Republican Glenn Youngkin becomes shock new governor of Virginia as mid-term blues forecast for Joe Biden - Sky News

Analysis by Mark Stone, US Correspondent in Washington DC

Only a few hours before the results began to emerge in these bellwether local elections, President Joe Biden was predicting wins for his Democratic colleagues.

Of course, you wouldn’t expect him to predict a loss, but his confidence of victory was striking and only adds to the significance of the results.

Virginia has been a Democratic heartland for the past decade.

New Jersey is, or was a strong deep blue state.

Overnight that changed. Virginia now has a Republican governor and, as I write, the New Jersey race is still too close to call.

All this matters because the two states were key to securing Mr Biden the White House almost exactly a year ago.

Education, race and mask mandates were the key issues energising the conservative base.

It’s a bad sign for the Democratic Party as it hopes to hold both houses in Congress next year.

The Trump factor in all of this is fascinating.

Glenn Younkin in Virginia has walked a fine balance - not overtly supporting Trumpian politics but certainly not rejecting it either.

Mr Younkin knew he needed Trump’s base support (which remains strong and influential) in order to win.

But he also needed to attract those more moderate conservatives who are not fans of Mr Trump’s style or politics.

Mr Younkin accepted Trump’s endorsement but avoided appearing on stage with him (Trump is readily available, holding rallies frequently – he’s never really stopped campaigning since he lost the election).

Younkin’s strategy seems to have worked: he successfully delivered subtly different messages for different audiences.

This could well be a strategy we see play out all over the country in the run-up to the mid-term elections as Republican politicians seek to pull in a very divided conservative political landscape.

But, was Younkin’s job made easier by a faltering presidency under Joe Biden? Are centrist, Democratic-leaning voters regretting their endorsement of Joe Biden?

His popularity has fallen more in the first nine months of his presidency than any other US president since 1945, according to a Gallup poll a few weeks ago.

He has failed to get his flagship policies past lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

His Afghanistan endgame was a disaster. And his coronavirus policies continue to be hugely divisive.

As America looks towards the crucial mid-term elections next year, last night in Virginia and New Jersey were key moments.

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2021-11-03 13:07:25Z
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Cleo Smith: Missing 4-year-old found alive in Australia @BBC News live BBC - BBC

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2021-11-03 06:44:20Z
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Taliban bans foreign currencies in Afghanistan - BBC News

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The Taliban has banned the use of foreign currencies in Afghanistan, a move that could further disrupt an economy on the brink of collapse.

"The economic situation and national interests in the country require that all Afghans use Afghani currency in their every trade," the Taliban said.

The economy is struggling due to the withdrawal of international financial support after the Taliban took control.

The US dollar has been used widely in Afghanistan's markets.

Dollars are also often used for trade in areas bordering Afghanistan's neighbours such as Pakistan.

"The Islamic Emirate instructs all citizens, shopkeepers, traders, businessmen and the general public to henceforth conduct all transactions in Afghanis and strictly refrain from using foreign currency," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement posted online.

"Anyone violating this order will face legal action," the statement said.

Assets frozen, funds stopped

After the Taliban seized control of the country in August, billions of dollars of Afghanistan's overseas assets were frozen by the US Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe.

"We believe that it's essential that we maintain our sanctions against the Taliban but at the same time find ways for legitimate humanitarian assistance to get to the Afghan people. That's exactly what we're doing," Deputy United States Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told the US Senate Banking Committee last month.

The Taliban has called for the release of Afghanistan's assets that are being held overseas as the nation faces a severe cash crunch.

Afghanistan has also been hit by the exodus of foreign aid. Grants from overseas previously financed three quarters of its public spending.

Earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Afghanistan will no longer be able to access its resources, while the World Bank also halted funding for projects in the country.

Last month, the IMF warned that the country's economy could shrink by 30% this year, pushing millions into poverty and causing a humanitarian crisis.

The fund also said that Afghanistan's economic woes could fuel a refugee crisis impacting neighbouring countries, Turkey and Europe.

The country is also suffering from a severe drought, which has ruined much of its wheat crop and sent prices soaring.

The United Nations World Food Programme has warned that millions of Afghans could face starvation due to a combination of the drought, conflict and Covid-19.

However, although Western powers have said that they want to avoid a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan, they have refused to officially recognise the Taliban government.

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2021-11-03 05:03:40Z
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Cleo Smith, 4, found weeks after going missing as police break into house in Australia | ITV News - ITV News

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2021-11-02 22:49:09Z
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Cleo Smith: Four-year-old found alive in locked house more than two weeks after going missing - Sky News

Missing four-year-old Cleo Smith has been found "alive and well" after disappearing from a camp site in Western Australia more than two weeks ago.

A team from Western Australia Police broke into a locked house in Carnarvon around 1am on Wednesday morning where they found the little girl in one of the rooms. A man from the area is in custody.

"It's my privilege to announce that in the early hours of this morning, the Western Australia police force rescued Cleo Smith," deputy commissioner Col Blanch said. "Cleo is alive and well."

Image: Cleo Smith

In a news conference, he explained how Cleo identified herself.

"One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her, 'what's your name?'

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"She said, 'My name is Cleo'."

Cleo was reunited with her parents a short time later.

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"This is the outcome we all hoped and prayed for," Mr Blanch said.

Cleo's mother, Ellie Smith shared the news on Instagram, saying: "Our family is whole again."

On Halloween, Ms Smith wrote: "Every day is getting harder without my shining bright light.

"She needs us and we need her. She is loved, she is happy... I need my baby girl home, please I beg you."

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison thanked officers involved in finding the toddler and supporting her family.

What wonderful, relieving news.

Cleo Smith has been found and is home safe and sound.

Our prayers answered.

Thank you to the many police officers involved in finding Cleo and supporting her family.

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) November 2, 2021

He said on Twitter: "What wonderful, relieving news. Cleo Smith has been found and is home safe and sound.

"Our prayers answered."

Cleo was holidaying with her family at the Blowholes campsite in Macleod, around 560 miles (900km) north of Perth, when she vanished during the early hours of 16 October.

Image: The four-year-old went missing in the early hours of 16 October. Pic: WA Police

Image: Cleo Smith

The family last saw the toddler in their tent at around 1.30am, when she got up and asked for some water, but when they woke up at 6am they noticed she was missing.

Police arrived around an hour later and officers were also sent to the family home to search for any signs of Cleo.

Early in their search efforts, police released an image of a red and black sleeping bag and a onesie, which resembled the one she was last seen sleeping in.

Police suspected she had been abducted because a zipper on a tent flap had been raised to a height that she could not have reached.

On Tuesday, officers scoured through two trucks worth of rubbish from roadside bins in a bid to "leave no stone unturned" in their search.

Image: Police officers scoured through bags of rubbish on Tuesday. Pic: WA Police

A police statement said: "As part of the investigation, officers collected more than 50 cubic metres of rubbish from roadside bins as far north as Minilya to as far south as Geraldton.

"The rubbish was packed into two trucks and transported to Perth, where four forensics officers and 20 officers spent two days sorting through hundreds of bags, in an effort to find any items that may assist in the investigation."

The Western Australia State Government was offering a $1 million (£540,000) reward for information resulting in finding Cleo or leading to any arrests in relation to her disappearance.

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2021-11-02 21:25:38Z
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Afghanistan: Child among several people killed following Islamic State bomb and gun attack outside Kabul hospital, says Taliban - Sky News

Three women and a child were among several people killed in an attack by the Islamic State (IS) group outside Afghanistan's biggest military hospital, according to a Taliban spokesperson.

Two large explosions hit the entrance to the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital in the capital's 10th district, said the country's new interim government.

Gunmen from IS then continued the assault by firing on the hospital but were pushed back by Taliban security forces when they tried to enter the facility, said government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

He said five attackers wanted to target civilians and doctors inside but they "were killed by our forces before reaching their aim".

Image: Smoke billows near the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital following an explosion

Mr Mujahid said no-one died or was injured in the hospital compound, while the attackers were killed at the entrance or in the courtyard.

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He also announced three women, a child and three Taliban security personnel were killed outside, adding the militant assault was under control within 15 minutes.

However, other reports, citing Taliban officials, claimed up to 25 people were killed and more than 50 were wounded in the atrocity.

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A health worker at the hospital, who managed to escape, told the Reuters news agency that he heard a large explosion followed by a couple of minutes of gunfire.

About 10 minutes later, there was a second, larger explosion, he added.

Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for the attack, which follows a growing number of bombings by the extremist group since the Taliban completed their takeover of Afghanistan in August.

In mid-October, IS said it was behind a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in southern Afghanistan that killed at least 47 people.

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IS, which styles itself as an enemy of the Taliban, previously attacked the same Kabul hospital in 2017, killing more than 30 people.

The increasing number of IS attacks in Afghanistan has raised the possibility of a wider conflict between the two groups.

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2021-11-02 17:24:38Z
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Russia's excess mortality soars since start of Covid pandemic - Financial Times

Russia has recorded 753,000 excess deaths during the coronavirus pandemic, one of the highest tolls in the world, according to analysis of government data by the Financial Times that highlights the stark impact of the disease as the country imposes fresh restrictions to curb its spread.

The figure, used by demographers to measure the real impact of pandemics, covers the period to the end of September. It is calculated by comparing total mortality figures collected by statistics agency Rosstat since the emergence of Covid 19, with historical trends. It shows that Russia ranked second to the US in terms of absolute number of excess deaths and third behind Peru and Bulgaria on a per capita basis.

Excess deaths differ from official Covid-19-related figures published by state agencies in Russia. Rosstat publishes its own monthly Covid-19 death toll, estimating that 462,000 people had died of the respiratory disease as of the end of September. The country’s inter-agency coronavirus task force, a body including ministers and other officials designed to co-ordinate the pandemic response, attributed 203,549 deaths to the disease at the end of September.

Both agencies say they use different approaches to collect the data. The task force receives daily updates from hospitals on cases where Covid-19 was the evident primary cause of death, with no closer examinations. Rosstat gets monthly data from civil registries, which it says take into account follow-up examinations.

The health ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Rosstat said it did not comment on others’ calculations as it could not see the methodology.

Russia’s soaring death rate follows a struggle by authorities to boost its sluggish vaccination campaign and persuade people to use caution in public places.

“The population acts as if it has no idea, or it doesn’t care any more, while people have started dying like flies. It’s a catastrophe,” said independent demographer Alexey Raksha, a former Rosstat employee who lost his job after criticising the agency’s handling of Covid data. He said he expected average life expectancy to fall from 2019 levels of just above 73 years to about 69 years as a result of the pandemic.

Bars and restaurants in central Moscow were packed last Wednesday evening, the last night before the start of an 11-day “non-working week” in the capital, during which non-essential shops, schools and entertainment venues will be closed. Other regions are imposing similar measures.

Officials hope the fresh restrictions will reinvigorate the vaccination campaign. Since January, when Russia started rolling out its domestically produced vaccines — including Sputnik V — 32 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to Gogov.ru, which compiles data from local governments and media. That compares with a 65 per cent vaccination rate in the EU.

There are signs the announcement of restrictive measures is bearing fruit: the number of people getting their first shot rose 60 per cent in the past week compared with the previous week, according to Gogov.ru.

The coronavirus death toll is a hotly debated topic. Even President Vladimir Putin, speaking last week, warned regional authorities not to “artificially lower” or “embellish” the figures.

The low vaccination rate has frustrated officials. The Kremlin has alternated between admonishing the population for its “total nihilism” and acknowledging a degree of responsibility.

“There’s a tradition — blaming everything on the government,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited by the state-run TASS news agency as saying in October. “And, of course, not everything was done that should’ve been, in terms of communicating the importance of vaccination and the lack of alternatives.”

“At the same time, a more responsible position on the part of all citizens of the country is needed too,” Peskov said.

Russia has deployed four shots developed domestically as part of its vaccine campaign but take up has been low © Yuri Kochetkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Alexey Repik, chief executive of R-Pharm, one of the manufacturers of Sputnik V doses, said the export demand for the vaccine was “colossal”. “The problem we have is that (Russian) people are not protecting themselves,” he said.

Polls point to a deep distrust of coronavirus vaccines that some say has been exacerbated by the government’s approach — including by racing to be the first country to announce it had authorised a Covid-19 shot (Sputnik V).

“The campaign was handled incorrectly from the start, because vaccines entered the Russian market before the conclusion of large-scale clinical trials,” said Alexey Erlikh, head of cardiology at Moscow’s Hospital 29, which has twice been a hub for treating Covid-19 patients. “This seriously undermines trust.”

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2021-11-02 10:51:26Z
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