Georgia official: No evidence of irregularities

Gabriel Sterling, Georgia's voting system implementation manager and a Republican, says there was 'no evidence of any irregularities' in Tuesday's Senate runoff election. (Jan. 6)

Latest Stories

  • GOP congressman suggests he regrets his vote for Trump

    Describing Trump’s phone call with Georgia’s top election official “frightening,” GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger suggested that he now regrets his vote for the president.

  • Amid COVID surge, experts look for ways to stretch vaccine supplies: The case for postponing the second shot

    The fear is that America’s vaccine distribution system is too sluggish to stop a raging pandemic driven by new, more transmissible variants.

  • Jon Ossoff declares victory in Georgia Senate runoff as race remains too close to call

    Democrat Jon Ossoff is claiming victory over Republican David Perdue in their Georgia Senate runoff, though the race still remains too close to call.The Democratic Senate candidate spoke during a live stream on Wednesday morning as the latest results show him leading Perdue by about 16,000 votes with 98 percent of votes reported, according to The New York Times. A winner in the race has not yet been projected by The Associated Press or any of the major television networks, however, and Perdue hasn't conceded."It is with humility that I thank the people of Georgia for electing me to serve you in the United States Senate," Ossoff said. "Thank you for the confidence and trust that you have placed in me."Ossoff in his address also pledged to "serve all the people of the state" and "give everything I've got to ensuring that Georgia's interests are represented in the U.S. Senate."Democrat Raphael Warnock was previously projected to defeat Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) in their Senate runoff. A victory by Ossoff would, therefore, allow Democrats to take control of the Senate, creating a 50-50 split between both parties where ties would be broken by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call Republicans are 'privately furious' at Trump over the Georgia election losses Giuliani calls for 'trial by combat' at D.C. rally

  • Trump supporters breach U.S. Capitol building in 'desperate coup attempt'

    As President Trump continues to falsely claim he won the election, hundreds of his supporters have breached the Capitol Building, tearing down security fencing and confronting overwhelmed federal police officers.The protests, which have drawn thousands from around the country, coincide with Wednesday's congressional election certification process, which is being overseen by Vice President Mike Pence. Earlier Wednesday, Pence publicly broke with Trump by saying he would not try to block President-elect Joe Biden's electors.> Trump protesters have broken through barriers at the US Capitol pic.twitter.com/9IgXQkGorE> > — Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) January 6, 2021> Whoa: Trump supporters going at it with the police on the steps of the Capitol as Congress counts the Electoral College ballots inside pic.twitter.com/LiQhaa5KkQ> > — philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 6, 2021> This is WILD pic.twitter.com/dC8whGzIgw> > — philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 6, 2021> BREAKING: Trump supporters have breached the Capitol building, tearing down 4 layers of security fencing and are attempting to occupy the building — fighting federal police who are overrun > > This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Thousands, police can’t stop them pic.twitter.com/VVdTUwV5YN> > — ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ElijahSchaffer) January 6, 2021CNN has characterized the protests, and the storming of the Capitol Building, as a "desperate coup attempt."Additionally, there was reportedly a bomb threat at the Capitol Hill Club, a private Republican social club, prompting evacuations of the building as well as the nearby Cannon House Office Building and the Madison Memorial Building. "Cannon staffers are being told to take escape hoods, and to go underground to tunnels," Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman reported.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call Republicans are 'privately furious' at Trump over the Georgia election losses Giuliani calls for 'trial by combat' at D.C. rally

  • Pakistani court orders rebuilding of destroyed Hindu temple

    Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered authorities Tuesday to rebuild a century-old Hindu temple that was vandalized and set on fire by a mob last week, drawing condemnation from the government and leaders of minority Hindus. The court ruled after authorities said they arrested more than 100 people for attacking the temple and several police officers were fired for neglecting to protect the structure. Supporters of Pakistan’s radical Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party and residents attacked the building after being incited by a local cleric who was opposed to the temple's planned renovation.

  • China is desperate to control the narrative of Covid-19's origin - whatever the cost

    International experts from the World Health Organisation trying to investigate the origins of the coronavirus in China, a year after it first emerged in the central city of Wuhan, continue to run into roadblocks. The delay for the WHO mission – already plagued by politics and posturing – adds to persistent worries that China will whitewash and frustrate the investigation. Indeed, a two-person WHO team on a three-week mission last August, aimed at laying out plans for further study, sat through a 14-day quarantine upon arrival and never visited Wuhan. This comes as Beijing engages in a relentless propaganda campaign to distract from its cover-up and rewrite the narrative – all aimed at claiming the coronavirus originated outside China. Officials have seeded a number of conspiracy theories, including blaming the US military for infecting China. The most recent theory flouted is to label imported frozen seafood as the culprit. Foreign minister Wang Yi has gone so far as to claim the virus emerged in many countries, and that China was simply the first to spot it. “We raced to report the epidemic first,” he told state media. Mr Wang’s comments are a far cry from the experiences of doctors, including the late Li Wenliang and Ai Fen, both of whom were reprimanded by Chinese authorities after discovering coronavirus infections in December 2018 and seeking to warn colleagues.

  • Democrat Warnock claims Senate victory but Republican Loeffler vows she will win

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democrat Raphael Warnock claimed victory on Wednesday in his U.S. Senate race, while his Republican opponent, Senator Kelly Loeffler, said she would ultimately emerge from the contest as the winner. With 98% of the votes counted, Warnock led Loeffler 50.4% to 49.6%, according to Edison Research. The Warnock-Loeffler contest, and a second Senate runoff between Republican Senator David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, will determine control of the Senate and the fate of President-elect Joe Biden's legislative agenda.

  • Pence affirms he won't block certification of Biden's electoral vote as Trump simultaneously threatens him to do so

    President Trump is once again demanding Vice President Mike Pence magically hand him the election.As Congress convened to count electoral votes and affirm President-elect Joe Biden's win, thousands of Trump supporters gathered to hear the president and his allies raise arguments against the whole process. And after weeks of false claims about just how the election went down, Trump didn't change his tune.He and his allies spent the rally claiming voter fraud actually handed Biden the win, despite officials on both sides of the aisle saying there was no evidence of election-altering fraud. And at the end, Trump once again called on Pence, who will oversee the joint session of Congress, to "stand up for the good of our Constitution" and block the vote. "And if you're not, I'm going to be very disappointed in you," Trump continued.> "Mike Pence, I hope you're gonna stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country. And if you're not, I'm going to be very disappointed in you, I will tell you right now. I'm not hearing good stories." -- Trump pic.twitter.com/RyZZpxGrqZ> > -- Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021But almost simultaneously, Pence affirmed that he wouldn't listen to Trump's threats. He issued a statement just the vote certification process began saying he doesn't believe the Constitution gives him power to "determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not." Therefore, he'll stand by as the Republicans challenge some states' votes, but will not try to block the count as Trump falsely claimed he could do. > BREAKING: Pence will not try to block Biden's electors pic.twitter.com/rMyq3Wmgil> > -- Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 6, 2021More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call Republicans are 'privately furious' at Trump over the Georgia election losses Giuliani calls for 'trial by combat' at D.C. rally

  • 11 Storage Beds to Keep You Organized in 2021

    Read on for space-saving, clutter-clearing magicOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Indonesian police kill 2 suspected militants in raid

    Members of Indonesia's anti-terrorism police squad on Wednesday shot and killed two suspected militants who they believe were connected to a deadly suicide attack at a Roman Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippines, and arrested 18 others, officials said. The two men, Muhammad Rizaldy, 46, and his son-in-law, Sanjai Ajis, 23, were fatally shot by police after they resisted arrest by wielding a machete and an air-rifle during a raid at a house in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province, said National Police spokesperson Ahmad Ramadhan.

  • Your stimulus check might be delayed if you filed your taxes with an online tax preparer

    Stimulus payments may be delayed for as many as 14 million customers, the IRS and major tax prep software companies warned.

  • U.S. attorney in Virginia announces resignation

    The leader of one of the country's most prominent U.S. attorney's offices said Tuesday he is resigning after almost three years of prosecuting terrorists, spies and political operatives.

  • ‘Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’: Democrats including Hillary Clinton and AOC rejoice over Georgia as Trump goes wild on Twitter

    President launches all-caps Twitter tirade as Democrats celebrate electoral upset victories

  • Trump claims he'll lead march to the Capitol, only to slip back to White House in motorcade

    As chaos ripped through Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon, President Trump quietly slipped into his motorcade to be whisked back to the White House, despite having told his supporters that he was going to walk with them to the Capitol Building.Trump had used his pulpit at his rally to continue to falsely claim that he had won the presidential election, going as far as to threaten his own vice president, Mike Pence, who had publicly broken with him by refusing to block President-elect Joe Biden's win. Protesters, meanwhile, stormed the U.S. Capitol Building, overwhelming federal police. From behind bulletproof glass, Trump called for the rest of his assembled supporters to walk toward the Capitol to join the protests, claiming he would lead them in the march, which is being characterized by CNN as a "coup attempt."> President Trump says that following his speech, he will lead his supporters in a march to the Capitol building to "cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women." pic.twitter.com/g5seac97wC> > — Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 6, 2021> President Trump called for his supporters to march from the White House area down Penn toward the Capitol. Hundreds doing so now. pic.twitter.com/Z5TOkzexEL> > — Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) January 6, 2021Shortly afterward, the press pool reported Trump and his motorcade had returned to the White House.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call Republicans are 'privately furious' at Trump over the Georgia election losses Giuliani calls for 'trial by combat' at D.C. rally

  • Philippines seeks 148 million COVID-19 shots this year for 2/3 of population

    The Philippines is negotiating with seven vaccine manufacturers to procure at least 148 million COVID-19 shots as it seeks to inoculate close to two-thirds of its population this year, a senior official said on Wednesday. Carlito Galvez, a former general in charge of the country's strategy to fight the coronavirus, said the government hopes to close deals with Novavax, Moderna, AstraZeneca , Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Sinovac Biotech and the Gamaleya Institute this month, although availability could be a challenge amid stiff competition. The Philippines had earlier targeted 80 million doses and though it has been talking with vaccine-makers for months, the country has secured only 2.6 million doses, from Britain's AstraZeneca, paid for by a private sector group, which will give half of those to their employees.

  • Microsoft employees slam the company for urging Congress to accept Biden's win while also donating to senators who want to overturn the election result

    Microsoft president Brad Smith said the company believes in "democratic principles," but employees publicly accused him of hypocrisy.

  • UPS worker seen on racist rant video while delivering to a Latino household is fired

    "This is about the things people do when they think no one is watching them," said the mother of a young Latino police officer who lives in the house.

  • In Mike Pence, US evangelicals had their '24-karat-gold' man in the White House. Loyalty may tarnish that legacy

    Mike Pence has remained one of the only constants in the often chaotic Trump administration.Variously described as “vanilla,” “steady” and loyal to the point of being “sycophantic,” he is, in the words of one profile, an “everyman’s man with Midwest humility and approachability,” and in another, a “61-year-old, soft-spoken, deeply religious man.”But that humility and loyalty are being tested as his tenure as vice president draws to an end. “I hope Mike Pence comes through for us,” Trump told supporters at a rally on Monday, seemingly under the mistaken belief that Pence can overturn the election result as he presides over the Electoral College vote count at a joint session of Congress today. Balancing the ticketThroughout the past four years, the vice president has offered a striking contrast to the mercurial, abrasive temperament of his commander in chief. Indeed, in his acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention, Pence joked that he’d been chosen because Trump, with his “large personality,” “colorful style,” and “lots of charisma,” was “looking for some balance on the ticket.” Commentators have attributed Pence’s steadiness to his Hoosier roots and his “savvy political operator” skills. But it is his religious beliefs that perhaps inform his politics and style more than anything else; as Pence has oft repeated, he is “a Christian, conservative and Republican – in that order.” In a 2011 profile during Pence’s run for Indiana governor, noted state political columnist Brian Howey remarked, “Pence doesn’t just wear his faith on his sleeve, he wears the whole Jesus jersey.”It isn’t a characterization that Pence has shied away from. “My Christian faith is at the very heart of who I am,” Pence said during the 2016 vice presidential debate.Richard Land, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and current president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, told the Atlantic in 2018, “Mike Pence is the 24-karat-gold model of what we want in an evangelical politician. I don’t know anyone who’s more consistent in bringing his evangelical Christian worldview to public policy.” But as a scholar of U.S. religion and culture, I believe that Pence’s faith and political identities are more complex than these statements suggest. In fact, one can trace three distinct conversion experiences in his biography. Three-point conversionGrowing up in an Irish Catholic family with five siblings, working-class roots and Democratic political commitments, Pence attended Catholic school, served as an altar boy at his family’s church, idolized John F. Kennedy and was a youth coordinator for the local Democratic Party in his teens.It was as a freshman at Hanover College in 1978 that Pence experienced an evangelical conversion while attending a music festival in Kentucky billed as the “Christian Woodstock.”For some years afterward he remained active in the Catholic Church, attending Mass regularly, serving as a youth minister and seriously considering joining the priesthood. At the same time, he and his future wife Karen were part of a demographic shift of Americans who “had grown up Catholic and still loved many things about the Catholic Church, but also really loved the concept of having a very personal relationship with Christ,” as a close friend put it.By the mid-1990s he was a married father of three who identified as a “born-again, evangelical Catholic,” an unusual term that has caused some consternation among both evangelicals and Catholics.In subsequent interviews, Pence has spoken freely about how his 1978 conversion gave him a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” that “changed everything.” But he has tended to avoid labeling his religious views when pressed, referring to himself as a “pretty ordinary Christian” who “cherishes his Catholic upbringing.” He has attended nondenominational evangelical churches with his family since at least 1995. Pence’s political conversion was more clear cut. Though he voted for Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election, he quickly came to embrace Ronald Reagan’s economic and social conservatism and his populist appeal. In a 2016 speech at the Reagan Library, Pence credited Reagan with inspiring him to “leave the party of my youth and become a Republican like he did.” “His broad-shouldered leadership changed my life,” he said. Pence has frequently compared Trump to Reagan, arguing that they have the same “broad shoulders.”Pence ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1988 and 1990, and the second bruising loss precipitated a third conversion, this time in political style. In a 1991 published essay titled “Confessions of a Negative Campaigner,” he described himself as a sinner and wrote of his “conversion” to the belief that “negative campaigning is wrong.” Between 1992 and 1999, Pence honed his blend of family values and fiscal conservatism in an eponymous conservative talk show.The show’s popularity provided a springboard to a successful run for Congress in 2000. During his six terms in the House, Pence acquired a reputation for “unalloyed traditional conservatism” and principled opposition to Republican Party leadership on issues like No Child Left Behind and Medicare prescription drug expansion. Religious actsIn addition to his “unsullied” reputation as a “culture warrior,” he also attracted attention for following the “Billy Graham Rule” of avoiding meeting with women alone and avoiding events where alcohol was served when his wife was not present. During the 2016 vice presidential debate, Pence said that his entire career in public service stems from a commitment to “live out” his religious beliefs, “however imperfectly.”One of those beliefs is his opposition to abortion, grounded in his reading of particular biblical passages. As a congressman in 2007, he was the first to sponsor legislation defunding Planned Parenthood, and did so repeatedly until the first defunding bill passed in 2011. “I long for the day when Roe v. Wade is sent to the ash heap of history,” he said at the time.In 2016, over the objections of many Republican state representatives, he signed the most restrictive set of anti-abortion measures in the country into law, making him a conservative hero. Among other things, the bill prevented women from terminating pregnancies for reasons including fetal disability such as Down syndrome. Although opponents succeeded in getting the bill overturned in the courts, Indiana is still seen as one of the most anti-abortion states in America.As vice president, Pence also cast the tie-breaking Senate vote to allow states to withhold federal family planning funds from Planned Parenthood in 2017.Pence has also been an outspoken opponent of LGBTQ rights. He opposed the inclusion of sexual orientation in hate crimes legislation and the end of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. He likewise supported both state and federal constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage, and expressed disappointment at the 2015 Obergefell decision, which required all states to recognize such unions.At the same time he has been a strong supporter of “religious freedom,” particularly for Christians.In March 2015, as Indiana governor, he signed the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act “to ensure that religious liberty is fully protected.” The act ignited a firestorm of nationwide controversy: Critics alleged that it would allow for individuals and businesses to legally discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community. Under pressure from LGBTQ activists, liberals, business owners and moderate Republicans, Pence signed an amendment a week later stipulating that it did not authorize discrimination. Staked reputationPence’s religious and political biography mirrors key political and religious shifts over the past 40 years, from the rise of the religious right and its growing influence in the Republican Party to the conservative coalition of evangelicals and Catholics across denominational lines, to the legacy of the “outsider” celebrity president.These threads converge in Mike Pence, whose “24-karat,” “unalloyed” conservative credentials were instrumental in rallying evangelical voters behind Trump in the 2016 election and who has staked his political future on continuing to defend him.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Deborah Whitehead, University of Colorado Boulder.Read more: * Why Trump’s Senate supporters can’t overturn Electoral College results they don’t like – here’s how the law actually works * What’s next for American evangelicals after Trump leaves office?Deborah Whitehead does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

  • What will, and might, happen if Democrats sweep Georgia races for a 50-50 Senate

    If Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff maintain their leads and win both up-for-grab Georgia Senate seats when the votes are all counted from Tuesday's election, the Senate will be split 50-50. Once Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is sworn in on Jan. 20, Democrats will have 51 votes and control of the chamber — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will be majority leader and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will be minority leader, among other changes.> If everything stands here's some a look into a shift in Senate committee leadership. > > The following shift from ranking to chairman> > Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs: Sherrod Brown > > Budget: Bernie Sanders > > Finance: Ron Wyden > > HELP: Patty Murray > > Appropriations: Patrick Leahy> > — Yashar Ali (@yashar) January 6, 2021There have only been three other 50-50 Senate splits in U.S. history, mostly for short periods, The Washington Post reports, and it isn't clear how this one will work out. The last time the Senate was evenly divided, from January to June 2001, Democratic leader Tom Daschle (S.D.) and Republican leader Trent Lott (Miss.) reached a power-sharing agreement in which the committees were split evenly. Lott was majority leader from when Vice President Dick Cheney (R) took office until Democrats convinced Vermont Republican Jim Jeffords to switch parties, giving Democrats a 51-49 majority.For those six months, "I could have been a horse's rear, and said, 'We have the majority, the hell with you,'" Lott told the Post on Tuesday. "And we would have had daily warfare." The Senate could replicate that 2001 agreement, as McConnell suggested in 2016, but Lott is skeptical, given the increased polarization in the Senate. "Tom Daschle and I used to talk more in a day than Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer do in a month of Sundays," he said.Either way, Democrats can use their 51 votes to set the Senate agenda, green-light President-elect Joe Biden's Cabinet and other appointees, confirm federal judges and Supreme Court nominees, and pass certain budget-related items under the reconciliation process. Most other legislation needs 60 votes to overcome a filibuster — which Democrats could also scrap but won't, thanks to objections from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and other moderates.Since Democrats also control the House, the Post's Dave Weigel notes, they can use the Congressional Review Act to kill any Trump administration regulations enacted in the past few months, as Republicans did liberally with Obama administration regulations in early 2017. If either Georgia Democrat loses, the Senate remains in GOP control.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call Republicans are 'privately furious' at Trump over the Georgia election losses Giuliani calls for 'trial by combat' at D.C. rally

  • Three Australian cities told to get COVID tests and isolate

    Australia's most populous state New South Wales on Tuesday called on residents in three cities to be tested for COVID-19 and isolate, as concerns grew that a Sydney cluster may have spread to regional areas after a visitor from the city tested positive. Concerns over the extent of the Sydney cluster saw authorities ban residents from several suburbs from attending a Jan. 7 Australia-India cricket test in Sydney, and again called for widespread testing for even the mildest of symptoms. Sydney is battling a number of clusters, the most concerning in its western suburbs which has been linked to a liquor outlet frequented by possibly thousands of people over the Christmas period.