Recounts looming - Pelosi’s leadership challenge - Putin retirement rumor

Recounts loom in Georgia and Wisconsin at least, and perhaps also in Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Nevada, where the margins between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump remain slim. After overtaking Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania, Biden leads in enough states to clinch the presidency—but those leads remain tenuous, and major media outlets have not yet called the race for either candidate, though Decision Desk, an independent vote-counting operation, has called both Pennsylvania and the race for Biden.
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Georgia state law does not allow for automatic recounts in the event of close races, but candidates are allowed to request recounts in any race decided by less than half of 1 percent. Trump's campaign would have to wait until counting is finished to make such a request, but [Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger] seems to believe that outcome is inevitable. Even if a prolonged recount in the Peach State were to flip the outcome back to Trump, Biden could clinch the presidential race by winning other states.
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At the moment, Pennsylvania's presidential election falls within automatic recount territory, but Biden's lead is expected to grow as the counting continues. And a recount in Pennsylvania is more likely to swing the outcome of the whole election by virtue of Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes—though, realistically, Trump's campaign would have to win recounts in both Georgia and Pennsylvania to have a chance of winning reelection.

Two moderate congressional Democrats said they and other centrists were considering ousting from leadership the long-serving politician from California, citing divisions within the party between progressives and moderates. [One] said they are considering backing one of Ms Pelosi’s top lieutenants, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York, for the position instead.
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Ahead of the election, Speaker Pelosi predicted Democrats would make even more gains than they did in 2018 when they retook the House, so much so their strength would project into 2022 elections. Democrats will likely hang onto the House, but they haven’t made the kind of inroads they’d hoped in competitive Republican districts; instead, Republicans unseated Democratic incumbents in places like South Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma and South Carolina, and defended other seats Democrats deemed in play.
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It’s not the first time Ms Pelosi’s position has been in question. In 2018, she fended off a challenge from a small group of Democrats. Still, Ms Pelosi remains a prodigious fundraiser, having netted Democrats nearly $228 million in 2020, and her position itself remains comfortable after she bested her first challenge from a Democrat in 33 years, defeating democratic socialist Shahid Buttar.

The Michigan Republican Party said on Friday that a software glitch led 6,000 Republican votes to be counted for Democrats in Antrim County, incorrectly flipping a typically red county blue and spurring demands by Republicans for other counties to check their tallies. The same software was used to tabulate votes in dozens of Michigan counties, said Laura Cox, chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party.
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Antrim County Clerk Sheryl Guy, a Republican, said the results were skewed after the cards were moved from precincts to county offices and uploaded to a computer. Dominion Voting Systems manufactures the software. At the conference, GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in Wayne County, a Democratic stronghold, poll watchers were kept in the dark with blocked windows and padlocked doors.
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A revised count as of 3 p.m. puts President Trump ahead of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden by 2,494 votes in the county, leading the former vice president, 56% to 42%. In 2016, the county of roughly 23,000 residents voted for Trump by an overwhelming majority, with 62% compared to 33% for Hillary Clinton.

A report from The Sun on Thursday suggested the 68-year-old autocrat plans to step down based on a claim that Putin's reported mistress implored him to resign amid health issues. The report also cited an analysis of video footage that The Sun claimed portrays Putin involuntarily trembling and showing signs of pain, along with reports of prior medical concerns.
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It was unclear why the Kremlin felt obligated to address the report and reference it through its heavily controlled state media service, though Putin has been notoriously image-conscious throughout his tenure and has long sought to project displays of his vitality.
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Having served for longer than any leader in Moscow since Josef Stalin, Putin consolidated power in early January through a series of forced reforms that essentially allows him to remain in power indefinitely. American and European officials and analysts believe the move was at least in part due to Putin's inability to find a successor who would protect him from legal persecution if and when he follows the Russian tradition of elder statesmen leaving public life to retire into relative obscurity.

Unemployment fell to 6.9%, from 7.9% in September, even as more than 700,000 people entered the labor force. Women rejoined the workforce at nearly twice the rate of men, partially reversing a female exodus in September. Forecasters worry job growth may slow further if a winter spike in coronavirus infections discourages people from shopping or eating out.
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The economy has still recovered just 54% of the 22 million jobs that were lost during the spring. Some industries, such as manufacturing, have found ways to operate successfully despite the pandemic. Factories added 38,000 jobs last month. Construction is also booming, thanks to strong demand for housing and rock-bottom interest rates.
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October's job gains were reduced in part by the Census Bureau, which laid off 147,000 temporary workers as it wound down its decennial headcount. The Census Bureau had hired 238,000 temporary workers in August. State and local governments also cut 159,000 jobs in education.