Harris, Trump Locked in Tight Race in Swing States, NYT/Siena Poll Shows

Supporters attend a campaign rally of Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump in Greensboro, North Carolina, US November 2, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Wolfe/File Photo
Supporters attend a campaign rally of Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump in Greensboro, North Carolina, US November 2, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Wolfe/File Photo
TT

Harris, Trump Locked in Tight Race in Swing States, NYT/Siena Poll Shows

Supporters attend a campaign rally of Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump in Greensboro, North Carolina, US November 2, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Wolfe/File Photo
Supporters attend a campaign rally of Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump in Greensboro, North Carolina, US November 2, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Wolfe/File Photo

Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump remain in a tight race in the country's seven battleground states two days before the US presidential election, according to the final New York Times/Siena College poll.

The opinion poll showed Vice President Harris with marginal leads in Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin and former President Trump just ahead in Arizona. The two are in close races in Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania, according to the poll, which surveyed 7,879 likely voters in the seven states from Oct. 24 to Nov. 2.

In all seven states, the matchups were within the poll's 3.5% margin of error, Reuters reported.

About 40% of the respondents had already voted and Harris led among those voters by 8 percentage points, while Trump leads with voters who say they are very likely to vote but have not yet done so, the poll found.

The tied race in Pennsylvania shows Trump gaining momentum in a state Harris had led by four percentage points in all prior New York Times polls, the outlet said.

Both candidates are campaigning in battleground states this weekend, with Trump set to appear in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia on Sunday, while Harris will campaign in Michigan.



Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
TT

Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)

An Italian journalist detained in Iran since Dec. 19 and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that Meloni had informed Sala's parents of the news.

There was no immediate word from the Iranian government on the journalist’s release.

Sala, a 29-year-old reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, three days after she arrived on a journalist visa. She was accused of violating the laws of the country, the official IRNA news agency said.

Italian commentators had speculated that Iran was holding Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days before on Dec. 16, on a US warrant.

The US Justice Department accused him and another Iranian of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a US outpost near the Syrian-Jordanian border that killed three American troops.

He remains in detention in Italy.