US federal election officials have said the 2020 White House vote was the "most secure in American history", rejecting President Donald Trump's fraud claims.

"There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised," the committee announced.

They spoke out after Mr Trump claimed without proof 2.7 million votes for him were "deleted" in last week's election.

He has yet to concede to the projected winner, Democrat Joe Biden.

The result was projected by US media last weekend but some counting continues.

The BBC has now projected Mr Biden the winner of Arizona, granting him 11 more electoral college votes. It is the first time the state has voted Democrat since 1996.

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Federal election infrastructure officials said in a joint statement on Thursday that the 2020 election was the "most secure in American history." The statement comes as President Trump continued to spread baseless claims that widespread voter fraud occurred in key battleground states.

Mr. Trump on Thursday had still not conceded, and advisers confirmed to CBS News that he has openly discussed running for president again in 2024. While no decisions have been made, one Trump adviser familiar with conversations with the president tells CBS News that Trump allies are working to keep his options open as they plot his political future.

High-ranking Republican senators said Thursday that President-elect Biden should begin receiving intelligence briefings. GOP Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the most senior GOP senator, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally of Mr. Trump's, separately told reporters on Capitol Hill that they believe Mr. Biden should be receiving the high-level briefings. South Dakota Senator John Thune, the second highest-ranking Republican in the upper chamber, said it "makes sense" for the president-elect to be briefed on the nation's most sensitive intelligence.

"As these election challenges play out in court, I don't have a problem with, and I think it's important from a national security standpoint, continuity," Thune said. "And you've seen other members suggesting that."

Texas Senator John Cornyn told reporters he believes the information "needs to be communicated in some way."
"I just don't know of any justification for withholding the briefing," he said, adding that if Mr. Biden "does win in the end, I think they need to be able to hit the ground running."

Source: CBS News

In an interview with CBS News, due to air on Sunday, Mr Obama said President-elect Joe Biden had "clearly won" this year's race for the White House.

The result was called by US media last weekend, but some counting continues.

Claiming ballot tampering, Mr Trump has launched a flurry of legal challenges.

The president's team has yet to provide any evidence to support their claims.


Mr Obama - Mr Trump's Democratic predecessor - said the allegations were motivated by the fact that "the president doesn't like to lose".

"I'm more troubled by the fact that other Republican officials, who clearly know better, are going along with this," he added. "It's one more step in delegitimising not just the incoming Biden administration, but democracy generally, and that's a dangerous path."

Mr Obama was speaking ahead of the release of his new memoir, A Promised Land, which charts his rise to the US Senate and first term as president. Due for release on 17 November, it is the first of two books covering his time in the White House.

(CNN)President Donald Trump had predicted in almost every campaign rally that the media would stop talking about the coronavirus pandemic the day after the election. But as it turns out, no one is ignoring the worsening tragedy more than the President himself.

Instead of taking charge as the country plunges deeper into the worst domestic crisis since World War II, Trump has disappeared inside the White House, saying nothing on camera since he baselessly claimed a week ago that the election was being stolen from him by President-elect Joe Biden.

He's spending time with advisers, not strategizing on how to tame the out-of-control health emergency but seeking a path to win an election already declared lost. He's also found time to purge the top leadership of the Pentagon, and with few appointments on his public schedule appears to spend his days watching news coverage and tweeting misinformation about voter fraud.


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HONG KONG -- Chinese consumers spent over a hundred billion dollars during this year’s Singles’ Day shopping festival, signaling a rebound in consumption as China recovers from the coronavirus pandemic and a battering of the economy.

From Nov. 1 to Nov. 11, shoppers spent 498.2 billion yuan ($75.1 billion) on Taobao and Tmall, the e-commerce platforms operated by Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce company.

The final sales figure exceeded last year’s $38.4 billion over 24 hours, after Alibaba extended its sales period this year for the first time as it sought to help boost sales for merchants affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

On rival platform JD.com, consumers racked up 271.5 billion yuan ($40.9 billion) in sales over the same period.

The annual Singles’ Day shopping festival, the world’s largest of its kind, offers shoppers generous discounts on a variety of products, from fresh produce to luxury items.


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In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told Fox 5 Atlanta on Tuesday, “We have not found any widespread voter fraud.”

“I understand half of the people will be happy, half of the people will be sad, but I want 100% of the people to understand that the process was fair and accurately counted,” Raffensperger said.

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