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Bolivian Armed Forces commander-in-chief General Gerardo Zabala, speaking in La Paz on 1 November, about earlier instances where soldiers were taken hostages after a barracks was stormed in central Chapare province. Photo: AFP/ Aizar Raldes An armed group has taken control of a military post in central Bolivia and is holding more than 200 personnel hostage. The Bolivian military said that an "irregular armed group" had kidnapped military personnel and seized weapons and ammunition from the base situated near the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba. The Bolivian Foreign Ministry said more than 200 military personnel had been taken hostage during the incident. Bolivian president Luis Arce said the armed group was "affiliated" with former president Evo Morales, but did not offer evidence f...

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris steps off Air Force Two upon arrival at Charlotte Douglas International Airport with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's plane in the background in Charlotte, North Carolina, on 3 November 2024. Photo: AFP / Charly Triballeau The two United States presidential candidates will head to North Carolina on Sunday (NZT) to try and clinch support in the battleground state. It will be the fourth day in a row that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump visit the same state on the same day. North Carolina is one of seven swing states where opinion polls are on a knife's edge, with just three days until the election. More than 70 million Americans have already cast the...

By Susana Vera and Guillermo Martinez Locals struggle to clean up after flooding in the town of Massanassa, in Valencia, eastern Spain. Photo: AFP / Jose Jordan The deadliest flash floods in Spain's modern history have killed at least 211 people and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. In a televised statement, Sanchez said the government was sending 5000 more army troops to help with the searches and clean-up in addition to 2500 soldiers already deployed. "It is the biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime," Sanchez said. "The government is going to mobilize all the resources necessary as long as they are needed." The tragedy is already Europe's worst flood-rel...

Photo: AFP / Kamil Krzaczynski By Antoinette Radford and Zachary B. Wolf, CNN Seven states are expected to be key to electing the next president of the United States: Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. So what is a battleground state, and why is their vote so important? There are 538 Electoral College votes split among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each state gets at least three votes, depending on the size of their congressional delegation. Congressional seats are assigned to each state based on their population. So, the smallest states get three electoral college votes (they have two senators and one member of Congress). Washington, DC, also gets three. The most populous states get a lot more: California gets 54 electoral votes...

By Vyshnavee Wijekumar, ABC Entertainment The Diplomat has returned for season two on Netflix. It's already been renewed for season three. Photo: Supplied / Netflix With the US presidential elections around the corner, it's never been a better time to tune into a political drama. The Diplomat - which has just dropped its second season - is the sharply funny and fast-paced thriller you need in your life; and parallels with real-life events makes this an even more compelling watch. And the world agrees, with season one debuting at No.1 on the streaming charts, and appearing in the Netflix Top 10 in 86 different countries. As the title suggests, the protagonist here is ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell; The Americans), a career diplomat who's spent most of her working life in boots-on...