As US President George W. Bush and Democratic Senator John Kerry reached for the finish line in their campaigns yesterday, more was at stake than just who will be moving into the White House.
Bush and Kerry are on the ballot in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Independent Ralph Nader is on the ballot in 34 states and the District of Columbia; he is listed as a write-in candidate in Texas.
Voters in 34 states will choose a senator for a six-year term, with 19 Democratic seats and 15 Republican seats at stake. Open Democratic seats were in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina. Open Republican seats were in Colorado, Illinois and Oklahoma. Currently, Republicans have the majority, 51-48, with one Democratic-leaning independent.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election. Republicans hold 227 seats, Democrats 205, with one Democratic-leaning independent and two vacancies in Republican-held seats.
Governorships are at stake in 11 states. Democrats hold three -- Delaware, Indiana and North Carolina. Republicans hold three -- North Dakota, New Hampshire and Vermont. In five states -- Missouri, Montana, Utah, Washington and West Virginia -- the current governor is not seeking re-election.
About 5,800 legislative seats -- 80 percent of the national total -- are up for grabs in 44 states. A shift of as few as three seats could alter party control in 25 of the 84 chambers being contested, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Republicans control both legislative chambers in 21 states, Democrats control both in 17, and control is divided in 11. Nebraska has a unicameral and officially nonpartisan legislature.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese