensions mounted as thousands of Trump campaign supporters rallied and demonstrated throughout the country; in one case a caravan of vehicles with Trump flags in Texas surrounded a Biden campaign bus and, according to some accounts, tried to force it off a highway.
Authorities and merchants in some cities, including New York, Detroit and Washington near the White House, boarded up storefronts to prevent potential damage and looting in the event election-related violence erupted; but; Election Day was peaceful.
Some Democrats said they wanted to be among the first to vote against Trump, while many Republicans said they planned to vote in person on the official presidential Election Day — the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November — as has been the norm in U.S. elections every four years since the mid-1800s.
Voters were choosing between two septuagenarians, both older than most the country’s 328 million citizens. Biden will be 78 by Inauguration Day on January 20, while Trump is 74. Whoever wins will be the oldest U.S. leader ever.
…
Ethiopia’s Premier Orders Troops Into Once-powerful Tigray Region in Major Escalation
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered the military to deploy to the Tigray region on Wednesday after accusing the government there of attacking federal troops, a major escalation of a row between the premier and the once-powerful region. In September, Tigray held regional elections in defiance of the federal government, which called the vote illegal. The row has escalated in recent days with both sides accusing each other of plotting a military conflict. Early Wednesday, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) attempted to steal artillery and other equipment from federal forces stationed there, Abiy’s office said in a statement. “The last red line has been crossed with this morning’s attacks and the federal government is therefore forced into a military confrontation,” Abiy’s office said in a statement. The Ethiopian National Defense Forces have been ordered to carry out “their mission to save the country and the region from spiraling into instability,” the statement said. Debretsion Gebremichael, the president of the Tigray region, told a news conference on Monday that Abiy’s government was planning to attack the region to punish it for holding the September election. Debretsion and other Tigray officials were not immediately available for a comment after the prime minister’s statement. Tigrayans ruled Ethiopian politics since guerrilla fighters ousted a Marxist dictator in 1991, but their influence has waned under Abiy and last year, the TPLF quit his ruling coalition. Tigray’s population makes up 5% of Ethiopia’s 109 million people, but its history in politics means it is wealthier and more influential than many other, larger regions. The Tigray regional army is a well-trained, disciplined force dating back to the 1980s when it led the guerrilla movement that brought the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition to power, analysts say.
…
South Africa Leads Global Research on COVID-19 Effect on Athletes
Organizers of next year’s rescheduled Tokyo Olympics will have measures in place to limit the spread of COVID-19. But little is known about how the virus affects the long-term health of those already infected, including athletes. South African researchers are leading an international effort looking for answers, as Marize de Klerk reports from Pretoria.
Camera: Franco Puglisi Produced by: Jon Spier
…
Quake Toll Rises to 116 in Turkey; Rescuers Finish Searches
The death toll in last week’s Aegean Sea earthquake rose to 116 on Wednesday as rescuers in the Turkish city of Izmir finished searching buildings that collapsed in the quake.All but two of the victims were killed in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city. Two teenagers died on the Greek island of Samos, which lies south of the epicenter of Friday’s earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey registered the quake’s magnitude at 7.0, although other agencies recorded it as less severe.Mehmet Gulluoglu, head of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, said search and rescue operations had been completed at 17 buildings that fell in Izmir. The rescue operation has been roaring at full tilt since Friday, pulling 107 survivors from the rubble.Of the 1,035 people injured in the quake, 137 remained hospitalized on Wednesday, the agency added.Following a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged not to give up until the final person was recovered. Rescuers’ spirits were raised Tuesday when they pulled a 3-year-old girl from the wreckage of her family home 91 hours after the quake.The tremors were felt across western Turkey, including in Istanbul, as well as in the Greek capital of Athens. Some 1,700 aftershocks followed, 45 of which were greater than 4.0 magnitude.In Izmir, the quake reduced buildings to rubble or saw floors pancake in on themselves. Authorities have detained nine people, including contractors, for questioning over the collapse of six of the buildings.Turkey has a mix of older buildings and new buildings make of cheap or illegal construction that do not withstand earthquakes well. Regulations have been tightened to strengthen or demolish older buildings, and urban renewal is underway in Turkish cities, but experts say it is not happening fast enough. The country sits on top of two major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent.
…
German Official Calls for All US Votes to Be Counted
Germany’s vice chancellor Wednesday called for all votes to be counted in the undecided U.S. presidential election and said America will remain an important partner with Germany and the European Union regardless of the outcome.Speaking to reporters in Berlin, German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said the U.S. electoral system is complex and it is difficult to determine who will win the election, but he said, “we should all insist on democratic elections taking place completely, and that means they are over when all the votes are counted. Every citizen must have the opportunity to influence the result with their own vote.”Scholz added that it is also clear that the European Union should develop “its own strength, particularly in view of the development of the United States in international politics.”Germany currently holds the revolving EU presidency.Scholz’s comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump declared victory, called for an end to the vote count and threatened to take the election to the U.S. Supreme Court.Trump spoke as millions of votes were still to be counted in key states that will determine whether he or challenger Joe Biden wins the Electoral College.
…
US Records Over 90,000 New COVID-19 Cases on Election Day
As voters across the United States lined up to cast their ballots in a hotly contested presidential race Tuesday, the nation posted one of its biggest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 infections in a single day. Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Research Center shows a total of 91,530 total confirmed cases on Election Day, including 1,130 deaths. Additionally, there were more than 50,000 hospitalizations on Tuesday, according to separate data compiled by The COVID Tracking Project, an effort launched by The Atlantic magazine. Votes are counted at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Election Day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nov. 3, 2020.More than 20 states have announced more new COVID-19 cases in the past week than in any other seven-day period, with states like Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania — three states that play a major role in the presidential contest — setting single-day records on Tuesday. The pandemic continues to affect the U.S. sporting world on all levels. The athletic department at the University of Wisconsin announced Tuesday that its football team, one of the country’s top programs, is cancelling its scheduled game against Purdue University this Saturday due to an ongoing surge of coronavirus cases among the team’s players and coaching staff, including head coach Paul Chryst. This is the second consecutive cancellation for the Badgers after calling off last Saturday’s contest against Nebraska. The United States leads the world with more than 9.3 million of the world’s 47.4 million total COVID-19 infections, including 232,627 deaths. Medical staff members move a patient from a plane during a transfer operation of people suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Vannes Airport, France, Nov. 2, 2020.France also reached another grim milestone Tuesday, as it recorded 854 new COVID-19 deaths, its highest increase since mid-April, according to Reuters news service. India, second only to the United States in the number of total COVID-19 infections with more than 8.3 million , appears to have turned a corner in its battle against the pandemic. The health authority recorded more than 46,000 new infections over the past 24 hours ending Wednesday, the tenth consecutive day the South Asian nation has posted fewer than 50,000 new cases. But New Delhi reported more than 6,700 new cases Tuesday, the highest single-day rise for the Indian capital city. FILE – A Queensland police officer moves a stop sign at a vehicle checkpoint on the Pacific Highway on the Queensland – New South Wales border, in Brisbane, Apr. 5, 2020.The situation is also improving in Australia, as Premier Gladys Berejiklian of New South Wales state announced Wednesday on Twitter that the border between New South Wales and the southern state of Victoria will reopen on November 23. On Monday, 23 November – the NSW/Victoria border will reopen. We need to keep moving forward as we live with COVID-19. I have confidence that everyone will continue to work hard to keep everyone safe.— Gladys Berejiklian (@GladysB) November 4, 2020The border has been shut down since July, when a second wave of COVID-19 cases swept across Victoria and its biggest city, Melbourne, which peaked at more than 700 new cases a day and 819 of the nation’s 907 total deaths. The surge led state authorities to impose a strict lockdown of the city and its 5 million residents that was finally lifted last week.
…
Race for the White House is Too Close to Call
Americans are still waiting for the final vote tally in battleground states to determine whether incumbent Republican President Donald Trump will continue to be the country’s chief executive for the next four years, or be replaced by his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the latest.Produced by: Barry Unger
…
Asian Markets Post Another Day of Gains Despite Unsettled US Presidential Election
Asian markets have posted another day of solid earnings Wednesday as investors shrugged off the unresolved U.S. presidential election. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index gained 1.7%. The Composite index in Shanghai is up 0.1%. South Korea’s KOSPI index closed 0.6% higher, while the TSEC index in Taiwan gained one percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX index dropped four points, but was unchanged percentage-wise. In late afternoon trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is down 0.2%, while Mumbai’s Sensex is 0.5% higher. Gold is selling at $1,888.50 per ounce, down 1.1%. Elsewhere in commodities trading, U.S. crude oil is selling at $37.74 per barrel, up 0.2%, and Brent crude oil is selling at $39.88 per barrel, up 0.4%. U.S. markets could be affected later Wednesday by political uncertainty. The race between Republican incumbent President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, his Democratic challenger, remained unresolved after Tuesday’s Election Day, with results in several key states still being tabulated. In futures trading, the Dow and S&P 500 are trending down, while the Nasdaq is rising.
…
COVID-19 Border Restrictions To Be Lifted Between Australia’s Most Populous States
COVID-19 border restrictions are to be lifted between Australia’s most populous states. Authorities in New South Wales say the border with Victoria will reopen on Nov 23 but warn it will be a “calculated risk.” Victoria has been at the center of Australia’s coronavirus crisis, but strict lockdown measures appear, for now, to have worked. Four months ago, New South Wales closed its border with Victoria because of a second wave of coronavirus infections. The closure separated families, disrupted travel and businesses. Victoria was at the epicenter of a national public health crisis. The state capital, Melbourne, was placed for a second time into lockdown, and those strict measures, which have recently been relaxed, have seen the outbreak contained. Victoria has recorded its fifth consecutive day of no new community COVID-19 cases and zero deaths. Its success in curbing the spread of the virus has prompted neighboring New South Wales to lift border restrictions on November 23, allowing travel between Australia’s most populous states. Officials have said it was “good riddance” to a border closure “that COVID-19 forced on us.” New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian says it is another step in the reopening of Australia. “New South Wales will be the only jurisdiction in Australia that will be welcoming residents of all states, of all jurisdictions. So, New South Wales will be the place where every Australian citizen is welcome, including New Zealand citizens and that is something I think we can be proud of. But with that there comes some level of risk and we accept that, but we believe that it is a cautious risk, it is a calculated risk,” Berejiklian said.Australia is made up of six states and two main territories. The pandemic has brought fragmentation to the federation established in 1901. COVID-19 was first confirmed in Australia in late January, and since then authorities have closed various internal borders to curb its spread. Queensland and Western Australia continue to impose border restrictions on other parts of the country, much to the dismay of the prime minister, Scott Morrison. He said in September that “at times it has felt like Australia could break apart.” As infection rates fall, those internal tensions between jurisdictions are soothed. Australia has recorded 27,600 coronavirus cases and 907 people have died. More than eight million COVID-19 tests have been carried out. Internal borders are gradually reopening, but international travel is likely to remain highly restricted into next year. Australia closed its borders to foreign travelers in March, although New Zealanders are allowed into parts of the country. Citizens and permanent residents are also permitted to come home but face mandatory hotel quarantine when they arrive.
…