US President Donald Trump sought to project a calm but confident image on the day when millions of Americans were out to decide whether he will get four more years or not. National poll numbers declared by various polling agencies put Biden a bit ahead of Donald Trump. But if Trump&nbsp;was worried, he did not let it show.

“Well, we feel very good," said Trump as he spoke with Fox News.

He made an appearance on Fox News on the election day and said that he had "solid chance of winning".

Donald Trump has previously said that he would "declare victory" if early trends during counting of votes favoured him.

When he was directly asked by Fox News about this on the election day however, he sidestepped the question.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/live-us-election-2020-donald-trump-joe-biden-more-than-98-million-voted-to-elect-the-next-president-340039">Click here for latest updates on US Presidential Election 2020</a>

As Americans head to polling stations on Tuesday, the question is not just whether Republican President Donald Trump will win a second four-year term or be defeated by his Democratic rival Joe Biden, but also when the result will be known.

The latest opinion polls show the race is close enough in the battleground states to swing the outcome to either party, even as Biden leads Trump in national polls.

(With Reuters inputs)

US President Donald Trump sought to project a calm but confident image on the day when millions of Americans were out to decide whether he will get four more years or not.

US President Donald Trump sought to project a calm but confident image on the day when millions of Americans were out to decide whether he will get four more years or not. National poll numbers declared by various polling agencies put Biden a bit ahead of Donald Trump. But if Trump was worried, he did not let it show. “Well, we feel very good," said Trump as he spoke with Fox News. He made an appearance on Fox News on the election day and said that he had "solid chance of winning". Donald Trump has previously said that he would "declare victory" if early trends during counting of votes favoured him. When he was directly asked by Fox News about this on the election day however, he sidestepped the question. Click here for latest updates on US Presidential Election 2020 As Americans head to polling stations on Tuesday, the question is not just whether Republican President Donald Trump will win a second four-year term or be defeated by his Democratic rival Joe Biden, but also when the result will be known. The latest opinion polls show the race is close enough in the battleground states to swing the outcome to either party, even as Biden leads Trump in national polls. (With Reuters inputs)

On US election day, Trump says he has a 'solid chance of winning'

No matter the land, food is synonymous with emotions. We throw parties when we are happy. Sometimes even eat something to make us feel better in bouts of sadness. But we are true to our salt, and quite proud of our respective culinary traditions. We are passionate about our food.

Pramila Jayapal, US Congresswoman of Indian heritage, got the taste of how strong sentiments around food are.

It started with just a tweet. Jayapal posted a photo of 'Paneer Tikka' and said that it was her comfort food.

"Compulsive, night-before-election activity: make comfort food. That’s paneer tikka tonight, in honor of electing #KamalaHarris Veep tomorrow since she just said on Instagram that her favorite North Indian food is any kind of tikka! Let’s go, people! VOTE! #BidenHarris2020" she tweeted

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Compulsive, night-before-election activity: make comfort food. That’s paneer tikka tonight, in honor of electing <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KamalaHarris?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KamalaHarris</a> Veep tomorrow since she just said on Instagram that her favorite North Indian food is any kind of tikka! Let’s go, people! VOTE! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BidenHarris2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BidenHarris2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/gqyT7BotgG">pic.twitter.com/gqyT7BotgG</a>
— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) <a href="https://twitter.com/PramilaJayapal/status/1323482279029583872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

But...and it's a major but! Many on Twitter disagreed with Jayapal who was saying the tasty looking dish in her tweet was 'Paneer Tikka'.

Paneer Tikka is a north Indian dish that is usually made with Indian cottage cheese along with veggies and is usually barbecued or lightly cooked and eaten from a skewer.

The dish Jayapal cooked appeared more like a curry

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PaneerTikka?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PaneerTikka</a> died a premature death in this curry <a href="https://t.co/7fOxVn3gfp">https://t.co/7fOxVn3gfp</a>
— टंकीBaba (@rkgeemail) <a href="https://twitter.com/rkgeemail/status/1323536371567398913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

Fans of the dish were so up in arms against Jayapal's tweet that Paneer Tikka started trending. The tweets were full of sarcasm sometimes.

A user posted a picture of a spicy soup, and invited Jayapal to have what he claimed was 'kheer' an Indian sweet dish, far cry from anything spicy.

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ये लो खीर खाओ <a href="https://t.co/yYvAx6Q0NI">pic.twitter.com/yYvAx6Q0NI</a>
— How Dare You Isolated Monk ? (@IsolatedMonk) <a href="https://twitter.com/IsolatedMonk/status/1323536175190011906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

Some users were rolling eyes

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who's gonna tell her that's not paneer tikka... <a href="https://t.co/mejabynS4G">https://t.co/mejabynS4G</a>
— Saanvi is looking for sherlock moots •Zaira stan• (@daisysonofjohn) <a href="https://twitter.com/daisysonofjohn/status/1323528221061599232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

Jayapal made a follow-up tweet sharing the recipe and this time, she called the dish 'Paneer Tikka Masala' instead of just 'Paneer Tikka'.

The addition of the word 'masala' took the preparation closer to resembling the one in the photo as 'Paneer Tikka Masala' is a curry dish.

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By popular demand, the recipe for Paneer Tikka Masala, slightly adapted from the fabulous <a href="https://twitter.com/twosleevers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@twosleevers</a>! You can either eat the tikka on its own, or add the masala (sauce) which is like a curry. Enjoy! <a href="https://t.co/0tNyEZOWN4">pic.twitter.com/0tNyEZOWN4</a>
— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) <a href="https://twitter.com/PramilaJayapal/status/1323506998625755138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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So what do you like? Paneer Tikka or Paneer Tikka Masala?

No matter the land, food is synonymous with emotions. We throw parties when we are happy. Sometimes even eat something to make us feel better in bouts of sadness.

No matter the land, food is synonymous with emotions. We throw parties when we are happy. Sometimes even eat something to make us feel better in bouts of sadness. But we are true to our salt, and quite proud of our respective culinary traditions. We are passionate about our food. Pramila Jayapal, US Congresswoman of Indian heritage, got the taste of how strong sentiments around food are. It started with just a tweet. Jayapal posted a photo of 'Paneer Tikka' and said that it was her comfort food. "Compulsive, night-before-election activity: make comfort food. That’s paneer tikka tonight, in honor of electing #KamalaHarris Veep tomorrow since she just said on Instagram that her favorite North Indian food is any kind of tikka! Let’s go, people! VOTE! #BidenHarris2020" she tweeted Compulsive, night-before-election activity: make comfort food. That’s paneer tikka tonight, in honor of electing #KamalaHarris Veep tomorrow since she just said on Instagram that her favorite North Indian food is any kind of tikka! Let’s go, people! VOTE! #BidenHarris2020 pic.twitter.com/gqyT7BotgG — Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) November 3, 2020 × But...and it's a major but! Many on Twitter disagreed with Jayapal who was saying the tasty looking dish in her tweet was 'Paneer Tikka'. Paneer Tikka is a north Indian dish that is usually made with Indian cottage cheese along with veggies and is usually barbecued or lightly cooked and eaten from a skewer. The dish Jayapal cooked appeared more like a curry #PaneerTikka died a premature death in this curry https://t.co/7fOxVn3gfp — टंकीBaba (@rkgeemail) November 3, 2020 × Fans of the dish were so up in arms against Jayapal's tweet that Paneer Tikka started trending. The tweets were full of sarcasm sometimes. A user posted a picture of a spicy soup, and invited Jayapal to have what he claimed was 'kheer' an Indian sweet dish, far cry from anything spicy. ये लो खीर खाओ pic.twitter.com/yYvAx6Q0NI — How Dare You Isolated Monk ? (@IsolatedMonk) November 3, 2020 × Some users were rolling eyes who's gonna tell her that's not paneer tikka... https://t.co/mejabynS4G — Saanvi is looking for sherlock moots •Zaira stan• (@daisysonofjohn) November 3, 2020 × Jayapal made a follow-up tweet sharing the recipe and this time, she called the dish 'Paneer Tikka Masala' instead of just 'Paneer Tikka'. The addition of the word 'masala' took the preparation closer to resembling the one in the photo as 'Paneer Tikka Masala' is a curry dish. By popular demand, the recipe for Paneer Tikka Masala, slightly adapted from the fabulous @twosleevers! You can either eat the tikka on its own, or add the masala (sauce) which is like a curry. Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/0tNyEZOWN4 — Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) November 3, 2020 × So what do you like? Paneer Tikka or Paneer Tikka Masala?

Why Paneer Tikka was trending on US election day

Voters caught up in this state’s exceedingly close Senate race could be forgiven for believing Gov. Steve Bullock, the Democratic candidate, was sharing the ballot with Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader.

An incessant stream of Republican-funded advertisements depicts Bullock, a popular two-term governor, alongside Schumer and other leading Democrats such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Sen. Steve Daines, the Republican incumbent battling for political survival in the conservative-leaning state, regularly tries to tie his opponent to the national party, asserting that Bullock is Schumer’s “lap dog.”

“Steve Bullock in the Senate puts Chuck Schumer in charge,” the latest ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee said. “Think about that.”

Bullock doesn’t think much about it.

“I say it is all B.S.,” he said in an interview as snow descended upon Montana and shut down campaign appearances already curtailed by the coronavirus, which has hung over the election season and was surging anew in the Mountain West. “Montanans see through some of the stuff where they are trying to turn me into something they don’t recognize.”

But while the governor resented the ad’s implication, in one respect it was absolutely true: If Bullock is elected to the Senate, Schumer will almost certainly be in charge as the majority leader.

Here in Montana and in crucial battleground states across the country, Republicans are playing defense in a struggle for control of the Senate. Dragged by President Donald Trump’s struggles even in conservative states and confronting a phalanx of Democratic opponents who have raked in extraordinary sums of cash to challenge them, Republicans privately acknowledge that their majority is hanging by a thread.

The Montana race, described by strategists for both parties as a coin flip, is one of a handful of contests that will determine control of the Senate and the ability of the next president to pursue his agenda, fill a cabinet and win the judicial confirmations suddenly at the forefront of the nation’s political dialogue. Democrats have other narrow paths to Senate power, but a Bullock victory would essentially assure it and signal Democratic gains elsewhere.

As the race entered its final days, Republicans led by Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, were being forced to shore up candidates in traditionally safe locations such as Alaska, Kansas and South Carolina. Democrats believe they are already on track to win Arizona and Colorado and are on the hunt for a half-dozen others starting with Iowa, Maine and North Carolina. Georgia is suddenly looming as a real opportunity for Democrats, with both of the state’s Republican senators at risk.

Democrats conceded they were likely to lose in Alabama, where Sen. Doug Jones is running for reelection after an upset victory in a special election in 2017, and are keeping a close watch on Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters is facing John James, a Republican who was receiving a last-minute surge of outside money. But they were eyeing significant pickups elsewhere.

With Republicans holding the Senate majority by a margin of 53-47, a net gain of three seats would put Democrats in control should former Vice President Joe Biden win the presidency; four would be required if Trump is reelected.

Schumer called the battle for the Senate a “nail-biter,” but said the outlook for Democrats was far brighter than it was only a few months ago.

“If you would have told me in early January that we would have a good chance of winning the Senate, I would have said that is a real long shot,” he said in an interview. “Now we are in the ballpark because of the strategic decision to expand the seats that are in play.”

Republicans quietly agree that their prospects have dimmed considerably. One Senate Republican leader said privately that the party could end up with anywhere from 47 to 52 seats.

“It is a 50-50 proposition,” said McConnell, R-Ky., who appears to be safely headed toward reelection himself, about his chances for remaining majority leader. “We have a lot of exposure. It is a dogfight out there.”

Republicans are battling the brawl from a weakened position, given Trump’s woes and the record-crushing levels of money Democrats have raised for Senate races. Democratic challengers have flipped the usual formula on its head and outperformed Republican incumbents when it comes to contributions, providing ample resources for TV advertising even as the traditional campaign model has been upended by the pandemic.

Here in Montana, at least an estimated $120 million will be spent, while in Maine, more than $100 million is being poured into the showdown between Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican seeking a fifth term, and Sara Gideon, the Democratic speaker of the state House. The race in North Carolina, where Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, is trying to hold on against Cal Cunningham, a Democrat, is set to be the most expensive Senate contest ever, with well over $200 million expended.

While Democratic candidates are still outspending Republicans in most of the marquee races during the final weeks, the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with McConnell, has dumped more than $82 million into the effort since early October, helping close a money gap Republicans attribute to the success of online small-donor Democratic fundraising.

“We are being outspent dramatically, like so many other races around the country,” said Sen. John Cornyn, a three-term Texas Republican who finds himself in an unexpectedly tough match against M.J. Hegar, a Democrat and veteran. “We have been a little late to the dance and I think we are going to have to learn from the way Democrats raise money. It is no longer like going to a dinner and a cocktail party.”

The fact that Cornyn finds himself sweating is testament to how Democrats have opened multiple potential routes to a Senate majority while Republicans have failed to put their usual strongholds out of reach. Democrats have been unable to put away Collins, whom they saw as exceptionally vulnerable after her vote in 2018 to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. But Republicans now worry the voting system in Maine — in which voters’ second-choice candidate is counted if no candidate earns 50% — could cost her on Tuesday.

Democrats have focused relentlessly on health care in their campaigns, scorching Republicans for their yearslong drive to overturn the Affordable Care Act and its protections for preexisting conditions. The power of the message has been amplified by the pandemic and public anxiety about health costs. Republicans have pushed back with pledges to guarantee coverage but have not produced specifics on how they would do so.

The challenge for Democrats is that to win the Senate, they must prevail in states Trump carried in 2016 and is likely to carry again this year such as Iowa and Montana, though Biden victories in places like Arizona and North Carolina would make their task easier.

Voters caught up in this state’s exceedingly close Senate race could be forgiven for believing Gov. Steve Bullock, the Democratic candidate, was sharing the ballot with Sen.

Voters caught up in this state’s exceedingly close Senate race could be forgiven for believing Gov. Steve Bullock, the Democratic candidate, was sharing the ballot with Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader. An incessant stream of Republican-funded advertisements depicts Bullock, a popular two-term governor, alongside Schumer and other leading Democrats such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Sen. Steve Daines, the Republican incumbent battling for political survival in the conservative-leaning state, regularly tries to tie his opponent to the national party, asserting that Bullock is Schumer’s “lap dog.” “Steve Bullock in the Senate puts Chuck Schumer in charge,” the latest ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee said. “Think about that.” Bullock doesn’t think much about it. “I say it is all B.S.,” he said in an interview as snow descended upon Montana and shut down campaign appearances already curtailed by the coronavirus, which has hung over the election season and was surging anew in the Mountain West. “Montanans see through some of the stuff where they are trying to turn me into something they don’t recognize.” But while the governor resented the ad’s implication, in one respect it was absolutely true: If Bullock is elected to the Senate, Schumer will almost certainly be in charge as the majority leader. Here in Montana and in crucial battleground states across the country, Republicans are playing defense in a struggle for control of the Senate. Dragged by President Donald Trump’s struggles even in conservative states and confronting a phalanx of Democratic opponents who have raked in extraordinary sums of cash to challenge them, Republicans privately acknowledge that their majority is hanging by a thread. The Montana race, described by strategists for both parties as a coin flip, is one of a handful of contests that will determine control of the Senate and the ability of the next president to pursue his agenda, fill a cabinet and win the judicial confirmations suddenly at the forefront of the nation’s political dialogue. Democrats have other narrow paths to Senate power, but a Bullock victory would essentially assure it and signal Democratic gains elsewhere. As the race entered its final days, Republicans led by Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, were being forced to shore up candidates in traditionally safe locations such as Alaska, Kansas and South Carolina. Democrats believe they are already on track to win Arizona and Colorado and are on the hunt for a half-dozen others starting with Iowa, Maine and North Carolina. Georgia is suddenly looming as a real opportunity for Democrats, with both of the state’s Republican senators at risk. Democrats conceded they were likely to lose in Alabama, where Sen. Doug Jones is running for reelection after an upset victory in a special election in 2017, and are keeping a close watch on Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters is facing John James, a Republican who was receiving a last-minute surge of outside money. But they were eyeing significant pickups elsewhere. With Republicans holding the Senate majority by a margin of 53-47, a net gain of three seats would put Democrats in control should former Vice President Joe Biden win the presidency; four would be required if Trump is reelected. Schumer called the battle for the Senate a “nail-biter,” but said the outlook for Democrats was far brighter than it was only a few months ago. “If you would have told me in early January that we would have a good chance of winning the Senate, I would have said that is a real long shot,” he said in an interview. “Now we are in the ballpark because of the strategic decision to expand the seats that are in play.” Republicans quietly agree that their prospects have dimmed considerably. One Senate Republican leader said privately that the party could end up with anywhere from 47 to 52 seats. “It is a 50-50 proposition,” said McConnell, R-Ky., who appears to be safely headed toward reelection himself, about his chances for remaining majority leader. “We have a lot of exposure. It is a dogfight out there.” Republicans are battling the brawl from a weakened position, given Trump’s woes and the record-crushing levels of money Democrats have raised for Senate races. Democratic challengers have flipped the usual formula on its head and outperformed Republican incumbents when it comes to contributions, providing ample resources for TV advertising even as the traditional campaign model has been upended by the pandemic. Here in Montana, at least an estimated $120 million will be spent, while in Maine, more than $100 million is being poured into the showdown between Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican seeking a fifth term, and Sara Gideon, the Democratic speaker of the state House. The race in North Carolina, where Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, is trying to hold on against Cal Cunningham, a Democrat, is set to be the most expensive Senate contest ever, with well over $200 million expended. While Democratic candidates are still outspending Republicans in most of the marquee races during the final weeks, the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with McConnell, has dumped more than $82 million into the effort since early October, helping close a money gap Republicans attribute to the success of online small-donor Democratic fundraising. “We are being outspent dramatically, like so many other races around the country,” said Sen. John Cornyn, a three-term Texas Republican who finds himself in an unexpectedly tough match against M.J. Hegar, a Democrat and veteran. “We have been a little late to the dance and I think we are going to have to learn from the way Democrats raise money. It is no longer like going to a dinner and a cocktail party.” The fact that Cornyn finds himself sweating is testament to how Democrats have opened multiple potential routes to a Senate majority while Republicans have failed to put their usual strongholds out of reach. Democrats have been unable to put away Collins, whom they saw as exceptionally vulnerable after her vote in 2018 to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. But Republicans now worry the voting system in Maine — in which voters’ second-choice candidate is counted if no candidate earns 50% — could cost her on Tuesday. Democrats have focused relentlessly on health care in their campaigns, scorching Republicans for their yearslong drive to overturn the Affordable Care Act and its protections for preexisting conditions. The power of the message has been amplified by the pandemic and public anxiety about health costs. Republicans have pushed back with pledges to guarantee coverage but have not produced specifics on how they would do so. The challenge for Democrats is that to win the Senate, they must prevail in states Trump carried in 2016 and is likely to carry again this year such as Iowa and Montana, though Biden victories in places like Arizona and North Carolina would make their task easier.

Fueled by cash, health care and Trump’s woes, Democrats aim for Senate control

Voters in ex-Soviet Moldova went to the polls on Sunday to elect a president under the watchful eye of Moscow which wants the polarised country to remain in its orbit amid political and security crises on Russia's borders.

Pro-Moscow president Igor Dodon is seeking a new four-year mandate, with his biggest challenge coming from longtime pro-Western rival&nbsp;Maia Sandu who wants Moldova to join the European Union.

Experts predict a second-round runoff on November 15, as neither Dodon nor Sandu are expected to secure an outright majority on Sunday. 
The impoverished country of 3.5 million has long been divided between those favouring closer ties with the EU and those who cling to Soviet-era relations with Moscow.

Although part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991, the tiny country between Ukraine and Romania has close historic ties with Romania and its main language is Romanian.

Many voters, wearing masks against the coronavirus, expressed disappointment with politicians as they cast their ballots in the rainy capital Chisinau.

"We have been waiting for a change for 30 years," Vasile Mardare, a 64-year-old physical education teacher, told AFP.&nbsp;

"I voted for the candidate who will bring Moldova closer to Western living standards."

In recent years, Moldova has been rocked by multiple political crises and a $1 billion bank fraud scheme equivalent to nearly 15 percent of the country's GDP.

Belarus scenario?

Some voters raised fears of post-election unrest like in fellow ex-Soviet republic Belarus, where protesters have mounted weeks of demonstrations after strongman Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory in an August election.

"We don't want things to happen like in Belarus, but if it continues like this I don't think there will be any another solution," said Maria Turcanu, a 55-year-old doctor in Chisinau, who said she was ready to protest.

Casting his ballot with his wife Galina, Dodon said the country was tired of upheaval.&nbsp;

"More than ever, Moldova must keep away from chaos," he said.&nbsp;"I have voted for a strong Moldova, for economic development and political stability."

Dodon, 45, came to power after beating Sandu in a 2016 election and is hoping to defeat her again.

Sandu is a 48-year-old centre-right politician who worked for the World Bank and briefly served as prime minister between June and November 2019.

"I voted for a state which works for its citizens, which creates employment opportunities and improves living conditions," she said while casting her vote.

"But for that we must drive out the corruption and incompetence of the presidency."

Six other candidates are contesting the vote.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed hope that Moldovan voters would back Dodon, noting their country's economy -- battered by the coronavirus outbreak -- is firmly linked to Russia.

With Lukashenko facing unprecedented protests in Belarus, Moscow is keen to avoid any further chaos among allies on its western borders, experts said.

Russia's 'strategic partner'

Valeriu Pasa, an analyst with the think tank WatchDog Moldova, compared the polls to a "referendum on Dodon's mandate" and said Moscow was seeking to maintain the status quo in Moldova.

"The current regime is fully subordinate to the Kremlin," Pasa told AFP.

Dodon, who served as economy minister under a Communist government between 2006 and 2009, has promised continued close ties with "strategic partner" Moscow and has said the Russian language should become compulsory in schools.

The economy relies in large part on remittances sent home by people working abroad.

Russia last week accused the United States of preparing a "revolution" in Moldova.

The head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin alleged that Washington was inciting the Moldovan opposition to take to the streets after the vote to denounce its validity and demand a re-run.

Russia has troops in Moldova's Moscow-backed breakaway region of Transnistria, which broke away after a brief civil war following the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and is not internationally recognised.

Four hours before polls were due to close at 9:00 pm local time (1900 GMT), turnout was at 36 percent. First results expected overnight.

Voters in ex-Soviet Moldova went to the polls on Sunday to elect a president under the watchful eye of Moscow which wants the polarised country to remain in its orbit amid political and security crises on Russia's borders.

Voters in ex-Soviet Moldova went to the polls on Sunday to elect a president under the watchful eye of Moscow which wants the polarised country to remain in its orbit amid political and security crises on Russia's borders. Pro-Moscow president Igor Dodon is seeking a new four-year mandate, with his biggest challenge coming from longtime pro-Western rival Maia Sandu who wants Moldova to join the European Union. Experts predict a second-round runoff on November 15, as neither Dodon nor Sandu are expected to secure an outright majority on Sunday. The impoverished country of 3.5 million has long been divided between those favouring closer ties with the EU and those who cling to Soviet-era relations with Moscow. Although part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991, the tiny country between Ukraine and Romania has close historic ties with Romania and its main language is Romanian. Many voters, wearing masks against the coronavirus, expressed disappointment with politicians as they cast their ballots in the rainy capital Chisinau. "We have been waiting for a change for 30 years," Vasile Mardare, a 64-year-old physical education teacher, told AFP. "I voted for the candidate who will bring Moldova closer to Western living standards." In recent years, Moldova has been rocked by multiple political crises and a $1 billion bank fraud scheme equivalent to nearly 15 percent of the country's GDP. Belarus scenario? Some voters raised fears of post-election unrest like in fellow ex-Soviet republic Belarus, where protesters have mounted weeks of demonstrations after strongman Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory in an August election. "We don't want things to happen like in Belarus, but if it continues like this I don't think there will be any another solution," said Maria Turcanu, a 55-year-old doctor in Chisinau, who said she was ready to protest. Casting his ballot with his wife Galina, Dodon said the country was tired of upheaval. "More than ever, Moldova must keep away from chaos," he said. "I have voted for a strong Moldova, for economic development and political stability." Dodon, 45, came to power after beating Sandu in a 2016 election and is hoping to defeat her again. Sandu is a 48-year-old centre-right politician who worked for the World Bank and briefly served as prime minister between June and November 2019. "I voted for a state which works for its citizens, which creates employment opportunities and improves living conditions," she said while casting her vote. "But for that we must drive out the corruption and incompetence of the presidency." Six other candidates are contesting the vote. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed hope that Moldovan voters would back Dodon, noting their country's economy -- battered by the coronavirus outbreak -- is firmly linked to Russia. With Lukashenko facing unprecedented protests in Belarus, Moscow is keen to avoid any further chaos among allies on its western borders, experts said. Russia's 'strategic partner' Valeriu Pasa, an analyst with the think tank WatchDog Moldova, compared the polls to a "referendum on Dodon's mandate" and said Moscow was seeking to maintain the status quo in Moldova. "The current regime is fully subordinate to the Kremlin," Pasa told AFP. Dodon, who served as economy minister under a Communist government between 2006 and 2009, has promised continued close ties with "strategic partner" Moscow and has said the Russian language should become compulsory in schools. The economy relies in large part on remittances sent home by people working abroad. Russia last week accused the United States of preparing a "revolution" in Moldova. The head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin alleged that Washington was inciting the Moldovan opposition to take to the streets after the vote to denounce its validity and demand a re-run. Russia has troops in Moldova's Moscow-backed breakaway region of Transnistria, which broke away after a brief civil war following the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and is not internationally recognised. Four hours before polls were due to close at 9:00 pm local time (1900 GMT), turnout was at 36 percent. First results expected overnight.

Moldova elects president amid Russia-West tug of war

Catholics in France on Sunday celebrated the All Saints religious festival under tight security. The tension over the latest terrorist attacks in France did not deter people from going to church in Nice. The authorities allowed exemption during coronavirus lockdown. However, the recent stabbings had had some effect on people.

"I was apprehensive, I was scared of coming," said Claudia, 49, as she went to church, reassured by the presence of heavily armed soldiers. 
"We need to show that we are not scared and we are here," she said, following several other worshippers into the church.

A group of Muslim imams and their families attended a mass on Sunday at the Saint-Esprit de Bagatelle church in Toulouse to create mutual understanding.&nbsp;

"These people, without mind or reason, want to make another (Koran) interpretation," Lahouary Siali from the Al-Rahma mosque said, referring to violent extremists. "We strongly reject it."

He then read a prayer in Arabic in front of the congregation.

Meanwhile the police have made two new arrests in connection with Nice attack.

'Came to kill'

In Nice, authorities are now holding a total of six people for questioning to understand if they were linked to suspected attacker Brahim Issaoui, 21.&nbsp;

The latest people to be detained, aged 25 and 63, were arrested Saturday at the residence of an individual detained earlier in the day, a judicial source told AFP, asking not to be named.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/magazine-like-charlie-hebdo-could-not-exist-in-russia-says-kremlin-339429">Magazine like Charlie Hebdo 'could not exist' in Russia, says Kremlin</a>

Three others detained earlier over suspected links to Issaoui remain in custody, with the probe focusing on two telephones seized from the attacker.

Issaoui was shot by police multiple times and is currently in a serious condition in hospital. Investigators have been unable to question him and sources close to the probe have said his precise motivations remain unclear.

But Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that Issaoui "had clearly gone there (to Nice) to kill".

"Otherwise how can we explain why he armed himself with several knifes having only just arrived?... He clearly did not come just to get his papers," Darmanin told the Voix du Nord newspaper.

Investigators believe Issaoui travelled illegally to Europe via Italy's Mediterranean island of Lampedusa on September 20.&nbsp;

He arrived at the mainland Italian port of Bari on October 9 before coming to Nice just two days before the attack.

Understand 'shock'

France is on edge after the republication in early September of cartoons of the prophet Mohammed by the Charlie Hebdo weekly, which was followed by an attack outside its former offices, the beheading of a teacher and now the attack in Nice.

On Saturday, an attacker armed with a sawn-off shotgun seriously wounded a Greek Orthodox priest in a shooting outside a church in the French city of Lyon.

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Nikolaos Kakavelaki, 52, was closing his Lyon church mid-afternoon when he was attacked and is now in a serious condition in hospital, said a police source who asked not to be named.

The attacker fled the scene but Lyon's public prosecutor later announced that a suspect had been arrested while adding that the motivation for the attack was not clear.

Macron had vowed after the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty -- who had showed his class a cartoon of the prophet -- that France would never renounce the right to caricature.

This comment prompted a storm of anger in the Muslim world and on Saturday the president gave an interview to Al-Jazeera television saying he understood that people could be "shocked" by the cartoons.

But Macron added he would always defend freedom of speech and lashed out at "lies" -- sometimes spread by political leaders -- that the French state was behind the cartoons.

Charlie Hebdo had republished the cartoons to mark the start of the trial of suspected accomplices in the 2015 massacre of its staff by Islamist gunmen. The trial has been suspended until Wednesday after the primary suspect tested positive for coronavirus.

(With AFP inputs)

Catholics in France on Sunday celebrated the All Saints religious festival under tight security. The tension over the latest terrorist attacks in France did not deter people from going to church in Nice.

Catholics in France on Sunday celebrated the All Saints religious festival under tight security. The tension over the latest terrorist attacks in France did not deter people from going to church in Nice. The authorities allowed exemption during coronavirus lockdown. However, the recent stabbings had had some effect on people. "I was apprehensive, I was scared of coming," said Claudia, 49, as she went to church, reassured by the presence of heavily armed soldiers. "We need to show that we are not scared and we are here," she said, following several other worshippers into the church. A group of Muslim imams and their families attended a mass on Sunday at the Saint-Esprit de Bagatelle church in Toulouse to create mutual understanding. "These people, without mind or reason, want to make another (Koran) interpretation," Lahouary Siali from the Al-Rahma mosque said, referring to violent extremists. "We strongly reject it." He then read a prayer in Arabic in front of the congregation. Meanwhile the police have made two new arrests in connection with Nice attack. 'Came to kill' In Nice, authorities are now holding a total of six people for questioning to understand if they were linked to suspected attacker Brahim Issaoui, 21. The latest people to be detained, aged 25 and 63, were arrested Saturday at the residence of an individual detained earlier in the day, a judicial source told AFP, asking not to be named. Also Read | Magazine like Charlie Hebdo 'could not exist' in Russia, says Kremlin Three others detained earlier over suspected links to Issaoui remain in custody, with the probe focusing on two telephones seized from the attacker. Issaoui was shot by police multiple times and is currently in a serious condition in hospital. Investigators have been unable to question him and sources close to the probe have said his precise motivations remain unclear. But Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that Issaoui "had clearly gone there (to Nice) to kill". "Otherwise how can we explain why he armed himself with several knifes having only just arrived?... He clearly did not come just to get his papers," Darmanin told the Voix du Nord newspaper. Investigators believe Issaoui travelled illegally to Europe via Italy's Mediterranean island of Lampedusa on September 20. He arrived at the mainland Italian port of Bari on October 9 before coming to Nice just two days before the attack. Understand 'shock' France is on edge after the republication in early September of cartoons of the prophet Mohammed by the Charlie Hebdo weekly, which was followed by an attack outside its former offices, the beheading of a teacher and now the attack in Nice. On Saturday, an attacker armed with a sawn-off shotgun seriously wounded a Greek Orthodox priest in a shooting outside a church in the French city of Lyon. × Nikolaos Kakavelaki, 52, was closing his Lyon church mid-afternoon when he was attacked and is now in a serious condition in hospital, said a police source who asked not to be named. The attacker fled the scene but Lyon's public prosecutor later announced that a suspect had been arrested while adding that the motivation for the attack was not clear. Macron had vowed after the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty -- who had showed his class a cartoon of the prophet -- that France would never renounce the right to caricature. This comment prompted a storm of anger in the Muslim world and on Saturday the president gave an interview to Al-Jazeera television saying he understood that people could be "shocked" by the cartoons. But Macron added he would always defend freedom of speech and lashed out at "lies" -- sometimes spread by political leaders -- that the French state was behind the cartoons. Charlie Hebdo had republished the cartoons to mark the start of the trial of suspected accomplices in the 2015 massacre of its staff by Islamist gunmen. The trial has been suspended until Wednesday after the primary suspect tested positive for coronavirus. (With AFP inputs)

French Catholics pray under heavy security on All Saints festival

Two people were killed and at least five wounded after a man dressed in medieval clothing stabbed them with a sword in Quebec, Canada. The incident took place on Saturday night (local time). A manhunt was launched through the streets of Old Quebec. The man was arrested early Sunday.

Such an incident was sure to cause scare especially after recent incidents of stabbing and beheading in France. However, the incident in Quebec was not connected with terrorist activities.&nbsp;

The police said that the man was not associated with a terrorist group.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/stabbing-attack-in-canada-leaves-2-dead-5-injured-339364">Stabbing attack in Canada leaves 2 dead, 5 injured</a> 
 
"Yesterday evening we were plunged into a night of horror when a 24-year-old man, who does not live in Quebec, came with the intention of claiming as many victims as possible," Quebec City police chief Robert Pigeon told reporters.

"Everything leads us to believe" that the suspect, who was armed with a Japanese sword, "chose his victims at random," Pigeon added.

The attack came&nbsp;a day after the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the stabbing attack that took place in the French city of Nice which left three people dead and several injured.

(With AFP inputs)

Two people were killed and at least five wounded after a man dressed in medieval clothing stabbed them with a sword in Quebec, Canada. The incident took place on Saturday night (local time).

Two people were killed and at least five wounded after a man dressed in medieval clothing stabbed them with a sword in Quebec, Canada. The incident took place on Saturday night (local time). A manhunt was launched through the streets of Old Quebec. The man was arrested early Sunday. Such an incident was sure to cause scare especially after recent incidents of stabbing and beheading in France. However, the incident in Quebec was not connected with terrorist activities. The police said that the man was not associated with a terrorist group. Also Read | Stabbing attack in Canada leaves 2 dead, 5 injured "Yesterday evening we were plunged into a night of horror when a 24-year-old man, who does not live in Quebec, came with the intention of claiming as many victims as possible," Quebec City police chief Robert Pigeon told reporters. "Everything leads us to believe" that the suspect, who was armed with a Japanese sword, "chose his victims at random," Pigeon added. The attack came a day after the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the stabbing attack that took place in the French city of Nice which left three people dead and several injured. (With AFP inputs)

Canada: Man who killed two people with sword arrested

The second weekend in October was “citizenship weekend” at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.

“Up and down the ballot, there are two very different visions for our nation, and every one of us need to vote biblical principles,” the Rev. Jack Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisers, told the congregation. The 45,000-member church has a committee urging members to be “actively involved in our government,” including by running for office. At one point, Graham told the congregation, 23 members of the church held some kind of elected office. Graham invited four to the stage that Sunday, all Republicans.

But Graham does not see it as his job to tell members how to fill out their ballots. “You preach on the issues; you don’t insult people by telling them how to vote,” Graham said in an interview. “People will figure out how to vote if you guide them from Scripture.” On Oct. 25, he preached on the importance of religious liberty.

Decades after the rise of the Christian right as a political influence, conservative evangelicals have a reputation for political activism. That reputation has only intensified in the Trump era. White evangelicals voted for Trump overwhelmingly in 2016 and have remained his most dependable supporters. The president himself, who is not a frequent churchgoer, has indicated that he assumes conservative evangelical pastors would be eager to speak even more directly — perhaps to endorse him — if freed by tax law to do so.

In 2017, he signed an executive order intended to loosen enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, the provision that forbids pastors at tax-exempt churches to endorse or oppose candidates from the pulpit. “We are giving churches their voices back,” he said at a Rose Garden signing ceremony, framing the change as a gift to religious conservatives.

But tuning into conservative evangelical sermons across the country in the weeks leading up to a hotly contested election reveals a complex relationship between the pulpit and politics. Some pastors grappled directly with the question of a Christian’s political obligations. Others edged close to an endorsement. But many barely hinted at political themes, perhaps gesturing broadly to “unity” or “justice.”

Compared with other Christian traditions, white conservative Protestant churches are notably unenthusiastic about engaging directly in some kinds of traditional political activities. If tax law changed, 45% of self-described liberal congregations would endorse specific candidates, compared with 11% of self-described conservative congregations, according to a forthcoming paper analyzing data from the National Congregations Study, an ongoing nationally representative survey of about 1,200 leaders of religious congregations. Black churches, whose members are often theologically conservative and vote Democratic, are the most politically engaged.

But surveys about voter registration or lobbying — activities that liberal churches are likelier to engage in — do not capture the full portrait of churches’ political messaging. “There’s a lot more political signaling going on than we pick up with these explicit collective actions,” said Mark Chaves, director of the National Congregations Study and a professor at Duke University.

Surveys do not capture, for example, an American flag displayed at the front of the church, prayers offered for police officers but not protesters (or vice versa), or passing references to “life” or “freedom” in a sermon.

As a pastor in the Christian Reformed Church, Keith Mannes would have said for most of his career that he did not preach about politics. He calls himself “a pretty conservative guy,” and he occasionally addressed abortion or homosexuality in his sermons, but he saw those topics as biblical, not political.

But in 2015 something changed when Mannes watched Trump slowly descend a gleaming escalator at Trump Tower to start his presidential bid. The gaudiness struck him as grotesque; the biblical term “mammon” came to mind.

After Trump became president, Mannes increasingly felt called to speak directly about what he saw as an ungodly alliance between white conservative Christians and Trump. But for several years, he tried to stay quiet. “It’s just in our bones that we don’t make trouble about politics,” Mannes said. “We don’t talk about that stuff from the pulpit.”

He delivered his last sermon at East Saugatuck Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan, on Oct. 11. After years of trying to “avoid politics” in the pulpit to keep peace in the congregation, he approached church leadership to suggest it was time to part ways. “You realize you’re extending all this energy just to make sure people don’t get upset,” he said. “I wanted to be able to speak openly in the world about what I believe.”

Pastors whose own political beliefs are in line with their congregations’ tend to feel more empowered to speak. In Apex, North Carolina, another evangelical pastor had watched in a very different mood as Trump descended the escalator at Trump Tower. “When he came down the escalator, I didn’t know much about him but I turned to my wife and said, ‘Honey, that guy’s going to win,’” Rodney Finch recalled. Finch, the Black pastor of a large multiracial church he founded in 1995, said he had not been strongly engaged in politics before, but the moment was electrifying.

This election cycle, Finch is all in. On Oct. 4, he preached a Sunday sermon on voting. “The Bible is a voter’s guide,” he told the congregation. Without explicitly telling members how to fill out their ballots, he ticked off God’s priorities, in his view: abortion, support for Israel, religious freedom.

Finch is not alone in his awakening. Just 1% of Protestant pastors say they have endorsed a candidate from the pulpit this year, according to a survey conducted this fall by LifeWay Research, which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. That number is unchanged since 2016. But 32% of Protestant pastors said they have endorsed a political candidate away from the pulpit, ostensibly outside of their role as a pastor. That is a 10 percentage point increase since the last presidential election cycle. Pastors who say they are voting for Trump are more likely to say they have made an endorsement.

Still, in many white conservative churches, “there’s a fear of being labeled ‘political,’” said Kaitlyn Schiess, the author of “The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor,” a book urging evangelicals to engage more intentionally with politics. “As Christians, we’re supposed to be above that.”

An analysis by the Pew Research Center of 50,000 sermons streamed online last year found that 4% of Christian sermons even mentioned abortion, and those that did rarely focused entirely on the topic. Smaller congregations were more likely than larger ones to hear discussion of abortion in sermons.

At many evangelical churches, there have been almost no hints from the pulpit in recent weeks of the divisive election on the way.

“My job is to articulate to the members of our congregation a traditional, orthodox Christian worldview,” said Tim Breen, pastor of First Reformed Church in Orange City, Iowa, a congregation he described as “center right.” “I don’t feel a call to recommend who to vote for or even necessarily how to vote.” Most of his congregation, he said, would not be able to guess whom he is voting for.

At Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, churchgoers can participate in a class titled “The Bible, the Church and Politics” on Wednesday evenings leading up to the election. One session listed biblical priorities including a safety net for the poor, fair wages, “creation stewardship,” personal responsibility and “protection of the unborn.”

“The church is trying to balance, ‘How do we engage faithfully with social issues, but how do we not get swallowed up?’” said Trinity’s pastor, Walter Kim, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, referring to the American church in general.

Kim describes his university-town congregation as “conservative theologically but mixed politically.” “There’s a bit of a tension,” he said. “Some people come to church with a deep desire to understand their world. Some come to church to find a reprieve from the world.”

Kim tries to navigate that tension by focusing on larger moral principles rather than partisan politics from the pulpit. On Oct. 25, he preached from the New Testament book of James, a sermon that focused on humility, repentance and the ultimate folly of many disputes. He did not mention Joe Biden, Trump or the upcoming election. “From the perspective of eternity,” he told his congregation, “we’re going to regret a lot of our fights.”

The second weekend in October was “citizenship weekend” at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. “Up and down the ballot, there are two very different visions for our nation, and every one of us need to vote biblical principles,” the Rev.

The second weekend in October was “citizenship weekend” at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. “Up and down the ballot, there are two very different visions for our nation, and every one of us need to vote biblical principles,” the Rev. Jack Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisers, told the congregation. The 45,000-member church has a committee urging members to be “actively involved in our government,” including by running for office. At one point, Graham told the congregation, 23 members of the church held some kind of elected office. Graham invited four to the stage that Sunday, all Republicans. But Graham does not see it as his job to tell members how to fill out their ballots. “You preach on the issues; you don’t insult people by telling them how to vote,” Graham said in an interview. “People will figure out how to vote if you guide them from Scripture.” On Oct. 25, he preached on the importance of religious liberty. Decades after the rise of the Christian right as a political influence, conservative evangelicals have a reputation for political activism. That reputation has only intensified in the Trump era. White evangelicals voted for Trump overwhelmingly in 2016 and have remained his most dependable supporters. The president himself, who is not a frequent churchgoer, has indicated that he assumes conservative evangelical pastors would be eager to speak even more directly — perhaps to endorse him — if freed by tax law to do so. In 2017, he signed an executive order intended to loosen enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, the provision that forbids pastors at tax-exempt churches to endorse or oppose candidates from the pulpit. “We are giving churches their voices back,” he said at a Rose Garden signing ceremony, framing the change as a gift to religious conservatives. But tuning into conservative evangelical sermons across the country in the weeks leading up to a hotly contested election reveals a complex relationship between the pulpit and politics. Some pastors grappled directly with the question of a Christian’s political obligations. Others edged close to an endorsement. But many barely hinted at political themes, perhaps gesturing broadly to “unity” or “justice.” Compared with other Christian traditions, white conservative Protestant churches are notably unenthusiastic about engaging directly in some kinds of traditional political activities. If tax law changed, 45% of self-described liberal congregations would endorse specific candidates, compared with 11% of self-described conservative congregations, according to a forthcoming paper analyzing data from the National Congregations Study, an ongoing nationally representative survey of about 1,200 leaders of religious congregations. Black churches, whose members are often theologically conservative and vote Democratic, are the most politically engaged. But surveys about voter registration or lobbying — activities that liberal churches are likelier to engage in — do not capture the full portrait of churches’ political messaging. “There’s a lot more political signaling going on than we pick up with these explicit collective actions,” said Mark Chaves, director of the National Congregations Study and a professor at Duke University. Surveys do not capture, for example, an American flag displayed at the front of the church, prayers offered for police officers but not protesters (or vice versa), or passing references to “life” or “freedom” in a sermon. As a pastor in the Christian Reformed Church, Keith Mannes would have said for most of his career that he did not preach about politics. He calls himself “a pretty conservative guy,” and he occasionally addressed abortion or homosexuality in his sermons, but he saw those topics as biblical, not political. But in 2015 something changed when Mannes watched Trump slowly descend a gleaming escalator at Trump Tower to start his presidential bid. The gaudiness struck him as grotesque; the biblical term “mammon” came to mind. After Trump became president, Mannes increasingly felt called to speak directly about what he saw as an ungodly alliance between white conservative Christians and Trump. But for several years, he tried to stay quiet. “It’s just in our bones that we don’t make trouble about politics,” Mannes said. “We don’t talk about that stuff from the pulpit.” He delivered his last sermon at East Saugatuck Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan, on Oct. 11. After years of trying to “avoid politics” in the pulpit to keep peace in the congregation, he approached church leadership to suggest it was time to part ways. “You realize you’re extending all this energy just to make sure people don’t get upset,” he said. “I wanted to be able to speak openly in the world about what I believe.” Pastors whose own political beliefs are in line with their congregations’ tend to feel more empowered to speak. In Apex, North Carolina, another evangelical pastor had watched in a very different mood as Trump descended the escalator at Trump Tower. “When he came down the escalator, I didn’t know much about him but I turned to my wife and said, ‘Honey, that guy’s going to win,’” Rodney Finch recalled. Finch, the Black pastor of a large multiracial church he founded in 1995, said he had not been strongly engaged in politics before, but the moment was electrifying. This election cycle, Finch is all in. On Oct. 4, he preached a Sunday sermon on voting. “The Bible is a voter’s guide,” he told the congregation. Without explicitly telling members how to fill out their ballots, he ticked off God’s priorities, in his view: abortion, support for Israel, religious freedom. Finch is not alone in his awakening. Just 1% of Protestant pastors say they have endorsed a candidate from the pulpit this year, according to a survey conducted this fall by LifeWay Research, which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. That number is unchanged since 2016. But 32% of Protestant pastors said they have endorsed a political candidate away from the pulpit, ostensibly outside of their role as a pastor. That is a 10 percentage point increase since the last presidential election cycle. Pastors who say they are voting for Trump are more likely to say they have made an endorsement. Still, in many white conservative churches, “there’s a fear of being labeled ‘political,’” said Kaitlyn Schiess, the author of “The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor,” a book urging evangelicals to engage more intentionally with politics. “As Christians, we’re supposed to be above that.” An analysis by the Pew Research Center of 50,000 sermons streamed online last year found that 4% of Christian sermons even mentioned abortion, and those that did rarely focused entirely on the topic. Smaller congregations were more likely than larger ones to hear discussion of abortion in sermons. At many evangelical churches, there have been almost no hints from the pulpit in recent weeks of the divisive election on the way. “My job is to articulate to the members of our congregation a traditional, orthodox Christian worldview,” said Tim Breen, pastor of First Reformed Church in Orange City, Iowa, a congregation he described as “center right.” “I don’t feel a call to recommend who to vote for or even necessarily how to vote.” Most of his congregation, he said, would not be able to guess whom he is voting for. At Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, churchgoers can participate in a class titled “The Bible, the Church and Politics” on Wednesday evenings leading up to the election. One session listed biblical priorities including a safety net for the poor, fair wages, “creation stewardship,” personal responsibility and “protection of the unborn.” “The church is trying to balance, ‘How do we engage faithfully with social issues, but how do we not get swallowed up?’” said Trinity’s pastor, Walter Kim, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, referring to the American church in general. Kim describes his university-town congregation as “conservative theologically but mixed politically.” “There’s a bit of a tension,” he said. “Some people come to church with a deep desire to understand their world. Some come to church to find a reprieve from the world.” Kim tries to navigate that tension by focusing on larger moral principles rather than partisan politics from the pulpit. On Oct. 25, he preached from the New Testament book of James, a sermon that focused on humility, repentance and the ultimate folly of many disputes. He did not mention Joe Biden, Trump or the upcoming election. “From the perspective of eternity,” he told his congregation, “we’re going to regret a lot of our fights.”

Preaching or avoiding politics, conservative churches walk a delicate line

President Donald Trump predicted “bedlam” and a lack of clarity about the presidential results until weeks after Election Day as he barnstormed Pennsylvania, while former Vice President Joe Biden made his first joint appearance with former President Barack Obama at an event in Michigan.

The last Saturday before Election Day offered traditional last-minute frantic campaigning in battleground states played against the backdrop of the extraordinary rancor, high stakes and sense of disruption reflecting a pandemic, an economic downturn and recurring protests and unrest at the close of Trump’s first term.

The dueling schedules showed the intensity with which the two campaigns are approaching the final days of the election and illustrated differences once again in their basic approach to the worst public health crisis in a century.

Biden talked about taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously, while Trump mocked his opponent for his focus on the virus and falsely accused him of favoring “deadly” lockdowns.

In remarks in Newtown and Reading, Pennsylvania, Trump stoked fears of an election left unsettled after voting closes on Nov. 3 and about the prospects that ballots would not count.

“You’re going to be waiting for weeks” as votes are counted, Trump declared in Newtown.

“Many, many days,” he went on. “So you’re going to be watching on Nov. 3. I think it’s highly likely you’re not going to have a decision, because Pennsylvania’s very big. We’re going to be waiting. Nov. 3 is going to come and go, and we’re not going to know. And you’re going to have bedlam in our country.”

At his next stop, in Reading, Trump derided a Supreme Court decision rejecting a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to decide whether the state could continue accepting ballots for three days after Nov. 3.

“You see what’s going on, right?” Trump said of Democrats. “Somebody’s going to play games, and they just got an extension. What’s the extension all about? Wouldn’t you like to hear, Nov. 3, we win, we lose? We win, we lose. Whatever.”

The president called the decision “disappointing” and added, “Many, many disappointing opinions from the Supreme Court. They talk about we control the Supreme — well we don’t control the Supreme Court. That was a terrible decision.”

The question of how long ballots can be accepted in battleground states has been a dominant one as Nov. 3 approaches. So has the question of whether Trump will try to declare victory if he is leading in specific states on Election Day, regardless of whether they have been called in his favor.

Trump barely addressed the coronavirus pandemic at his first two stops, other than to praise his administration, complain about Biden’s focus on the pandemic and to falsely claim once again that the country was “rounding the turn” as the number of daily new cases nationally has spiked to almost 100,000.

Obama, appearing with Biden at a drive-in rally in Flint, Michigan, for their first stop of the day, mocked Trump as heartless.

Noting Trump’s baseless claim a day earlier that doctors were profiting from coronavirus deaths, Obama said, “He cannot fathom — he does not understand — the notion that somebody would risk their life to save others without trying to make a buck.”

Trump is continuing to hold crowded rallies as the pandemic rages, and Obama ridiculed him for his fixation on crowd sizes, asking: “Did no one come to his birthday party when he was a kid? Was he traumatized?”

In the past two weeks, Obama campaigned solo for Biden in Pennsylvania and Florida, but Saturday was the first time in the general election that he and Biden had campaigned together in person.

At the event in Flint, Biden praised Obama and ripped Trump over the pandemic. He too invoked Trump’s baseless statement made at a rally Friday about doctors and coronavirus-related fatalities.

“What in the hell is wrong with this man?” Biden asked. “Excuse my language, but think about it. It’s perverted. He may believe it because he doesn’t do anything other than for money.”

And he spoke of the stakes for the nation in this year’s vote.

“I don’t care how hard Donald Trump tries,” Biden told the crowd. “There’s nothing — let me say it again — there’s nothing that he can do to stop the people of this nation from voting in overwhelming numbers and taking back this democracy.”

Where both Trump and Biden campaigned Saturday was as revealing as what both men said.

The two states were part of the so-called Blue Wall — Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which have leaned Democratic in recent national elections but which were crucial to Trump’s victory in 2016 over Hillary Clinton.

Trump has struggled in all three states throughout the 2020 campaign and is pressing to keep at least one of the three as part of his map this year, in an election cycle marked by a pandemic and an economic recession. Pennsylvania is seen by Trump’s advisers as the likeliest state among the three for him to win.

In Newtown in Bucks County, Trump delivered a subdued speech, speaking from the teleprompter at first, to several hundred people seated in folding chairs arrayed in a field in front of a stage and a podium.

The speech took place in front of the farmhouse where George Washington planned the crossing of the Delaware River. The small crowd sat close together, mostly unmasked. Unlike it has done at his other rallies, Trump’s campaign did not position energetic supporters in a stand behind him.

The president criticized Biden’s record on trade in a state hit hard in recent years by job losses, and he criticized Biden’s comments about restricting the practice of fracking. He also defended his record on the coronavirus.

“We have done an incredible job. At some point they are going to recognize that,” Trump said after mocking Biden for focusing too much on the virus. “We’ve done an A-plus job. I give ourselves a D, or maybe an F, in terms of public relations.”

After his third rally, in Butler, Pennsylvania, a CNN reporter posted on Twitter photos of crowds searching for buses to leave the event in 41-degree weather, an echo of the debacle in Omaha, Nebraska, this past week when the campaign’s outdoor rally ended and the buses were nowhere to be found on a frigid night.

A Trump campaign official on Saturday insisted there were dozens of buses and that it was simply taking awhile for the line to move.

Ending his day with a rally in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, Trump cackled about his supporters “taunting” Biden at his outdoor events by driving by and honking horns, and then cheered on his supporters who surrounded a Biden campaign bus in Texas. Biden campaign officials said they had to cancel a planned event because the Trump supporters tried to force the bus off the road.

“Anybody see the picture of their crazy bus driving down the highway; they are surrounded by hundreds of cars, they are all Trump flags all over the place,” Trump said, chuckling.

And he tried to sow doubt about the safety of voting in Philadelphia, a city with a large Black population, similar to what he did in 2016.

“Are they going to mysteriously find more ballots” after polls close, he asked. “Strange things have been known to happen, especially in Philadelphia.”

Biden and Obama ended with a drive-in rally in Detroit, where hundreds of people waited in cars to see them on Belle Isle, a state park on an island in the middle of the Detroit River with expansive views of the skylines of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

Stevie Wonder performed before they addressed the crowd. In his speech, Obama added another jab as he talked about Trump’s “obsession with crowds,” asking, “Is Fox News not giving him enough attention?”

Biden mocked Trump for having written off as business expenses more than $70,000 paid to style his hair during “The Apprentice.”

“I tell you what, man,” Biden said. “I hardly have any hair, but I’d rather have what I have.”

For many drawn to the rally, it was time for a change.

“The last four years have been hell,” said Miriam Pizana, who came to the event with her daughter Kristen. “We never knew what the chief of staff or communications directors’ names were before, and now we know them all, and not for anything good.”

President Donald Trump predicted “bedlam” and a lack of clarity about the presidential results until weeks after Election Day as he barnstormed Pennsylvania, while former Vice President Joe Biden made his first joint appearance with former President Barack Obama at an event in Michigan.

President Donald Trump predicted “bedlam” and a lack of clarity about the presidential results until weeks after Election Day as he barnstormed Pennsylvania, while former Vice President Joe Biden made his first joint appearance with former President Barack Obama at an event in Michigan. The last Saturday before Election Day offered traditional last-minute frantic campaigning in battleground states played against the backdrop of the extraordinary rancor, high stakes and sense of disruption reflecting a pandemic, an economic downturn and recurring protests and unrest at the close of Trump’s first term. The dueling schedules showed the intensity with which the two campaigns are approaching the final days of the election and illustrated differences once again in their basic approach to the worst public health crisis in a century. Biden talked about taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously, while Trump mocked his opponent for his focus on the virus and falsely accused him of favoring “deadly” lockdowns. In remarks in Newtown and Reading, Pennsylvania, Trump stoked fears of an election left unsettled after voting closes on Nov. 3 and about the prospects that ballots would not count. “You’re going to be waiting for weeks” as votes are counted, Trump declared in Newtown. “Many, many days,” he went on. “So you’re going to be watching on Nov. 3. I think it’s highly likely you’re not going to have a decision, because Pennsylvania’s very big. We’re going to be waiting. Nov. 3 is going to come and go, and we’re not going to know. And you’re going to have bedlam in our country.” At his next stop, in Reading, Trump derided a Supreme Court decision rejecting a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to decide whether the state could continue accepting ballots for three days after Nov. 3. “You see what’s going on, right?” Trump said of Democrats. “Somebody’s going to play games, and they just got an extension. What’s the extension all about? Wouldn’t you like to hear, Nov. 3, we win, we lose? We win, we lose. Whatever.” The president called the decision “disappointing” and added, “Many, many disappointing opinions from the Supreme Court. They talk about we control the Supreme — well we don’t control the Supreme Court. That was a terrible decision.” The question of how long ballots can be accepted in battleground states has been a dominant one as Nov. 3 approaches. So has the question of whether Trump will try to declare victory if he is leading in specific states on Election Day, regardless of whether they have been called in his favor. Trump barely addressed the coronavirus pandemic at his first two stops, other than to praise his administration, complain about Biden’s focus on the pandemic and to falsely claim once again that the country was “rounding the turn” as the number of daily new cases nationally has spiked to almost 100,000. Obama, appearing with Biden at a drive-in rally in Flint, Michigan, for their first stop of the day, mocked Trump as heartless. Noting Trump’s baseless claim a day earlier that doctors were profiting from coronavirus deaths, Obama said, “He cannot fathom — he does not understand — the notion that somebody would risk their life to save others without trying to make a buck.” Trump is continuing to hold crowded rallies as the pandemic rages, and Obama ridiculed him for his fixation on crowd sizes, asking: “Did no one come to his birthday party when he was a kid? Was he traumatized?” In the past two weeks, Obama campaigned solo for Biden in Pennsylvania and Florida, but Saturday was the first time in the general election that he and Biden had campaigned together in person. At the event in Flint, Biden praised Obama and ripped Trump over the pandemic. He too invoked Trump’s baseless statement made at a rally Friday about doctors and coronavirus-related fatalities. “What in the hell is wrong with this man?” Biden asked. “Excuse my language, but think about it. It’s perverted. He may believe it because he doesn’t do anything other than for money.” And he spoke of the stakes for the nation in this year’s vote. “I don’t care how hard Donald Trump tries,” Biden told the crowd. “There’s nothing — let me say it again — there’s nothing that he can do to stop the people of this nation from voting in overwhelming numbers and taking back this democracy.” Where both Trump and Biden campaigned Saturday was as revealing as what both men said. The two states were part of the so-called Blue Wall — Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which have leaned Democratic in recent national elections but which were crucial to Trump’s victory in 2016 over Hillary Clinton. Trump has struggled in all three states throughout the 2020 campaign and is pressing to keep at least one of the three as part of his map this year, in an election cycle marked by a pandemic and an economic recession. Pennsylvania is seen by Trump’s advisers as the likeliest state among the three for him to win. In Newtown in Bucks County, Trump delivered a subdued speech, speaking from the teleprompter at first, to several hundred people seated in folding chairs arrayed in a field in front of a stage and a podium. The speech took place in front of the farmhouse where George Washington planned the crossing of the Delaware River. The small crowd sat close together, mostly unmasked. Unlike it has done at his other rallies, Trump’s campaign did not position energetic supporters in a stand behind him. The president criticized Biden’s record on trade in a state hit hard in recent years by job losses, and he criticized Biden’s comments about restricting the practice of fracking. He also defended his record on the coronavirus. “We have done an incredible job. At some point they are going to recognize that,” Trump said after mocking Biden for focusing too much on the virus. “We’ve done an A-plus job. I give ourselves a D, or maybe an F, in terms of public relations.” After his third rally, in Butler, Pennsylvania, a CNN reporter posted on Twitter photos of crowds searching for buses to leave the event in 41-degree weather, an echo of the debacle in Omaha, Nebraska, this past week when the campaign’s outdoor rally ended and the buses were nowhere to be found on a frigid night. A Trump campaign official on Saturday insisted there were dozens of buses and that it was simply taking awhile for the line to move. Ending his day with a rally in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, Trump cackled about his supporters “taunting” Biden at his outdoor events by driving by and honking horns, and then cheered on his supporters who surrounded a Biden campaign bus in Texas. Biden campaign officials said they had to cancel a planned event because the Trump supporters tried to force the bus off the road. “Anybody see the picture of their crazy bus driving down the highway; they are surrounded by hundreds of cars, they are all Trump flags all over the place,” Trump said, chuckling. And he tried to sow doubt about the safety of voting in Philadelphia, a city with a large Black population, similar to what he did in 2016. “Are they going to mysteriously find more ballots” after polls close, he asked. “Strange things have been known to happen, especially in Philadelphia.” Biden and Obama ended with a drive-in rally in Detroit, where hundreds of people waited in cars to see them on Belle Isle, a state park on an island in the middle of the Detroit River with expansive views of the skylines of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. Stevie Wonder performed before they addressed the crowd. In his speech, Obama added another jab as he talked about Trump’s “obsession with crowds,” asking, “Is Fox News not giving him enough attention?” Biden mocked Trump for having written off as business expenses more than $70,000 paid to style his hair during “The Apprentice.” “I tell you what, man,” Biden said. “I hardly have any hair, but I’d rather have what I have.” For many drawn to the rally, it was time for a change. “The last four years have been hell,” said Miriam Pizana, who came to the event with her daughter Kristen. “We never knew what the chief of staff or communications directors’ names were before, and now we know them all, and not for anything good.”

Final weekend campaigning reflects both traditional barnstorming and 2020 chaos

Data leaked from Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has revealed some damning information that may hit his father's image as he attempts to challenge US President Donald Trump in November 3 presidential elections. As per a Daily Mail report, Hunter Biden spent USD 11,400 in a strip club in a single night and also paid USD 21,000 for live feed from a porn website.

Hunter Biden is known for his depravities. But the extent of his activities has now come out in the open through his abandoned laptop. Daily Mail says that the laptop contains thousands of documents and photographs in which Hunter Biden can be seen taking drugs and engaging in sexual acts with women.

The report quoted sources to say that Hunter Biden's spending on porn sites was "staggering". So much so that his credit card was rejected several times because he had spent all funds.

The contents of the laptop are understood to have been poorly secured. That means that Hunter Biden has been open to blackmail for all these years.

Hunter Biden's bad reputation precedes him, but the recent leak has come just days before the US Presidential Election 2020 voting day. The data leak has potential to hurt Hunter's father Joe Biden's chances of winning the president's office.

Data leaked from Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has revealed some damning information that may hit his father's image as he attempts to challenge US President Donald Trump in November 3 presidential elections.

Data leaked from Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has revealed some damning information that may hit his father's image as he attempts to challenge US President Donald Trump in November 3 presidential elections. As per a Daily Mail report, Hunter Biden spent USD 11,400 in a strip club in a single night and also paid USD 21,000 for live feed from a porn website. Hunter Biden is known for his depravities. But the extent of his activities has now come out in the open through his abandoned laptop. Daily Mail says that the laptop contains thousands of documents and photographs in which Hunter Biden can be seen taking drugs and engaging in sexual acts with women. The report quoted sources to say that Hunter Biden's spending on porn sites was "staggering". So much so that his credit card was rejected several times because he had spent all funds. The contents of the laptop are understood to have been poorly secured. That means that Hunter Biden has been open to blackmail for all these years. Hunter Biden's bad reputation precedes him, but the recent leak has come just days before the US Presidential Election 2020 voting day. The data leak has potential to hurt Hunter's father Joe Biden's chances of winning the president's office.

Joe Biden's son Hunter spent thousands on strip club and adult sites, reveals data leak

A recent study claimed that dining out and grocery shopping may be more dangerous than air travel but some scientists are saying that such comparison cannot be made without knowing if mask wearing and social distancing norms are properly followed in each of these scenarios.&nbsp;

In the previous research, funded by airlines, airports and aircraft manufacturers, scientists from Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health in the US, said the ventilation system in aeroplanes made of High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters continuously circulate and refresh the air supply, "filtering out more than 99 per cent of the particles that cause COVID-19."

However, researchers including Arnold I Barnett from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, said the HEPA filters may not function as effectively in airplanes as the report suggests.

"HEPA filters are very good, but not as effective as US airlines suggest. They are not foolproof and there are numerous examples of transmission despite these filters," Barnett, a professor of statistics with a focus on problems of health and safety, told .

He noted that transmission probability depends on a contagious passenger's emissions of the virus via breathing, speaking, and coughing or sneezing -- a mixture that varies from person to person -- as well as the movement of droplets and aerosols given the geometry of the airplane and its powerful HEPA air-purification systems.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/how-are-americans-catching-the-virus-increasingly-they-have-no-idea-339384">How are Americans catching the virus? Increasingly, ‘they have no idea’</a> 
 
"None of the processes is fully understood for COVID-19," the MIT scientist noted.

Abraar Karan from the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in the US, also expressed concern about transmission risk aboard airplanes. 
"For those considering flying, the reality is that while planes have great ventilation systems, we don't have a good idea of how many COVID-19 cases were actually infected on the flight itself," Karan tweeted.

"We are not testing the right way to figure this out," he added.

Commenting on the risk of contracting COVID-19 in airplanes as compared to the odds in grocery stores and restaurants, Justin Yang from the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, who was unrelated to the study, said such an evaluation "cannot be made in a simple way."

Yang, whose team recently published a study on COVID-19 infection among grocery store workers at an outlet in the US, said "there isn't really a safer-riskier order of situations between airplanes and grocery stores as it depends on many factors."

"It ultimately depends on the distance you maintain from an infected person. The closer you are to someone with the virus, the more chances you may be of getting infected," he told .

The public health researcher added that the risk in airplanes is "not as significant as people think," due to the airflow patterns, enhanced cleaning, and mandatory mask-wearing.

"However, if you are sitting right next to an infected person, there is a significant chance of getting infected," Yang added.

Barnett concurred.

He said, to compare risk scenarios, one must know if social distancing and mask-wearing measures are enforced adequately in the respective settings.

According to the MIT researcher, removing masks for extended periods in each of the settings -- grocery stores, restaurants, and airplanes -- "attenuates the benefits of mask-wearing."

Based on his team's yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, he said taking off masks for consuming food offered in commercial planes, may significantly increase the risk of passengers getting infected with the virus.

If a person in a two-hour airplane journey removes their mask for about 20 minutes, Barnett said "it increases the transmission risk by 33 per cent."

"Masks reduce transmission risk by about two-thirds. If X is the transmission risk over 20 minutes with a mask, and thus 3X without a mask, then the total risk is about 6X for a two-hour flight, and 8X (i.e., 5X + 3X) with a 20 minute mask break. The ratio of 8X to 6X is 1.33. Of course, this is an approximation," he explained.

While the mortality risk for domestic air passengers who contract COVID-19 may be below the US population-wide average, Barnett and his team said, COVID-19 infections on planes can cause deaths to some people who were not passengers.

"These indirect victims of infections incurred during flights (i.e. of tertiary infections) could well outnumber the direct victims," he noted.

(With PTI inputs)

A recent study claimed that dining out and grocery shopping may be more dangerous than air travel but some scientists are saying that such comparison cannot be made without knowing if mask wearing and social distancing norms are properly followed in each of these scenarios.

A recent study claimed that dining out and grocery shopping may be more dangerous than air travel but some scientists are saying that such comparison cannot be made without knowing if mask wearing and social distancing norms are properly followed in each of these scenarios. In the previous research, funded by airlines, airports and aircraft manufacturers, scientists from Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health in the US, said the ventilation system in aeroplanes made of High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters continuously circulate and refresh the air supply, "filtering out more than 99 per cent of the particles that cause COVID-19." However, researchers including Arnold I Barnett from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, said the HEPA filters may not function as effectively in airplanes as the report suggests. "HEPA filters are very good, but not as effective as US airlines suggest. They are not foolproof and there are numerous examples of transmission despite these filters," Barnett, a professor of statistics with a focus on problems of health and safety, told . He noted that transmission probability depends on a contagious passenger's emissions of the virus via breathing, speaking, and coughing or sneezing -- a mixture that varies from person to person -- as well as the movement of droplets and aerosols given the geometry of the airplane and its powerful HEPA air-purification systems. Also Read | How are Americans catching the virus? Increasingly, ‘they have no idea’ "None of the processes is fully understood for COVID-19," the MIT scientist noted. Abraar Karan from the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in the US, also expressed concern about transmission risk aboard airplanes. "For those considering flying, the reality is that while planes have great ventilation systems, we don't have a good idea of how many COVID-19 cases were actually infected on the flight itself," Karan tweeted. "We are not testing the right way to figure this out," he added. Commenting on the risk of contracting COVID-19 in airplanes as compared to the odds in grocery stores and restaurants, Justin Yang from the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, who was unrelated to the study, said such an evaluation "cannot be made in a simple way." Yang, whose team recently published a study on COVID-19 infection among grocery store workers at an outlet in the US, said "there isn't really a safer-riskier order of situations between airplanes and grocery stores as it depends on many factors." "It ultimately depends on the distance you maintain from an infected person. The closer you are to someone with the virus, the more chances you may be of getting infected," he told . The public health researcher added that the risk in airplanes is "not as significant as people think," due to the airflow patterns, enhanced cleaning, and mandatory mask-wearing. "However, if you are sitting right next to an infected person, there is a significant chance of getting infected," Yang added. Barnett concurred. He said, to compare risk scenarios, one must know if social distancing and mask-wearing measures are enforced adequately in the respective settings. According to the MIT researcher, removing masks for extended periods in each of the settings -- grocery stores, restaurants, and airplanes -- "attenuates the benefits of mask-wearing." Based on his team's yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, he said taking off masks for consuming food offered in commercial planes, may significantly increase the risk of passengers getting infected with the virus. If a person in a two-hour airplane journey removes their mask for about 20 minutes, Barnett said "it increases the transmission risk by 33 per cent." "Masks reduce transmission risk by about two-thirds. If X is the transmission risk over 20 minutes with a mask, and thus 3X without a mask, then the total risk is about 6X for a two-hour flight, and 8X (i.e., 5X + 3X) with a 20 minute mask break. The ratio of 8X to 6X is 1.33. Of course, this is an approximation," he explained. While the mortality risk for domestic air passengers who contract COVID-19 may be below the US population-wide average, Barnett and his team said, COVID-19 infections on planes can cause deaths to some people who were not passengers. "These indirect victims of infections incurred during flights (i.e. of tertiary infections) could well outnumber the direct victims," he noted. (With PTI inputs)

Dining out, grocery shopping more dangerous than air travel during Covid-19: Study

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said that a satirical magazine like Charlie Hebdo could not exist in Russia. At the same time, Peskov termed October 16 beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty a "horrifying tragedy". He was talking to Kommersant FM radio.

He further said that every faith lived in full respect of each other and stated it as the reason why a publication like Charlie Hebdo was not possible in Russia.

He declined to answer whether it was acceptable to caricaturise Prophet Mohammed.

Several teachings in Islam forbid the pictorial depiction of Prophet Mohammed. Charlie Hebdo's headquarters in Paris were targetted in a terrorist attack in 2015 after it caricaturised Prophet Mohammed.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/suspect-arrested-in-shooting-of-priest-in-frances-lyon-339322">Suspect arrested in shooting of priest in France's Lyon</a>

The debate has sprung up violently after Samuel Paty, the teacher was beheaded by a Chechen youth after he depicted Prophet Mohammed in the classroom. Days after the initial attack, a woman was beheaded and two other persons killed in an attack in a church in French city of Nice. On Saturday (October 31) a Greek Orthodox priest was shot at in Lyon.

The incidents, the debate and the political reactions have stirred the public all around the world especially in Muslim countries.

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said that a satirical magazine like Charlie Hebdo could not exist in Russia. At the same time, Peskov termed October 16 beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty a "horrifying tragedy".

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said that a satirical magazine like Charlie Hebdo could not exist in Russia. At the same time, Peskov termed October 16 beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty a "horrifying tragedy". He was talking to Kommersant FM radio. He further said that every faith lived in full respect of each other and stated it as the reason why a publication like Charlie Hebdo was not possible in Russia. He declined to answer whether it was acceptable to caricaturise Prophet Mohammed. Several teachings in Islam forbid the pictorial depiction of Prophet Mohammed. Charlie Hebdo's headquarters in Paris were targetted in a terrorist attack in 2015 after it caricaturised Prophet Mohammed. Also Read | Suspect arrested in shooting of priest in France's Lyon The debate has sprung up violently after Samuel Paty, the teacher was beheaded by a Chechen youth after he depicted Prophet Mohammed in the classroom. Days after the initial attack, a woman was beheaded and two other persons killed in an attack in a church in French city of Nice. On Saturday (October 31) a Greek Orthodox priest was shot at in Lyon. The incidents, the debate and the political reactions have stirred the public all around the world especially in Muslim countries.

Magazine like Charlie Hebdo 'could not exist' in Russia, says Kremlin

The United States is hitting records in daily coronavirus cases. But China, the country first afflicted with the scourge, is having a different experience.

Unlike the Trump administration, which has said it is prioritizing opening the economy while essentially giving up on controlling the pandemic, China moved aggressively to stop the virus. The result: China’s economy is growing, and life there is returning to a semblance of normal, while the United States is struggling with a third wave of infections and the prospect of new restrictions.

Economic growth in China has surged, hitting 4.9% in the latest quarter, and consumer spending has slowly started to recover. Residents are once again flocking into malls, bars, concert halls and hair salons, while schools, subways and offices are crowded.

China has effectively sealed off its borders from the outside world and doubled down on efforts to eradicate the virus. When a crop of cases emerges, the government swiftly shuts down vast areas and quickly tests millions of people to help keep local transmissions near zero.

China’s authoritarian government has the ability to act in a way that democracies that must be accountable to the public cannot. But it has demonstrated that the way to open the economy is to first safeguard public health.

While Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, has said the United States is “not going to control the pandemic,” China’s approach has helped to restore confidence and allow businesses to reopen.

During a recent national holiday in China, when hundreds of millions of people went on trips nationwide, tourists crammed shoulder to shoulder to celebrate along the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, some without masks. At Yellow Mountain, in the eastern province of Anhui, thousands of people squeezed into narrow hiking trails, bumping into each other as they passed by granite peaks and pine trees.

“People aren’t panicked anymore,” said Eric Xie, who works at an internet company in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou. “You can eat at restaurants, go to movies and play sports. Life has basically returned to normal.”

As with much in the COVID era, the normalcy comes with an asterisk. Xie said he rarely goes on work trips anymore, instead speaking with clients by video. He said people had largely grown accustomed to wearing masks on subways and buses, even though Hangzhou has not had a coronavirus case in months.

“It has become a habit,” he said. “It’s just part of life. People accept it.”

China’s success would have seemed improbable when the virus emerged in the central city of Wuhan late last year.

The Chinese government was denounced for trying to initially cover up the virus and to silence those who tried to warn about the outbreak. The decision to lock down Wuhan, a city of 11 million, for 76 days was widely criticized as inhumane and damaging to the livelihoods of ordinary families.

For months, President Donald Trump has been one of Beijing’s fiercest opponents. He has railed against the “China virus” on Twitter and has made attacks on the Chinese Communist Party a centerpiece of his campaign.

But China now represents the extreme, Communist version of a highly managed, scientifically backed approach that has worked in South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and other democracies. To varying degrees, they are emphasizing the collective good over personal freedoms, a formula that has allowed them to keep cases relatively low.

In these places, people take heed when officials mandate masks and impose social distancing restrictions, even if sometimes begrudgingly. They put up with mandatory quarantines and invasive government tracking efforts. They support closing the borders and limiting entry, in most cases, to residents only.

By contrast, the pandemic has become highly politicized in the United States, where there have been more than 9 million cases and 228,000 deaths. Wearing masks has become a divisive issue, and many Americans have resisted government limits on their movements.

As with much in China, the government leaves little room for dissent or debate over its authoritarian approach to combating the virus, and the population is forced to acquiesce to the party’s demands. Yet many people in China say they are relieved that the pandemic seems to be under control, especially as the United States and countries in Europe confront a crush of new cases.

“People don’t feel the restrictions are too severe,” said Vivian Gao, 26, who works at a cultural tourism company in Shanghai. “The results are good.”

When tourism came to a halt amid the outbreak, Gao’s company cut her salary for several months by two-thirds, to about $300 a month, straining her budget. Now she says the firm’s employees have all returned to the office, and customers are once again lining up to shop and dine.

“Life is back on track,” said Gao, whose salary has been restored.

Gao said she believed China’s top-down model was better equipped to handle the pandemic than the U.S. political system, which she said placed too much emphasis on individual freedom.

“In China, a word from a superior can be heard immediately and implemented quickly,” Gao said. “It’s the difference between individualism and collectivism.”

The distinction between the two countries has fueled a propaganda frenzy, with officials highlighting the surge in cases in the United States to tout the strength of China’s authoritarian system and deflect attention from domestic problems.

The Chinese foreign ministry has said the pandemic has “torn the emperor’s new clothes” off American democracy. A recent commentary in Global Times, a brash tabloid controlled by the party, called the situation in the United States a “huge human rights tragedy,” echoing language that American politicians often use against China.

The failure of many western countries to contain the pandemic has helped Chinese President Xi Jinping bolster his party, which came under attack for its early missteps in handling the crisis.

“The message is, ‘Look at the way the United States and Europe are dealing with a simple matter of life and death — and look at how your government under the Communist Party and Xi Jinping have dealt with the exact same issue,’” said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

Tsang said the party’s success in handling the pandemic would strengthen Xi’s grip on power, especially if the Chinese economy continues to outperform other countries. “It will simply reinvigorate him in his efforts to tighten up control of society,” he said.

China, though, can’t declare outright victory.

The economy remains in a precarious position, and its strength depends in large part on whether the party can maintain a sense of confidence among the public. With a vaccine still many months away, business owners worry the virus could resurface and once again bring life in China to a standstill.

Jane Shao, president of Lumière Pavilions, a Chinese movie theater chain, said sales had largely recovered since last year because customers believe they can be safe in public. The widespread use of apps in China that verify people’s health has helped reduce fears about the virus, she said.

Even so, Shao said there was a “long way to go” and that she was worried about the possibility of scattered outbreaks.

“I can’t expect we will live in a panic-free society before vaccines are introduced,” she said.

The country is also navigating a fine line between encouraging people to be vigilant about the virus and fueling paranoia.

When a single asymptomatic case of the coronavirus was detected last week in Kashgar, in the western region of Xinjiang, authorities rushed to lock down the city. Officials demanded that more than 4 million people undergo tests for the virus, eventually finding nearly 200 cases, largely asymptomatic.

The mass testing effort followed similar drives in the cities of Wuhan, Beijing, Qingdao and Urumqi, after clusters of cases emerged.

China’s authoritarian hammer has been a staple of its strategy from the outset, helping it move quickly and bluntly to vanquish resurgences of the virus. But the government’s tactics also provoked anger among residents, who say authorities have at times reacted too harshly.

Yibulayinaji, a 38-year-old owner of a pilaf stand in Kashgar, said shops had been ordered to close, and residents were staying indoors.

“We don’t know when they’ll allow us to reopen, but right now, we can’t do any business,” he said in a telephone interview. “We can’t go out. We can’t go anywhere.”

The United States is hitting records in daily coronavirus cases. But China, the country first afflicted with the scourge, is having a different experience. Unlike the Trump administration, which has said it is prioritizing opening the economy while essentially giving up on controlling the pandemic, China moved aggressively to stop the virus.

The United States is hitting records in daily coronavirus cases. But China, the country first afflicted with the scourge, is having a different experience. Unlike the Trump administration, which has said it is prioritizing opening the economy while essentially giving up on controlling the pandemic, China moved aggressively to stop the virus. The result: China’s economy is growing, and life there is returning to a semblance of normal, while the United States is struggling with a third wave of infections and the prospect of new restrictions. Economic growth in China has surged, hitting 4.9% in the latest quarter, and consumer spending has slowly started to recover. Residents are once again flocking into malls, bars, concert halls and hair salons, while schools, subways and offices are crowded. China has effectively sealed off its borders from the outside world and doubled down on efforts to eradicate the virus. When a crop of cases emerges, the government swiftly shuts down vast areas and quickly tests millions of people to help keep local transmissions near zero. China’s authoritarian government has the ability to act in a way that democracies that must be accountable to the public cannot. But it has demonstrated that the way to open the economy is to first safeguard public health. While Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, has said the United States is “not going to control the pandemic,” China’s approach has helped to restore confidence and allow businesses to reopen. During a recent national holiday in China, when hundreds of millions of people went on trips nationwide, tourists crammed shoulder to shoulder to celebrate along the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, some without masks. At Yellow Mountain, in the eastern province of Anhui, thousands of people squeezed into narrow hiking trails, bumping into each other as they passed by granite peaks and pine trees. “People aren’t panicked anymore,” said Eric Xie, who works at an internet company in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou. “You can eat at restaurants, go to movies and play sports. Life has basically returned to normal.” As with much in the COVID era, the normalcy comes with an asterisk. Xie said he rarely goes on work trips anymore, instead speaking with clients by video. He said people had largely grown accustomed to wearing masks on subways and buses, even though Hangzhou has not had a coronavirus case in months. “It has become a habit,” he said. “It’s just part of life. People accept it.” China’s success would have seemed improbable when the virus emerged in the central city of Wuhan late last year. The Chinese government was denounced for trying to initially cover up the virus and to silence those who tried to warn about the outbreak. The decision to lock down Wuhan, a city of 11 million, for 76 days was widely criticized as inhumane and damaging to the livelihoods of ordinary families. For months, President Donald Trump has been one of Beijing’s fiercest opponents. He has railed against the “China virus” on Twitter and has made attacks on the Chinese Communist Party a centerpiece of his campaign. But China now represents the extreme, Communist version of a highly managed, scientifically backed approach that has worked in South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and other democracies. To varying degrees, they are emphasizing the collective good over personal freedoms, a formula that has allowed them to keep cases relatively low. In these places, people take heed when officials mandate masks and impose social distancing restrictions, even if sometimes begrudgingly. They put up with mandatory quarantines and invasive government tracking efforts. They support closing the borders and limiting entry, in most cases, to residents only. By contrast, the pandemic has become highly politicized in the United States, where there have been more than 9 million cases and 228,000 deaths. Wearing masks has become a divisive issue, and many Americans have resisted government limits on their movements. As with much in China, the government leaves little room for dissent or debate over its authoritarian approach to combating the virus, and the population is forced to acquiesce to the party’s demands. Yet many people in China say they are relieved that the pandemic seems to be under control, especially as the United States and countries in Europe confront a crush of new cases. “People don’t feel the restrictions are too severe,” said Vivian Gao, 26, who works at a cultural tourism company in Shanghai. “The results are good.” When tourism came to a halt amid the outbreak, Gao’s company cut her salary for several months by two-thirds, to about $300 a month, straining her budget. Now she says the firm’s employees have all returned to the office, and customers are once again lining up to shop and dine. “Life is back on track,” said Gao, whose salary has been restored. Gao said she believed China’s top-down model was better equipped to handle the pandemic than the U.S. political system, which she said placed too much emphasis on individual freedom. “In China, a word from a superior can be heard immediately and implemented quickly,” Gao said. “It’s the difference between individualism and collectivism.” The distinction between the two countries has fueled a propaganda frenzy, with officials highlighting the surge in cases in the United States to tout the strength of China’s authoritarian system and deflect attention from domestic problems. The Chinese foreign ministry has said the pandemic has “torn the emperor’s new clothes” off American democracy. A recent commentary in Global Times, a brash tabloid controlled by the party, called the situation in the United States a “huge human rights tragedy,” echoing language that American politicians often use against China. The failure of many western countries to contain the pandemic has helped Chinese President Xi Jinping bolster his party, which came under attack for its early missteps in handling the crisis. “The message is, ‘Look at the way the United States and Europe are dealing with a simple matter of life and death — and look at how your government under the Communist Party and Xi Jinping have dealt with the exact same issue,’” said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Tsang said the party’s success in handling the pandemic would strengthen Xi’s grip on power, especially if the Chinese economy continues to outperform other countries. “It will simply reinvigorate him in his efforts to tighten up control of society,” he said. China, though, can’t declare outright victory. The economy remains in a precarious position, and its strength depends in large part on whether the party can maintain a sense of confidence among the public. With a vaccine still many months away, business owners worry the virus could resurface and once again bring life in China to a standstill. Jane Shao, president of Lumière Pavilions, a Chinese movie theater chain, said sales had largely recovered since last year because customers believe they can be safe in public. The widespread use of apps in China that verify people’s health has helped reduce fears about the virus, she said. Even so, Shao said there was a “long way to go” and that she was worried about the possibility of scattered outbreaks. “I can’t expect we will live in a panic-free society before vaccines are introduced,” she said. The country is also navigating a fine line between encouraging people to be vigilant about the virus and fueling paranoia. When a single asymptomatic case of the coronavirus was detected last week in Kashgar, in the western region of Xinjiang, authorities rushed to lock down the city. Officials demanded that more than 4 million people undergo tests for the virus, eventually finding nearly 200 cases, largely asymptomatic. The mass testing effort followed similar drives in the cities of Wuhan, Beijing, Qingdao and Urumqi, after clusters of cases emerged. China’s authoritarian hammer has been a staple of its strategy from the outset, helping it move quickly and bluntly to vanquish resurgences of the virus. But the government’s tactics also provoked anger among residents, who say authorities have at times reacted too harshly. Yibulayinaji, a 38-year-old owner of a pilaf stand in Kashgar, said shops had been ordered to close, and residents were staying indoors. “We don’t know when they’ll allow us to reopen, but right now, we can’t do any business,” he said in a telephone interview. “We can’t go out. We can’t go anywhere.”

US says virus can’t be controlled, China aims to prove it wrong

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Zee News Rajasthan

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Manas Joshi

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