- Trump’s voice recording leaked to the press.
- The USA begins to exclude Chinese companies from the stock market.
- Boris Johnson has once again dismissed calls for a second Scottish independence referendum.
Trump’s Voice Recording Leaked to the Press
Trump’s Voice Recording Leaked to the Press
The Washington Post published the recordings of the phone call between US President Donald Trump and Raffensperger on Saturday.
In the recording of the meeting, which lasted about an hour, Trump, who argued that the election was cheated and that he won the elections in Georgia, said:
“This is all I want: I want to find 11,780 votes, which is more than what we got because we won the state.”
According to the official election results, Trump claimed that his Democrat opponent Joe Biden cheated in Georgia, where he won with a difference of 11,779 votes, and stated that vote-counting machines were illegally abolished in some regions and the election results should be registered in his favor.
The Washington Post also states that Trump threatened Raffensperger with “legal action” after these persuasion efforts.
“You know what has been done and you don’t report it. It’s a criminal offense. You can’t let this happen. It’s a huge risk for you and your lawyer,” Trump says, referring to irregularities that he claimed were done in the state but could not provide evidence.
Trump then asks Raffenberger, the state’s top election official, to get 11,780 more votes for him. That’s enough for Trump to win with a 1 vote difference in the state.
At another point in the phone call, Trump told Raffensperger: “The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry … And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you’ve recalculated.”
On the other hand, Trump made a statement on the subject on his Twitter account and claimed that the Republican state secretary had no idea about “election fraud” in the state.
“With all due respect, Mr. President: What you say is not true, the truth will come out,” Raffensperger shared on his Twitter account.
The Usa Begins to exclude chinese companies from NYSE
The USA Begins to Exclude Chinese Companies from the Stock Market
The New York Stock Exchange announced that it will remove three Chinese companies from the stock market as part of the US sanctions on Chinese companies that are determined to be associated with the Chinese military.
US President Donald Trump signed a bill on December 18 that could remove Chinese companies from the US stock markets if they fail to comply with audit standards.
The law in question prevents foreign companies from trading on American stock exchanges if they fail to comply with the US Public Accounting Oversight Authority’s audits for 3 consecutive years.
According to the statement made by the stock exchange, the excluded companies are China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp Ltd., and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. The transactions in the shares of companies will be suspended on January 7-11. In the statement made by the stock exchange, it was stated that the process of delisting these companies has also started.
While the three companies are listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, they do not have any significant assets other than being traded in the US. The companies in question derive all of their income from their operations in China.
China warned that it would apply countermeasures if telecommunications companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange are excluded from the list. In the statement of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, it was emphasized that it is unfair for the telecommunications companies to be removed from the stock market on the grounds that they are linked to the Chinese military, “We refuse to categorize Chinese companies as ‘Communist Chinese Military Companies’ on the pretext of national security. We will take the necessary countermeasures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies. ” While the Ministry did not make a statement about what the countermeasures would be, they announced that “these actions will shake the confidence of all parties in the US capital market.”
Boris Johnson Has once Again Dismissed Calls for a Second Scottish Independence Referendum
Boris Johnson Has once Again Dismissed Calls for a Second Scottish Independence Referendum
The Scots are not yet ready for a new referendum on independence from Great Britain, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “They do not have a unifying force in the national atmosphere, this should be only once in a whole generation,” Interfax quoted the British prime minister as saying.
A referendum on the independence of Scotland was held on September 18, 2014. Then 55% of Scots voted for Scotland to remain part of the UK.
The Scottish National Party, led by Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is pushing for a repeat referendum on the region’s independence, citing a majority of Scots voted against Britain’s exit from the EU in 2016.
In a recent interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, the PM Nicola Sturgeon said she would definitely hold a second referendum on Scottish independence, possibly as early as 2021. According to Sturgeon, after gaining independence, Scotland will immediately apply for re-accession to the EU and will be admitted there as soon as possible.
A second Scottish independence referendum should not take place until around 2055 as such votes should only be “once in a generation” events, Boris Johnson has suggested.
The Prime Minister said the 41-year period between the UK’s two referendums on Europe – the first in 1975 and the second in 2016 – was the “right sort of gap”.
The Prime Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, tweeted just after the Brexit transition period formally ended at 11 pm on December 31. Tweeting a picture of the words Europe and Scotland joined by a love heart, she wrote: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.”
If the Scottish National Party wins Scotland’s parliamentary election in five months, it will be with a mandate to hold a second independence referendum.
