Kamis, 04 November 2021

Senior Austrian defence official ‘removed over links to fugitive Wirecard executive’ - Financial Times

One of Austria’s most senior military officials has been removed from a sensitive government position amid concerns over his links to Jan Marsalek, the former chief operating officer of fraudulent payment company Wirecard.

Brigadier Gustav Gustenau was until recently head of the office of security policy within the Austrian ministry of defence — which provides strategic advice for the military leadership and defence minister. He is now undertaking an unspecified research role at the national defence academy.

Four senior ministry and political sources with close knowledge of the decision told the FT the reasons for Gustenau’s removal included concerns over his connections with Marsalek and Russia.

Gustenau, however, has said he transferred to his new post at his own request. He also said he moved because of personnel changes by the new government.

Marsalek has been on the run since the German electronic payments company Wirecard crashed into insolvency last year after admitting that €1.9bn of cash and half of its revenues did not exist.

Following the company’s bankruptcy, the Financial Times revealed that the 41-year old Austrian had, beside his corporate responsibilities, been at the centre of a web of geopolitical interests, encompassing Middle Eastern conflict zones and far-right European politics.

Marsalek is being investigated by European intelligence agencies over his connections to Russian spymasters.

The FT has seen documents that, for example, show Gustenau directed government funding to projects Marsalek was involved in. Gustenau has also been a guest of Marsalek in Munich, and met him on several occasions, an Austrian parliamentary investigation stated last year.

Gustenau did not comment on his relationship with Marsalek but said: “At no point did the ministry of defence have any concerns about my contacts with Russia. Contacts with Russia were entirely official and were carried out according to orders.”

His assignment to the defence academy had been planned since the new Austrian government took office at the beginning of 2020, he said, “and was at my own request for personal reasons. It would be gratifying if the completely unfounded public debate about my person could cease”.

A spokesperson for the ministry of defence confirmed Gustenau’s transfer to the defence academy but declined to comment further. The brigadier, 61, is approaching retirement. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Marsalek cultivated strong ties within the Austrian intelligence community and among influential Austrian politicians and officials linked to the far-right Austrian Freedom Party.

His escape from Austria in June last year on a private jet to Minsk — after his central role in the Wirecard fraud became clear — was allegedly facilitated by an Austrian intelligence official, working for Austria’s spy agency whom Marsalek was close to. The intelligence official was arrested in January by Austrian police.

Concerns over Gustenau’s connections to Marsalek come just days after the disclosure that one of Austria’s most senior diplomats was also embroiled with the fraudster.

Austrian media widely reported last month, citing prosecutor’s warrants, that Johannes Peterlik — who between 2018 and 2020 was the top civil servant at the Austrian ministry of foreign affairs — was alleged to be responsible for leaking classified government documents about the nerve agent novichok that ended up in Marsalek’s possession.

Copies of the documents, a collection of reports and minutes from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons — including the precise formula for the deadly nerve agent used to try to kill Russian defector Sergei Skripal in the UK in 2018 — were touted by Marsalek in London shortly after Peterlik allegedly passed them to a retired Austrian intelligence officer, who photographed them at his Vienna apartment.

The documents in Marsalek’s possession were identifiable as copies of the same set allegedly leaked by Peterlik because of a unique barcode on each.

Peterlik was suspended from his post as Austria’s ambassador to Indonesia in mid-October and has been recalled to Vienna. He could not be reached for comment. He has previously denied having ever met Marsalek and being the source of the OPCW dossiers. A spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs confirmed Peterlik’s suspension and formal disciplinary proceedings against him. “All other matters are a question for the investigating authorities and respectively the courts,” they said.

Concerns over Gustenau’s connections to Marsalek, Russia, and other possible conflicts of interest have been swirling within the Austrian security establishment for months, according to those familiar with a probe into his activities.

The brigadier and his wife own an Austrian company that specialises in security and defence technology, and consultancy.

He was also a key figure — alongside Marsalek and Peterlik — in the now defunct Austrian-Russian Friendship Society, an NGO that appears to have been the focus of Marsalek’s social and political network in Austria, sponsored by the Russian embassy, and with deep connections to the Austrian far right.

An Austrian special parliamentary investigatory committee submitted extensive questions to the ministry of defence last year concerning Gustenau and his connections to Marsalek and Russia, including questions about possible business trips the brigadier had made to Moscow.

In a written response, the ministry of defence confirmed Gustenau had travelled to Russia on ministry business and to attend security conferences, but declined to answer questions about his own personal business interests.

In recent months, the Austrian government has been at pains to try to restore its reputation with other EU allies in regard to trustworthiness as a security and intelligence partner.

Last year, in a headline-grabbing espionage case, a retired Austrian colonel was revealed to have spent years leaking military documents to Russian intelligence agents.

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2021-11-04 11:30:40Z
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COP26: Has the Glasgow climate summit been poorly organised? - BBC News

perimeter of COP26
PA Media

The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow has entered its fifth day - with the mood among many of those involved in the talks said to be positive about what has been achieved so far.

But away from the negotiating rooms, many grassroots delegates and activists have described the organisation of the event - which is being held in the midst of a global pandemic - as "shambolic".

What are the problems?

The most visible issue has been the huge queues that have formed outside the Scottish Events Campus as delegates attempt to get into the conference venue.

Thousands of delegates from across the world are attending the summit - but the vast majority of them have to use a single entrance to the site, which is officially UN territory for the duration of COP26.

When people do finally make it to the front of the queue they have to go through an accreditation process, including ID checks and proof of a negative Covid test, before they are allowed through the turnstiles into the restricted Blue Zone.

This led to people facing long waits in heavy rain and strong winds on Monday morning - with no protection from the elements being provided by organisers - with the scene being described as "utter chaos" by some of those who were there.

BBC News presenter Mishal Hussain said she was surrounded by delegates in the queue who were missing meetings that they were already due to be in.

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And videos appeared to show some people squabbling and pushing forward in an attempt to gain entry, with security stuff struggling to control them.

While the weather improved on Tuesday morning, the queue did not - with delegates again facing lengthy delays that caused some of them to miss meetings and other events.

But with world leaders including US president Joe Biden leaving Scotland on Tuesday evening, there were reports that the queue - while still long - was not as tightly packed and was moving quicker the following morning.

However, there were still reports of people attempting to jump the queue - and claims that security staff had started ordering delegates to stop taking photographs while waiting in line.

Public health expert Prof Devi Sridhar of Edinburgh University said the huge queues of people waiting to get in were "really concerning" amid the Covid pandemic, with case numbers in Scotland already showing early signs of increasing again.

protest
Getty Images

The summit organisers sent messages to those participating in the event, urging them to access events remotely where possible because of the "high level of attendance at the venue".

They also warned that "entrance may be limited to certain categories of participants who must be fully present at the venue".

But some delegates have complained that the remote viewing system has been experiencing technical problems - and have questioned why they are only able to watch the summit online after paying huge sums of money on travel and accommodation costs.

What other issues have there been?

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson - whose government is hosting the climate conference - apologised to an Israeli minister who said she was unable to access COP26 in her wheelchair on Monday morning.

Karine Elharrar - who has muscular dystrophy - said she was forced to return to her hotel 50 miles away on Monday after waiting outside for two hours.

Mr Johnson said he was sorry for the "confusion" - with Ms Elharrar saying she had managed to "easily" get into the conference the next day.

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The UK's Environment Secretary, George Eustice, appeared to blame the Israeli delegation for the incident, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme that they "hadn't made the right provisions at that particular entrance she was coming too".

Elsewhere, there have been complaints about Glasgow hotels charging a huge premium on their usual prices for the duration of the summit - with BBC Scotland finding one room that normally costs £42 a night being advertised at £1,400 a night.

This has led to concerns that delegates from poorer countries or smaller organisations have been priced out of coming.

And visa restrictions on entering the UK because of Covid meant many people from countries in the Global South - which will be worst affected by climate change - were unable to travel to the summit.

indigenous protestor in glasgow
Getty Images

The conference is also being held against the backdrop of a strike by refuse staff and street cleaners in Glasgow which has left many bins overflowing, and presumably is not giving international visitors the best impression of the city known to its residents as the Dear Green Place.

Road closures and protests across much of the city have also caused disruption - although there have been relatively few arrests made by police so far.

Are the problems unique to Glasgow?

Climate activist Vic Barrett of the Power Shift Network, who travelled to Scotland from New York for the conference, believes Glasgow has been the most disorganised of any of the COPs he has been to.

He said the combination of the difficulty and expense in getting to Glasgow in the first place - and the issues with actually getting into the venue faced by those who did make it - meant that "a lot of people were missing and a lot of voices were missing from the conversation" about climate justice.

BBC Scotland's environment correspondent Kevin Keane said the strict airport-style security checks for admission to the summit were standard at these events because of the presence of world leaders.

But he said the size of the queue and the long wait to gain entry in the hours before President Biden's arrival on Monday was unusual in his experience.

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Add Covid to the mix, with 25,000 delegates having to show their negative tests to security guards from their phones, and progress slows even further.

Kevin said the two previous COPs he has attended did run more smoothly, but they were pre-pandemic and their billing had been nothing like a high as Glasgow.

At the pre-COP in Milan, which started at the end of September, huge queues formed on day one as everyone had to take a physical Covid test to get in.

And the Mediterranean sun on the transparent roof of the entrance marquee saw temperatures inside soar to the point where it had to close in some areas.

At least that's something delegates will not have to worry about in Glasgow.

What have the organisers had to say?

The UN Climate Change Secretariat has apologised for the "inconveniences associated with accessing the venue of COP26, both physically and virtually".

But it emphasised that the summit was taking place under "exceptional and unprecedent" circumstances because of Covid, with access having to be reduced to some areas so social distancing could be maintained.

It said Covid safety rules also meant it had to reduce the number of security and registration lanes for people attempting to enter the venue.

The secretariat added: "At the same time, we have seen unprecedented interest in this conference, given the importance of addressing climate change, with high numbers of participants registering.

"The World Leaders Summit, with its inevitable security arrangements, had added to the many logistical pressures".

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2021-11-04 11:28:41Z
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COP26 pact to end coal use undermined as US fails to sign - Financial Times

A flagship global agreement at COP26 to slash coal use was undermined on Thursday morning as the US refused to sign up and the text was weakened to allow another decade or even longer to phase out coal power.

The UK hosts wanted the summit to be known as the one that “consigns coal to history” but a last-minute scramble to confirm the signatories on Thursday morning threw that effort into question.

The pact was signed by more than 40 countries including Poland, Indonesia and Vietnam — but missing major coal consumers China, India and Australia.

In the pledge text seen by the Financial Times, developed countries vowed to quit coal in the 2030s “or as soon as possible thereafter”, a significant backslide from the original 2030 goal.

Developing countries agree to transition away from coal in the 2040s “or as soon as possible thereafter”, in the pledge.

That represents a significant dilution of the original targets of 2030 and 2040 proposed by Alok Sharma, the British cabinet minister who is president of COP26.

The US, the world’s third-largest coal consumer, was not among a list of signatories to the pledge circulated on Wednesday evening, despite the Biden administration’s goal of carbon-free electricity by 2035.

As Washington’s protracted negotiations over the infrastructure proposals continue, analysts say the Biden administration is avoiding taking a clear stand on coal in Glasgow, to avoid upsetting senators from coal-dependent states. A major defeat in Virginia for the Democratic candidate governor this week shook the party.

While UK business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng declared that “the end of coal is in sight”, the last-minute scramble on the coal pledge underscores the deep divisions that remain on the issue.

Sharma has vowed to “consign coal to history”, as the world’s biggest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions.

The coal pact, dubbed the “Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement”, includes more than 20 countries that for the first time are promising to phase out or stop investing in new coal-fired power plants domestically and internationally.

The UK said the new initiative would help to shut down 40GW of coal-power plants — enough to power 30m homes — in 20 countries.

The commitment relates to unabated coal power, or those plants not equipped with carbon capture and sequestration technology, however.

At the same time, another of the big multilateral agreements in Glasgow on reducing deforestation was undermined after Indonesia’s environment minister called it “inappropriate and unfair”. 

More than 100 world leaders this week signed the global commitment to halt the destruction of the world’s great forests. But Siti Nurbaya Bakar, environment minister for Indonesia, said she did not support the agreement signed only two days ago by her government.

Coal prices and profitability for producers are high owing to recent shortages and rising demand for power as the global economy rebounds following the pandemic.

About $20bn in funding to help countries quit coal has been announced at the Glasgow summit this week, including a proposal to fund South Africa’s shift to clean energy.

According to the International Energy Agency, there are 140GW of new coal plants under construction and more than 400GW at various states of planning.

While renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are growing rapidly, they are struggling to keep pace with rising demand for electricity and power, leaving fossil fuels to fill the gap.

As a result, coal producers are enjoying one of the best years on record as the global energy crunch has pushed prices to unprecedented levels. In Europe, coal prices, which started the year at about $70, touched $300 a tonne in October before retreating.

Coal prices have also leapt in China, where a deepening power crisis is threatening its economic growth. The country has struggled with domestic coal supply to meet the recent increased power demand as it slowly runs down coal mines and power plants for environmental and safety reasons.

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2021-11-04 08:37:22Z
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Rabu, 03 November 2021

Crushing defeat in Virginia governor's race stokes fears among Democrats - Financial Times

As she campaigned for Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia, last week, US vice-president Kamala Harris told voters that the result would reverberate well beyond their state.

“What happens in Virginia will in large part determine what happens in 2022, 2024 and on,” she told the crowds. Now, less than a week later, Democrats in Washington and across the US are fretting that Harris was right.

Republican newcomer Glenn Youngkin, the former co-chief executive of the private equity group Carlyle, won Virginia by two points over McAuliffe, a veteran Democrat and former governor. Although polls had suggested a tight race, the result was a stunning defeat in a state where Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by 10 points just a year ago.

A second governor’s race in New Jersey was narrowly won by the incumbent, Phil Murphy, after a protracted vote count — an arguably more unsettling result for Democrats who had assumed that Murphy would sail easily to re-election against Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli. Biden carried New Jersey by a 16-point margin in 2020.

“The bottom line is that this is about Biden,” said Kyle Kondik of the non-partisan University of Virginia Center for Politics. “If the political environment is like this next year, you expect the Republicans to win both the House and the Senate.”

The results paint a distressing picture for the president’s party ahead of next year’s midterms, when control of Congress will be up for grabs. Analysts said if the swing against the Democrats is replicated next year, they stand to lose their grip on the House and the Senate, which they hold by slim margins.

That would leave the president with little prospect of passing legislation as he heads into the second half of his four-year term and contemplates a re-election bid in 2024.

The outcome in Virginia and New Jersey — alongside a number of Democratic losses in other local elections — suggest that the party’s difficulty in hanging on to voters is part of a national trend.

They come as the president’s approval rating has dropped to lows, amid public discontent over rising consumer prices, the lingering Covid-19 pandemic and his handling of the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers remain locked in protracted internecine warfare over Biden’s two-pronged legislative agenda: a $1.2tn bipartisan infrastructure package and a revised $1.75tn “Build Back Better” plan to invest in childcare, public healthcare and climate initiatives.

Speaking from the White House on Wednesday afternoon, Biden urged Democrats to end their infighting and rally behind his agenda in order to “produce results” for Americans.

“People want us to get things done. They want us to get things done,” the president said. “People are upset and uncertain about a lot of things. From Covid to school to jobs, to a whole range of things — and the cost of a gallon of gasoline.”

If his economic agenda were signed into law, he added, the US would be “in a position where you’re going to see a lot of those things ameliorated, quickly and swiftly”.

Many Democrats on Capitol Hill share that view. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, has vowed to press ahead with votes on the two bills quickly. But there are still lingering divisions, including with moderate Democrats in the Senate, so the fate of the legislation remains unclear.

“The focus [for Democrats] needs to be on addressing the public’s concerns and getting Biden’s approval ratings up,” said Kondik of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “How do you do that? It is easier said than done.”

On Wednesday a Biden adviser noted that the components of Biden’s economic agenda remained very popular, and dismissed giving too much national significance to the results, saying the midterms were still a year away and a lot could happen between now and then.

But Joe Manchin, the moderate Democrat from West Virginia who has been holding out for smaller spending measures, suggested that the message from voters was to tread cautiously.

“You better be very careful [about] what we do and how we do it and make sure that it is transparent, and people know exactly what the results will be and what the intent is,” Manchin said. “The country is very divided.”

In Virginia, a record more than 3m ballots were cast in the governor’s race, with results indicating especially strong turnout in rural Republican areas of the state, compared to a relatively weaker turnout in Democratic-leaning areas, such as the affluent suburbs surrounding Washington DC. The results — mirrored in other contests across the country — suggested an “enthusiasm gap” between fired-up Republican voters and less-exercised Democrats.

“After a big presidential victory, the winning party gets complacent and the losing party gets angry,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster. “You had a much higher turnout among people who voted for Trump in 2020 than people who voted for Biden in 2020.”

“Democrats seem to think that just because they voted Trump out of office in 2020, their work is done. That was just the deposit,” said Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic strategist based in Boston. Rather than reacting to Republican messaging and “playing defence”, Democrats needed to get better at explaining to voters what they would deliver for them, she added.

“Democrats need to start to understand that,” Marsh said. “Play offence, play ruthlessly, and play hard, because otherwise Democrats are going to lose an awful lot of elections one year from now.”

Republicans celebrated the results on Wednesday, arguing that Youngkin provided a playbook for their party heading into the midterms. The political novice walked a tightrope to appeal to Trump’s loyal base of supporters while also scooping up independents who had eschewed the former president.

At the same time, Republicans said they benefited from voters’ broader rejection of leftwing progressive politics. A referendum to disband the police force in Minneapolis, Minnesota, failed on Tuesday night, while in Buffalo, New York, a write-in Democrat defeated a socialist candidate by a 17-point margin in the mayoral race there.

“Republicans running on issues that matter to people, who keep their distance from Donald Trump, can win in Democratic leaning states in the post-Trump era,” said Ayres, the Republican pollster. “Most voters, even in northern cities, are within shouting distance to the centre rather than on the far left.”


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2021-11-03 21:21:42Z
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Facebook deletes Ethiopia PM's post that urged citizens to 'bury' rebels - BBC News

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed
Getty Images

Facebook has removed a post from Ethiopia's prime minister for violating its policies against inciting violence.

On Sunday, Abiy Ahmed called on citizens take up arms to block the advance of the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

The TPLF has fought a year-long campaign against government forces, capturing key towns in recent days.

Facebook has been criticised for failing to do more to stop its platform being used to incite violence.

In the post, Mr Abiy said that the rebel advance was "pushing the country to its demise," and he urged citizens to "organise and march through [any] legal manner with every weapon and power... to prevent, reverse and bury the terrorist TPLF".

A spokesperson for Facebook, whose parent company recently rebranded to Meta, told the BBC: "We were made aware of a post by Ethiopia's Prime Minister and removed this for violating our policies against inciting and supporting violence.

"At Meta, we remove content from individuals or organizations that violates our Community Standards, no matter who they are."

In a massive leak of documents last month it was revealed that Facebook had been warned that its platform was being used by armed groups in Ethiopia to incite violence against ethnic minorities.

Speaking to a US Senate hearing in October, whistleblower Frances Haugen said that the company was "literally fanning ethnic violence" in conflict zones such as Ethiopia due to its failure to properly police its services outside of the US.

Thousands of people have been killed by the conflict in Ethiopia, millions more have been displaced and hundreds of thousands are facing famine conditions, according to the UN.

The war broke out on 4 November last year, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy ordered a military offensive against regional forces in Tigray.

He claimed that his government did so in response to an attack on a military base that housed government troops.

The TPLF has been designated a terrorist organisation, while it says it is Tigray's legitimate government.

More on the Tigray crisis:

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Crushing defeat in Virginia governor's race stokes fears among Democrats - Financial Times

As she campaigned for Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia, last week, US vice-president Kamala Harris told voters that the result would reverberate well beyond their state.

“What happens in Virginia will in large part determine what happens in 2022, 2024 and on,” she told the crowds. Now, less than a week later, Democrats in Washington and across the US are fretting that Harris was right.

Republican newcomer Glenn Youngkin, the former co-chief executive of the private equity group Carlyle, won Virginia by two points over McAuliffe, a veteran Democrat and former governor. Although polls had suggested a tight race, the result was a stunning defeat in a state where Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by 10 points just a year ago.

A second governor’s race in New Jersey remained too close to call on Wednesday — an arguably more unsettling result for Democrats who had assumed that the incumbent there, Phil Murphy, would sail easily to re-election against Jack Ciattarelli, his Republican opponent. Biden carried New Jersey by a 16-point margin in 2020.

“The bottom line is that this is about Biden,” said Kyle Kondik of the non-partisan University of Virginia Center for Politics. “If the political environment is like this next year, you expect the Republicans to win both the House and the Senate.”

The results paint a distressing picture for the president’s party ahead of next year’s midterms, when control of Congress will be up for grabs. Analysts said if the swing against the Democrats is replicated next year, they stand to lose their grip on the House and the Senate, which they hold by slim margins.

That would leave the president with little prospect of passing legislation as he heads into the second half of his four-year term and contemplates a re-election bid in 2024.

The outcome in Virginia and New Jersey — alongside a number of Democratic losses in other local elections — suggest that the party’s difficulty in hanging on to voters is part of a national trend.

They come as the president’s approval rating has dropped to lows, amid public discontent over rising consumer prices, the lingering Covid-19 pandemic and his handling of the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers remain locked in protracted internecine warfare over Biden’s two-pronged legislative agenda: a $1.2tn bipartisan infrastructure package and a revised $1.75tn “Build Back Better” plan to invest in childcare, public healthcare and climate initiatives.

Speaking from the White House on Wednesday afternoon, Biden urged Democrats to end their infighting and rally behind his agenda in order to “produce results” for Americans.

“People want us to get things done. They want us to get things done,” the president said. “People are upset and uncertain about a lot of things. From Covid to school to jobs, to a whole range of things — and the cost of a gallon of gasoline.”

If his economic agenda were signed into law, he added, the US would be “in a position where you’re going to see a lot of those things ameliorated, quickly and swiftly”.

Many Democrats on Capitol Hill share that view. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, has vowed to press ahead with votes on the two bills quickly. But there are still lingering divisions, including with moderate Democrats in the Senate, so the fate of the legislation remains unclear.

“The focus [for Democrats] needs to be on addressing the public’s concerns and getting Biden’s approval ratings up,” said Kondik of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “How do you do that? It is easier said than done.”

On Wednesday a Biden adviser noted that the components of Biden’s economic agenda remained very popular, and dismissed giving too much national significance to the results, saying the midterms were still a year away and a lot could happen between now and then.

But Joe Manchin, the moderate Democrat from West Virginia who has been holding out for smaller spending measures, suggested that the message from voters was to tread cautiously.

“You better be very careful [about] what we do and how we do it and make sure that it is transparent, and people know exactly what the results will be and what the intent is,” Manchin said. “The country is very divided.”

In Virginia, a record more than 3m ballots were cast in the governor’s race, with results indicating especially strong turnout in rural Republican areas of the state, compared to a relatively weaker turnout in Democratic-leaning areas, such as the affluent suburbs surrounding Washington DC. The results — mirrored in other contests across the country — suggested an “enthusiasm gap” between fired-up Republican voters and less-exercised Democrats.

“After a big presidential victory, the winning party gets complacent and the losing party gets angry,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster. “You had a much higher turnout among people who voted for Trump in 2020 than people who voted for Biden in 2020.”

“Democrats seem to think that just because they voted Trump out of office in 2020, their work is done. That was just the deposit,” said Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic strategist based in Boston. Rather than reacting to Republican messaging and “playing defence”, Democrats needed to get better at explaining to voters what they would deliver for them, she added.

“Democrats need to start to understand that,” Marsh said. “Play offence, play ruthlessly, and play hard, because otherwise Democrats are going to lose an awful lot of elections one year from now.”

Republicans celebrated the results on Wednesday, arguing that Youngkin provided a playbook for their party heading into the midterms. The political novice walked a tightrope to appeal to Trump’s loyal base of supporters while also scooping up independents who had eschewed the former president.

At the same time, Republicans said they benefited from voters’ broader rejection of leftwing progressive politics. A referendum to disband the police force in Minneapolis, Minnesota, failed on Tuesday night, while in Buffalo, New York, a write-in Democrat defeated a socialist candidate by a 17-point margin in the mayoral race there.

“Republicans running on issues that matter to people, who keep their distance from Donald Trump, can win in Democratic leaning states in the post-Trump era,” said Ayres, the Republican pollster. “Most voters, even in northern cities, are within shouting distance to the centre rather than on the far left.”


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2021-11-03 19:51:13Z
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Madeline McCann's parents claim Cleo Smith's rescue gives them hope - Daily Mail

Madeleine McCann's parents 'have hope' their daughter will be found alive after 'Australia's Maddie' Cleo Smith, four, was rescued 18 DAYS after vanishing, friends say

  • Cleo Smith, 4, was abducted from her family's tent in Western Australia 
  • Police rescued the young girl after raiding a house 18 days after her kidnap
  • Friends of Kate and Gerry McCann say the couple 'have hope' after the rescue
  • Madeleine McCann vanished from a hotel in Portugal in May 2007 

A four-year-old Australian girl abducted from a campsite and missing for 18 days was discovered 'alive and well' during a raid on a locked house. 

The dramatic rescue, which was filmed by Australian Police, has provided hope for the parents of Madeleine McCann, who has been missing since May 3, 2007. 

Kate and Gerry McCann, 53, have continued the search for their daughter who turned 18 in May. The Metropolitan Police are continuing to treat Madeleine's disappearance as a missing person's enquiry. 

A source close to the family said: 'Kate and Gerry knew about the case which has had a lot of publicity here and like many people were willing the child to be found safe and well.

'It’s the news every parent of a missing child hopes and prays for no matter how long it has been.'

Sources close to Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of missing Madeleine said the couple have taken hope from the successful operation to find a four-year-old Australian girl, Cleo Smith, who was missing for 18 days

Sources close to Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of missing Madeleine said the couple have taken hope from the successful operation to find a four-year-old Australian girl, Cleo Smith, who was missing for 18 days

Cleo Smith, pictured, was kidnapped from her family's tent while on holiday in remote Western Australia. Police found the youngster following a tip off

Cleo Smith, pictured, was kidnapped from her family's tent while on holiday in remote Western Australia. Police found the youngster following a tip off

Madeleine McCann, pictured, went missing while on a family holiday in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007

Madeleine McCann, pictured, went missing while on a family holiday in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007

The source told The Sun: 'They are thankful that she had been found, and share her parents’ joy and relief at the outcome.'

Madeleine McCann went missing while on a family holiday in Praia da Luz. The Metropolitan Police continues to treat her case as a missing persons inquiry, although German police suspect the youngster was murdered.   

They suspect convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, who was in the area, is responsible for Madeleine's disappearance.  

Cleo Smith was dubbed the 'Aussie Maddie' after she went missing from her family's tent in Western Australia on October 16. 

The suspected abduction prompted a massive search which ended on a raid on a home in Carnarvon - a short drive from where the youngster vanished. 

Detective Cameron Blaine, one of four officers who raided the home said: 'One of the guys jumped in front of me and picked her up.'

Blaine said that after the initial shock he asked the little girl her name three times before receiving her electrifying response: 'My name is Cleo.' 

Police admitted 'seasoned detectives' were 'openly crying with relief' at the discovery and when Cleo was reunited with her parents at a hospital a short time later.

Her mother Ellie took to social media to express her relief. 'Our family is whole again,' she posted on Instagram under a photo of Cleo.

Police later released an image of the beaming youngster on a hospital bed holding an ice pop, waving and smiling.

Officers said she was in good spirits and bouncing around like 'a little energizer bunny.'

'It's very rare. It's something we all hoped in our hearts, and it's come true,' police deputy commissioner Col Blanch said. 

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2021-11-03 19:58:10Z
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