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Donald Trump appears to have the early advantage in the race for the White House as he is projected to win the first two crucial swing states.Kamala Harris is still in the running to be the first woman to become US president, but her path to victory seems to be narrowing. The pair went into the election neck and neck in the opinion polls and there were no major surprises in the early projected results.Follow live: Trump camp 'increasingly optimistic'Wins were predicted for Mr Trump in red states such as Florida and Texas and for Ms Harris in Democrat strongholds including New York and Massachusetts. The election is expected to come down to the seven battleground states as Mr Trump, 78, and Ms Harris, 60, look to hit the target of 270 electoral votes to become president. ...

Police in Tel Aviv have used water cannon on protesters demonstrating against the decision to sack Israel's defence minister, Yoav Gallant.He was dismissed on Tuesday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - the pair have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. Footage posted online shows crowds gathering on a motorway in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, blocking traffic and lighting fires.There have also been similar demonstrations in Jerusalem, Haifa, Caesarea, and other locations, according to The Times of Israel. Image: Police used water cannon to clear crowds. Pic: AP There have been regular rumours Mr Gallant was on the way out but refused to go. He had argued for a hostage deal in Gaza and clashed with other parties...

Millions of Americans are voting in an historic election that could put Donald Trump back into the White House or make Kamala Harris the first woman to become US president.The two candidates are neck and neck in the polls after bitter campaign that saw two assassination attempts against Republican Mr Trump as well as the shock withdrawal of President Joe Biden. In around 100 days, Ms Harris has found her feet and mounted a fierce challenge to her opponent.With just hours left before polls close, the election has come down to the wire and could be decided by a handful of crucial battleground states.Follow live: Harris makes surprise stop in Washington Voting on Tuesday appears to be smooth, with only scattered reports of delays from extreme weather, long lines or technical problems....

The contest to be president of the US takes place across 50 states (and the District of Columbia) but it is generally won or lost in a handful of key battlegrounds.The road to the White House this year runs through seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. With so much riding on perhaps as few as hundreds of thousands of voters in states like these, let's look at where they are.We will break down each state by how many Electoral College votes it awards (a candidate needs a total of 270 to win the presidency) how it voted in 2020 (election day was on 3 November 2020) and what time polls close (all times in eastern time).Arizona - 11 Electoral College votes - voted Democrat in 2020 Once considered a Republican stronghold, changing demograph...

Prince William has pledged to fight for better support for those who risk their lives to protect the world's wildlife.William was speaking at an event in Cape Town for his United for Wildlife organisation, set up by the Prince's charitable foundation in 2014 to help protect endangered species from the illegal wildlife trade. Passionately describing the day to day risks that wildlife rangers face he said: "Rangers are fundamental if we are to meet our global conservation targets for 2030 and prevent the dangerous tipping points that threaten our planet."These people do far more than protect wildlife. They are educators. They are community supporters. And they help regulate the sustainable use of natural resources."Yet, far too often, they lack sufficient support, with rangers in particular ...

Ukraine has begun firing on North Korean troops inside Russia for the first time since they were deployed in the conflict, a Kyiv official said.They added that Pyongyang's units were struck in the Kursk region of Russia following a deployment that was criticised by the US and Ukraine's other Western allies. US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments say up to 12,000 North Korean combat troops are being sent by Pyongyang to the war under a pact with Moscow.Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine's Security Council, wrote on Telegram: "The first North Korean troops have already been shelled, in the Kursk region."He provided no further details. Western governments had expected that the North Korean soldiers would be sent to Kursk border region i...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired his defence minister Yoav Gallant.The move comes 14 months into the Middle East war sparked by the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Mr Netanyahu said a "crisis of trust" had developed between him and Mr Gallant.He said there had been too many "significant gaps" between them over the management of Israel's wars."In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister," Mr Netanyahu said. "Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister."The two have regularly been at odds over the handling of the Gaza war.A previous attempt to fire Mr ...

Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Conor McGregor "in effect raped" a woman who suffered a "violent and vicious assault" at his hands, jurors at Dublin's High Court have been told.The woman is claiming civil damages against the Irish fighter and another man, James Lawrence, alleging they sexually assaulted her in December 2018.As a jury was sworn in on Tuesday, Justice Alexander Owens told them it is alleged that the men had "in effect raped her".But lawyers for the fighter, nicknamed "notorious", accused her of attempted "extortion".McGregor and the plaintiff knew each other, had mutual friends, and had occasionally been in contact on social media, John Gordon SC, the woman's lawyer, said.She "was no angel", Mr Gordon said, and after going out with friends in the city on the night of ...

A TikTok star has announced her death from cancer in a poignant pre-recorded video.Bella Bradford, 24, created a final goodbye for her followers on the social media platform after months of sharing details of life as a young woman living with a rare form of the disease."I'm really sad to be making this video," she said. "As we all know, I have terminal cancer and unfortunately my life has, by now, come to an end, and I've passed away."The video was a final "Get Ready With Me" post, often used by influencers to share fashion and beauty content. Image: Bella shared fashion and beauty updates, as well as details of her cancer treatment. Pic: @bellabradford0 Bella told her followers she wanted to do "one final 'Get Ready With M...

The world's first wooden satellite has been launched into space.The satellite, designed by Japanese researchers, was launched on Tuesday. Experts hope to test how timber can be used in the exploration of the moon and Mars.LignoSat will be flown to the International Space Station (ISS) on a SpaceX mission before it's released into Earth's orbit.Takao Doi, an astronaut who studies human space activities at Kyoto University, said using renewable materials would allow humans to "build houses, live and work in space forever". Aiming to plant trees and build houses from timber on the moon and Mars in 50 years, Mr Doi's team set about designing the NASA-certified satellite. Image: Engineering model of LignoSat. Pic: REUTERS/Irene Wang ...