‘Counting window’ seen as high-risk time for Trump to cast doubt on midterm results | First Thing

Experts warn Republicans may try to sow distrust and claim ‘foreign interference’ in crucial hours after counting begins. Plus, two pandas have a new home thanks to US-China diplomacy

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Good morning. Election experts have warned that Donald Trump’s administration could use the crucial hours and days after November’s midterm elections to disrupt the results after struggling to enforce the crackdown it wanted on voting.

After a succession of court setbacks to plans to restrict voting access, and with less than six weeks remaining until polls close, the post-election “counting window” is being seen as a particularly vulnerable moment by former US federal government officials.

How might Republicans cause doubt over results? Caitlin Durkovich, a former deputy homeland security adviser, said: “I think because the administration has lost so many of their attempts to disrupt the normal process in court, that they are going to use the claim of foreign interference at the end of voting days to either seize equipment or to seize ballots, whether they’re legally justified to do so or not.”

What are Democratic prospects for the midterms looking like? With control of the US Congress in the balance, Shrai Popat has interviewed Yasmin Radjy, a grassroots organizer, about what Democrats are getting right – and wrong – in the election run-up.

What have authorities said about the plot? Counter-terrorism police said: “At around 12.45am Sunday, police received a call relating to three suspicious vehicles which appeared to be travelling towards the airbase. Armed officers responded and five men were arrested.”

How did the arrests unfold? A resident of the village of Whelford was driving home from a party when she saw three white vans parked on a country road. She was immediately suspicious, she said, and became all the more so when she spotted a “large group of hooded and balaclavaed” men. She called emergency services and police arrived on the scene 15 minutes later. You can follow the latest developments in this story in our live blog.

What has the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said about attempts to end the US-Iran war? “They were asking for everything upfront with a promise that they would then talk,” Waltz told CNN. “The president is just not confident that the Iranians are coming in good faith and that we will truly negotiate the end of their nuclear program.”

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