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Donald Trump has declared victory in the US election as he addressed jubilant supporters in Florida – but votes in key states are still being counted.

Speaking at West Palm Beach, he told crowds: “Look what happened – is this crazy?” – adding: “I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th president.

“I will fight for you and your family and your future, every single day I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body.”

He told the crowd it was a “magnificent victory for the American people” while claiming he had also won the popular vote, something he failed to secure during his 2016 and 2020 presidential bids.

Mr Trump thanked 'my beautiful wife Melania'. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Mr Trump thanked ‘my beautiful wife Melania’. Pic: Reuters

“Winning the popular vote was very nice, it’s a great feeling of love,” he said.

The 78-year-old also told his supporters that “this will truly be the golden age of America”.

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks following early results from the 2024 U.S. presidential election in Palm Beach County Convention Center, in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 6, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
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It’s a ‘magnificent victory for the American people’, Mr Trump said. Pic: Reuters


Mr Trump has won in the key battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina – and is leading in several others – narrowing Kamala Harris’s path to victory significantly.

According to Sky News’s US partner network NBC, Mr Trump, who has been bidding for a second term in the White House following his win in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, is now just four electoral votes away from a projected win.

While the Republican Party’s win of the Senate has been confirmed, the House is still up for grabs.

Donald Trump
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Mr Trump claimed he also won the popular vote, something he previously failed to secure

“We overcame obstacles that no one thought possible,” Mr Trump said as family, including “my beautiful wife Melania” and his “amazing” children, stood next to him.

“We’re going to help our country heal, we have a country that needs help and it needs help very badly,” he said while doubling down on his promise to crack down on illegal immigration.

Mr Trump then seemed to refer to an attempted assassination on him at a rally in Pennsylvania back in July as he said: “Many people have told me that god has spared my life for a reason and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness and now we are going to fulfill that mission together.”

US election latest: Trump projected key wins

Ms Harris will now not address her supporters until later on Wednesday, her campaign chair has said.

The vice president had been scheduled to make a speech at her alma mater, Howard University, after the polls closed, but the mood grew sombre as results began to trickle in.

Donald Trump. Pic: Eric Trump
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Donald Trump moments before addressing his supporters. Pic: Eric Trump

Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris campaign, told the crowds at the university: “We will continue overnight to fight to make sure, every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken.

“So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight but you will hear from her tomorrow. She will be back here tomorrow.”

Cedric Richmond addresses attendees at the rally for U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, at Howard University, in Washington, U.S., November 6, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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Cedric Richmond tells Harris supporters she will not be speaking tonight. Pic: Reuters

The Howard community had been preparing for a historic night – Ms Harris would become the first woman, black woman and South Asian American to assume the presidency, if elected.

But in the 21 remaining states where more than 80% of the vote has been counted, there has been a swing towards Mr Trump, NBC News reports.

In seven of them, the swing is less than one point.

Read more:
Attempts to overturn Florida abortion ban fail
America’s night of historic firsts
What are the seven key battleground states?

The largest swings – of more than five points – are in New Jersey and Florida.

No other state has a swing higher than three points.

World reacts to looming Trump victory

World leaders have started reacting to Mr Trump’s speech, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tweeting: “Congratulations president-elect Trump on your historic election victory.

“I look forward to working with you in the years ahead,” he said.

“As the closest of allies, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise.

“From growth and security to innovation and tech, I know that the UK-US special relationship will continue to prosper on both sides of the Atlantic for years to come.”

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK and a longtime supporter of Mr Trump, tweeted: “He’s done it again. The most incredible political comeback of our lifetime.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will have been closely watching the election as he seeks continued support from the US over his war against the Hamas militant group in Gaza, said on X: “Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, another leader who has been counting on renewed US support as he seeks to fend of Russia’s full-scale invasion of his country, also congratulated Mr Trump over his looming victory, which he described as “impressive”.

Mr Zelenskyy said on X he appreciated Mr Trump’s “commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach” to global affairs and the principle could “bring just peace in Ukraine closer”.

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Two bridges collapse in Russia – as seven people killed and dozens injured

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Two bridges collapse in Russia - as seven people killed and dozens injured

Seven people have been killed and dozens are injured after two bridges collapsed in Russia overnight.

A train derailed after a bridge collapsed on to it in the Bryansk region, killing the driver and six others.

Some 69 people were injured in the crash, with the train travelling from Moscow to Klimov at the time.

Earlier, local authorities blamed “illegal interference” for the incident.

Later, a bridge collapsed in Russia’s Kursk region while a freight train was passing over it.

Local officials said one of the train’s drivers was injured in the crash.

When a bridge collapsed in the Kursk region, part of the train fell down onto the road, and a fire started. Pic: RIA/Telegram
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The scene of the train crash in Kursk region. Pic: RIA/Telegram

Russia’s Baza Telegram channel, which often publishes information from sources in the security services and law
enforcement, reported, without providing evidence, that the bridge in Bryansk was blown up, according to initial information.

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There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Since the start of the war that Russia launched more than three years ago, there have been continued cross-border shelling, drone strikes, and covert raids by Ukrainian forces into the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions that border Ukraine.

Photo: Official Telegram channel of the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office
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Pic: Moscow Transport Prosecutor’s Office

Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said: “Everything is being done to provide all necessary assistance to the victims.”

Emergency workers are at the scene of the train derailment, attempting to pull survivors from the wreckage.

Russia’s federal road transportation agency said the destroyed bridge passed above the railway tracks where the train was travelling.

Images from the scene show passenger cars ripped apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge.

Other footage on social media appeared to be taken from inside vehicles which narrowly avoided driving onto the bridge before it collapsed.

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At least 21 killed in Gaza as they went to receive aid, Red Cross hospital says

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At least 21 killed in Gaza as they went to receive aid, Red Cross hospital says

At least 21 people have been killed in Gaza as they went to receive aid from an Israeli-backed foundation, according to a nearby hospital run by the Red Cross.

The hospital, which received the bodies, said another 175 people had been wounded in the incident in Rafah on Sunday morning.

The Associated Press also reports seeing dozens of people being treated at the hospital.

Witnesses have said those killed and injured were struck by gunfire which broke out at a roundabout near the distribution site.

The area is controlled by Israeli forces.

Ibrahim Abu Saoud, an eyewitness, said Israeli forces opened fire at people moving toward the aid distribution centre.

“There were many martyrs, including women,” the 40-year-old man said. “We were about 300 meters (yards) away from the military.”

Abu Saoud said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who he said had died at the scene. “We weren’t able to help him,” he said.

The Gazans had been trying to receive aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – an American organisation backed by both the US and Israeli governments.

It operates as part of a controversial aid system which Israel and the US claims is aimed at preventing Hamas from siphoning off assistance.

Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion, and the UN denies it has occurred.

Earlier, Hamas-linked media had also reported more than 20 deaths in Rafah, saying they were as a result of an Israeli strike on an aid distribution point. Israel is yet to comment.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution of aid has been marred by chaos, and multiple witnesses have said Israeli troops fired on crowds near the delivery sites.

UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles because it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, risking yet more mass displacement in the territory.

Before Sunday, at least six people had been killed and more than 50 wounded, according to local health officials.

The foundation says the private security contractors guarding its sites did not fire on the crowds, while the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots.

The foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the hospital’s claims.

In an earlier statement, it said it distributed 16 truckloads of aid early on Sunday “without incident”. It dismissed what it referred to as “false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos”.

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Israel confirms Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar was killed – as group makes counter-offer on ceasefire

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Israel confirms Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar was killed - as group makes counter-offer on ceasefire

Israel has confirmed its forces have killed Hamas’s Gaza chief, Mohammad Sinwar, as US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff called the group’s counter-offer on a ceasefire “totally unacceptable”.

Mohammad Sinwar became the leader of the militant group in the Gaza Strip after his older brother Yahya Sinwar was killed last October.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it had killed Sinwar on 13 May, and was the target of a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza.

Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament on Wednesday that he had been “eliminated”.

A handout image of Mohammed Sinwar from December 2023. Pic: Israeli Army / Reuters
Image:
A handout image of Mohammed Sinwar from December 2023. Pic: Israeli Army / Reuters

Who was ‘The Shadow’ Mohammed Sinwar?

Mohammed Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahyah Sinwar, the former leader of Hamas and mastermind behind the 7 October attacks, who was killed by IDF forces in Rafah last October.

In January of this year, Mohammed was confirmed as the new leader of Hamas in Gaza, following the death of his brother.

Among Palestinians, he never had the reputation of Yahya, but he was widely believed to have played a significant role in the kidnap and holding of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006 and demanded the release of Yahya Sinwar from Israeli prison as part of a swap deal.

Born in Khan Younis, Mohammed Sinwar rose through the ranks of Hamas to become a senior commander in Al Qassam Brigades, the group’s military wing.

He was known as ‘The Shadow’, in part because of the junior role he played to his older brother and also because few images of him exist.

He survived multiple assassination attempts and was previously incorrectly declared dead during Israel’s war in Gaza.

Sinwar had a reputation for being stubborn, and Israeli sources in the ceasefire negotiations blamed him for slowing the process and changing his demands at the last minute.

The IDF has confirmed he was with the commander of the Rafah brigade, Mohammed Shabanah, in tunnels underneath the European Hospital in Gaza when the IDF struck in mid-May. Shabanah’s death is significant because he was a likely successor to Sinwar.

It would leave Azadi al-Hadad, the Gaza City Brigade Commander, as the only living Hamas commander from 7 October.

He would likely be in line as the next Hamas chief in Gaza.

Hamas seeks changes in US ceasefire proposal

It comes as Hamas said it was seeking amendments to a US-proposed ceasefire deal, offering 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

On Thursday, the White House said Israel agreed to a 60-day ceasefire proposal, which would see the release of nine living hostages and half of the known hostages who have died over the course of a week.

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Israel and Hamas would then continue talks to bring the remaining hostages home, but Israel would retain the right to resume military action in Gaza if talks were to break down.

In a statement about the proposal on Saturday, Hamas said its response “aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to our people in the Strip”.

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Israeli ambassador claims ‘no starvation in Gaza’

Hamas offer ‘totally unacceptable’ – Witkoff

Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Mr Witkoff, said on social media that Hamas’s response is “totally unacceptable and only takes us backwards”.

“Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week,” he added.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters that the group has not rejected the proposal but added Mr Witkoff’s response was “unfair” and showed “complete bias” towards Israel.

Israel has not yet responded to Hamas’ counter-offer, but has previously rejected the conditions and demanded the complete disarmament and dismantling of the group.

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Meanwhile, Gaza aid groups have said dozens of World Food Programme (WFP) trucks carrying flour to Gaza bakeries had been hijacked by armed groups and subsequently looted by people.

The WFP added: “After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by.”

Read more:
Last hospital in northern Gaza out of service
How the new Gaza aid system collapsed into chaos
UK will ‘seek to do more if it can’ for Gaza children – Lammy

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Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid groups, said hundreds more trucks were needed and accused Israel of a “systematic policy of starvation”.

Israel denies operating a policy of starvation and says it is facilitating aid deliveries via the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Instead, it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies.

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