PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump and GOP look to courts to change the rules on counting votes
President Trump is looking to the courts to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots that don't arrive until after Election Day, which would overturn the long-standing practices of nearly half the states and represent a fundamental shift in how U.S. elections are decided. On Friday, Trump vented his disapproval of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling the day before that allows state officials in North Carolina to extend the counting of mail-in ballots up to nine days after Election Day, so long as those ballots were mailed and postmarked by Nov. 3. The postmark is a date stamped on a piece of mail by the Postal Service, indicating when it was processed.
U.S.INSIDERKyle Rittenhouse extradited to Wisconsin following terse ruling from Illinois judge accusing him of asking the court to 'ignore binding Illinois law'
Kyle Rittenhouse was extradited to Wisconsin after an Illinois judge rejected his legal challenge on Friday. The 17-year-old was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in August over the shooting of three people at anti-police-brutality protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse argued Wisconsin's request to extradite him from Illinois violated his constitutional rights, but the Illinois judge said it wasn't the court's place to rule on those issues, accusing him of asking the court to "ignore binding Illinois law."
PoliticsAssociated PressAP PHOTOS: Scenes from a blue state as California votes
If anything can be certain in a tumultuous 2020, it's surely California and its 55 electoral votes. Since the early 1990s, the state that produced Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan has gone for Democrats in presidential elections. Its reputation as the anchor of the country's so-called left coast is so entrenched that Republicans elsewhere often use California as shorthand for all things liberal.
WorldReutersFactbox: Key details from fifth plenum of China's Communist Party
Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Central Committee, the largest of the ruling Communist Party's top decision-making bodies, have concluded a four-day meeting on China's economic and social policy goals for the next five years. Below are some key details from the communique of the plenum, the fifth meeting of the Central Committee since the once-in-five years Communist Party congress in 2017, as released by state media on Thursday. Party leadership said in the communique that the value of China's gross domestic product is expected to exceed 100 trillion yuan ($14.92 trillion) this year.
U.S.Miami Herald‘I’m getting my money!’ Florida shopper denied refund returns with a crowbar, cops say
A Florida shopper wouldn't take no for an answer, and things got a little out of hand. According to a police report from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, Dahianna Serraty caused a scene at a Spectrum cable TV and cell[phone store in Orange City during lunchtime Tuesday. The third time the suspect entered the store she came back with a “long silver metal object,” which turned out to be a crowbar, according to the affidavit.
PoliticsAssociated PressSC's Graham, Harrison clash on criminal justice, health care
On the Friday night before Election Day, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison met in South Carolina's capital city of Columbia for their second and final debate, clashing over issues related to criminal justice reform, health care and political sniping in a Senate matchup that has shattered fundraising records and commanded national attention. On criminal justice reform, Harrison called for more mental health counseling needed for crisis situations and chided Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for not advancing Sen. Tim Scott's “Justice Act” reform bill - legislation he said he applauded but, that he said, “doesn't go far enough.”
PoliticsReutersU.S. Supreme Court again rejects North Carolina Republicans in absentee ballot dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected another bid by North Carolina Republicans to block the extension of a deadline for receiving mail-in ballots for next Tuesday's election. In a brief order, the justices denied a request by Republican lawmakers in the state to put on hold an agreement made by state election officials allowing the extension that a North Carolina state court had approved. The justices on Wednesday rebuffed a separate bid by President Donald Trump's re-election campaign to block the deadline extension through federal courts.
U.S.Associated PressOfficial: Rifle shell casings found at Breonna Taylor scene
Two long-rifle shell casings were found in and near Breonna Taylor's Louisville apartment after a botched police drug raid that ended in Taylor's death, Kentucky's attorney general said. It's the first time these specific shell casings have been mentioned by authorities investigating Taylor's death. One of the casings was found by Taylor's sister in her bedroom and the other was found in the parking lot outside the apartment, according to a court filing this week in a criminal case against the sole Louisville police officer charged in connection with the raid.
WorldBBCICE detainee misses last-minute shot at Canadian interview
An asylum seeker from Cameroon remains detained in the US after a Hail-Mary attempt to get him to Canada, where he could be given refugee status. The 29-year-old was on a plane ready to be deported back to Cameroon when he was removed and told he had an asylum interview in Canada. "Kenneth", which is a pseudonym to protect the identity of his family back home, had been involved in a peaceful demonstration to protest against the marginalisation of Anglophones in Cameroon, Megan Walker, one of his Canadian supporters, told the BBC.
PoliticsReutersBiden legal adviser preps for end game as election nears
Between playing President Donald Trump in Democratic candidate Joe Biden's debate preparation and helping to vet Kamala Harris as his running mate, battle-tested election attorney Bob Bauer has been at the center of Biden's presidential campaign. Now, days before Tuesday's election, he is focused on the end game: advising an army of lawyers who are monitoring early voting and preparing for the Trump-Biden showdown. They are working to ensure voter access, combating disinformation and voter intimidation, and preparing for attacks on the legitimacy of the vote.
WorldAssociated PressAs anger rises, Muslims protest French cartoons
Tens of thousands of Muslims, from Pakistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian territories, poured out of prayer services to join anti-France protests on Friday, as the French president's vow to protect the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad continues to roil the Muslim world. Hardline Islamic groups across the region have seized on the the French government's staunch secularist stance as an affront to Islam, rallying their supporters and stirring up rage. Demonstrations in Pakistan's capital Islamabad turned violent as some 2,000 people who tried to march toward the French Embassy were pushed back by police firing tear gas and beating protesters with batons.
ScienceBBC'Moderate to strong' La Niña weather event develops in the Pacific
A moderate to strong La Niña weather event has developed in the Pacific Ocean, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The naturally occurring phenomenon results in the large scale cooling of ocean surface temperature, This La Niña, which is set to last through the first quarter of 2021, will likely have a cooling effect on global temperatures. But it won't prevent 2020 from being one of the warmest years on record.
WorldReutersProtesting Thai students boycott royal graduation day
Some students sympathetic to Thai protesters boycotted graduation ceremonies led by King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Friday in a show of anger at the monarchy amid growing calls to reform it. The ceremonies, at which the monarch personally hands out degrees, are a rite of passage for graduates and their families with photographs of the moment displayed with pride in many Thai homes. Suppanat Kingkaew, 23, said he was boycotting the ceremonies being held on Friday and Saturday at Thammasat University, long viewed as a hotbed of radicalism and scene of a massacre of pro-democracy protesters by royalist state forces in 1976.
- WorldAssociated Press
Saudi man crashes car into gates of Mecca's Grand Mosque
A Saudi man in a speeding car crashed into the outer gates of Mecca's Grand Mosque late Friday night, the country's state-run news agency reported. The crash happened around 10:30 p.m. and saw the man's car ram through a barrier and keep driving until it hit the gate on the Grand Mosque's southern side, the Saudi Press Agency said. The Grand Mosque houses the cube-shaped Kaaba that observant Muslims pray toward five times a day.
WorldAssociated PressMalaysian PM's key ally demands early polls in new snag
The key ally in Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's coalition has called for general elections to be held to establish a stable government once the coronavirus pandemic subsides, in a new snag to his fragile hold on power. Muhyiddin, who took office in March, has only a two-seat majority in Parliament and is being challenged by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who recently alleged he has majority support of lawmakers to form a new government. The United Malays National Organization, the biggest party in Muhyiddin's government, reiterated support for his administration amid a spike in coronavirus cases but demanded polls to be held once the crisis abates.
PoliticsThe Independent2020 polls: Shock poll puts Trump ahead in Pennsylvania and Michigan - prompting expert row
Positive polls placing Donald Trump ahead in Pennsylvania and Michigan has led to a fight over prediction accuracy among establishment and upstart pollsters. An exclusive poll for The Independent, meanwhile, found the majority of Americans believe Trump has harmed the standing of the US in the world. In Texas, Trump says he is “way ahead in Texas” despite opinion polling showing a statistical toss-up in the Lone Star State.
U.S.The New York TimesAfter 50 Years, a Suspect Emerges in a Cold Murder Case
The case is one of the latest to benefit from advances in DNA and genetic genealogy, which have given new momentum to dormant murder files in the United States, helping investigators track down suspects and families find justice. The first high-profile case to be cracked with genetic genealogy, which relies on identifying DNA collected at a crime scene by searching for the perpetrator's relatives in genealogy databases, was that of Joseph James DeAngelo, also known as the Golden State Killer, who was arrested in Sacramento, California, in 2018. DeAngelo, who pleaded guilty to a series of murders and kidnappings in California, was sentenced in August to multiple terms of life without parole.
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Gallup poll shows 92-point gap between Republicans and Democrats on Trump’s job approval
Byron York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner, weighs in on 'America's Newsroom.
WorldAssociated PressArmenia, Azerbaijan vow to avoid targeting residential areas
Armenia and Azerbaijan promised Friday to avoid shelling residential areas amid the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, a pledge that follows a day of talks in Geneva even as Azerbaijani troops pushed deeper into the separatist territory. The talks between foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan were sponsored by the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is co-chaired by Russia, the United States and France. The co-chairs said in a statement issued after the talks that Armenia and Azerbaijan also promised to offer their proposals regarding possible cease-fire verification mechanisms.
U.S.Associated PressGirl Scouts tweet, then delete post about Amy Coney Barrett
A tweet by the Girl Scouts congratulating new Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett drew such outrage from Barrett's critics that the youth organization swiftly deleted it – only to draw a new backlash from Barrett's supporters. The original tweet, posted Wednesday evening, said, “Congratulations Amy Coney Barrett on becoming the 5th woman appointed to the Supreme Court since its inception in 1789.” The post featured an image of Barrett, who was confirmed Monday and sworn in at the court on Tuesday; along with currently serving justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor; former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor; and Barrett's predecessor, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
EntertainmentBusiness InsiderTucker Carlson celebrated getting his vanished documents back, but gave no details of how or why they are 'damning' for the Biden campaign
Fox News host Tucker Carlson got his lost documents back from UPS, the company that lost them in transit, he said on Thursday. Carlson had claimed on his show that the documents are "damning" for the Biden campaign and played up the significance of them going missing. Carlson said that he and his team were still "assessing" the documents, and again did not go into detail on their contents.
PoliticsThe Independent‘These guys are not very polite’: Biden calls Trump supporters who disrupted Minnesota rally ‘ugly folks’
Joe Biden lashed out at Minnesotans disrupting his campaign rally, saying the “ugly folks” were not polite for interrupting his speech criticizing Donald Trump over the Covid-19 pandemic. “Dr Fauci called for a mask mandate last week, this isn't a isn't political statement like those ugly folks over there beeping their horns, this is a patriotic duty for God sake,” Mr Biden said. It is the second time in the past week that Mr Biden insulted disruptive Trump supporters after saying they were “chumps” in Pennsylvania last week, and it evokes the infamous “deplorables” speech from Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
PoliticsAssociated PressWho is voting? Who is winning? Early vote only offers clues
As early voting breaks records across the U.S., political analysts and campaigns are reviewing reams of data on the voters, looking for clues to key questions: Who is voting? Registered Democrats are outpacing registered Republicans significantly — by 14 percentage points — in states that are reporting voters' party affiliation, according to an Associated Press analysis of the early vote. Meanwhile, polls show Republicans have heeded President Donald Trump's baseless warnings about mail voting, and large numbers intend to vote on Election Day.
U.S.Miami HeraldA backlog of mail is piling up at a Miami-Dade post office as Election Day nears
Just days before the Nov. 3 election, mail delivery is being delayed at times in a critical Florida district, South Florida's letter carrier union chief said Friday — and extraordinary measures are being considered to alleviate the bottleneck. Mail that should already have been delivered has been piling up at the Princeton post office in South Miami-Dade County near Homestead, according to Mark Travers, South Florida president for the National Association of Letter Carriers. Travers said he first learned of the backup more than a week ago, on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
U.S.The Daily BeastVancouver Braces for Protests After Police Kill 21-Year-Old Black Man in Bank Parking Lot
Police in Vancouver, Washington, are bracing for a second night of protests after officers fatally shot a 21-year-old Black man in a bank parking lot Thursday night. Clark County sheriff's deputies shot and killed Kevin Peterson, Jr., 21, near a U.S. Bank just prior to 6 p.m. Thursday. Protesters gathered near the site of the shooting Thursday night, and mourners planned to gather at the site Friday night for a vigil.
“Many are longtime Republicans wrestling with what they see as a choice between two lousy candidates.”
“Some undecideds turn out to be people who’ve long felt alienated from the two big political parties.”
“They’re not following the 24-hour news cycle. The election and politics are just not a high priority.”
“One common trait: at this stage of the game, the undecided voter doesn’t fit into an easy political profile.”
“More realistically...these voters may not be motivated to vote at all in the 2020 election.”