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Biden solidifies US election win, Trump says ‘time will tell’ if he stays in power

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Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holds hands with President-elect Joe Biden and her husband Doug Emhoff as they celebrate in Wilmington. (File/AP)
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Updated 14 November 2020
Reuters
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Biden solidifies US election win, Trump says ‘time will tell’ if he stays in power

  • Biden wins White House with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232: US media
  • Biden has been the presumptive winner of the election since victory in Pennsylvania took him over the 270-vote threshold on Saturday
Updated 14 November 2020
Reuters

REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware/WASHINGTON: US President-elect Joe Biden solidified his election victory on Friday by winning the state of Georgia, and President Donald Trump said “time will tell” if another administration takes over soon, the closest he has come to acknowledging Biden could succeed him.
Edison Research, which made the Georgia call, also projected that North Carolina, the only other battleground state with an outstanding vote count, would go to Trump, finalizing the electoral vote tally at 306 for Biden to 232 for Trump.
The numbers gave Biden, a Democrat, a resounding defeat of Trump in the Electoral College, equal to the 306 votes that Trump, a Republican, won to defeat Hillary Clinton in a 2016 victory Trump called a “landslide.”
At a White House event where he predicted a coronavirus vaccine would be available for the whole population by April, Trump edged closer to acknowledging he might leave the White House in January but stopped short.
“This administration will not be going to a lockdown. Hopefully the, uh, whatever happens in the future — who knows which administration it will be? I guess time will tell,” Trump said in his first public remarks since Biden was projected as the election’s winner on Nov. 7.
Trump did not take questions after the event.
Trump, a Republican, has claimed without evidence that he was cheated by widespread election fraud and has refused to concede. State election officials report no serious irregularities, and several of his legal challenges have failed in court.
While Trump had yet to concede, Biden officials reiterated they were moving ahead with transition efforts regardless.
Although the national popular vote does not determine the election outcome, Biden was ahead by more than 5.3 million votes, or 3.4 percentage points. His share of the popular vote, at 50.8%, was slightly higher than Ronald Reagan’s share of the vote in 1980 when he defeated Jimmy Carter.




President Donald Trump speaks at the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Nov. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) 

To win a second term, Trump would need to overturn Biden’s lead in at least three states, but he has so far failed to produce evidence that he could do so in any of them. States face a Dec. 8 “safe harbor” deadline to certify their elections and choose electors for the Electoral College, which will officially select the new president on Dec. 14.
Biden’s legal team in Georgia said on Friday they do not expect a hand recount of votes in the state to change the results there. Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh told Fox News the campaign has “great confidence” it can prevail in the Georgia recount.
A Michigan state court rejected on Friday a request by Trump’s supporters to block the certification of votes in Detroit, which went heavily in favor of Biden. And lawyers for Trump’s campaign dropped a lawsuit in Arizona after the final vote count rendered it moot.
Federal election security officials have found no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, “or was in any way compromised,” two security groups said in a statement released on Thursday by the lead US cybersecurity agency.

Transition talk
Biden officials said on Friday they would press forward with the transition, identifying legislative priorities, reviewing federal agency policies and preparing to fill thousands of jobs in the new administration.
“We’re charging ahead with the transition,” Jen Psaki, a senior adviser to Biden’s transition team, said on a conference call while stressing that Biden still needs “real-time information” from the Trump administration to deal with the resurgent pandemic and national security threats.
Psaki urged Trump’s White House to allow Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to receive daily intelligence briefings on potential threats around the world.
“With every day that passes on, it becomes more concerning that our national security team and the president-elect and the vice president-elect don’t have access to those threat assessments, intelligence briefings, real-time information about our engagements around the world,” Psaki said. “Because, you know, you don’t know what you don’t know.”
Biden will be briefed by his own group of national-security experts next week, she said. He met with transition advisers again on Friday at his Delaware beach house where he is mapping out his approach to the pandemic and prepares to name his top appointees, including Cabinet members.
Trump’s refusal to accept defeat has stalled the official transition. The federal agency that releases funding to an incoming president-elect, the General Services Administration, has yet to recognize Biden’s victory, denying him access to federal office space and resources.
Trump has discussed with advisers media ventures and appearances to keep him in the spotlight ahead of a possible 2024 White House bid. In the near term, he is expected to campaign for Republican US Senate candidates in Georgia ahead of Jan. 5 runoff elections that will determine which party controls the chamber, aides said.
He also is considering starting a new television channel or social media company to compete with those he felt betrayed him and stifled his ability to communicate directly with Americans, according to several advisers.
Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera, a Trump confidant, said he had spoken to the president by phone on Friday and Trump gave him the impression he would follow the US Constitution and surrender his office after every vote was counted.
“He told me he’s a realist. He told me he would do the right thing,” Rivera said in an interview with Fox. “I got no impression that he was plotting the overthrow of the elected government. He just wants a fair fight.”

Topics: US2020Election

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India child marriage crackdown reaches nearly 5,000 arrests

Updated 27 sec ago
AFP
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India child marriage crackdown reaches nearly 5,000 arrests

  • India is home to more than 220 million child brides, according to the United Nations
  • The legal marriage age in India is 18 but millions of children are forced to tie the knot when they are younger
Updated 27 sec ago
AFP
GUWAHATI, India: A crackdown on illegal child marriages in India’s northeast has resulted in nearly 5,000 arrests, after 416 people were detained in the latest police sweep, a minister said Sunday.
“We will continue to take bold steps to end this social evil,” Himanta Biswa Sarma, chief minister of Assam state, said in a statement.
“Assam continues its fight against child marriage,” he added, saying raids have been carried out overnight and that those arrested would be produced in court on Sunday.
India is home to more than 220 million child brides, according to the United Nations, but the number of child weddings has fallen dramatically this century.
Assam state had already arrested thousands in earlier abolition drives that began in February 2023, including parents of married couples and registrars who signed off on underage betrothals.
It takes the total now arrested to more than 4,800 people.
Sarma has campaigned on a platform of stamping out child marriages completely in his state by 2026.
The legal marriage age in India is 18 but millions of children are forced to tie the knot when they are younger, particularly in poorer rural areas.
Many parents marry off their children in the hope of improving their financial security.
The results can be devastating, with girls dropping out of school to cook and clean for their husbands, and suffering health problems from giving birth at a young age.
In a landmark 2017 judgment, India’s top court said that sex with an underage wife constituted rape, a ruling cheered by activists.

Russian defense ministry says it downed 42 Ukrainian drones overnight

Updated 2 min 15 sec ago
Reuters
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Russian defense ministry says it downed 42 Ukrainian drones overnight

  • The heads of the Rostov and Bryansk regions said there were no casualties or damage after the latest drone attacks
Updated 2 min 15 sec ago
Reuters
MOSCOW: Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday its air defense systems destroyed 42 Ukrainian drones over five Russian regions during the night.
Twenty drones were shot down over the Oryol region, eight drones each were destroyed in the Rostov and Bryansk regions, five in the Kursk region and one over Krasnodar Krai, the ministry said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
One attack triggered a fire at a fuel infrastructure facility in the village of Stalnoi Kon, said Andrei Klychkov, the governor of Oryol.
“Fortunately, thanks to the quick response, the consequences of the attack were avoided — the fire was promptly localized and is now fully extinguished. There were no casualties or significant damage,” he said.
It was the second week in a row where fuel infrastructure facilities in Oryol have been attacked.
The heads of the Rostov and Bryansk regions said there were no casualties or damage after the latest drone attacks.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.

China says US is ‘playing with fire’ after latest military aid for Taiwan

Updated 22 December 2024
AP
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China says US is ‘playing with fire’ after latest military aid for Taiwan

  • US President Joe Biden authorized Saturday the provision of up to $571 million for Taiwan
  • Separately, the Defense Department said Friday that $295 million in military sales had been approved
Updated 22 December 2024
AP

BEIJING: The Chinese government protested Sunday the latest American announcements of military sales and assistance to Taiwan, warning the United States that it is “playing with fire.”
US President Joe Biden authorized Saturday the provision of up to $571 million in Defense Department material and services and in military education and training for Taiwan. Separately, the Defense Department said Friday that $295 million in military sales had been approved.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement urged the US to stop arming Taiwan and stop what it called “dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Taiwan is a democratic island of 23 million people that the Chinese government claims as its territory and says must come under its control. US military sales and assistance aim to help Taiwan defend itself and deter China from launching an attack.
The $571 million in military assistance comes on top of Biden’s authorization of $567 million for the same purposes in late September. The military sales include $265 million for about 300 tactical radio systems and $30 million for 16 gun mounts.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the approval of the two sales, saying in a social media post on X that it reaffirmed the US government’s “commitment to our defense.”

Topics: China US Taiwan

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New hope for flight MH370 families as Malaysia agrees to resume search

Updated 22 December 2024
Kanyakumari Damodaran
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New hope for flight MH370 families as Malaysia agrees to resume search

  • Plane carrying 239 people went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014
  • Families say they hope new search operation will offer ‘long-awaited answers and closure’
Updated 22 December 2024
Kanyakumari Damodaran

KUALA LUMPUR: The families of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 passengers have welcomed with renewed hope the announcement of a new search for the aircraft, which disappeared more than 10 years ago in one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014.

The search became the most expensive operation in aviation history but ended inconclusively in 2018, leaving the families of those on board still haunted by the tragedy.

On Friday, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that he hoped to “give closure to the families” as the government agreed to allow private contractor Ocean Infinity, which was the last to try to locate the plane, to resume search efforts.

He told reporters that the operation would focus on a new area spanning 15,000 sq. km in the southern Indian Ocean — a development raising hope among relatives of passengers and crew aboard flight MH370.

“The significance of this renewed search cannot be overstated. For the families of passengers, the scientific community and global civil aviation safety, it offers renewed hope for long-awaited answers and closure,” Voice 370, the association representing them, said in a statement.

“We, the next of kin, have endured over a decade of uncertainty, and we hope that the terms of the renewed search are finalized at the earliest and the decks are cleared for the search to begin.

“We continue to hope that our wait for answers is met.”

Ocean Infinity, the private underwater exploration firm that will undertake the $70 million search, was briefly involved in the 2018 efforts after a three-year operation covering 120,000 sq. km of the Indian Ocean failed to locate the aircraft and was suspended in 2017.

The new agreement was met on a no-find, no-fee basis, meaning that Ocean Infinity will be paid only when the wreckage is found.

“We are encouraged by Ocean Infinity’s readiness to deploy their advanced fleet, including sophisticated vessels, AUVs and cutting-edge imaging technologies,” Voice 370 said.

“We gather that the company has followed this up with thorough due diligence, analyzing all available data, and alternative scenarios proposed by independent researchers and recommendations on potential search areas.”

Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of March 8, 2014 and lost communication with air traffic control less than an hour later. Military radar showed the aircraft had deviated from its planned path. It remains unclear why that happened.

Many conspiracy theories have emerged to explain the aircraft’s disappearance, ranging from suspicions of the captain’s suicide to concerns over the 221 kg of lithium-ion batteries in the plane’s cargo, as well as the involvement of passengers, two of whom were found traveling on stolen passports.

When the probe was suspended, Kok Soo Chon, head of the MH370 safety investigation team, told reporters in July 2018 that his team was “unable to determine the real cause for disappearance of MH370” and “the answer can only be conclusive if the wreckage is found.”

Topics: Boeing 777 MH370 Malaysia

Minorities fear targeted attacks in post-revolution Bangladesh

Updated 22 December 2024
AFP
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Minorities fear targeted attacks in post-revolution Bangladesh

  • String of attacks targeting religious minorities since a student-led uprising toppled long-time autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina
  • Hindus make up about eight percent of the mainly Muslim nation of 170 million people in Bangladesh
Updated 22 December 2024
AFP

DHAKA: For generations, the small Hindu temple outside the capital in Muslim-majority Bangladesh was a quiet place to pray – before arsonists ripped open its roof this month in the latest post-revolution unrest.
It is only one of a string of attacks targeting religious minorities since a student-led uprising toppled long-time autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina in August.
“We don’t feel safe,” said Hindu devotee Swapna Ghosh in the village of Dhour, where attackers broke into the 50-year-old family temple to the goddess Lakshmi and set fire to its treasured idols on December 7.
“My son saw the flames and doused them quickly,” said temple custodian Ratan Kumar Ghosh, 55, describing how assailants knew to avoid security cameras, so they tore its tin roof open to enter.
“Otherwise, the temple – and us – would have been reduced to ashes.”
Hindus make up about eight percent of the mainly Muslim nation of 170 million people.
In the chaotic days following Hasina’s August 5 ouster there was a string of attacks on Hindus – seen by some as having backed her rule – as well as attacks on Muslim Sufi shrines by Islamist hard-liners.
“Neither I, my forefathers or the villagers, regardless of their faith, have ever witnessed such communal attacks,” temple guardian Ghosh said.
“These incidents break harmony and trust.”
Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to India, where she is hosted by old allies in New Delhi’s Hindu-nationalist government, infuriating Bangladeshis determined that she face trial for alleged “mass murder.”
Attacks against Hindu temples are not new in Bangladesh, and rights activist Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir said the violence cannot be regarded out of context.
Under Hasina, Hindus had sought protection from the authorities. That meant her opponents viewed them as partisan loyalists.
“If you analyze the past decade, there has not been a single year without attacks on minorities,” Kabir said, from the Dhaka-based rights group Ain o Salish Kendra.
This year, from January to November, the organization recorded 118 incidents of communal violence targeting Hindus.
August saw a peak of 63 incidents, including two deaths. In November, there were seven incidents.
While that is significantly more than last year – when the group recorded 22 attacks on minorities and 43 incidents of vandalism – previous years were more violent.
In 2014, one person was killed, two women were raped, 255 injured, and 247 temples attacked. In 2016, seven people were killed.
“The situation has not worsened, but there’s been no progress either,” said businessman and Hindu devotee Chandan Saha, 59.
Political rulers had repeatedly “used minorities as pawns,” Saha added.
The caretaker government has urged calm and promised increased security, and accused Indian media of spreading disinformation about the status of Hindus in Bangladesh.
Dhaka’s interim government this month expressed shock at a call by a leading Indian politician – chief minister of India’s West Bengal state Mamata Banerjee – to deploy UN peacekeepers.
Hefazat-e-Islam, an association of Islamic seminaries, has led public protests against India, accusing New Delhi of a campaign aimed at “propagating hate” against Bangladesh. India rejects the charges.
Religious relations have been turbulent, including widespread unrest in November in clashes between Hindu protesters and security forces.
That was triggered by the killing of a lawyer during protests because bail was denied for an outspoken Hindu monk accused of allegedly disrespecting the Bangladeshi flag during a rally.
Bangladeshi Islamist groups have been emboldened to take to the streets after years of suppression.
Muslim Sufi worshippers as well as members of the Baul mystic sect – branded heretics by some Islamists – have also been threatened.
“There’s been a wave of vandalism,” said Syed Tarik, a devotee documenting such incidents.
Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner appointed the country’s “chief adviser,” has called for dialogue between groups.
Critics say it is not enough.
“To establish a peaceful country where all faiths coexist in harmony, the head of state must engage regularly with faith leaders to foster understanding,” said Sukomal Barua, professor of religion at Dhaka University.
Sumon Roy, founder of Bangladesh’s association of Hindu lawyers, said members of the minority were treated as a bloc by political parties.
“They have all used us as tools,” Roy said, explaining that Hindus had been previously threatened both by Hasina’s Awami League and its rival Bangladesh National Party.
“If we didn’t support AL we faced threats, and the BNP blamed us for siding with the AL,” he said. “This cycle needs to end.”

Topics: Bangladesh

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