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Election security officials have no evidence that ballots were deleted or lost by voting systems in this month’s U.S. election, two security groups said in a statement released Thursday by the lead U.S. cybersecurity agency. “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” the groups said about the November 3 election won by Joe Biden, a Democrat. Republican President Donald Trump has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud and has yet to concede. The groups, the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council Executive Committee (GCC) and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council (SCC), said the election was the most secure in U.S. history. “While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections and you should, too,” the groups said in the statement released by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). CISA, led by the top U.S. cybersecurity official, Christopher Krebs, runs a website that debunks misinformation about the election. The security groups said all the states with close results in the race have paper records of each vote, which can be counted if necessary.  
 
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The sound of heavy weapons erupted across the Ethiopian border town. Immediately, Filimon, a police officer, started to run.Shaken and scared, he paused when asked about his wife and two small children, ages 5 and 2.”I don’t know where my family is now,” he said, unsure if they were left behind in the fighting or are somewhere in the growing crowd of thousands of new refugees over the border in Sudan.In an interview with The Associated Press by phone from Sudan on Thursday, the 30-year-old gave one of the first witness accounts from what experts warn is a brewing civil war with devastating humanitarian consequences. The conflict could also draw in neighboring countries.Filimon, who gave only his first name, said those attacking the Tigray regional town of Humera last week came from the direction of nearby Eritrea, though it was impossible to know whether the attackers were Eritrean forces.Tigray regional leaders have accused Eritrea of joining the weeklong conflict in the region at the request of Ethiopia’s federal government, which regards the Tigray government as illegal. Ethiopia has denied the involvement of Eritrean forces.Thousands fleeFilimon’s worries are far more immediate. After a daylong journey on foot with about 30 others who were also fleeing, he has spent two days in Sudan, exposed to the sun and wind in a border town that is quickly becoming overwhelmed.About 11,000 refugees have fled into Sudan, where authorities are preparing for up to 100,000, the United Nations refugee agency said Thursday.Half of the refugees are children.It was too early to collect statements from the refugees about the fighting, the agency said. Fleeing combatants were separated from civilians. Injured people — injured how, it was still unclear — were being treated.Tensions over the deadly conflict in Ethiopia are spreading well beyond its cut-off northern Tigray region, as the federal government said some 150 suspected operatives accused of seeking to “strike fear and terror” throughout the country had been detained. Hours later, police in Addis Ababa said they had arrested 242 people allegedly recruited “to cause terror in the capital.”The government said the suspects “happen to be ethnically diverse,” but concerns remain high among ethnic Tigrayans amid reports of being singled out by authorities.”We don’t go to the office because they might also arrest us,” said one ethnic Tigrayan in the capital. “I’m in hiding, actually.”Ethiopia’s Parliament voted to remove immunity from prosecution for 39 top Tigray region officials, including its president, accusing them of revolting and “attacking the federal army.”Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is rejecting international pleas for negotiation and de-escalation, saying that cannot occur until the ruling leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) are removed and arrested and its heavily stocked arsenal is destroyed.In a bloody sign of how volatile Ethiopia’s tensions have become, Amnesty International said it had confirmed that scores of civilians were “hacked to death” in Mai-Kadra in the Tigray region on Monday night. It cited photos and videos of bodies strewn in the streets and witnesses who saw them. Amnesty International said it has not been able to confirm who was responsible.Abiy on Thursday asserted that the western part of the Tigray region had been liberated and accused the TPLF rulers of seeking to destroy Ethiopia. He accused the TPLF forces of abuses. Defense Minister Kenea Yadeta said a transitional administration will be set up in “rescued” areas, the Ethiopian News Agency reported.Acting President Debretsion Gebremichael of the Tigray Region called on the population to mobilize and defend themselves. Tigray TV, aligned with the TPLF, asserted that fighter jets had bombed the Tekeze hydroelectric dam.War months in the makingWhat appeared to be a sudden slide toward civil war has been months in the making. After taking office in 2018, Abiy announced sweeping political reforms that won him the Nobel Peace Prize but marginalized the TPLF, which had dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition. The TPLF later left the coalition and in September held a local election in defiance of the federal government.Each side now regards the other as illegal, and each blames the other for starting the fighting.Rallies occurred in multiple cities in support of the federal government’s military offensive. At a blood drive in Addis Ababa, donor Admasu Alamerew said, “I also want to pass my message to those people who are causing conflict and urge them to fear God and make peace.”Communications and transport links remain severed in the Tigray region, making it difficult to verify claims, while the United Nations and others warn of a looming humanitarian disaster as food and fuel run short for millions of people.The conflict risks drawing in Ethiopia’s neighbors, notably Sudan and Eritrea, which are at bitter odds with the TPLF. Experts fear that the Horn of Africa, one of the world’s most strategic regions, could be destabilized, despite Abiy’s past peacemaking efforts.Meanwhile, more than 1,000 citizens of various countries are stuck in the Tigray region, the U.N. has said. Long lines have appeared outside bread shops, and supply-laden trucks are stranded at its borders. Fuel is already being rationed.Over the border in Sudan, thousands of Ethiopian refugees waited, few possessions in hand, as authorities hurried to find a place to host them.”It’s just countryside. There’s nothing there. Everything will have to be provided,” said Charles Franzen, disaster response director for the aid group World Relief, whose largest program is in Sudan. At first, he said, for people who were already in a fragile stage, there will be a “fair amount of human suffering.”
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After the recent terror attacks in France and Austria, European leaders held a summit Tuesday in France to coordinate the response against terrorism, and they are pushing for a “common coordinated and rapid” European response to counterterror attacks.The question of how to respond to Islamist attacks like the recent ones in Nice and Vienna brought together Tuesday French President Emmanuel Macron and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at the Elysee Palace in Paris where they were joined by videoconference with the leaders of Germany, the Netherlands, and top EU officials.President Macron urged a “common coordinated and rapid” European response to counterterror attacks.Macron detailed the need to develop common databases between EU states, improve cooperation between law enforcement, share intel and enact tougher legislation on the continent. Any threat at EU external borders or inside even one member state is a threat to the entire EU, said the French president.European leaders also stressed the need for what they said should be a “determined fight against terrorist propaganda and hate speech on the internet.” Macron mentioned Netherlands and Austria as good examples of how this fight should be carried out.He said the Internet is a space of freedom, and social networks are, too, but this freedom exists only if there is security and if it does not serve as a refuge for those who flout European values or seek to indoctrinate with deadly ideologies. Macron said terrorist propaganda must be removed within an hour once it is flagged.To counter jihadist terrorism, EU leaders also are calling for measures to ensure that the teachings of imams on the continent do not include hate speech.Charles Michel is the president of the European Council.Michel said religious freedom is key in Europe, but there also is a need to guarantee that imams preach the right values of tolerance and peace.This meeting took place on the eve of the anniversary of the November 2015 attacks that killed more than 100 people in Paris. 
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As severe weather events increase in frequency and intensity across the U.S. and around the world, scientists and forecasters are seeking more effective weather-mapping programs. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more.
Camera: Adam Greenbaum   Produced by: JulieTaboh/Adam Greenbaum
 
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A celebration of music, from arias in an art house and guitars in prison, to subway dj-ing and using the earth as a harp.  Note this episode previously aired 4/2018) 
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An unknown number of people are killed and several others wounded  during inter-communal violence between two Tonj East County communities; Sudanese officials in Kassala State close their border with neighboring Ethiopia; and health officials say over a dozen children in Jonglei State have died of acute malnutrition due to ongoing flooding in the area.
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Tropical Storm Eta made landfall late Sunday in the Florida Keys on its way into the eastern Gulf of Mexico before taking another aim at the southeastern U.S. state later this week. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour as it brought heavy rainfall and life-threatening flash floods to parts of southern Florida. Forecasters expect the storm to strengthen slightly into a hurricane later Monday or Tuesday but weaken again into a tropical storm before making a mainland Florida landfall. Officials have closed beaches, ports and coronavirus testing sites in the state and urged people to stay home. Florida’s governor has also declared a state of emergency in several counties to speed the government’s response. Forecasters expect Eta to drop 15 to 30 centimeters of rain on central and southern Florida through Friday. Parts of the Bahamas, Jamaica and Cuba will also see some heavy rains. Eta was a strong hurricane when it hit Nicaragua last week, bringing flooding rains to communities from Panama to Mexico. Rescuers in Guatemala continued searching Sunday for people caught in a landslide and authorities raised the official death toll to 27 with more than 100 people still missing. The storm has been blamed for at least 20 deaths in southern Mexico and at least 20 more in Honduras. 
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Former Republican U.S. President George W. Bush on Sunday congratulated the projected winner of last week’s election, Joe Biden, saying the Democratic president-elect had “won his opportunity to lead and unify our country.”Bush, who served as the country’s chief executive from 2001 to early 2009, said he has “political differences” with Biden, but that he offered him “my prayers for his success and my pledge to help in any way I can.” Bush also called Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to congratulate her.Bush said he thanked Biden for the “patriotic message” he delivered Saturday night in Wilmington, Delaware, near his home as he claimed victory over the Republican incumbent, President Donald Trump, after four days of vote counting following the official Election Day on Tuesday and weeks of early voting.    Bush described Trump’s total of more than 70 million votes – some 4 million less than Biden’s count — as “an extraordinary political achievement.”Trump has not conceded losing to Biden and filed numerous lawsuits claiming irregularities cost him re-election to a second four-year term.Bush said Trump “has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges, and any unresolved issues will be properly adjudicated.”    But Bush said, “The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear.”
 
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“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek died Sunday after battling pancreatic cancer for nearly two years. He was 80.  Trebek died at home early Sunday with family and friends surrounding him, “Jeopardy!” studio Sony said in a statement.Trebek presided over the beloved quiz show for more than 30 years.He was a master of the format, engaging in friendly banter with contestants and appearing genuinely pleased when they answered correctly.He was also able to move the game along in a brisk no-nonsense fashion whenever people struggled for answers.The Canadian-born Trebek was more than qualified for the job, having started his game show career on “Reach for the Top” in his native country.  Moving to the U.S. in 1973, he appeared on “The Wizard of Odds,” “Classic Concentration,” “To Tell the Truth,” “High Rollers,” “The $128,000 Question” and “Double Dare.” 
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After several tense days of vote counting, Americans spent Saturday celebrating – and protesting – the results of the US presidential race. Michelle Quinn reports.
Producer: Miguel Amaya
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Election officials across the United States are increasingly calling on police and federal law enforcement to help keep the peace as the number of ballots left to be tallied winds down.From Philadelphia to Phoenix, lines of uniformed police officers are becoming commonplace, separating partiers and protesters from workers counting ballots inside government buildings and other venues.So far, the gatherings, while loud, have been peaceful. But officials warn that tensions are simmering as the nation gets closer to declaring a winner.“It’s just troubling for my employees. I have employees who are nervous leaving the building, and rightfully so,” Joe Gloria, the registrar of voters in Clark County, Nevada, told reporters Friday, voicing concern for a second day in a row.“We have a relatively large force of law enforcement plus our county security that’s here in place,” he said, praising the response as excellent.“They’re monitoring social media for any threatening type of messages,” Gloria said, adding, “We’re doing everything we can to protect our employees.”But not all has gone smoothly.Supporters of Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, briefly clashed during competing demonstrations Thursday night into Friday morning outside the Maricopa County Department of Elections in Phoenix, Arizona.Hours earlier, election officials announced the establishment of a free-speech zone – putting up fencing and bringing in police to protect election workers from “the threat of intimidation” because some protesters were carrying handguns or rifles.The eyes of the nation are on Maricopa County and it is imperative that we balance the protection and well-being of our election workers and volunteers with the constitutional right of protesters who may wish to demonstrate outside the Elections Department. Read more: Police say two suspects in a plot to attack the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia traveled from Virginia in a silver Hummer (Esha Sarai/VOA)Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said the men were first spotted late Thursday evening, after Philadelphia police got a tip from the FBI that they were making the 450-kilometer trip while “in possession of weapons and ammunition.”Outlaw said police approached the men after noticing one was wearing a handgun in a holster on his hip while the other appeared to have a gun concealed under his jacket.The men were identified Friday as Joshua Macias, 42, and Antonio Lamotta, 61, both of Chesapeake, Virginia, according to the Philadelphia Attorney General’s Office.Neither Lamotta nor Macias had the necessary permits to carry guns in Philadelphia and were subsequently arrested on weapons charges.Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner says the investigation into an apparent plot to attack the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia is active. (Esha Sarai/VOA)”At this time, we do not have indications that the story is bigger than these two individuals,” he said, though he called the investigation “very active.”But the arrests, and the involvement of the FBI and Department of Homeland Security in the investigation, did little to deter supporters of both presidential candidates from holding competing rallies outside the Philadelphia Convention Center later Friday.”They tried to intimidate us, so we threw a party,” Mike, a Philadelphia resident celebrating with Biden supporters, told VOA.Trump supporters, many from other states, also gathered nearby, demanding observers be allowed to monitor workers tallying the vote.”I came here to show my support for President Trump,” said Olivia Ingrassia, who traveled to Philadelphia with her mother from Long Island, N.Y. “We’re not going to stand for this. This is fraud, and I stand with the president. He’s going to fight through this.”Federal and state officials have been Mike, a Biden supporter, came out to support the ‘count every vote’ movement in Philadelphia on Nov. 6, 2020. (Esha Sarai/VOA)Before the election, law enforcement officials, including officials at the FBI, also expressed concern that disinformation from domestic sources or from U.S. adversaries could help spark violence, though they insisted they were ready.“Our preparations for [the 2020 election] take into account the current climate of the country,” an FBI official told VOA at the time.Reuters contributed to this report.
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Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​.Daily DebunkClaim: German newspaper claims “people are hoarding cash” in the coronavirus crisis.Verdict: Mostly TrueRead the full story at: EUfactcheck​Social Media Disinfo VERA FilesCirculating on social media: Fabricated email supposedly from the Liberal Party of Canada detailing Canada’s next steps to address the pandemic—including a “debt relief” program for people who agree to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and a “disease” it called COVID-21.Verdict: FalseRead the full story at: VERA Files​Factual Reads on CoronavirusLions and Tigers and Anteaters? US Scientists Scan the Menagerie for COVID
As COVID-19 cases surge in the U.S., one Texas veterinarian has been quietly tracking the spread of the disease — not in people, but in their pets.
— Kaiser Health News, November 4
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Sweden’s prime minister announced Thursday he has gone into protective self-isolation after a person close to him encountered someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. The country is experiencing an autumn surge of infections. From his Facebook account, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said that on his doctor’s advice, he and his wife, Ulla, were self-isolating, even though they have no symptoms. He said it was “the only responsible thing to do in this situation.”  FILE – Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven speaks during a news conference updating on the coronavirus situation, at the government headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Nov. 3, 2020.Lofven’s announcement came as Sweden’s Public Health Agency reported a record 4,034 new daily infections and five new deaths, putting Sweden’s total deaths at 6,002. In his post, Lofven said the new infections were clearly going in the wrong direction. Early in the pandemic, as other Nordic nations locked down to fight the virus, Sweden drew international attention by keeping schools, gyms and restaurants open and not requiring people to wear masks.  In recent weeks, as infections have risen, the government began implementing limits on the size of social gatherings, patrons in restaurants and on public transportation. They have also encouraged people to work from home if possible. Sweden’s per capita death rate of 0.7 is high compared to Nordic neighbors Norway and Finland, but relatively low next to other nations in Europe. 
 
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