BBC News Briefing

5 November, 2024

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. In breaking news from the US, the first, preliminary, wave of national exit poll data has just been released - with voters saying the state of democracy and the economy were the most important issues when deciding who to vote for as president. Follow live for updates and analysis. Our North America correspondents give us a sense of the mood at polling stations in seven battleground states - including Arizona, where Christal Hayes reports on heightened security measures to protect vote-counters in Maricopa county. We also learn about a conservationist's creative campaign to raise awareness of Nepal's stolen artefacts and, finally, an experiment to test how wood withstands extreme conditions in space.

GET UP TO SPEED

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired defence minister Yoav Gallant and replaced him with foreign minister Israel Katz.

Dutch and French authorities have raided the Amsterdam and Paris offices of streaming giant Netflix as part of an investigation into tax fraud, French judicial sources say.

A sex scandal is rocking Equatorial Guinea, after hundreds of allegedly explicit videos, which reportedly involve high-ranking civil servant Baltasar Ebang Engonga - a relative of the country's president, were leaked to the public.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Voters embrace calm before election storm

A woman smiles as she stands outside a polling station holding a mug in one of her hands, while the other is in the pocket of her trousers.

Michigan, is home to many different populations who could decide which candidate receives its 15 electoral votes. Credit: BBC

Voting is under way in the swing states expected to decide who will be the next US president - Vice-President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump. Our correspondents on the ground report on the mood at polling stations, and what to look out for when the results come out.

Bernd Debusmann Jr, Brandon Drenon, and Angelica Casas

Let's start from Pennsylvania - what is motivating voters there?

The whole country is watching how Pennsylvania, which went to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, will cast its 19 electoral votes. Its mix of rural and urban voters make it extremely competitive. Economics and abortion issues are top of mind here. One thing to watch for in the results is whether Trump took a greater-than-anticipated share of the state's Latino population.

How is North Carolina coping, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene?

The wounds of Hurricane Helene are still raw in the western mountainous part of the state. A generator-powered tent has been installed as a polling location in Buncombe County, after the original site was damaged in the September storm. This area had high early voting, beating the state-wide average.

Where else is early voting having an impact?

Outside of a polling station in Atlanta, Georgia the mood is calm and joyful. Although long lines have been a problem in the past, today people are in and out in about four minutes – an election worker tells me it’s because so many people voted early. About four million votes have already been cast, or about 80% of the electorate if turnout is the same as it was in 2020 when Biden won the state. Republicans had taken the state going back to 2000 and Trump is hoping to get it back this time around.

Not just the White House: Voters in 10 states are also making decisions about abortion access.

Elon Musk: A judge has ruled that a political group linked to the billionaire, who is the world's richest person, can keep awarding $1m (£722,000) to voters in swing states - a giveaway set to end on Tuesday.

Latest news: A man carrying a flare gun and a torch lighter has been arrested at the US Capitol Visitor Center.

AT THE SCENE

Arizona, USA

High security at vote-counting centre

Visitors to the counting centre are greeted by armed security and a metal detector. Credit: BBC

Four years ago, Arizona's Maricopa County became the centre of election conspiracy theories, after Donald Trump spread unfounded claims of voter fraud when he lost the state to Joe Biden by fewer than 11,000 votes. The 2020 election’s aftermath transformed how local officials handle the typically mundane task of counting ballots.

Christal Hayes, BBC News

The tabulation centre is bristling with security cameras, armed security and a double layer of fencing. Thick canvas blankets cover parts of a parking lot fencing to keep prying eyes out. Officials say the canvas was an added measure to protect employees from being harassed and threatened outside the building. “I think it is sad that we’re having to do these things,” said Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates.

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Gates, a Republican who says he was diagnosed with PTSD after the election threats he received in the 2020 election, doesn't plan to run for office again once this election is over because of the tensions. “I do want people to understand that when they go to vote centres, these are not militarised zones,” he told the BBC. “You can feel safe to go there with your family, with your kids and participate in democracy.”

Full story here

Fact-checkers in action: BBC Verify has tracked and investigated four of the most widely shared claims questioning the integrity of the vote.

In pictures: What voting looks like across the US.

Election results: US election results are sometimes declared state-by-state within hours of the polls closing, but this year's tight contest could mean a longer wait.

THE BIG PICTURE

Inside Nepal's Museum of Stolen Art

a replica of the stolen statuette of the Goddess Saraswati is exhibited in a museum, next to a sign explaining where and when it went missing.

Nepal has categorised more than 400 artefacts missing from its temples and monasteries. Credit: BBC Nepali/Sanjaya Dhakal

Nepalese conservationist Rabindra Puri has taken a novel approach to the issue of recovering the country's looted artefacts, many of which are scattered across museums, auction houses or private collections abroad. BBC Nepali's Sanjaya Dhakal visits the Museum of Stolen Art and learns about its mission.

Find out more

Evening view of the Portland Towers, two silos converted into office buidings in the Nordhavn district of Copenhagen, Denmark

FOR YOUR DOWNTIME

The five-minute city

This Danish neighbourhood has been designed to make life easier.

Here's how

And finally... in Japan

Researchers in Japan are testing the suitability of timber as a renewable building material in space exploration. A tiny wood-panelled, solar-powered satellite took off earlier on Tuesday, heading for the International Space Station before it's released to orbit the Earth for six months.

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– Sofia

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