US News Roundup: Trump takes fighting stance as election swings toward Biden; Trump campaign loses legal fights in Georgia and Michigan, vows Nevada lawsuit and more

While Biden, a Democrat, called for calm and patience, Republican Trump, without offering evidence, said his opponents were engaging in fraud and election theft, accusations he has been making long before Election Day. Biden gains ground on Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania, edges closer to White House Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden gained more ground on President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania on Friday, edging closer to the White House hours after Trump falsely claimed the election was being "stolen" from him.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump takes fighting stance as election swings toward Biden

As former Vice President Joe Biden moved closer to winning the White House, President Donald Trump adopted a fighting posture on Thursday, making false claims to undermine a vote that was not going his way. While Biden, a Democrat, called for calm and patience, Republican Trump, without offering evidence, said his opponents were engaging in fraud and election theft, accusations he has been making long before Election Day.

Biden gains ground on Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania, edges closer to White House

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden gained more ground on President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania on Friday, edging closer to the White House hours after Trump falsely claimed the election was being "stolen" from him. Biden had a 253 to 214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the winner, according to most major television networks, and was inching toward securing the 270 votes needed to win the state-by-state Electoral College in four undecided swing states.

Trump campaign loses legal fights in Georgia and Michigan, vows Nevada lawsuit

President Donald Trump's campaign lost court rulings in the closely contested states of Georgia and Michigan on Thursday, even as it vowed to bring a new lawsuit challenging what it called voting irregularities in Nevada. In the Georgia case, the campaign alleged that 53 late-arriving ballots were mixed with on-time ballots. In Michigan, it had sought to stop votes from being counted and obtain greater access to the tabulation process.

U.S. coronavirus cases climb by record for second day in a row, up over 120,000

Coronavirus cases in the United States surged by at least 120,276 on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, the second consecutive daily record rise as the outbreak spreads in every region. U.S. cases have risen by over 100,000 for three out of the last seven days, putting pressure on hospitals in several states and causing families to rethink their plans for Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 26.

U.S. Postal Service says 1,700 ballots found in Pennsylvania facilities

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said about 1,700 ballots had been identified in Pennsylvania at processing facilities during two sweeps Thursday and were in the process of being delivered to election officials. In a court filing early Friday, USPS said about 1,070 ballots, had been found at the USPS Philadelphia Processing and Distribution Center. About 300 were found at the Pittsburgh processing center, 266 at a Lehigh Valley facility and others found at other Pennsylvania processing centers.

Trump and Biden protesters duel outside vote-counting centers in cliffhanger election

Backers of President Donald Trump, some carrying guns, ramped up demonstrations on Thursday night against what he has baselessly called a rigged election, in battleground states where votes were still being counted. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, although Trump supporters occasionally shouted with counterprotesters. Trump says the election is being stolen but there has been no evidence of fraud.

Philadelphia police probe alleged plot to attack vote counting venue

Philadelphia police said on Friday they are investigating an alleged plot to attack the city's Pennsylvania Convention Center, where votes from the hotly contested presidential election are being counted. Local police received a tip about a Hummer with armed people driving up from Virginia with plans to attack the convention center, a police representative said.

Judge denies Trump campaign bid to halt Philadelphia count

A federal judge denied an emergency request from U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign on Thursday to stop ballot counting in Philadelphia so long as Republican observers were not present. Trump's campaign had sued Philadelphia County's Board of Elections earlier in the day to seek an emergency injunction.

Georgia runoff gives new life to U.S. Senate bid of pastor of Martin Luther King's church

The pastor who now holds the pulpit where slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. once preached was thrust into the national spotlight this week when Georgia officials ruled his U.S. Senate campaign would be decided by a January runoff. The Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Black Democrat, faces an uphill battle in trying to unseat Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, a wealthy businesswoman who was appointed to the seat in the conservative-leaning state after its former occupant retired.

Democrats blame gerrymandering, campaign strategy for failure to flip state legislatures

Democrats spent $50 million trying to win control of state legislatures in 2020, but the effort mostly failed, cementing regional power in their more conservative Republican opponents over such issues as abortion, education and criminal justice. The losses also mean that in most of the 29 states with Republican-controlled legislatures, Democrats will not have a say in how Congressional districts are drawn when the once-a-decade process kicks off in 2021. That will make it more difficult for voters in more liberal areas of those states to elect their party's candidates to both the House of Representatives and statehouses for another 10 years.