Georgia Senate: Biden and Trump rally voters on eve of poll - BBC News

In duelling rallies, President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden have urged voters in Georgia to turn out for elections on Tuesday that will decide which party controls the Senate.

Mr Trump, a Republican, and Mr Biden, a Democrat, said the votes for two Senate seats would shape the US for years.

More than three million Georgians have already cast ballots - nearly 40% of the state's registered voters.

If the Democrats win, they will control all of Congress and the White House.

• 'I've never seen this energy in Georgia before'
• Why is the Georgia election so important?

The Republican Senate incumbents in Georgia - Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue - are trying to hold off the Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock.

The runoff is needed under Georgia's state election rules because none of the Senate candidates received more than 50% of the vote in November's US election. Voting begins at 07:00 (12:00 GMT) and ends about 12 hours later.

What's at stake in Georgia?

The vote will decide the balance of power in the US Senate.

Republicans are currently in control, holding 52 of the 100 seats. If both Democrats win on Tuesday, the Senate will be evenly split, allowing incoming Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote.

This would be crucial for pushing through Mr Biden's progressive agenda, including key issues such as health care and environmental regulations - issues with strong Republican opposition.

The Senate also has the power to approve or reject Mr Biden's nominees for cabinet and judicial posts.

If Mr Ossoff and Mr Warnock both win, it will bring the White House, Senate and the House of Representatives under Democratic control for the first time since President Barack Obama's election in 2008.

What did Biden and Trump say?

At a drive-in rally in Atlanta on Monday, Mr Biden told voters: "Georgia, the whole nation is looking to you. The power is literally in your hands."

Flanked by Mr Ossoff and Mr Warnock, he said: "Unlike any time in my career, one state - one state - can chart the course, not just for the four years but for the next generation."

Getty Images

Mr Biden also took aim at Mr Trump, accusing him of "whining and complaining" about November's presidential election result rather than concentrating on the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I don't know why he still wants the job, he doesn't want to do the work," he said.

On Monday evening at a rally in Dalton, President Trump told voters that the Georgia runoff was the "last line of defence" against the Democrats.

In what may have been the last rally of his presidency, he told the state's voters "the whole world is watching" and that this was "your last chance to save the America that we love".

The president repeated unproven allegations that he was only declared the loser in Georgia after November's White House election because of fraud.

Republican officials are worried this could depress turnout among the party faithful in Tuesday's vote. Mr Trump played this down, telling voters to "swarm it tomorrow".

A Democrat has not won a Senate race in Georgia in 20 years, but the party will be buoyed by Mr Biden's presidential election win over Mr Trump there. The margin of victory was about 12,000 votes among five million cast.

Mr Biden won 306 votes to Mr Trump's 232 in the US electoral college, which confirms the US president. Mr Biden won at least seven million more votes than the president.

Joe Biden's first big test

It's just over two weeks until Joe Biden's inauguration, but the first real test of his presidency will come on Tuesday, when Georgia's two run-off Senate elections will decide which party controls the US Senate as he takes office.

If Democrats pick up the two seats and forge a 50-50 tie in the upper chamber, it's far from certain that Biden will be able to enact the kind of sweeping legislation on the environment, healthcare and the economy that he proposed during his successful presidential campaign. The narrowness of the margin will ensure that any laws will have to be supported by centrists like Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Arizona's two senators.

It will, however, give the new president a fighting chance at legislative accomplishments - and make it significantly easier for him to appoint the administration officials and federal judges of his choice.

If the Republicans hold on, then Democratic hopes will rest on the whims of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a handful of Republican moderates.

Meet the candidates

Reuters

EPA

• Jon Ossoff, launched his campaign with an endorsement from Democratic superstar and civil rights champion John Lewis, who died this summer. Mr Ossoff spent five years working for Congressman Hank Johnson, an Atlanta Democrat
• David Perdue has served as a Georgia senator since 2015. The former Reebok CEO was an early supporter of Donald Trump, and has remained an ally. He is now facing scrutiny over multimillion dollar stock trades in companies whose business falls under his purview on Senate committees
• Reverend Raphael Warnock is a pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr once preached. He helped start the New Georgia Project, a voting rights organisation. The group is now under investigation for allegedly sending ballot applications to non-residents
• Kelly Loeffler was named to the US Senate in December 2019 after the sitting senator resigned. Ms Loeffler is co-owner of the women's NBA team the Atlanta Dream. The league's players have called for her to sell her stake over her vocal opposition to Black Lives Matter

Is Trump still challenging the White House election?

Mr Trump - who is due to leave office on 20 January - said at his Georgia rally: "They're not taking this White House. We're going to fight like hell."

He hinted that he wanted Vice-President Mike Pence, in his role as president of the Senate, to reject Mr Biden's win when Congress meets on Wednesday to certify the election results.

"I hope that Mike Pence comes through for us," Mr Trump said. "Of course, if he doesn't come through, I won't like him quite as much."

Some Republicans have said they will raise objections to the presidential election result in the House and Senate, requiring a debate and vote. But with other Republicans saying they will not contest Mr Biden's victory, the votes questioning it would not succeed.

• Trump 'just plain wrong' on Georgia claim
• Trump's hour-long phone call fact-checked

Over the weekend it was revealed Mr Trump also held a controversial phone call with Georgia's top election official, secretary of state Brad Raffensperger.

In a recording of the call, first published by the Washington Post newspaper on Sunday, Mr Trump pressured Mr Raffensperger to "find" votes that would reverse his defeat in the state.

At his rally, Mr Biden did not make direct reference to the call, but alluded to Mr Trump's persistent challenges to the election results, saying that "politicians cannot assert, take or seize power".

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2021-01-05 07:52:00Z
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National Guard to be deployed as Washington braces for Trump march - Financial Times

The National Guard will be deployed on to the streets of Washington this week as the city braces for potentially violent clashes when supporters of Donald Trump descend on the US capital to protest the outcome of the presidential election.

Mr Trump has urged his followers to protest the results of the election on Tuesday and Wednesday as Congress prepares to certify the electoral college results, sparking fears of a repeat of the unrest seen on the city’s streets in November and December.

The request for a National Guard presence from Muriel Bowser, Washington’s Democratic mayor, comes amid heightened tensions in the nation’s capital as Mr Trump wages an unprecedented campaign to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in November’s election.

Some figures in the defence establishment fear Mr Trump will use violence at the protests this week as a pretext to invoke the Insurrection Act, as he has proposed in the past, which would allow him to order the military to quell any unrest.

Those concerns prompted all 10 living former US secretaries of defence — including Republicans Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld — to caution against any military involvement in election disputes.

“Efforts to involve the US armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory,” the former top Pentagon officials wrote in The Washington Post on Sunday.

They added: “Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.”

About 340 members of the District of Columbia National Guard, a reserve of citizen-soldiers who serve on a part-time basis, will be on duty in the city following a request for their presence to the Pentagon from Ms Bowser.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Ms Bowser urged Washington residents not to engage in conflict and to avoid confrontations with anyone who appeared to be “looking for a fight”. 

The mayor also asked people to avoid the downtown areas of the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, including streets around the National Mall. Robert Contee, DC chief of police, warned that carrying firearms in the city would “not be tolerated”. 

Previous demonstrations by pro-Trump protesters, including far-right groups such as the Proud Boys, led to violence on the streets of Washington late last year. Several African churches in the city had Black Lives Matter banners ripped down and multiple people were stabbed and hospitalised.

DC police officers on Monday arrested Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who is from Miami, and charged him with destruction of property over the burning of a BLM banner ripped down from a church in north-west Washington last month. 

Mr Tarrio, who had returned to the capital on Monday ahead of expected pro-Trump rallies, was also found to be illegally carrying two high-capacity firearm magazines, the police force said, and charged him with unlawful possession of them. 

The former defence secretaries also warned in their letter about the dangers to US national security of impeding a transition of power to the Biden administration. Mr Biden has complained that Trump-elected officials are obstructing the handover process and that there has been “limited co-operation” with his transition team from the Pentagon.

Mr Trump’s presidency has been marked by periods of protest across US cities, throughout which he has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy military forces in states where he felt authorities had not quelled protests.

Invoking that act could allow Mr Trump to call out not only the National Guard but also the regular military — in most likelihood military police — and send them wherever he wanted.

The summer saw a wave of protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, with police and federal forces sometimes using aggressive tactics — including the use of rubber bullets and tear gas — to disperse protesters. 

General Mark Milley, the top uniformed US military official, apologised in June for accompanying Mr Trump on a walk to a church near the White House immediately after police cleared the area of peaceful protesters by firing tear gas canisters into the crowd.

Mr Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said at the time that his presence had created a “perception of the military being involved in US politics”.

The general has since joined several senior military officials in publicly stating that the military has no role in determining the outcome of US elections. 

In November Mr Trump fired former defence secretary Mark Esper after he disagreed publicly with the president in June and said that active duty military personnel should not be sent into US cities to quell protests.

Video: Joe Biden faces multiple domestic crises

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2021-01-05 02:02:00Z
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National Guard to be deployed as Washington braces for Trump march - Financial Times

The National Guard will be deployed on to the streets of Washington this week as the city braces for potentially violent clashes when supporters of Donald Trump descend on the nation’s capital to protest the outcome of the presidential election.

Mr Trump has urged his followers to protest the results of the US election on Tuesday and Wednesday as Congress prepares to certify the electoral college results, sparking fears of a repeat of the unrest seen on the city’s streets in November and December.

The request for a National Guard presence from Muriel Bowser, Washington’s Democratic mayor, comes amid heightened tensions in the nation’s capital as Mr Trump wages an unprecedented campaign to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in November’s election.

Some figures in the defence establishment fear Mr Trump will use violence at the protests this week as a pretext to invoke the Insurrection Act, as he has proposed in the past, which would allow him to order the military to quell any unrest.

Those concerns prompted all 10 living former secretaries of defence — including Republicans Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld — to caution against any military involvement in election disputes.

“Efforts to involve the US armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory,” the former top Pentagon officials wrote in The Washington Post on Sunday.

They added: “Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.”

About 340 members of the District of Columbia National Guard, a reserve of citizen-soldiers who serve on a part-time basis, will be on duty in the city following a request for their presence to the Pentagon from Ms Bowser.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Ms Bowser urged Washington residents not to engage in conflict and to avoid confrontations with anyone who appeared to be “looking for a fight”. 

The mayor also asked people to avoid the downtown areas of the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, including streets around the National Mall. Robert Contee, DC chief of police, warned that carrying firearms in the city would “not be tolerated”. 

Previous demonstrations by pro-Trump protesters, including far-right groups such as the Proud Boys, led to violence on the streets of Washington late last year. Several African churches in the city had Black Lives Matter banners ripped down and multiple people were stabbed and hospitalised.

The former defence secretaries also warned in their letter about the dangers to US national security of impeding a transition of power to the Biden administration. Mr Biden has complained that Trump-elected officials are obstructing the handover process and that there has been “limited co-operation” with his transition team from the Pentagon.

Mr Trump’s presidency has been marked by periods of protest across US cities, throughout which he has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy military forces in states where he felt authorities had not quelled protests.

Invoking that act could allow Mr Trump to call out not only the National Guard but also the regular military — in most likelihood military police — and send them wherever he wanted.

The summer saw a wave of protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, with police and federal forces sometimes using aggressive tactics — including the use of rubber bullets and tear gas — to disperse protesters. 

General Mark Milley, the top uniformed US military official, apologised in June for accompanying Mr Trump on a walk to a church near the White House immediately after police cleared the area of peaceful protesters by firing tear gas canisters into the crowd.

Mr Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said at the time that his presence had created a “perception of the military being involved in US politics”.

The general has since joined a number of senior military officials in publicly stating that the military has no role in determining the outcome of US elections. 

In November, Mr Trump fired former defence secretary Mark Esper after he disagreed publicly with the president in June and said that active duty military personnel should not be sent into US cities to quell protests.

Video: Joe Biden faces multiple domestic crises

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2021-01-04 22:16:00Z
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First case of 'mutant strain' of COVID-19 that originated in the UK is found in New York - Daily Mail

Super-COVID hits New York: Mutant, highly infectious UK strain is found in jewelry store worker in his 60s with NO travel history - the eighth American across four states to have been diagnosed

• Gov Andrew Cuomo said that 'mutant strain' was found in New York on Monday
• He said a man in his 60s has tested positive for strain but has no travel history
• The man is from Saratoga County, New York, and works at a jewelry store 
• Three other people who reportedly work at the store have also tested positive for COVID-19, but it's unclear if they have the UK strain too
• Local officials are urging people who visited N Fox Jewelers in Saratoga Springs between December 18 to December 24 to get tested for the virus
• The new variant has also been confirmed in Colorado, California and Florida  

By Valerie Edwards For Dailymail.com

Published: 21:09 GMT, 4 January 2021 | Updated: 22:03 GMT, 4 January 2021

Gov Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced that the first case of the 'mutant strain' of COVID-19, which originated in the UK, has been found in a New York man. 

Cuomo said the man, who is in his 60s, was diagnosed with the new strain despite having no travel history. 

'The Wadsworth Lab has confirmed New York State’s first case of the UK variant (B.1.1.7) of the virus that causes COVID,' Cuomo said. 

Cuomo said the man is from Saratoga County, New York. 

Gov Andrew Cuomo (pictured) on Monday announced that the first case of the 'mutant strain' of COVID-19, which originated in the UK, has been found in a New York man

Cuomo said the man, who is in his 60s, was diagnosed with the new strain despite having no travel history. More than 20.6 million cases of the virus have been reported in the US 

As of Monday afternoon, the US is reporting a total of 351,590 deaths 

According to local reports, the man works at a jewelry store in Saratoga County.

Three other people who work at the store have also tested positive for COVID-19. As of Monday afternoon, it is unclear if they have the UK strain too. 

Local officials are urging people who visited N Fox Jewelers in Saratoga Springs between December 18 to December 24 to get tested for the virus. 

'We're going through the employees of the jewelry store. As it was a retail establishment, we want the cooperation of the public,' Cuomo said. 

Cuomo said the man 'appears to be on the mend'. 

The first case of the strain in the US was confirmed last week in a nursing home located in a remote Colorado town. 

Colorado's governor, Jared Polis, confirmed on December 29 that the new virus had been identified in his state, in Elbert County. 

Cuomo said that the man is from Saratoga County, New York. Local reports have indicated that the man works at a jewelry store in Saratoga Springs 

'Super-COVID' was first reported in Colorado last week. It was then confirmed in California, which now has six cases, and Florida before being found in New York (all depicted)

On Saturday it was revealed that the first confirmed infection was of a National Guard member in his 20s, who had been assigned to work at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Simla, to help with their outbreak. 

The strain was then found in California and Florida, and it has now made its way to New York, which has reported 11,209 new cases of the coronaivrus. 

New York's hospitalizations are at 8,251 and the state added an additional 170 fatalities. 

Data suggests that the variant may have already been present in the US at undetectable levels in recent months, since perhaps as long ago as October.

'It wouldn't be at all surprising if at least some of the cases were B117,' said Eric Topol, head of Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.

Topol's team on Wednesday confirmed that at least one coronavirus infection in California was caused by the mutant strain. 

'It has probably been here for a while at low levels - but you don't see it until you look for it.'  

Florida became the third state in the US to confirm a case of the mutant strain of COVID-19. 

The Florida Department of Health confirmed the diagnosis on Thursday night. Officials said the man is in his 20s, lives in Martin County and has no history of travel.

The strain is thought to be 70 per cent more transmissible than the original.

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2021-01-04 21:09:00Z
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Trump lashes out at 'surrender caucus' as party figures slam overturn bid - Daily Mail

'Republicans NEVER FORGET!' Donald Trump lashes out at 'surrender caucus' as major party figures including ultra-conservative Tom Cotton slam 'Dirty Dozen' bid to overturn Joe Biden's victory

• Congress meets Wednesday to count the electoral votes 
• Trump called out Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who said he will not go along with his electoral challenge
• Attack comes after leaked call where he told Ga. official to 'find' 11,780 votes 
• Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse among those slamming Trump's effort
• A dozen Senate Republicans will seek to challenge result in states Trump lost 

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Published: 18:15 GMT, 4 January 2021 | Updated: 19:09 GMT, 4 January 2021

President Donald Trump ridiculed those who would stand in the way of his effort to overturn the election results as part of a 'surrender caucus' – in his latest dash of public pressure seeking to sway the electoral count.

The president fired off a series of tweets seeking to sway Congress, which meets on Wednesday, despite the leak of an explosive hour-long phone call where he sought to pressure the Georgia secretary of state to 'find' 11,780 votes that would ensure his victory in the state. 

The official, Brad Raffensperger, said Monday he has 'been fighting a rumor whack-a-mole,' after repeatedly resisting Trump's pressure-tactics during the call.

The action will soon move to Congress, which meets in joint session on Wednesday to count the results of the Electoral College, where Democrat Joe Biden won 306 to 232.

Trump's push to overturn Biden's victory has brought a schism in the GOP, with 11 Republican senators led by Ted Cruz joining Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley in saying they will challenge results.

That brought forceful blowback from both Trump critics and even some typical Trump allies within the GOP, notably Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton who late Sunday said he would not join the dozen, and attacking their move as un-conservative.

That prompted Trump to lash out at him and other Republicans - who also included former speaker Paul Ryan, who had excoriated the move. 

'The 'Surrender Caucus' within the Republican Party will go down in infamy as weak and ineffective 'guardians' of our Nation, who were willing to accept the certification of fraudulent presidential numbers!' Trump wrote.

Trump tried to label those who won't seek to overturn the election as the 'Surrender Caucus'

Trump touted his Monday night speech and gave a warning to those who would appose his last-ditch effort

Trump tweeted approvingly about Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

President Trump singled out Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, who said he won't go along with election challenges, in a tweet and warned Republicans 'NEVER FORGET'

Trump's Dirty Dozen 

Senator Josh Hawley - Missouri - has already said he will object

The Cruz faction

 Senator Ted Cruz  - Texas 

Senator Ron Johnson - Wisconsin

Senator James Lankford - Oklahoma

Senator Steve Daines - Montana

Senator John Kennedy - Louisiana

Senator Marsha Blackburn - Tennessee

Senator Mike Braun - Indiana

Senator-elect Cynthia Lummis - Wyoming

Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville - Alabama

Senator-elect Bill Hagerty - Tennessee

Senator-elect Roger Marshall - Kansas

 *Senators-elect will be sworn in as senators on Sunday January 3, and will be eligible to vote on January 6 

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Twitter flagged Trump's claim about election fraud as 'disputed.' It has yet to stand up in court. His claims that he won Georgia by 'half a million votes' was not born out by successive state recounts.

Trump followed up with an implied threat against those who might cross him – specifically mentioning Cotton.

'How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG,' he wrote. 'You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!'

Congress meets on Wednesday 6. Trump flies Monday night to Georgia, where he promised to repeat his claims of election fraud – which Raffensperger tweeted in response to Trump Sunday were 'not true.'  

Cotton said in a statement he posted on Sunday night: 'I'm grateful for what the president accomplished over the past four years, which is why I campaigned vigorously for his reelection. 

'But objecting to certified electoral votes won't give him a second term—it will only embolden those Democrats who want to erode further our system of constitutional government.'

His statement co-mingled his objections to the tactics of GOP loyalists – which other opponents warned would give Congress rather than the people the power to choose the president – in statements supporting Trump and some of his charges.   

 'I share the concerns of many Arkansans about irregularities in the presidential election, especially in states that rushed through election-law changes to relax standards for voting-by-mail. 

'I also share their disappointment with the election results. I therefore support a commission to study the last election and propose reforms to protect the integrity of our elections.' 

Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) has forcefully condemned Trump's effort to overturn the results

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., came out publicly early to say he would challenge electors from states Trump lost

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) led a group of senators writing to say they would challenge the election results, despite Trump defeating him in 2016 and insulting his wife

But Cotton added that states, not Congress, are entrusted to oversee elections and it would be a dangerous precedent for Congress to overturn the results of the November vote.

 'I will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes on January 6,' Cotton wrote. 

A bipartisan group of ten senators went further in a weekend statement.

'The 2020 election is over,' wrote the group, which included Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah. 

They said attempts to cast doubt on Biden's victory are 'contrary to the clearly expressed will of the American people and only serve to undermine Americans´ confidence in the already determined election results.'

Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman said in a statement Monday he will not go along with the challenge.

'The Constitution created a system for electing the President through the Electoral College that ensures the people and the states hold the power, not Congress,” he said. “I cannot support allowing Congress to thwart the will of the voters.” 

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican who sits on the board of Fox Corporation, said in a rare statement that 'Biden´s victory is entirely legitimate.' 

Ryan said efforts to cast doubt on Biden's win 'strike at the foundation of our republic.'

The third ranking House Republican,  Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, issued a lengthy memo blasting the congressional overturn effort saying it would 'set an exceptionally dangerous precedent.'

'The scheme by members of Congress to reject the certification of the presidential election makes a mockery of our system and who we are as Americans,' wrote Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. 

Cotton has now joined other Republicans Ben Sasse, Roy Blunt and Mitt Romney who have also spoken out against their party members challenging the election. 

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska warned such challenges are a 'dangerous ploy' threatening the nation's civic norms.

 'I will not be participating in a project to overturn the election,' Sasse wrote, calling it a dangerous ploy.'

The blowback came after a dozen Republicans said before the release of the explosive Trump tape they would contest the election.

Texas Sen. Cruz was joined in the statement by Senators Ron Johnson, James Lankford, Steve Daines, John Kennedy, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Braun, along with Cynthia Lummis, Tommy Tuberville, Bill Hagerty, and Roger Marshall, all of whom will be sworn in as senators on Sunday in the new Congress. 

In a statement, Cruz and the other senators said they intend to vote to reject electors from swing states that have been at the center of President Trump's unproven assertions of election fraud and will call for the establishment of a commission to investigate claims of fraud on an emergency basis. 

'We intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not `regularly given´ and `lawfully certified´ (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed,' they wrote in the statement.

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2021-01-04 18:15:00Z
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Iran flexes its muscles before Biden comes to power as it seizes South Korea tanker in Gulf - Sky News

Iran's Revolutionary Guard has seized a South Korean tanker in the Gulf, according to Iranian media.

Seoul demanded the vessel's immediate release after confirming it had been captured by Iranian authorities in waters off Oman.

There is tension between the two countries after US sanctions led to Iranian funds being frozen in South Korean banks.

It appears that Iran has resorted to an old tactic at a moment when it feels under pressure.

The South Korean tanker was sailing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz when it was seized by Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels for allegedly polluting the waters with chemicals.

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Image: Seoul has demanded the vessel's immediate release

That is doubtful. The more likely motive is revenge at $7bn of Iranian government money being frozen in South Korean accounts because of US sanctions.

Iran claims it needs the money to buy equipment and vaccines to treat COVID-19.

More from Iran

Medicine is exempt from sanctions, and in recent months, Iran has tried unsuccessfully to persuade Seoul to release the money.

The timing is no coincidence either: South Korea's deputy foreign minister is due to visit Tehran in the coming days, and this will strengthen Iran's hand in negotiations.

Iranian state television showed pictures of the MT Hankuk Chemi being escorted to Bandar Abbas port on Iran's gulf coast. South Korea has ordered some naval ships to the area in response.

Image: The Stena Impero was seized in July 2019. File pic: Stena Bulk

Iran has form here. In 2019, the Revolutionary Guard repeatedly tried to seize British flagged tankers in retaliation against the impounding of an Iranian ship off Gibraltar. They were eventually successful, capturing the Stena Impero.

Weeks beforehand, a series of explosions onboard tankers in the Gulf came at a pressure point over the Iranian nuclear deal - as the Trump administration ramped up sanctions against the regime. Tehran denied any involvement.

We're now in another tense period between Iran and the US, albeit not yet so active as those summer months of 2019.

The Sunday just gone marked a year since Iranian General Qassam Soleimani was killed in an American drone strike shortly after landing at Baghdad airport. Iran might yet wish to mark that anniversary in some way.

There is an expectation that Donald Trump might also try a parting shot during his final days in office, to stop Joe Biden renegotiating the nuclear deal when he takes office.

Image: It is thought Donald Trump may try to stop Joe Biden renegotiating the Iran nuclear deal

B-52 bombers have been sent to the region, and the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier is staying in the Gulf area a little longer, reversing an original plan to leave as a sign of de-escalation.

And in a move that could force the US president's hand, Iran has announced a resumption in the enrichment of uranium to 20% purity, breaking the 2015 nuclear deal and dramatically speeding up the process towards a nuclear weapon.

The European Union has criticised this as a "serious deviation" from the deal.

When Tehran did something similar a decade ago, it almost triggered a strike by Israel.

So again we're in a game of brinkmanship: on one side an outgoing president who might think he has little to lose, and on the other, Iran's hardliners starting to flex their muscles before Mr Biden comes to power.

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2021-01-04 18:37:33Z
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Raffensperger calls Trump 'just plain wrong' after election call - BBC News

Georgia's top election official Brad Raffensperger has called President Donald Trump's false claims that he won the state in 2020 "just plain wrong".

Mr Raffensperger's comment came after Mr Trump pressured him in a phone call to "find" votes proving his win.

Criticism of Mr Trump's call has been widespread, with some claiming that it amounts to illegal vote tampering.

Republicans fear that the call could undermine their efforts to win two Senate races in Georgia on Tuesday.

If Republicans win both Georgia Senate seats in the run-off election, they will retain control of the upper chamber. If their candidates lose, Democrats will control the Senate, House of Representatives and White House.

• Trump's hour-long phone call fact-checked
• Why is the Georgia election so important?

"He did most of the talking. We did most of the listening," Mr Raffensperger told ABC News on Monday.

"But I did want to make my points that the data that he has is just plain wrong."

He was on the phone for an hour to the president and his team on Saturday, and the audio was published by the Washington Post the following day.

"He [Mr Trump] had hundreds and hundreds of people he said that were dead that voted. We found two, that's an example of just - he has bad data," he added.

EPA

What happened on the call?

Mr Trump can be heard alternately cajoling and pressuring Georgia's secretary of state to "recalculate" the vote tally.

"I just want to find 11,780 votes," he said. The number would have given him a total of 2,473,634 votes in the state, one more than Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, who received 2,473,633 votes.

He also accused Mr Raffensperger - a fellow Republican - of shredding ballots and engaging in criminal acts that cost Mr Trump the election. He called the disproven allegations "a criminal offence," adding that it presents "a big risk to you".

Mr Raffensperger responded by pointing out that Mr Trump's campaign has lost several legal challenges in court.

"The challenge you have, Mr President, is that the data you have is wrong."

What has the reaction been?

Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris, who was in Georgia on Sunday to campaign for the Democratic senate candidates, called Mr Trump's call "a bold abuse of power".

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, a Democrat, said Mr Trump was "unhinged and dangerous" and that his call to Mr Raffensperger merited "nothing less than a criminal investigation".

Georgia's Republican Lt Governor added to the criticism on Monday, telling CNN: "I am 100% certified to tell you that it was inappropriate. And it certainly did not help the situation."

"It was based on misinformation," continued Geoff Duncan, whose boss Governor Brad Kemp has faced calls from Mr Trump to resign. "It was based on, you know, all types of theories that have been debunked and disproved over the course of the last 10 weeks."

Will it impact Tuesday's election?

The Senate run-offs in Georgia have drawn national attention.

On Monday, Mr Trump, Mr Biden and Vice-president Mike Pence are all holding rallies in the state on behalf of their chosen candidates ahead of Tuesday's vote.

It comes as nearly 3 million Georgia voters - around half of those that voted in the November general election - have already cast their ballots.

Republican Georgia Senator David Perdue, who is fighting to hold his seat in Tuesday's race, has sided with the president.

"To have a statewide elected official, regardless of party, tape without disclosing a conversation - private conversation - with the president of the United States, and then leaking it to the press is disgusting," he told Fox News.

He also dismissed claims of wrongdoing by Mr Trump, saying: "I didn't hear anything in that tape that the president hasn't already said for weeks now since the November election."

Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff said the call was "a direct attack on our democracy," and accused Mr Perdue and fellow Republican Senate candidate Kelly Loeffler of failing to defend "Georgia voters from that kind of assault".

Raphael Warnock, who is also running as a Democrat, called upon Senator Loeffler to "speak out against these unsubstantiated claims of fraud, defend Georgia's elections, and to put Georgia ahead of herself".

During a campaign appearance on Monday, Mrs Loeffler refused to respond to a question about the phone call, instead telling reporters: "My sole focus is on tomorrow's election."

"I am focused on that exclusively because this affects every single Georgian," she added.

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2021-01-04 17:43:00Z
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