Top story: ‘Be patient’ says Democrat
Greetings, mellow citizens. Enhance your calm and let’s take this one thing at a time.
With polls closed and counting under way in the US presidential election, Joe Biden spoke in Delaware a short time ago and declared: “We feel good about where we are … we believe we are on track to win this election.” While Biden took the stage before supporters, Donald Trump was fuming on Twitter that “We are up BIG but they are trying to STEAL the Election”, adding somewhat bewilderingly that votes cannot be cast after “poles” (sic) have closed. Twitter promptly masked the tweet with a warning that it may be misleading about the election.
Here is a round-up of the big developments and you can see at our live results page where things are at right now in the race for the states and their electoral college votes. Different news outlets “call” the state results in different ways, at different times – we go with the Associated Press assessment. Stick around the Guardian today because our live blog and smorgasbord of other reporting on the US election will continue to provide compelling reading.
With voting done and dusted – but those votes still being counted, which is entirely normal and legal – the US may be facing a drawn-out fight for the White House. Democratic hopes of a landslide for Joe Biden over Donald Trump were tempered with the president winning Florida – a state he needs to stay in office. The “rust belt” states, just at this point, look pivotal to Biden’s chances. Biden said in Wilmington: “We’re gonna have to be patient until the hard work of tallying votes is finished.” He was “confident” about winning Arizona, which went Republican last time, and “still in the game in Georgia … we’re feeling real good about Wisconsin and Michigan. And by the way it’s going to take time to count the votes, but we’re going to win Pennsylvania.” Biden said a result may come as early as Wednesday morning US time “or it could take longer”. It was “not my place or Donald Trump’s place” to call the final result. He finished with a rallying cry: “Keep the faith guys, we’re gonna win this.”
Voting day itself appeared to pass off smoothly, though fears of subsequent unrest prompted boarding up of shops in places like Washington, New York and Raleigh, North Carolina. As Julian Borger writes, “downtown Washington on election day had the feel of a city digging in for a siege. The White House and the Treasury were surrounded by a high steel fence and in the surrounding blocks, businesses and apartment buildings had covered every square foot of exposed glass with plywood”.
Democrats have held on to the House of Representatives and all eyes are on whether they can win control of the Senate – crucial to either allowing a Biden presidency to prosecute its agenda, or keeping a second Trump administration in check.
In a worrying sign of the times, a supporter of the bizarre, utterly false QAnon online conspiracy theory, has won a seat in the House for the Republicans. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, two members of the progressive “Squad” of Democratic congresswomen of colour, led the way in securing re-election to the US House on Tuesday.
* * *
Pints but no protests – Pubs in England will be able to serve takeaway beer as long as it’s pre-ordered by phone or online. The rules for England’s lockdown beginning tomorrow also state which stores can remain open – apart from essential outlets like food shops and pharmacies, they include the likes of garden centres, outdoor food stalls, pet shops, hardware and bicycle stores. An exemption allowing protests to take place is expected to be removed from the rules, which has angered human rights and other campaign groups. We unpack the rules and their quirks here. Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, has condemned the dubious “Great Barrington declaration” that calls for Covid to be let run wild in the young and healthy to bring about so-called “herd immunity”. Penny Mordaunt, a senior Tory minister, has told parliament the UK should be braced for at least a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and further lockdowns. Ministers expect a moderate number of Conservative MPs to rebel but Labour support means the measures are guaranteed to be voted into force today. Further coronavirus developments ad infinitum at our global live blog.
* * *
Midweek catch-up
> The BBC has said questions for Martin Bashir over his famous interview with Diana, Princess of Wales will have to wait until he is over a severe case of coronavirus. Her brother, Earl Spencer, alleges forged documents were used to help get the interview.
> Wind-blown dust is worsening the melting effect of global heating on snow and ice in the Himalayas, scientists are warning. Human activity has increased the prevalence of dust and its darkening effect when it settles on the snow makes it heat up and melt faster.
> Outsourced cleaners at the University of London have won a 10-year battle to be employed directly as staff instead of through contractors. The Independent Workers of Great Britain union said it was “very proud” of the achievement – “Outsourcing is one of the biggest problems in society,” said its president, Henry Chango Lopez.
> A test that measures earwax for the stress hormone cortisol could help millions of people with depression or stress-related conditions, scientists have said. Researchers say the test can be done at home without clinical supervision (hmmm where else have heard that lately …)
* * *
Austria gunman’s feigned turnaround – Britain’s terror threat level has been lifted to “severe” following the attacks in Austria and France. Police have said there was only one gunman in Vienna: the man they killed, Kujtim Fejzulai, 20, a jihadist who had pretended to be deradicalised after his arrest and jailing for trying to join Isis in Syria. Four people were killed in the Vienna attack, 22 others were injured including three critically, and police said they detained 14 people for questioning.
* * *
‘Spy cops’ judge’s demand – The head of the newly opened inquiry into undercover policing has insisted that in the course of the proceedings Scotland Yard must reveal whether it currently has spies in political groups. In an opening statement the Met’s barrister, Peter Skelton accepted undercover officers had caused “immense hurt” to women deceived into relationships and distress to families whose dead relatives’ identities were used. Oliver Sanders, barrister for 113 undercover officers, sought to play down the significance of the relationships his clients formed and said using the identities of dead children was “necessary tradecraft” in the security, intelligence and law enforcement community. “[The officers] proceeded on the basis that there was no alternative and the families of the deceased children in question would never know.”
Today in Focus podcast
… in the circumstances will be coming to you a bit later this morning, to fit in as much of the latest election info as possible. You will be able to find it here.
Lunchtime read: ‘Gangsta with her clothes’
Her image is everywhere – in the return of The Crown, a Hollywood film, musical and emulated on the cover of Vogue. For the younger generation, there is no greater fashion inspiration right now than Diana, Princess of Wales, writes Jess Cartner-Morley.
Sport
The biggest challenge in Liverpool’s Champions League group proved no challenge at all after a superb Diogo Jota hat-trick helped Jürgen Klopp’s side to a 5-0 demolition of Atalanta in Bergamo. Manchester City have a maximum nine points after a fine display from Ferran Torres at centre-forward and Gabriel Jesus’s goal-scoring return highlighted a 3-0 win over Olympiakos. Rodrygo scored the clinching goal with 10 minutes to go as Real Madrid beat Internazionale 3-2 in Group B, while both Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach scored six in big wins. Super League will return to being a 12-team competition in 2021 after clubs agreed to welcome applications from lower-league clubs who wish to replace Toronto Wolfpack.
Lydia Ko, the former women’s golf world No 1, is the star name at this week’s Moonlight Classic in Dubai, where she will make her debut under floodlights. Ed Smith felt moved to defend the commitment of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Sam Curran to the England cause after allowing them to miss the one-day international leg of the upcoming South Africa tour in order to rest. Primoz Roglic reclaimed the Vuelta a España overall lead when he won the 13th stage, a 33.7km time-trial ending with a sharp climb up to the Mirador de Ézaro at an average gradient of 14.8%. And the former Argentina captain and World Cup winner Diego Maradona will undergo surgery for a subdural haematoma, a blood clot on the brain, his personal physician has said.
Business
The US dollar has surged overnight amid continued uncertainty about the outcome of the US election. The greenback’s rise saw the pound, the Chinese yuan and the Australian dollar fall sharply by more than 0.5%. Sterling is currently buying $1.299, while against the euro it rose slightly to €1.115. It was a mixed picture on share markets overnight but the FTSE 100 is set to lift 0.18%. Another 18,000 high street premises could be left empty in 2020, almost double the number in 2019, as the coronavirus pandemic hammers retailers, restaurants and leisure businesses.
The papers
Today’s round-up comes with the caveat that for reasons of timing, we may not have caught all the papers in their final-edition form. That being said – today’s prize for fudging it definitely goes to the Star and its splash headline: “Old fart wins election”, with a picture of both protagonists and some more unkind words for each candidate that we will not repeat here. The Daily Mail wins second prize – it shows the first lady gliding past catwalkishly with a wave to the cameras and asks “So is that hello or goodbye, Melania?”. The Mail’s front-page lead is “BBC to probe Diana TV lies”.
The Guardian’s extra-late fourth edition front page says “Battle for America’s soul” and advertises our big election special inside. Joe Biden is shown at the centre of a crowd outside his childhood home in Pennsylvania. The Telegraph says “Massive turnout as America decides” while the Times has “America decides its fate” which might be regarded as sounding a bit final.
A great deal of excitement about a potential coronavirus jab. Sayeth the i: “GPs told to prepare for Covid vaccine”. “Vaccine in front line on a month” says the Metro – that’s for essential workers and the over-85s (the paper’s pic slot points to a feature inside of doubtful relatability: “How fitness is helping TV anchors in lockdown”). The Mirror says that hoped-for vaccine is a “Ray of hope for Xmas”. The Express says GPs are “on standby” to role out the inoculation – about the election, it says Trump has been “defiant to the last” and Americans are to “finally learn their fate”.
Sign up
The Guardian Morning Briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes bright and early every weekday. If you are not already receiving it by email, you can sign up here.
For more news: www.theguardian.com
