First: Harris and Trump chase swing state votes as campaign nears climax | US News

Good morning

As the 2024 presidential election nears its climax on Tuesday, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump continue to rush through swing states, mobilizing voters in hopes of being sworn into the most powerful office in the world on January 20, 2025.

On Thursday, both candidates held rallies in the swing state of Nevada. There was a happy atmosphere at Harris' rally: mothers carried their children, supporters wore Halloween costumes and Jennifer Lopez performed. “We're not going back!” People chanted.

At Trump's event, supporters cheered the demonization of immigrants, mocked the “fake news” media and broke into chants of “Fight!” Fight! Fight!” Meanwhile, Trump said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could be “influential figures” if he wins.

• What do the surveys show? It's unclear. Nationally, Harris is at 47% and Trump is at 46%, but because of the Electoral College it will come down to a few swing states. It's a head-to-head race.

• How many have already voted? More than 65 million people have cast their votes (as of October 31 at 11:00 p.m. EST).

• How do you spend a billion dollars on election funding? Check out Richard Luscombe's article on where the money actually goes.

About 8,000 North Korean soldiers on the border with Ukraine, the US says

About 8,000 North Korean troops are stationed in Russia on the border with Ukraine, the US secretary of state said, warning that Moscow was preparing to deploy those troops into combat “in the coming days.”

Antony Blinken said the U.S. estimated that North Korea had sent a total of 10,000 troops to Russia, initially stationing them at training bases in the Far East before sending the bulk to the Kursk region on the border with Ukraine.

The deployment could expand Europe's largest land war since World War II into a multi-regional conflict and increase rising tensions between North and South Korea on the Korean peninsula.

• Here's what the US envoy to the United Nations said: Robert Wood bluntly warned that Pyongyang's forces that invaded Ukraine “would certainly return in body bags.”

• Ukraine is preparing for the outcome of the US presidential election: In an interview with the Guardian in May, Volodymyr Zelensky said he “doesn't yet have a strategy” for what to do if Trump returns to the White House, although he did suggest the outlines of a plan based on an appeal to the candidate's vanity based.

Israel's widespread attacks indicate a “rejection” of the ceasefire, says Lebanon's prime minister

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati criticized Israel's “expansion” of its attacks on the country, saying they suggested efforts to negotiate a ceasefire after more than a month of war would be rejected, Agence France-Presse reports.

“The renewed expansion of the Israeli enemy's aggression into Lebanese regions, its repeated threats to the population to evacuate entire towns and villages, and its renewed attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut with destructive raids are all indicators that confirm the Israeli position. “It is the rejection of all efforts by the enemy to ensure a ceasefire,” Mikati said in a statement after overnight raids in the southern suburbs in the first attack this week Beirut came.

Reuters reports that a US envoy this week asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire with Israel to help negotiate a solution to the more than year-long conflict, a senior Lebanese political source and a senior diplomat said the agency.

• How many people in Lebanon were killed in the conflict? According to the country's Ministry of Health, more than 2,800 people have been killed and 13,000 injured since October 8, 2023.

In other news…

• Striking Boeing workers will vote on an improved contract offer on Mondaywhich includes a 38% salary increase over four years and a larger signing bonus.

• Not a single country has contributed to reparations for the victims and survivors of Ugandan warlord Dominic Ongwenalthough the International Criminal Court awarded 52.4 million euros in February.

• Reducing sugar levels in children can protect them from diabetes and high blood pressure in adulthoodwith research suggesting a 35% reduction in type 2 diabetes and a 20% reduction in high blood pressure.

Stat of the day: $700 San Francisco “pod” with privacy curtains and charging ports

A company that rents out “sleeping cubicles” for $700 a month in downtown San Francisco has had 300 people apply for the remaining 17 beds, the company's CEO said. Brownstone Shared Housing's bunk bed-like “pods” measure approximately 3.5 feet x 4 feet x 6.5 feet, making them large enough to accommodate a double mattress. The pods are equipped with privacy curtains, interior lighting and charging ports.

Don't miss this: “I finished my art degree at the age of 90.”

“I have always had a passion for art, but I had no money and with 13 children to support and raise, becoming an artist was not an option. I was 83 when I finally enrolled in art school,” says Miguel Ángel Gallo. “My only problem was that some teachers didn’t take me seriously in the first year.”

Climate check: Trump's presidency could “paralyze” the Paris climate agreement, warns UN chief

The world needs the US to stay in the international climate process to avoid a “crippling” Paris agreement, the UN secretary general has warned, amid fears that Donald Trump would exclude the country from the agreement for a second time. António Guterres said it would be like losing a limb or an organ.

Last Thing: “Brat” voted Collins Word of the Year

Collins Dictionary lexicographers have named “brat” the word of the year for 2024, following the word “AI” in 2023. Collins selected brat based on a new definition: “Characterized by a confident, independent and hedonistic attitude.”

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