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U.S. Democrats claimed an upset win in Kentucky over a Republican governor backed by President Donald Trump and seized control of the state legislature in Virginia, where anti-Trump sentiment in the suburbs remained a potent force. Attorney General Andy Beshear, whose father was the state’s last Democratic governor, scored a narrow victory over Governor Matt Bevin despite an election-eve rally headlined by Trump.

Top Trump administration officials are expected to be no-shows on Wednesday for the impeachment inquiry by congressional Democrats, who will continue to release more transcripts of the testimony they have already gathered. The fast-moving inquiry, so far conducted behind closed doors, became more public this week after congressional investigators began releasing hundreds of pages of testimony.

Iowa? Greece? Where Trump and Xi may meet becomes new trade deal issue. The United States and China are working to narrow their differences enough to sign a “phase one” trade deal as early as this month, but suggestions for a signing venue range from Alaska to Greece.

Cause of Philadelphia fire sounds alarm over aging U.S. refineries. How did a piece of piping installed when Richard Nixon was U.S. president go without once being checked before leading to a fire that devastated the East Coast’s largest and oldest oil refinery?

World

Beijing supports bolder action to tackle the roots of unrest that has rocked Hong Kong for months, a senior Chinese official said, just hours after a knife-wielding man attacked a pro-Beijing lawmaker in the Chinese-ruled city. What started as agitation against a now-scrapped extradition bill has widened into calls for full democracy.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s election campaign launch got off to a poor start, when his party chairman was forced to defend distributing a doctored video clip of a rival Labour Party politician. As Britain heads towards a Dec. 12 election that could shape the fate of Brexit, politicians have expressed concerns that misleading information could spread swiftly across social media.

Iran has started to inject uranium gas into centrifuges at its underground Fordow nuclear facility, state TV reported on Wednesday, further distancing itself from a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that curbed its atomic work. With the injection of uranium gas into its centrifuges, the facility will move from its permitted status of research plant to become an active nuclear site.

Dying for a better life - South Koreans fake their funerals for life lessons. A South Korean service is offering free funerals - but only to the living. More than 25,000 people have participated in mass “living funeral” services at Hyowon Healing Center since it opened, hoping to improve their lives by simulating their deaths.