| Full coverage: Biden wins 2020 presidential election Posted: 09 Nov 2020 09:03 AM PST  Yahoo News is providing complete coverage, with live updates on the election and transition of power.
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| The reason Alaska has still counted only half of its ballots Posted: 09 Nov 2020 11:23 AM PST  The state's three electoral votes are likely headed to President Trump, but a number of down-ballot races are still in flux.
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| Rudy Giuliani featured sex offender at press conference Posted: 09 Nov 2020 11:22 AM PST  At his bizarre press conference outside Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia, Rudy Giuliani called up several witnesses to testify of alleged irregularities at vote-counting facilities – and one, it turns out, is a convicted sex offender. Poll watcher Darryl Mikell Brooks was convicted in the 1990s of sexual assault, lewdness and endangering the welfare of a minor. Speaking at the press conference, he lamented that Republican poll watchers were supposedly kept too far away from the ballots to see what was being counted.
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| A woman shed infectious coronavirus particles for at least 70 days without showing symptoms, a study found Posted: 08 Nov 2020 06:14 AM PST  The case study suggests that immunocompromised patients could be infectious longer than previously thought.
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| Militant Islamists 'behead more than 50' in Mozambique Posted: 09 Nov 2020 02:28 PM PST  A football pitch in a village was turned into an "execution ground", reports say.
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| Utah governor issues statewide mask mandate amid virus surge Posted: 08 Nov 2020 02:34 PM PST  Utah Gov. Gary Herbert declared a state of emergency and ordered a statewide mask mandate in an attempt to stem a surge in coronavirus patient hospitalizations that is testing the state's hospital capacity. Herbert and the Utah Department of Health late Sunday issued executive and public health orders requiring residents to wear face coverings in public, at work and when they are within 6 feet (2 meters) of people who don't live in their households. Several of the state's largest counties already required masks, but Herbert, a Republican, had resisted extending the rule to the entire state despite a two-month surge of cases.
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| Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers threaten to resign 'en masse' Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:22 AM PST  Pro-democracy members of Hong Kong's legislature will resign "en masse" if Beijing moves to disqualify four of them for violating the city's Basic Law, the bloc said Monday.
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| John Major suggests two-vote independence referendum to break impasse over future of UK Posted: 09 Nov 2020 09:46 AM PST  Sir John Major has said that offering two votes on Scottish independence - including a confirmatory referendum once negotiations over separation are complete - could break an impasse over the future of the UK. In a lecture on Monday night, the former Prime Minister warned that Boris Johnson's current strategy of refusing to allow a second referendum to take place under any circumstances could play into the SNP's hands. Instead, he suggested that UK ministers could agree that an independence referendum takes place, but only on the condition that a second vote was later held to confirm a Yes vote so that "Scottish electors would know what they were voting for, and be able to compare it to what they now have." Nicola Sturgeon was one of the leading voices in favour of a 'People's Vote' after the UK voted to leave the EU. Although the campaign to secure a second EU referendum failed, the arguments put forward in favour of a referendum on the final Brexit deal were similar to Sir John's proposal for a two-vote process on independence.
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| Joe Biden is only the fifteenth Vice President in history to become President Posted: 07 Nov 2020 08:20 PM PST  Biden also is the second president ever to be elected not immediately following their term as vice president.
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| Pentagon chief fired via Trump tweet Posted: 09 Nov 2020 12:00 PM PST  Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday became the latest Trump administration official to be fired by presidential tweet.
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| 'We are stunned': Two Georgia races will decide which party controls the Senate Posted: 09 Nov 2020 01:09 PM PST  The high-stakes contests will shape the course of President-elect Biden's administrative appointments and legislative agenda.
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| Trump is asked to cooperate with Biden team on transition Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:37 AM PST  President Trump is facing pressure to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden's team to ensure a smooth transfer of power when the new administration takes office in January.
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| Fugitive convicted of rape used dead boy’s identity in Florida for decades, feds say Posted: 09 Nov 2020 12:29 PM PST  Douglas Bennett, now 76, disappeared for 44 years after he was convicted of kidnapping and raping a woman in the 1970s, according to court filings.
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| Utah declares state of emergency over surge in Covid cases Posted: 09 Nov 2020 09:33 AM PST  Utah governor Gary Herbert has issued a state of emergency over an "unsustainable" up-tick in coronavirus cases and hospitalisations across the state. The Republican governor on Sunday used Twitter to announce the emergency, as well as a number of preventative measures. College students, at the same time, will be tested for the coronavirus weekly, in a bid to stop outbreaks on college campuses.
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| 'Choking on blood': AFP's report on final day of Nuremberg trials Posted: 08 Nov 2020 06:27 PM PST  On the last day of the Nuremberg trials, the top surviving Nazi leaders made their final speeches from the dock, with most trying to minimise their role in the regime's crimes.
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| Miss USA Cheslie Kryst said she was 'frightened' by how Congress handled Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination Posted: 09 Nov 2020 02:55 PM PST  Miss USA Cheslie Kryst told Insider "it was clear our legislators didn't care" that most Americans wanted the nomination to occur after the election.
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| Biden Camp: AOC Won’t Be Disappointed by ‘Incredibly Progressive and Aggressive’ Agenda Posted: 08 Nov 2020 09:42 AM PST  The Biden team is promising that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) will not be disappointed by the president-elect's "incredibly progressive and aggressive agenda" once he takes office.Asked by NBC host Chuck Todd whether the New York progressive would be "disappointed or not when she sees the agenda of the Biden administration in the first six months," Biden's campaign communications director Kate Bedingfield answered in the negative."No. I think that Vice President Biden campaigned on an incredibly progressive and aggressive agenda," Bedingfield responded Sunday on NBC. "Take a look, for example, at his climate plan. It's the boldest, biggest climate plan that's ever been put forward by a nominee running for president and now a president-elect. He's going to make good on those commitments. He spent time during this campaign bringing people together around this climate plan.""It's a big, aggressive plan," she continued. "It's the perfect example of the kind of big effort that he is going to make to meet this moment and meet these crises we're in."Ocasio-Cortez expressed frustration in a New York Times interview published Saturday, several days after the general election, that Democrats frequently fail to keep their more progressive promises after they win elections.The Democratic party has been "extremely hostile to anything that even smells progressive," the 31-year-old self-described "democratic socialist" lamented told the Times.Democrats "learned that progressive policies do not hurt candidates," she declared, adding that "sponsoring the Green New Deal was not a sinker."In a CNN interview on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez said she believes Biden won the election in part because he worked to unify progressives and more moderate members of the Democratic Party.
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| Kamala Harris, in historic speech as first woman vice-president-elect, pays homage to those who came before her Posted: 08 Nov 2020 08:17 AM PST  "When our very democracy was on the ballot, you ushered in a new day for America," Harris said in her first speech since being elected vice president.
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| Parler 'free speech' app tops charts in wake of Trump defeat Posted: 09 Nov 2020 08:40 AM PST  The self-styled "free speech" application topped US download charts in the wake of the election.
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| Meat processing plant ordered to shut down after Covid outbreak, company sues New Mexico Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:19 PM PST  Officials in the state ordered the Stampede Meat plant closed after six employees tested positive in four days.
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| Mexican cartel member facing US drug conspiracy charges Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:39 PM PST |
| Pence breaks silence to take credit for Pfizer vaccine - and drugs company immediately denies Trump involved Posted: 09 Nov 2020 06:27 AM PST  Mike Pence has broken his post-election silence to trumpet the Trump administration's backing of a new coronavirus vaccine - only for the company to immediately point out that their vaccine had nothing to do with the government. Pfizer announced on Monday morning that their Covid-19 vaccine was 90 per cent effective, in early trials. "HUGE NEWS: Thanks to the public-private partnership forged by President @realDonaldTrump, @pfizer announced its Coronavirus Vaccine trial is EFFECTIVE, preventing infection in 90% of its volunteers," tweeted Mr Pence.
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| Heroic soldier forced to deny claims he did not earn his gallantry medal, ahead of auction to raise funds for his mother Posted: 09 Nov 2020 06:14 AM PST  A soldier recognised for his heroic actions in Afghanistan has had to deny claims he did not 'earn' his gallantry award, days before his medals are auctioned. Deacon Cutterham was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for throwing away a Taliban grenade that landed near his patrol in 2011. His collection of seven medals are expected to fetch around £120,000 at auction on Thursday. However, the former Serjeant of 1st Battalion, The Rifles, has been forced to deny suggestions he fabricated his actions on the day in the Nahr-e-Saraj district of Helmand province, southern Afghanistan. One former colleague told the BBC: "I don't believe he earned that medal and now he might make money from it." Another soldier said: "We didn't care if he wanted to tell people how brave he was. What we care about now is him making financial gain from this." Mr Cutterham denies all claims. Speaking exclusively to The Telegraph Mr Cutterham, 37, from Bristol, said he was selling his medals to help his mother in her retirement. Of his anonymous critics he said: "I'm really sorry that some people feel that way. "The action happened as per the citation and I stand by those events. I didn't write the citation, the commanders did. "You don't get awarded the second highest medal for bravery without it going through the mill." Speaking in 2012, Mr Cutterham described the actions of that day. He said he did not throw the grenade as it could have exploded in the air, sending shrapnel in all directions. Instead he "posted" it into a ditch, a much more deliberate act akin to forcefully placing the grenade in a specific area. His decision would have meant he had deliberately held onto the grenade for longer than absolutely necessary in a bid to get in in a safe place. Mr Cutterham said: "Grenade came over the top. With that I shouted 'grenade' and then advanced on it, picked the grenade up and and then posted it, and it literally went off as soon as I pulled my hand away - and prevented me and my lead scout from getting serious injuries or death." He said the grenade, which had been thrown over a wall, had landed in a water-filled ditch. "I had seen exactly where it had landed but couldn't see it in the stream. "I quickly placed my hand in the water to search for it and placed my hand directly on the grenade, shouted to take cover and posted it." The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross is an operational award given to all ranks of the services in recognition of one or more acts of outstanding bravery during active operations against the enemy. The citation on Mr Cutterham's award reads: "The action itself was utterly courageous, carried out with composure and clarity of thought. "Cutterham's gritty leadership and gallant act saved lives and inspired his men." Mr Cutterham joined the Army at 16 and served in Iraq and Afghanistan during a 19-year military career. He was evacuated from Afghanistan having fallen through a roof some weeks after the grenade incident. He suffered a head injury and woke up two days later in Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham. He said the medal's controversy had "hit him hard". "I didn't think putting these medals up would get such negative feedback, but it is what it is," he said. An MoD Spokesperson said: "Our service personnel display exceptional gallantry and courage while performing duties at home and abroad. Acts of courage that warrant an honour or award are rigorously scrutinised before being approved. "If serving personnel have a grievance, there is a formal process for them to register their complaint through their Chain of Command, which would be looked into accordingly."
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| People are calling out Katy Perry after she urged fans to reach out to family 'who do not agree' with election results Posted: 09 Nov 2020 08:34 AM PST  The singer said after the election was called, she reached out to family members who didn't agree to "tell them I love them and am here for them."
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| MSNBC contributor Jon Meacham didn't disclose he reportedly helped write Biden's presidential acceptance speech when commenting on it Posted: 09 Nov 2020 12:48 PM PST  MSNBC contributor Jon Meacham was asked to comment on President-elect Joe Biden's acceptance speech on air over the weekend, which he did — without properly disclosing his role in helping to write it, The New York Times reported Monday.Meacham is a presidential historian, Pulitzer Prize recipient, the former editor-in-chief of Newsweek, and was reportedly tapped to help write Biden's speeches, including his Democratic National Convention acceptance speech and his presidential acceptance speech, which was delivered Saturday night. While a spokesman for Biden de-emphasized Meacham's involvement in the speechwriting process, Biden's speech did seem to bear some echoes of Meacham's work. For example, Biden has reportedly reached out in the past to discuss Meacham's 2018 book, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels; Biden also spoke of the "soul of America" in his Saturday speech.Meacham has appeared three times on MSNBC since Saturday, and in none of his appearances did he disclose his involvement in the Biden campaign, Mediaite writes. Before Biden's address on Saturday, Meacham even praised the message he'd reportedly helped craft by saying: "Vice President Biden, I think, represents a kind of tonic for a toxic politics." Afterwards, asked by anchor Brian Williams if the speech was more traditionally presidential, Meacham replied: "Absolutely." The Times reports that Meacham will no longer be a paid contributor on MSNBC going forward, but may continue to appear as a guest.Meacham has not made any secret of his preference for Biden, however, having endorsed the candidate in an op-ed over the summer. "To record history doesn't mean you are removed from it," he's previously said.More stories from theweek.com Trump might be starting to come to terms with having lost 2020 — by setting his sights on 2024 Does it matter if Donald Trump never concedes? Trump will reportedly start reading obituaries of dead people who almost certainly didn't vote
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| U.K. military chief warns of World War III 'risk' amid rising global uncertainty Posted: 09 Nov 2020 04:02 AM PST  Current global uncertainty and anxiety amid the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic could risk another world war, the head of Britain's armed forces has warned.
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| 'What is happening?': A Fox News anchor frowns and rolls her eyes while a guest questions the election results Posted: 09 Nov 2020 10:18 AM PST  "What? What is happening?" the Fox News host Sandra Smith said off the air while a guest was casting doubt on the election results.
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| Republican state AGs ask U.S. Supreme Court to hear mail-in ballot dispute Posted: 09 Nov 2020 01:28 PM PST  In separate filings, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, joined by nine others including from Texas and Louisiana, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the justices should overturn the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that allowed mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day and delivered through Friday to be counted. President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are waging a legal battle challenging the results of the election won by Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. "The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision overstepped its constitutional authority and encroached on the authority granted to the Pennsylvania legislature," Schmitt said in the filing, adding that it "aggravated the risks of fraud" in voting by mail.
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| United is bringing back food, beer and wine. Here's what is (and isn't) on the pandemic menu at US airlines Posted: 09 Nov 2020 08:11 AM PST  The airline will start selling beer, wine and food on select flights from Denver as it brings back in-flight service reduced during the pandemic.
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| Florida man facing capital murder charge after allegedly shooting girlfriend Posted: 09 Nov 2020 12:47 PM PST  The victim allegedly told her roommate that she was afraid her boyfriend might kill her after the two had argued Sunday morning.
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| Trump selling off private helicopter worth more than $1m Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:36 PM PST  Donald Trump is selling off his personal helicopter worth more than $1m. The one-term president has listed for sale the Sikorsky S-76B that he used extensively during his 2016 run to the White House. Before a recent paint job the helicopter, which also features prominently on The Apprentice, used to carry Mr Trump's name on its tail.
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| Lifting the veil on a German father's Nazi secret Posted: 08 Nov 2020 10:34 PM PST  Barbara Brix admired her father, a doctor who passed on his love of history and literature. Until she learned years after his passing that he had been part of a Nazi death squad.
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| How 'the first Pearl Harbor' convinced the Japanese they could pull off a similar attack on the US Posted: 09 Nov 2020 04:30 PM PST  The British raid on Taranto in November 1940 gave the Royal Navy control in the Mediterranean, but it was also a very valuable lesson for Japan.
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| Republicans are disgruntled with the party and want civility, empathy and compassion: Cindy McCain Posted: 09 Nov 2020 11:07 AM PST  Cindy McCain tells 'Outnumbered Overtime' why she thinks some Republicans crossed over to vote for President-elect Joe Biden.
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| Surgeon Who Saved Biden’s Life Recalls Fateful Prediction Posted: 08 Nov 2020 02:06 AM PST  Dr. Neal Kassell was standing by the door to the operating room when then-Sen. Joe Biden was wheeled in for a second aneurysm operation in May 1988.Biden reached up from the gurney and grabbed the neurosurgeon's arm."He looked me in the eye and said, 'Doc, do a good job, because someday I'm going to be president,'" Kassell told The Daily Beast on Saturday, after his former patient's prediction had come true.Biden rode the gurney on into the OR at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and Kassell followed once Biden had been anesthetized for his second microsurgical craniotomy.The first operation had been that February after a scan had located two aneurysms at the base of Biden's brain, the larger to the right, the smaller to the left. Kassell and a fellow neurosurgeon, Dr. Eugene George, decided to begin with the larger one. It was liable to burst at any moment, with possibly fatal results.Biden had withdrawn from the 1987 race for the Democratic nomination for president five months before. His chances of surviving that first operation and thereby having any future at all had been estimated at only 50-50.The first operation began with a surgical team cutting a hole in the top of Biden's skull and removing the plug of bone as if it were, by Kassell's subsequent description, "the top of a cookie jar." Kassell then used a microscope to guide a probe between the brain and the skull. He located the ballooned artery and was applying a spring clip to it when his view through the microscope was suddenly occluded by blood.The aneurysm had burst and Biden might very well have died right there on the table had the blood shot into his brain. It instead went the other way, and Kassell was able to clear the lens and finish securing the clip before there was any damage.In the recovery room, Biden was able to wiggle his fingers and toes and compute from a wall clock that the operation had taken nine hours. He would later write that he had come close enough to dying that he realized "a single moment of failure—even one so public and wounding as the end of my presidential campaign—could not determine my epitaph."What Do We Actually Know About Our Aging POTUS Candidates' Health?By the time of the second operation three months later, Biden was again ready to turn fate into destiny. The moment came when he gazed into Kassell's eyes and made the prediction that some might have assumed to be at least partly in jest.Biden ran for the Democratic nomination in 2008, dropped out—and became Barack Obama's vice-president in 2009. He might have run again for president in 2016 had he not been still unnerved by son Beau Biden's death from brain cancer at Walter Reed the year before.Joe instead focused on launching the White House Cancer Moonshot initiative, and Kassell agreed to serve on its Blue Ribbon Panel. Hillary Clinton ran for president, got the nomination, and lost to Donald Trump.When the pandemic hit, Kassell was one of thousands of doctors who were deeply offended and alarmed by Trump's anti-scientific approach. Trump grew only more aggressively ignorant as nearly a quarter million Americans died of COVID-19."Unimaginable," Kassell told The Daily Beast.Thanks in part to Kassell, Biden was around to make another presidential run. He cited the science and wore a mask and sought to preserve social distancing as he proceeded to win the Democratic nomination.Donald Trump Jr. and his ilk cited Biden's past brain operations as proof he was not up to the job. Kassell retorted that he had seen Biden's brain and it was just fine; the clips still in his brain actually made it less likely those arteries would rupture.Meanwhile, Trump learned nothing after he caught COVID-19 and had a brief stay of his own at Walter Reed. He remained indifferent to the ever-mounting number of unlucky souls who did not recover as he had. He announced that the pandemic was all but over, saying "we're rounding a turn," even as the county was witnessing a record spike in cases.But such a depressing number of Americans still supported him that the early results on Election Day raised the possibility that he would get another term before Biden pulled ahead.On Saturday, four days after an election that was initially too close to call, multiple TV networks declared Biden the winner. Trump had proven unable to dismiss Biden votes as easily as he had dismissed COVID-19 cases. Those of us who had dreaded a second Trump term welcomed what felt like deliverance such as his favorite poet, Seamus Heaney, described in verse written for a Northern Ireland theatre company in 1990.> "History says don't hope> > On this side of the grave.> > But then, once in a lifetime> > The longed for tidal wave> > Of justice can rise up.> > And hope and history rhyme."Word that justice had indeed risen up to couple hope with history reached Kassell at home on Saturday. His daughter, Nicole Kassell, a film director who won an Emmy for HBO's Watchmen, sent her father a video of the spontaneous celebrations near her home in Harlem. Cars were honking. People were cheering and dancing in the streets."Pandemonium," the doctor said in an approving tone.Dr. Kassell recounted to The Daily Beast what Biden had said to him that day 32 years ago while being wheeled in for the second brain operation. The Daily Beast noted that the successful efforts by Kassell and his surgical team in addressing the two aneurysms had kept Biden among the living. And that now meant we will have a new president who will actually address the pandemic.Kassell responded with a line from the Bible."Save one life, you save the world."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Loeffler, Perdue Call on Georgia Secretary of State to Resign Posted: 09 Nov 2020 02:08 PM PST  Georgia's two Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, issued a scathing statement on Monday calling on the state's GOP secretary of state Brad Raffensperger to resign over what they said was unacceptably poor management of Georgia's elections last week."The management of Georgia elections has become an embarrassment for our state. Georgians are outraged, and rightly so. We have been clear from the beginning: every legal vote cast should be counted. Any illegal vote must not. And there must be transparency and uniformity in the counting process. This isn't hard. This isn't partisan. This is American," Perdue and Loeffler said in a joint statement."While blame certainly lies elsewhere as well, the buck ultimately stops with the Secretary of State," the pair said, adding that the "mismanagement and lack of transparency" from Raffensperger is "unacceptable.""He has failed the people of Georgia, and he should step down immediately," Perdue and Loeffler said.The senators stated that they believe in calling out failures, even when they occur in their own party, and said Georgia's elections have seen "too many failures" this year and last week's election brought national attention to the state's problems. They did not specify the specific failures that caused them concern.Both Perdue and Loeffler's Senate reelection bids, two races that could determine whether Republicans maintain their slim majority in the Senate, appear headed for January runoffs with their Democratic opponents. Jon Ossoff, who ran and lost a congressional special election in Georgia in 2017, is running against Perdue, and Ebenezer Baptist Church Pastor Raphael Warnock is running against Loeffler, who was appointed last year to replace Senator Johnny Isakson after he resigned citing his health.Georgia's ballot counting process has been plagued by delays and technical glitches that election officials said they are working to rectify before results are certified. County election officials are required to certify results by Friday, and Nov. 20 is the deadline for the secretary of state to certify statewide elections.Raffensperger responded to the senators' statement later on Monday, saying "that is not going to happen," regarding his resignation."The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me," he said.
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| Third World War a 'risk', the head of the military warns, as he calls on Government for long-term funding Posted: 08 Nov 2020 09:55 AM PST  There is a "risk" of a Third World War due to growing global uncertainty, the head of the military has warned, as he called on the Government to commit to "long term" funds for the armed forces. General Sir Nick Carter said that the increase in regional conflicts playing out across the world could ramp up into a "full-blown war". The Chief of the Defence Staff said that the world was a "very uncertain and anxious place" during the coronavirus pandemic and suggested that "you could see escalation lead to miscalculation". "We have to remember that history might not repeat itself but it has a rhythm and if you look back at the last century, before both world wars, I think it was unarguable that there was escalation which led to the miscalculation which ultimately led to war at a scale we would hopefully never see again," Sir Nick said. He told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the military also needed long-term investment from the Treasury in order to deliver on "modernisation". It comes after reports of a clash between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor on the issue of defence spending. Boris Johnson is said to have called for a £15 billion package of funding until 2025 while Rishi Sunak is in favour of a one year settlement worth £1.9 billion as part of the spending review. However, Sir Nick said negotiations with Downing Street and the Treasury were "going in a very constructive way". Confirming he would be seeking a multi-year package, he said: "Clearly we're going to argue for something like that because we need long-term investment because long-term investment gives us the opportunity to have confidence in modernisation."
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| Farmers are depleting the Ogallala Aquifer because the government pays them to do it Posted: 09 Nov 2020 05:13 AM PST  A slow-moving crisis threatens the U.S. Central Plains, which grow a quarter of the nation's crops. Underground, the region's lifeblood – water – is disappearing, placing one of the world's major food-producing regions at risk. The Ogallala-High Plains Aquifer is one of the world's largest groundwater sources, extending from South Dakota down through the Texas Panhandle across portions of eight states. Its water supports US$35 billion in crop production each year.But farmers are pulling water out of the Ogallala faster than rain and snow can recharge it. Between 1900 and 2008 they drained some 89 trillion gallons from the aquifer – equivalent to two-thirds of Lake Erie. Depletion is threatening drinking water supplies and undermining local communities already struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid crisis, hospital closures, soaring farm losses and rising suicide rates. In Kansas, "Day Zero" – the day wells run dry – has arrived for about 30% of the aquifer. Within 50 years, the entire aquifer is expected be 70% depleted. Some observers blame this situation on periodic drought. Others point to farmers, since irrigation accounts for 90% of Ogallala groundwater withdrawals. But our research, which focuses on social and legal aspects of water use in agricultural communities, shows that farmers are draining the Ogallala because state and federal policies encourage them to do it. A production treadmillAt first glance, farmers on the Plains appear to be doing well in 2020. Crop production increased this year. Corn, the largest crop in the U.S., had a near-record year, and farm incomes increased by 5.7% over 2019. But those figures hide massive government payments to farmers. Federal subsidies increased by a remarkable 65% this year, totaling $37.2 billion. This sum includes money for lost exports from escalating trade wars, as well as COVID-19-related relief payments. Corn prices were too low to cover the cost of growing it this year, with federal subsidies making up the difference. Our research finds that subsidies put farmers on a treadmill, working harder to produce more while draining the resource that supports their livelihood. Government payments create a vicious cycle of overproduction that intensifies water use. Subsidies encourage farmers to expand and buy expensive equipment to irrigate larger areas. With low market prices for many crops, production does not cover expenses on most farms. To stay afloat, many farmers buy or lease more acres. Growing larger amounts floods the market, further reducing crop prices and farm incomes. Subsidies support this cycle.Few benefit, especially small and midsized operations. In a 2019 study of the region's 234 counties from 1980 to 2010, we found that larger irrigated acreage failed to increase incomes or improve education or health outcomes for residents. Focus on policy, not farmersFour decades of federal, state and local conservation efforts have mainly targeted individual farmers, providing ways for them to voluntarily reduce water use or adopt more water-efficient technologies. While these initiatives are important, they haven't stemmed the aquifer's decline. In our view, what the Ogallala Aquifer region really needs is policy change. A lot can be done at the federal level, but the first principle should be "do no harm." Whenever federal agencies have tried to regulate groundwater, the backlash has been swift and intense, with farm states' congressional representatives repudiating federal jurisdiction over groundwater. Nor should Congress propose to eliminate agricultural subsidies, as some environmental organizations and free-market advocates have proposed. Given the thin margins of farming and longstanding political realities, federal support is simply part of modern production agriculture. With these cautions in mind, three initiatives could help ease pressure on farmers to keep expanding production. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers to allow environmentally sensitive farmland to lie fallow for at least 10 years. With new provisions, the program could reduce water use by prohibiting expansion of irrigated acreage, permanently retiring marginal lands and linking subsidies to production of less water-intensive crops.These initiatives could be implemented through the federal farm bill, which also sets funding levels for nonfarm subsidies such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. SNAP payments, which increase needy families' food budgets, are an important tool for addressing poverty. Increasing these payments and adding financial assistance to local communities could offset lower tax revenues that result from from farming less acreage. Amending federal farm credit rates could also slow the treadmill. Generous terms promote borrowing for irrigation equipment; to pay that debt, borrowers farm more land. Offering lower rates for equipment that reduces water use and withholding loans for standard, wasteful equipment could nudge farmers toward conservation.The most powerful tool is the tax code. Currently, farmers receive deductions for declining groundwater levels and can write off depreciation on irrigation equipment. Replacing these perks with a tax credit for stabilizing groundwater and substituting a depreciation schedule favoring more efficient irrigation equipment could provide strong incentives to conserve water. Rewriting state water lawsWater rights are mostly determined by state law, so reforming state water policies is crucial. Case law demonstrates that simply owning water rights does not grant the legal right to waste water. For more than a century courts have upheld state restrictions on waste, with rulings that allow for adaptation by modifying the definitions of "beneficial use" and "waste" over time. Using these precedents, state water agencies could designate thirsty crops, such as rice, cotton or corn, as wasteful in certain regions. Regulations preventing unreasonable water use are not unconstitutional. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]Allowing farmers some flexibility will maximize profits, as long as they stabilize overall water use. If they irrigate less – or not at all – in years with low market prices, rules could allow more irrigation in better years. Ultimately, many farmers – and their bankers – are willing to exchange lower annual yields for a longer water supply. As our research has shown, the vast majority of farmers in the region want to save groundwater. They will need help from policymakers to do it. Forty years is long enough to learn that the Ogallala Aquifer's decline is not driven by weather or by individual farmers' preferences. Depletion is a structural problem embedded in agricultural policies. Groundwater depletion is a policy choice made by federal, state and local officials. Stephen Lauer and Vivian Aranda-Hughes, former doctoral students at Kansas State University, contributed to several of the studies cited in this article.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Matthew R Sanderson, Kansas State University; Burke Griggs, Washburn University, and Jacob A. Miller, Kansas State University.Read more: * Farmers are drawing groundwater from the giant Ogallala Aquifer faster than nature replaces it * Crop insurance is good for farmers, but not always for the environmentMatthew R Sanderson has received funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Burke W. Griggs has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Jacob A. Miller has received funding from the National Science Foundation.
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| Gunmen kill reporter in Mexico's most violent state Posted: 09 Nov 2020 02:05 PM PST |
| The Trump campaign held a press conference in the parking lot of the Four Seasons suburban landscaping center, instead of the luxury Philadelphia hotel Posted: 08 Nov 2020 07:08 AM PST  In Philadelphia, Trump's team press conference was outside of the Four Seasons landscaping firm located between a crematorium and an adult book store.
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| Sao Paulo starts building production plant for China's Sinovac vaccine: governor Posted: 09 Nov 2020 08:02 AM PST  The Brazilian state of São Paulo has begun building a facility to produce 100 million doses a year of China's Sinovac vaccine against COVID-19, which will be ready by September next year, Governor João Doria said on Monday. Sao Paulo is also importing the vaccine before the facility is ready and Doria said the first batch of 120,000 imported Sinovac vaccines will arrive on Nov. 20 with the state's Butantan biomedical center receiving a total of 6 million doses by year-end. The vaccine production facility will cost 142 million reais ($26.5 million), which will be donated by private companies.
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| Another Las Vegas resort, Park MGM, closing midweek due to visitor slump Posted: 09 Nov 2020 01:17 PM PST  Starting today, Las Vegas resort Park MGM will close at noon on Mondays and reopen again at noon on Thursdays.
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| Two dogs will move into the White House with the Bidens. Meet Major and Champ Posted: 08 Nov 2020 07:57 AM PST  The Bidens adopted Major, a rescue dog, in 2018.
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| Ten Republican Attorneys General File Amicus Brief with Supreme Court in Pennsylvania Ballot Case Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:57 PM PST  A group of ten Republican attorneys general announced Monday that they are filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in a case challenging mail ballots in Pennsylvania, arguing that the state increased the risk of fraud in the election.Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt led the group in submitting the brief, which asks the Supreme Court to reverse a recent decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court allowing mail-in ballots to be received three days after Election Day, including those lacking a postmark to prove they were mailed by Election Day.The brief argues the state court's ruling was unconstitutional in that it violated the separation of powers. The attorneys general also argue that with the ruling, Pennsylvania exacerbated the risks of voter fraud in connection with absentee ballots.The GOP attorneys general of Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and South Dakota joined Schmitt in filing the brief. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a similar brief, and Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter is expected to file an amicus brief on Tuesday in the case."Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our republic and it's one of the reasons why the United States is the envy of the world," Schmitt said at a press conference announcing the brief. "We have to ensure that every legal vote cast is counted and that every illegal vote not cast is not counted. To do so would disenfranchise millions of Americans."The Trump campaign has filed several lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, and Michigan alleging irregularities in the vote counting process. President-Elect Biden was projected the winner of the presidential race on Saturday after a delay of several days during which key battleground states remained too close to call.
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| Ethiopia's army chief sacked as Tigray fighting continues Posted: 09 Nov 2020 04:02 AM PST  A reshuffle comes just days after the PM ordered a big military operation against Tigrayan forces.
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| Churchill's painting of favourite whisky goes on sale Posted: 09 Nov 2020 08:14 AM PST  A painting by Winston Churchill featuring the famously bibulous British World War II leader's favourite brand of whisky is to go on sale at Sotheby's auction house.
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