World leaders hope for fresh start after Biden win

World leaders on Sunday cheered Joe Biden's election as US president as a chance to enhance cooperation on climate change, the coronavirus and other problems after four years of President Donald Trump's rejection of international alliances. Trump had yet to concede defeat, but Western and Asian allies expressed hoped for a fresh start following Trump's "American First" trade policies, withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and attacks on NATO and the World Health Organization. I

World NewsNov. 8, 2020

Biden calls for unity in victory speech

WILMINGTON (AFP) -- Democrat Joe Biden urged unity Saturday and promised "a new day for America" in his first national address since he won the tense US election and ended the historically turbulent and divisive era of Donald Trump. After jogging onto the outdoor stage to the sounds of Bruce Springsteen in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden delivered a message of hope and healing to a crowd of cheering supporters and tens of millions more on television. The victory speech fo

World NewsNov. 8, 2020

'This isn't over!': Trump supporters refuse to accept defeat

Chanting "This isn't over!" and "Stop the steal," supporters of President Donald Trump protested at state capitols across the country Saturday, refusing to accept defeat and echoing Trump's unsubstantiated allegations that the Democrats won by fraud. From Atlanta and Tallahassee to Austin, Bismarck, Boise and Phoenix, crowds ranging in size from a few dozen to a few thousand -- some of them openly carrying guns -- decried the news of Joe Biden's victory after more

World NewsNov. 8, 2020

Trump defied gravity; now falls back to earth, future TBD

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump, who defied political gravity with his extraordinary rise from reality star and businessman to the presidency, has fallen back to earth. In the end, his flurry of raucous rallies, an unprecedented turnout operation and sheer force of will could not overcome the reality of his enduring unpopularity and a raging pandemic that has killed more than 236,000 people in the US and thrown millions out of work. Yet Trump's acerbic brand of politics -- his Twitter ta

World NewsNov. 8, 2020

Joe Biden: Stumbles, tragedies and, now, delayed triumph

Days before he left the White House in 2017, President Barack Obama surprised Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, declaring his septuagenarian, white-haired lieutenant "the best vice president America's ever had," a "lion of American history." The tribute marked the presumed end of a long public life that put Biden in the orbit of the Oval Office for 45 years -- yet, through a combination of family and personal tragedy, his own political missteps and sheer

World NewsNov. 8, 2020

Harris becomes first black woman, South Asian elected US VP

Vice president-elect Kamala Harris on Saturday paid tribute to the women, particularly Black women, whose shoulders she stands on as she shatters barriers that have kept mostly white men entrenched at the highest levels of American politics for more than two centuries. "Tonight I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been," Harris said, wearing a white suit in tribute to women's suffrage. She called it

World NewsNov. 8, 2020

Biden defeats Trump for White House, says 'time to heal'

WASHINGTON (AP)-- Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States on Saturday and offered himself to the nation as a leader who "seeks not to divide, but to unify" a country gripped by a historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil. "I sought this office to restore the soul of America," Biden said in a prime-time victory speech not far from his Delaware home, "and to make America respected around

World NewsNov. 8, 2020

Biden vows action on 'day one' to halt spiraling coronavirus crisis

Joe Biden said Friday as he closed in on winning the US presidency he would he waste no time in addressing the Covid pandemic upon taking office. "I want everyone, everyone to know on day one we're going to put our plan to control this virus into action," Biden said in a late night address from his hometown Wilmington, in Delaware. Biden expressed confidence that he would defeat President Donald Trump as vote counting dragged on from Tuesday's election but stopped short of declarin

World NewsNov. 7, 2020

Biden says he's preparing for White House

Joe Biden says he is already preparing to assume the presidency even though he has not been declared the winner in his race against President Donald Trump. "I want people to know we're not waiting to get the work done," he said late Friday in remarks to the nation. Biden said he and his running mate, Kamala Harris, have held briefings on the coronavirus and the economy this week as the US records record daily cases. He noted nearly 240,000 people have died from the pandemic and said

World NewsNov. 7, 2020

Trump faces tough road in getting Supreme Court to intervene

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said there's one place he wants to determine the outcome of the presidential election: the US Supreme Court. But he may have a difficult time ever getting there. Over the last two days, Trump has leaned in to the idea that the high court should get involved in the election as it did in 2000. Then, the court effectively settled the contested election for President George W. Bush in a 5-4 decision that split the court's liberals and conservatives. Today, s

World NewsNov. 7, 2020

Biden eases ahead in Georgia; Trump attacks election process

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump is testing how far he can go in using the trappings of presidential power to undermine confidence in this week's election against Joe Biden, as the Democrat gained ground in tight contests in key battleground states -- and then inched ahead in Georgia. With his pathway to reelection appearing to shrink, Trump on Thursday advanced unsupported accusations of voter fraud to falsely argue that his rival was trying to seize power. It amounted to a

World NewsNov. 6, 2020

[Newsmaker] Election officials worried by threats and protesters

Election officials in several states said Thursday they are worried about the safety of their staffs amid a stream of threats and gatherings of angry protesters outside their doors, drawn by President Donald Trump's baseless claims of widespread fraud in the race for the White House. "I can tell you that my wife and my mother are very concerned for me," said Joe Gloria, the registrar in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas. He said his staff was bolstering security and trac

World NewsNov. 6, 2020

Trump steps to podium, baselessly attacks election

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For 40 hours, President Donald Trump fumed in private and tweeted his grievances in all caps. When he at last emerged, it was to stand behind the presidential seal in the White House and deliver a diatribe most notable for his litany of false statements about the election and his attempt to cast doubt on the integrity of the democratic process. As votes continued to be counted and Democrat Joe Biden edged closer to victory, Trump lashed out Thursday evening in a perfor

World NewsNov. 6, 2020

Biden sees path to 270; Trump attacks election integrity

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump is testing how far he can go in using the trappings of presidential power to undermine confidence in this week's election against Joe Biden, as the Democrat gained ground in tight contests in some key battleground states. With his pathway to re-election appearing to shrink, Trump on Thursday advanced unsupported accusations of voter fraud to falsely argue that his rival was trying to seize power. It amounted to an extraordinary effort by a sitting

World NewsNov. 6, 2020

Biden inches closer to possible victory amid slow vote counting

WASHINGTON,  -- The United States -- and the rest of the world -- continued to wait Thursday for the outcome of the presidential election as vote counting progressed at a snail's pace two days after the polls closed, with Democratic candidate Joe Biden holding razor-thin leads in key states. Both Biden and President Donald Trump still had a chance to win, but the former vice president was nearing a surprise victory in at least three of the six key battleground states that were all won by T

World NewsNov. 6, 2020

Alibaba posts solid revenue ahead of shopping festival

SHANGHAI (AFP) -- Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba on Thursday reported solid 30 percent year-on-year revenue growth for the July-September quarter, providing some much-needed good news amid turmoil over its Ant Group affiliate's abandoned IPO. Hangzhou-based Alibaba said revenue -- a key measure of the internet giant's business health as well as overall Chinese consumer spending -- rose to 155 billion yuan ($23 billion).The announcement comes ahead of China's November 11 "Single's Day&qu

World BusinessNov. 5, 2020

Kosovo president resigns to face war crimes charges

PRISTINA (AP) -- Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci, a guerrilla leader during Kosovo's war for independence from Serbia in the 1990s, resigned on Thursday in order to face charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court based in The Hague. Thaci announced his resignation at a news conference on Thursday in Pristina, Kosovo's capital. He said he was taking the step "to protect the integrity of the presidency of Kosovo." Thaci was indicted by a special Kosovo court

World NewsNov. 5, 2020

EU cuts 2021 economic outlook as virus spreads

BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union's executive commission on Thursday lowered its growth forecast for the economic rebound from the coronavirus pandemic next year and said the economy wouldn't reach pre-virus levels until 2023. The regular autumn forecast foresees the economy of the 19 countries that use the euro growing only 4.2 percent in 2021 instead of the previous estimate of 6.1 percent. The downgrade comes as governments record increasing numbers of infections, sick people in hos

World BusinessNov. 5, 2020

Biden closes in on victory

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Democrat Joe Biden took a huge step Wednesday to capturing the White House, with wins in Michigan and Wisconsin bringing him close to a majority, but President Donald Trump responded with fury as his campaign sued to suspend vote counting. In a brief address on national television, flanked by American flags and his vice presidential pick Kamala Harris, Biden said he wasn't yet declaring victory, but that "when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners.&qu

World NewsNov. 5, 2020

Trump backers converge on vote centers in Michigan, Arizona

Dozens of angry supporters of President Donald Trump converged on vote-counting centers in Detroit and Phoenix as the returns went against him Wednesday in the two key states, while thousands of anti-Trump protesters demanding a complete tally of the ballots in the still-undecided election took to the streets in cities across the US. "Stop the count!" the Trump supporters chanted in Detroit. "Stop the steal!" they said in Phoenix. The protests came as the president insisted

World NewsNov. 5, 2020