A volcano in eastern Indonesia has erupted, sending ash and fireballs into nearby villages, burning down several houses. At least 10 people have died.

The Qatar-based media outlet Al Jazeera reported on Monday (November 4).

Authorities said that Mount Leotobi Laki-Laki, two volcanoes located at an altitude of 1,703 meters (5,587 feet) on the popular tourist island of Flores, began erupting after midnight on Monday. Villagers were then ordered to evacuate. But many did not obey. Several houses later burned down, killing 10 people.

Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the country's disaster mitigation agency, confirmed the death toll at a news conference. He said that 10,295 people were affected by the eruption. It is not yet clear how many have been rescued. The toll is still rising.

The country's volcanology agency has raised the alert level to the highest level and has asked locals and tourists to avoid activities within a seven-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius of the eruption.

A press release from the agency on Monday said there has been a "significant increase in volcanic activity at Mount Leotobi Laki-Laki."

It warned that rain could increase lava flows and urged locals to wear masks to avoid exposure to volcanic ash.

The mountain had several major eruptions in January, prompting authorities to issue the highest level of alert at the time and urge at least 2,000 residents to evacuate.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, is prone to frequent eruptions due to its location on the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire." It is an area prone to intense volcanoes and earthquakes.

US election today. In addition to English, four languages have been included in the ballot paper of New York City in this election. Among these, Bengali language has been included. The remaining three languages are - Chinese, Spanish and Korean.

According to the news agency PTI, Bengali is also included in the ballot paper of the state of New York along with other languages. According to the report, Bengali is the first among the Asian-Indian languages to be printed on the ballot paper of New York.

Michael J. Ryan, executive director of the New York State branch of the Board of Elections, the organization that conducts elections in the United States, gave this information in a press briefing on Monday.

At a briefing held in New York City, the main city of New York, Ryan said, 'For the convenience of immigrant voters, the Board of Elections New York branch has decided to include four languages along with English. These languages are Chinese, Spanish, Korean and Bengali.'

In response to a question in the briefing, Michael J. Ryan said, "I understand that other Indian speakers may be upset by choosing only Bengali (for the ballot paper) and excluding other Indian languages, but we had no other choice."

It is worth noting that a case was filed in a New York court two years ago under the US Voting Rights Act, 1965. The plaintiffs demanded that ballot papers be issued in at least one immigrant language in addition to English in areas where there is a large number of immigrants in New York.

Later, the decision to publish ballot papers in these four languages was taken based on an agreement between the New York state administration and the plaintiffs.

Earlier, Bengali ballots were introduced in the Queens state of the country considering immigrants.

Incidentally, the state of New York in the United States is inhabited by immigrants. A large part of the country's total immigrants live in various cities of this state, including New York City. Of all the Bengalis living in the country, 40 percent live in New York. Overall, lakhs of Bangladeshis can exercise their voting rights across the United States. In this situation, it is believed that the New York administration has decided to use the Bengali language on the ballot for the convenience of Bangladeshi voters.

The US election is full of last-minute excitement. For the second time, Republican candidate Donald Trump or Democratic candidate Kamala Harris will occupy the White House as the first female president in the country's history. That answer will be available in a few hours.

In the meantime, more than 8 crores votes have been cast in the early voting period that began on October 27 in the country. Out of the 50 states, 43 are established as Democrat blue or Republican red states. The victory or defeat of these states is pretty much certain. As a result, the main factor in the election has emerged in 7 swing states.

These states are - Nevada, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona and Pennsylvania. The two US candidates have campaigned non-stop in these states.

According to analysts, when the final results of this year's US election will be known depends on how close the competition between the two candidates was.

In the United States, there is a possibility of victory or defeat for both parties in the 'swing states'. If the results of those states are not final, we may have to wait to know the final results of the election. If the vote difference in these states is very small, the announcement of the results may be delayed a bit. However, if a candidate is ahead by a large margin in these states, then it will be possible to know the final results of the election quickly.

However, analysts said that among the swing states, Pennsylvania will determine who will get the keys to the White House. One of the reasons for this is that it is a large state. It has 19 electoral colleges. In general, almost everyone is saying that the party that wins the electoral votes in this state will win. However, it is worth mentioning that in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, Pennsylvania's Electoral College support was in favor of Donald Trump.

It is worth noting that the number of eligible voters in America is more than 23 crores. The number of registered voters in this election is about 16 crores. The voter turnout in the last 2020 election was 66 percent, which was the highest in the last century. About 10 crores votes were cast in advance that time.

The most talked about, controversial US presidential election is only a day away. The biggest question now is whether the White House will be handed over to a woman after 235 years, or whether Donald Trump will be coming to power for the second time. The answer to that question will be found tomorrow, Tuesday (November 5). But there is no guarantee that the candidate who receives the most votes will win. The reason is that voters do not directly elect the president. The US presidential election is held in a system called the 'Electoral College'.

What is the 'Electoral College'?

There are a total of 538 electors in the 50 states of America. 270 votes are needed to seize power. But many times, it is seen that a candidate loses in the end despite getting more popular votes. Two examples of this in recent history are the two Democratic candidates, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, who lost in the 2000 and 2016 presidential elections in this way.

A candidate who wins a majority of the votes in a state wins all of the votes in that state. For example, California has 55 electoral votes. Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, whichever wins the most votes in that state, will win all 55 electoral votes in that state. On December 13, the electors will gather in the state capital to vote for their party's candidate. However, this stage of the election is purely ceremonial. The public vote on November 5 will determine whether the Republican or Democrat candidate wins.

How does the Electoral College work?

Each state has a number of electoral votes, roughly proportional to its population.

California has the most, 54, and states with very small populations, such as Wyoming, Alaska, and North Dakota (and Washington, D.C.), have at least three electoral votes.

States usually award their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the state's popular vote.

For example, if a candidate in California wins 50.1 percent of the state's popular vote, that candidate will receive all 40 electoral votes in that state. Even if the margin of victory in a state is large, the winning candidate will still receive that many electoral votes.

Reasons for the Electoral College Controversy

The main disadvantage of voting in the electoral system is that at times there is a difference between the public opinion of the whole country and the number of electors. As happened in 2016. That time, in terms of the popular vote, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received 48.2 percent of the vote, and Republican candidate Donald Trump received 46.1 percent of the vote. In other words, Hillary lost the Electoral College vote despite receiving 2.1 percent more votes than Trump. He received 227 electoral votes, but Trump received 304. Trump was able to capture the White House only because Republican strongholds like Texas and swing states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina, which had large electoral votes, went to Trump.

George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in 2000, although his margin of victory in the popular vote was more than half a million. Before those two, only three other people have been elected president of the United States without winning the popular vote. But those were events of the 19th century.

Since each state has a different number of votes, candidates plan their election campaigns in such a way that they prioritize the states with the most votes.

What could happen this time

Opinion polls say that Kamala Harris is going to have a tough fight with Trump. But according to election analysts, Trump is ahead in the Electoral College vote. Nevada, Arizona, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin—these “uncertain” states will decide whether Trump returns to the White House or not.

Although the presidential election is on November 5, early voting has begun in America since October 27. Already, more than 8 crore voters in the country have exercised their democratic rights. The number of eligible citizens in America is more than 23 crores. The number of registered voters in this election is about 16 crores. The voter turnout in the last 2020 election was 66 percent, which was the highest in the last century. That time, about 10 crore votes were cast in advance.