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Biden Confirmation Today, Despite Trump’s Efforts to Overturn Election

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress will convene on Wednesday to set the seal on President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in what is expected to be an unusually contentious and drawn-out proceeding because of planned objections by Republicans allied with President Donald Trump.

Here’s what to expect from the joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

What is happening?

Both chambers of Congress are meeting to formally tally the Electoral College results, the final step in the months-long process to select the U.S. president. Vice-President Mike Pence will formally preside over the session.

The results are based on votes cast on Dec. 14 by slates of “electors” who met in each state to reflect the winner of that state’s popular vote. A total of 538 electoral votes are allotted to states and the District of Columbia based on their congressional representation. Biden captured 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.

The proceedings, which will kick off at 1 p.m. ET (18:00 GMT), are typically brief and ceremonial. This year, it could drag into Thursday, as some Republicans plan to challenge the result in key states.

 

How will votes be read and objections be handled?

Pence will open sealed certificates from the U.S. states and the District of Columbia that declare their electoral votes. Should Pence be unavailable, his duties can be carried out by the longest-serving senator in the majority party, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers will read the certificates out loud and officially tally the votes.

Objections to a state’s results must be made in writing and endorsed by at least one Senator and one member of House of Representative.

If this happens, the joint session disbands and each chamber will hold a two-hour debate and vote on each objection one after the other. A majority of each chamber must support an objection for any electoral votes to be voided.

Republicans have suggested they will submit objections in writing to the results of as many as six battleground states.

 

Could Congress void Biden’s win?

If enough electoral votes were voided, neither Biden nor Trump would have the 270 votes needed to secure the presidency, and Congress would pick the next president.

But there is virtually no chance of that happening.

A majority of both chambers needs to support an objection for electoral votes to be voided, and Democrats control the House.

Even the Senate, controlled by Republicans, is highly unlikely to vote to void votes.

Senator Ted Cruz and at least 11 other Republican senators are expected to reject electors. But most of the chamber’s 100 members, including high-profile Republicans, have recognized Biden as the incoming president.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the body’s top Republican, acknowledged Biden’s victory on Dec. 15 and has urged other Republicans to refrain from objecting on Wednesday.

Can Pence award the election to Trump?

No. Pence’s role is ceremonial, and he doesn’t have the power to overturn the results of the election despite being under pressure from Trump to do so.

Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, said on Monday that while the vice president welcomed lawmakers’ authority to raise objections and “bring forward evidence before the Congress and the American people,” he will not deviate from his role.

“He … will uphold the Constitution and follow the statutory law,” Short told Reuters on Monday.

In the extremely unlikely event that Pence voids electoral college votes, his actions would almost certainly be challenged in court.

On Friday, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit brought by Representative Louie Gohmert that sought to allow Pence to declare Trump the victor.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Sonya Hepinstall)

The post Biden Confirmation Today, Despite Trump’s Efforts to Overturn Election appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

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Mystery case attends MCG and shopping mall before testing positive

A Melbourne man who has COVID-19 after attending the cricket Test at the MCG and Boxing Day sales at Victoria's biggest shopping centre has sparked an emergency as authorities race to discover who he caught the virus from.

The mystery case was the only one outside of hotel quarantine in Victoria on Wednesday, and has prompted a scramble to identify its source for fear it could be linked to many others yet to be diagnosed.

The man, aged in his 30s, attended the second day of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG on December 27, where up to 30,000 spectators were at the ground.

He also was busy on a spree at Chadstone Shopping Centre on Boxing Day before he was ill.

https://twitter.com/VicGovDHHS/status/1346602260877471744

The man and his close contacts are now isolating, and whilst it's not believed he was infectious whilst at the cricket or while shopping, the big concern is the source of the virus.

"We are trying to identify, a needle in a haystack exercise, of who might be positive," COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said.

Victoria's active cases have risen to 41 after more than 37,000 tests in the 24 hours to yesterday.

Alert message sent to thousands

The man developed symptoms on December 30 and the health department was notified of his positive test result on January 5, Acting Premier Jacinta Allan said yesterday.

"Contact tracing that has gone on throughout the night has revealed he stayed home since 31 December and got tested."

"We're encouraging anyone who was at the cricket and who was seated in the Great Southern Stand, Zone 5, between 12.30pm and 3.30pm to go and get tested and isolate until they receive a result," Ms Allan said.

"A COVID-safe plan was in place at the MCG for this cricket event and excellent ticketing allocation system was put in place by the MCG."

Anyone who was seated within the Zone 5 bubble will receive a text message in the next couple of hours, advising them of the confirmed case and requesting they get tested.

Officials believe 2400 people were in Zone 5 at the MCG on December 27.

The man attended Chadstone Shopping Centre from 6am to 2pm on Boxing Day.

A total of 10 stores have been listed on the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) website as potential acquisition sites, including Culture Kings, Huffer, JD Sports, Jay Jays, H&M, Uniqlo, Myer, Superdry, Footlocker and Dumplings Plus.

https://twitter.com/VicGovDHHS/status/1346600759857582082

Mr Weimar said health authorities have been tracking the man's phone movements around Chadstone.

"We're particularly interested in those who went to those stores on Boxing Day and who did not feel well — please come forward to get tested," he said.

"We will be identifying the time zones that the individual was in these stores.

"Again, we would encourage people to check in again during the course of the day."

Anyone who attended the locations during the times identified must get tested and self-quarantine until they receive a negative result, the DHHS website states.

Additional testing sites will be set up to cater to the influx of people expected to come forward, including at the MCG.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Allen Cheng said it is possible there may be a second cluster in the state, following news of the mystery infection.

"His household contacts have been spoken to, as well as visitors to his house and they'll be put into quarantine for the 14 days and tested," Dr Cheng said.

"The upstream contacts are the people that we're most concerned about. These are the people he has been in contact with in the 14 days prior to the symptoms starting."

The case is being retested and genomics are being undertaken on the initial sample. 

Thousands still stranded in NSW

The Victorian Government has processed and granted 295 exemptions for Victorians stuck in NSW to cross the border and return home.

Mr Weimar said staff in the exemptions team have been boosted to about 40 people to enable the process to move quicker.

More than 3000 requests to re-enter Victoria by January 31 are yet to be processed.

"I'm confident we're getting on top of the urgent critical cases now," he said.

"There'll be difficult decisions to be made, let's not shirk that, but we'll prioritise the urgent cases and get to those others."

Virus exposure sites grow

Shoppers who visited a South Melbourne Nike store while a person with COVID-19 shopped inside are also on high alert.

Nike on Buckhurst Street in South Melbourne has been listed as an exposure site after a positive case shopped in store on December 30, between 12pm-12.45pm.

The DHHS has issued advice, directing anyone who visited the store between the times indicated to get tested and quarantine for 14 days from the date of exposure.

While anyone who visited Culture Kings Melbourne on Russell Street between 1pm-1.30pm on December 30 must monitor for symptoms.

Advice has also been updated for diners who attended Nandos Elizabeth Street in Melbourne on January 1 between 2am-2.30am, with all patrons ordered to quarantine and get tested.

Other risk locations recently added include Sri Lankan restaurant Tamarind 8 in Narre Warren, where a case picked up take away on December 30 between 6.30pm-7pm.

Mr Weimar yesterday said wait times at test sites had improved, urging people to come forward for testing.

READ MORE: Why Australia is not rushing to approve a COVID-19 vaccine

"It's important if there's an exposure site you have been at in those time windows, if you have any concerns you may have overlapped with a positive case, we would ask you to go and get tested and to isolate and contact us so we can work with you and support you to do the right thing and to ensure we can contain the spread of this outbreak quickly," Mr Weimar said.

The Tasmanian Government has classed the 18 locations in Victoria which are listed on the DHHS website as high-risk exposure sites as hot spots.

Travellers who have been in the areas during the specified dates and times have been locked out of the state, and must apply for an exemption if they wish to enter.

The Black Rock outbreak at the centre of Victoria's coronavirus flare-up spans across 14 households and contains 27 active cases, with no new cases linked to the cluster today.

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St. Kitts and Nevis temporarily suspends BA flights from UK

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts –- The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has made the decision to suspend all British Airways (BA) flights from the United Kingdom (UK) from January 1 to January 16. Previously BA flights has been suspended from December 26 to January 2, 2021.

This essential decision came about after the UK reported a new strain of coronavirus in December 2020, which, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), has “increased transmissibility.”

Several nations around the world, including St. Kitts and Nevis, have suspended travel from the UK.

While BA continues to fly from its main hub of Gatwick, it does so on a much-reduced timetable with St. Kitts and Nevis.

BA has been removed from the schedule for two weeks following the announcement of a 14-day lockdown.

“England faces new information about the new COVID-19 variant,” according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The Federation will continue to monitor the developing situation in the UK and will update the protocols accordingly. Travellers should regularly check the websites of St. Kitts Tourism Authority, www.stkittstourism.kn, and Nevis Tourism Authority, www.nevisisland.com, for updates and information on travel requirements.

The post St. Kitts and Nevis temporarily suspends BA flights from UK appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

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Puerto Rico to Reopen Beaches, Pools

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s new governor announced Tuesday that he will reopen beaches, marinas and pools, eliminate a Sunday lockdown and shorten a curfew that has been in place since the pandemic began to control the number of COVID-19 cases.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi stressed alcohol will be banned at beaches and other places, and that social distancing is required between people who are not family members, with no large groups allowed to gather. Meanwhile, the new curfew will run from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. and face masks remain mandatory.

He said the new measures go into effect Jan. 8 and will be in place for 30 days but can be amended any time if there’s a spike in cases.

The announcement was cheered by many across Puerto Rico who have long sought to visit the U.S. territory’s beaches that had remained off limits to all except those doing exercise.

“It’s quality of life,” Pierluisi said.

He also ordered Puerto Rico’s Treasury Department to use federal funds and create economic incentives to help tens of thousands of small and medium businesses hard hit by strict closures that have been in place since March.

The U.S. territory of 3.2 million people has reported more than 127,000 confirmed and probable cases and more than 1,200 confirmed deaths.

Pierluisi kept in place other measures implemented by former Gov. Wanda Vázquez, including the closure of bars and a limited capacity at gyms, restaurants and other places.

“Our goal has to be to be able to return to a new normal,” Pierluisi said. “We have to keep taking preventive measures in the meantime.”

The post Puerto Rico to Reopen Beaches, Pools appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.