The Border Security Force (BSF) detected a tunnel along the India-Pakistan international border in Jammu on Wednesday, official sources said.
They said the tunnel has been found in the Samba sector and a team of senior officers of the border guarding force has reached the spot for analysis.
The force had detected a similar structure, that originated from the Pakistan side, in the same area in August.
It then said that 8-10 plastic sandbags stuffed in the tunnel's mouth were found that had 'Pakistani markings' on them.
Tunnels have been detected by the BSF along the Jammu border front in the past too and security agencies have reported their misuse for crossing over of terrorists, and smuggling of arms and narcotics. -- PTI
With the state of Maine falling to the Democrats, Joe Biden inched ahead in the race towards US presidency, with 227 electoral college votes against incumbent President Donald Trump's 213.
Biden is also leading Trump in Michigan and Wisconsin, while the latter leads in Pennsylvania.
The eighth round of corps commander-level talks between the armies of India and China will be held on November 6 in Chushul in eastern Ladakh, Army sources said.
Both sides would be discussing ways of addressing the ongoing military standoff in the eastern Ladakh sector since April-May this year, they said.
The Indian side will be headed by the new 14 Corps Commander Lieutenant General PGK Menon, who recently took over from Lt Gen Harinder Singh. Lt Gen Singh has now been transferred as Commandant of the Indian Military Academy (IMA).
There have been border standoff following transgressions by China in eastern Ladakh in April-May. After being in a standoff for more than four months, India preempted the Chinese and occupied dominating heights in both the southern and northern bank of Pangong lake.
The move was opposed by the Chinese even though the Indian Army was within its own side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The development had seen the Chinese side fire in air at locations where the Indian side occupied higher positions on strategic heights like the Rezang La, Rechen La and many other hill features.
The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks.
The statement released after the 7th round of senior commanders meeting held in Chushul in October said the two sides had a sincere, in-depth and constructive exchange of views on disengagement along the Line of Actual Control in the western sector of India-China border areas.
The Indian side has prepared itself for long-term deployment in the high mountainous region in view of the prevailing situation.
The officer, who had earlier investigated the abetment to suicide case in which journalist Arnab Goswami was arrested on Wednesday, will face inquiry, the police said.
The earlier investigation officer (IO) of the case had submitted a closure report in the case, saying there was no evidence.
The Maharashtra government announced a fresh probe into the case in May this year, and on Wednesday, Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV, was arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of architect and interior decorator Anvay Naik in 2018.
A first information report (FIR) for abetment of suicide had been registered against Goswami and two others in Alibaug in neighbouring Raigad district following Naik's death.
But the IO submitted 'A summary report' before a local court on April 26, 2019, saying there was no evidence.
After the government decided to reopen the case, Raigad police informed the court on October 15 this year that they will initiate an enquiry against the then IO too, a senior official of Raigad police said.
53-year-old Anvay Naik's purported suicide note claimed that he and his mother were ending life due to non-payment of his dues by Goswami, Feroz Shaikh of IcastX/Skimedia and Niteish Sarda of Smartworks.
Police said that as per the note, the three firms owed Naik's company Rs 83 lakh, Rs 4 crore and Rs 55 lakh, respectively. -- PTI
A second batch of three Rafale fighter jets arrived at Jamnagar airbase in Gujarat on Wednesday evening after flying non-stop from France, taking the total number of aircraft in the fleet to eight, officials said.
The first batch of five Rafale jets reached India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
'Second batch of IAF #Rafale aircraft arrived in India at 8.14 pm on 04 Nov 20 after flying non-stop from France,' the IAF said in a tweet.
The first batch of Rafale jets was inducted into the IAF on September 10.
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria on October 5 said that the induction of all 36 Rafale jets will be completed by 2023.
The Rafale jets, known for air-superiority and precision strikes, are India's first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.
The newly inducted fleet has been carrying out sorties in eastern Ladakh, where Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a bitter border row for over five months. -- PTI
Several protests were held in Delhi against the arrest of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami by the Mumbai Police on Wednesday.
Goswami was arrested in the morning for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer in 2018. A team of Alibaug police had picked him up from his Lower Parel house, a police official said.
The Delhi BJP raised slogans against the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Police while walking from the Man Singh road towards the Congress headquarters on Akbar Road. They were stopped at a barricade by the police.
"Several party leaders and workers, including Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta, were detained by the police during the protest," party spokesperson Naveen Kumar said.
According to a police officer, about 100 BJP workers came to protest near 24 Akbar Road around 6 pm, but were stopped near the Man Singh Road. Around 25 of them jumped the first barricade, and were detained and taken to the Tughlak Road police station.
"All those detained, including Gupta, were released later, he said.
Around 4 pm, 50 journalists tried to march towards the Parliament, but were stopped and the protest was staged outside the Press Club of India, police said.
Another protest was staged at Jantar Mantar with around 50-60 people under the leadership of major general (retd) G D Bakshi.
He addressed the gathering and the protest concluded after a small march within the area.
Earlier, addressing a press conference at th Delhi BJP office, Gupta said the arrest of Goswami was a "fascist" attack on journalism by the Maharashtra government.
"The Congress-Shiv Sena government of Maharashtra has reminded the days of emergency with its dictatorial attitude," he alleged.
The Delhi BJP "strongly condemns" this act, he said, adding the country and society would "never forgive" the Maharashtra government for this "unconstitutional" treatment to a journalist. -- PTI
Indian-Ugandan Zohran Kwame Mamdani, son of filmmaker Mira Nair, has won the election for New York State Assembly, one of two candidates of Indian-origin elected to NY state office.
"It's official: we won. I'm going to Albany to fight to tax the rich, heal the sick, house the poor & build a socialist New York. But I can't do it alone. To win socialism, we'll need a mass movement of the multiracial working class as well. So let's build one," Mamdani tweeted.
A report in patch.com said Mamdani, 29, Democratic nominee for the 36th Assembly District, ran unopposed in the general election after defeating incumbent Assembly Member Aravella Simotas in the Democratic primary election in June.
He had got 8,410 votes or 51.2 per cent of the ballots cast in the June primary while Simotas had got 48.6 per cent of the votes. Mamdani got automatic win once the polls closed Tuesday night in New York City.
He is a first-time candidate for elected office and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America or DSA.
In a tweet, Nair said "And Zohran is in! Change is gonna come."
On his website, Mamdani said he is running for State Assembly because "it's time to guarantee housing to all New Yorkers as a right, regardless of ability to pay. It's time to desegregate our schools, fully eliminate cash bail, ban solitary confinement, fund and fix the MTA, end workplace discrimination, and fight for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice for the many, not the few."
Mamdani said this election isn't about a single candidate but about a movement.
"As a democratic socialist, I know that we'll never win the rights we all deserve -- rights to healthcare, housing, education, nutrition, childcare, and public power -- without a grassroots movement of the working class rising up to demand them. Another world is possible, but only if we fight for it together."
Mamdani was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda, and grew up in New York City after his family moved here when he was seven years old.
Indian-American lawyer Jenifer Rajkumar also got elected to New York State Assembly, becoming the first South Asian woman elected to NY state office.
Rajkumar, Democratic Nominee for NY State Assembly, is a Stanford-educated lawyer and immigrant-rights advocate. -- PTI
The Central Teacher Eligibility Test or CTET, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will now be held on January 31 next year, Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said.
The exam was earlier scheduled to be held on July 5.
"The 14th edition of Central Teacher Eligibility Test which was scheduled to be held in July in 112 cities all over the country and postponed due to administrative reasons, the said examination will now be held on January 31," Nishank said.
"To maintain social distance and other safety measures, the said examination will now be conducted in 135 cities," he said.
According to officials at the Central Board of Secondary Education, a large number of requests have been received from the candidates for change of option for their examination city as they have shifted due to COVID-19.
"Keeping in view the difficulty faced by candidates due to COVID-19, the CBSE has decided to give one time chance to the candidates for corrections in their option of city from which they want to appear in the CTET examination," a senior board official said.
"Every effort will be made to accommodate the candidates in the cities opted by them but if the situation arises, they can be allotted any city other than the four cities opted by the candidates," the official added. -- PTI
Indian economy is poised to recover at a fast pace and reach pre-COVID-19 levels by the end of the year, the finance ministry said in its monthly report but also cautioned about the possibility of "fatigue with social distancing norms" triggering a second wave of coronavirus infections.
The sustained surge of activity levels in India, itself, is a reflection of a relatively more manageable pandemic situation in the country as compared to advanced nations, the report for October said.
"A steady contraction of active COVID-19 cases and a low case fatality rate has instilled measured optimism in India that the worst is behind us. At the same time, a second wave of the pandemic in advanced nations is a grim reminder of how reality hits back when caution is compromised.
"From a trickle in not so distant past to now a sea of humanity coming out on the streets, the people of India have embraced the new normal where self-protection is inseparable from economic activity," it added.
The report, released on Wednesday, further stressed that India stands poised to recover at a fast pace and reach pre-COVID levels by the end of the year -- barring the incidence of a second wave that may be triggered by the fatigue with social distancing.
The continuous improvement in forward-looking RBI indices of consumption and business sentiment for the next year augur hope of a strong economic rebound.
This is also corroborated by IMF's October 2020 projection of 8.8 per cent real GDP growth of India in FY 2021-22, highest globally, it said.
Pointing to the movement of high frequency indicators, the report said October numbers clearly indicate broad-based resurgence of economic activity, notably in healthy kharif output, power consumption, rail freight, auto sales, vehicle registrations, highway toll collections, e-way bills, rebound in GST collections and record digital transactions.
Rural consumption has stayed strong, in part helped by sustained MSP (Minimum Support Price) procurement of food grains by government at higher prices, it said.
Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose from 56.8 in September to 58.9 in October, pointing to the strongest improvement in the health of the sector in over a decade.�Also, PMI Services index rose to 54.1 in October, ending the seven-month sequence of contraction, signalling improved market conditions, it added.
With the onset of the festive season, overall consumption is expected to see further uptick in the coming months enhancing prospects of faster economic normalisation, according to the report.
Further, the report said the prospect of economic normalisation is also evident in the external sector indicators with consumption of petroleum products increasing in September and exports rebounding strongly with a year-on-year positive growth for the first time in last seven months. -- PTI
The Mumbai Police has filed a fresh FIR against Republic TV's editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami for allegedly assaulting a lady police officer when a team of police reached his residence in Mumbai this morning.
Sections 353, 504, 506 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code have been invoked in the news FIR has that been filed.
Goswami was arrested in Mumbai on Wednesday morning for allegedly abetting suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer in 2018, a police official said.
Senior Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis was on Wednesday discharged from a state-run hospital in Mumbai after undergoing treatment for COVID-19 infection, a doctor said.
The former chief minister had tested positive for coronavirus on October 25 following which he was admitted in the St George's Hospital in south Mumbai.
"He was discharged today after recovery from COVID-19 infection. He will remain in home isolation for some days," the doctor said.
Meanwhile, Fadnavis' wife Amruta tweeted that he would remain in home isolation for the next eight days.
"All is well#Dev_Fadnavis-just back home but under home isolation for next eight days !" she tweeted and posted a photograph welcoming her husband. -- PTI
In a freak incident, a ballot scanner in the United States state of Iowa stopped working after getting moisture from voters applying hand sanitiser, leading to a disruption in polling, a media report said.
The voters who applied hand sanitiser caused excess moisture to get into the machine and put it out of commission for about an hour in Iowa's Des Moines, New York Daily News quoted spokesperson for the Iowa secretary of state Kevin Hall as saying.
The hand sanitiser dispenser was moved away so that voters' hands would be drier when they got up to the ballot scanners, in a bid to prevent the issue from recurring.
Iowa has seen a surge in coronavirus cases recently and has reported nearly 135,000 cases since March.
According to Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the coronavirus has so far infected more than 47 million people and killed over 1.2 million people globally.
The US is the worst affected country with over 9.3 million cases and 232,000 deaths. -- PTI
Security has been beefed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport after a banned pro-Khalistan outfit, Sikhs for Justice, threatened to disrupt two Air India flights scheduled to leave for London on November 5, police said on Wednesday.
The United States-based SFJ has issued a call to boycott Air India flights and urged the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to occupy the airport to "internationalise" the issue, they said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) Rajeev Ranjan said, "We have tightened security arrangements after we received inputs that Sikhs for Justice has threatened to disrupt operations of two Air India flights scheduled for London tomorrow."
"Even though the airport is a secure place, based on the inputs we received, we have made adequate security arrangements for the safety of passengers," he said.
A meeting was also held with officials of Central Industrial Security Force, Air India and Delhi International Airport Limited on Wednesday to discuss the massive security arrangements put in place, a senior police officer said.
Similarly, a meeting was held on Tuesday in this regard by CISF officials. Delhi Police officials also attended the meeting, he said.
SFJ, which has been pushing for Sikh Referendum 2020 as part of its separatist agenda, was banned by the government for its alleged anti-national activities. -- PTI
Left-ruled Kerala on Wednesday decided to withdraw the general consent accorded to the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe cases, joining a list of non-Bharatiya Janata Party ruled states including Maharashtra to have effected a similar move.
Kerala, ruled by the Communist Party of India Marxist-led Left Democratic Front, became the fifth state after Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to withdraw the general consent accorded to the CBI to exercise its powers under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, an official statement in Thiruvananthapuram said.
The lone Left-ruled state in the country took the key decision at a time when the CBI was probing various alleged irregularities in its ambitious Life Mission project, a housing initiative for the poor.
"We have decided to withdraw the general consent given to the CBI, through the notifications under the Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946," it said.
"The Central agency would be entrusted with the investigation of cases in necessary situations, only with the special permission of the state government," it added.
The consent is akin to a blanket nod for the agency to probe scheduled offences specified in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DPSE) Act, 1946. -- PTI
The culture ministry of the Government of India on Wednesday extended its Karwa Chauth greetings to all women.
On its Twitter handle, the ministry stated, 'On the occasion of #KarwaChauth, married women fast for the well-being, prosperity, and long life of their beloved husband. Wishing all women a very happy Karwa Chauth,' with the image alongside.
Bilateral ties between India and the US are not going to be affected and will only continue to grow stronger irrespective of whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden emerge victorious in the presidential polls according to the former Indian ambassador to China, Gautam Bambawale.
Incumbent Republican President Trump and his Democratic challenger Biden are seeking the minimum 270 out of the 538 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
While Biden is leading marginally in overall Electoral College vote tally, yet Trump has already claimed victory and has said he will move the Supreme Court to dispute the process of counting.
"The elections results are neck to neck so far. There are a few states left still and they are important as either of the two candidates can win. It really is for American people to decide who their president will be. India will work with either Trump or Biden.
"India-US relations is going to continue on the current trends which are getting stronger and stronger irrespective of whether Biden or Trump wins. Our partnership is going to strengthen," Bambawale told ANI.
The former ambassador further said that the bonhomie, which was shared between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump, would be replicated in his relation with Biden, if he gets elected.
"Modi had a very good relationship with Trump but even if Biden becomes the President of the US the relation will be equally good and as close. Between nations, anyways, personal bonds play a role up to a certain point and not beyond that. In those terms there are very strong drivers of the closer India-US partnership and those are already at work," he said.
"Even if Biden gets elected President, Prime Minister Modi will be able to develop a very good rapport, friendship with him," he added.
Republic TV Editor Arnab Goswami shows marks on his forearm and said he was assaulted. "Policemen surrounded me, held me by the scruff of my neck, pushed me. I'm here without shoes... I've been assaulted."
Police on Wednesday arrested Arnab Goswami for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer, a police official said. The official said a team of Alibaug police picked up Goswami from his residence in Mumbai.
Goswami, who was seen being pushed into the police van, claimed he was assaulted by police at his home, while being taken away.
In 2018, an architect and his mother committed suicide over alleged non-payment of dues by Goswamis Republic TV, the official said. In May this year, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had announced that a re-investigation has been ordered on a fresh complaint by Adnya Naik, daughter of the architect Anvay Naik.
US polls: Former New Jersey governor and a key Trump ally Chris Christie voiced his disagreement with President Trump's election night remarks prematurely declaring victory and attacking legitimate vote counting efforts. Christie said Trump "undercut his own credibility."
"There's just no basis to make that argument tonight. There just isn't. All these votes have to be counted that are in now," Christie said after Trump's remarks, noting that the vote count in Pennsylvania will continue for days and "that argument's for later."
BJP Yuva Morcha workers protest in Kolkata over law and order situation in the state. "Mamata Banerjee has the strangulated the neck of democracy. BJP workers are continuously being killed and then hanged in the state," says a BJP worker.
At least 1.93 crore or 27.3 per cent of the people in Karnataka are either infected by coronavirus or had the infection in the past, as of 16 September, revealed a survey by the government to estimate the prevalence of Covid-19 in the state.
Sharing details of the findings, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said the survey was carried out from September 3 to 16 across 30 districts in the state. According to Sudhakar, the state government wanted to ascertain the pace at which the Covid-19 cases were increasing.
"The government has to have clear information on how it is spreading in the community in the districts, how to prevent its spread and action to be taken. Hence, this survey was conducted," said the minister.
The sample size is 16,585 in the entire state. Of this, the test reports of 15,624 have been submitted, he added. Besides the Rapid Antigen Test and the RT PCR, IgG test was also carried out. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is the most common antibody in blood and other body fluids, which protects against the bacterial and viral infections. It is developed after an infection or immunisation. The survey also found that the infection fatality rate due to COVID-19 was 0.05 per cent. -- PTI
A 3-year-old child fell into an open borewell in Setupurabarah village of Prithvipur area, Niwari earlier today. Operation underway to rescue him. Army jawans are at the spot. Additional SP, Niwari district, confirmed that rescue team is able to hear child's voice.
Maharashtra government allows cinema halls, theatres, multiplexes to open with 50 per cent of their seating capacity in areas outside containment zones from 5th November.
As per Unlock 6.0, the Uddhav Thackeray government plans to allow the general public to use local trains during non-peak hours from early November. any person holding a valid ticket or pass will be allowed to board local trains till 7.30 am, then between 11 am to 4.30 pm and after 8 pm till the end of the services.
The development comes on the heels of the government allowing women to travel in local trains from October 18 between 11 am and 3 pm and from 7 pm till the end of services.
Besides women, those involved in essential services and dabbawalas have been allowed to travel by local trains.
The pandemic-hit economy is coming back on rails at "more speed than expected", Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said citing factors like increased demand of power and higher GST collections.
An increase in rail freight collection, higher goods and services tax mop-up, rise in power demand and improved FDI inflows indicate that the economy was doing better in the second quarter of the current financial year, he said. "...economy is coming on track at more speed than expected," the information and broadcasting minister said while briefing reporters after a cabinet meeting.
The increase in power demand was despite lesser consumption by the agriculture sector due to good rains and railways, which is not yet fully operational, Javadekar said.
"Despite these two facts, 12 per cent increase in power indicates a complete return to normalcy in the production sector," he added.
The economy has dropped by a historic 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter on account of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus. The RBI too has projected a contraction of 9.5 per cent in the current fiscal.
On Tuesday, Finance Secretary Tarun Bajaj too had said the Indian economy is recovering fast and will soon be back on rails as all parameters have started showing improvement.
The GST collection has touched Rs 1.05 lakh crore, almost 10 per cent higher year-on-year. E-way bills (GST) have gone up almost 19 per cent in October and valued at 16.82 lakh crore. The railway freight was up by 15.5 per cent in September and almost 14 per cent in October. The foreign direct investment during April-August was USD 35.73 billion. -- PTI
Democrat Party's Ritchie Torres has made history by becoming the first openly gay Black man elected to the US Congress. Torres, 32, a New York City Council Member, won the election from New York's 15th Congressional District, defeating Republican Patrick Delices to become the next representative, New York Daily News reported.
"Tonight, a new era begins for the South Bronx," Torres said in a statement. "It is the honour of a lifetime to represent a borough filled with essential workers who have risked their lives so that New York City could live. The Bronx is essential, and the vibrant, loving and talented people who live here have shown time and again their power, fortune and perseverance. The Bronx is the heartbeat of New York City," he said.
Torres, who identified himself as an Afro-Latino, has served in the City Council since 2013. He defeated nearly a dozen other Democrats in the June primary after Republican Jose Serrano announced his retirement earlier this year.
Torres is expected to be joined by another Black gay man, Mondaire Jones, in the US House of Representatives as results were pending in the race to replace retiring Republican Nita Lowey from Westchester county.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said she was "actually very shocked with the selective outrage" of the BJP and of the sections of the government.
"Why are they silent when Prashant Kanojia is jailed for a number of months just because he exposed a scam where children were being served salt and chapati in Mirzapur?" the spokesperson asked, referring to the journalist who was arrested by the UP Police.
Addressing a media briefing, she raised several other questions.
"Why is the BJP selectively silent when sedition charges are slapped against journalists and when a case has been filed against (Scroll) journalist Supriya Sharma because she exposed the pathetic state of affairs in a village in Varanasi?" she asked.
"And when a reporter who exposed the PPE kit scam in Uttar Pradesh is jailed and faces serious sedition charges instead of action been taken against those responsible for the scam," she added.
"So this selective outrage is extremely unwarranted, is shameful and they (the BJP) should be ashamed of saying anything," Shrinate told reporters.
She also hit out at Goswami, saying she herself had been a journalist for almost two decades and alleged that he had brought complete "disgrace and shame" to journalism.
The BJP should be the last one to be talking about freedom of the press, she said, and accused the saffron party of controlling the media through advertisements and through "intimidation and fear".
"I am reasonably certain that wherever Congress is in government or we are in alliance, people will not be punished if they are absolutely innocent. I also believe that law will take its own course even in this case," she said. -- PTI
Meanwhile, in India, battlelines are drawn over the arrest of Republic TV editor, Arnab Goswami.The BJP and the Congress engaged in a verbal duel with the saffron party saying it was an "attack on press freedom" which was reminiscent of the Emergency, and the opposition party slamming the criticism as "selective outrage". Goswami was arrested in Mumbai for allegedly abetting suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer, a Mumbai police official said.
Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "I had heard that Mumbai Police Commissioner was a strong officer but just to arrest Arnab Goswami he had to deploy cop with AK-47, that means he is the most coward officer in entire India. Maharashtra Chief Minister has betrayed the trust of the nation; completely unworthy son of Balasaheb Thackeray. He has brought defame to his late father, Maharashtra and the country."
The US presidential election has turned into a nail-biting battle as Democratic candidate Joe Biden is ahead of US President Donald Trump in Electoral College votes, having 224 votes to the Republican incumbent's 213, according to CNN.
Joe Biden won Arizona, becoming the second Democratic presidential candidate since 1948 to win the longtime Republican stronghold.
So far, Trump has secured 48.05 per cent of votes, while his rival Biden managed to garner 47.8 per cent.
Donald Trump is projected to win the battleground state of Florida in the presidential polls, according to CNN projections .
Each candidate needs to secure a minimum of 270 out of 538 electoral votes to win the White House.
Georgia appeared at a standstill as officials in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta and its populous suburbs, said they would resume counting at 8 am (local time), CNN reported.
California has one of the biggest shares in the Electoral College, with 55 votes, while Illinois also has a significant contribution with 20.
Biden is also projected to win Colorado, Connecticut, Vermont, Delaware, Washington, DC, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.
According to the projections, Trump is expected to win Wyoming, Missouri, Utah and Kansas.
Some 239 million people were eligible to vote this year. The mail-in ballots could take days to be counted - meaning a winner might not be declared in the hours after polls close on Tuesday. -- ANI
Joe Biden's campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon issued a strongly worded statement following President Trump's White House speech, calling it "outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect."
"The president's statement tonight about trying to shut down the counting of duly cast ballots was outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect. It was outrageous because it is a naked effort to take away the democratic rights of American citizens," she said in the statement. O'Malley Dillon went on to say that "the counting will not stop."
Biden: 224, Trump: 213. 270 electoral votes are needed to become president.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said "Pusa bio-decomposer" was successful in Delhi and the city government will inform the Supreme Court that it is an effective way to prevent stubble burning. Delhi has found a solution to the problem of crop residue burning and "no state can now make any excuse", he told reporters in Hiranki village in North Delhi.
Pusa bio-decomposer is a solution developed by the scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, which can turn crop residue into manure in 15 to 20 days and therefore, can prevent stubble burning.
The 'Pusa bio-decomposer' was sprayed free of cost in non-basmati rice fields in Hiranki village in Narela. "Pusa bio-decomposer has been successful. It has completely decomposed the stubble and turned it into manure. Farmers can now start the sowing of the next crop in the fields," the chief minister said.
"We are going to tell the Supreme Court, too, that it is an effective way to prevent stubble burning," he said. "The people of Delhi and the Pusa institute have found a cost-effective solution to the problem of stubble burning. I hope this is the last year that we are tolerating it (pollution due to farm fires). Now states cannot make any excuse," Kejriwal said. He said he had earlier talked to Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar over the phone about Pusa bio-decomposer.
Amid ongoing anti-farm bills agitation at 32 places in Punjab, the Indian Railways informed that it has suffered revenue losses of more than Rs 1,200 crore as freight operations remain suspended due to the blockages.
To date, more than 2,225 freight rakes could not be operated upon carrying vital commodities, the Railways said in a release.
Earlier, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had written to the Punjab government on October 26, 2020, seeking assurance about the safety of tracks and running staff to resume operations.
Following the protests by farmers, over 1,350 passenger trains have been cancelled, diverted or short terminated to date.
"All passenger trains passing through the state of Punjab has been adversely impacted too. To date, more than 1,350 passenger trains have been cancelled, diverted or short terminated. This has caused tremendous inconvenience to travellers in COVID times," the Railways said.
All inward and outward goods transportation including essential commodities have been affected adversely in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
Rail Roko agitation was called for three days by farmer groups and unions on September 24, 2020, which later on continued to date. -- ANI
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the city has seen a jump in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the last few days and it can be called a "third wave".
Kejriwal said people do not need to panic and the government was monitoring the situation regularly. "Delhi has witnessed a jump in the number of Covid-19 cases. I think we can call it a third wave," he told reporters.
"We have been monitoring the situation continuously and there is no need to panic. We will take whatever steps are needed," the chief minister said.
The government's priority is to give best treatment and healthcare facilities to Covid-19 patients in Delhi and to keep the death rate as low as possible, he said. The chief minister said there was no shortage of beds for coronavirus patients in the city.
"However, there is scarcity of ICU beds in some big, private hospitals. But we are trying to set things right," he said. "The Delhi government had increased their numbers (ICU beds in private hospitals) but unfortunately, the Delhi High Court stayed our decision. We are moving the Supreme Court today to urge it to vacate the stay," Kejriwal said.
Delhi recorded over 6,700 fresh Covid-19 cases for the first time on Tuesday, taking the infection tally in the city to over 4 lakh, even as the positivity rate stood at11.29 per cent amid festive season and rising pollution in the city.
The previous highest single-day spike till date here - 5,891 cases - was recorded on Friday. The 6,725 fresh cases came out of the 59,540 tests conducted the previous day. Forty-eight new fatalities were recorded, pushing the death toll in the national capital to 6,652, according to the bulletin issued by the Delhi health department. -- PTI
A break from news on the US polls and in India, on the Bihar polls, with this image. That's the hot and sexy 55-year-old but-naked body of actor, model, marathoner, Milind Soman, who brought in his birthday by streaking. Happy Birthday, Milind! Keep them coming.
Those of you on the wrong side of 50 will remember the bold and talented danseuse Protima Bedi who streaked in the seventies, the first celebrity to do so, for the launch of film magazine Cine Blitz.
In an impressive show, all the four Indian-American Democratic lawmakers -- Dr Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthi -- have been re-elected to the US House of Representatives. The Indian-American community has emerged as a force to reckon with for the first time in the history of the US presidential election. Both the Democrat and the Republican campaigns had initiated several measures to woo the approximately 1.8 million members of the community who have emerged as a critical voting bloc in the battleground states of Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
The so-called 'Samosa caucus', a termed coined by Krishnamoorthi for informal grouping of Indian-American lawmakers, might expand with at least one more as physician Dr Hiral Tipirneni was leading against Republican incumbent David Schweikert from the sixth Congressional district of Arizona when last reports came in. If elected, Tipirneni, 52, would be the second ever Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.
Jayapal, 55, was the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives in 2016. The 'Samosa caucus' currently comprises five Indian-American lawmakers, including the four members of the House of Representatives and Senator and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, 56. Raja Krishnamoorthi, 47, easily defeated Preston Nelson, 30, of the Libertarian Party.
When last reports came in, he had accounted for nearly 71 per cent of the total votes counted. Ro Khanna, 44, easily defeated fellow Indian-American Ritesh Tandon, 48, of the Republican Party with a margin of more than 50 percentage points. This was his third-consecutive win from the 17th Congressional district of California.
Dr Ami Bera, 55, the senior most member of the 'Samosa Caucus', won the seventh Congressional District of California for the fifth consecutive term. When the last report came in, he had established an inaccessible lead by more than 25 percentage points against his Republican rival 65-year-old Buzz Patterson.
Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Sri Preston Kulkarni, 42, lost to his Republican rival Troy Nehls, 52, a popular sheriff and military veteran endorsed by President Donald Trump, in the 22nd Congressional district of Texas.
Biden: 220, Trump: 213. 270 electoral votes are needed to become president.
Almost one in five patients with Covid-19 may only show gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, according to a review of studies. The findings suggest that abdominal radiologists need to remain vigilant during the pandemic while imaging patients, the researchers said. Gastrointestinal symptoms associated with Covid-19 vary widely but can include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and generalized abdominal pain, they said.
The study, published in the journal Abdominal Radiology, found that 18 per cent of patients presented with such symptoms, while 16 per cent of Covid-19 cases may only present with gastrointestinal symptoms.
"There's a growing amount of literature showing that abdominal symptomatology is a common presentation for Covid-19," said Mitch Wilson, a radiologist and clinical lecturer at the University of Alberta in Canada.
The researchers examined findings from 36 studies published through July 15 to reach their conclusions. In addition to gastrointestinal symptoms, they also determined potential signs radiologists should look for while conducting abdominal imaging that could be evidence of Covid-19 infection.
Those signs include inflammation of the small and large bowel, air within the bowel wall (pneumatosis) and bowel perforation (pneumoperitoneum), the researchers said. The signs are quite rare, and could indicate patients with advanced disease, they said. "Seeing these things is not necessarily telling us a patient has Covid-19. It could be from a variety of potential causes," said Wilson. -- PTI
Hitting out at his political rivals, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who did not help distressed people during the coronavirus lockdown, are now seeking votes from them.
Addressing an election rally at Bihariganj, from where veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav's daughter Subhashini Yadav is contesting the assembly polls on a Congress seat, Gandhi also assailed the two NDA leaders over job creation.
Kumar had promised he would provide jobs to the youth and "change" Bihar, but he could not deliver, the Congress leader said. "When youths today ask Kumar during his public meetings about the jobs he had promised, he threatens them, chases them away and gets them thrashed," Gandhi alleged.
He also raked up the issue of Minimum Support Price for maize and paddy and said the money that the farmers should be getting is actually going to the middlemen.
He alleged that Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Kumar did not help poor labourers and workers during the coronavirus lockdown, rather they got them "lathicharged", and are asking for their votes now.
"If the prime minister of India had any place for farmers and labourers in his heart, he would have died but not done what he did during the lockdown. Entire Bihar knows this," he said. He alleged that the PM, through the three recently passed agricultural laws, has "cleared the way for new middlemen".
"Not the smaller ones but the bigger ones -- Ambani and Adani. In 2006, mandis were destroyed here and it is being done now across the country," Gandhi claimed. He said prices of vegetable and other edible items are shooting up because of these new agricultural laws as the grains produced here are going to the "bigger godowns" and being sold at inflated rates. -- PTI
Key battleground states still have millions of mail ballots to count. Election officials are urging caution about interpreting incomplete results. And neither President Donald Trump nor Joe Biden have secured 270 electoral votes.
The current vote count in several important swing states does show Trump with the lead so far, among votes already counted -- but approximately one-third of the expected vote has not yet been counted in Michigan or Pennsylvania, and a significant part of the expected vote is still outstanding in Wisconsin. Read more
Image: Unused privacy booths are seen at a voting site in Tripp Commons inside the Memorial Union building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Pic: Reuters
Rapper Kanye West on Tuesday voted for himself as the next US president after a long-shot campaign marked by erratic statements and speculation that he might siphon some Black votes from Democrat Joe Biden.
The singer and fashion designer appeared to concede his 2020 bid had ended but suggested his quest was not over. He posted a picture of himself in front of an electoral map saying "WELP KANYE 2024."
Earlier, the singer and fashion designer tweeted that he was "voting for the first time in my life for the President of the United States, and it's for someone I truly trust ... me."
He later posted video of himself casting his vote in Cody, Wyoming, where he wrote himself in on the ballot.
West, 43, got onto the presidential ballot in a handful of states, although not in battlegrounds like Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan. He has spent recent weeks instructing followers how to vote for him as a write-in candidate elsewhere.
West, once one of Trump's biggest celebrity supporters, launched his campaign for the White House in July with erratic statements that raised concerns over his mental health. The 21-time Grammy Award winner said in 2018 that he suffers from bipolar disorder.
It's 3 am in the United States and based on CNN's current projections, Joe Biden has 220 electoral votes while Donald Trump has 213 electoral votes.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that a "major fraud" is being perpetrated on the American people and said he will fight election in the Supreme Court, as the counting of votes were in progress in the battleground states.
"Frankly we did win this election," Trump claimed. Trump, a Republican, is being challenged by Democratic Party's nominee Joe Biden. "Millions and millions of people voted for us," Trump said in a speech at 2 am on Wednesday at the White House.
"A very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people," he claimed. "We were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything. And all of a sudden it was just called off," he said. A "major fraud was being committed, the president said, without citing any evidence.
"This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country," the republican leader said. Trump said he would go to the Supreme Court as he wanted "all voting to stop." "Frankly we did win this election," he said.
So Donald Trump basically declared he had won the presidential elections and at the same time alleged fraud in the counting process. "We were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything. And all of a sudden it was just called off," he said. Voting was stopped because it is past 2 am and will resume tomorrow. It wasn't stopped, says CNN, because of any kind of fraud.
Trump claimed a fraud was being committed. "This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country," Trump claimed.
"Frankly we did win this election," he said and added that he would approach the Supreme Court. Trump said he wanted "all voting to stop."
US President Donald Trump addresses voters from the White House. A mask-less Trump announces that he is winning Pennsylvania. He is also looking at his wins and losses in the states. He said Florida was a tremendous victory. Trump declared victory, but in the states Joe Biden won, he alleged fraud. He said he wants the voting to stop and he would go to the Supreme Court.
He started by thanking his family, and the millions of supporters who turned out for him tonight. "We were getting ready for a big celebration," he says. "We were winning everything." Trump celebrated his big win of the night in Florida. "We didn't win it, we won it by a lot," he says.
Donald Trump will address voters from the White House any time now. It's unclear what he will say, but he did tweet earlier to declare a 'big WIN'. Trump has previously raised scepticism over the integrity of the election by suggesting, without evidence, that postal ballots are more susceptible to fraud than in-person votes. The tweet he issued on election night was labelled as "misleading" for making an unsubstantiated claim about ballot integrity.
Donald Trump wins Montana, Texas, Iowa, Idaho, Ohio, Florida, Mississippi, Wyoming, Missouri, Kansas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama and South Carolina, North Dakota., South Dakota, Arkansas, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Indiana
Joe Biden wins Rhode Island, Minnesota, Virgina, California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, DC, Maryland and Massachusetts, Vermont.
Conservative Nebraska would seem to be an unlikely electoral battleground. There is a scenario, however, where the state - or at least part of it - could decide who becomes the next US president.
Donald Trump is projected to win here - but in a surprise, Joe Biden was able to pick up one of its five electoral college votes.
President Trump will win Texas, CNN projects. There are 38 electoral votes at stake in Texas. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
There are three electoral votes at stake in Montana. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election. In 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
Donald Trump Wins Montana, Florida, Iowa. Joe Biden wins Minnesota.
Joe Biden called on his supporters to be patient as votes continue to be tallied in the fight for the White House. "It's not my place or Donald Trump's place to declare who has won this election,' Biden said to a crowd of supporters in Wilmington, Delaware.
The Democratic contender went on to say that he was optimistic of the outcome of the election, but it "may take a little longer" to know the results of the race. "Keep the faith, guys, we're going to win this,' Biden said. "Thank you. Your patience is great."
Twitter has labelled a tweet from President Trump as possibly "misleading about an election or other civic process" and urged users to find accurate information about the election. Trump had tweeted shortly after his rival Joe Biden took the stage in Delaware to urge patience as the vote counting process is completed. "We are up big, but they are trying to steal the election," Trump wrote. "We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed."
US President Donald Trump tweeted to say he will be making a statement tonight. @realDonaldTrump said, "I will be making a statement tonight. A big WIN!"
Donald Trump's son Eric, tweeted this throwback image with his father and another at the White House, Oval office. @EricTrump wrote, "It's amazing how far we have come! So proud of you Dad! @realDonaldTrump."
Joe Biden urged patience tonight in Delaware as votes continue to be counted. "We knew this was going to go long. Keep the faith, we are winning," he told a crowd moments ago.
To the sound of blaring car horns from his audience of supporters, Joe Biden and his wife Jill take the stage at the outdoor venue in Wilmington, Delaware.
"Good evening. Your patience is commendable." he says, adding: "We feel good about where we are."
The Biden campaign has long said their easiest path to the nomination hinges on the "blue wall" -- Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania -- and that is still a belief that stands tonight.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday prevailed in the hotly contested Rust Belt state of Ohio -- one he seized in 2016 and which is key to his efforts to win reelection over his Democratic challenger.
Union minister Smriti Irani speaks up for Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami who was arrested this morning in Mumbai. "Those in the free press who don't stand up today in support of Arnab, you are now tactically in support of fascism. You may not like him, you may not approve of him, you may despise his very existence but if you stay silent you support suppression. Who speaks if you are next?"
A team of Alibaug Police picked up Goswami from his residence Mumbai. Goswami, who was seen being pushed into the police van, claimed that he was assaulted by police at his home, while being taken away.
Goswami has been arrested in a two-year-old suicide case in which investigations were reopened recently, the Mumbai police said today. He was arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer, Anvay Naik, and his mother, in 2018.
Joe Biden wins Hawaii. Biden will deliver remarks in Wilmington soon. The Democratic vice presidential nominee has won New Jersey and New York in a tight race to the White House with President Donald Trump also registering early wins in key states.
Biden got 2.2 million votes in New York while Trump got 1.2 million. The former vice president won in Democratic-leaning states of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont and Virginia, while President Trump was posting expected victories in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wyoming, Indiana and South Carolina, The New York Times said.
People across America were closely watching the 2020 presidential election, which saw a record number of over 100 million early voting due to the coronavirus pandemic. The usually bustling and crowded Times Square wore an almost deserted look on the election night, as the coronavirus pandemic forced many to stay indoors.
Image: Election workers count ballots on November 3 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The Editors' Guild of India sends out a statement condemning the arrest of Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV. "The Guild calls upon Maharashtra CM to ensure that Goswami is treated fairly and state power is not used against critical reporting by media."
A team of Alibaug Police picked up Goswami from his residence Mumbai. Goswami, who was seen being pushed into the police van, claimed that he was assaulted by police at his home, while being taken away.
Goswami has been arrested in a two-year-old suicide case in which investigations were reopened recently, the Mumbai police said today. He was arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer, Anvay Naik, and his mother, in 2018.
Former Trump campaign adviser Bryan Lanza has told the BBC that the election is clearly going to be closer than many people expected. Although the 2000 election was decided by one state - Florida - it might be decided by five states in this election, he said.
"At the end of the day, we are seeing a much closer election than what the pundits and what the pollsters said we were going to have, and we shouldn't be surprised by that," Lanza added.
"It's a testament to the Trump campaign, putting away all the noise and focusing on what they knew they had to do to win."
Image: Election workers open and count ballots to be processed at the Franklin County Board of Elections on November 3, in Columbus, Ohio. Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images
Reacting to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami's arrest, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday described it as "an attack on press freedom" in Maharashtra and said it reminded of the "Emergency days".
Police on Wednesday arrested Goswami from his residence in Mumbai for allegedly abetting suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer, a police official said.
Javadekar tweeted, "We condemn the attack on press freedom in Maharashtra." "This is not the way to treat the Press. This reminds us of the emergency days when the press was treated like this," he said.
A team of Alibaug Police picked up Goswami from his residence Mumbai. Goswami, who was seen being pushed into the police van, claimed that he was assaulted by police at his home, while being taken away. -- PTI
US Presidential exit polls: Exit polls show that the electorate is growing less white, with six per cent fewer white voters than in 2016. Trump supporters are four times more likely to say the economy was what tipped the scales in the president's favour. Biden backers were more likely to cite the pandemic and inequality.
Joe Biden is projected to win 14 states, plus Washington DC. Those states are Vermont, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Colorado, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Illinois, California, Oregon, Washington state, and Washington DC.
Donald Trump is projected to win 17 states. Those are Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana, Nebraska and Nebraska 3rd District, Utah, Missouri, Kansas, Wyoming, and Mississippi.
Image: Chairs sit ready for reporters inside circles marked for social distancing as a Covid-19 precaution in the press area at a drive-in election night event for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the Chase Center. Win McNamee/Getty Images
Shiv Sena spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut reacts to journalist Arnab Goswami's arrest by the Mumbai police. "The law is followed in Maharashtra. Police can take action if they have evidence against anyone. Since the formation of Thackeray government, no action has been taken against anyone for revenge," Raut said.
Republic TV's Arnab Goswami has been arrested in a two-year-old suicide case in which investigations were reopened recently, the Mumbai police said today. He was arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer, Anvay Naik, and his mother, in 2018.
Goswami was arrested from his home in Mumbai this morning. He claimed that he was manhandled and assaulted by the police before being pushed into their van.
US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are battling it out for the White House, with polls gradually closing across the United States Tuesday -- and then a long night of waiting for results ahead.
Joe Biden has captured 16 states including his home state Delaware and big prizes California and New York, as well as the US capital. As with Donald Trump, so far, all states claimed by Biden were won by Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
So far, that gives Joe Biden 209 electoral votes and Donald Trump a maximum of 116.
India on Wednesday reported 46,254 new cases of the novel coronavirus, pushing the nation's tally to 83,13,877, said the Union Health Ministry.
As per the latest health update, 514 more deaths were reported in the country in a span of 24 hours. With fresh fatalities, the nation's death toll now stands at 1,23,611.
As on 4 November morning, there are 5,33,787 active Covid-19 cases and 76,56,478 cured cases. Also, 53,357 people were discharged in the last 24 hours.
It is the tenth straight day that infections numbered fewer than 50,000, as cases have dipped from a September peak, but experts warn the current season of festivals could lead to another spike.
Dina Romero holds a cutout of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden with other people showing their support outside of the Miami-Dade County Elections Department in Doral, Florida
US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are battling it out for the White House.
The following is a list of the states won by each candidate and the corresponding number of electoral votes, based on the projections of US media including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC/NBC News, ABC, CBS and The New York Times.
Donald Trump wants to "project strength" and "set his own narrative" tonight, a senior Trump campaign official who spoke to the US president has told CBS.
"Yes, the president will speak tonight. Even if it's not to declare victory, he needs to set the narrative," the official said.
Trump will deliver remarks from the White House East Room, the official added.
A number of senior advisers say there is frustration over Democratic talk of the "red mirage" - referring to the idea that the early projections of Trump winning in some states are misleading because they don't yet include postal ballots, which tend to lean towards Democrats. (Red is the colour of the Republicans).
There's a sense that the US president cannot lose hold of tonight's story, the official says.
Mumbai Police on Wednesday entered Republic TV Editor Arnab Goswami's residence and attempted to detain him.
Arnab claims he was 'physically assaulted by police'.
The Supreme Court on Monday had said, it would hear on November 6 a plea by journalist Arnab Goswami who has challenged the show cause notice by the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for initiation of breach of privilege motion against him for reportage related to the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.
The show cause notice has been issued to Goswami for making certain remarks against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackrey in his news debates on Rajputs case.
So far, Biden's been doing far better with women than Trump, though the Democrat's lead is slim when it comes to male voters.
Biden has a lead among all non-white voters, and his biggest margin is with black Americans - Trump's only won 11 per cent of African American voters to Biden's 87 per cent.
When it comes to women, 57 per cent women prefer Biden.
Results in Ohio are offering a surprise so far. With 67 per cent of the vote counted statewide, Joe Biden is leading by 50% to 48.8%, outperforming Donald Trump in some crucial counties.
If that holds, it would be a big surprise. Trump won Ohio by eight points in 2016 -- a huge swing considering the state voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Key to that win was Trump winning nine traditionally Democratic counties by big numbers.
So far, Biden is outperforming Hillary Clinton in all nine of those counties.
A big caveat to all this, however, is that Ohio has reported early voting first. Republicans here are hoping that more Trump than Biden supporters voted in person today --and that those votes are yet to be counted and released.
In any case, if Trump struggles in Ohio, it would spell trouble for the president in the rest of the Midwest, where he won by a much smaller margin in 2016.
US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are battling it out for the White House, with polls gradually closing across the United States Tuesday and a long night of waiting for results ahead.
The following is a list of the states won by each candidate and the corresponding number of electoral votes, based on the projections of US media including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC/NBC News, ABC, CBS and The New York Times.
Sarah McBride of Delaware has become the first openly trans person to be elected a state senator in US history.
She won 86% of absentee ballot voters in the state's first district, and will be the highest-ranking trans politician in the US.
In 2013, McBride worked on the campaign of Beau Biden -- Joe Bidens late son who served as Delawares attorney general -- and collaborated with him on the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act.
Joe Biden wrote the foreword to McBrides book on her fight for trans rights in 2018.
She has spent years advocating for LGBTQ+ rights with the Human Rights Campaign, and was the first openly trans person to work in the White House under Barack Obama.
Sarahs overwhelming victory is a powerful testament to the growing influence of transgender leaders in our politics and gives hope to countless trans people looking toward a brighter future, said Annise Parker of LGBTQ Victory Fund.
For Sarah to shatter a lavender ceiling in such a polarizing year is a powerful reminder that voters are increasingly rejecting the politics of bigotry in favor of candidates who stand for fairness and equality. Her victory will inspire more trans people to follow in her footsteps and run for public office.
Based on CNN's current projections, Biden has 73 electoral college votes, and Trump has 48 electoral college votes.
Donald Trump has picked up North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana and Nebraska. The AP also called Indiana for Trump shortly before polls closed in some western states.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden has won the states of New York and New Mexico.
There are 29 electoral votes at stake in New York. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election. In 2016, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and US President Trump won the general election.
US President Trump will win Arkansas CNN projects. There are six electoral votes at stake in Arkansas.
The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has won re-election in Kentucky, despite Democrat Amy McGraths long-shot bid to unseat him.
Kentucky, Im humbled and grateful that youve rehired me to keep fighting for your families and serving our commonwealth for the next six years, McConnell said.
Kentucky wants more of the policies that built the best economy is modern history. Not socialism, McConnell said. This is no time to declare war on our institutions because one side is angry.
US President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden split the first US states to be projected in the White House race on Tuesday, with the two contenders neck and neck in vital Florida and other competitive battleground states, including Georgia and Ohio, still up in the air.
So far, Joe Biden has 57 electoral votes and Donald Trump 42. The magic number is 270. Observers expect the hotly contested race for the White House to come down to a handful of key battleground states.
The following is a list of the states won by each candidate and the corresponding number of electoral votes, based on the projections of US media.
Joe Biden will win Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland CNN projects.
While there are 11 electoral votes at stake in Massachusetts, there are three electoral votes at stake in Delaware and 10 electoral votes at stake in Maryland. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
According to AP, Donald Trump has just won South Carolina and its nine electoral votes. Trump was expected to win the state.
The US president has also won the states of Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.
Florida is a big prize and it's fiercely contested. It carries 29 electoral votes - a significant chunk of the 270 needed to win - and polls suggest a very tight race.
US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign manager on Tuesday stated that the former Vice President can defeat President Donald Trump and win the White House without carrying two crucial battlegrounds, Florida and Pennsylvania.
Jen O'Malley Dillon, Biden's campaign manager informed on Tuesday that the former VP was leading by eight points coming into Election Day in the key battleground states thanks to the surge in voting ahead of the election, reported Fox News.
Dillon emphasised the enthusiasm in early voting, which she said is continuing today in voting so far. She also claimed that allowed the campaign to continue to have these multiple paths to victory to the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the White House.
"Trump has such a harder hill to climb today to overcome the advantage we came in with," Dillon was quoted as saying by Fox News.
Roughly 100 million Americans casted ballots through early in-person voting, absentee and mail in balloting, which is nearly three-quarters of all votes cast in the 2016 election.
As polls closed in six US states, reports said Donald Trump has won in Kentucky.
So far, that gives Trump 19 electoral votes to three for Biden. The magic number is 270. Observers expect the hotly contested race for the White House to come down to a handful of key battleground states.
US President Donald Trump has won Indiana, news agency AFP quotes reports as results started coming in.
No surprise here: Donald Trump has won West Virginia, giving the US president another five electoral votes.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden has won Virginia and its 13 electoral votes, the AP has just announced.
Polls have closed in six US states in a bitterly contested election between incumbent US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, including in the key East Coast battleground of Georgia.
Polling places also shut statewide in Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia in a landmark contest that saw tens of millions of American cast their ballots early amid the coronavirus pandemic.
CNN and NBC already projected a win for Donald Trump in Indiana.
US President Donald Trump has won Indiana, news agency AFP quotes reports as results started coming in.
China has annexed over 150 hectares of Nepal's territory, according to a leading British daily whose report was rejected by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday as a 'completely unfounded rumour'.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin's remarks came after The Telegraph quoting Nepalese politicians reported that China has annexed more than 150 hectares of land in five areas near the border, including by diverting the flow of a river to claim the previously submerged land.
Reacting to the news report, Wang said: I want to point out that the report is a completely unfounded rumour.
Pressed further to provide evidence to back his denial, Wang said, as this is a rumour, those who have compiled this report should come up with their evidence first.
When pointed out by The Telegraph reporter 'we do have evidence. We have spoken with Nepalese politicians who have said this. We would like the Chinese side to comment', Wang said the content should have been verified before reporting it.
"My suggestion is, before making such a report, you should act responsibly to verify things and then report on this. I can say that this report is a completely unfounded rumour," Wang said.
The Telegraph reporter said, we did reach out to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal for comment, but they didn't respond. So that's why we are here today. We are hoping that the MOFA (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) would please respond.
Wang replied saying that I have an accurate and clear answer for you, that report is not based on fact. It is a pure rumour.
The Telegraph's report said that China allegedly began seizing Nepalese land in five frontier districts in May, sending members of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) across undefended areas of the border.
In the north-western district of Humla, PLA troops crossed the border into the Limi Valley and Hilsa, moving stone pillars which had previously demarcated the boundary further into Nepalese territory before constructing alleged military bases.
The Daily Telegraph has seen images of the bases, it said.
Further annexations occurred in the Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk and Sankuwasabha districts after Chinese engineers in the Tibet Autonomous Region diverted the flow of rivers acting as a natural boundary and claimed the previously submerged Nepalese territory, it said.
'Why should China come over into Nepal, when China is already sixty times the size of our small country?' the report quoted Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, a lawmaker in the Nepali Congress Party, as saying.
The alleged land-grabs in Humla appear to have been motivated by the strategic view the district's mountain peaks offer over the Himalayas, the report quoted the Nepalese politicians as saying.
'In 2009, Chinese troops first crossed over into the undefended district and constructed a veterinary centre for livestock.
'When Shahi objected, he was told by the Nepalese government the building would have a positive impact on the livelihoods of impoverished local residents who typically make a living by herding yak and goats,' it said.
'He (Shahi) says he received telephone calls from local villagers in June, reporting stone pillars marking the undefended border had been moved further inside Nepalese territory in the Limi Valley by Chinese troops,' it said. -- PTI
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