Today’s Big Story

Trump on the Brink of Victory

He claimed crucial battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina

Former President Donald Trump is closing in on the presidency. Late on Tuesday, he claimed the battleground state of Pennsylvania, along with two other crucial states—Georgia and North Carolina—leaving Vice President Kamala Harris only the narrowest of paths to the White House. The counting continues in some states, but he’s all but guaranteed to return to the White House.

In every state that has counted most of its votes, Trump has improved on his performance from 2020. He flipped two states he lost in the last election (Georgia and Pennsylvania) and he addressed the crowd at his watch party in Florida with a pre-victory speech, telling supporters “we’ve achieved the most incredible political thing.” According to the Washington Post, he referenced his two assassination attempts: “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason. And that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness,” Trump said. “Now we are going to fulfill that mission together.”

Trump promised to “seal up the borders” and make America safer and more prosperous. “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” he said flanked by his vice presidential running mate, Senator JD Vance, Republican leaders and members of Trump’s family. He also spent several minutes praising Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, who pumped some $120 million into backing Trump’s campaign. Trump has said he will appoint Musk to lead a government efficiency commission.

Other big news from Election Day included historic wins for Congress. Democrat Andy Kim will be the first Korean American elected to the Senate. Democrats are also poised to make breakthroughs for LGBTQ representation. Sarah McBride, the projected winner of Delaware’s at-large House seat, will be the first transgender person to serve in Congress. And Julie Johnson will be the first out LGBTQ person to win a federal election in Texas, the nation’s second-most populous state.

Republicans picked up at least two Democratic Senate seats on Tuesday and after winning an unexpectedly close race in Nebraska, the G.O.P. now has enough for a majority. Tight races in swing states will determine their margin.

How Abortion Fares on State Ballots

The measure failed in Florida and South Dakota, but seven states expand protections so far

A ballot measure that would have enshrined abortion rights in Florida's Constitution failed Tuesday, NBC News projects, after a political fight that was among the most hotly contested in the state this election cycle. The amendment won majority support from voters, but it needed to cross the 60% threshold to pass under state law. It's the first pro-abortion-rights ballot measure to fail since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. South Dakota became the second.

This election marked the most abortion-related measures on statewide ballots in a given year—10 states in total voted on it. Missouri was the first state to institute a ban on the procedure in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision and is now the first to overturn an abortion ban via a citizen-initiated ballot measure, reports Axios.

Voters in New York, Maryland, Nevada and Colorado also approved measures to expand or enshrine abortion access. In Arizona, more than 60% of voters backed an amendment to protect the right to abortion until the point of viability. The measure extends access from the 15 weeks currently allowed under state rules. As for Montana, the results were not yet known.

Ukraine’s First Clash With North Korean Troops

A ‘small engagement’ opens a ‘new page in instability in the world’

North Korean troops have officially entered the fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, clashing for the first time with Ukrainian forces who are occupying a large chunk of Russia’s Kursk region, according to a senior Ukrainian official and a senior U.S. official. The engagement was limited, the Ukrainian official said, and likely meant to probe the Ukrainian lines for weaknesses.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said the first battles between the Ukrainian military and North Korean troops “open a new page in instability in the world.” The Guardian reports that foreign ministers from the G7 democracies and three key allies said on Tuesday they were gravely concerned by the deployment of the troops. “The DPRK’s [North Korea] direct support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, besides showing Russia’s desperate efforts to compensate its losses, would mark a dangerous expansion of the conflict,” the ministers said. Besides the G7 members of the US, Japan, Italy, Britain, Germany, France and Canada, the statement was also signed by South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

And if that wasn’t enough, North Korea also test-launched several short-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday morning, neighboring South Korea and Japan confirmed to ABC News. The launches come days after a trilateral military exercise run by the United States, South Korea and Japan, according to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Netflix Shelves Most Interactive Titles

So if you were ever curious, now’s the time to play them

Netflix is delisting all but four of its interactive titles by Dec. 1. The streaming service kicked off its foray into interactive titles in 2017, and there was a time when Netflix was putting out a new interactive special every few months or so, but it’s been over a year since the last one dropped in 2023.

According to The Verge, the streamer’s “Interactive Specials” page lists 24 titles, but only four will remain: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls, and You vs. Wild. “The technology served its purpose, but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas,” spokesperson Chrissy Kelleher told the site.

Kotaku says it’s not too surprising that Netflix is removing these interactive specials from the service. In January, it was confirmed by Netflix’s gaming boss Mike Verdu that the company was no longer making interactive titles anymore. Also, that Puss In Book interactive special from 2017 was seemingly removed months ago without many people noticing.

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