BIDEN EXPANDS LEAD IN BATTLEGROUND STATES, TRUMP DIGS IN

Democrat Joe Biden moved closer to winning the White House on Friday as he

expanded his lead over President Donald Trump in battleground states, but

television networks held off from declaring him the victor as officials

continued to count votes.

Trump remained defiant, vowing to press unfounded claims of fraud as a

weary, anxious nation waited for clarity in an election that only

intensified the country's deep polarization. Republicans sought to raise $60

million to fund lawsuits challenging the results.

On the fourth day of vote counting, former Vice President Biden had a 253 to

214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the

winner, according to Edison Research.

Securing Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes would put Biden over the 270 he

needs to win the presidency after a political career stretching back nearly

five decades.

Biden would also win if he prevails in two of the three other key states

where he was narrowly ahead on Friday: Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. Like

Pennsylvania, all three were still processing ballots on Friday.

Nationwide, Biden led Trump by 4.1 million votes out of a record 147 million

cast.

However, his lead was much smaller in those four contested states: just

83,937 votes out of more than 16 million cast. In Georgia, he led by a mere

3,962 votes.

In Pennsylvania, Biden's lead jumped to 27,130 votes with 96% of the vote

tallied, Edison Research said. In Georgia, he was 4,289 votes ahead with 99%

of the vote in.

In Arizona, Biden's lead narrowed to 29,861 votes with 97% of the vote

counted. His margin in Nevada jumped to 22,657 with 93% of the tally

completed.

Though the race failed to deliver the landslide that Democrats had hoped

for, the party retained hopes of winning control of the U.S. Senate in two

Georgia run-off elections on Jan. 5.

Edison Research said incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue would not

reach 50% of the vote, forcing a run-off with Democratic challenger Jon

Osoff. Incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler also will face Democrat

Raphael Warnock on that day.

If Democrats win both seats that would give them at least 50 seats in the

100-seat chamber, enabling Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris, to cast

tie-breaking votes.

That would make it harder for Republicans to block Biden priorities such as

expanding healthcare and fighting climate change.

'U.K. TO FACE BREXIT TRADE DISRUPTION'

Northern Ireland will not be ready on January 1 to implement the systems

needed to keep trade moving with the rest of the United Kingdom as required

by the Brexit divorce deal, the National Audit Office (NAO) said on Friday.

The audit office, which reviews government spending, said that all U.K.

borders would face widespread disruption when Britain finally leaves the

European Union's orbit, whether or not it strikes a deal with the bloc.

"There is a risk that widespread disruption could ensue at a time when

government and businesses continue to deal with the effects of COVID-19," it

said.

From January 1, exporters will need to file customs and safety declarations,

even if Britain does secure an agreement.

However, the NAO said ports now have little time to integrate or test their

systems with the government's yet-to-be launched IT services, and there are

still not enough customs sites or customs brokers to help industry adapt.

One of the most challenging areas will be Northern Ireland which will

require some goods arriving from the rest of the U.K to be checked in order

to protect trade with EU member, Ireland.

The NAO said the department responsible for animal and plant checks now

believes the systems and infrastructure will not be ready in time. It is

exploring contingency options.

SUU KYI'S PARTY EXPECTED TO WIN SECOND TERM IN MYANMAR POLLS

Myanmar's citizens go to the polls Sunday in an effort to sustain the

fledgling democracy they helped install just five years ago.

There are about 37 million registered voters, though turnout is expected to

suffer because of a recent surge in coronavirus cases.

In 2015, excitement was high over the opportunity to end more than five

decades of army-directed rule.

The National League of Democracy party of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung

San Suu Kyi roared to a landslide election victory, and she became her

country's leader after many hard years at the forefront of a non-violent

struggle against military dictatorships that won international admiration.

This year, her party is expected to again top the polls, but some critics

feel her administration has failed to embrace democratic principles.

Chances for real reform were always dicey, as the 2008 constitution drafted

under the military assures it of enough seats in parliament to block charter

changes. Key ministries are also under the control of the military.

Critics accuse 75-year-old Suu Kyi and her party of being more concerned

about entrenching itself in power than encouraging a broad-based democracy.

AUSTRIA TO SHUT 'RADICAL' MOSQUES AFTER VIENNA ATTACK

The Austrian government will order the closure of "radical" mosques in the

wake of a deadly jihadist shooting in the capital Vienna earlier this week,

the Interior Ministry said on Friday.

A Ministry spokesman said more details would soon be given at a press

conference with Interior Minister Karl Nehammer and Integration Minister

Susanne Raab.

Four people were killed in the shooting on Monday, Austria's first major

attack in decades and its first blamed on a jihadist, identified as

20-year-old Kujtim Fejzulai, who was killed by police.

A statement from the officially recognised Islamic Religious Community of

Austria said that in "discussion with the relevant authorities, we are

closing one mosque".

The statement said the mosque was being shut after information came to light

that it had broken rules over "religious doctrine and its constitution", as

well as national legislation governing Islamic institutions.

Also on Friday the Vienna prosecutor's department told AFP that six of the

16 people detained since the attack have been released, with the rest

remaining in custody as the probe into the attacker's circle continues.

The suspected gunman, dual Austrian-Macedonian national Fejzulai, had

previously been convicted for trying to join the Islamic State group in

Syria.

CHINA SLAMS US FOR DELISTING XINJIANG'S ETIM AS TERRORIST OUTFIT

China on Friday sharply criticised the US for delisting Xinjiang's

separatist militant outfit East Turkistan Islamic Movement from its list of

terrorist organisations, saying it reflected Washington's "double standards"

on fighting global terrorism.

In a major policy shift on November 5, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

lifted the ban on East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which was

designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN's 1267 counter-terrorism

committee in 2002 for its alleged association with al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden

and the Taliban.

China accuses ETIM, which is entrenched in Uighur Muslim-majority province

of Xinjiang, of being responsible for numerous violent attacks in the

province and outside, including one at the Forbidden City in Beijing,

killing several people.

The US in recent months has stepped up its criticism of China's treatment of

about 12 million minority Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

SWEDISH ENVIRONMENT ACTIVIST GRETA THUNBERG MOCKS TRUMP IN HIS OWN WORDS

Amid ongoing tensions over the results of the US presidential election,

Swedish environment activist Greta Thunberg has mocked US President Donald

Trump in his own words in the ultimate social media revenge.

In response to Trump's "stop the count" tweet, the 17-year-old said on the

micro-blogging platform on Thursday: "So ridiculous. Donald must work on his

anger management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a

friend! Chill, Donald, Chill." Thunberg's tweet was the exact copy of the

one that Trump posted in December 2019 criticizing the Time magazine's

decision to name her "Person of the Year".

"So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to

a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!," the

President had tweeted on December 12, 2019.

Within hours of posting, the teenage activist's tweet has garnered over 1

million likes and nearly 300,000 retweets.

The development comes as President Trump has made controversial broad

allegations of voter fraud in Tuesday's election.

"If you count the legal votes, I easily win," the President told reporters

at the White House earlier on Thursday, implying that some of the postal

ballots, the counting of which he was trying to stop was illegal.

"If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us.

If you count the votes that came in late, we're looking at them very

strongly, but a lot of votes came in late.

"This is a case where they're trying to steal an election, trying to rig an

election," he asserted.

LIVERPOOL BEGINS UK'S FIRST CITY-WIDE CORONAVIRUS TESTING

Liverpool on Friday began England's first city-wide trial of coronavirus

testing in an attempt to prevent hospitals becoming overwhelmed during the

country's second wave of the pandemic.

All of the northwestern city's 500,000 residents as well as people working

there will be offered repeat tests, even if asymptomatic, under the pilot,

which will initially run for two weeks.

Hundreds of soldiers took over a local holiday park, some of the 2,000 armed

forces personnel called in to support the testing drive.

Jurgen Klopp, manager of Liverpool football club, urged people to get

tested.

"Do it for yourself, your family, your colleagues and your city. Let's do it

together, let's do it for Liverpool," he said in a video message posted on

the club's Twitter account.

EU SLAPS SANCTIONS ON BELARUS LEADER, SON AND 13 OTHERS

The European Union imposed sanctions Friday on the president of Belarus and

14 other officials over their roles in the security crackdown launched

during protests of the country's contested August presidential election.

EU headquarters said in a statement that Belarusian President Alexander

Lukashenko was put on the sanctions list along his son and national security

adviser, Viktor Lukashenko. The sanctions ban listed individuals from

traveling within the European Union and a freeze on their assets. EU

citizens and companies also are forbidden from providing them with funds.

Protests have rocked Belarus ever since the Aug. 9 election, and more than

15,000 people in the country have been arrested. The official results

returned Lukashenko to power with 80% of the vote and were widely seen as

rigged, including by the EU. About 200 disabled people rallied in the

capital Minsk on Thursday.

In its sanctions listing, the EU said that President Lukashenko "is

responsible for the violent repression by the State apparatus carried out

before and after the 2020 presidential election, in particular with the

dismissal of key opposition candidates, arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment

of peaceful demonstrators as well as intimidation and violence against

journalists."

The addition of Lukashenko and his associates means that a total of 59

Belarusian officials are subject to the EU sanctions.