■ China
Kerry wins duck vote
John Kerry won the duck vote by a landslide. A Chinese restaurant owner who put duck dishes named for the major US presidential candidates on his menu said yesterday that 60 percent of diners ordered "Kerry Duck" over "Bush Duck." The mock election at the Chuxuanlu Restaurant in Foshan, a city near Hong Kong, began on Oct. 23 and ended yesterday. "Most of our guests support [Senator John] Kerry, because [President George W.] Bush is a tough guy and ... wants control over the world," the owner, who would give only his surname, Nie, said by phone from Foshan.
■ United States
Execution on election eve
In the midst of the US election on Tuesday, Texas, the leading death penalty state, took time out to execute a man for a 1990 murder. Lorenzo Morris, 52, received a lethal injection in Houston shortly after 6pm in the state's 19th execution this year. He was the 332nd person put to death in Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982. Morris was condemned for killing Jesse Fields, 70, after breaking into his Houston home and demanding money. A prison spokeswoman said Morris did not vote in the presidential election because Texas law forbids jailed felons from casting a ballot.
■ Australia
Downer favors Bush for win
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday that US President George W. Bush appeared on track for a second term and said Australia's government could build on its already strong relationship with the Bush administration. "It does look as though President Bush is more likely than not to be re-elected and obviously from our point of view the Bush administration is a known quantity," Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio. "But frankly if Senator [John] Kerry somehow miraculous-ly comes through here, or any case had been elected, we would have worked pretty well with them as well," Downer added.
■ United States
TV treads warily
Mindful of the spectacular failure of their blown calls four years ago, television networks proceeded with caution as election results came in on Tuesday. There were concerns, however, that the early exit polls they commissioned had indicated John Kerry would do better than he appeared to be faring as actual vote counts came in. Five TV news organizat-ions and The Associated Press formed the National Election Pool to conduct exit polls of voters, while the AP was supplying actual vote counts from across the nation. The networks blamed bad information from an old system for twice prematurely declaring a winner in Florida in 2000.
■ Congress
Jindal coasts into Congress
Republican Bobby Jindal coasted to an easy and expected victory, taking over the vacant US House seat for suburban New Orleans and becoming the only Indian-American in the US Congress. Jindal, 33, raised US$2 million more than his closest opponent in Tuesday's election. The five men running against the son of immigrants from India never jeopardized his huge lead, and most didn't bother to raise any cash to oppose him.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number