World
US election: Kamala Harris calls Joe Biden
California Senator Kamala Harris has congratulated Joe Biden. The running mate called Joe by phone after Biden’s projection as winner. Harris, in sporty wear, said: “We did it Joe, you gonna be the next President of the United States”. We did it, @JoeBiden. pic.twitter.com/oCgeylsjB4 — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 7, 2020 The lawmaker would become Vice President if Biden is officially declared winner. It would be a major win against racial and gender barriers in American politics. The 56-year-old is a daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica. Harris will be the first woman, the first Black person, the first Indian American and the first Asian American to hold the office. She will also be the first graduate of a historically Black College and first member of a black sorority ...
Canada’s unemployment rate drops with 84,000 more jobs in October
Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 8.9 per cent in October as the economy added 84,000 jobs, but further gains were dampened by new Covid-19 lockdowns, the national statistical agency said Friday. Employment in Canada has increased at a monthly rate of 2.7 per cent since May, but economists had expected fewer jobs to be created last month as new restrictions were reintroduced across the country to slow the spread of a second wave of the coronavirus. Statistics Canada noted that increases in employment across several industries were partially offset by a big drop in accommodation and food services jobs. Full-time employment rose 69,000, making up most of the gains, while self-employment rose by 33,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic in March. Overall, about 2.4 million Ca...
Official: Vladimir Putin not resigning
Agence France-Presse Spokesman to Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, has debunked a report that Vladimir Putin is planning to resign due to health issues. Citing a connected Russian political scientist Valery Solovei, The Sun on Friday reported that Mr. Putin is considering to step down due to health issues. The tabloid said there have been claims that Mr. Putin has been nursing Parkinson’s disease and his daughters and 37-year-old wife are prevailing on him to stand down. However, Mr. Peskov on Friday said that Putin, who is serving a six-year term that will elapse by 2024, is in good health. “No, he is in excellent health,” Peskov told TASS, a Russian newspaper, when asked to react to report that his principal is planning to step down. “There isn’t much to comment on here. “This is pure n...
Swedish premier self-isolates as nation reports virus surge
Sweden’s prime minister announced Thursday he has gone into protective self-isolation after a person close to him encountered someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. The country is experiencing an autumn surge of infections. From his Facebook account, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said that on his doctor’s advice, he and his wife, Ulla, were self-isolating, even though they have no symptoms. He said it was “the only responsible thing to do in this situation.” Lofven’s announcement came as Sweden’s Public Health Agency reported a record 4,034 new daily infections and five new deaths, putting Sweden’s total deaths at 6,002. In his post, Lofven said the new infections were clearly going in the wrong direction. Early in the pandemic, as other Nordic nations locked down to fight the vir...
US election: Donald Trump’s action disgraceful – Pennsylvania governor
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has condemned a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign to stop the counting of ballots in the State. Trump’s campaign had filed a lawsuit to stop vote counting in Pennsylvania. Also Trump’s campaign demanded recount of votes in Wisconsin. Democrat governor Wolf, reacting during a press conference, described the action as against the basic principles of democracy and disgraceful. He vowed that the people of Pennsylvania will fight to ensure all votes are counted and there is a free and fair election. Wolf said: “This afternoon, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit to stop the counting of ballots in Pennsylvania. “That is simply wrong. It goes against the most basic principles of our democracy. It takes away the right of every American citizen to cast...
EU: Brexit trade talks still face ‘too many difficulties’
With a deadline looming ever more menacingly, the European Union’s chief negotiator on the post-Brexit trade deal with Britain on Wednesday publicly blamed London for a lack of progress in the two sides’ belated attempt to reach an even rudimentary agreement. “At this stage, there are still too many difficulties remaining on important topics,” Michel Barnier said on his way to brief the envoys of the 27 member states. In a Twitter comment later, Barnier said, “Despite EU efforts to find solutions, very serious divergences remain.” Britain’s chief negotiator, David Frost, said he agreed that “wide divergences remain on some key issues.” “We continue to work to find solutions that fully respect U.K. sovereignty,” Frost tweeted. Barnier’s comments threw a dampener on optimistic reports that p...
Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro hopes Donald Trump wins
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Wednesday he hoped Donald Trump would come out ahead in the down-to-the-wire US election, lashing out at Democratic contender Joe Biden’s comments on protecting the Amazon rainforest. The far-right leader, who has been dubbed a “Tropical Trump,” has cultivated a close relationship with the Republican president, and has not been shy about endorsing his bid for reelection. “You know where I stand, I’ve been clear. I have a good relationship with Trump. I hope he’ll be reelected,” Bolsonaro told supporters outside the presidential palace in Brasilia. He denied backing Trump amounted to “interference” in US affairs, saying, “Who are we to interfere anyway?” “How do you want me to interfere? Economically? Militarily? A cyber attack?” he joked. Turning to ...
British parliament approves second national lockdown
The British Parliament has approved a four-week coronavirus lockdown plan to begin Thursday morning. Lawmakers approved the plan Wednesday, 516-38. Beginning 1 a.m. Thursday, all nonessential businesses including pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, golf courses, gyms, swimming pools, entertainment and sporting venues will close until at least December 2. The vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s lockdown plan was never really in doubt after the opposition Labor Party said it would support the move, even though it criticized Johnson for acting too slowly. Some in Johnson’s own party, however, voted against the plan, saying a national lockdown was too severe. The plan is an effort prevent COVID-19 from escalating out of control and overwhelming Britain’s National Health Service. It represents ...
US election: Republicans hold back Democrats, narrowing path to Senate control
The battle for power in the Senate tightened into Wednesday as Democrats picked up a seat in Colorado, but suffered a setback in Alabama, and Republicans held their own in high-profile races in South Carolina, Iowa, Texas and Kansas, dramatically narrowing the political map. Republicans fought to retain their Senate majority by turning back a surge of Democrats challenging allies of President Donald Trump, and the Democrats’ various paths to seizing control were growing more limited. With several contests still too early to call, and one Georgia race heading to a January runoff, the final verdict is expected to drag on. Democrats gained a seat when ex-Gov. John Hickenlooper ousted GOP Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado, a must-win to flip the Senate, but couldn’t hold on in Alabama, where forme...
Polls start to close in tense US presidential election
Polls in US battleground states began to close on Tuesday, inching the contest between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden to its nail-biting conclusion, following a race fought in unprecedented conditions of a global pandemic and the most deeply divided electorate in decades. At 7:00 pm (0000 GMT), voting ended in Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, and also Georgia, a formerly rock-solid Republican state that Biden’s Democrats hope to flip. CNN and NBC already projected a win for Trump in Indiana. Parts of Florida — an even bigger electoral prize that routinely sees knife-edge elections — were also closing at 7:00 pm. Polls in the rest of the state and also in Pennsylvania, another ground zero in US presidential contests, were closing at 8:00 pm (0100 GMT). What was no...
US election: FBI probes robocalls urging voters to ‘stay home’
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating calls that seek to discourage people from voting, a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security told reporters on Tuesday. Authorities would not offer details. US state and local officials have been raising the alarm over at least two separate automated call campaigns as millions of people cast their votes on Tuesday to decide between President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden. Janaka Stucky, 42, a Democratic voter who lives in Medford, Massachusetts, was one of the many who received the robocall on Tuesday. “My first thought was that actually, it was a municipal test call for a COVID lockdown thing,” he told the Reuters news agency. “The more I thought about it I was like, oh this actually feels really off and weir...
Austria declares three days of national mourning
The Austrian government declared three days of mourning following a terrorist attack that left four victims and a suspect dead. “Our thoughts and our compassion are with the victims, the injured and their families in these very difficult hours for the republic of Austria,” Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said before a cabinet meeting. The mourning will last until Thursday, the government decided. People have been killed and 15 seriously injured in multiple shootings in the Austrian capital on Monday evening, according to local police. The attack had an Islamist motive, the Vienna Police wrote on Twitter on Tuesday morning. There is at least one perpetrator, who was shot by police, it said, noting that an explosive device worn by the perpetrator turned out to be a dummy. The police have searched ...
