| Cancer in Nigeria: 'My wife would still be alive had she got treatment' Posted: 07 Nov 2020 04:09 PM PST  Andrew Gift believes his wife would still be alive had she followed the doctor's advice.
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| Suu Kyi party set to win Myanmar vote with little opposition Posted: 07 Nov 2020 03:46 PM PST  Voting was underway in Myanmar's elections on Sunday, with the party of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi heavily favored to retain power it had wrestled from the powerful military five years ago. More than 90 parties are competing for seats in the lower and upper houses of Parliament, while there are also elections at the state and regional levels.
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| Hold the Schadenfreude for America Posted: 07 Nov 2020 03:01 PM PST  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- An election that takes days toconclude? An incumbent who says he's been cheated, and threatens not to leave? Armed vigilantes outside counting centers? The 2020 U.S. presidential election has been watched with bemusement in the rest of the world, and none have enjoyed the show more than the autocrats long criticized and preached to by Washington. They are wrong to cheer.There are clearly grave problems with an unusually complex electoral system that has shown itself to be outdated, and with a system that has allowed the falsehoods, abuses of power and traducing of democratic norms emanating from the White House over the past four years. After Joe Biden's victory, American society remains deeply divided. Yet for all the dysfunction, angry rhetoric and court cases, votes were counted. That makes all the difference.Even before ballots were cast, state media in China and Russia were talking up the chaos. Since polls closed, the belligerence of President Donald Trump's speeches alleging mass electoral fraud has allowed them to go much further. "Americans used to believe that only developing countries would witness serious disputes over their election process… with the losing side refusing to accept the outcome," China's state-backed tabloid Global Times said in an editorial. Its Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin wrote Thursday that there was no longer a "collective feeling of envy" among Chinese citizens, while watching their U.S. counterparts vote. Hu had already posted footage of workers boarding up store windows ahead of the election on a Twitter account he uses to broadcast a mix of threats, vitriol and taunts over America's failures in containing the coronavirus pandemic.RT, Russia's state-funded international broadcasting arm, has long been a cheerful chronicler of America's problems, depicting crime, racial violence and the shortcomings of democracy. It has reported on the 2020 poll with glee. "You gotta be kidding me," Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan wrote, in mock Cyrillic English, in reaction to the description of the U.S. presidential election as competitive and well-managed by the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, or OSCE. She had already tweeted that the elections were neither free nor fair.Officials haven't been far behind. One Russian deputy compared America to Kyrgyzstan, where a disputed parliamentary vote last month ended in turmoil, with opposition supporters storming buildings. Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said it was all evidence of "severe civil, political and moral decline."It's the schadenfreude that stands out among those often lectured on democratic values. Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has faced mass protests since a disputed presidential election in August, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin had a telephone call last week that included a discussion of U.S. election results. It's not hard to imagine the conversation.The truth isn't simple, though. As Sam Greene, director of the Russia Institute at King's College London, put it, the U.S. election has been something of a Rorschach inkblot test, where autocrats and democrats alike see what they want to see.Clearly, U.S. credibility has taken a hit. When Trump said after his election-night speech that the whole event was embarrassing, he wasn't wrong. His own speeches in the past week have marked low points for American democracy, to the point that the OSCE has accused him of harming democratic institutions by making unfounded allegations of fraud.Trump's rhetoric, which included declaring victory from the White House while battleground states were still counting votes, has raised understandable alarm. The politicization of the judiciary during his term has been more than uncomfortable. But Trump isn't a despot, in large part because institutions have reined him in. For all the sound and fury, he has had to contend with checks and balances. Most importantly, he hasn't been able to do what any self-respecting authoritarian would have done: take control of the administration of elections. The decentralized U.S. process, left to local governments, never allowed it.Instead, the world has seen wall-to-wall footage of people in precincts across the United States proceeding with the most fundamental of democratic exercises, and tallying votes. Turnout was higher than it has been in more than a century — no small feat in a country where in 2016 more people didn't vote than backed either Trump or his opponent, Hillary Clinton. When the president made outrageous claims on television, he was cut off, and viewers were told the statements were false. "I woke up and went to Twitter to find out who won. It's still not clear," Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny tweeted on Nov. 4. "That's a real election."This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Clara Ferreira Marques is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues. Previously, she was an associate editor for Reuters Breakingviews, and editor and correspondent for Reuters in Singapore, India, the U.K., Italy and Russia.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Nigel Farage loses £10,000 bet on Donald Trump winning the US election Posted: 07 Nov 2020 02:22 PM PST  Nigel Farage is set to lose £10,000 after he bet that Donald Trump would win the US election. The Brexit Party leader appears to have made the wager after Mr Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen put down $10,000 on a Joe Biden victory. The betting firm involved heavily promoted both wagers on its website and published a "Nigel Farage vs Michael Cohen" election day debate on Youtube.
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| Black leaders greet Biden win, pledge to push for equality Posted: 07 Nov 2020 02:17 PM PST  President-elect Joe Biden's victory was celebrated by civil rights activists and Black leaders who warned that a tough road lies ahead to address America's persistent inequalities and the racial division that Donald Trump fueled during his presidency. Biden will take office in January as the nation confronts a series of crises that have taken a disproportionate toll on Black Americans and people of color, including the pandemic and resulting job losses. During a contentious campaign against Trump, Biden made explicit appeals for the support of Black voters.
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| Analysis: Biden claims a mandate that will quickly be tested Posted: 07 Nov 2020 02:12 PM PST  Joe Biden's bet on the 2020 race was a simple one: that a nation riven by deep partisanship was ready for a reset. Biden ultimately emerged victorious, a moment of both celebration and relief for his supporters. Biden carried some of the key battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, by narrow margins.
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| AP PHOTOS: Coast to coast, Americans react to Biden victory Posted: 07 Nov 2020 01:11 PM PST  Jubilant crowds celebrated the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the nation's next president and vice president Saturday, honking horns, cheering and dancing in the streets across the country. Supporters of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence turned out to express their disapproval and to back the president, who has not conceded and vowed a legal fight. After Pennsylvania became the state that put Biden over the 270-vote threshold in the Electoral College, impromptu street parties broke out from Philadelphia to New York to Harris' hometown of Oakland, California, where supporters in face masks held up campaign signs beneath a theater marquee reading "every vote must be counted."
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| Israeli protesters look for inspiration in in Biden victory Posted: 07 Nov 2020 12:29 PM PST  Several thousand Israelis on Saturday attended the weekly demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, with some participants expressing hope that Joe Biden's victory in the U.S. presidential race would bring changes in Israel as well. The protesters have been gathering outside Netanyahu's official residence for over four months, calling on him to resign for his handling of the coronavirus crisis and his ongoing trial on corruption charges. Netanyahu is one of Trump's closest allies on the international stage, and some protesters hoped that Trump's defeat would spell trouble for the Israeli leader as well.
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| AP VoteCast: How did Biden do it? Wide coalition powered win Posted: 07 Nov 2020 11:39 AM PST  Former Vice President Joe Biden's White House victory was powered by a broad and racially diverse coalition of voters driven to the polls by fierce opposition to President Donald Trump and anxiety over a surging, deadly pandemic. After four years of political turbulence under Trump, Biden handily won voters looking for a leader who could unify the country, and those pushing for racial justice. "I think Joe Biden can do it and bring back kindness."
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| Erdogan tells Putin that Armenia must negotiate in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict -Turkish presidency Posted: 07 Nov 2020 11:38 AM PST |
| Biden looks to restore, expand Obama administration policies Posted: 07 Nov 2020 11:08 AM PST  Joe Biden is promising to take the country on a very different path from what it has seen over the past four years under President Donald Trump, on issues ranging from the coronavirus and health care to the environment, education and more. The Democratic president-elect is promising to reverse Trump policy on things such as withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement and weakening protections against environmental pollution. While Trump wants to kill the Affordable Care Act, Biden is proposing to expand "Obamacare" by adding a public option to cover more Americans.
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| World Leaders React To Joe Biden Beating Donald Trump: “It’s Time To Get Back To Building Bridges, Not Walls” Posted: 07 Nov 2020 10:39 AM PST |
| Many world leaders express hope, relief after Biden win Posted: 07 Nov 2020 10:22 AM PST  World leaders swiftly congratulated U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on his victory Saturday, cheering it as an opportunity to fortify global democracy and celebrating the significance of Americans having their first woman vice president. Although U.S. President Donald Trump did not concede defeat, relief was a common theme expressed in many parts of the world to the news that his reelection bid had failed. Other leaders who sent congratulations included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
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| Factbox: How a Biden presidency would transform the U.S. energy landscape Posted: 07 Nov 2020 09:56 AM PST  Biden has shown an interest in multilateral diplomacy similar to previous Democratic administrations. In Iran, that path could include a partnered approach between Washington and Europe, similar to a deal struck under Obama's administration.
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| Doctors fear more death as Dakotas experience virus 'sorrow' Posted: 07 Nov 2020 09:51 AM PST  With coronavirus cases running rampant in the Dakotas and elected leaders refusing to forcefully intervene, the burden of pushing people to take the virus seriously has increasingly been put on the families of those killed. In the Dakotas, the virus has shown few signs of slowing down. The deaths have increasingly hit closer to home among many tight-knit communities: a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo; a former school principal in De Smet; an elementary school employee in Sioux Falls; a North Dakota state legislative candidate.
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| EXPLAINER: Why AP called the 2020 election for Joe Biden Posted: 07 Nov 2020 09:50 AM PST  As Election Day ground on into "election week," it became increasingly clear that Democrat Joe Biden would oust President Donald Trump from the White House. Late-counted ballots in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Georgia continued to keep Biden in the lead and offered him multiple paths to victory. On Saturday, Biden captured the presidency when The Associated Press declared him the victor in his native Pennsylvania at 11:25 a.m. EST.
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| One of the last surviving French resistance fighters dies as Macron hails a 'hero' Posted: 07 Nov 2020 09:44 AM PST  One of three remaining fighters in the French resistance to the Nazi occupation of World War II has died, President Emmanuel Macron's office said Friday, hailing a "hero" who was just 17 when he joined the fight to free France. Pierre Simonet, who died Thursday aged 99, was one of just over a thousand resistance fighters decorated by Charles de Gaulle, who rallied the defeated French forces from London after Germany's 1940 invasion of the country. His death comes a few months after that of another wartime hero, Edgard Tupet-Thome, leaving just two men as living links to one of the most wrenching chapters in France's history. "The president honours the life of this man driven by the love of liberty who, transcending risks and borders, was always guided by his immense love of France," the Elysee said in a statement released shortly after midnight. Born in Hanoi before arriving with his family in France when he was five, Simonet used his maths skills to help form artillery battalions for the Free French Forces (FFL), before becoming a spotter during Operation Dragoon that debarked for the Italy campaign in 1944. By the end of the war, "he had chalked up 250 flight hours and 137 missions, earning him five distinctions and his designation as a Companion of the Liberation on December 27, 1945," the presidency said. In June 1945, as a huge crowd gathered for a victory parade on the Champs-Elysee in Paris, Simonet had an idea to mark the occasion that would earn him a cherished place in aviation history. After flying over the famed avenue in his Piper Cub, Simonet asked his fellow flyers: "How about we go underneath the Eiffel Tower?" Wisely not asking his superiors for permission, Simonet and the others carried off the feat to the astonishment of onlookers. "For us, rebels from the first hour, we had to do something out of the ordinary," he said in a 2015 interview. Mr Simonet would go on to have a long career in international public service, including roles at the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
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| What's next? Saturday's election verdict isn't last step Posted: 07 Nov 2020 09:40 AM PST  Under a system that's been tweaked over two centuries, there is still a weekslong timeline during which the 538-member Electoral College picks the president. — When American citizens vote for a presidential candidate, they really are voting for electors in their state. The number of electors is equal to the number of electoral votes held by each state.
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| Trump's pathetic attempts to fight the election result will fail Posted: 07 Nov 2020 09:24 AM PST  The president's bid to crown himself king will be his last reality show * Biden styled himself as the antithesis to bare-knuckled Trumpism – and won * Thomas Frank: 'Ding-dong, the jerk is gone. But read this before you sing the Hallelujah Chorus'On 20 January 2021, Joseph R Biden Jr will take the oath of office as the 46th president of the United States. The crucial deciding votes will long have been counted. Challenges in the courts will have been dismissed. His victory in the election will not have been in doubt.While the irresolution of election night seemed to hold the possibility of repeating the trauma of 2016, when all the ballots are finally counted Biden's victory will represent a substantial rejection of Donald Trump. > Trump speaks of the supreme court as his personal instrument, like he talks of 'my generals'Early in the morning after the election, after Trump tweeted, "A big WIN!", he stepped before the Klieg lights at the White House to make good on his promise not to accept the judgment of the voters if he might lose. He staged his own coronation by press conference. "This is a fraud on the American public, this is an embarrassment to our country, we were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election," he proclaimed. He acted as though he could wave away the votes that were still being counted, just as votes have always been counted in the hours and days after an election. Trump declared: "We'll be going to the US supreme court – we want all voting to stop."Trump speaks of the supreme court as his personal instrument, like he talks of "my generals", as when he ordered Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, to march in uniform in his Praetorian Guard through the teargas aimed at racial justice demonstrators in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, to stand in front of St John's Church brandishing a Bible whipped from Ivanka Trump's Max Mara handbag."I think this will end up in the supreme court," Trump said last month about the election when he appointed Amy Coney Barrett, the rightwing ideologue, to the court. The justices are expected to perform as employees of the Trump Organization. Even if he cannot force them to sign non-disclosure agreements, which he imposes on White House staff, he expects more than the three on whom he has bestowed his favor by naming them to the court to demonstrate their unswerving loyalty and maintain his power.The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe sent a team to view the American election, a routine exercise they have performed nine previous times. But this time they were shocked by what they observed. "Nobody – no politician, no elected official, nobody – should limit the people's right to vote," said Michael Georg Link, a member of the German parliament who led the group. "Baseless allegations of systematic deficiencies, notably by the incumbent president, including on election night, harm public trust in democratic institutions."Trump's actions to stop or suspend the counting of votes and to certify the results is precisely the classic transgression for which the US has rebuked tinpot dictators, including in the state department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Trump's call specifically flies in the face of Article 23 (b) of the American Convention on Human Rights, of the Organization of American States, to which the US is a signatory, which guarantees the right "to vote and to be elected in genuine periodic elections, which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot that guarantees the free expression of the will of the voters".Trump's election suppression effort bears a curious and striking similarity to that of the lunatic "magician" president of the Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, who in 2016 rejected the results of an election he lost, called for it to be nullified, and appealed to judges he appointed to the supreme court to rescue him. Awaiting their ruling, he deployed troops in the capital. Like Trump, he attacked freedom of the press, demonized migrants, was accused of sexually assaulting women, and advocated snake-oil remedies for diseases. Under the pressure of international condemnation, including from the African Union and the United Nations security council, he was forced to give up the presidency and flee.On Wednesday afternoon, 4 November, minutes before the Wisconsin elections commission announced that Biden had won the state, Trump's campaign filed a court complaint demanding a recount. He has also called for stopping the vote counting in Pennsylvania and Georgia, where he was momentarily ahead, and to continue the counting in Nevada and Arizona, where he was behind.Trump may ultimately try to hang his cases on the infamous Bush v Gore decision that handed the presidency by US supreme court fiat to George W Bush. In the contested Florida recount of 2000, the court ruled that the Florida supreme court had exceeded its authority in interpreting state law by calling for a statewide recount. The ruling written by Antonin Scalia cited the 14th amendment's equal protection clause, asserting that recounting the votes would cause "irreparable harm" to Bush by casting "a needless and unjustified cloud" over his legitimate election. He also stated that Bush v Gore should never be considered as a precedent for any future decision. Later, he privately confessed that his opinion was, "as we say in Brooklyn, a piece of shit".> If Trump is hanging the election outcome on Bush v Gore, it is a slender reed that depends upon the counting of the votesThree of the lawyers working for the Bush campaign in the Florida contest now sit on the supreme court: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The week before the election, on 26 October, Kavanaugh repeatedly cited Bush v Gore in a "shadow docket" case, Democratic National Committee v Wisconsin state legislature, which vacated a federal appeals court decision that had extended a ballot deadline in Wisconsin. As though he had coordinated with the Trump campaign, Kavanaugh translated its talking points into his concurrence, arguing against counting votes past election night because there would be "chaos and suspicions of impropriety … if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after election day and potentially flip the results of an election". (Justice Elena Kagan pointed out the absurdity of Kavanaugh's illogic: there could be no election result to "flip" until the ballots were counted.)If Trump is hanging the outcome of the election on Bush v Gore, it is a slender, brittle reed that, regardless of the fact that it was never supposed to be cited again, depends upon the counting of the votes in the first place.One after another, the states' ballots will be counted. The results will be known. They will be certified. And Biden will be declared the winner. Trump's attempt to crown himself king will be his last failed reality show. Instead, he will be the first president since Benjamin Harrison to have lost the popular vote for president twice, the first time paradoxically as the winner but the second as the natural loser. Trump will soon be, as the poet Wallace Stevens wrote, "the Emperor of Ice Cream". * Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man, Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth
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| Joe Biden Wins 2020 Presidential Election As Donald Trump Pushes Lawsuits, Recounts Posted: 07 Nov 2020 08:57 AM PST  Democratic candidate Joe Biden has won the U.S. presidential election, major U.S. news outlets are projecting.CNN, NBC and USA Today were among the outlets that have projected a win for the former vice president in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. That would give Biden 273 Electoral College votes, putting him just past the 270 threshold needed to win the election.The Associated Press pegs the current tally at 290 for Biden and 214 for U.S. President Donald Trump.Trump, however, has not conceded and is unlikely to anytime soon. In a statement released shortly after the projections of Biden's victory, he said: "We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don't want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over." He went on to accuse the Biden campaign of counting illegal ballots and threatened legal action in the week ahead. His statement is in line with sweeping conspiracy theories the president promoted in a press conference on Thursday, without evidence. Trump's tweets were flagged multiple times by Twitter Thursday for containing misinformation about the election. At one point the president tweeted "STOP THE COUNT!" in all caps. "It's time for America to unite. And to heal," Biden said in a statement following the projections. "With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation." He is expected to give a national address Saturday night. An Election Like No Other: Americans chose the next president in an election held during a raging coronavirus pandemic, with millions of absentee ballots upending previous timelines for vote counting and results.The president himself contracted the virus during the campaign, announcing his diagnosis on Twitter and spending several days at Walter Reed Medical Center. A false victory claim by Trump early Wednesday; baseless accusations of election fraud; litigation, including lawsuits thrown out by judges in Michigan and Georgia; and skirmishes at vote counting locations in Detroit and Phoenix lent an air of instability to the country's core democratic process this week.The stock market this week rallied on the rising prospects for a Democrat-led White House and Republican-led Senate. The resulting gridlock would put the brakes on sweeping Democratic changes, namely a potential increase in taxes and regulation.The three major U.S. indexes recorded their best week of trading since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 6.87% during the week, opening with 26,787.65 and closing at 28,323.40. The NASDAQ Composite Index started the week at 11,001.70 and closed it at 11,895.23, growing by 9, 01%. The S&P 500 gained 7.32% over the week, closing at 3,509.44.The Incoming Biden-Harris Administration: Biden, 77, served as a U.S. senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009 before becoming vice president under President Barack Obama for two terms.In 2017, Obama presented Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.Kamala Harris, 56, will be the first female and the first African American to hold the office of vice president in U.S. history. Harris served as California's attorney general before her election to the U.S. Senate in 2016.What's Ahead For Biden: The most urgent priority facing the Biden administration is unquestionably the coronavirus, a pandemic downplayed by Trump that is surging nationally in a second wave of infections and that has led to historic economic contraction and job losses. The U.S. hit more than 120,000 daily cases for the first time on Thursday and then hit nearly 130,000 on Friday, according to Reuters.More than 9.8 million Americans have become infected this year and more than 237,000 have died.Biden is returning to a White House rocked by the scandals of an impeached president whose family members have been intertwined with his official duties and who has made name-calling and the daily uttering of lies hallmarks of his presidency.On the world stage, Trump has often shown warmth toward strongmen such as Russia's Vladimir Putin, turning the post-World War II foreign policy of the U.S. upside down.Trump was impeached late last year by the House of Representatives on articles of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, accused of interfering with a House investigation of Trump's request to the Ukranian president to investigate Biden and his son Hunter.Dustin Blitchok contributed to this story.Benzinga file photo by Dustin Blitchok. See more from Benzinga * Click here for options trades from Benzinga * Berkshire Hathaway Reports Q3 Earnings, Record .3B Stock Buyback(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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| Trump defied gravity; now falls back to earth, future TBD Posted: 07 Nov 2020 08:57 AM PST  Donald Trump, who defied political gravity with his extraordinary rise from reality star and businessman to the presidency, has fallen back to earth. "Even in defeat, Donald Trump has exceeded expectations and helped other Republicans do the same," said GOP consultant Michael Steel, who has worked on Capitol Hill and for campaigns.
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| 'This isn't over!': Trump supporters refuse to accept defeat Posted: 07 Nov 2020 08:50 AM PST  Chanting "This isn't over!" and "Stop the steal," supporters of President Donald Trump protested at state capitols across the country Saturday, refusing to accept defeat and echoing Trump's unsubstantiated allegations that the Democrats won by fraud. From Atlanta and Tallahassee to Austin, Bismarck, Boise and Phoenix, crowds ranging in size from a few dozen to a few thousand — some of them openly carrying guns — decried the news of Joe Biden's victory after more than three suspense-filled days of vote-counting put the Democrat over the top. In Atlanta, outside the state Capitol in the longtime Republican stronghold of Georgia, chants of "Lock him up!" rang out among an estimated 1,000 Trump supporters.
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| Biden wins – experts on what it means for race relations, US foreign policy and the Supreme Court Posted: 07 Nov 2020 08:44 AM PST  The American public has had its say and for the first time in a generation denied a sitting president a second term.President's Trump's tenure lasted just four years, but in that time he dragged policy on an array of key issues in a dramatic new direction.Joe Biden's victory, confirmed by the Associated Press late morning on Nov. 7, presents an opportunity to reset the White House agenda and put it on a different course.Three scholars discuss what a Biden presidency may have in store in three key areas: race, the Supreme Court and foreign policy. Racism, policing and Black Lives Matter protestsBrian Purnell, Bowdoin CollegeThe next four years under a Biden administration will likely see improvements in racial justice. But to many, it will be a low bar to clear: President Donald Trump downplayed racist violence, egged on right-wing extremists and described Black Lives Matter as a "symbol of hate" during his four-year tenure.Indeed, according to polls, most Americans agree that race relations have deteriorated under Trump.Still, Biden is in some ways an unlikely president to advance a progressive racial agenda. In the 1970s, he opposed busing plans and stymied school desegregation efforts in Delaware, his home state. And in the mid-1990s he championed a federal crime bill that made incarceration rates for Black people worse. He bungled the hearings that brought Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court by allowing Republican senators to dismiss Anita Hill's damming testimony of Thomas' sexual harassment and by failing to allow other Black women to testify.But that was then.During the 2020 campaign, Vice President Biden consistently spoke about problems stemming from systemic racism. Many voters will be hoping that his actions over the next four years must match his campaign words.One area that the Biden administration will surely address is policing and racial justice. The Justice Department can bring accountability to police reform by returning to practices the Obama administration put in place to monitor and reform police departments, such as the use of consent degrees. More difficult reforms require redressing how mass incarceration caused widespread voter disenfranchisement in Black American and Latino communities. "My administration will incentivize states to automatically restore voting rights for individuals convicted of felonies once they have served their sentences," Biden told the Washington Post.The killing of George Floyd earlier this year reinvigorated talk of addressing systemic racial discrimination through fundamental changes in how police departments hold officers accountable for misconduct and excessive force. It is unclear how far President Biden will walk down this road. But evoking the words of the late civil rights icon and Congressman John Lewis, he at least suggested at the Democratic National Convention that America was ready to do the hard work of "rooting out systemic racism."President Biden can help address how Americans think about and deal with unexamined racial biases through reversing the previous administration's executive order banning anti-racism training and workshops. In so doing, President Biden can build on psychological research on bias to make American workplaces, schools and government agencies equitable, just places. Making progress fighting systemic racism will be a slow, uphill battle. A more immediate benefit to communities of color could come through President Biden's COVID-pandemic response – the Trump administration's failure to stanch the spread of coronavirus has led to deaths and economic consequences that have disproportionately fallen on racial and ethnic minorities.On matters of race relations in the U.S., most Americans would agree that the era of Trump saw the picture worsen. The good news for Biden as president is there is nowhere to go but up. The Supreme CourtMorgan Marietta, University of Massachusetts LowellDespite the fact that American voters have given Democrats control of the presidency, the conservative Supreme Court will continue to rule on the nature and extent of constitutional rights. These liberties are considered by the court to be "beyond the reach of majorities," meaning they are intended to be immune from the changing beliefs of the electorate.However, appointees of Democrats and Republicans tend to have very different views on which rights the Constitution protects and which are left to majority rule.The dominant judicial philosophy of the conservative majority – originalism – sees rights as powerful but limited. The protection of rights recognized explicitly by the Constitution, such as freedom of religion, speech, press and arms, will likely grow stronger over the next four years. But the protection of expansive rights that the court has found in the phrase "due process of law" in the 14th Amendment, including privacy or reproductive rights, may well contract. The Biden administration will probably not agree with the court's future rulings on voting rights, gay rights, religious rights or the rights of noncitizens. Ditto for any rulings on abortion, guns, the death penalty and immigration. But there is little a President Biden can do to control the independent judiciary.Unhappy with what a strong conservative majority on the court may do – including possibly overturning the Affordable Care Act – many Democrats have advocated radical approaches to altering what the court looks like and how it operates, though Biden himself has not stated a clear position. Suggested options include term limits, adding a retirement age, stripping the jurisdiction of the court for specific federal legislation, or increasing the size of the court. This strategy is known historically as court packing.Ruth Bader Ginsburg opposed expanding the court, telling NPR in 2019 that "if anything would make the court look partisan, it would be … one side saying, 'When we're in power, we're going to enlarge the number of judges, so we would have more people who would vote the way we want them to.'"The Constitution does not establish the number of justices on the court, instead leaving that to Congress. The number has been set at nine since the 1800s, but Congress could pass a law expanding the number of justices to 11 or 13, creating two or four new seats. However, this requires agreement by both houses of Congress. The GOP seems likely to maintain a narrow control of the Senate. A 50/50 split is possible, but that won't be clear until January when Georgia holds two runoff elections. Any of the proposed reforms of the court will be difficult, if not impossible, to pass under a divided Congress.This leaves the Biden administration hoping for retirements that would gradually shift the ideological balance of the court.One of the most likely may be Justice Clarence Thomas, who is 72 and the longest-serving member of the current court. Samuel Alito is 70 and Chief Justice John Roberts is 65. In other professions, that may sound like people soon to retire, but at the Supreme Court that is less likely. With the other three conservative justices in their 40s or 50s, the Biden administration may be fully at odds with the court for some time to come. Foreign policy and defenseNeta Crawford, Boston UniversityPresident-elect Biden has signaled he will do three things to reset the U.S.'s foreign policy. First, Biden will change the tone of U.S. foreign relations. The Democratic Party platform called its section on military foreign policy "renewing American leadership" and emphasized diplomacy as a "tool of first resort." Biden seems to sincerely believe in diplomacy and is intent on repairing relations with U.S. allies that have been damaged over the last four years. Conversely, while Trump was, some say, too friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him a "terrific person," Biden will likely take a harder line with Russia, at least rhetorically. This change in tone will also likely include rejoining some of the treaties and international agreements that the United States abandoned under the Trump administration. The most important of these include the Paris Climate Agreement, which the U.S. officially withdrew from on Nov. 4, and restoring funding to the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.If the U.S. is to extend the New START nuclear weapons treaty, the arms control deal with Russia due to expire in February, the incoming Biden administration would likely have to work with the outgoing administration on an extension. Biden has also signaled a willingness to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal jettisoned by Trump, if and when the Iranians return to the limits on nuclear infrastructure imposed by the agreement. Second, in contrast to the large increases in military spending under President Trump, President Biden may make modest cuts in the U.S. military budget. Although he has said that cuts are not "inevitable" under his presidency, Biden has hinted at a smaller military presence overseas and is likely to change some priorities at the Pentagon by, for instance, emphasizing high-tech weapons. If the Senate – which must ratify any treaties – flips to Democrats' control, the Biden administration may take more ambitious steps in nuclear arms control by pursuing deeper cuts with Russia and ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Third, the Biden administration will likely continue some Bush, Obama and Trump foreign policy priorities. Specifically, while a Biden administration will seek to end the war in Afghanistan, the administration will keep a focus on defeating the Islamic State and al-Qaida. Biden has said that he would reduce the current 5,200 U.S. forces in Afghanistan to 1,500-2,000 troops operating in the region in a counterterrorism role. The Biden administration is likely to continue the massive nuclear weapons modernization and air and naval equipment modernization programs begun under the Obama administration and accelerated and expanded under President Trump, if only because they are popular with members of Congress who see the jobs they provide in their states.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]And like Bush, Obama and Trump before him, the Biden administration will prioritize the economic and military threats it believes are posed by China. But, consistent with its emphasis on diplomacy, the Biden administration will likely also work more to constrain China through diplomatic engagement and by working with U.S. allies in the region.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Brian J Purnell, Bowdoin College; Morgan Marietta, University of Massachusetts Lowell, and Neta C. Crawford, Boston University.Read more: * Biden's long foreign-policy record signals how he'll reverse Trump, rebuild old alliances and lead the pandemic response * Trump's foreign policy is still 'America First' – what does that mean, exactly?The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| Joe Biden: Stumbles, tragedies and, now, delayed triumph Posted: 07 Nov 2020 08:41 AM PST  Days before he left the White House in 2017, President Barack Obama surprised Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, declaring his septuagenarian, white-haired lieutenant "the best vice president America's ever had," a "lion of American history." The tribute marked the presumed end of a long public life that put Biden in the orbit of the Oval Office for 45 years — yet, through a combination of family and personal tragedy, his own political missteps and sheer bad timing, had never allowed him to sit behind the Resolute Desk himself. It turns out the pinnacle would not elude Biden after all.
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| Harris becomes first Black woman, South Asian elected VP Posted: 07 Nov 2020 08:37 AM PST  Kamala Harris made history Saturday as the first Black woman elected as 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, also the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency, represents the multiculturalism that defines America but is largely absent from Washington's power centers. 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.
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| EXPLAINER: Why AP called Pennsylvania for Biden Posted: 07 Nov 2020 08:31 AM PST  Four years ago, President Donald Trump breached the Democrats' "blue wall," narrowly winning Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — a trio of Great Lakes states that had long served as a bulwark against Republican presidential candidates. On Saturday, Democrat Joe Biden captured it back — and also won the presidency — after The Associated Press declared the former vice president the winner of his native Pennsylvania at 11:25 a.m. EST. The AP called the race for Biden, who held a 34,243-vote lead, after it determined that the remaining ballots left to be counted would not allow Trump to catch up.
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| Libya’s oil production recovers past 1M barrel a day Posted: 07 Nov 2020 08:27 AM PST |
| New Electoral Commission chairman must 'build public trust' Posted: 07 Nov 2020 08:04 AM PST  The Electoral Commission is appealing for a new chairman who will "build public trust" in the body following sustained criticism of the watchdog's leadership and questions over its impartiality. In a nod to the reputational damage suffered by the commission in recent years, a job advertisement for the next head of its board states that a focus of the next chairman will be "building and maintaining trust". The move comes after The Telegraph revealed that Sir John Holmes, the current chairman was told by MPs that he could not continue in the role after seeking to extend his four-year term beyond December. Brexiteers have repeatedly accused the commission of bias against pro-Leave campaigners, although the body has insisted it carries out its work independently and "to the highest standards". Sir John, who has chaired the body since 2017, faced criticism when The Telegraph revealed in 2018 that, months after being nominated as chairman, he said in a speech that he "regret[ted] the result" of the 2016 Brexit referendum and complained about "the panoply of Eurosceptic nonsense about the EU" heard during the campaign. The commission recently decided to "pause" controversial plans to acquire powers to prosecute scores of criminal offences itself, rather than referring suspected breaches to the police and Crown Prosecution Service, following opposition from the Conservatives. Senior Tories are now touting Timothy Straker, a QC who accused the watchdog of "gross" legal errors in a case relating to the 2016 campaign, as a replacement for Sir John. The formal job advertisement says Sir John's successor will "play a critical role in leading the regulator through the challenges and opportunities ahead, while building and maintaining trust". The phrase was echoed by Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, who chairs the committee that will oversee the appointments process. In a foreword to the formal "information pack" provided to candidates, Sir Lindsay says: "The importance of rigorous and independent oversight of our elections and referendums is greater than ever. The Electoral Commission has a vital part to play in maintaining public confidence in our democratic processes. "The role of chair will be critical in leading the organisation through the challenges and opportunities ahead, while building and maintaining trust." The new chairman will earn £71,805, plus "reasonable expenses", for the equivalent of two days work per week. A shortlist will be drawn up by a selection panel chaired by Philippa Helme, a former senior parliamentary official, with a committee of MPs chaired by Sir Lindsay signing off the final appointment. Under electoral law, the chairman of the commission cannot be a member of a political party or anyone who has recently served as an MP. Senior figures in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office are understood to have held discussions about the possibility of Mr Straker taking over from Sir John. The candidate information pack says the job will involve "taking responsibility for our role as champion of the voter, recognising and balancing the tensions that inevitably arise from our main functions, and behaving with integrity to build public trust and confidence in the way elections and the political finance system work in Northern Ireland and across the rest of the UK". The successful candidate will demonstrate "an absolute commitment to openness, ethical behaviour, and clarity, in order to build understanding about what we do, and trust and confidence in how we do it".
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| 2020 Latest: Harris says voters have 'ushered in a new day.' Posted: 07 Nov 2020 07:56 AM PST  Vice president-elect Kamala Harris says voters have "ushered in a new day for America." Harris is speaking Saturday in her first address to the nation since she and Joe Biden were declared the winners of the presidential election. Harris says voters chose hope, unity, decency, science and truth in choosing she and Biden over President Donald Trump.
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| Brexit: Michel Barnier told plans to police trade could hit companies on both sides of Channel Posted: 07 Nov 2020 07:44 AM PST  European car and food manufacturers have warned Michel Barnier that his proposals for policing trade between the EU and the UK could damage companies on both sides of the Channel. Major trade bodies are urging the EU's chief Brexit negotiator to soften demands that would see tariffs placed on many vehicles and food items because the proportion of parts or ingredients obtained from abroad exceeds certain thresholds. The move came as a Government source warned that ongoing intensive talks had failed to yield "as much as we'd hoped" so far, warning that the EU "can't expect us to agree to a treaty under which we can't move away from EU norms in important areas". On Saturday, Boris Johnson held a telephone conversation with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, to "take stock" of the talks on a post-Brexit trade deal. Mr Barnier is travelling to London on Sunday to resume talks with Lord Frost, his British counterpart, on Monday after Mr Johnson and Mrs von der Leyen agreed to "redouble efforts".
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| Some veteran teachers skip wave of pandemic-era retirements Posted: 07 Nov 2020 07:33 AM PST  At age 86, agriculture teacher Gerald Bonds, of Farmington, New Mexico, has seen plenty of crises during his career. Bonds is in his 58th year of teaching at Farmington High School and, like most teachers in his state, has been instructing his students remotely — an arrangement he despises. Confronted with the technology headaches of distance learning and the health risks, some teachers have retired early or taken leave from work.
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| Record number of coronavirus cases reported in several European countries Posted: 07 Nov 2020 07:09 AM PST  "The light at the end of the tunnel is still quite a long way off," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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| Big tech and corporate tax cuts: the targets of Joe Biden's urgent economic plans Posted: 07 Nov 2020 07:00 AM PST  Biden plans to push through aid stimulus amid the pandemic, undo Trump's corporate tax cuts, and crack down on big techWhen Joe Biden enters the White House on 20 January, he will face arguably the biggest set of challenges a president has had to tackle since the end of the second world war. The coronavirus is raging through the US, millions of Americans are still losing their jobs each month, and the climate crisis – ignored by the Trump administration – is deepening.Biden has set out his economic and policy plans, but without control of the Senate he may struggle to realise them. Official GDP figures for the third quarter showed the size of the economy was still almost 4% below its previous peak, despite a 7.4% recovery from the spring lockdown.At present it looks certain that the Democrats will control the House of Representatives, but we will have to wait for the results of special elections in Georgia before we know who controls the Senate. A Republican majority would block many of his proposals.Like Donald Trump, Biden can use executive orders – basically presidential decrees – to circumnavigate political roadblocks. While those orders would have major consequences, Biden is likely to struggle to pass significant legislation without Democratic control of both branches of Congress.But here are the some of the key elements of Bidenomics. Stimulus packageThe US economy is still reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. But after an initial bipartisan bailout, further aid stalled ahead of the election. Biden hopes to implement an Emergency Action Plan to Save the Economy in the early days of his presidency.He intends to use wartime legislation known as the Defense Production Act (DPA) to compel US businesses to make personal protective equipment (PPE), medical supplies, ventilators and whatever else the US needs to tackle the pandemic. The DPA gives the president broad powers to force a business to come to the aid of the country.Biden has also set out plans to increase unemployment insurance, send more direct payments to struggling Americans, forgive some student loans and provide more aid to small businesses.But – and it's a big but – Biden will probably need Republican support for a major stimulus package. And after running up the biggest budget deficit in history under Trump, the Republicans have begun talking about the necessity to balance the books once more.Last month the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the US deficit hit $3.13tn in its fiscal year 2020, which ended on 30 September. As a percentage of the overall economy, the deficit is at its highest level since just after the second world war. 'Green-ish' new deal Climate change is the "number one issue facing humanity", Biden said last month and his administration has ambitious plans to tackle a crisis that the Trump administration downplayed and ridiculed. His plans include: * Ensuring the US achieves a 100% clean energy economy by 2035 and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050. * Overhauling US infrastructure to ensure that buildings, water, transportation and energy infrastructure can withstand the impacts of climate change. * Rejoining the Paris agreement on climate change and rallying world leaders to address the issue. * Tackling polluters and others whose actions have disproportionately affected low-income communities and people of color.His climate and environmental justice proposals call for $1.7tn in federal investment over the next 10 years. The plans do not go as far as the "Green New Deal" championed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives – fracking, for example, would continue until alternative fuels can replace it – but still they represent a total repudiation of Trump-era policies. Corporate taxationTrump's $1.5tn tax cut, passed in the early months of his presidency, stands as his biggest single legislative achievement. Condemned as a giveaway to the rich and corporate interests, it also proved widely unpopular and was barely mentioned by Trump during his re-election campaign.Biden has pledged to undo much of Trump's plan. Among his proposals, Biden would: * Raise the corporate tax rate to 28%, from 21%. * Impose a minimum tax on all foreign earnings of US companies located overseas in an attempt to stop the use of foreign tax havens. * Penalize corporations that ship jobs overseas. * Raise the top individual income rate back to 39.6% and force those making more than $1m a year to pay the same rate on investment income that they do on their wages. * Only increase taxes on those earning over $400,000 a year.The rapper 50 Cent attacked Biden's plans ahead of the election but polls show widespread support for higher taxes on the very rich.> ��Yeah, i don't want to be 20cent. 62% is a very, very,bad idea. ��i don't like it ! abcforlife nov 18 starzgettheapp pic.twitter.com/y9TsSs0o6Q> > — 50cent (@50cent) October 20, 2020Again Republicans, even as they begin to care about deficits again, are likely to side with 50 Cent. Tech crackdownBig tech did very well from Trump's tax cuts even before the pandemic moved even more of the economy online. But their dominance has angered politicians on both sides of the aisle, for different reasons, and tackling the industry may be one area where Biden can rely on cross-party support.Both sides have blamed social media for spreading misinformation. Trump has threatened to repeal section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields social media companies from lawsuits over the content they host. Biden too has criticised the law but has yet to outline how he would reform it.But the biggest tech challenge will probably come from the courts rather than the White House. Alphabet, Google's parent, is now fighting an anti-trust lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice which charges the company with abusing its dominance in search and search advertising to maintain an illegal monopoly. The Federal Trade Commission is also weighing an antitrust suit against Facebook. In the meantime, attorneys general across the US are lining up their own cases against big tech.While the cases will take years to conclude, what they discover may well give Biden the political capital he needs to push through legislation better suited to addressing monopolies in the digital age. Trade warsAnger over how decades of free trade policies had hollowed out US manufacturing propelled Trump into the White House in 2016. And while "Uncle Joe" will doubtless be a less divisive figure on the world stage than Trump, a return to free trade is not on his agenda.Biden voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement in the Senate in 1994, a vote that his presidential rival often threw back in his face. "Michigan lost half of its auto jobs thanks to Biden's Nafta and China disasters," Trump told a crowd in Michigan days before the election.It's a legacy he has fought hard to shake. "We will not purchase anything that is not made in America," Biden told CNN in September after his campaign outlined a $700bn "Buy American" plan that would increase government spending on US-produced goods, services and research.Biden's affable style may mean negotiations are more civil but trade disputes will continue. He has already warned that the UK will not reach a trade deal with the US if Brexit threatens the Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement.Trade disputes are likely to continue with China too. The end of globalism may be one of the longest-lasting legacies of the Trump era.
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| French police quiz child apologists of teacher's beheading Posted: 07 Nov 2020 05:58 AM PST  Police in France questioned four 10-year-olds who voiced support for the beheading of a schoolteacher and who said they would kill their own teacher if he lampooned Islam's prophet, the government reported as the prime minister warned Saturday that Islamic extremists are recruiting in France with "ignorance and hate." The children and their parents were detained and questioned for several hours Thursday by police in the Alpine town of Albertville, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Camille Chaize said. On Monday, when French schools held a nationwide minute of silence to honor the slain teacher, Samuel Paty, the children voiced support for his killing last month near Paris, the spokeswoman said in a video statement Friday night.
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| Lebanon's leader challenges US sanctions against son-in-law Posted: 07 Nov 2020 05:20 AM PST  Lebanon's leader on Saturday asked the United States to offer evidence to back up new sanctions against the former Lebanese foreign minister, who is an important political ally of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. President Michel Aoun asked the Lebanese foreign ministry to make the necessary contacts to secure any evidence and documents that prompted the U.S. Treasury sanctions on Gebran Bassil, who leads the largest bloc in parliament and is also the president's son-in-law. The move against Bassil on Friday was a major expansion of the scope of U.S. sanctions targeting Hezbollah's political partners in Lebanon.
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| Ivory Coast election: Pascal Affi Nguessan arrested for sedition Posted: 07 Nov 2020 05:03 AM PST  The former prime minister had declared a parallel government after boycotting last month's election.
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| Jailed Iranian rights lawyer released, amid health problems Posted: 07 Nov 2020 04:54 AM PST  A leading Iranian human rights lawyer has been released from prison, Iran's state-run news agency reported Saturday, after she was earlier hospitalized amid a hunger-strike conducted from her cell. Nasrin Sotoudeh was taken to hospital in mid-September, a month after launching her hunger strike seeking better prison conditions and the release of political prisoners amid the pandemic. IRNA's report said Sotoudeh has now been released from the women's prison where she was being held.
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| Ethiopia parliament dissolves Tigray leadership Posted: 07 Nov 2020 04:27 AM PST  Parliament votes to dissolve the leadership of a region whose forces are fighting the national army.
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| AP FACT CHECK: Trump's vote falsehoods, into day of defeat Posted: 07 Nov 2020 04:23 AM PST  The most direct attempt to undermine the integrity of the U.S. election with bad information came not from overseas sources or online liars but from a president standing behind the presidential seal at the White House and facing his defeat. In the hours before his election loss Saturday, President Donald Trump spoke of "horror stories" in voting and counting across the land, but his stories were wrong. Since the tide turned after election night and Biden gained strength on his way to victory, Trump lashed out at results he didn't like, often lapsing into all-capital letters with his hectoring.
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| Iran reports record daily COVID-19 cases, announces new curbs Posted: 07 Nov 2020 03:33 AM PST |
| UAE announces relaxing of Islamic laws for personal freedoms Posted: 07 Nov 2020 02:36 AM PST  The United Arab Emirates announced on Saturday a major overhaul of the country's Islamic personal laws, allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate, loosening alcohol restrictions and criminalizing so-called "honor killings." The broadening of personal freedoms reflects the changing profile of a country that has sought to bill itself as a Westernized destination for tourists, fortune-seekers and businesses despite its Islamic legal code that has previously triggered court cases against foreigners and outrage in their home countries. The reforms aim to boost the country's economic and social standing and "consolidate the UAE's principles of tolerance," said state-run WAM news agency, which offered only minimal details in the surprise weekend announcement.
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| Ethiopia to replace Tigray region leadership as forces clash Posted: 07 Nov 2020 01:23 AM PST  Ethiopia moved Saturday to replace the leadership of the country's defiant northern Tigray region, where deadly clashes between regional and federal government forces are fueling fears the major African power is sliding into civil war. Tigray's leader told the African Union that the federal government was planning a "full-fledged military offensive." The upper house of parliament, the House of Federation, voted to set up an interim administration, giving Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the power to carry out measures against a Tigray leadership his government regards as illegal.
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| Egyptians vote in 2nd stage of parliamentary election Posted: 07 Nov 2020 12:53 AM PST  Egyptians began voting Saturday in the second and final stage of the country's parliamentary elections, after a relatively low turnout in the first round that embarrassed the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. "We may observe some real competitions among candidates in several districts, however, this competition has nothing to do with the broad idea of free and fair elections, it is a competition only allowed among loyal individuals," said Ahmed Abd Rabou, a visiting assistant professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies-University of Denver who specializes in Egypt. The government deployed thousands of police and troops to safeguard the two-day vote.
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| To See Where Polarization Leads, Americans Could Look to Poland Posted: 06 Nov 2020 10:00 PM PST |
| How to build a government: Transition challenges await Biden Posted: 06 Nov 2020 09:33 PM PST  Joe Biden just won the presidency. Now, he has to build a government while contending with a Senate that could stay in GOP hands, a House sure to feature fewer Democratic allies and a public that includes more than 70 million people who would prefer that President Donald Trump keep the job. There also is the looming question of whether Trump, who has claimed the election was being stolen from him, will cooperate.
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| Trump faces tough road in getting Supreme Court to intervene Posted: 06 Nov 2020 09:30 PM PST  President Donald Trump has repeatedly said there's one place he wants to determine the outcome of the presidential election: the U.S. Supreme Court. The Associated Press called the presidential race for Joe Biden on Saturday morning. Trump, however, has over the last few days leaned in to the idea that the high court should get involved in the election as it did in 2000, and there were no signs Saturday he was ready to concede.
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| Trump's wild claims test limits of Republican loyalty Posted: 06 Nov 2020 09:26 PM PST  President Donald Trump's wild and unsupported claims of voter fraud have emerged as a high-stakes Republican loyalty test that illustrates the tug of war likely to define the future of the GOP whether he wins or loses the presidency. There is a pervasive sense among current and former GOP officials that the president's behavior is irresponsible if not dangerous, but a divide has emerged between those influential Republicans willing to call him out publicly and those who aren't. Driving their calculus is an open acknowledgement that Trump's better-than-expected showing on Election Day ensures that he will remain the Republican Party's most powerful voice for years to come even if he loses.
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| Trump, GOP test out rallying cry: Count the 'legal' votes Posted: 06 Nov 2020 09:22 PM PST  President Donald Trump and some of his Republican supporters are testing out a rallying cry for his uphill fight to reverse the lead that Joe Biden holds in key battleground states: count all "legal" votes. The language is freighted with a clear implication, namely that Democrats want illegal votes counted, a claim for which there is no evidence.
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| Biden defeats Trump for White House, says 'time to heal' Posted: 06 Nov 2020 09:17 PM PST  Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, positioning himself to lead a nation gripped by a historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil. Biden crossed the winning threshold of 270 Electoral College votes with a win in Pennsylvania. Trump refused to concede, threatening further legal action on ballot counting.
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| Nations long targeted by US chide Trump’s claims of fraud Posted: 06 Nov 2020 09:01 PM PST  Across the world, many were scratching their heads Friday — especially in countries that have long been advised by Washington on how to run elections — wondering if those assertions could truly be coming from the president of the United States, the nation considered one of the world's most emblematic democracies. "Who's the banana republic now?" Colombian daily newspaper Publimetro chided on the front page with a photo of a man in a U.S. flag print mask. The irony of seeing U.S. President Donald Trump cut off by major media networks Thursday as he launched unsubstantiated claims lambasting the U.S. electoral system was not lost on many.
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