International
Polling stations close in half of the US states, including Pennsylvania
The polling stations of half of the US states have already closed at 20.00 local time (01.00 GMT), including Pennsylvania, the hinge state that grants the most compromises for the Electoral College and of which the results are not yet known.
Polling stations in Pennsylvania closed at 8:00 p.m. local time (01.00 GMT), although in Cambria County, a Trump bastion, they will remain open until 10:00 p.m. local time (03.00 GMT on Wednesday) due to problems with counting machines.
That state, where there are 19 compromises, is the most important of the seven keys that will determine the outcome of the presidential elections.
Counting in the US elections.
The closure of polling stations in Pennsylvania marks the beginning of the vote count, since state legislation establishes that ballots, both those deposited at the polls and those sent by mail, cannot be counted until the end of election day.
This regulation could significantly delay the vote counting process and delay the announcement of the results beyond tonight.
Most of the eyes are on this and six other hinge states that are called to decide today’s elections, of which Georgia and North Carolina have also closed, with 16 compromises each.
They also closed at that time in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and the District of Columbia.
In the previous two hours, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Ohio did it.
At 03.00 GMT on Wednesday the schools in Montana, Nevada and Utah will end their day, while at 04.00 GMT on Wednesday they will do so on the west coast (California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho).
2020 Elections
The results of most states will soon arrive, but in the key states, predictably very tight, it can take several hours or even days to project a winner.
That can generate a situation similar to that of the last 2020 elections, when the winner was not known until four days later.
Americans do not decide by popular vote who will be their next president, but they designate a number of voters in each state who make up the Electoral College and who are responsible for electing the next tenant of the White House.
The Electoral College has 538 compromises and, to win, Trump or Harris need at least a majority of 270.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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