Trump under growing pressure to accept election defeat – US politics live

Some of Donald Trump’s advisers now say he will likely never concede that he lost the presidential race, according to NBC News.

NBC reports:

‘Do not expect him to concede,’ one top aide said. More likely, the aide said, ‘he’ll say something like, ‘We can’t trust the results, but I’m not contesting them.’’

Another adviser said that after the legal battles and recounts, the closest the president is likely to get to a concession is, ‘he’ll acknowledge the results and that we’ll never know how accurate they are.’

Joe Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania has now surpassed 50,000, after the latest batch of ballots from Allegheny county were posted.

As of this afternoon, Biden leads Donald Trump in Pennsylvania by 50,483, or 0.7% of the total vote in the state.

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Coronavirus live news: countries scramble to secure vaccine doses as US sees record hospitalisations

Iran and Lebanon impose lockdowns; Hong Kong, Singapore plan quarantine-free travel bubble; US sees record hospitalisations

Mongolia has reported its first domestic transmissions of the coronavirus, from a truck driver who infected his wife and two other relatives after three weeks of quarantine, according to the AfP news agency.

The landlocked country bordering Russia and China has so far reported just 376 virus cases - all imported - and enforced strict arrival controls that have prompted protests by Mongolians stranded abroad.

Dr David Nabarro, one of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) special envoys on Covid-19, urged people to be “careful” when students in the UK return to university after Christmas to prevent a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Asked about students returning to UK universities in January, and if there was an argument for keeping students at home for longer, Dr Nabarro told Sky News:

We did see that there was quite a big increase in cases in Europe in October and November. We think that was to do with movements that took place in September, including students coming to university.

So if there’s going to be a big return in January, all I’m going to say is, everybody be careful. Because that’s when the virus can really move around quickly.

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Coronavirus live news: Italy exceeds 1m cases; Greece tightens lockdown

Italy passes mark after 32,961 new infections in 24 hours; Greece extends curfew after record surge in cases; US has 1m new cases in 10 days

Texas on Wednesday became the first US state with more than 1 million confirmed Covid-19 cases, and California closed in on that mark as a surge of coronavirus infections engulfs the country from coast to coast, AP reports.

The country’s second-most populous state, Teas has recorded 1.01 million coronavirus cases and over 19,000 deaths since the outbreak began in early March, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. California, the most populous state, has logged more than 991,000 cases.

The Swedish prime minister has said his government will present a law proposal that would ban nationwide the sale of alcohol after 10pm in bars, restaurants and night clubs from 20 November in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Stefan Lofven said that “we are facing a situation that risks becoming pitch-black” and added that Sweden “currently is risking a situation like the one we had last spring”.

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How 2020 transformed big tech: the story of Facebook, QAnon and the world’s slackening grip on reality

The coronavirus pandemic has left us living more and more of our lives online. But the place where we chat with friends, get our news and form our opinions is full of vile and dangerous conspiracy theories. Is the world’s biggest social network doing enough to combat them?

As with many others in Britain, lockdown hit Rachel and her husband, Philip, hard. Almost overnight, the couple, both in their early 50s, found themselves cut off from friends, family and colleagues. Before the Covid-19 outbreak, they had both been working every day; now Philip found himself furloughed, while Rachel was put on rotation with other essential staff, working fewer shifts at odd hours. They were unable to meet up with their four adult sons and daughters. They had to attend a family funeral while remaining socially distanced.

Initially, Rachel coped in the way many others did. She played more video games than normal, and felt stressed at work, but as far as possible she managed. Her husband didn’t. For him, it seemed there must be more to it than the authorities struggling to cope with a novel virus and evolving expert advice. “The regularly changing and conflicting information that was coming from the government added to the feeling in him that they were making things up or covering something up,” Rachel says now.

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US postal worker recants voter-fraud claims after Republicans call for inquiry – reports

Democrats on House oversight committee say worker retracted allegations in interview with investigators

A postal worker whose allegations of ballot tampering have been the basis of Republicans’ calls for investigations has reportedly recanted his story.

Related: Trump's longshot election lawsuits: where do things stand?

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Joe Biden says Trump’s refusal to concede defeat ‘an embarrassment’ – as it happened

The Guardian’s Lois Beckett and Julia Carrie Wong report:

The networks have made their calls, world leaders have begun paying their respects, and even Fox News and Rupert Murdoch’s other media outlets appear to have given up on a second term for Donald Trump. But in a video posted on Facebook on 7 November and viewed more than 16.5m times since, NewsMax host and former Trump administration official Carl Higbie spends three minutes spewing a laundry list of false and debunked claims casting doubt on the outcome of the presidential election.

Related: The misinformation media machine amplifying Trump's election lies

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Britney Spears will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career, lawyer argues

LA judge Brenda Penny declines to suspend James Spears from his role in the court conservatorship that has controlled his daughter’s life for 12 years

Britney Spears is afraid of her father and will not resume her career so long as he has power over it, her attorney said in court on Tuesday.

Los Angeles superior court judge Brenda Penny declined to suspend James Spears from his central role in the court conservatorship that has controlled his daughter’s life and career for 12 years, as Britney Spears’ attorney Samuel D Ingham III requested at the contentious hearing. But the judge said she would consider future petitions for his suspension or outright removal, which Ingham plans to file.

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Seventh straight day of 100,000 new US Covid cases as hospitalizations hit a high point

  • Biden adviser Michael Osterholm says numbers could double
  • Death toll above 238,000 after 590 new deaths, data shows

The US hit a record number of coronavirus hospitalizations on Tuesday and surpassed 1 million new confirmed cases in just the first 10 days of November, as a nationwide surge of infections that shows no signs of slowing.

The country recorded a seventh consecutive day of more than 100,000 new cases, and one of the public health advisers recruited to president-elect Joe Biden’s transition team warned that those case numbers could double in the coming weeks under the leadership of Donald Trump.

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First murder hornet nest found to have 200 queens capable of spawning new nests

Washington state scientists found about 500 live specimens in various stages of development inside the basketball-sized nest

When scientists in Washington state destroyed the first nest of so-called murder hornets found in the US, they discovered about 500 live specimens in various stages of development, officials said Tuesday.

Among them were nearly 200 queens that had the potential to start their own nests, said Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist leading the fight to kill the hornets.

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‘We are already beginning the transition’: Biden and Harris defend Obamacare – video

Joe Biden said he and vice-president elect Kamala Harris had already begun a transition before his swearing in as US president on 20 January and called Donald Trump's refusal to concede defeat 'an embarrassment'.

Biden said he believed he could 'get a lot done' as he and Harris defended the Affordable Care Act, which was brought before the supreme court in a legal challenge by Texas and other Republican-governed states that was backed by Donald Trump’s administration

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Conservative US supreme court justices suggest Obamacare will be upheld

Brett Kavanaugh and John Roberts indicated law could be upheld even if court deems one part of it unconstitutional

Two conservative supreme court justices have suggested the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could be upheld, as oral arguments began in a suit backed by the Trump administration which threatens the healthcare of millions amid a global pandemic.

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Can Joe Biden and Kamala Harris unite America after Trump – video explainer

When Joe Biden formally takes over the presidency in January he will face some of the greatest crises to hit the US in recent history: a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans, a devastated economy, a rapidly overheating climate and a deeply fractured nation.

The Guardian's Lauren Gambino looks at how Biden and the vice-president-elect, Kamala Harris, plan to 'heal' the country after four years of Trumpism – and the challenges they will face with the prospect of having to navigate these times without a majority in the Senate

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Coronavirus live news: Italy tightens rules in five regions as Europe death toll set to pass 300,000

Italy imposes tougher restrictions as cases continue to rise; authorities across Europe fear infections and deaths will continue to rise

Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit has received the green light to carry out late stage trials for its vaccine in Mexico, the country’s foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard has said.

He said the US vaccine developer Novavax Inc earlier this month also presented health authorities with a request to conduct phase 3 testing in Mexico.

Four judicial investigations have been opened in France into the authorities’ response to the Covid epidemic, the Paris prosecutor’s department has said. The prosecutor opened a preliminary inquiry in June to determine whether any criminal offences might have been committed.

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Amazon charged with abusing EU competition rules

US tech firm accused by Brussels of using data it collects on retailers

Amazon has been charged by the European commission with using the sales data of independent retailers selling through its site to illegally gain an advantage in the European market place.

The US tech firm and online retailer was accused by Brussels of using the information it collects on retailers to focus its own efforts on the bestselling products with the biggest profit margins.

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Biden ‘never going to see Trump again’ after inauguration, says sister

Valerie Biden Owens made remark to Axios on HBO when asked if there can be any forgiveness once Trump leaves national stage

Joe Biden is “never going to see Donald Trump again”, the president-elect’s younger sister, sometime campaign manager and close political adviser Valerie Biden Owens says in a new interview, when asked if there can be any forgiveness for the 45th president once he leaves the national stage.

Related: Barr tells prosecutors to investigate 'vote irregularities' despite lack of evidence

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Johnson’s Biden win tweet contains hidden Trump congratulations

Overwritten image suggests No 10 was uncertain about US presidential election victor until late in the process

Downing Street’s congratulatory message to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on winning the US presidential election contains a hidden message congratulating Donald Trump for winning a second term in office.

The message, posted on Twitter as an image a few hours after the US TV networks called the election for Biden, congratulates the president-elect on his election, and Harris “on her historic achievement”.

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Trump poised to leave legacy of chaos with last-minute foreign policy moves | Analysis

Analysis: With defence secretary’s firing and potential new Iran sanctions, Trump raises fears over impact of a vengeful president

The abrupt dismissal of the US defence secretary, Mark Esper, and reported plans for multiple layers of new sanctions on Iran have made clear that Donald Trump’s last 10 weeks in office could still prove a very bumpy ride for the rest of the world.

Trump is refusing to concede his loss to Joe Biden and, while he launches a quiver of baseless legal challenges to the results, he is also seeking to demonstrate he is still in charge of foreign and defence policy – fueling fears about the impact a vengeful president might have on the US role on the world stage over the coming 10 weeks of transition.

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‘Whoa’: Fox News cuts off Kayleigh McEnany for ‘illegal votes’ spiel – video

Fox News has cut away from a briefing held by the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, during which she repeated Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat in the presidential election and doubled down on allegations of voter fraud, for which there is scant if any evidence.

Speaking to media on Monday night in a 'personal capacity' during what she said was a campaign event at the Republican National Committee headquarters, McEnany said Republicans want 'every legal vote to be counted, and every illegal vote to be discarded', prompting the conservative Fox News network to stop broadcasting the briefing.

The Trump campaign and Republicans have brought numerous lawsuits alleging election irregularities. Judges have already tossed out cases in Georgia and Michigan

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Soul of the nation: how Joe Biden’s faith will shape his presidency

President-elect of the US says his belief in equality is rooted in his ‘cultural Catholicism’

He carries a rosary in his pocket, one that belonged to his dead son, Beau. On election day last Tuesday, he went to mass, as he does every Sunday.

In his victory speech on Saturday night, he quoted from Ecclesiastes: “The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season – a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal. This is the time to heal in America.”

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The tasks Joe Biden faces: from racial justice to restoring faith in science

The new president will be busy – especially as he wrestles with the fallout from the Trump administration

As the coronavirus pandemic tore through the US, Joe Biden’s most important promise to the American people was a policy platform taken for granted prior the Trump presidency: believe science.

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