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Kamal Harris vows to ‘never give up the fight’

Democratic nominee calls on US citizens shattered by election result to ‘organize, mobilize and stay engaged’

Kamala Harris formally conceded the election to Donald Trump on Wednesday, urging Americans devastated by the result to “not despair” but to stay engaged and remain vigilant in the fight to protect American democracy.

Under a dramatic yellow sky, the vice-president arrived on stage to chants of “Kamala!” from the grounds of her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington. The speech came the afternoon after Trump surged past the 270 votes needed to win the electoral college, the realization of a stunning political comeback four years after his refusal to concede power culminated in a violent attack on the seat of American government.

“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” said Harris, her voice hoarse after a whirlwind 13-week campaign. “Hear me when I say: the light of America’s promise will always burn bright, as long as we never give up.”

Earlier in the day, Harris had called Trump to congratulate him on his victory and pledged that the Biden administration would “engage in a peaceful transfer of power”. As the vice-president, she will play the ceremonial role of president of the Senate during the certification of Trump’s victory in January.

“In our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party, but to the constitution of the United States,” Harris said, drawing loud applause when she committed to help Trump’s team transition to the White House.

Harris seemed to acknowledge the fear among her supporters, who agreed with her warnings that Trump posed an existential threat to the future of American democracy and the planet. But she said now was not a time to “throw up our hands”.

“This is a time to organize, to mobilize and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together,” she said.

The vice-president’s public concession marked the end of a tumultuous election that lasted just more than 100 days, the shortest in modern memory after the president stepped aside and effectively anointed her his successor weeks before the party’s summer convention.

By Wednesday afternoon, Trump, the twice impeached former president who has been convicted of dozens of crimes and is accused of many more, had won at least five of the seven battleground states and was on track to claim the popular vote. Unlike in 2016, when Trump won a shock electoral victory against Hillary Clinton but lost the popular vote, he will return to power with what he called an “unprecedented and powerful mandate”.

Republicans easily flipped the US Senate, and they appeared within range of keeping control of the US House, a scenario that would give Trump’s party control of all levels of elected government in Washington.

The Howard address was Harris’s first public appearance since Tuesday afternoon, when she stopped by the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington to thank phone-bankers working to get out the vote before polls closed. Later that night, supporters had awaited her at the campaign’s campus watch party. But as hope turned to despair, a campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, appeared instead to inform attendees that she would not be speaking.

On Wednesday, several of Harris’s supporters, many tearful, said they had came to bid a painful farewell to Harris’s historic candidacy – and to a presidential nominee they had hoped might finally shatter the nation’s “highest, hardest” glass ceiling.

“I’ve been at this a long time and this time I really thought we were going to do it,” said Joanne Howes, a founding member of Emily’s List, an influential fundraising group that supports Democratic female candidates who back abortion rights. “We’re going to feel sad and sorrowful, but then we have to get up again. We can’t just accept that our democracy is over.”

Harris, the first Black woman and first south Asian to become the presidential nominee of a major political party, ran a tightly choreographed campaign, blanketing the battleground states with visits and television ads, while embracing the traditional Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts, including phone-banking and door-knocking. On the Saturday before the election, her campaign said people had knocked more than 800,000 doors in all-important Pennsylvania – a figure that was more than 10 times Biden’s 2020 margin of victory in the state. On Monday, the vice-president even knocked a few doors herself.

Harris framed her campaign around the theme of freedom and vowed to be a president for “all Americans”. She tried to craft an optimistic, forward-looking vision that spoke to Americans’ pervasive economic anxieties while also warning of the threat Trump posed to democratic institutions.

For nearly the entire campaign, opinion polls showed an exceedingly close race, in stark contrast with Trump’s decisive victory. Her campaign had projected optimism in the final days, pointing to data they said showed undecided voters breaking their way after a racist joke at Trump’s grievance-fueled Madison Square Garden rally sparked a backlash among Puerto Rican celebrities and artists. At her campaign’s final rally in Philadelphia, Ricky Martin performed and Fat Joe implored fellow Latinos to back Harris: “When is enough enough?”

But the country was angry and disillusioned, furious with the incumbent party and hungry for change it saw in the norm-shattering former president. In the end, Trump made gains in nearly every corner of the country and across nearly every demographic group.

On Wednesday, standing in front of the campus’s Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall, Harris spoke directly to the young people watching. “On the campaign, I would often say, ‘When we fight, we win.’ But here’s the thing, here’s the thing: sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win,” she said.

Concluding her brief remarks, Harris, a self-described “joyful warrior”, invoked what she called “a law of history”, citing the adage: “Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars”.

ALSO READ: ‘God spared my life for a reason’

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Modi Congratulates ‘Friend’ Donald Trump On Victory

Donald Trump declared victory with some US media outlets projecting that he would win 277 Electoral College votes, reports Asian Lite news

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday afternoon congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential elections, asserting that he is looking forward to renewing collaboration with the 78-year-old leader to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership.

“Heartiest congratulations my friend, Donald Trump on your historic election victory. As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership. Together, let’s work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity,” PM Modi posted on X after Trump’s triumph in the US election.

Earlier, the Republican candidate declared victory with some US media outlets projecting that he would win 277 Electoral College votes.

At least 270 Electoral College votes are needed to clinch the presidency.

In September, the former US President had called PM Modi a “fantastic man”, hoping that they would meet during the Prime Minister’s US visit for the Quad Summit and UN General Assembly session in New York.

Later, during his election campaign, he referred to PM Modi as a “total killer” with the nation’s adversaries.

“He’s great, he’s a friend of mine, but on the outside, he looks like he’s your father”, yet “he’s the nicest, total killer”, Trump stated during a podcast interview.

Explaining the assessment, he said, “We had a couple of occasions where somebody was threatening India. I said, let me help. I’m very good with those people. Let me help”.

But PM Modi turned down the offer saying, “I will do it. I will do it, and I will do anything necessary. We’ve defeated them for hundreds of years,” Trump said.

Last month, in an exclusive interview with IANS, John Bolton, the US National Security Advisor (NSA) to Donald Trump from 2018-2019, said that the India-US relationship could be the “defining event” of the 21st century as India continues its rise as a major global power.

He insisted that strong personal ties between PM Modi and the former US President augurs well for the both countries.

“I think the US-India relationship could well be the defining event of the 21st century. How we work together, how we deal with the threat posed by China and other complicated problems in the world, could well be the most important foreign policy priority for both countries.

“I do think Trump and Modi have a good personal relationship and, in Trump’s view, he thinks if he has a good personal relationship with the leader of another country, then the two countries have good relations. That’s an oversimplification. But it’s certainly, particularly with friendly countries, if the two leaders have a good relationship that can help overcome, you know, problems that develop,” Bolton told IANS.

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End of the American Century

Whoever wins the American presidential elections be it Donald Trump or Kamala Harris this election could see the end of the American Century … writes Mihir Bose

Whoever wins the American presidential elections be it Donald Trump or Kamala Harris this election could see the end of the American Century.

This idea first originated towards the end of the Second World War. That is when Americans began to boast that we were now entering the American Century. The Americans knew that European empires would have to give their non-white peoples freedom and, while Britain and France fought wars not to, in the end they had to rush back to their homelands with their tails between their legs.

This American Century saw America set up NATO, the Marshall Plan to revive Europe, completely reshape Japan making it a demilitarised country but allowed to keep its emperor and become a major economic power. It also prevented North Korea conquering the south and help the south become, probably, the third biggest economic power in Asia.

Some of its military  alliances like Cento and Seato have long been consigned to the dust bin, but nothing has dimmed America’s desire to intervene in the affairs of the world. Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, being classic examples, and all the time claiming they were doing this for the good of the world, however ridiculous the claim.

The first Trump administration made it clear it had no truck with such a policy and the while the second may not see Trump with a phone call end the war in Ukraine, as he often boasts, he will certainly withdraw the military support for Ukraine. Harris notionally will continue Biden’s policy of intervention, but America can no longer dictate to the world.

Israel is the classic example. Biden, despite all his efforts and the constant shuttling of his Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who must have earned a lot of air miles, has failed to persuade Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the slaughter in Gaza and accept a ceasefire. This is despite the fact that Israel is a close ally and America provides it a huge amount of weapons and other help.

What we could see after the election is the return of isolationism which was the historic position of  American foreign policy ever since it defeated its British colonial masters and won freedom nearly 250 years ago. It was proud of the fact that, unlike Europe, it had a government elected by the people with the head of state not a king but a President and this was something unique in world history.

(People at the U.S. presidential debate media filing center watch a live broadcast of the first presidential debate between U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in Philadelphia. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Yes, America took part in the First World War, but it was towards the end of the war and although American President Woodrow Wilson set up the League of Nations America did not join the League of Nations. The second world war changed all that. UN was set  up in San Francisco, with its headquarters in New York, and America made sure it controlled the Security Council with the help of its European allies, Britain and France. Such was America’s domination that when having failed to stop China going communist it refused to recognise The Peoples Republic and only did so 30 years after Mao had won in 1949. During that time Taiwan represented China on the Security Council  resulting in a farcical situation of this small little island claiming to represent the mainland.

Isolationism chimes in with the wishes of many Americans. Only 48 per cent of Americans have a passport compared to 86% of British people. Indeed, for many Americans going from Arizona to Massachusetts is like a foreign journey.

The other major change we may see is America move away from a free market economy to a more protectionist economy. Trump has already said that he would impose tariffs on China.

But what about the American cultural influence? Surely that will not end. Hollywood movies will still dominate the world. But here the march of technology is already beginning  to undercut American dominance. The growth of streaming and more varied means of making movies and documentaries, which no longer have to be shown on big channels,  making them more accessible to the public, means Hollywood no longer dominates the world in the way it has since the Second World War. As it is Bollywood makes more movies than Hollywood and is much more powerful than its American rival in many parts of the world including Africa and Asia.

What will replace the American Century remains a very open question. Some signs of the re-ordering of the world are emerging. It is interesting that while we have been concentrating on the American elections we had the BRICS summit. I was Toronto when that summit took place and what struck me was to see the Globe and Mail of Toronto lead its front page with a picture from the summit. The headline underneath the picture was, “From left Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a family photo ceremony during the BRICKs summit in Kazan Russia, on Wednesday.”

BRICKS , a word invented by  economist Jim O’Neill  to denote Brazil, Russia, India, China  and South Africa almost two decades ago, has not quite lived up to its billing.. It was meant to indicate that what used to be derisively called third world countries, or the South, there was even a magazine by that name I wrote for, are now becoming economically powerful. The Ukraine war has made Putin see this is a useful alliance and while it may never rival Nato it does mean the world is not ruled by one world power in America. 

The summit saw something of a rapprochement between India and China after nearly half a century of conflict and could, if not lead to peace, see the two countries not being at such logger heads.

If Harris wins the changes in world affairs may take longer. But  they will come.

(Mihir Bose is the author of Thank You Mr Crombie Lessons in Guilt and Gratitude to the British)

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-Top News Environment USA

Harris Softens Stance On Drilling, No Fossil Promotion

Sensing the nation’s mood on getting more fossil fuels, Harris has said that she is dropping her demand for banning an economical method of drilling for natural gas known as fracking.

Trying to match former President Donald Trump’s popular call for US energy independence, Vice President Kamala Harris has said she is dropping her demand to ban drilling for gas, but a campaign adviser says she won’t promote fossil fuel.

Harris has appointed Camila Thorndike, who worked as climate engagement director for an activist organisation Rewiring America which campaigned for even banning gas stoves, as her campaign’s climate adviser.

Thorndike has been on its staff from 2022 to last month.

Sensing the nation’s mood on getting more fossil fuels, Harris has said that she is dropping her demand for banning an economical method of drilling for natural gas known as fracking.

But Thorndike threw doubts about her sincerity telling Politico in an interview that Harris “is not promoting expansion (of fossil fuel drilling). She’s just said that they wouldn’t ban fracking”.

The head of the American Energy Institute, Jason Isaac, accused Harris of harbouring hostility towards several energy sources.

He told Fox News Digital that Harris’ decision to bring on Thorndike “underscores her administration’s hostility towards American energy sources that power our economy and support millions of jobs”.

Thorndike admitted in the Politico interview that “everyone wants their energy bills to go down. Everyone wants the electric grid to keep the lights on”.

However, banning or restricting fossil fuel expansion will lead to higher prices, a point Trump has been making.

With the slogan of “Drill Baby, Drill”, he has said that he would expand drilling for gas and oil so that the abundant supply would bring down energy prices, which would have a cascading effect on the prices of all other products as they depend on energy for manufacturing or transportation.

Gas used for cooking is less polluting than many other fuels, including electricity produced with coal or oil.

However, groups like Rewiring America target gas as polluting, even though the US relies on coal — which is highly polluting — for 16 per cent of its electricity which in effect ends up more polluting than gas.

The group is called a “dark money” organisation because its financial structure limits disclosures of most sources of funding.

According to Fox Digital, it was founded by those with financial interests in wind and solar.

ALSO READ: 60% Indian-Americans lean Harris, 30% favour Trump

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Biden: No One More Qualified Than Me For President

Joe Biden has called Donald Trump a “congenital liar” and added that he lied over 20 times during the debate with him.

US President Joe Biden has said that he is more qualified to become US President or win the race than anyone else. He also called former US President Donald Trump a “pathological liar,” ABC News reported.

Speaking to ABC News, Biden called Trump a “congenital liar” and added that he lied over 20 times during the debate with him.

Asked about the close contest in the electoral college, Biden responded, “By 7 million votes.”

When asked about being behind in the popular vote now, the US President stated, “I don’t buy that.” He further said, “I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be President or win this race than me.”

Dismissing any suggestion that he’s not the most qualified candidate to beat Trump, Biden said, “Oh, come on. Well, I don’t think those critics know what they’re talking about.”

On being asked whether the critics are wrong, the US President said, “They’re just wrong. Look, Trump is a pathological liar. Trump is, you ever seen anything Trump did that benefited somebody else and not him? You can’t answer, I know.”

He criticised Trump for his policies in the economy and healthcare sectors. Biden said that Trump asked the people of the US to put bleach in their arms to deal with COVID-19.

“Oh, I know you have. I’m not being critical. I’m not being critical, but look, I mean, the man is a congenital liar. As I said, they pointed out in that debate, he lied 27– 28 times– times, whatever number, over 20 times. Talk about how good his economy was, how he brought down inflation, how this is a guy who unlike only other President other than him is Hoover who lost more jobs than he created,” Biden told ABC News.

“This is a guy who told us to put bleach in our arms to deal with COVID, with a million– over a million people died. This is a guy who talks about wanting to get rid of the healthcare provision we put in place. This is a guy who wants to give the power back to big pharma to be able to charge exorbitant prices for drugs. This is a guy who wants to undo every single thing I’ve done, every single thing,” he added.

During the interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, Biden reiterated that he is the most qualified person to beat Trump. He said, “I convinced myself of two things. I’m the most qualified person to beat him, and I know how to get things done.”

Reflecting on how he will feel if he loses to Trump, Biden said, “I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about.”

Biden said that the US and the world are at an “inflection point” when the things that happen in the next several years will determine what the next 60-70 years will be like.

He further said, “And who’s gonna be able to hold NATO together like me? Who’s gonna be able to be in a position where I’m able to keep the Pacific Basin in a position where we’re– we’re at least checkmating China now? Who’s gonna, who’s gonna do that? Who has that reach? Who has– who knows all these pe? We’re gonna have, I guess a good way to judge me, is you’re gonna have now the NATO conference here in the United States next week. Come listen. See what they say.”

Joe Biden candidly addressed his performance during the debate with Trump, describing it as a “bad episode” and taking full responsibility for what transpired. It was Biden’s first television interview since the CNN debate with Donald Trump. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Biden heads into critical stretch of campaign

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-Top News Social Media USA

Fake US election-related accounts proliferating on X, study says

Analysts from Israeli tech company Cyabra found that 15 percent of X accounts praising former President Donald Trump and criticizing President Joe Biden are fake.

Fake accounts posting about the US presidential election are proliferating on the social media platform X, according to a social media analysis company’s report shared with Reuters exclusively ahead of its release on Friday.

Analysts from Israeli tech company Cyabra, which uses a subset of artificial intelligence called machine learning to identify fake accounts, found that 15 percent of X accounts praising former President Donald Trump and criticizing President Joe Biden are fake. The report also found that 7 percent of accounts praising Biden, a Democrat, and criticizing Trump, a Republican, are fake.

Cyabra’s study is based on a review of posts on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, over two months beginning March 1. The review included analyzing popular hashtags and determining sentiment in terms of whether posts are positive, negative or neutral.

The analysis shows that newly detected fake accounts had increased up to tenfold during March and April.

The report cites 12,391 inauthentic pro-Trump profiles out of 94,363 total and 803 inauthentic pro-Biden profiles out of 10,065 total.

A spokesperson for X did not respond to a request for comment about the fake accounts, nor did representatives from the White House and Trump campaign.

X and other social media platforms have been under greater scrutiny since 2016, when Russia interfered in the US presidential election in an attempt to boost Trump’s candidacy and harm his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. Election officials and online misinformation experts are again watching for misleading narratives ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

The fake accounts praising Trump this cycle are part of a coordinated campaign to sway public opinion and influence online discussions, Cyabra said. The report did not identify the individuals or groups behind the campaign.

Cyabra said it made that determination based on evidence including the use of identical hashtags and the fact that fake accounts published posts and comments at the same time. The report found that the fake pro-Trump accounts pushed two main messages: “Vote for Trump” and “Biden is the worst president the US has ever had.”

“The level of coordination suggests that there is a nefarious objective and that there is a whole operation in order to change people’s opinion,” said Cyabra’s vice president, Rafi Mendelsohn.

The fake accounts backing Biden are not part of a coordinated campaign, the report said, as the hallmarks of a coordinated campaign — such as fake accounts posting at the same time — were not identified.

X, which was publicly held until its 2022 takeover by billionaire Elon Musk, has long downplayed the use of fake accounts on its platform. Twitter said in May 2022 that fewer than 5 percent of its daily active users were “false or spam” based on an internal review of accounts. At the time, Cyabra had estimated that 13.7 percent of Twitter profiles were inauthentic.

In an X post on April 4, Musk wrote that a “system purge of bots and trolls” was under way and that the company “will be tracing the people responsible and bringing the full force of the law to bear upon them.” In October the company tested its “Not a Bot” program in New Zealand and the Philippines to combat bots and spammers.

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