Wednesday briefing: Trump wins in Georgia and North Carolina put Harris on the brink

In today's newsletter: A bleak night for Kamala Harris is still developing, with the first swing states called for her opponent and others trending his way, while her party lost control of the Senate

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Good morning. The votes are still being counted, and it is not yet possible to call the winner of the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. But the pattern of votes cast so far suggests that Trump is a very strong favourite to win. He has been called as the winner of key states North Carolina and Georgia. The remaining battlegrounds are not yet decided, but he currently appears on course to win all five of them, and could win the popular vote. While there is still a theoretical path for Harris, it looks very remote.

Trump is expected to address his supporters soon. Harris did not appear at her HQ at Howard University, and her campaign told supporters that she would speak on Wednesday morning.

Swing states go to Trump | Donald Trump won the key states of North Carolina and Georgia, leaving Kamala Harris needing wins in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to prevail.

Live results | Follow along with our live tracker to get all the results as they come in across the day in every state, and for every House of Representatives seat.

Harris HQ | The mood was sombre at Howard University, where Harris supporters gathered, as it was confirmed the vice-president would not be speaking - and with hopes that she could be the first president to graduate from a historically Black college diminishing.

Senate | Republicans have retaken the Senate, achieving what was billed in advance as the most attainable goal for the party in this year's election. They picked up seats in West Virginia and Ohio, and are now in a position to confirm any potential Supreme Court picks in the event of a Trump victory.

TV | Boris Johnson was fired for banging on about his book" during a guest appearance on Channel 4's coverage of the US election, according to the programme's co-host Krishnan Guru-Murthy. The former UK prime minister had repeatedly tried to turn conversation to his book during discussions of the US election.