Iran uses open and covert methods to sway US voters

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Foreign adversaries used increasingly sophisticated meddling operations to target the November 5 U.S. presidential race between Democratic party candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican party opponent, former President Donald Trump. Iran has sought to influence and interfere with the results of the poll by promoting disinformation narratives favorable to its own foreign policy goals. The societal division in the U.S. and predictions of “post-election unrest,” as well as depictions of the United States’ support for Israel in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war as Americans’ historic “support for genocide,” dominated the Iranian state-controlled media coverage of the U.S. elections. Anmore

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VOA talks with US presidential 3rd party candidates

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Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have spent the past few months battling for the White House, and experts say that votes for third party candidates could be a deciding factor for who will become the next president of the United States.   With the latest polls showing Harris and Trump in a dead heat in battleground states around the country, ballots cast for third-party candidates Jill Stein of the Green Party, independent Cornel West and Libertarian Chase Oliver could be enough to tip the scales.   VOA Persian spoke with all three of them. Their responsesmore

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Trump campaign blocks some journalists from watch party

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Washington  — At least six journalists have been denied media credentials to cover Donald Trump’s election night watch party in Florida, at least one of whom was told it was because of her coverage of the Republican presidential candidate. VOA confirmed that the six journalists work for the media sites Axios, Politico and Puck. In the case of Politico, three reporters and a photographer had been approved to attend the event in Florida. On Monday, Politico Magazine reported that a White nationalist had been fired from working on the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania. The following morning, the Politico reporters and photographermore

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Control of US Congress at stake in Tuesday voting

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Control of the U.S. Congress is at stake in Tuesday’s voting, with the outcome likely to play a key role in the fate of legislative proposals advanced by whomever wins the presidency, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are at stake in elections throughout the U.S. for new two-year terms, while 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate are being contested for new six-year terms. Democrats now narrowly control the Senate and Republicans the House, but the majorities in both chambers could flip, or possibly staymore

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Officials: Bomb threats against US voting locations coming from Russia

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WASHINGTON — A series of Election Day bomb threats sent to polling locations across the United States appears to be coming from Russia, according to new assessments from federal and state officials. The initial bomb threats early Tuesday put a temporary stop to voting at some locations in parts of the southeastern state of Georgia. State officials quickly determined the threats were not credible. “We identified the source, and it was from Russia,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters. “They’re up to mischief, and it seems they don’t want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election,” Raffenspergermore

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US presidential election in the hands of voters as Harris, Trump battle for White House

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Millions of U.S. voters are set to cast their ballots Tuesday as they decide whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump will be the country’s next leader. Polls heading into Election Day indicated a tight race, particularly in a group of battleground states that will be key to deciding the winner. Both candidates made stops Monday in Pennsylvania, one of those closely watched states, holding a series of rallies including nearby each another in the Pittsburgh area as they projected confidence in their own campaigns. “Tomorrow is Election Day, and the momentum is on our side,” Harrismore

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Key county in swing state of Georgia counting ballots ahead of Election Day

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Lawrenceville, Georgia — One of the most ethnically diverse counties in the Southeastern United States will be among those issuing early voting results Tuesday night, a reveal that could indicate which of the presidential candidates is in the lead in the crucial count of 538 electoral votes. The victor must receive at least 270 of those electoral votes, and Georgia, seen as one of the seven states where the outcome is uncertain, has 16 of those precious votes. Only Pennsylvania has more — 19 — among the battleground states. North Carolina also has 16. The other wild cards are Arizona (11),more

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Somali Americans gear up for US elections

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Somali Americans in Minnesota last month took part in a town hall involving Democratic and Republican party representatives encouraging them to participate in the 2024 election, arguing the stakes are high for them and their grandchildren. During a VOA town hall event in Minneapolis, Somali Americans listened to remarks by panelists from both political parties, who answered questions about the economy, immigration, and foreign policy, explaining what their candidate would do to win the votes of Somali Americans. Economic policy While many Somali Americans are traditionally Democratic-leaning, there are rising numbers who support former President Donald Trump, creditingmore

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US aiming for hack-proof election

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Washington — Countries aiming to undermine Tuesday’s U.S. elections are being forced to rely on faked videos and other disinformation because they are unable to penetrate systems that could alter the actual tally of the vote, according to the latest assessment by the U.S. agency responsible for election security. Officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, said late Monday that with less than 24 hours before polls open on Election Day, there is no evidence to suggest foreign adversaries like Russia, Iran and China have the wherewithal to infiltrate and manipulate the country’s election infrastructure. “I can saymore

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Harris, Trump stage rallies in Pennsylvania on last day of campaign

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The tumultuous 2024 U.S. presidential campaign is in its final hours Monday, with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump traveling to key political battleground states, in a contest that polls indicate is too close to call.    Both Harris, the Democratic candidate, and Trump, her Republican challenger, are making multiple stops in Pennsylvania, the eastern Rust Belt state that is the biggest electoral prize among the seven battleground states that are likely to determine the national outcome.    Both candidates are staging rallies in Pittsburgh, the heart of the U.S. steel-making region. Trump is also heading to Reading, amore

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What does Harris mean by an opportunity economy?

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As U.S. voters remain largely dissatisfied with the economy under President Joe Biden, Kamala Harris has sought to define her own economic policy under the label of an opportunity economy. But what does that term mean, and how different is it than what Biden has offered? Among many contentious topics influencing the 2024 election, the economy remains the number one issue for a majority of voters. With Americans reporting feeling worse off financially despite positive economic trends, Vice President Harris has sought to distinguish her own economic platform from that of the administration in which she currently serves. President Biden’smore

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Trump lawsuits, complaints target media in closing days of campaign

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Washington — In the last week of the U.S. presidential campaign, candidate Donald Trump sued CBS News and filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against The Washington Post newspaper.   The cases are the latest high-profile conflicts between the former president and news outlets that he often accuses of bias.   Trump sued CBS over an interview of Vice President Kamala Harris on the network’s “60 Minutes” program that aired in early October. Trump had also agreed to give an interview to “60 Minutes” before backing out. Filed in Texas on Thursday, the lawsuit alleges that the network airedmore

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Understanding Trump’s tariff policy

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Donald Trump has notably changed political positions as well as parties during his career, having registered with both the Democratic Party and the Reform Party before becoming a Republican. However, one issue on which he has been remarkably consistent is international trade. Since the 1980s, Trump has argued that the U.S. is being taken advantage of by other countries due to its liberal trade policy. Upon being elected president in 2016, Trump sought to address this through tariffs.  A special tax on imports, tariffs serve a dual purpose. Aside from raising government revenue, they are intended to protect domestic industriesmore

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French families sue TikTok over alleged failure to remove harmful content

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PARIS — Seven French families have filed a lawsuit against social media giant TikTok, accusing the platform of exposing their adolescent children to harmful content that led to two of them taking their own lives at 15, their lawyer said on Monday. The lawsuit alleges TikTok’s algorithm exposed the seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, lawyer Laure Boutron-Marmion told broadcaster franceinfo. The families are taking joint legal action in the Créteil judicial court. Boutron-Marmion said it was the first such grouped case in Europe. “The parents want TikTok’s legal liability to be recognized in court,” she said,more

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US tech firms warn Vietnam’s planned law to hamper data centers, social media

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HANOI, Vietnam — U.S. tech companies have warned Vietnam’s government that a draft law to tighten rules on data protection and limit data transfers abroad would hamper social media platforms and data center operators from growing their businesses in the country. The Southeast Asian nation with a population of 100 million is one of the world’s largest markets for Facebook and other online platforms, and is aiming to exponentially increase its data center industry with foreign investment in coming years. The draft law “will make it challenging for tech companies, social media platforms and data center operators to reach the customersmore

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Puerto Rico prepares for Election Day as a third-party candidate makes history

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The two parties that have dominated Puerto Rican politics for decades are losing their grip as they face the stiffest competition yet from a younger generation fed up with the island’s corruption, chronic power outages and mismanagement of public funds. For the first time in the island’s governor’s race, a third-party candidate has a powerful second lead in the polls ahead of the U.S. territory’s election Tuesday — and some experts say there’s a possibility he could win. “This election is already historic,” said political analyst and university professor Jorge Schmidt Nieto. “It already marks amore

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