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The latest report on the economy showing a contraction of 11.5 percent in the third quarter is not at all surprising. Rather, the gross domestic product (GDP) figures simply tell us that the economy has bottomed out in the second quarter and that it has slowed down its descent in the succeeding three months.

Major TV networks in the US have projected that former Vice President Joseph Biden will become the 46th president of the United States. And while President Donald Trump has so far refused to concede as he exhausts legal remedies, world leaders have started sending their words of congratulations to the new leader of the United States. Our own President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has extended his “warm congratulations” to President-elect Biden on his victory.

The US presidential election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2020, right about the time this column goes to print. American voters will choose between the incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger former Vice President Joe Biden. As has been the case in past elections, this 2020 edition has proved to be a very divisive, contentious, and brutal democratic exercise for the US. The raging pandemic in the US, racial injustice and violence, allegations of Chinese, Iranian, and Russian interventions all add to the tensions.