U.S. elections

Biden gains ground in White House vote count as Trump mounts legal challenges
Democrat Joe Biden edged closer to victory in the U.S. presidential race on Thursday as election officials tallied votes in the handful of states that will determine the outcome and protesters took to the streets.
President Donald Trump alleged fraud without providing evidence, filed lawsuits and called for recounts in a race yet to be decided two days after polls closed.
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Republicans appeared poised to retain control of the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, after Senator Susan Collins defied political odds to win re-election in Maine and other Republican incumbents led Democrats in a handful of undecided races.
Democrats, who had been favored to win the Senate majority heading into Tuesday’s election, had a net gain of only one seat to show by Wednesday afternoon as their options for further increases dwindled, despite a huge Democratic money advantage going into the final weeks of the campaign.
Social networks fail to corral Trump's misinformation about U.S. vote count
As U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies flooded social media on Wednesday with false claims of victory and unsupported allegations of voter fraud, social media companies warned users the presidential election had yet to be decided.
The posts on Twitter, Facebook and other sites are imposing a real-time test of Silicon Valley's much-touted rules on handling election misinformation and premature claims of victory.
Police arrest 11 in Portland, 50 in New York at protests after U.S. vote
Police in Portland declared riots, arrested 11 people and seized fireworks, hammers and a rifle, as Oregon Governor Kate Brown activated the National Guard in response to protests on the night after voting in the U.S. presidential election.
A crowd of Donald Trump supporters, some armed with rifles and handguns, gathered outside an election center in Arizona on Wednesday night after unsubstantiated rumors that votes for the Republican president were deliberately not being counted.

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

Moscow situation worsening
Moscow's mayor said on Thursday that the city's coronavirus situation was getting worse, and extended a remote learning period for secondary schools as infections climbed nationwide at a near-record daily rate.
The Kremlin said the situation was alarming, but that it was nonetheless under control.
"Unfortunately we see setbacks in some regions. The president knows about this and emergency measures are being taken," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Greece orders nationwide lockdown
Greece ordered a nationwide lockdown on Thursday for three weeks to help contain a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
"I've chosen to take drastic measures sooner rather than later," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
Under the new countrywide restrictions to take effect from Saturday, retail businesses will be shut with the exception of supermarkets and pharmacies. Civilians will need a time-slot permit to venture outdoors.
Norway imposes new restrictions
Prime Minister Erna Solberg told Norwegians to avoid traveling domestically and instead stay at home as much as possible as part of a new round of recommendations and restrictions.
The number of cases has risen in many parts of Norway, hitting a record last week in a country which long had one of Europe's lowest rate of infections.
Czech Republic reports record daily tally for infections
The Czech Republic reported on Thursday a record daily tally of new coronavirus cases following several days of slowdowns in infections.
Czech laboratories identified 15,729 new coronavirus cases for Wednesday, Health Ministry data showed.
The country of 10.7 million had seen fewer cases on a weekly comparison on a string of days over the past week although it still faces one of Europe's highest infection rates.
Denmark plans to cull its mink population
Denmark will cull its mink population of up to 17 million after a mutation of the coronavirus found in the animals spread to humans, the prime minister said on Wednesday.
Health authorities found virus strains in humans and in mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies, potentially lowering the efficacy of future vaccines, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.

From Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Opera, Vaccines, Wine, Airlines
Milan’s famed La Scala opera house has become the latest cultural victim of the pandemic. And Deutsche Lufthansa’s 10 billion euro state-supplied parachute is starting to look a bit small. Catch up with the latest financial insights.

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world news

Vienna gunman rampaged alone, intelligence was fumbled, minister says
Large quantities of mobile phone footage have confirmed that the jihadist who killed four people in a rampage in Vienna on Monday was the only gunman, but Austria fumbled intelligence on him, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said on Wednesday.
Austria arrested 14 people aged 18 to 28 on Tuesday in connection with the attack and is investigating them on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization, he said. But it would also have to investigate its own actions, he added.

Israel razes most of Palestinian Bedouin village in West Bank on U.S. election day
Israel has demolished most of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, displacing 73 Palestinians - including 41 children - in the largest such demolition in years, residents and a United Nations official said.
Tented homes, animal shelters, latrines and solar panels were among the structures destroyed in the village of Khirbet Humsah on Tuesday, according to the U.N. official.

Kosovo President Thaci resigns after war crimes indictment confirmed
Kosovo President Hashim Thaci resigned with immediate effect on Thursday after learning that the Kosovo war crimes tribunal had confirmed his indictment for war crimes.

Bank of England ramps up stimulus again to tackle COVID-19 and Brexit hit
The Bank of England increased its already huge bond-buying stimulus by a larger-than-expected $195 billion as it braced for more economic damage from new coronavirus lockdowns and damage from Brexit, too.