World news
US 2020: Trump, Biden In Last Minute Hunt For Voters
After weeks of early voting, the outcome of the United States presidential election has come down to this.
There are some 25 million voters in 10 contested states who have yet to vote and who are expected to cast ballots on Election Day amid projections of record-breaking turnout nationwide.
With so much at stake – control of the US government, the future direction of the country on the coronavirus pandemic, jobs, healthcare and climate change – they will be the difference makers.
Will they choose to re-elect President Donald Trump, or will they go with Democrat Joe Biden?
Using the tools of big data and micro-targeting, both the Biden and Trump campaigns know who they still need to get out to vote and both the Republican and Democratic parties have been focusing heavily on them.
“We know if you’ve voted. That’s how good the technology is these days,” said Wayne Goodwin, chairman of the North Carolina Democrats. “We are able to zero in and micro target.”
As states report who has already voted, the campaigns and their data-crunching firms are able to match those records to their databases of voter profiles.
“Turnout is the name of the game right now,” said Rosy Gonzalez Speers, an organiser for the Democratic Party of Florida. “We know where our voters are. We just need to get them out to the polls.”
Nationwide, close to 100 million Americans will have already voted, according to the United States Elections Project. That leaves an unknown but smaller number of people to cast their votes on November 3. Some 136.5 million voted in the last presidential election in 2016.
“We will see more people voting in this election than have ever voted in an election before,” said Tom Bonier, chief executive of TargetSmart, a Democratic political data analytics firm.
“It’s clear the Democratic intensity and enthusiasm is sky-high. It’s higher than we’ve seen in any recent election,” Bonier told Al Jazeera.
Early data indicates that Biden has built a narrow lead in the early votes in key swing states that will determine the outcome of the presidential election. But Trump is expected to make up that deficit on Election Day as more of his supporters come out to vote in person.
Over the final weekend of the campaign, both Trump and Biden pushed hard to bring out their supporters, barnstorming the Midwest and holding rallies in key locales.
“The challenge that the president faces is, even if his base is as engaged as Democrats … the Trump campaign has to close this gap in one day. And that is just tactically very challenging,” Bonier said.
How big is the gap? That’s a guessing game with turnout as high as it appears to be.
There were encouraging and troubling signs for both candidates.
For Trump, there were questions of whether fewer seniors are supporting him now, potentially a problem in Florida and Arizona, two swing states with large retirement communities.
Biden’s campaign was worried about weakness in his support among Latino and Black men that they hoped would be helped by appearances by former President Barack Obama in Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
In Florida, about 95,000 more Democrats than Republicans had voted early, a slight edge that could evaporate on Election Day if more come out for Trump.
“Democrats are not taking anything for granted,” Speers told Al Jazeera. “We are staying cautiously optimistic and working very hard.”
Over the weekend, the Biden campaign deployed Obama, vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris, and Senator Cory Booker to Florida. They are targeting voters who asked for mail ballots, but did not turn them in, and voters who cast ballots in 2016 but did not vote in midterm elections in 2018, Speers said.
North Carolina, which Trump won in 2016, is proving to be a closely fought battleground in this election where Biden leads in public polls and early voting.
More than four million North Carolinians have already voted, nearly equal to the total vote in 2016. Of those who voted early, 38 percent are Democrats, 31 percent Republicans and 30 percent independents.
“The Democrats have their wind at their backs … but we continue to reach out to voters who haven’t voted yet,” Goodwin told Al Jazeera.
In North Carolina, there are 2.75 million registered voters who have not cast ballots yet. Both parties are trying to get them to the polls on Election Day.
At this point “there are very few undecideds”, “a significant number” who intend to vote on Election Day and a “significant impact” from independent voters, Goodwin said.
North Carolina Democrats organised a massive volunteer phone bank effort to reach voters over the final weekend. Similar drives on both sides are in playing in other battleground states.
The turnout is likely to be very high. More people – 9.7 million – have already voted in Texas than all those who voted in the state in the 2016 presidential election. In Georgia, nearly four million have voted, almost equal to the total vote there in 2016. Arizona is seeing record turnout, too.
Other states in play include Pennsylvania, where both candidates are focusing their late campaign efforts, and Michigan and Wisconsin, which gave Trump the presidency last time. Ohio and Iowa will also be key.
“Like so much of 2020, this election is totally unprecedented. We are seeing unparalleled levels of voter enthusiasm,” said Alex Conant, a founding partner at Firehouse Strategies, a Republican public affairs firm.
“We are seeing record Democratic turnout but also extraordinary Republican turnout,” Conant told Al Jazeera.
“Everyone agrees that turnout this year is going to set an American record,” he said. “Both parties can argue why that’s potentially good for them.”
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News
Five Dead, Five Injured As Amazon Cargo Plane Crashes Into Vehicle In Miami
At least five people were killed when an Amazon cargo plane overshot a runway after it landed Sunday at Miami International Airport, crashed into vehicles and caught fire, officials said.
Miami-Dade County fire chief Ray Jadallah told reporters that in addition to five fatalities, three people were transported to trauma centers “in critical condition” and two more were treated at a local hospital.
“The airplane did strike a couple of vehicles,” which left “a couple of victims that were actually trapped in the vehicles,” Jadallah said.
“A complex extrication with our technical rescue team” was needed, “including a search and rescue of the pilot and co-pilot that were trapped in this aircraft.”
Jadallah did not clarify whether the pilot or co-pilot survived, and officials declined to answer questions after brief statements were made.
Video showed thick smoke billowing from the blue and white Boeing 767 after it arrived at 1:58 pm (1758 GMT) from Puerto Rico, as fire trucks raced to the scene.
Officials investigate the scene where a Prime Air cargo plane overran the runway and crashed into other vehicles at Miami International Airport at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, on September 6, 2026.
The plane operating as Prime Air Flight 7598 caught fire as a result of the “crash,” fire officials said.
“A total of 60 fire apparatuses arrived, just short, just shy of 200 men and women from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, to begin the actual search and rescue and firefighting,” Jadallah said.
“The actual cause of the incident will be determined by the FAA and the NTSB,” he added, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.
In a statement posted to X Sunday evening, fire officials said they used foam to extinguish a fire in the engine compartment.
“One person was trapped under one of the involved vehicles and had to be extricated by specialized technical rescue personnel. Specialized hazardous materials (HazMat) units safely shut down the aircraft’s engine and worked to control a fuel leak,” the statement said.
Investigation Launched
The NTSB said in an X post on Sunday that the B-767-300 cargo airplane was flying into Miami from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and they have “launched a go team to investigate Sunday’s runway excursion accident.”
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement the tech giant will cooperate with any investigation into the incident.
“We’re heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today’s incident at Miami International Airport. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating loss,” Nantel said.
Miami Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz told reporters Sunday that her officers encountered a “really tragic scene,” but there was “no apparent threat to public safety.”
The airport closed all runways and taxiways because of the incident and posted an update to its website Sunday evening that travelers should check directly with their airline before heading to the airport.
After hours of holding all flights at the international airport Sunday, with numerous delays and canceled flights for commercial airline passengers, the Miami Herald newspaper reported that two of the airport’s four runways had reopened Sunday.
In a statement on X, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava thanked first responders for their speedy response, saying “our fire rescue team was there within seconds of the crash, so we’re deeply grateful.”
AFP
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World news
Trump Suggests Renaming New Mexico State ‘New America’
US President Donald Trump’s name-changing spree found an unlikely new target on Sunday when he suggested the state of New Mexico could become “New America.”
His proposal, which was immediately dismissed by the state’s governor, comes days after he signed an order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” in the middle of a trade war with neighboring Canada.
“Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico… to NEW AMERICA,” the Republican president posted on social media. “So much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I Love It!!!”
The White House reposted an image showing the Mexico part of the state’s name crossed out and replaced with “America.”
Some US media reports said the idea originated as an internet hoax.
State governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told Fox News that the name “isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed.”
She said the president wanted to “distract Americans” from issues such as soaring gas prices.
Trump last week suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as “Trump Strait” as the war with Iran continues — then hours later implied he was not serious about the plan.
He renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” on his first day back in the White House in 2025 in a move rejected by Mexico.
Canada has also rejected the attempt to rename Lake Ontario.
AFP
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World news
Judge Declares Mistrial In Case Of Woman Accused Of Killing Her Three Children
A judge declared a mistrial on Friday in the high-profile case of an American woman who killed her three children but put his decision on hold to allow the defense to appeal the decision.
Judge William Sullivan said he was freezing his mistrial ruling in the trial of Lindsay Clancy for one hour to allow her lawyer to file an appeal with a higher court.
The jury has been deadlocked 11-1, with the majority apparently leaning towards finding the 36-year-old Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity.
The dramatic developments came after the jury sent a note to the judge Friday morning saying that it was with a “heavy heart” that they were unable to reach a verdict in the case, which has cast a spotlight on maternal mental health.
Clancy does not deny strangling Cora, five; Dawson, three; and Callan, eight months, but claims she was suffering from postpartum psychosis — excusing her from criminal responsibility.
To reach a verdict, all 12 jurors must agree.
Judge William Sullivan addresses the jury (out of frame) during deliberations in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial at the Plymouth County Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on September 4, 2026.
If they cannot agree, the judge declares a mistrial and prosecutors must decide whether to try the case again with a new jury.
Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s lawyer, has repeatedly demanded the replacement of the holdout juror with one of several alternate jurors, but Sullivan declined to do so.
Clancy’s televised five-week trial, which featured more than 80 witnesses and days of distressing testimony, has sparked debate in the United States over maternal mental health.
Clancy has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, saying she heard a voice ordering her to kill her children.
Her lawyers say this was caused by postpartum psychosis, a condition that experts say affects about one to two women in every 1,000 births.
Prosecutors have rejected that argument, saying Clancy had carefully planned the murders of her children and was able to understand the consequences of her actions.
Psychiatrists and people close to Clancy, as well as her estranged husband, were among the witnesses who testified about her fragile mental health during the trial.
‘Lousy Medical Care’
Dozens of women dressed in pink have shown up at the court in Plymouth to extend their support for Clancy — and to make a statement about women’s health more generally.
During closing arguments, Reddington, Clancy’s lawyer, said she had made numerous pleas for help before the killings but had received “lousy medical care” from the doctors she consulted.
After the murders at the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023, Clancy jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt that left her paralysed from the waist down.
The former nurse faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty of first-degree murder.
Jurors can also find Clancy guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility — a verdict that would see her confined to a psychiatric facility.
The trial has revived memories of a similar case that also captivated the country 25 years ago: that of Andrea Yates, a Texas mother who drowned her five children in 2001.
Yates was initially convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but she was found not guilty by reason of insanity at a 2006 retrial and committed to a psychiatric hospital.
AFP
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