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Judge pushes U.S. Postal Service to ensure all remaining election ballots delivered

November 04, 2020

Judge pushes U.S. Postal Service to ensure all remaining election ballots deliveredA judge on Wednesday said he wants to ensure all remaining ballots for the closely contested U.S. election are delivered, demanding that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy answer questions about why the postal service failed to complete a court-ordered sweep for undelivered ballots. "The pressing issues are where are the ballots and how do we get them delivered so they can be counted," U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said in concluding a hearing that included testimony from U.S. Postal Service (USPS) official Kevin Bray who answered questions about ballot deliveries. Many states are accepting ballots for up to a week after Election Day Tuesday as long as they were postmarked by then.




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New New York travel restrictions take effect, NJ and CT stick with advisory

November 04, 2020

New New York travel restrictions take effect, NJ and CT stick with advisoryNew travel restrictions took effect in New York Wednesday that allow visitors from out of state to test out of the mandatory 14-day quarantine.




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'Choosing whiteness': Social media users say Charles Booker could have beat McConnell

November 04, 2020

'Choosing whiteness': Social media users say Charles Booker could have beat McConnellWith 87% of votes counted Tuesday evening, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had a more than 19-point lead over Democratic nominee Amy McGrath.




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Fargo, North Dakota, mayor clashes with governor over whether the state should require people to wear face masks as COVID-19 cases multiply in the state

November 04, 2020

Fargo, North Dakota, mayor clashes with governor over whether the state should require people to wear face masks as COVID-19 cases multiply in the state"All the major mayors ... feel the mask would be very helpful to make it uniform throughout the state," Mayor Tim Mahoney said.




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Oregon becomes 1st state to decriminalize drug possession as New Jersey, Arizona legalize marijuana

November 04, 2020

Oregon becomes 1st state to decriminalize drug possession as New Jersey, Arizona legalize marijuanaStates across the U.S. are poised to take big steps toward legalizing and decriminalizing marijuana and other drugs.Both New Jersey and Arizona are projected to approve ballot measures legalizing recreational marijuana, The New York Times and The Associated Press project. Meanwhile Oregon is expected to take a completely unprecedented step, decriminalizing the possession of some illegal drugs and establishing treatment to help people with drug addictions.Several drug-related measures were on ballots across the country, and all those that would loosen drug restrictions seem to be winning as election night wears on. Arizona is projected to approve the legalization of recreational marijuana for people over 21, and to expunge marijuana offenses. New Jersey is projected to legalize the use and possession of recreational marijuana by those 21 and up. Meanwhile South Dakota is projected to overwhelmingly approve a measure to let people with "debilitating medical conditions" to posses 3 oz. of marijuana, per the Times.In Oregon, voters have opted to decriminalize the possession of illegal drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, Oxycodone and methamphetamine, per Oregon Public Broadcasting. Possessing a small amount of those drugs would be redefined as a civil offense similar to a traffic violation. The measure would also fund treatment and harm-reduction efforts for those with drug addictions, paid for by a tax on marijuana.Mississippi's proposal to legalize medical marijuana, Montana's measure to legalize recreational marijuana and set its legal age at 21, and South Dakota's proposal to legalize recreational marijuana are still uncertain, but early results point in their favor.More stories from theweek.com Biden is now projected to receive more votes for president than any other candidate in U.S. history Trump blames nonexistent 'surprise ballot dumps' for growing Biden margins Polling was terrible again. It isn't going anywhere.




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Eta's second act: Florida now in storm's path after it made landfall in Nicaragua as Category 4

November 04, 2020

Eta's second act: Florida now in storm's path after it made landfall in Nicaragua as Category 4While it's too soon to determine Eta's intensity, timing and impacts from wind and rainfall, Florida should pay attention to this system.




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A Biden presidency might essentially be over before it can begin

November 04, 2020

A Biden presidency might essentially be over before it can beginThe 2020 presidential election is a cliffhanger, and we may not know the final results for days. But Democratic nominee Joe Biden has pulled ahead in the critical states of Michigan and Wisconsin with plenty of blue-leaning mail ballots to count. Because he won Arizona as well as Nebraska's second congressional district and leads narrowly in Nevada, President Trump has probably been defeated. The real question is whether Biden adds Pennsylvania and Georgia to the tally or whether we are looking at the closest outcome in the Electoral College since 2000. Even if Trump were to wave a magic wand to stop ballot counting everywhere, at the moment he would still lose. Biden will win more votes than any presidential candidate in history and could still end up winning nationally by 6 points or more.In a functioning country with responsive institutions, it would be time for Democrats to pop the champagne. But the United States' anachronistic institutions grant a minority of the population outsized power, and even though Democrats held onto the House of Representatives, Republicans have a very good chance of hanging on to a bare majority in the Senate. This means any Biden agenda other than ruling through executive orders is basically out the window.Trump's fervent attempts to spread misinformation about the election results are being described as a nightmare scenario come true. But I don't know how to describe a Biden presidency facing a hostile Senate and a 6-3 Supreme Court majority as anything but a nightmare as well.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will feel rightly emboldened that his endless hardball maneuvering has delivered the courts to the GOP for a generation, with the threat of court expansion now at least temporarily in the rearview. If the Roberts court invalidates the Affordable Care Act, Biden and the Democrats will have no legislative route to a fix. Congress will be unable to pass laws protecting reproductive rights if Amy Coney Barrett and her pals overturn or gut Roe v. Wade. The Court is also likely to dramatically constrain Biden's ability to direct the executive branch, setting the stage for multiple constitutional crises. You should go ahead and Google the GOP's long and now very plausible plot to dismantle what they call "the administrative state."And that's just the beginning. McConnell could hold up all Biden appointees to the federal judiciary just as he did during the last two years of the Obama presidency. We will return to the painful, nonstop budget showdowns of the later Obama years, only this time Democrats will be squaring off against an even more radicalized Republican Senate, full of Trump acolytes and a GOP that will unapologetically return to rigid austerity politics after four years of letting trillion-dollar deficits pile up under Trump. There will be no coronavirus relief package that remotely meets the needs of the moment, and Americans will just have to pray that the economy's underlying resilience can overcome the unforgivable refusal of the U.S. government to help people.In other words, while there may be short-lived catharsis when Biden is sworn in and Trump has to pack his bags and slink back to Mar-a-Lago, the next two years are not going to be much more pleasant for Democrats than the last four.A note of caution here — even though incumbent Democratic Sen. Doug Jones got blown out in Alabama, it is possible that by tonight Democrats will have netted two Senate seats. Mark Kelly defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Martha McSally in Arizona, and Democrat John Hickenlooper unseated Cory Gardner in Colorado. The outcome of the race between Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Sara Gideon in Maine is up in the air, but if Gideon pulls it out with an assist from the state's Ranked Choice Voting laws, Democrats will be just one agonizing seat short of a majority. There will be one, and possibly two runoffs in Georgia on Jan. 5 that could conceivably hand Biden a working 50-50 Senate majority. If Collins hangs on to her seat, however, a GOP Senate is a done deal.One thing we can say with some certainty: What Democrats hoped for most of all, a Biden landslide, did not materialize last night. While they will celebrate removing the president from office if and when the results are certified, Democrats wanted a more resounding repudiation of Trumpism and a chance to govern with congressional majorities for the first time in a decade. President Trump is already sending ominous signals that he will refuse to go quietly, declaring victory in the middle of the night and proclaiming on Twitter this morning that he had won the election before states started counting "surprise ballots," and he is likely to spend the next two months sowing doubt about the outcome, stoking further divisions in an already traumatized, volatile country, and doing as much damage as possible to Biden and the country on his way out.Perhaps the hardest thing to accept might be this: Trump's disgraceful, years-long strategy of turning Americans against one another very nearly worked. Just four years ago, a fluke confluence of circumstances — the historic unpopularity of Hillary Clinton, the media's bizarre obsession with an email server she hadn't used in four years, the last-minute intervention of former FBI Director James Comey in the election, and two relatively well-known third party candidates — handed an unpopular and unprepared candidate and his party total control of Washington, D.C., despite lacking anything approaching majority support even on Election Day.Rather than taking office with humility, President Trump interpreted his unlikely and unrepeatable victory as an invitation to speak to, govern for, and care about only his hardest-core supporters and to regard every other American and their hopes, dreams, and fears as not only irrelevant but illegitimate. He didn't spend a single moment of a single day in office reaching out to people who didn't vote for him, or pretending to care about states that he would likely lose in 2020. Each day of his presidency he discovered new and previously unimagined ways to undermine American democracy and to debase himself and his party.Worse, he approached the Black Swan of the COVID-19 pandemic entirely through the lens of his re-election. More than 230,000 Americans are dead, with cases spiking all around the country as we head into winter, and the president's closing message was to hold rallies where disease and disinformation spread easily. He babbled nonsensically about "rounding the turn" on the virus and accused doctors of taking money to falsify causes of death and mused preposterously that no one would care about the coronavirus on Nov. 4 because the whole thing was a media-driven plot to tank his popularity and hand the election to Joe Biden. His shambolic indifference to this tragedy was a strategy. And more than 70 million people lapped it up. They looked upon this ruined landscape of hate and fear and said, "More."There is a Democratic majority in this country, but it will be wearing the straitjacket of minority rule for at least two more years. Confronting that reality and finding a path forward will soon be the most important challenge facing Biden and the Democrats.More stories from theweek.com The left just got crushed Biden has now received more votes for president than any other candidate in U.S. history Critics shoot down Trump campaign's unfounded victory declaration in Pennsylvania




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Airlines can operate 60% pre-Covid domestic flights till February 24, says Centre

November 04, 2020
Airlines can operate 60% pre-Covid domestic flights till February 24, says Centre

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Frank Gardner: Getting Frank on the 'iceberg' of disability

November 04, 2020
BBC correspondent Frank Gardner exposes the reality of living with a disability, after he was shot.

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Afghanistan conflict: IS links to Kabul student killings cause outrage

November 04, 2020
Mohammad Rahid was one of 22 students murdered by gunmen in Kabul. But who killed them?

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Fisherman in Sicily marooned in jail in 'red prawn war'

November 04, 2020
The future release of 18 Sicilian fishermen from a Libyan jail could depend on demands for a prisoner swap.

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Church pastor exposed as a career con artist

November 04, 2020
Church pastor exposed as a career con artist.

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Biden's chances of defeating Trump improve

November 04, 2020

Biden's chances of defeating Trump improveJoe Biden’s prospects looked strong in Michigan and Wisconsin, with him in the lead. The Associated Press has called Arizona for Biden. If he wins those three and holds Nevada, he will have 270 Electoral College votes and be the next president.




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Mitch McConnell: GOP needs to do better in suburbs, with college voters, women

November 04, 2020

Mitch McConnell: GOP needs to do better in suburbs, with college voters, womenSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who was projected to secure another term in the upper chamber on Tuesday and is now waiting to find out if he'll remain majority leader, said Wednesday that he's generally pleased with the Republican Party's performance in the 2020 general election. "We had, overall, I think a better election than most people thought we were gonna have," he told reporters.But he also acknowledged there is a lot of room for improvement -- for starters, he suggested the GOP needs to catch up with the Democratic Party when it comes to online fundraising, heaping praise on the opposition's small donor platform, ActBlue, which brought in a lot of money; McConnell called it a "terrific model."As for demographics, the senator said he wants to see Republicans "win back the suburbs" and improve with college-educated and women voters. > Mitch McConnell acknowledges the "improvement" Republicans must make make with crucial voting blocs: "We need to win back the suburbs. We need to do better with college-educated voters than we're doing lately. And we need to do better with women." https://t.co/fxHKy8hSEp pic.twitter.com/IHeWsy7Dvt> > -- CBS News (@CBSNews) November 4, 2020More stories from theweek.com The left just got crushed Biden has now received more votes for president than any other candidate in U.S. history A Biden presidency might essentially be over before it can begin




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Federal judge says he'll force USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to show up in court and explain what happened to mail-in voting

November 04, 2020

Federal judge says he'll force USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to show up in court and explain what happened to mail-in votingJudge Emmet Sullivan accused the Postal Service of slow-walking his orders and threatened to depose the postmaster general.




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Many coronavirus patients may have only gastrointestinal symptoms, study says

November 04, 2020

Many coronavirus patients may have only gastrointestinal symptoms, study saysAnd the number of people affected by these symptoms are likely an underestimate.




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Trump sounds 'exhausted'

November 04, 2020

Trump sounds 'exhausted'President Trump just capped off a frantic effort in the final stretch of his re-election campaign, holding multiple rallies a day several days in a row, including five apiece on Sunday and Monday. And it sounds like the hectic schedule has taken a toll.The president appeared on Fox & Friends on Tuesday morning as polls opened around the country, and many observers noted that he sounded exhausted.> I've never heard Trump sound like this. There was a clear difference in his demeanor and energy level between Kenosha & Grand Rapids last night. https://t.co/kJJO6CHYKC> > -- John T. Bennett (@BennettJohnT) November 3, 2020Even his rhetoric was a bit toned down -- Trump has stirred controversy throughout the campaign over how he may react to results on election night, and there have been reports (which he's denied) that he's planning to declare a premature victory if ahead. But on Tuesday, Trump merely said he'll declare victory "when there's victory, if there's victory ... there's no reason to play games." > An exhausted-sounding Trump on when he'll declare victory: "When there's victory. If there's victory ... there's no reason to play games." pic.twitter.com/MiuuPjTe1E> > -- Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 3, 2020More stories from theweek.com COVID-19 keeps proving everyone wrong Is this the year the New South turns blue? Democrats' first priority




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The Vienna shooter was released from a deradicalization program by duping his mentors into believing he had renounced jihadism, Austria says

November 04, 2020

The Vienna shooter was released from a deradicalization program by duping his mentors into believing he had renounced jihadism, Austria saysKujtim Fejzulai was imprisoned in April 2019 for trying to join ISIS but was freed in December after he enrolled in a deradicalization program.




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GOP effort to block 'cured' Pennsylvania ballots gets chilly reception from judge

November 04, 2020

GOP effort to block 'cured' Pennsylvania ballots gets chilly reception from judgeThe suit zeroes in on the practice of election officials in suburban Montgomery County to allow voters to fix so-called “naked ballots.”




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Fact check: Clip altered to make Barack Obama look confused at Joe Biden campaign event

November 04, 2020

Fact check: Clip altered to make Barack Obama look confused at Joe Biden campaign eventAn altered clip displays a confused Obama waiting for Biden to take the stage at a Flint, Michigan, event. The original audio tells a different story.




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Nevada 2020 presidential election results

November 04, 2020

Nevada 2020 presidential election resultsAs of 1:00 a.m. ET Nevada has not been called. The state has six electoral votes and is not expected to be particularly competitive.




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College student found dead in dorm after testing positive for coronavirus

November 04, 2020

College student found dead in dorm after testing positive for coronavirusBethany Nesbitt, 20, was found dead in a residence hall at Grace College in Indiana. The coroner said Covid-19 was a contributing factor while the cause of death was a pulmonary embolus.




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So How Wrong Were the Polls This Year, Really?

November 04, 2020
Pollsters spent four years preparing to better capture Trump support and avoid a repeat of 2016. Somehow, they missed it again.

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Lung damage found in COVID dead may shed light on 'long COVID': study

November 03, 2020

Lung damage found in COVID dead may shed light on 'long COVID': studyA study of the lungs of people who have died from COVID-19 has found persistent and extensive lung damage in most cases and may help doctors understand what is behind a syndrome known as 'long COVID', in which patients suffer ongoing symptoms for months. Scientists leading the research said they also found some unique characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, which may explain why it is able to inflict such harm. "The findings indicate that COVID-19 is not simply a disease caused by the death of virus-infected cells, but is likely the consequence of these abnormal cells persisting for long periods inside the lungs," said Mauro Giacca, a professor at King’s College London who co-led the work.




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America braces for election violence with shops boarded up and National Guard on standby

November 03, 2020

America braces for election violence with shops boarded up and National Guard on standbyCities across the United States were battening down the hatches as they prepared for potential riots in the wake of the election on Tuesday. With the country more bitterly divided than at any time since the Vietnam War in the 1970s it was feared a disputed result could set off nationwide clashes. In Washington businesses near the White House, including hotels, banks and restaurants, boarded up their windows, as did those in iconic New York locations including Times Square and Fifth Avenue. Alex Provenzano, who owns a nail salon two blocks from the White House, said it was "pretty scary," adding: "I hope for the best, but the people are very stressed out." Officials were removing bins and bicycle stands so they couldn't be used as projectiles. The secret service is to erect a “non-scalable” fence around the entire White House perimeter. A National Park Service spokesman said the fence was required due to the “unique security requirements with the upcoming presidential election” and the “need to quickly de-escalate potentially violent encounters”. Students at George Washington University in the capital were told to hunker down.




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Typhoon Goni: Fears after Philippine town said to be 90% damaged

November 03, 2020

Typhoon Goni: Fears after Philippine town said to be 90% damagedThe Red Cross says initial assessments of Philippines municipality suggests widespread destruction.




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US recently conducted cyber operation against Iran to protect election from foreign interference

November 03, 2020
The US National Security Agency and Cyber Command conducted an operation against Iran within the last two weeks as part of a broader effort to protect the 2020 election from foreign interference, a US official told CNN Tuesday.

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See what the stars have in store for you this November

November 03, 2020

See what the stars have in store for you this NovemberOur guest astrologist, Celia Sagastume, shares what you can expect this November.




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Several injured and 1 dead after 'terror attack' in Vienna

November 03, 2020

Several injured and 1 dead after 'terror attack' in ViennaAn attack by multiple gunmen in Vienna, Austria left at least one person dead and several others wounded late Monday, officials said. One attacker was killed in what security officials were calling a “terror attack.”




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It's Election Day. Take a breath. Here's when you'll start seeing results and what to expect

November 03, 2020

It's Election Day. Take a breath. Here's when you'll start seeing results and what to expectA handful of states could decide if Donald Trump or Joe Biden is elected president. Here's when the results of the 2020 election will be available.




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Mexico tried, failed to get warrant for ex-cabinet secretary

November 03, 2020

Mexico tried, failed to get warrant for ex-cabinet secretaryMexico’s president confirmed Tuesday that federal prosecutors had tried to get an arrest warrant for former Treasury and Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray, but said a judge rejected the request. Videgaray, currently a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, is considered the political figure closest to former President Enrique Peña Nieto, in whose 2012-2018 administration he served. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday he did not know what the charges were because he maintains an arms-length relationship with the independent attorney general's office, though he said he had read they included a charge of treason.




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60 percent of ‘Karens’ supporting Biden in final hours before election: report

November 03, 2020

60 percent of ‘Karens’ supporting Biden in final hours before election: reportIn 2020, the name Karen has become synonymous with racist, white women who use law enforcement to bend the rules against Black and minority communities in their favor. Data released by the New York Times and Siena College from polls conducted in battleground states looked at popular names and their relationship to voting trends. 17,000 likely voters in 18 battleground states were surveyed since September to compile the list.




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FOX NEWS: Chipotle struggles with staffing as coronavirus cases rise

November 03, 2020

Chipotle struggles with staffing as coronavirus cases rise



Some of Chipotle’s restaurants have had to change their hours or close temporarily because staff members have been contracting the coronavirus.

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FOX NEWS: Texas Walmart employee quits in profanity-laced speech over company's PA system, goes viral

November 03, 2020

Texas Walmart employee quits in profanity-laced speech over company's PA system, goes viral



Shana, a former Walmart employee, went viral on both TikTok and Twitter after she posted a video of herself publicly quitting and then storming out.

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FOX NEWS: 'Great British Bake Off' finalist Luis Troyano dies at 48 after battle with cancer

November 03, 2020

'Great British Bake Off' finalist Luis Troyano dies at 48 after battle with cancer



The former contestant, who starred in series five of the beloved baking show in 2014, passed away from esophageal cancer, his agent, Anne Kibel, tweeted Tuesday. 

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A68 iceberg on collision path with South Georgia

November 03, 2020
If the world's biggest iceberg grounds at South Georgia island, it could devastate local wildlife.

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Pet parrot saves Australian man from house fire

November 03, 2020
Anton Nguyen was in bed when his pet began repeatedly squawking "Anton", fire officials say.

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The young Norwegians taking their own country to court over oil

November 03, 2020
Despite Norway's green credentials, its infamous state wealth is due to its huge oil exports. This week, Norwegian youths are challenging this double standard in the Supreme Court.

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The Somali man who has a scorpion named after him

November 03, 2020
Somali environmentalist Ahmed Ibrahim Awale hopes it will inspire African researchers.

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India's longest burning gas fire is destroying lives

November 03, 2020
The longest-ever gas well fire in India's history continues to rage after 150 days.

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Why Beijing Hopes for a Biden Win

November 03, 2020

Why Beijing Hopes for a Biden WinElections have consequences, both domestic and foreign. There is a consensus among China observers that Beijing hopes for a Joe Biden win this November, because the last time Biden was in charge, as vice president of the United States, China completed its control of the South China Sea.The South China Sea is one of the most important bodies of water on the planet. Besides China, multiple nations including Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines have their own, sometimes overlapping, claims to portions of the South China Sea. In addition to historic claims, according to the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a nation has sovereignty over waters extending twelve nautical miles from its land and exclusive control over economic activities 200 nautical miles out into the ocean.However, using its own map with a “nine-dash line,” China claims that it has historic rights to about 90 percent of the South China Sea, including those areas that run as far as 1,200 miles from main­land China and which fall within 100 miles of the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. No other country in the world either recognizes the legitimacy of China’s nine-dash–line map or its historic claim.The disputes between China and its neighboring Asian countries are not simply about who has the rightful claim historically but are predominantly about economic rights. The South China Sea is rich with natural resources such as oil and gas. It accounts for 10 percent of the world’s fisheries and has provided food and a way of living for millions of people in the region for centuries. The region is also one of the busiest trading routes, with about one-third of global shipping and more than $3 trillion worth of global trade passing through this area annually.When Xi Jinping became Communist China’s supreme leader in 2013, he regarded transforming China into a maritime power, including the expansion in the South China Sea, as a key component to his great Chinese rejuvenation. According to the Chinese Communist Party’s own publication, “On the South China Sea issue, [Xi] personally made decisions on building islands and consolidating the reefs, and setting up the city of Sansha. [These decisions] fundamentally changed the strategic situation of the South China Sea.”China started land-reclamation efforts in the South China Sea in 2013. Beijing initially proceeded slowly and cautiously while evaluating the Obama-Biden administration’s reaction. It sent a dredger to Johnson South Reef in the Spratly archipelago. The dredger was so powerful that it was able to create eleven hectares of a new island in less than four months with the protection of a Chinese warship.When it became clear that the Obama-Biden administration wouldn’t do anything serious to push back, China ramped up its island-building activities. China insisted that its land-reclamation efforts were for peaceful purposes, such as fishing and energy exploration. However, satellite images show there are runways, ports, aircraft hangars, radar and sensor equipment, and military buildings on these manmade islands.Noticing the Obama-Biden administration’s unwillingness to push back on China's island-building activities, China’s smaller neighbors decided to find other means of addressing the crisis at hand. In 2013, the Philippines filed an arbitration case under the UNCLOS over China’s claims of sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal.In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected the majority of China’s claim of the South China Sea. It also ruled that China’s island build-up was not only unlawful but also a blatant violation of the Philippines’ economic rights and that it “had caused severe environmental harm to reefs in the chain.” Beijing chose to ignore the ruling and press ahead with more island construction and militarization.Without U.S. intervention, small countries such as the Philippines have little means to enforce the ruling and halt China’s maritime expansion in the South China Sea. Former U.S. defense secretary Ash Carter criticized the Obama-Biden administration for giving Beijing a rare strategic opening for its island-building. As the Obama administration stood by, China was able to reclaim an estimated 3,200 acres of land on seven features in the South China Sea.The Obama-Biden administration bore the prime responsibility for not forcefully stopping China’s South China Sea expansion early on. The administration’s soft approach and wishful thinking gave China a four-year strategic window to turn the South China Sea into China’s backyard pond and the most dangerous water on this planet, a reality the rest of the world now has to live with.It was reported that between 2010 and 2016, 32 out of the 45 major incidents reported in the South China Sea involved at least one Chinese ship. Fishermen from the Philippines and Vietnam can’t even fish in their own nations’ water safely without being harassed by Chinese coastal guards and militarized Chinese fishing boats. The Chinese Navy also has responded to the U.S. Navy’s “freedom of navigation” operations in an increasingly defiant and aggressive manner. Some national-security experts predict that the first real Sino–U.S. war could be fought in the South China Sea.The Trump administration ended China’s unchallenged expansion in the South China Sea by announcing in July that the United States supports the 2016 Hague ruling and opposes several of Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea.  In the same month, the U.S. Navy also sent two aircraft carriers to waters near the South China Sea when China held a large military exercise. Following the U.S. lead, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who had appeased Beijing since he came to office in 2016, recently told Beijing to follow international law, including The Hague ruling to resolve any dispute in the South China Sea.Biden might have adopted harsh rhetoric against China, but his past actions — and inactions — speak louder than his words. The last time when Biden was in charge, China completed its expansion in the South China Sea. Should Biden get elected this November, Beijing believes that Biden is someone it could do business with and expects him to revise the Trump administration's hard line policies toward China. The recent revelation of Hunter Biden’s questionable dealings in China shows that Beijing has invested heavily to cultivate a good relationship with the Biden family for decades. A four-year Biden presidency will likely give China’s Xi ample time to fulfill his ambition: putting the final building blocks of a Sino-centric world order, turning China into a technology powerhouse through the completion of the “Made in China 2025” initiative, and possibly taking Taiwan by force.




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The Electoral College can pick a president who got fewer votes. Here's why and how.

November 03, 2020

The Electoral College can pick a president who got fewer votes. Here's why and how.The 2020 presidential election again highlights one of the most confusing and controversial parts of the U.S. elections: The Electoral College.




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Results of Arizona Proposition 207 to legalize marijuana for adults over 21

November 03, 2020

Results of Arizona Proposition 207 to legalize marijuana for adults over 21The proposition would legalize marijuana for adults over the age of 21 and create a system to expunge the legal records of prior marijuana offenses.




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Disney World restaurants appeared to suddenly increase their indoor dining capacity, but representatives say it was just a technical issue with online reservations

November 03, 2020

Disney World restaurants appeared to suddenly increase their indoor dining capacity, but representatives say it was just a technical issue with online reservationsDisney-goers noticed an increase in reservation availability at restaurants across the Florida parks this morning, but Disney said it was a glitch.




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'Death coming for me': Gunmen cut young lives short in Kabul campus slaughter

November 03, 2020

'Death coming for me': Gunmen cut young lives short in Kabul campus slaughterAs Mohammad clambered out of a second-floor window at Kabul University on Monday to escape gunmen rampaging across the campus, he was sure death was close. Minutes earlier, the 20-year-old had been sitting in his classroom in the Afghan university's National Legal Training Centre building, waiting for a lecturer at the start of what should have been a regular Monday morning. Then three gunmen began shooting, killing at least 35 in an attack on unarmed young people that has shocked a country where insurgent violence is common despite peace talks between Taliban militants and the U.S.-backed government.




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Despite Hacking Fears, Election Day Has a Mostly Smooth Start

November 03, 2020
Plenty of hours remain. But so far, the worst-case scenarios about ransomware and other meltdowns have seemingly not come to pass.

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FOX NEWS: Suspect found asleep in McDonald's after evading authorities in high-speed chase

November 02, 2020

Suspect found asleep in McDonald's after evading authorities in high-speed chase



The middle of a get-away is no time for a nap.

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FOX NEWS: Pennsylvania bakery's election-themed 'cookie poll' is now showing clear front-runner

November 02, 2020

Pennsylvania bakery's election-themed 'cookie poll' is now showing clear front-runner



Lochel's bakery has held its informal “cookie poll” for the past four election cycles, and claims that the results accurately predicted the outcome in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

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