Biden Says Battle Against Coronavirus Needs Commander in Chief

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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday declared that the battle against COVID-19 “is like going to war. You need a commander in chief.”Biden is to be sworn in as the 46th president, succeeding Donald Trump, on January 20.During a virtual roundtable discussion with front-line health care workers, whom he hailed as heroes fighting the coronavirus, Biden predicted: “I’ll make mistakes. But I promise you I’ll acknowledge them when I make them, as well as I’ll take responsibility.”Biden said when he gets into office, he will urge state governors to order mandatory masking, testing, tracing and social distancing.“I will be usingmore

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House Democrats Nominate Pelosi as Speaker to Lead Into Biden era

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House Democrats nominated Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday as the speaker to lead them into Joe Biden’s presidency, but she’d be guiding a smaller and ideologically divided majority as she tries shepherding his agenda toward enactment.Democrats used a voice vote to make Pelosi, D-Calif., their choice to serve two more years in her post. Scattered around the country, it was the party’s first virtual leadership election, a response to the coronavirus pandemic.House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and No. 3 party leader Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., Congress’ highest ranking Black member, were reelected to their positions, like Pelosi without opposition. Clyburn revivedmore

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Deadline Near for Hand Tally of Presidential Race in Georgia

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Election officials across Georgia are staring down a Wednesday deadline to complete a hand tally of the presidential race in the state.The hand recount of nearly 5 million votes stems from an audit required by a new state law and wasn’t in response to any suspected problems with the state’s results or an official recount request. The law requires the audit to be done before the counties’ certified results can be certified by the state.The deadline for the counties to complete the audit is 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, ahead of the Friday deadline for state certification.Georgia Hand Tally of Presidential Votemore

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Detroit-Area County Certifies Vote After First Blocking It

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Michigan’s largest county reversed course and unanimously certified its presidential election results Tuesday night after Republicans first blocked the move in a party-line vote that threatened to temporarily stall official approval of Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the state.The Wayne County Board of Canvassers acted after the 2-2 tie was condemned by Democrats and election experts as a dangerous attempt to overthrow the will of voters.The board met after days of unsuccessful litigation filed by Republican poll challengers and President Donald Trump’s allies. They claimed fraud during absentee ballot counting at a Detroit convention center, but two judges found nomore

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Michigan County Fails to Certify Vote, Stalling Outcome

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Republicans in Michigan’s largest county blocked the certification of local election results in a 2-2 vote along party lines that could temporarily stall official approval of Joe Biden’s win in the state. The practical effect of the move may be a delay in ultimately blessing Biden’s victory, with unofficial returns showing he defeated President Donald Trump in Michigan by 146,000 votes. Still, the failure to certify by the Wayne County Board of Canvassers is a boost for Trump. It could also embolden Republicans in key states to take similar measures on the way to the Electoral College’s final vote on the presidentialmore

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Trump Fires Cybersecurity Official

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President Donald Trump announced Tuesday on Twitter that he had fired Chris Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, for a recent statement Krebs made regarding election security. Krebs has consistently debunked allegations of voter fraud over the past week, tweeting, “On allegations that election systems were manipulated, 59 election security experts all agree, ‘in every case of which we are aware, these claims either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent.’ ” On Tuesday, Trump tweeted that Krebs’s statements were “highly inaccurate,” alleging “massive improprieties and fraud.” Trump’s tweet was labeled as “disputed” by Twitter. “Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebsmore

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Controversial Fed Nominee Shelton Stalls in Senate Test Vote

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The nomination of Judy Shelton, President Donald Trump’s controversial pick for the Federal Reserve, is stalled in the Senate after Vice President-elect Kamala Harris returned to the chamber to cast a key vote in a tally Tuesday.  Two key Republicans were absent because of COVID-related concerns. The 47-50 vote came as the Republican-controlled Senate continues to focus its energies in the post-election lame-duck session on confirming Trump’s appointees. Shelton is an unusually caustic critic of the Fed and was opposed by two GOP senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, in Tuesday’s vote. Harris has been focused onmore

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Wealthy California Couple Receive Prison Terms in College Admissions Scandal

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A wealthy California couple was sentenced to prison time on Tuesday after admitting they paid $250,000 to fraudulently help their daughter gain admission to the University of Southern California as a volleyball recruit.Diane Blake, the co-founder of a retail merchandising company, and Todd Blake, an entrepreneur and investor, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton in Boston to six weeks and to four months in prison, respectively.They are among 57 people charged in relation to a vast scheme in which wealthy parents conspired with California college admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer to fraudulently secure spots for their children atmore

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More Universities to Close After Thanksgiving 

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As COVID-19 cases surge around the U.S., more universities and colleges plan to move all classes online after Thanksgiving break in late November, while others say they will allow students to return to campus. FILE – Students wait in line at a testing site for the COVID-19 set up for returning students, faculty and staff on the main campus of New York University (NYU) in Manhattan in New York City, Aug. 18, 2020.”By requiring all students to test negative before leaving, we are implementing a smart, sensible policy that protects students’ families and hometown communities and drastically reduces the chances ofmore

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Biden Warns of Lethal Consequences if Trump Won’t Coordinate on Coronavirus Response

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President-elect Joe Biden warned that outgoing President Donald Trump’s refusal to recognize the transition prior to the January 20 inauguration could have dire consequences amid the coronavirus pandemic.  “More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” Biden said in response to a reporter’s question Monday in Wilmington, Delaware.Biden, again warning of a “very dark winter” ahead, called for immediate congressional passage of the HEROES Act — a proposed $3 trillion stimulus package in response to the economic devastation wrought by COVID-19.  “The idea the president is still playing golf and not doing anything about it is beyond my comprehension,” Bidenmore

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Former Harvard Coach, Dad Charged in Latest Admission Scheme

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A former Harvard University fencing coach and a Maryland businessman have been arrested and charged with conspiring to circumvent the school’s admissions process, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston.Peter Brand, 67, a former Harvard fencing coach who was fired in 2019, is alleged to have taken more than $1.5 million in bribes to get the sons of Maryland businessman Jie “Jack” Zhao, 61, into Harvard by recruiting them to the school’s fencing team.In 2013, Zhao, who runs a telecommunications company, allegedly donated more than $1 million to a fencing charity run by Brand. That same year, one ofmore

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New International Student Enrollment Falls 43% in the US

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COVID-19 has drastically cut international student participation in U.S. colleges and universities, punctuating three years of declining enrollment tied to costs, immigration barriers and perceived chaos in American society.Fewer Foreign Students Enrolling in US College and UniversitiesAnnual Open Doors report of international students in US shows increase in total international enrollment from previous year, but a decrease in new international student enrollmentIn the school year that began three months ago, new enrollment of international students dropped 43% because of COVID-19. Nearly 40,000 students — mostly incoming freshmen — have deferred enrollment at 90% of U.S. institutions to a future term. The data were compiled and reported bymore

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Trump Campaign Abandons Parts of Pennsylvania Election Lawsuit

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign on Sunday dropped a major part of a lawsuit it brought seeking to halt Pennsylvania from certifying its results in the presidential election, narrowing the case to a small number of ballots. In an amended complaint filed in federal court, the Trump campaign dropped a claim that election officials unlawfully blocked observers from watching the counting of mail-in ballots in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The pared-down lawsuit now focuses on a claim that Democratic-leaning counties unlawfully allowed voters to fix errors in their mail-in ballots in violation of state law. Officials have said the dispute affects a smallmore

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Political Polling Once Again Under Microscope

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Frank Luntz is a noted Republican political pollster. In the days before the Nov. 3 election, he said if the 2020 pre-election polls were wrong again, “my profession is done.”In the days after the election, Luntz said the results are “devastating for my industry.”“The polls were really bad this time and really misleading, and I’m not sure why,” said Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.In 2016, the pre-election polls of individual states were off quite a bit, showing Democrat Hillary Clinton ahead of Republican Donald Trump in key states that Trump eventually won. Pollsters failed to adequatelymore

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Pro-Trump Rallies Planned for Saturday in Washington

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Demonstrators in support of President Donald Trump are planning to gather in Washington on Saturday, backing the president’s unproven claims of fraud in the November election.Several rallies are scheduled for the day, including a Million MAGA March, a Women for Trump event and a Stop the Steal demonstration, which has leveled unproven claims of voter fraud in the presidential election.Trump has refused to concede the presidential race to former Vice President Joe Biden, the projected winner of the Nov. 3 election, citing irregularities in several swing states. State election officials have reported no serious irregularities with the vote that wouldmore

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Trump Legal Efforts Falter in Bid to Undo Biden’s Presumptive Victory

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s legal battles to undo Democrat Joe Biden’s presumptive victory in the Nov. 3 presidential election faltered Friday as courts pushed back against allegations of voting irregularities and fraud.A Michigan judge rejected a bid by Republican Party supporters to prevent the certification of election results in the predominantly Democratic Detroit area, undercutting the prospects of a similar lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign.In Pennsylvania, another judge dismissed a series of Trump lawsuits challenging the validity of several thousand mail-in ballots, while in Arizona the Trump campaign dropped a lawsuit over the election results, acknowledging that Biden’s lead wasmore

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New US Diplomat: South Sudan Policy Unlikely to Change

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U.S. government policy toward South Sudan isn’t expected to change regardless of the new presidential administration, according to Jon Danilowicz, the new U.S. charge d’affaires to South Sudan.He said the top priority will remain restoring peace and stability in the country. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has been declared the winner, but President Donald Trump has so far refused to concede. Some mail ballots are still being counted.This week at his first news conference at the U.S. Embassy since arriving in Juba nearly two months ago, Danilowicz said there has been bipartisan consensus between Democrats and Republicans on U.S. policy towardmore

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Trump’s Appeal to Many Hispanics Helped Keep Election Close

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Although projected to lose the U.S. election, President Donald Trump made the race closer than expected, in part by gaining a higher percentage of minority voters than in 2016, especially among in the growing Latino or Hispanic population. VOA’s Brian Padden reports on increasing political diversity of this rapidly growing ethnic minority, which has increased from 16% to 18% of the U.S. population in the last decade according to the Pew Research Center.  Camera: Vero Balderas Iglesias     Producer: Brian Padden …

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Latest US Presidential Race Projections: Trump Wins North Carolina, Biden Wins Arizona

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U.S. news outlets on Friday called the Southeastern U.S. state of North Carolina for President Donald Trump, a day after projecting that President-elect Joe Biden would win the Southwestern state of Arizona.The latest calls in the presidential race gave Biden a projected 290 votes in the Electoral College to Trump’s 232 votes.Biden had previously cleared the 270-vote threshold needed to win the White House, paving the way for his inauguration on January 20. Trump has refused to acknowledge defeat in the presidential race and has leveled unproven claims of widespread voter fraud.FILE – Poll workers assist voters on a brisk fallmore

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Trump Renews ‘Rigged Election’ Claim Against All Evidence 

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President Donald Trump persisted Friday in claiming the U.S. presidential election was rigged despite assurances from federal and state officials, and private industry partners, that the November 3 vote was the “most secure” in the nation’s history.Heartwarming to see all of the tremendous support out there, especially the organic Rallies that are springing up all over the Country, including a big one on Saturday in D.C. I may even try to stop by and say hello. This Election was Rigged, from Dominion all the way up & down!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agencymore

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Top CEOs Met to Plan Response to Trump’s Election Denial

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Only a few of America’s CEOs have made public statements about President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept his election loss, but in private, many are alarmed and talking about what collective action would be necessary if they see an imminent threat to democracy. On Nov. 6, more than two dozen CEOs of major U.S. corporations took part in a video conference to discuss what to do if Trump refuses to leave office or takes other steps to stay in power beyond the scheduled Jan. 20 inauguration of former Vice President Joe Biden. On Saturday, Biden was declared the election winnermore

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