Donald Trump and Joe Biden each claim to be ahead in the US presidential election, even as the final outcome hangs on a razor’s edge and both sides gear up for legal action. The Trump campaign is challenging vote counts in the key states of Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Winning all three of these Rust Belt states would hand Mr Biden victory.
The number of new daily coronavirus cases recorded in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 for the time, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The data showed 102,831 new Covid-19 infections were recorded on Wednesday, up from 91,530 cases on Election Day. The data also showed that 1,097 deaths were recorded Wednesday, lower than the 1,134 deaths reported the previous day. In total, the coronavirus has killed 233,734 people in the U.S.
Mainland China has barred entry to non-Chinese visitors from Britain, Belgium and the Philippines and demanded travelers from the United States, France and Germany present results of additional health tests, as coronavirus cases rise around the world. China has temporarily suspended entry of non-Chinese nationals traveling from the United Kingdom even if they hold valid visas and residence permits, the Chinese embassy in Britain said.
Countries pressed Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Thursday to halt a military campaign in the Tigray region to avert civil war, but sources said he showed no sign of backing down from confrontation with a powerful ethnic faction. Federal troops and regional forces clashed in the northern region on Wednesday, after Abiy ordered them to respond to an alleged attack on government forces in the region by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Scientists have detected mysterious and powerful radio signals originating from within the Milky Way. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are a puzzling phenomenon first detected in 2007 – but previous observations have never identified them from within our own galaxy. They are brief, but incredibly powerful – emitting much more energy in a single millisecond that the sun does all day.