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Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn all told the Washington Examiner that Attorney General William Barr should appoint a special counsel to look into any allegations of wrongdoing.

"I certainly think it should be investigated, and I think a special counsel may well be warranted," Hawley told the Examiner. "My bottom line is I think the investigation needs to continue uninterrupted. So if it takes a special counsel to do that, then I'd be for it."

"Well, I think I'm not a big fan of special counsels, but I'm worried if Trump loses the election, then that will all be just swept under the rug," Cornyn told the Examiner.

Johnson agreed with Cornyn's assessment of special counsels, but argued that this situation could be different.

"In this case, it might be the only solution to make sure that we finally get to the bottom of this," said Johnson. "Again, it all depends on the election result, but that might be appropriate in this situation."

Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called for a Justice Department investigation instead of a special counsel, according to the Examiner.

"I've studied this thing long enough. You don't need a special counsel. Just go with the normal process," said Grassley.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for more seats to be added to the Supreme Court — shortly after Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as the newest justice on the bench Monday evening.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted:
"Republicans do this because they don't believe Dems have the stones to play hardball like they do. And for a long time they've been correct. But do not let them bully the public into thinking their bulldozing is normal but a response isn't. There is a legal process for expansion."

It is believed Barrett — President Trump's third appointment to the court — will cement a conservative majority for decades, infuriating Democrats. Senate Republicans pushed through Barrett's nomination on a near party-line vote, with unanimous opposition from Dems.

Here are other responses:

Though she won the popular vote in 2016, Clinton lost the electoral college by 77 votes, with Trump scoring 304 votes over her 227.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters that arms sales to Taiwan "violate the 'One-China' principle'" and "seriously damage the Chinese-US relations and the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

"China will take appropriate and necessary measures to firmly safeguard its national sovereignty and security interests."

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Chancellor Angela Merkel: 'Restrictions serve to protect our citizens and vulnerable groups in particular'

Germany on Wednesday ordered a new round of shutdowns for the cultural and leisure as well as food and drink sectors, in a bid to halt a surge in new coronavirus infections.

The tough restrictions to come into force from Monday November 2 to the end of the month would limit contact outdoors to people from two households.

Deserted shops in the town of Eggenfelden, Bavaria

Schools, daycare centres and shops will remain open, but hotel stays will be allowed only for "necessary and expressedly non-tourism purposes".

Bars, cafes and restaurants must shut, although takeaways and delivery services can continue.

Professional sports, including Bundesliga football, have also been pushed back behind closed doors.

Theatres, operas and cinemas will also have to scrap their shows during what is traditionally their busiest season.

Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged that the measures are "strict and arduous" but she urged a "national effort".

At the the current rate of new infections, "we will reach the limits of the health system," she warned.

The number of new cases had doubled today from a week ago, while the number of people in intensive care has also doubled in the last 10 days, she noted.

"The curve must be flattened again... so that contact tracing can be once again carried out," she said, adding that in three out of four cases today, officials are no longer able to determine where the transmission occurred.

New daily record

Europe's biggest economy coped relatively well with the first coronavirus wave earlier in the year but numbers have risen rapidly in recent weeks, in step with the rest of the continent.

The tally of new daily cases now regularly crosses the 10,000 mark, and hit a new 24-hour record of 14,964 on Wednesday, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control.

That is still well below figures seen in neighbouring France, where daily cases have topped 50,000, or Belgium where hospitals are reaching capacity.

But the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care in Germany has also surged, from just under 400 in early October to 1,570 by Wednesday.

Health Minister Jens Spahn, who is working from home after testing positive for the virus, said urgent action was required.

"If we wait until the intensive care beds are full, then it will be too late," he told regional broadcaster Suedwestrundfunk.

'We'll go bankrupt'

With a new shutdown to once again inflict the hardest blow to sectors which took the most painful hit in the spring, Merkel's government will offer 10 billion euros ($12 billion) in aid.

Merkel's government will offer the citizens it is locking down 10 billion euros of money that will ultimately need to be paid back via their taxes, how considerate.

The help targeted not only at businesses and associations but also thousands of self-employed people will reimburse up to 75 percent of comparable revenues a year ago.

But employees and bosses in the worst-hit industries marched on Wednesday in protest at new restrictions, while the federation of wholesalers and trade warned that shutting restaurants would sound the death knell for many small companies.

Pascal Reichsten, 23, who works at a bouncer, said he had been out of work for seven months.

"I do this job to pay my school fees. But I can no longer afford it because I have no more work," he said at the Berlin protest.

Cordula Weidenbach, 45, whose company rents furniture for exhibitions, meanwhile told AFP that the firm's revenues have almost completely collapsed.

"If it goes on like that, we'll go bankrupt."

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