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A dastardly plot is afoot to burn it all down by any means necessary. Sound familiar?Well ... we finally got to 5 November. Of course, you know the story. Once upon a time, there was a bad guy who wanted to set fire to a country's political system. Metaphorically, but also literally. I mean, he wasn't subtle, this guy. This Guy, I should say, because his name was Guy Fawkes. Why - who did you think I was talking about?Because time's a great healer, Britons now celebrate the thwarting of this truly awful Guy's insurrection with fireworks, fires and organised effigy-burning. But the good version of those things - not the kind we do when we go out of a football tournament in the later stages. We're still working on teasing out the family fun in those particular moments.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The race is still on the tightest of margins, yet our data also shows some odd and surprising demographic trendsThe final six public polls that have been released pretty much tell the same story as each other and the previous polls in October. The race to become the 47th president of the United States is on a razor-thin margin. Three of those last six polls were actual ties; one has Kamala Harris ahead by three points; the others have Donald Trump up by one point and two points.My own firm, John Zogby Strategies, just released a final survey for our clients of 1,005 decided voters nationwide showing Harris leading with 49.3% of the vote and Trump polling at 45.6% of the vote - a margin, or difference, of 3.7 percentage points.John Zogby is senior partner at the polling firm of John Zogby Strategies and is author of Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read the Polls and Why We Should Continue reading...

Gut bacteria changes from toxic forever chemicals' can decrease kidney function, research also suggestsA new study links toxic PFAS forever chemical" exposure in young adults to reduced gut health, which researchers suspect is a driver of kidney disease later in life.Kidney disease is one of the well-established health problems linked to PFAS exposure, and the new research suggests changes in gut bacteria and associated metabolites caused by the chemicals seems to be responsible for up to 50% of a decrease in kidney function seen over a four-year period. Continue reading...

We revisit the key moments of a political struggle that holds US democracy itself in the balance

AP's David Scott talks about how the newsroom predicts who won, the red mirage', and one county's whiteboardThe way the US counts votes is unique. In fact, there is no one central vote-counting system but rather tens of thousands of them in local precincts all across the country.To help determine who has won where, the Guardian and many other newsrooms rely on the Associated Press, which has been calling US elections since 1848. (Some television networks, such as CNN, use their own analysis of results to make race calls.) Continue reading...

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris delivered their closing arguments, holding duelling rallies across the battleground states well into the night, on the last day of campaigning before the US election.Harris was in Pennsylvania, the biggest swing state and crucial to the Democratic campaign. She held the final rally of her campaign at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Introduced by Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga, Harris emphasised her message of hope. 'We finish, as we started, with optimism, with energy, with joy,' she said. 'We need to get to work.'Trump struck a darker tone in the same state, with threats to put tariffs on all imports from Mexico unless it stopped people from entering the US. The Republican candidate also held hours-long events in North Carolina and Michigan

There will be countless tributes to the revered producer, but for me he evokes happy days growing up and the chaos of family partiesI don't have a lot of memories, especially from when I was young, but most that I do have involved music. And many of them relate to Quincy Jones, who has died aged 91. His music was woven through my childhood.Michael Jackson was ever-present, especially the music on his stratospheric three albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad, all produced by Jones. Jackson cut through racial divides, but there was also something very Black about the way he was celebrated in my household. In that simpler time, before the controversies that dogged his later life and legacy, Michael Jackson is just incredible" was a constant refrain. At family parties in the 90s and 00s, aunts and uncles would claim that he invented" the moonwalk and was the highest-selling musician ever". I never thought to factcheck any of this, because mixed with pride back then was an unmoving, objective certainty that held Jackson up as a reason why we were proud to be Black. He seemed not just African American, but a borderless kind of Black. Continue reading...

Hockey has a rocky history in Salt Lake City but fans are flocking to see its new franchise. The team hopes it can build long-term stabilityThe fact has become very clear to us this year that, economically, hockey just does not work in this market," Larry H Miller told a press conference in March 1994, announcing that he'd sold the minor league Salt Lake Golden Eagles to a group in Detroit headed by the then-owner of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. The Golden Eagles needed 7,000 people a game in the Delta Center, Miller told reporters that day, and if you look at the paid attendance, we're not quite halfway there." The fact was, Miller said, the natural, homegrown fanbase just isn't here."A couple of days later, some members of that small fanbase grumbled to the Salt Lake Tribune that, despite the financial picture, things could have turned around. Now is the time for hockey," Pat Kremers, president of the Screamin' Eagles Booster Club, told the paper, noting that the explosion in roller hockey and street hockey is just beginning." Others were more concerned about what would - or more specifically, wouldn't - come next. Now that there isn't any hockey in Salt Lake, how will there be any interest generated?" Darren Wack, the owner of Hockey Haven, a sports store, asked the paper's reporter. Continue reading...

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have tied with three votes each in the tiny New Hampshire town that traditionally kicks off voting on election day. Since the 1960s, voters in Dixville Notch, close to the Canadian border, have gathered just after midnight to cast their ballots. Votes are then counted and results announced - hours before other states open their polls. According to CNN, four registered Republicans and two undeclared voters took part in the vote just after midnight on Tuesday

We should know how some swing states voted before morning - and in certain scenarios the winner - whether Trump or Harris - should be apparentBy late on Tuesday or early on Wednesday, we may know who is going to be the next president of the United States. Or we may know that we don't yet know. Or we may know who's been projected as the winner but be bracing ourselves for weeks of legal action and protest. It's going to be that sort of night.A reminder of the basics: whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris is the next president will be decided by the electoral college, rather than a straight count of the national vote - meaning that the winner will be the person who gets to a simple majority of 270 of the 538 electors on offer across the 50 states, whether or not they get more votes than their opponent nationwide. Continue reading...

In east Germany, our history is shrouded in lies and silence. Until we break their hold, support for extremism will flourishIt was the autumn of 1989. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germans were fighting for their first chance to live in a democracy, after more than half a century of dictatorship, first Nazi then Soviet. There was a touch of magic in this new beginning; the possibility of redemption, confidence, happiness. People wanted to be part of the world again: to be free, to get going again, to do their own thing.Now, 35 years later, support for the far right in eastern Germany is growing steadily - and its rise seems unstoppable. How did this happen to a society of apparently newly optimistic go-getters?Ines Geipel is an academic, author and former GDR athlete. Her latest book is Behind the Wall: My Brother, My Family and Hatred in East GermanyDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: A guide to what we'll know, and when - with a serious warning attached: it might drag on for days Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. This time tomorrow, we may know who's going to be the next president of the United States. Or we may know that we don't yet know. Or we may know who's projected to win, but be bracing ourselves for weeks of enervating legal action and protest. It's going to be that sort of night, I'm afraid.There's been a bit of a sense in the last few days that momentum has been shifting towards Kamala Harris, but most respected polling dorks are treating that narrative with the same caution they viewed the one before that, which suggested a rush towards Donald Trump. The smart way to approach it is to remember that there is literally no need to make a prediction because we will have actual numbers very soon, and then get into a flotation tank and stick on some Sigur Ros.Education | University tuition fees in England are to go up for the first time in eight years, taking annual payments up to a record 9,535 per student, the government has announced. The inflation-linked rise, amid warnings of a deepening financial crisis in the sector, was coupled with an increase in student maintenance loans.Conservatives | Kemi Badenoch has appointed Robert Jenrick shadow justice secretary, with Mel Stride shadow chancellor and Priti Patel shadow foreign secretary, as she began to put together a frontbench team. But there were questions over whether Jenrick, who lost to Badenoch in the leadership contest, had initially sought another post.Brazil | Federal police in Brazil have formally charged the alleged mastermind of the murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira in the Amazon, accusing him of arming and funding the criminal group responsible for the crime.Social care | Care workers from countries such as India, Nigeria and the Philippines who faced losing their immigration status in the UK if they left their employers have been promised new protections under the migrant care workers charter.UK news | A teenager has been remanded in custody after he appeared in court charged with attempting to murder a 13-year-old girl and possessing a samurai sword. The 14-year-old was arrested after a girl was found with life-threatening injuries near Hull on Friday morning. Continue reading...

Republican nominee attacks critics and vilifies migrants while Democratic rival lays out positive vision for America

Kamala Harris is joined by Oprah and Lady Gaga in Philadelphia, while Trump celebrates an endorsement from podcaster Joe Rogan hours before polls open on 5 November

A rare moment of wistful self-reflection on the last day of campaigning in the US election gave way to trademark rants and insults

This live blog is now closed, you can follow the latest on our 2024 US election day live blog hereHere is a look back at some of the more memorable pictures of the 2024 US presidential campaign:In an interview with NBC News, Donald Trump did not rule out banning certain vaccines if he was elected to a second presidential term. Continue reading...

Voters from Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin voice their hopes and concerns on the eve of the 2024 US presidential election - and some seem to have had enough. 'I came here so I would not have to listen to any of it. I just want to get drunk today,' said Tabitha Carnow, a tourist in Las Vegas

Influential podcast host posts endorsement on X alongside link to interview with the great and powerful' Elon Musk

Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to get back control of the lower chamber - here's what to keep an eye on

As voting day approaches in America, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump remain neck-and-neck in the polls. Keep up with our guide to Australian TV coverage, live results, where to watch and more

Robert F Kennedy Jr, a potentially influential figure if Trump wins the US election, has called fluoride an industrial waste'Donald Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected, former independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr declared on Saturday.Kennedy, a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Trump has promised will take care of health" in his administration, made the declaration on X, claiming that fluoride was an industrial waste" linked to a variety of health conditions. Continue reading...

More and more divided' Shasta is grappling with baseless conspiracy theories of voter fraud and election denialismResidents of one of California's most conservative counties are bracing for a contentious election, as the community grapples with a thriving election denialism movement that has amplified conspiracy theories about voter fraud and made life increasingly difficult for election workers.In recent weeks, some residents of Shasta county, home to 180,000 people in the state's far north, have urged the county not to certify the election results while one official warned that if Donald Trump is cheated" out of the election, there would be a price" to pay. Continue reading...

Prosecutors had called sweepstakes a scam that violates state election law and asked for it to be shut down

Ex-president hurtles through four rallies across three states as vice-president puts focus on Pennsylvania

Storm expected to bring heavy rain to US Gulf coast later this weekForecasters posted a hurricane warning in the Caribbean on Monday afternoon after a late-season disturbance south of Cuba strengthened into Tropical Storm Rafael and set its sights on the US Gulf coast.The 17th named storm of an overactive Atlantic hurricane season will bring heavy rain to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before strengthening to a hurricane and probably hitting Cuba, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Continue reading...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration investigates discovery of remains of common dolphinThe butchered remains of a dolphin were found on a New Jersey beach, and federal authorities are investigating.The Marine Mammal Stranding Center, which responds to reports of dead or distressed marine animals that come ashore in New Jersey, said the remains of a common dolphin were found on Wednesday on the beach in Allenhurst, just north of Asbury Park. Continue reading...

Ex-Fox News host makes bizarre claim on Steve Bannon's podcast, days after saying a demon attacked him in his sleepDemons that Tucker Carlson claimed attacked him as he slept were also responsible for the invention of nuclear technology, the conservative former Fox News host said on Monday in another bizarre contention.Carlson made the claim on the War Room podcast hosted by his fellow rightwing extremist Steve Bannon, a former White House adviser in the Trump administration who was released from prison last week after serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. Continue reading...

One teenager found dead and one boy, 11, rescued alive after boat carrying three adults and three children capsizedThe United States Coast Guard has suspended a huge search for four boaters who went missing in northern California after their boat capsized over the weekend when search crews found an 11-year-old boy alive and recovered the body of a teenager, officials said on Monday.Crews began searching by land, sea and air on Saturday evening after the coastguard received a report that a 21ft boat carrying three adults and three children had failed to return to shore in Sonoma county, north of San Francisco, Chief Petty Officer Levi Readof the US Coast Guard said. Continue reading...

Suit, part of Newsom's effort to push back on what he sees as defiance of state laws, alleges ban violates fair housing lawsCalifornia filed a lawsuit against a Los Angeles suburb on Monday, alleging the city's recent moratorium on homeless shelters and temporary housing violated the state's fair housing and anti-discrimination laws.The lawsuit is part of an ongoing effort by Governor Gavin Newsom to push back against what he sees as local resistance and defiance of state laws in the face of California's desperate need for new housing. The crisis has prompted a surge in the homeless population in the country's most populous state. Continue reading...

Staunchly pro-Trump Uihleins gave anonymous survey to workers at Uline, headquartered in swing state of WisconsinThe Republican mega-donors Dick and Liz Uihlein, who are the third largest donors in this year's US presidential election, have sought information about who employees at their company Uline will be voting for in Tuesday's ballot.A screenshot seen by the Guardian shows how employees at the private Wisconsin paper and office products distributor were asked to take part in what was called an anonymous survey to track who the employees were voting for on 5 November. Continue reading...

Former US president has tried to distance himself from conservative guide for a second term. Here's what it is about and his links to itHeavyweight conservatives joined together to create a roadmap for a potential second Trump presidency, and they are working to recruit and train the people who would work in an incoming conservative administration.Project 2025 details across more than 900 pages how Trump and his allies could dismantle and disrupt the US government. It suggests ridding the federal ranks of many appointed roles and stacking agencies instead with more political appointees aligned with and more beholden to Trump's policy prescriptions. Continue reading...

Concerns about US democracy grow with the electoral college's role in enabling presidents to win without the popular vote, potentially benefiting Donald Trump in 2024The last two presidential elections have raised serious questions about the strength of American democracy and, unfortunately, Tuesday's election may deepen these concerns. Central to this issue is the electoral college, which allows Americans to elect their president indirectly through state-appointed electors. Though the electoral college has stirred controversy for more than 200 years, Donald Trump's 2016 victory - despite losing the popular vote by 3 million - intensified the sense that the system undermines democratic principles. It would be gut-wrenching to see the unhinged, vengeful and power-hungry Mr Trump win because of the electoral college's antidemocratic result.Yet that might happen. Post-civil war, four presidents - all Republicans - have lost the popular vote yet won the White House via the electoral college. Mr Trump's 2024 campaign has seemed intent on repeating this feat or creating enough chaos to push the election to the House of Representatives, where Republican delegations are likely to prevail. His strategy relies on divisive rhetoric, marked by inflammatory and often discriminatory themes. Rather than bridging divides, he aims to deepen them - seeking an electoral college win by rallying his most fervent supporters.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

On election day eve we checked in with the people, many in swing states, working to ensure all votes are countedIn Fulton county, Georgia, they're on guard for efforts to undermine democracy from Republican members of the state elections board. In Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, they're defending themselves as conspiracy theories swirl. And in Cochise county, Arizona, they're preparing to certify the results shortly after one of their colleagues pleaded guilty to refusing to do so in the last election.Election officials are the first line of defense for democracy this election - and their job is anything but easy.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

John Rodgers also received written reprimand for posting: If you support the Democrat Party I will not help you'An Ohio sheriff's lieutenant has apologized - and been merely reprimanded - after authoring social media posts boasting about how he would refuse to assist people who voted for Democrats during Tuesday's elections - and would require proof of a person's voting choice before providing aid.John Rodgers, a veteran lieutenant with the Clark county sheriff's office, reportedly posted on Facebook that he would consider a person's voting record when responding to calls for service in his jurisdiction, which includes the city of Springfield that has recently been at the center of conservative conspiracy theories, according to the Ohio news outlet WHIO. Continue reading...

Roughly 50,000 racing fans packed the grounds of Martinsville Speedway for the penultimate race of the Nascar season - as enthusiasm for another big American showdown reached a fever pitch Continue reading...

As the gender divide among US voters deepens, we're keen to hear from men and women in America what has influenced their current political standingThe 2024 presidential election has revealed deep divisions and polarisations across American society. The political gender divide, however, is perhaps the deepest: Donald Trump has a substantial lead among male voters, while female voters are flocking to Kamala Harris.It's a divide that is particularly pronounced among younger voters: a poll of six battleground states last month found a gender gulf of 51 points among gen Z voters. Continue reading...

Trump has warned of enormous tariffs for items imported into US, apparently to create more domestic jobsDonald Trump's social media company outsourced jobs to Mexico despite the Republican presidential candidate's threats to punish businesses who outsource jobs in such a fashion - and racist comments about Latinos during his campaign, ProPublica has reported.A spokesperson for the company, Trump Media, confirmed the outsourced jobs to ProPublica - whose report arrived amid the former US president's threats to impose steep tariffs on all items imported into the US, ostensibly to create more domestic jobs. Continue reading...

Challenges in key state aren't valid, says ACLU, and appear to be mass effort through mail-merge process

Sheehy, who is running in Montana, says he was shot during combat in Afghanistan, but ex-ranger says he shot himself at US national park

Georgia will be among the first key states to close at 7pm ET, while Hawaii and Alaska will collect ballots until 12am ETAfter a historic US election cycle that saw the incumbent president step down from his party's ticket and two assassination attempts against the Republican presidential nominee, voters are (finally) casting their ballots.Tens of millions of Americans will have already voted by the time that polls close on 5 November, but tens of millions more will cast ballots in person on election day. In 2020, more than 200 million Americans voted in the presidential race, as turnout hit its highest level since 1992. Continue reading...

From seeding doubt about voter fraud to using legal means, the efforts stand in contrast to last election's more haphazard efforts. Plus, authorities seize massive amounts of fentanyl in CaliforniaGood morning.Experts are preparing for Donald Trump to stage an aggressive attempt to challenge the election results if he appears to be losing Tuesday's vote, warning that such efforts will be far more organized than his attempt at overturning the result following the 2020 race.Just how close could the vote be? Analysts are predicting the closest election since 2000, when George W Bush won by 537 votes, and warning of the threat of civil unrest and political violence.Where will Trump and Harris be on the final day of campaigning? Harris will be in three cities in Pennsylvania; Trump will make appearances in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Continue reading...

Even if Trump can't really mobilize large numbers of people to the streets, just prolonging a sense of chaos might be enoughWhatever happens next, one day historians will have to explain why a candidate who earlier this year had been presented as disciplined started to veer off into unrestrained racist rhetoric and dancing for 40 minutes to his own playlist. Was it age, as plenty of commentators have speculated? Was it a brilliant attempt to balance dehumanizing attacks on minorities with an effort to make himself look human?A much more sinister explanation must be taken seriously. We still assume that we are witnessing two campaigns for the presidency. But what if we are witnessing one campaign and one slow-motion coup, whose organizers need to go through the motion of campaigning for the plan to work? Since winning at the ballot box does not matter, taking a break to listen to Pavarotti isn't a problem; conversely, a festival of racism and conspiracy theories, as at Madison Square Garden, is not about convincing any undecided voter, but motivating committed Trumpists to go along with another coup attempt. Continue reading...

The college basketball season tips off on Monday across the United States. Will the UConn men do a rare three-peat? Can anyone replace Caitlin Clark? Our writers weigh inThe dissolution of the Pac-12 means some new and unusual conference battles that look like midseason Sweet 16 matchups. UCLA v Indiana in Bloomington? Arizona v Kansas in Lawrence? Regular-season basketball in the Big Ten and Big 12 will either produce battle-tested teams for the NCAA tournament ... or exhausted ones. Gabriel Baumgaertner Continue reading...

City Of Troy did not take to the track when trailing home eighth behind Sierra Leone in the Breeders' Cup ClassicThe most predictable line in the aftermath of the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday was the one where Aidan O'Brien blamed himself for City Of Troy's failure to run to form - or, let's face it, to run any kind of race at all - in the meeting's showpiece event.He lost it at the start and obviously I didn't have him prepared to come out quick enough," O'Brien said. We thought we did, but we didn't. He missed it and left Ryan [Moore] with no chance, really." Continue reading...

Unlike 2020, experts say there's a much more organized effort to subvert the vote this time - here's what to knowDonald Trump has left little doubt that he will contest the results of the 2024 election if he loses.Election lawyers and voting rights experts are bracing for an aggressive effort by the former president in the days after the election to challenge the results while votes are still being counted. But unlike 2020, when Trump's effort after the election seemed a bit haphazard, experts say they're seeing a much more organized effort that stretches from the courts to local groups organizing election deniers to work the polls.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

The composer, arranger and producer who worked with stars from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson has died aged 91. We look back at his career highs Continue reading...