For the very first time since his defeat, incumbent US President Donald Trump has acknowledged that his rival Joe Biden has won the White House. But, also reiterated his claims that the vote was actually rigged.

Incumbent US President Donald Trump acknowledges rival Joe Biden's win

Donald Trump has insisted he is not conceding the US election, despite seemingly acknowledging for the first time that Democrat Joe Biden won.

Incumbent U.S President Donald Trump acknowledges Biden's win | US Election 2020

President-elect Joe Biden named Ron Klain, a veteran Democratic operative and a decadeslong confidant, to be his White House chief of staff Wednesday evening, the first step toward putting in place his administration’s senior leadership.

Klain, a lawyer with deep experience on Capitol Hill, advising President Barack Obama and in corporate board rooms, served as Biden’s chief of staff when he was vice president and has been seen for months as the likeliest choice to manage his team in the White House. Known for steady nerves, he also has a fierce wit, which he has frequently unleashed on President Donald Trump on Twitter.

He was particularly critical of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, having served as the “Ebola czar” under Obama during an outbreak of the deadly disease in his second term. A video of Klain lecturing Trump about the pandemic was widely seen during the campaign.

In a statement, Biden called Klain an “invaluable” adviser, noting in particular the work they did together during the economic crisis in 2009 and the Ebola outbreak in 2014.

“His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again,” Biden said.

The choice of Klain, 59, who first went to work for Biden in the late 1980s when Biden was a senator from Delaware and Klain was a recent graduate of Harvard Law School, signals that Biden intends to rely on a tight circle of Washington insiders who have been by his side for years.

Advisers have said that the president-elect will announce other top White House staff in the coming days, even as Trump refuses to accept the results of the election, tweeting “WE WILL WIN!” on Wednesday evening.

Biden is not likely to reveal his Cabinet picks until around Thanksgiving, several people close to the transition said.

As a political tactician, Klain is well versed in the levers of power in both the executive and legislative branches of government. But he will quickly come under pressure to assemble a White House staff that extends beyond the moderate members of the Democratic establishment with whom Biden has surrounded himself over four decades in politics.

Even before Biden’s announcement, liberals in the party had already begun demanding that progressives be given a significant voice in the West Wing. And the president-elect will also be pressed to fulfill his campaign pledge to make his administration “look like the country” by tapping people of color, LGBTQ Americans and other minorities to be part of the White House staff.

In a statement, Klain said he looked forward to assembling “a talented and diverse team to work in the White House as we tackle their ambitious agenda for change and seek to heal the divides in our country.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, one of Biden’s liberal rivals for the presidential nomination, praised Klain on Twitter, calling him “a superb choice” and saying that he “understands the magnitude of the health and economic crisis and he has the experience to lead this next administration through it.”

Biden made his choice of Klain even as Trump remained defiant in the face of political reality, refusing to concede defeat and insisting that the presidential election was stolen from him four days after news organizations projected that Biden had secured the electoral votes necessary to win.

Trump and his allies — including most Republicans on Capitol Hill — have falsely claimed that the election was tainted by fraudulently cast ballots and a conspiracy by Democrats, poll workers and the news media. The president’s lawyers have filed lawsuits in several states and his operatives are scouring for examples of fraud even as Democratic and Republican election officials in nearly all 50 states say the election was fair.

In the meantime, Biden is moving quickly to demonstrate that the president’s unprecedented behavior will not interfere with the transfer of power that will take place on Jan. 20.

Klain clerked for Justice Byron White at the Supreme Court in the late 1980s and has been a fixture by Biden’s side for much of the past 30 years, serving at one point as the chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Biden led.

Klain was Biden’s top legal adviser on the committee during the racially charged and sexually explicit collision with the Bush administration over the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Many of Biden’s allies saw his handling of the confirmation — managed in large part by Klain and his team of committee lawyers — as one of the stains on his record in the Senate.

Klain took a detour to serve as Al Gore’s chief of staff while he was vice president and later oversaw Gore’s unsuccessful recount effort in Florida (for which he was portrayed by Kevin Spacey in the HBO film “Recount”).

But Klain has always remained close to Biden. In 2009, he became the vice president’s chief of staff, reprising the role he had played a decade earlier for Gore.

Klain’s experience confronting the Ebola outbreak during the Obama administration was newly relevant this year as the coronavirus pandemic upended American life and became Biden’s central message during the presidential race.

The Biden campaign leaned on Klain’s expertise as it drew a contrast between the way Biden would approach the pandemic and the way Trump did. In March, the campaign released a video of Klain speaking in front of a white board comparing the two approaches that has been viewed more than 4 million times on Twitter. A sequel, again featuring Klain in front of a white board, was posted in July.

In the last few weeks of the campaign, Trump sought to use Klain’s own words against him with a video in which Klain appears to admit that the Obama administration “did every possible thing wrong” during an outbreak of the H1N1 swine flu virus. Fact checkers concluded that Klain was speaking only about the reliance on a single vaccine, and was taken out of context.

Klain has gone in and out of government over the past several decades, at times practicing as a lawyer and later working with Steve Case, the founder of AOL, in a venture capital investment firm called Revolution. His initial agreement with Case in 2005 included the right to take unpaid leave in September and October every four years to participate in presidential politics.

“He can process a lot of information, focus on the things that matter and balance a lot of balls,” Case said of Klain, calling him “unflappable” and pragmatic when it comes to confronting a challenge: “‘Here’s the problem or the opportunity. Let’s narrow in on what matters and get the right team in place.’”

Case dismissed concerns from some people that Klain was too much of a Washington insider for this moment in history, noting that as an Indiana native, Klain often goes home for the Indianapolis 500.

“He’s been in Washington a long time,” Case said. But he added, “He’s an Indiana guy.”

Over his years mingling among the nation’s top Democratic politicians, Klain has become a specialist in helping presidents win confirmation battles in the Senate. During Obama’s first term, he played a central role in helping win confirmation of Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.

He also developed a reputation as the Democratic Party’s expert on debate preparation, coaching virtually all of the party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees during the past two decades. He made little secret of his frustration with sitting presidents — including Obama — complaining that they too often refused to prepare.

A memo for his clients that Klain prepared years ago has become memorialized as the party’s best advice for its candidates. Among the 21 rules that he outlined: No. 10, “Punches are good, counterpunches are better”; No. 13, which says that a candidate can lose a debate at any time but that “you can only win it in the first 30 minutes”; and No. 20, which warns not to say something that does not feel right.

“At that moment remember the advice that some elementary schoolteacher once gave you: ‘If in doubt, don’t,’ ” Klain wrote.

Throughout the 2020 campaign, Klain was a top adviser to Biden and was deeply trusted by a candidate known for maintaining a tight-knit inner circle. He was not especially involved in logistical, day-to-day decisions, but along with Anita Dunn, a senior Biden adviser, he played a central role in guiding Biden’s debate preparations and message.

A number of Biden allies have noted Klain’s experience dealing with economic and health crises during the Obama administration, when the country was reeling from the Great Recession. In the 2016 campaign, Klain helped Hillary Clinton prepare for debates, a task he began working on before Biden announced he would not mount his own presidential bid.

“It’s been a little hard for me to play such a role in the Biden demise — and I am definitely dead to them — but I’m glad to be on Team HRC,” Klain wrote to John D. Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, in an October 2015 email that was later disclosed by WikiLeaks. A week after Klain sent the email, Biden announced he would not run for president in 2016.

Klain was also the inaugural guest on a short-lived podcast that Biden hosted this year, speaking about the pandemic. “I’m going to call on you a lot more,” Biden told him at the end of the episode. “You know, I call on you almost every day for non-pod advice.”

At a Biden virtual fundraiser in June for Indiana donors, former Sen. Joe Donnelly made note of Klain’s work on the Ebola outbreak for the Obama White House.

At the virtual event, Klain, it turned out, was not far out of mind for the former vice president. “As a matter of fact, coincidentally, literally five minutes before I walked into this makeshift studio, I was on the phone with Ron Klain,” Biden said.

President-elect Joe Biden named Ron Klain, a veteran Democratic operative and a decadeslong confidant, to be his White House chief of staff Wednesday evening, the first step toward putting in place his administration’s senior leadership.

President-elect Joe Biden named Ron Klain, a veteran Democratic operative and a decadeslong confidant, to be his White House chief of staff Wednesday evening, the first step toward putting in place his administration’s senior leadership. Klain, a lawyer with deep experience on Capitol Hill, advising President Barack Obama and in corporate board rooms, served as Biden’s chief of staff when he was vice president and has been seen for months as the likeliest choice to manage his team in the White House. Known for steady nerves, he also has a fierce wit, which he has frequently unleashed on President Donald Trump on Twitter. He was particularly critical of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, having served as the “Ebola czar” under Obama during an outbreak of the deadly disease in his second term. A video of Klain lecturing Trump about the pandemic was widely seen during the campaign. In a statement, Biden called Klain an “invaluable” adviser, noting in particular the work they did together during the economic crisis in 2009 and the Ebola outbreak in 2014. “His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again,” Biden said. The choice of Klain, 59, who first went to work for Biden in the late 1980s when Biden was a senator from Delaware and Klain was a recent graduate of Harvard Law School, signals that Biden intends to rely on a tight circle of Washington insiders who have been by his side for years. Advisers have said that the president-elect will announce other top White House staff in the coming days, even as Trump refuses to accept the results of the election, tweeting “WE WILL WIN!” on Wednesday evening. Biden is not likely to reveal his Cabinet picks until around Thanksgiving, several people close to the transition said. As a political tactician, Klain is well versed in the levers of power in both the executive and legislative branches of government. But he will quickly come under pressure to assemble a White House staff that extends beyond the moderate members of the Democratic establishment with whom Biden has surrounded himself over four decades in politics. Even before Biden’s announcement, liberals in the party had already begun demanding that progressives be given a significant voice in the West Wing. And the president-elect will also be pressed to fulfill his campaign pledge to make his administration “look like the country” by tapping people of color, LGBTQ Americans and other minorities to be part of the White House staff. In a statement, Klain said he looked forward to assembling “a talented and diverse team to work in the White House as we tackle their ambitious agenda for change and seek to heal the divides in our country.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, one of Biden’s liberal rivals for the presidential nomination, praised Klain on Twitter, calling him “a superb choice” and saying that he “understands the magnitude of the health and economic crisis and he has the experience to lead this next administration through it.” Biden made his choice of Klain even as Trump remained defiant in the face of political reality, refusing to concede defeat and insisting that the presidential election was stolen from him four days after news organizations projected that Biden had secured the electoral votes necessary to win. Trump and his allies — including most Republicans on Capitol Hill — have falsely claimed that the election was tainted by fraudulently cast ballots and a conspiracy by Democrats, poll workers and the news media. The president’s lawyers have filed lawsuits in several states and his operatives are scouring for examples of fraud even as Democratic and Republican election officials in nearly all 50 states say the election was fair. In the meantime, Biden is moving quickly to demonstrate that the president’s unprecedented behavior will not interfere with the transfer of power that will take place on Jan. 20. Klain clerked for Justice Byron White at the Supreme Court in the late 1980s and has been a fixture by Biden’s side for much of the past 30 years, serving at one point as the chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Biden led. Klain was Biden’s top legal adviser on the committee during the racially charged and sexually explicit collision with the Bush administration over the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Many of Biden’s allies saw his handling of the confirmation — managed in large part by Klain and his team of committee lawyers — as one of the stains on his record in the Senate. Klain took a detour to serve as Al Gore’s chief of staff while he was vice president and later oversaw Gore’s unsuccessful recount effort in Florida (for which he was portrayed by Kevin Spacey in the HBO film “Recount”). But Klain has always remained close to Biden. In 2009, he became the vice president’s chief of staff, reprising the role he had played a decade earlier for Gore. Klain’s experience confronting the Ebola outbreak during the Obama administration was newly relevant this year as the coronavirus pandemic upended American life and became Biden’s central message during the presidential race. The Biden campaign leaned on Klain’s expertise as it drew a contrast between the way Biden would approach the pandemic and the way Trump did. In March, the campaign released a video of Klain speaking in front of a white board comparing the two approaches that has been viewed more than 4 million times on Twitter. A sequel, again featuring Klain in front of a white board, was posted in July. In the last few weeks of the campaign, Trump sought to use Klain’s own words against him with a video in which Klain appears to admit that the Obama administration “did every possible thing wrong” during an outbreak of the H1N1 swine flu virus. Fact checkers concluded that Klain was speaking only about the reliance on a single vaccine, and was taken out of context. Klain has gone in and out of government over the past several decades, at times practicing as a lawyer and later working with Steve Case, the founder of AOL, in a venture capital investment firm called Revolution. His initial agreement with Case in 2005 included the right to take unpaid leave in September and October every four years to participate in presidential politics. “He can process a lot of information, focus on the things that matter and balance a lot of balls,” Case said of Klain, calling him “unflappable” and pragmatic when it comes to confronting a challenge: “‘Here’s the problem or the opportunity. Let’s narrow in on what matters and get the right team in place.’” Case dismissed concerns from some people that Klain was too much of a Washington insider for this moment in history, noting that as an Indiana native, Klain often goes home for the Indianapolis 500. “He’s been in Washington a long time,” Case said. But he added, “He’s an Indiana guy.” Over his years mingling among the nation’s top Democratic politicians, Klain has become a specialist in helping presidents win confirmation battles in the Senate. During Obama’s first term, he played a central role in helping win confirmation of Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. He also developed a reputation as the Democratic Party’s expert on debate preparation, coaching virtually all of the party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees during the past two decades. He made little secret of his frustration with sitting presidents — including Obama — complaining that they too often refused to prepare. A memo for his clients that Klain prepared years ago has become memorialized as the party’s best advice for its candidates. Among the 21 rules that he outlined: No. 10, “Punches are good, counterpunches are better”; No. 13, which says that a candidate can lose a debate at any time but that “you can only win it in the first 30 minutes”; and No. 20, which warns not to say something that does not feel right. “At that moment remember the advice that some elementary schoolteacher once gave you: ‘If in doubt, don’t,’ ” Klain wrote. Throughout the 2020 campaign, Klain was a top adviser to Biden and was deeply trusted by a candidate known for maintaining a tight-knit inner circle. He was not especially involved in logistical, day-to-day decisions, but along with Anita Dunn, a senior Biden adviser, he played a central role in guiding Biden’s debate preparations and message. A number of Biden allies have noted Klain’s experience dealing with economic and health crises during the Obama administration, when the country was reeling from the Great Recession. In the 2016 campaign, Klain helped Hillary Clinton prepare for debates, a task he began working on before Biden announced he would not mount his own presidential bid. “It’s been a little hard for me to play such a role in the Biden demise — and I am definitely dead to them — but I’m glad to be on Team HRC,” Klain wrote to John D. Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, in an October 2015 email that was later disclosed by WikiLeaks. A week after Klain sent the email, Biden announced he would not run for president in 2016. Klain was also the inaugural guest on a short-lived podcast that Biden hosted this year, speaking about the pandemic. “I’m going to call on you a lot more,” Biden told him at the end of the episode. “You know, I call on you almost every day for non-pod advice.” At a Biden virtual fundraiser in June for Indiana donors, former Sen. Joe Donnelly made note of Klain’s work on the Ebola outbreak for the Obama White House. At the virtual event, Klain, it turned out, was not far out of mind for the former vice president. “As a matter of fact, coincidentally, literally five minutes before I walked into this makeshift studio, I was on the phone with Ron Klain,” Biden said.

Biden Names Ron Klain as White House Chief of Staff

Within minutes of news networks declaring&nbsp;Joe Biden victorious in US Presidential election 2020, Biden changed his Twitter bio to mention 'President-Elect'. On Saturday evening, Associated Press declared Joe Biden to be the victor in his race against incumbent President Donald Trump in US Presidential Election 2020.

<img alt="Biden tweet" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e1355230-4896-4ebe-bb7d-e224e41c46e6" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/biden%20tweet_0.JPG" />

The counting of votes is still going on in many states in the US but as per projections by CNN, NBC News and CBS News and AP, Biden has crossed the finish line and has secured 270 electoral votes.

Soon after news networks declared Biden the winner, he took to Twitter to express his gratitude to fellow Americans.

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America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. 
 
The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. 
 
I will keep the faith that you have placed in me. <a href="https://t.co/moA9qhmjn8">pic.twitter.com/moA9qhmjn8</a>
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1325118992785223682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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There were no signs in the immediate aftermath of Joe Biden's victory that Donald Trump&nbsp;was ready to concede. Earlier on Saturday evening (Indian Time) Donald Trump took to Twitter to claim again that there was widespread fraud in US Election 2020. He claimed that he had won without offering any evidence. Twitter immediately put a disclaimer on the tweet saying&nbsp;'official sources may not have called the race when this was tweeted'.

&nbsp;

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I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1325099845045071873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

Two hours before the tweet above, Trump fired a series of tweets suggesting there was a fraud in elections.&nbsp;

Twitter stuck a disclaimer to each and every one of these tweets

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-result-live-updates-us-networks-declare-biden-president-after-projecting-pennsylvania-victory-341275">Click here for latest on US Election 2020</a>

'Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process.' it read.

In these tweets, Trump has gone on to specifically mention the state of Pennsylvania (the undecided state with maximum number of electoral college votes) and claimed that 'tens of thousands' of votes were illegally brought in on election day. Apparently he suggested&nbsp;that these votes favoured Biden.

Within minutes of news networks declaring Joe Biden victorious in US Presidential election 2020, Biden changed his Twitter bio to mention 'President-Elect'. On Saturday evening, Associated Press declared Joe Biden to be the victor in his race against incumbent President Donald Trump in US Presidential Election 2020.

Within minutes of news networks declaring Joe Biden victorious in US Presidential election 2020, Biden changed his Twitter bio to mention 'President-Elect'. On Saturday evening, Associated Press declared Joe Biden to be the victor in his race against incumbent President Donald Trump in US Presidential Election 2020. The counting of votes is still going on in many states in the US but as per projections by CNN, NBC News and CBS News and AP, Biden has crossed the finish line and has secured 270 electoral votes. Soon after news networks declared Biden the winner, he took to Twitter to express his gratitude to fellow Americans. America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me. pic.twitter.com/moA9qhmjn8 — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 7, 2020 × There were no signs in the immediate aftermath of Joe Biden's victory that Donald Trump was ready to concede. Earlier on Saturday evening (Indian Time) Donald Trump took to Twitter to claim again that there was widespread fraud in US Election 2020. He claimed that he had won without offering any evidence. Twitter immediately put a disclaimer on the tweet saying 'official sources may not have called the race when this was tweeted'. I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2020 × Two hours before the tweet above, Trump fired a series of tweets suggesting there was a fraud in elections. Twitter stuck a disclaimer to each and every one of these tweets Click here for latest on US Election 2020 'Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process.' it read. In these tweets, Trump has gone on to specifically mention the state of Pennsylvania (the undecided state with maximum number of electoral college votes) and claimed that 'tens of thousands' of votes were illegally brought in on election day. Apparently he suggested that these votes favoured Biden.

Joe Biden changes Twitter bio to President-Elect within minutes of declared victory

#GravitasPlus with WION's Palki| Will Joe Biden's Presidency be good for India? Will he support India against China? Will Kamala Harris' election to the White House help India?

Gravitas Plus: Is Joe Biden good for India?

The election hung in the balance on Wednesday, with a handful of close-fought states set to decide the outcome in the coming hours or days.

U.S. services industry data point to slowing economic recovery

Nearly 91,000 cases were reported on Saturday, with 909 deaths and record hospitalizations for the sixth straight day in the Midwest

Over 91,000 Covid cases reported as America went to polls

In this episode of U.S. Election Dialogues we talk about Who will be the next US President?

U.S. Election Dialogues: The latest from the election race | Joe Biden Vs Donald Trump

Two candidates, one declaring victory. The second, just short of it. Voting officials scrambled to count votes. News channels had all hands on deck. Analysts converted their years of experience into predictions. And protesters rallied on the streets.

This presidential election is going down the history of American as the most chaotic. And its counting night is perhaps the most dramatic. It was dictated by uncertainty, highs and lows.

Trends started trickling in around 7 pm Eastern Time. Kentucky was called for President Donald Trump while Joe Biden bagged Vermont. Half an hour later, Trump bagged West Virginia. Biden won Virginia.

8 pm was Trump's golden hour. He secured 42 electoral college seats. South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tenessee, Oklahoma turned Red. But the happiness was shortlived.

Soon, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island turned blue.

Then the tide turned, Donald Trump won Arkansas. Indiana followed next. North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, Nebraska turned red.

Biden picked New York and New Mexico.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-donald-trump-criticises-surprise-ballot-dumps-for-lagging-behind-joe-biden-340569">US election 2020: Donald Trump criticises 'surprise ballot dumps' for lagging behind Joe Biden</a> 
 
15 past midnight, Biden made history. He won the first swing state, Minnesota. 5 minutes later Trump secured second swing state of Ohio.

The tally at 12:20 am ET was Biden 233 and Trump 145. At 12:47 am, Joe Biden spoke to his supporters from Delaware.

"Good evening, your patience is commendable. We knew this was gonna go long. But who knew it was going to go into maybe tomorrow morning? maybe even longer? But, look, we feel good about where we are, we really do.. I'm here to tell you tonight we believe we're on track to win this election," he said.

Two minutes into Biden's speech, Trump claimed that Democrats were trying to steal the election. Twitter flagged the tweet.

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We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1323864823680126977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

He amplified the charge of theft 2 hours later at White House East Room.

"And we were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything, and all of a sudden it was just called off (...) Millions and millions of people voted for us today. And. A very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people, and we won't stand for," he said.

By then, there was already a buzz that Trump was furious. His favourite news channel, Fox News had called Arizona in favour of Biden. But that did not keep the president from declaring victory.

"And I mean, this is a very sad moment and we will win this. And as far as I'm concerned, we already have won it. So, I just want to thank you, thank all of our support, I want to thank all of the people that worked with us," said Trump.

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&nbsp;

He also sounded bugle for the legal battle. There had been a fraud he said.

"...So we'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop." he said.

Biden's campaign manager shot back. Calling Trump's statement "Outrageous, Unprecedented and Incorrect"

As of 7:30 am Eastern Time, the electoral college tally looked something like this

Biden: 238 
Trump: 213

And as the counting night ended, America looked divided.

Two candidates, one declaring victory. The second, just short of it. Voting officials scrambled to count votes. News channels had all hands on deck. Analysts converted their years of experience into predictions.

Two candidates, one declaring victory. The second, just short of it. Voting officials scrambled to count votes. News channels had all hands on deck. Analysts converted their years of experience into predictions. And protesters rallied on the streets. This presidential election is going down the history of American as the most chaotic. And its counting night is perhaps the most dramatic. It was dictated by uncertainty, highs and lows. Trends started trickling in around 7 pm Eastern Time. Kentucky was called for President Donald Trump while Joe Biden bagged Vermont. Half an hour later, Trump bagged West Virginia. Biden won Virginia. 8 pm was Trump's golden hour. He secured 42 electoral college seats. South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tenessee, Oklahoma turned Red. But the happiness was shortlived. Soon, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island turned blue. Then the tide turned, Donald Trump won Arkansas. Indiana followed next. North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, Nebraska turned red. Biden picked New York and New Mexico. Also Read | US election 2020: Donald Trump criticises 'surprise ballot dumps' for lagging behind Joe Biden 15 past midnight, Biden made history. He won the first swing state, Minnesota. 5 minutes later Trump secured second swing state of Ohio. The tally at 12:20 am ET was Biden 233 and Trump 145. At 12:47 am, Joe Biden spoke to his supporters from Delaware. "Good evening, your patience is commendable. We knew this was gonna go long. But who knew it was going to go into maybe tomorrow morning? maybe even longer? But, look, we feel good about where we are, we really do.. I'm here to tell you tonight we believe we're on track to win this election," he said. Two minutes into Biden's speech, Trump claimed that Democrats were trying to steal the election. Twitter flagged the tweet. We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2020 × He amplified the charge of theft 2 hours later at White House East Room. "And we were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything, and all of a sudden it was just called off (...) Millions and millions of people voted for us today. And. A very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people, and we won't stand for," he said. By then, there was already a buzz that Trump was furious. His favourite news channel, Fox News had called Arizona in favour of Biden. But that did not keep the president from declaring victory. "And I mean, this is a very sad moment and we will win this. And as far as I'm concerned, we already have won it. So, I just want to thank you, thank all of our support, I want to thank all of the people that worked with us," said Trump. × He also sounded bugle for the legal battle. There had been a fraud he said. "...So we'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop." he said. Biden's campaign manager shot back. Calling Trump's statement "Outrageous, Unprecedented and Incorrect" As of 7:30 am Eastern Time, the electoral college tally looked something like this Biden: 238 Trump: 213 And as the counting night ended, America looked divided.

On counting night, America looks divided

The Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee began meeting Wednesday, a spokesperson said, hours after polls closed in the US presidential election which remains undecided.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is not expected to address the election in its two-day regularly scheduled meeting, nor is it predicted to change interest rates that were slashed to near-zero earlier this year as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the US economy.

However analysts will be watching the committee's statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference on Thursday to see if central bank leaders again make their case that the world's largest economy needs more stimulus to aid its recovery after Congress failed to pass a spending bill before the election.

"We expect the FOMC will maintain its extremely accommodative monetary policy stance at its policy meeting... holding off any new initiatives," Oxford Economics said in a research note.&nbsp;

"The overlap between the meeting and the US election and the deteriorating health situation will favor a wait-and-see approach given the uncertain fiscal policy outlook."

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/us-stocks-open-higher-as-markets-eye-tight-presidential-vote-340558">US stocks open higher as markets eye tight presidential vote</a>

Voters on Tuesday went to polls to decided whether to give President Donald Trump a second term in office or replace him with his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

Results thus far show Biden ahead in electoral votes even as Trump prematurely declared victory and sought Supreme Court intervention to stop vote-counting.

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Also on the ballot were Senate races in several states, which could reconfigure the Republican-controlled body and perhaps break the months-long deadlock with Democrats over the stimulus bill.

However Democratic candidates were behind in several races, narrowing their chances of gaining control of the chamber and pushing through a stimulus package when the new Congress is inaugurated in January

The Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee began meeting Wednesday, a spokesperson said, hours after polls closed in the US presidential election which remains undecided.

The Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee began meeting Wednesday, a spokesperson said, hours after polls closed in the US presidential election which remains undecided. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is not expected to address the election in its two-day regularly scheduled meeting, nor is it predicted to change interest rates that were slashed to near-zero earlier this year as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the US economy. However analysts will be watching the committee's statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference on Thursday to see if central bank leaders again make their case that the world's largest economy needs more stimulus to aid its recovery after Congress failed to pass a spending bill before the election. "We expect the FOMC will maintain its extremely accommodative monetary policy stance at its policy meeting... holding off any new initiatives," Oxford Economics said in a research note. "The overlap between the meeting and the US election and the deteriorating health situation will favor a wait-and-see approach given the uncertain fiscal policy outlook." Also Read | US stocks open higher as markets eye tight presidential vote Voters on Tuesday went to polls to decided whether to give President Donald Trump a second term in office or replace him with his Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Results thus far show Biden ahead in electoral votes even as Trump prematurely declared victory and sought Supreme Court intervention to stop vote-counting. × Also on the ballot were Senate races in several states, which could reconfigure the Republican-controlled body and perhaps break the months-long deadlock with Democrats over the stimulus bill. However Democratic candidates were behind in several races, narrowing their chances of gaining control of the chamber and pushing through a stimulus package when the new Congress is inaugurated in January

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President Donald Trump cast doubt on the integrity of the U.S. election again on Sunday (November 1), saying a vote count that stretched past Election Day would be a "terrible thing" and suggesting his lawyers might get involved.

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Whether Donald Trump returns to power or Joe Biden displaces him will determine the future of ideological norms and nature of political systems in the rest of the world

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Fauci told that the Biden campaign “is taking it seriously from a public health perspective,” while Trump is “looking at it from a different perspective”

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U.S. President Donald Trump suggested early on Monday that he might seek to fire a highly respected member of his coronavirus task force, Anthony Fauci, after Fauci further criticized Trump's handling of the virus.

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Trump's covid vaccine announcement was made during the presidential debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden for the final time before the elections.

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Prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was not keen to meet US State Secretary Mike Pompeo, minister Wimal Weerawansa has said

WION Dispatch: Mahinda Rajapaksa was not keen to meet US State Secretary Pompeo

In this episode of U.S. Election Dialogues we talk about the China factor in U.S. Elections.

U.S. Election Dialogues | Race to the White House | Oct 28, 2020 | WION

US President Donald Trump’s campaign website on Tuesday was hacked by cryptocurrency scammers.

Trump campaign website broken into by hackers

Indian-American Republican politician Nikki Haley on Saturday said that Indian-American community contributes a lot to the United States...we have to protect them. So we want the community to remember that President Trump has given us the lowest unemployment and has allowed businesses to thrive.

Nikki Haley: India and US have strong relations

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to boost efforts by the world’s largest Muslim movement to recontextualize Islam during a forthcoming visit to Indonesia as part of a three-nation Asian tour. The tour is likely to be the secretary’s last official trip prior to next month’s US presidential election.

Mr. Pompeo’s engagement with Nahdlatul Ulama, a powerful Islamic grouping in Indonesia, with an estimated following of 50 million people, takes on added significance against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s push for a definition of human rights that redefines notions of freedom of religion at the expense of other basic rights in advance of a hard fought election that Donald J. Trump could lose.

It also comes as French President Emmanuel Macron kicked into high gear his self-declared mission of reforming what he has termed an Islam that “is a religion that is in crisis all over the world” in the wake of the gruesome murder of Samuel Paty, a 47-year old teacher.

Mr. Paty was killed by an 18-year old youth of Chechen descent after he used cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in a class about freedom of expression.

The Indonesia-leg at the end of Mr. Pompeo’s tour, which is first taking him to India and Sri Lanka, similarly comes as Nahdlatul Ulama, an independent civil society movement, competes globally with Saudi, United Arab Emirates, and Turkish state-backed efforts to garner religious soft power and shape the definition of what constitutes moderate Islam.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-is-seeking-second-term-to-help-himself-and-his-wealthy-friends-says-ex-us-president-barack-obama-337789">Trump is seeking second term to help himself and his wealthy friends, says Ex-US President Barack Obama</a>

Nahdlatul Ulama was founded almost a century ago in opposition to Wahhabism, the austere interpretation of Islam, that has largely guided Saudi Arabia since its founding in 1932.

Mr. Pompeo and his top aides are scheduled to participate in two days of events in the Indonesian capital organized by Nahdlatul Ulama to nurture “the shared civilizational aspirations” of Indonesia, the United States and Islam, defined by the group with the Qur’anic phrase that the faith is “a source of universal love and compassion.”

By giving Nahdlatul Ulama the State Department’s seal of approval, Mr. Pompeo is implicitly acknowledging the fact that the group unlike its rivals in the quest for religious soft power has started to put its money where its mouth is.

Unlike its soft power rivals, Nahdlatul Ulama has spelt out its definition of moderate Islam with its adoption in 2015 of the concept of Nusantara (Archipelago) or humanitarian Islam that calls for a full embrace of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNHDR).

Countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE project themselves as models of undefined forms of moderate Islam manifested by engagement in inter-faith dialogue and varying degrees of religious tolerance.

They have, however, stopped short of addressing theologically problematic concepts like that of kafirs or infidels, the Muslim reference to non-Muslims, slavery, dhimmis, people of the book that Islam recognizes but accords a lesser status than Muslims, apostasy, and blasphemy.

They have also manoeuvred in inter-faith gatherings to evade unrestricted support of the UN human rights declaration.

By contrast, Nahdlatul Ulama has taken initial steps in that direction even if it still has a ways to go. Thousands of the group’s religious scholars issued a fatwa or religious opinion that eliminated the notion of infidels, effectively removing one pillar of Muslim perceptions of religious supremacy.

Based on statements by Nahdlatul Ulama leaders, the group’s scholars are likely to next do away with the legal concept of slavery.

The group’s litmus test will be if and when it takes on apostasy and blasphemy, concepts that are certain to be far more emotive and controversial. Nahdlatul Ulama officials say the group has long accepted in practice conversion away from Islam.

Mr. Pompeo’s acknowledgement of Nahdlatul Ulama further suggests that the State Department recognizes that religious reform is more likely to successfully be enacted by independent civil society actors with proper religious credentials and a significant following rather than states.

It is a recognition that by implication highlights the limitations of efforts by states, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkey, to define the essence of Islam as well as Mr. Macron’s ambition to solve the faith’s problems for it.

Mr. Pompeo lands in Jakarta shortly after signing the Geneva Consensus Declaration alongside a host of countries that propagate conservative values and rank low on Georgetown University’s Women, Peace and Security Index.

The declaration seeks to promote women’s rights and health and strengthen the family but emphasizes that “in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning.”

It stipulates that there is “no international right to abortion, nor any international obligation on the part of States to finance or facilitate abortion.”

The declaration’s signatories include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, Egypt, Belarus, Hungary, and Indonesia.

Many of the signatories are members of the Group of Friends, a block of 25 nations in the United Nations that seeks to pre-empt any expansion of rights for girls, women, and LGBT people and weaken international support for the Beijing Declaration, a landmark 1995 agreement that stands as an internationally recognized progressive blueprint for women’s rights.

Much of the group’s positions are coordinated by the Center for Family and Human Rights, or C-Fam, a small but influential far-right group that focuses on abortion, sexual orientation and gender identity. C-Fam has worked closely with the State Department dating back to the administration of US President George W. Bush.

Accompanied by among others Mary Ann Glendon, the head of the State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights, Mr. Pompeo’s arrival in Jakarta also comes after the centre-right Centrist Democrat International (IDC-CDI), the world’s largest alliance of political parties, acknowledged the Commission’s report as “a re-affirmation of the spirit and substance of fundamental human rights.”

Indonesia’s National Awakening Party (PKB), which has five seats in President Joko Widodo’s cabinet and is an influential member of IDC-CDI, is closely associated with Nahdlatul Ulama.

Critics have charged that the Commission’s report fuels assertions that there are too many human rights and prioritizes religious liberty and property rights at the expense of protections against discrimination particularly on the basis of gender.

As a result, Mr. Pompeo’s endorsement of Nahdlatul Ulama could prove to be a double-edged sword. It strengthens the group’s proposition, yet also identifies it with one faction in a global battle that not only seeks to define the soul of Islam but also fundamentally shape what constitutes a human right.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to boost efforts by the world’s largest Muslim movement to recontextualize Islam during a forthcoming visit to Indonesia as part of a three-nation Asian tour.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to boost efforts by the world’s largest Muslim movement to recontextualize Islam during a forthcoming visit to Indonesia as part of a three-nation Asian tour. The tour is likely to be the secretary’s last official trip prior to next month’s US presidential election. Mr. Pompeo’s engagement with Nahdlatul Ulama, a powerful Islamic grouping in Indonesia, with an estimated following of 50 million people, takes on added significance against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s push for a definition of human rights that redefines notions of freedom of religion at the expense of other basic rights in advance of a hard fought election that Donald J. Trump could lose. It also comes as French President Emmanuel Macron kicked into high gear his self-declared mission of reforming what he has termed an Islam that “is a religion that is in crisis all over the world” in the wake of the gruesome murder of Samuel Paty, a 47-year old teacher. Mr. Paty was killed by an 18-year old youth of Chechen descent after he used cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in a class about freedom of expression. The Indonesia-leg at the end of Mr. Pompeo’s tour, which is first taking him to India and Sri Lanka, similarly comes as Nahdlatul Ulama, an independent civil society movement, competes globally with Saudi, United Arab Emirates, and Turkish state-backed efforts to garner religious soft power and shape the definition of what constitutes moderate Islam. Also Read | Trump is seeking second term to help himself and his wealthy friends, says Ex-US President Barack Obama Nahdlatul Ulama was founded almost a century ago in opposition to Wahhabism, the austere interpretation of Islam, that has largely guided Saudi Arabia since its founding in 1932. Mr. Pompeo and his top aides are scheduled to participate in two days of events in the Indonesian capital organized by Nahdlatul Ulama to nurture “the shared civilizational aspirations” of Indonesia, the United States and Islam, defined by the group with the Qur’anic phrase that the faith is “a source of universal love and compassion.” By giving Nahdlatul Ulama the State Department’s seal of approval, Mr. Pompeo is implicitly acknowledging the fact that the group unlike its rivals in the quest for religious soft power has started to put its money where its mouth is. Unlike its soft power rivals, Nahdlatul Ulama has spelt out its definition of moderate Islam with its adoption in 2015 of the concept of Nusantara (Archipelago) or humanitarian Islam that calls for a full embrace of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNHDR). Countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE project themselves as models of undefined forms of moderate Islam manifested by engagement in inter-faith dialogue and varying degrees of religious tolerance. They have, however, stopped short of addressing theologically problematic concepts like that of kafirs or infidels, the Muslim reference to non-Muslims, slavery, dhimmis, people of the book that Islam recognizes but accords a lesser status than Muslims, apostasy, and blasphemy. They have also manoeuvred in inter-faith gatherings to evade unrestricted support of the UN human rights declaration. By contrast, Nahdlatul Ulama has taken initial steps in that direction even if it still has a ways to go. Thousands of the group’s religious scholars issued a fatwa or religious opinion that eliminated the notion of infidels, effectively removing one pillar of Muslim perceptions of religious supremacy. Based on statements by Nahdlatul Ulama leaders, the group’s scholars are likely to next do away with the legal concept of slavery. The group’s litmus test will be if and when it takes on apostasy and blasphemy, concepts that are certain to be far more emotive and controversial. Nahdlatul Ulama officials say the group has long accepted in practice conversion away from Islam. Mr. Pompeo’s acknowledgement of Nahdlatul Ulama further suggests that the State Department recognizes that religious reform is more likely to successfully be enacted by independent civil society actors with proper religious credentials and a significant following rather than states. It is a recognition that by implication highlights the limitations of efforts by states, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkey, to define the essence of Islam as well as Mr. Macron’s ambition to solve the faith’s problems for it. Mr. Pompeo lands in Jakarta shortly after signing the Geneva Consensus Declaration alongside a host of countries that propagate conservative values and rank low on Georgetown University’s Women, Peace and Security Index. The declaration seeks to promote women’s rights and health and strengthen the family but emphasizes that “in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning.” It stipulates that there is “no international right to abortion, nor any international obligation on the part of States to finance or facilitate abortion.” The declaration’s signatories include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, Egypt, Belarus, Hungary, and Indonesia. Many of the signatories are members of the Group of Friends, a block of 25 nations in the United Nations that seeks to pre-empt any expansion of rights for girls, women, and LGBT people and weaken international support for the Beijing Declaration, a landmark 1995 agreement that stands as an internationally recognized progressive blueprint for women’s rights. Much of the group’s positions are coordinated by the Center for Family and Human Rights, or C-Fam, a small but influential far-right group that focuses on abortion, sexual orientation and gender identity. C-Fam has worked closely with the State Department dating back to the administration of US President George W. Bush. Accompanied by among others Mary Ann Glendon, the head of the State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights, Mr. Pompeo’s arrival in Jakarta also comes after the centre-right Centrist Democrat International (IDC-CDI), the world’s largest alliance of political parties, acknowledged the Commission’s report as “a re-affirmation of the spirit and substance of fundamental human rights.” Indonesia’s National Awakening Party (PKB), which has five seats in President Joko Widodo’s cabinet and is an influential member of IDC-CDI, is closely associated with Nahdlatul Ulama. Critics have charged that the Commission’s report fuels assertions that there are too many human rights and prioritizes religious liberty and property rights at the expense of protections against discrimination particularly on the basis of gender. As a result, Mr. Pompeo’s endorsement of Nahdlatul Ulama could prove to be a double-edged sword. It strengthens the group’s proposition, yet also identifies it with one faction in a global battle that not only seeks to define the soul of Islam but also fundamentally shape what constitutes a human right. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

US Secretary of State Pompeo set to boost Indonesian religious reform efforts

The sanctions freeze all U.S. property and assets of the designated entities while barring U.S. citizens from doing business with them.

U.S. sanctions Iranian entities for election meddling

AstraZeneca Plc has resumed the U.S. trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine after approval by regulators, and Johnson & Johnson is preparing to resume its trial on Monday or Tuesday, the companies said on Friday.

Phase-3 trial of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to begin in few days

India-born judge Amit Mehta has been assigned US Justice Department's lawsuit against Google. Amit Mehta is an Obama appointee and is a district judge. US Justice Department has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Google to stop it from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets and to remedy the competitive harms.

"As one of the wealthiest companies on the planet with a market value of $1 trillion, Google is the monopoly gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users and countless advertisers worldwide. For years, Google has accounted for almost 90 percent of all search queries in the United States and has used anti-competitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in search and search advertising," the Justice Department said.

More on Amit Mehta

Mehta was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on December 22, 2014. 
Born in Patan, Gujarat, Mehta received his BA in Political Science and Economics from Georgetown University in 1993 and his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1997. After law school, Mehta worked in a law firm in San Francisco before clerking for Susan Graber of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.&nbsp;

Following his clerkship, Mehta worked at a Washington, DC-based law firm. In 2002, Mehta joined the District of Columbia Public Defender Service as a staff attorney.

Mehta served on the Board of Directors of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and is the former co-chair of the District of Columbia Bar's Criminal Law and Individual Rights Section Steering Committee.&nbsp;

He is also a former Director of Facilitating Leadership in Youth, a non-profit organization dedicated to after-school activities and mentoring for at-risk youth, according to his profile on the website of US District Court, District of Columbia.

US Justice Department has filed lawsuit against Google alongwith 11 Attorney Generals of various US states.

The participating state Attorneys General offices represent Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Texas.

(With PTI inputs)

India-born judge Amit Mehta has been assigned US Justice Department's lawsuit against Google. Amit Mehta is an Obama appointee and is a district judge. US Justice Department has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Google to stop it from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets and to remedy the competitive harms.

India-born judge Amit Mehta has been assigned US Justice Department's lawsuit against Google. Amit Mehta is an Obama appointee and is a district judge. US Justice Department has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Google to stop it from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets and to remedy the competitive harms. "As one of the wealthiest companies on the planet with a market value of $1 trillion, Google is the monopoly gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users and countless advertisers worldwide. For years, Google has accounted for almost 90 percent of all search queries in the United States and has used anti-competitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in search and search advertising," the Justice Department said. More on Amit Mehta Mehta was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on December 22, 2014. Born in Patan, Gujarat, Mehta received his BA in Political Science and Economics from Georgetown University in 1993 and his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1997. After law school, Mehta worked in a law firm in San Francisco before clerking for Susan Graber of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Mehta worked at a Washington, DC-based law firm. In 2002, Mehta joined the District of Columbia Public Defender Service as a staff attorney. Mehta served on the Board of Directors of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and is the former co-chair of the District of Columbia Bar's Criminal Law and Individual Rights Section Steering Committee. He is also a former Director of Facilitating Leadership in Youth, a non-profit organization dedicated to after-school activities and mentoring for at-risk youth, according to his profile on the website of US District Court, District of Columbia. US Justice Department has filed lawsuit against Google alongwith 11 Attorney Generals of various US states. The participating state Attorneys General offices represent Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Texas. (With PTI inputs)

India-born Judge Amit Mehta to decide on lawsuit against Google

The US State Department has proposed a new rule that will likely curb US companies to use the skill of foreign workers. The H-1B specialty occupations will allow companies to send their technology professionals for a short stay to complete jobs on-site in the US.

US firms face skilled labour shortage: H-1B visa allows to employ workers in specialty occupations

The U.S. government has not determined what caused some U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers to suffer from a mysterious, debilitating affliction while they were overseas, despite devoting vast resources over more than three years to investigating it, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.

Starting in late 2016, dozens of U.S. officials and family members living in Cuba and China or traveling for work in other countries, including Russia, reported contracting an illness that has become known as Havana Syndrome, based on where it first publicly emerged. The symptoms included headaches, memory loss, vertigo, nausea, bloody noses and hearing strange sounds.

Some U.S. officials, including experienced CIA analysts, and scientists believe the victims were targeted by a foreign adversary wielding weaponized microwave radiation. Russia beamed microwaves at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in the 1970s and 1980s, and it has more recently harassed diplomats and fueled violence against U.S. soldiers.

Other U.S. officials and scientists say the injuries may be the product of a psychological illness, or even pesticides.

Pompeo, who was the CIA director before leading the State Department, said the government was still examining multiple theories in what he described as “a very complicated situation.”

“There is not yet any complete U.S. government analysis which definitively tells us precisely how these all came to be, whether they’re part of a single cohort,” Pompeo said at a news conference.

“There are significant U.S. government resources now, what, three-plus years on, devoted to getting to the bottom of this and then holding those responsible accountable — should we determine that that’s required,” he said.

Pompeo was responding to a reporter’s question about what the State Department was doing to protect diplomats, and why there appeared to be deep disparities in the response to the episode in Cuba compared to the one in China. Pompeo took umbrage at the question.

“Yeah, that question is kind of like, ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ ” Pompeo said. “Right? Right?”

The question referred to the findings of separate investigations in The New York Times and GQ published Monday. Many U.S. government employees and family members who left China in 2018 after falling ill have had to fight the Trump administration for benefits, and some say that has led to retaliation by the government. Some victims are believed to be permanently injured.

The articles also revealed new victims — CIA officers who had recently made short trips overseas. One suspected attack took place in Moscow. In other cases, the officers were meeting with partner intelligence agencies to discuss plans to counter Russian covert operations, The Times found.

CIA Director Gina Haspel is not convinced Russia carried out attacks that caused the illnesses, officials said. Russia has denied any role.

The investigations led to some lawmakers criticizing the Trump administration over the reported mistreatment of diplomats and spies. The lawmakers are also calling for Pompeo and other top officials to stop concealing information on the suspected attacks.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said Tuesday that the articles were “deeply troubling and should spur the Trump administration to do everything in its power to protect federal employees from these attacks and investigate the full scope of this threat.”

“These findings should put an end to the foot-dragging, evasiveness and obstruction at the State Department to deliver benefits to all of these injured federal employees and their families, and get to the bottom about what happened,” she added.

A half-dozen U.S. officials told The Times that the Trump administration’s responses to the suspected attacks varied based on political considerations.

In Cuba, where President Donald Trump sought to undo President Barack Obama’s rapprochement, the State Department withdrew all but a handful of U.S. diplomats. It also expelled Cuban diplomats from the United States.

But the administration took a softer approach in China as Trump pursued a trade agreement with Xi Jinping, the authoritarian leader whom the president praises. And Trump has also tried strengthening ties with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

On Wednesday, Pompeo said “there were no politics attached to this” and it was “patently false, clearly false, unambiguously false” that the administration’s responses to the episodes were conditioned on political goals.

“We don’t want any country around the world to think for a moment that they can do something, and we won’t take serious action,” Pompeo said.

The State Department has refused to provide basic information to Congress about the episodes — even obscuring the number of U.S. government employees and family members affected worldwide. Lawmakers and scientists also fear the department is trying to bury a detailed report on the episodes it received in August from a committee at the National Academies of Sciences.

On Tuesday, after The Times reported on the State Department’s refusal to release the report to the public or Congress, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Ca., said on Twitter that he had just directed aides to request the report from the department.

He wrote: “There’s no reason @SecPompeo should be hiding this information from the American people.”

Marc Polymeropoulos, a 26-year CIA clandestine officer who retired after the suspected attack in Moscow left him with constant migraines, said Wednesday that the current situation was similar to an earlier instance in which the U.S. government refused to recognize combat injuries. “This is the CIA’s gulf war syndrome,” he said.

The U.S. government has not determined what caused some U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers to suffer from a mysterious, debilitating affliction while they were overseas, despite devoting vast resources over more than three years to investigating it, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.

The U.S. government has not determined what caused some U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers to suffer from a mysterious, debilitating affliction while they were overseas, despite devoting vast resources over more than three years to investigating it, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday. Starting in late 2016, dozens of U.S. officials and family members living in Cuba and China or traveling for work in other countries, including Russia, reported contracting an illness that has become known as Havana Syndrome, based on where it first publicly emerged. The symptoms included headaches, memory loss, vertigo, nausea, bloody noses and hearing strange sounds. Some U.S. officials, including experienced CIA analysts, and scientists believe the victims were targeted by a foreign adversary wielding weaponized microwave radiation. Russia beamed microwaves at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in the 1970s and 1980s, and it has more recently harassed diplomats and fueled violence against U.S. soldiers. Other U.S. officials and scientists say the injuries may be the product of a psychological illness, or even pesticides. Pompeo, who was the CIA director before leading the State Department, said the government was still examining multiple theories in what he described as “a very complicated situation.” “There is not yet any complete U.S. government analysis which definitively tells us precisely how these all came to be, whether they’re part of a single cohort,” Pompeo said at a news conference. “There are significant U.S. government resources now, what, three-plus years on, devoted to getting to the bottom of this and then holding those responsible accountable — should we determine that that’s required,” he said. Pompeo was responding to a reporter’s question about what the State Department was doing to protect diplomats, and why there appeared to be deep disparities in the response to the episode in Cuba compared to the one in China. Pompeo took umbrage at the question. “Yeah, that question is kind of like, ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ ” Pompeo said. “Right? Right?” The question referred to the findings of separate investigations in The New York Times and GQ published Monday. Many U.S. government employees and family members who left China in 2018 after falling ill have had to fight the Trump administration for benefits, and some say that has led to retaliation by the government. Some victims are believed to be permanently injured. The articles also revealed new victims — CIA officers who had recently made short trips overseas. One suspected attack took place in Moscow. In other cases, the officers were meeting with partner intelligence agencies to discuss plans to counter Russian covert operations, The Times found. CIA Director Gina Haspel is not convinced Russia carried out attacks that caused the illnesses, officials said. Russia has denied any role. The investigations led to some lawmakers criticizing the Trump administration over the reported mistreatment of diplomats and spies. The lawmakers are also calling for Pompeo and other top officials to stop concealing information on the suspected attacks. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said Tuesday that the articles were “deeply troubling and should spur the Trump administration to do everything in its power to protect federal employees from these attacks and investigate the full scope of this threat.” “These findings should put an end to the foot-dragging, evasiveness and obstruction at the State Department to deliver benefits to all of these injured federal employees and their families, and get to the bottom about what happened,” she added. A half-dozen U.S. officials told The Times that the Trump administration’s responses to the suspected attacks varied based on political considerations. In Cuba, where President Donald Trump sought to undo President Barack Obama’s rapprochement, the State Department withdrew all but a handful of U.S. diplomats. It also expelled Cuban diplomats from the United States. But the administration took a softer approach in China as Trump pursued a trade agreement with Xi Jinping, the authoritarian leader whom the president praises. And Trump has also tried strengthening ties with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. On Wednesday, Pompeo said “there were no politics attached to this” and it was “patently false, clearly false, unambiguously false” that the administration’s responses to the episodes were conditioned on political goals. “We don’t want any country around the world to think for a moment that they can do something, and we won’t take serious action,” Pompeo said. The State Department has refused to provide basic information to Congress about the episodes — even obscuring the number of U.S. government employees and family members affected worldwide. Lawmakers and scientists also fear the department is trying to bury a detailed report on the episodes it received in August from a committee at the National Academies of Sciences. On Tuesday, after The Times reported on the State Department’s refusal to release the report to the public or Congress, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Ca., said on Twitter that he had just directed aides to request the report from the department. He wrote: “There’s no reason @SecPompeo should be hiding this information from the American people.” Marc Polymeropoulos, a 26-year CIA clandestine officer who retired after the suspected attack in Moscow left him with constant migraines, said Wednesday that the current situation was similar to an earlier instance in which the U.S. government refused to recognize combat injuries. “This is the CIA’s gulf war syndrome,” he said.

US still seeking clues to mystery illness afflicting diplomats and spies

Women’s March protesters took to the streets of Washington on Saturday, galvanized by their opposition to President Donald Trump and his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Some women dressed in handmaid’s costumes, while others donned clothing reminiscent of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court regalia, just days before the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Barrett’s nomination, paving the way for her confirmation. Marching less than a month before Election Day, Women’s March participants sought to call attention to the potential impact that a Justice Barrett, and four more years of the Trump presidency, might have on abortion rights and other issues.

“He’s trying to pack the courts with people who will subvert the will of Americans,” Rachel O’Leary Carmona, the Women’s March executive director, said of the president. “The election is all about the Supreme Court. It’s all about health care. It’s all about COVID.”

During the Senate confirmation hearing, Barrett declined to say whether she believed the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade was correctly decided. She has a conservative voting record in abortion-related cases, and her Supreme Court nomination has been championed by conservatives.

“It’s really scary, since Justice Ginsburg passed away, what the future of women in this country looks like, especially when the nominee for her replacement doesn’t care about women’s rights,” said Tiffany Jones, a 37-year-old mortgage loan processor who drove to the march from Charleston, West Virginia.

Many marchers traveled far to attend Saturday’s event, despite the risks posed by the pandemic. Cierra Brooks, 19, drove with two college roommates for nine hours from Cullowhee, North Carolina.

“Our futures are totally affected by what happens,” Brooks said.

The crowd in Washington was far smaller than those at previous marches, which organizers attributed to the pandemic. This year, protesters were required to wear masks.

The march was met with a counterprotest in support of Barrett’s nomination, organized by the Independent Women’s Forum at the steps of the Supreme Court.

“The Women’s March does not represent all women,” said Sandy Chiong, a conservative activist. Barrett, she added, “is a role model for young women everywhere, an independent thinker.”

Women’s March protesters took to the streets of Washington on Saturday, galvanized by their opposition to President Donald Trump and his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Women’s March protesters took to the streets of Washington on Saturday, galvanized by their opposition to President Donald Trump and his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Some women dressed in handmaid’s costumes, while others donned clothing reminiscent of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court regalia, just days before the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Barrett’s nomination, paving the way for her confirmation. Marching less than a month before Election Day, Women’s March participants sought to call attention to the potential impact that a Justice Barrett, and four more years of the Trump presidency, might have on abortion rights and other issues. “He’s trying to pack the courts with people who will subvert the will of Americans,” Rachel O’Leary Carmona, the Women’s March executive director, said of the president. “The election is all about the Supreme Court. It’s all about health care. It’s all about COVID.” During the Senate confirmation hearing, Barrett declined to say whether she believed the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade was correctly decided. She has a conservative voting record in abortion-related cases, and her Supreme Court nomination has been championed by conservatives. “It’s really scary, since Justice Ginsburg passed away, what the future of women in this country looks like, especially when the nominee for her replacement doesn’t care about women’s rights,” said Tiffany Jones, a 37-year-old mortgage loan processor who drove to the march from Charleston, West Virginia. Many marchers traveled far to attend Saturday’s event, despite the risks posed by the pandemic. Cierra Brooks, 19, drove with two college roommates for nine hours from Cullowhee, North Carolina. “Our futures are totally affected by what happens,” Brooks said. The crowd in Washington was far smaller than those at previous marches, which organizers attributed to the pandemic. This year, protesters were required to wear masks. The march was met with a counterprotest in support of Barrett’s nomination, organized by the Independent Women’s Forum at the steps of the Supreme Court. “The Women’s March does not represent all women,” said Sandy Chiong, a conservative activist. Barrett, she added, “is a role model for young women everywhere, an independent thinker.”

Women take a stand in Washington, both for and against Barrett

Bosses of tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google have declined to appear before a panel of US Senate, said a Republican Senator. The panel had unanimously voted on Thursday to summon Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Google's Sundar Pichai. They were to be questioned by the Commerce Committee of the US Senate on disinformation, online scams and a range of social ills.

"After extending an invitation to these executives, I regret that they have again declined to participate and answer questions on the record about issues that are so visible and urgent to the American people," said Republican Senator Roger Wicker, who chairs the panel.

Big tech platforms face heightened scrutiny on monopoly concerns. They are also on line for failing to stop the spread of hateful content.

"We have questioned how they are protecting and securing the data of millions of Americans, we've explored how they're combating disinformation fraud and other online scams, we've examined whether they are providing a safe and secure internet experience for children and teens," said Wicker.

Big Tech firms, including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, have seen their economic power grow in recent years and accelerate during the coronavirus pandemic, dominating a range of economic sectors.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-fumes-as-facebook-twitter-limit-reach-of-smoking-gun-article-on-biden-and-his-son-335344">Trump fumes as Facebook, Twitter limit reach of 'smoking gun' article on Biden and his son</a>

President Donald Trump and his allies have claimed tech platforms are biased against conservatives, despite his own vast social media following.

Democrats meanwhile have expressed concerns over monopoly abuses and the failure of social media to stem misinformation from Trump himself.

Lawmakers from both parties have called for changes to the legal liability shield of online services under a law known as Section 230, claiming the provision enables toxic and harmful content to proliferate.

Google and Facebook are also under scrutiny by federal and state antitrust regulators.

(With inputs from AFP)

Bosses of tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google have declined to appear before a panel of US Senate, said a Republican Senator. The panel had unanimously voted on Thursday to summon Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Google's Sundar Pichai.

Bosses of tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google have declined to appear before a panel of US Senate, said a Republican Senator. The panel had unanimously voted on Thursday to summon Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Google's Sundar Pichai. They were to be questioned by the Commerce Committee of the US Senate on disinformation, online scams and a range of social ills. "After extending an invitation to these executives, I regret that they have again declined to participate and answer questions on the record about issues that are so visible and urgent to the American people," said Republican Senator Roger Wicker, who chairs the panel. Big tech platforms face heightened scrutiny on monopoly concerns. They are also on line for failing to stop the spread of hateful content. "We have questioned how they are protecting and securing the data of millions of Americans, we've explored how they're combating disinformation fraud and other online scams, we've examined whether they are providing a safe and secure internet experience for children and teens," said Wicker. Big Tech firms, including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, have seen their economic power grow in recent years and accelerate during the coronavirus pandemic, dominating a range of economic sectors. Also Read | Trump fumes as Facebook, Twitter limit reach of 'smoking gun' article on Biden and his son President Donald Trump and his allies have claimed tech platforms are biased against conservatives, despite his own vast social media following. Democrats meanwhile have expressed concerns over monopoly abuses and the failure of social media to stem misinformation from Trump himself. Lawmakers from both parties have called for changes to the legal liability shield of online services under a law known as Section 230, claiming the provision enables toxic and harmful content to proliferate. Google and Facebook are also under scrutiny by federal and state antitrust regulators. (With inputs from AFP)

Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Sundar Pichai decline to appear before US Senate

President Donald Trump was evasive when asked whether he took a coronavirus test on the day of the first debate. Trump's comments came in the opening moments of Thursday night's town hall-style meeting on NBC. His Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, was appearing at a similar event at the same time on another network. Watch report.

Trump vs Biden at competing town halls: Trump evasive on testing for COVID-19 before debate

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