US President Trump won’t commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses

United States President Donald Trump again declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November 3 presidential election.

“We’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump said on Wednesday at a news conference, responding to a question about whether he’d commit to a peaceful transfer of power. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”

It is highly unusual that a sitting president would express less than complete confidence in the American democracy’s electoral process. But he also declined four years ago to commit to honouring the election results if his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, won.

His current Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, was asked about Trump’s comment after landing in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday night.

“What country are we in?” Biden asked incredulously, adding: “I’m being facetious. Look, he says the most irrational things. I don’t know what to say about it. But it doesn’t surprise me.”

Trump has been pressing a month-long campaign against mail-in voting this November by tweeting and speaking out critically about the practice. More states are encouraging mail-in voting to keep voters safe amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The president, who uses mail-in voting himself, has tried to distinguish between states that automatically send mail ballots to all registered voters and those, like Florida, that send them only to voters who request a mail ballot.

Trump has baselessly claimed widespread mail voting will lead to massive fraud. The five states that routinely send mail ballots to all voters have seen no significant fraud.

Trump on Wednesday appeared to suggest that if states got “rid of” the unsolicited mailing of ballots there would be no concern about fraud or peaceful transfers of power.

“You’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer frankly,” Trump said. “There’ll be a continuation. The ballots are out of control, you know it, and you know, who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else.”

In a July interview, Trump similarly refused to commit to accepting the results.

“I have to see. Look [...] I have to see,” Trump told Chris Wallace during a wide-ranging July interview on Fox News Sunday. “No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time either.”

The Biden campaign responded on Wednesday: “The American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”

The American Civil Liberties Union also protested Trump’s remarks. “The peaceful transfer of power is essential to a functioning democracy,” National Legal Director David Cole said. “This statement from the president of the United States should trouble every American.”

Trump made similar comments ahead of the 2016 election. When asked during an October debate whether he would abide by the voters’ will, Trump responded that he would “keep you in suspense".

It’s unlikely that any chaos in states with universal mail-in voting will cause the election result to be inaccurately tabulated, as Trump has suggested.

The five states that already have such balloting have had time to ramp up their systems, while four states newly adopting it — California, New Jersey, Nevada and Vermont — have not. Washington, D.C., is also newly adopting it.

Of those nine states, only Nevada is a battleground, worth six electoral votes and likely to be pivotal only in a national presidential deadlock.

California, New Jersey, Vermont and D.C. are overwhelmingly Democratic and likely to be won by Biden.

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School closures amid coronavirus holding back the US economy

As the United States sees the world's worst coronavirus outbreak, school closures are holding back the US economy and more support is needed to sustain a recovery, a top Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday.

The country schools and universities have not reopened or only done so partially, which, Fed Vice Chair Randal Quarles told a summit of the Institute for International Bankers, posed a risk to the recovery from the severe downturn caused by the pandemic.

"Many parents with children will be forced to work less, or not at all, which is going to be a hardship for them and weigh on the economy," Quarles said of the school closures.

Echoing comments by the central bank´s Chair Jerome Powell that more spending may be needed to get the world´s largest economy back on its feet, Quarles said, "it will take continued support to sustain a robust recovery."

Lawmakers in Washington are deadlocked on how much more to spend to stimulate the economy after key provisions of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March as the pandemic intensified expired.

Among the lapsed provisions was a program of loans and grants for small businesses as well as extra weekly payments for jobless workers after businesses shutdowns to stop the spread of Covid-19 led to tens of millions of layoffs.

Those programs have been credited with helping spur a rebound in some sectors including retail sales and housing, though analysts have raised fears of lasting damage should no new stimulus be passed.

Quarles acknowledges that damage done during the shutdowns in March and April "will take time to reverse" but that the rebound has been stronger "than almost any forecaster expected," pointing a surge reported by the Census Bureau over the summer of people seeking to start new businesses as evidence of the country´s resilience.

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US President Trump won’t commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses

United States President Donald Trump again declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November 3 presidential election.

“We’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump said on Wednesday at a news conference, responding to a question about whether he’d commit to a peaceful transfer of power. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”

It is highly unusual that a sitting president would express less than complete confidence in the American democracy’s electoral process. But he also declined four years ago to commit to honouring the election results if his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, won.

His current Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, was asked about Trump’s comment after landing in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday night.

“What country are we in?” Biden asked incredulously, adding: “I’m being facetious. Look, he says the most irrational things. I don’t know what to say about it. But it doesn’t surprise me.”

Trump has been pressing a month-long campaign against mail-in voting this November by tweeting and speaking out critically about the practice. More states are encouraging mail-in voting to keep voters safe amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The president, who uses mail-in voting himself, has tried to distinguish between states that automatically send mail ballots to all registered voters and those, like Florida, that send them only to voters who request a mail ballot.

Trump has baselessly claimed widespread mail voting will lead to massive fraud. The five states that routinely send mail ballots to all voters have seen no significant fraud.

Trump on Wednesday appeared to suggest that if states got “rid of” the unsolicited mailing of ballots there would be no concern about fraud or peaceful transfers of power.

“You’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer frankly,” Trump said. “There’ll be a continuation. The ballots are out of control, you know it, and you know, who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else.”

In a July interview, Trump similarly refused to commit to accepting the results.

“I have to see. Look [...] I have to see,” Trump told Chris Wallace during a wide-ranging July interview on Fox News Sunday. “No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time either.”

The Biden campaign responded on Wednesday: “The American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”

The American Civil Liberties Union also protested Trump’s remarks. “The peaceful transfer of power is essential to a functioning democracy,” National Legal Director David Cole said. “This statement from the president of the United States should trouble every American.”

Trump made similar comments ahead of the 2016 election. When asked during an October debate whether he would abide by the voters’ will, Trump responded that he would “keep you in suspense".

It’s unlikely that any chaos in states with universal mail-in voting will cause the election result to be inaccurately tabulated, as Trump has suggested.

The five states that already have such balloting have had time to ramp up their systems, while four states newly adopting it — California, New Jersey, Nevada and Vermont — have not. Washington, D.C., is also newly adopting it.

Of those nine states, only Nevada is a battleground, worth six electoral votes and likely to be pivotal only in a national presidential deadlock.

California, New Jersey, Vermont and D.C. are overwhelmingly Democratic and likely to be won by Biden.

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School closures amid coronavirus holding back the US economy

As the United States sees the world's worst coronavirus outbreak, school closures are holding back the US economy and more support is needed to sustain a recovery, a top Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday.

The country schools and universities have not reopened or only done so partially, which, Fed Vice Chair Randal Quarles told a summit of the Institute for International Bankers, posed a risk to the recovery from the severe downturn caused by the pandemic.

"Many parents with children will be forced to work less, or not at all, which is going to be a hardship for them and weigh on the economy," Quarles said of the school closures.

Echoing comments by the central bank´s Chair Jerome Powell that more spending may be needed to get the world´s largest economy back on its feet, Quarles said, "it will take continued support to sustain a robust recovery."

Lawmakers in Washington are deadlocked on how much more to spend to stimulate the economy after key provisions of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March as the pandemic intensified expired.

Among the lapsed provisions was a program of loans and grants for small businesses as well as extra weekly payments for jobless workers after businesses shutdowns to stop the spread of Covid-19 led to tens of millions of layoffs.

Those programs have been credited with helping spur a rebound in some sectors including retail sales and housing, though analysts have raised fears of lasting damage should no new stimulus be passed.

Quarles acknowledges that damage done during the shutdowns in March and April "will take time to reverse" but that the rebound has been stronger "than almost any forecaster expected," pointing a surge reported by the Census Bureau over the summer of people seeking to start new businesses as evidence of the country´s resilience.

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PCB removes Faisal Iqbal as Balochistan head coach over fake degree inquiry

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday removed Faisal Iqbal from the position Balochistan's head coach as there is a pending inquiry against him in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for allegedly submitting a fake matriculation certificate in 2003.

With the start of the new domestic season just a week away, the PCB, in a press release, said that it was 'withdrawing' Iqbal until the PIA gives him "a clean chit along with a No Objective Certificate (NOC)".

The PCB said that the decision was taken after Iqbal admitted that the PIA was "looking into a matter" regarding his employment.

The matter, according to various publications, stems from his alleged submission of a matriculation certificate that failed the verification process at the concerned educational board and was declared "forged/tampered".

He is purportedly one of three cricketers on PIA's books who have also been issued show-cause notices.

"It would be unfair on Faisal Iqbal as well on his side and the tournament if he competed in a major domestic tournament until he had resolved and settled the matter with his parent organisation," the PCB explained, adding that Iqbal could reclaim the position upon being cleared by the PIA.

Meanwhile, Balochistan's assistant coach Wasim Haider has been elevated to the interim head coach position, the Board added.

The development caps a rough week or so for Iqbal, who had been criticised and quarantined for five days after he violated Covid-19 protocols laid out by the PCB.

Iqbal, who is legendary cricketer Javed Miandad's nephew, has also seen his appointment with the PCB questioned multiple times on the basis of merit.

It is pertinent to mention here that PIA employees' credentials and paperwork have been under the scanner this year after Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, in the aftermath of the Flight 8303 crash in May, revealed that 262 of the national carrier's 860 pilots had fake licenses.

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PCB asks South Africa to reschedule ODI series after PSL in March 2021

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday conveyed its readiness to Cricket South Africa (CSA) to reschedule the South African series planned for this month and postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PCB has suggested to its South African counterpart that the national team tour Zimbabwe in March for the three-match ODI series.

This will provide the green squad with a 10-day window after Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021.

Cricket activities in South Africa have not yet resumed after restrictions were imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier in August, Pakistan's tour of South Africa was postponed as CSA informed its Pakistani counterpart that it could not establish a biosecure environment the the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to rage.

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Afghan peace process; Spoilers can pose 'formidable challenges: FM Quresh

Talking about the Afghan peace process, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday warned against "spoilers from within and without", adding that they will pose formidable challenges for peace to prevail in the region.

"Constant vigilance will be required to guard against their machinations," said the foreign minister, referring to the spoilers in the Afghan peace process as he addressed the ministers' conference.

Qureshi said that Pakistan was happy it had played its role in facilitating peace talks between the Taliban and the US in Doha earlier this year, calling on all parties and stakeholders in the Afghanistan peace process to seize this "historic opportunity" for peace in the country.

The foreign minister addressed the Kashmir issue, stating that sustainable peace in the region would remain a 'dream' unless the Kashmir dispute was not resolved according to the United Nations' resolutions.

"The unprecedented, brutal and inhumane siege and communications blockade, especially since India's illegal and unilateral August 5 move has destroyed lives," he said.

Afghan government mounts pressure on Taliban for truce

The government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, after waging war against each other for 19 years, have finally come to the table for talks in hopes to ensure durable peace in the country.

Multiple rounds of talks since last year have taken place in Doha between the two parties with Pakistan facilitating the truce and the US eager for an exit from the war-ravaged country.

The Taliban, who fought a years-long guerrilla campaign against American and Afghan forces after they were forced from power in a 2001 US-led invasion, did not mention a truce as they came to the negotiating table a few weeks ago.

Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi had earlier tweeted that the presence of government negotiators at the talks "is aimed at achieving a ceasefire, ending the violence and ensuring lasting peace and stability in the country."

The head of the peace process for the Afghan government, Abdullah Abdullah, had earlier suggested the Taliban could offer a ceasefire in exchange for the release of more of their jailed fighters.

Delegates have warned that negotiations, which take place even as fighting continues in Afghanistan, would be arduous and messy.

"We will undoubtedly encounter many challenges in the talks over the coming days, weeks and months," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said during a visit to Doha Sunday.

He also urged the warring sides to "seize this opportunity" to secure peace.

 

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