DEMOCRATS, HOPING FOR A LANDSLIDE, FACE A NAIL-BITER.

Cheered by polls and strong early vote tallies, some Democrats went into

Election Day hoping for a clear repudiation of President Trump and an

Electoral College landslide. But as the counting rolled on into Tuesday

night, it appeared more likely that the contest would turn into a

state-by-state slog that could drag deeper into the week.

Mr. Trump scored his first two wins in key battlegrounds that Joseph R.

Biden Jr. had contested, Ohio and Iowa, with both Midwestern states declared

for the Republican shortly after midnight.

Mr. Trump was also holding off Joseph R. Biden Jr. in three states across

the South that Mr. Biden had hoped to snatch back from the Republican

column: Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. The president had a strong lead

in Florida. These were not must-win states for Mr. Biden by any means, but

he spent heavily in all those places. A Biden victory in Florida would have

particularly left Mr. Trump very few roads back to the White House.

No states had yet flipped from their 2016 results.

Mr. Biden was preparing to address the nation shortly after 12:30 a.m.

Eastern.

The most encouraging sign on the map for Mr. Biden was in Arizona, where he

was leading in a state that Mr. Trump won in 2016. He also won New

Hampshire, a state that Hillary Clinton had only narrowly carried four years

ago and one that Mr. Trump had once hoped to flip in 2020.

In a briefing for donors on Tuesday night, Biden campaign officials

acknowledged underperforming among Cuban-Americans in the Miami area, but

saw positive signs with their strength in some suburbs in Ohio, according to

two people familiar with the matter.

Campaign officials signaled that Biden's team was preparing to wait for

votes to be counted in three Northern battlegrounds that Mr. Trump carried

in 2016 - Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin - where it still feels

bullish.

Florida, North Carolina and Arizona could still be called relatively

quickly, but vote-counting in Michigan and Wisconsin is not expected to be

completed on Tuesday. And Pennsylvania won't start counting its early votes

until tomorrow; that could draw on through the end of the week.

Two other states that are critical to Mr. Trump's electoral math, Georgia

and North Carolina, were also too close to call as turnout across the nation

appeared on track to set a modern record.

Polls had also closed in Michigan and Pennsylvania, two of the previous

Democratic "blue wall" states that Mr. Trump flipped in 2016, but that Mr.

Biden was aiming to win back in 2020.

CHINA BANS WINE AND IMPORTS OF SEVERAL PRODUCTS FROM AUSTRALIA

China's Government has raised the stakes in its economic campaign against

Australia, with several importers receiving directives verbally to stop

import shipments of Australian wine this week, writes Subhash Arora who

feels that the move is political and meant to punish Australia for taking a

stand against China as the source of Covid-19 and now joining the Quad

exercise by the navies of US, Australia, Japan and India which is perceived

as a threat to its wishful supremacy in the region

At least four wine importers have been reportedly advised by their local

distributors to stop importing Australian wine, with Chinese Commerce

officials in several cities holding off-the-record meetings to announce the

new directive, with phones banned for communication.

Australian industry sources say they have been warned by importers that

shipments of Australian wine will not clear customs after Friday 6 November.

They have also been warned against flouting the ban by re-routing shipments

through a third country. Custom authorities have been asked to be extra

vigilant about the certificates of origin.

Several distributors told ABC that wine was not the only target, with

shipments of Australian lobster, sugar, coal, timber, barley and copper ore

also to be unofficially suspended unofficially from November 6, dealing a

major blow to Australia's economy.

FRANCE SAYS ITS FORCES KILL 50 ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS IN MALI

French military forces fighting Islamic extremists in West Africa killed

more than 50 jihadists and detained four in an operation last week in Mali,

French officials said.

Defense Minister Florence Parly tweeted Monday night that the French force

in the region also confiscated weapons and equipment from the fighters in

the operation last Friday, which she said "shows once again that terrorist

groups cannot act with impunity." Drones monitoring the region in northern

Mali spotted a convoy of suspected fighters on motorcycles, prompting France

to launch the operation, first with airstrikes and then with a ground

operation by French commandos, according to an official with the French

military headquarters.

Parly visited Mali's capital, Bamako, on Monday and Tuesday, and met with

the head of the transitional government. After Mali's president was ousted

in August by a military junta, she urged democratic elections "as quickly as

possible" and said the current leadership promised to ensure them.

France, which has suffered repeated deadly Islamic extremist attacks, has

thousands of troops in a force called Barkhane in West Africa to help fight

extremist groups there.

Islamic extremist rebels were forced from power in northern Mali after a

2013 French-led military operation, but regrouped in the desert and now

launch frequent attacks on the Malian army and its allies.

Meanwhile, Mali has faced months of political upheaval. Under international

pressure, the junta appointed a civilian-led government to lead the country

through an 18-month transition period to new elections.

FIVE KILLED, 17 INJURED IN VIENNA TERRORIST ATTACK

Five people died, including an assailant, and 17 others were wounded in a

shooting in the heart of Vienna hours before a coronavirus lockdown started,

Austrian authorities said Tuesday.

The dead attacker was a 20-year-old Austrian-North Macedonian dual national

who had a previous terror conviction.

Two men and two women died from their injuries in the attack Monday evening,

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said. The suspected attacker was shot and killed

by police. "It is now confirmed that yesterday's attack was clearly an

Islamist terror attack," Kurz said, adding: "It was an attack out of hatred

- hatred for our fundamental values, hatred for our way of life, hatred for

our democracy in which all people have equal rights and dignity."

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer later told APA that the dead assailant, who

had roots in the Balkan nation of North Macedonia, had a previous conviction

under a law that punishes membership in terrorist organisations. The

attacker, named as Kujtim Fejzulai, was sentenced to 22 months in prison in

April 2019 because he had tried to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State

group. He was granted early release in December under juvenile law. "The

attacker," he said: "was equipped with a fake explosive vest and an

automatic rifle, a handgun and a machete to carry out this repugnant attack

on innocent citizens."

Authorities were still trying to determine whether further attackers may be

on the run

The attack drew swift condemnation and assurances of support from leaders

around Europe.

"The Islamist terror is our common enemy," German Chancellor Angela Merkel's

spokesman Steffen Seibert tweeted. "The battle against these murderers and

their instigators is our common fight," she added.

"These evil attacks against innocent people must stop. The US stands with

Austria, France, and all of Europe in the fight against terrorists,

including radical Islamic terrorists," tweeted Donald Turmp.

Egypt's Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's foremost religious institution,

condemned the "terrorist attacks" in Vienna. It called on international

institutions "to stand united" against terrorism and reject violence and

hatred.

UK INCREASES TERRORISM THREAT LEVEL TO 'SEVERE'

Britain on Tuesday upgraded the country's terrorism threat level from

"substantial" to "severe", after a deadly shooting rampage in Vienna and

several attacks across France.

"Severe" -- the second-highest of five levels -- means an attack is "highly

likely", said the domestic intelligence service MI5, which announced the

change on its website.

The threat had been deemed "substantial", where an attack is "likely", since

November 4 last year.

Interior minister Priti Patel said: "This is a precautionary measure and is

not based on any specific threat.

"The public should continue to remain vigilant and report any suspicious

activity to the police," she wrote on Twitter.

Monday evening's attack in Vienna left four people dead and came on the eve

of a month-long coronavirus lockdown across Austria. England enters a

four-week shutdown on Thursday.

The UK decision was made by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC),

which conducts a formal review of the threat level every six months,

independent of government ministers.

JTAC's membership includes the security services MI5 and its overseas

counterpart MI6, and police, and assesses all intelligence relating to

terrorism at home and abroad.

The level was briefly raised on two occasions to "critical", the maximum

level indicating an attack is "highly likely in the near future", in May and

September 2017.

UAE PM RECEIVES COVID-19 VACCINE SHOT

UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum received a dose of

the Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday.

Sheikh Mohammed shared a picture on Twitter of him getting vaccinated by a

medical staffer.

Sheikh Mohammed said, "While receiving the Covid-19 vaccine today. We wish

everyone safety and great health, and we are proud of our teams who have

worked relentlessly to make the vaccine available in the UAE. The future

will always be better in the UAE."

A number of UAE ministers also took the vaccine over the past few weeks.

The UAE has authorised the emergency use of the vaccine as part of the

country's measures to protect health workers in close contact with Covid-19

patients and ensure their safety, and that it was fully aligned with the

regulations and laws that allow a faster review of licensing procedures.

PAKISTAN GOVERNMENT TO COUNTER OPPOSITION'S 'ANTI-STATE NARRATIVE' WITH FULL

FORCE

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has decided to counter with

full force what it claims to be the opposition's "anti-state narrative" at

every forum and expose the corruption cases being faced by opposition

members.

Sources informed that while presiding over a meeting of PTI spokespersons

who represent the party in TV talks, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday

categorically stated that his government would not succumb to the pressure

being exerted by the opposition and would not offer any concessions to the

opposition members facing corruption charges, reported Dawn.

The sources also said that the recent statement by Pakistan Muslim

League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ayaz Sadiq regarding India pilot wing commander

Abhinandan Varthaman, terming it "irresponsible".

According to Dawn, the participants were of the view the PML-N leaders were

now changing their stance as they had started to say that the former speaker

had in fact talked about Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and not

against any state institution.

The sources said some of the participants felt the state should take some

action against the PML-N leader.

The participants were of the opinion that some "criminals" were trying to

put pressure on the government by building an "anti-state narrative" which

could not be tolerated. According to sources, Khan stated that there was no

harm in political engagement, but this could not take place at the cost of

the country and the state, and vowed to further strengthen the state

institutions and foil the opposition's attack on them.

CHINA SUSPENDS JACK MA'S ANT GROUP SHANGHAI IPO AFTER WARNING

China has suspended the Shanghai leg of Ant Group Co.'s $35 billion

offering, potentially derailing the world's biggest initial public offering.

The Shanghai stock exchange will suspend the listing amid changes in the

regulatory environment, it said in a statement Tuesday without providing

further details. The debut was expected for Thursday, the same day as the

Hong Kong portion.

The shock move comes after China's regulators warned that Jack Ma's firm

faces increased scrutiny and will be subject to the same restrictions on

capital and leverage as banks. Ma, Ant's billionaire co-founder, was

summoned to a rare joint meeting on Monday with the country's central bank

and three other top financial regulators.

Ant's decision to list on the Star board, a market launched in Shanghai last

year, was seen as a major win for mainland exchanges. The IPO had sparked a

frenzy among individual investors, with about $2.8 trillion worth of

subscriptions for the Shanghai leg alone. In the preliminary price

consultation of its Shanghai IPO, institutional investors subscribed for

over 76 billion shares, more than 284 times the initial offering tranche.

Ant has faced scrutiny in Chinese state media in recent days after Ma

criticized local and global regulators for stifling innovation and not

paying sufficient heed to development and opportunities for the young. At a

Shanghai conference late last month, he compared the Basel Accords, which

set out capital requirements for banks, to a club for the elderly.

RUSSIA FM: 2,000 MIDEAST MILITANTS FIGHT IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Russia's top diplomat said Tuesday that about 2,000 fighters from the Middle

East have joined the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, the worst outbreak of

hostilities in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in more than a

quarter-century.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement came as the warring

parties traded accusations over new attacks in the region.

"We are certainly worried about the internationalization of the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the involvement of militants from the Middle

East," Mr. Lavrov said in an interview with the Russian business daily

Kommersant.

"We have repeatedly asked foreign players to use their potential to stop the

transfer of militants, whose number in the conflict zone is approaching

2,000". Mr. Lavrov added that Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the

issue in last week's phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Azerbaijan has relied on strong support from its ally Turkey, which has

trained Azerbaijani military and provided it with strike drones and

long-range rocket systems. Armenian officials accuse Turkey of being

directly involved in the conflict and sending mercenaries from Syria to

fight on Azerbaijan's side.

Turkey has denied deploying combatants to the region, but a Syrian war

monitor and Syria-based opposition activists have confirmed that Turkey has

sent hundreds of Syrian opposition fighters to fight in Nagorno-Karabakh.