Prince William meets young environmentalists and plays rugby on first day of South Africa visit

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Britain's Prince William offered words of encouragement to a group of young environmentalists and later joined a rugby practice at a local school as he opened a visit to South Africa on Monday that will focus heavily on climate change and conservation.

The Prince of Wales will have four days of engagements in Cape Town, during which he'll see his annual Earthshot Prize award $1.2 million in grants to five organizations for innovative environmental ideas. The awards ceremony will take place in a 470-foot-long reusable dome that will be packed up and taken away after the event.

The Earthshot awards on Wednesday night are the centerpiece of William's trip to South Africa's second-biggest city. But the 42-year-old heir to the throne will also attend a global wildlife summit, visit a botanical garden on the slopes of Cape Town's landmark Table Mountain, spend time at a sea rescue base and meet with a local fishing community.

The prince will use the visit to highlight other issues close to his heart, such as the work of rangers on the front line of conservation efforts, officials said.

William's first engagement was joining more than 100 young environmentalists aged between 18 and 35, who sat in small groups and discussed climate and conservation issues. William jumped from group to group and spent a few minutes talking with them.

“I loved chatting to you today. What you are all doing is incredible," William said at the end. “You are the leaders. You are the people that are going to make the difference going forward. Your solutions and your impact are so important and so needed right now."

William formed the Earthshot Prize through his Royal Foundation in 2020 to encourage new ideas to solve environmental problems, with a focus on young entrepreneurs and innovators. It launched in 2021 and the first three awards ceremonies were held in Britain, the United States and Singapore.

William last visited Africa in 2018 but he has a strong connection to the continent. He traveled there as a boy after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a Paris car crash in 1997. He and his wife, Kate, got engaged at a wildlife conservancy in Kenya in 2010. And he said he came up with the idea for the Earthshot awards while in Namibia in 2018.

“Africa has always held a special place in my heart as somewhere I found comfort as a teenager, where I proposed to my wife, and most recently, as the founding inspiration behind the Earthshot Prize,” William said in a statement ahead of his visit.

Kate, Princess of Wales, and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are not traveling to South Africa. Kate, 42, only recently returned to some public duties after completing treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer.

William’s visit follows soon after his brother Harry, the Duke of Sussex, visited South Africa and neighboring Lesotho last month for a youth charity he set up in southern Africa with a member of Lesotho’s royal family.

The visit also comes as the finances of William and his father, King Charles III, come under scrutiny following an investigation by The Sunday Times newspaper and Britain’s Channel 4 television. The probe found their private estates made millions of pounds by renting properties to government entities, including the armed forces, the National Health Service and public schools.

The two estates, the king’s Duchy of Lancaster and the prince’s Duchy of Cornwall, hold portfolios of commercial, residential and agricultural properties that provide personal income to the royals.

The Duchy of Lancaster responded by saying that while the king takes an interest in the estate, day-to-day operations are overseen by an independent council and executives. The Duchy of Cornwall said the estate operates with a commercial imperative “alongside our commitment to restoring the natural environment and generating positive social impact for our communities.’’

William briefly broke away from environmental issues to travel to a high school in the underprivileged Ocean View neighborhood on the fringes of Cape Town on Monday.

There, William — dressed in a dark suit and gray shirt — joined in at a rugby practice. He kicked and passed the ball but also became the target of playful tackles from a few of the youngsters. They yelled: “Let’s tackle the prince!" before two of them grabbed a smiling William.

Rugby is one of South Africa's favorite sports and its national team is the reigning world champion. Three former South Africa rugby stars were at the practice session to greet the prince.

Wiliam is also a follower of the game and a spokesperson for Kensington Palace had promised that the prince would play some rugby.

Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

A photographer lies on the ground to take a picture of Britain's Prince William greeting pupils at the Ocean View Secondary School in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay-pool)

Britain's Prince William, greets pupils at the Ocean View Secondary School in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay-pool)

Britain's Prince William poses for a photo at the Ocean View Secondary School in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay-pool)

Britain's Prince William plays rugby with pupils at the Ocean View Secondary School in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay-pool)

Britain's Prince William plays rugby with pupils at the Ocean View Secondary School in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay-pool)

Britain's Prince William plays rugby with pupils at the Ocean View Secondary School in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay-pool)

Britain's Prince William plays rugby with pupils at the Ocean View Secondary School in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay-pool)

Britain's Prince William waves at well wishers during his visit at the Ocean View Secondary School in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay-pool)

Britain's Prince William, is tackled playing rugby with pupils at the Ocean View Secondary School in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay-pool)

Britain's Prince William, left, speaks to an attendee at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William speaks to an attendee at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William, center, and Hannah Jones, right, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, speak to a group of young people at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William, center, and Hannah Jones, center right, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, speak to a group of young people at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William listens to a group of young people at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William talks to a group of young people at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William visits the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William, center, and Hannah Jones, right, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, speak to a group of young people at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Nomzamo Mbatha, left, the host of Earthshot Week, takes a selfie with Britain's Prince William and a group of young people at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William, center, and Hannah Jones, center right, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, speak to a group of young people at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William, speaks to a group of young people at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William, center, poses for a photo with a group of young people, with Table Mountain in the background, at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William, speaks to a group of young people, with Table Mountain in the background at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Nomzamo Mbatha, left, the host of Earthshot Week, takes a selfie with Britain's Prince William and a group of young people at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prince William, speaks to a group of young people, with Table Mountain in the background at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday Nov. 4, 2024. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool Photo via AP)

The presidential campaign comes down to a final push across a handful of states on the eve of Election Day.

Kamala Harris will spend all of Monday in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes offer the largest prize among the states expected to determine the Electoral College outcome. Donald Trump plans four rallies in three states, beginning in Raleigh, North Carolina and stopping twice in Pennsylvania with events in Reading and Pittsburgh.

Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here's the latest:

That’s two weeks after a comedian who spoke at a Trump rally in New York referred to it as a “floating island of garbage.”

“I mean Puerto Rick is great,” Trump said Monday at a rally in North Carolina on the last full day of campaigning.

“We helped Puerto Rico more than anybody,” he told his Raleigh audience.

Commedian Tony Hinchcliffe, among the speakers at the Madison Square Garden rally, known for his podcast “Kill Tony,” said: “There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the U.S. election, but there are more people of Puerto Rican descent in the United States who can than are of voting age who populate the island. In the battleground states, Pennsylvania’s Lehigh County is home to the state’s largest population of Puerto Rican voters.

In September 2020, after criticism for a slow response to Hurricane Maria in 2017, Trump released $13 billion in assistance to repair years-old hurricane damage. It took Trump two weeks to visit the island after the storm and he was criticized for an appearance where he threw rolls of paper towels into a crowd.

Kamala Harris supporters are banding together on Election Day for what they’re claiming will be the largest phone bank operation of all time.

Participants will include celebrities such as John Legend, Jessica Alba, and Bradley Whitford, as well as politicians including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and California Rep. Eric Swalwell.

Entrepreneur Mark Cuban is also participating in the initiative, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET. “Let’s work together to make important calls to swing states and get out the vote!” he posted on social media.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters during a news conference at the state Capitol on Monday that the state’s election will be “fair and fast and accurate.”

Raffensperger acknowledged that the eyes of the nation will be on Georgia and six other battleground states and the coming days could bring “some extra drama from fringe activists.”

“They’re certainly dramatic, aren’t they?” he said. “Whatever they say or do, we know this to be true: Here in Georgia, it is easy to vote and hard to cheat.”

By the end of early in-person voting Friday, more than four million people had already cast ballots in Georgia, either in person or by mail. That’s more than half of the state’s active voters.

Trump announced that if elected, he would inform Mexico’s new president Claudia Sheinbaum on day one that she must stop the flow of migrants and drugs into the U.S. or risk a 25% tariff on Mexican imports.

Mexico is the United States’ main trading partner.

“If they don’t stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country, I am going to immediately impose a 25% tariff on everything they send into the United States of America,” Trump announced to supporters in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Trump hasn’t met Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former Mexico City Mayor, but said he heard she was “a very nice woman.” He often speaks about how he threatened Mexico’s former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador similarly to adopt his “Remain in Mexico” policy, where migrants have to wait south of the U.S. border to apply for asylum. Biden ended that program.

That comes nine years after Trump criticized the one-time Fox News host as “nasty.”

Kelly’s scheduled appearance at Trump’s Monday evening rally scheduled for PPG Paints Arena marks a long way from the first debate of Trump’s 2016 campaign, when he criticized Kelly, a moderator for the event, as being harsh toward him, using sexist language.

“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her – wherever,” Trump told then-CNN anchor Don Lemon after the August 2015 debate in Ohio.

Today, the conservative podcaster, famous for her pointed questioning of Trump in 2015, has said she’ll vote for Trump.

Kelly’s appearance with Trump comes as early voting suggests a gender gap that favors Democrat Kamala Harris and the work Trump needs to do to shrink it.

Asked how she was feeling as she boarded Air Force Two for a flight to Pennsylvania on Monday and one final day of campaigning before the election, Vice President Kamala Harris said “good” and flashed a thumbs-up.

Unions knocking on doors on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris are finding what they say is an effective line of attack against Republican Donald Trump — that he’ll defund Social Security.

The former U.S. president has said he would make Social Security income tax-free. That’s problematic because those revenues help to fund the program and the loss of that money means Social Security would be unable to pay out its full benefits in fiscal year 2031, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog.

“That’s one of the big issues for our folks,” said Laura Dickerson, the United Auto Worker’s Region 1A director in Michigan. “People need to think about that they do not want to fully fund Social Security.”

The UAW has twice as many staff working on turnout compared to 2020 and 2016, enabling the union to directly contact all of its members and retirees and families of its members in support of Harris.

Donald Trump seemed to reference the video that nearly sank his 2016 campaign as he expressed amazement at how two giant mechanical arms caught Elon Musk’s reusable rocket — “like you grab your beautiful baby.”

“See, I’ve gotten much better. Years ago I would have said something else. But I’ve learned,” Trump said, prompting laughs from his crowd in Raleigh, North Carolina. “I would have been a little bit more risqué.”

Trump’s 2016 campaign was nearly derailed by the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which he was caught bragging about grabbing women by their genitals.

On Saturday, Trump made a similar remark, saying that in the old days, he would have said the movement of the rocket-catching arms was “like you grab your ... girlfriend.”

Trump has been expressing amazement at Musk’s engineering feat in which mechanical SpaceX arms caught a Starship rocket booster after it returned to Earth.

Musk has spent tens of millions of dollars helping to elect Trump.

Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller would not rule out the possibility that Trump once again might declare victory in the election before news outlets have determined the winner.

News organizations, including The Associated Press, will call the winner of the election when a candidate has won at least 270 Electoral College votes needed to be elected president.

Pressed by reporters Monday, Miller only said Trump “will declare victory when we’re confident we have 270 electoral votes that we need.”

In 2020, Trump falsely declared victory from the White House before the final result was known. Trump lost the 2020 election but has refused to accept it.

Trump took the stage in Raleigh, North Carolina, calling the Southeast state “ours to lose,” on a marathon final day of campaigning.

He began by railing against the Biden administration over immigration, attacking the Democratic president and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s opponent, for crime he attributes to illegal immigration.

Trump sounded confident, telling his audience, “With North Carolina, I’ve always gotten there.”

“Here’s my only purpose in even being here today: Get out and vote,” Trump said, loudly but hoarsely.

After Raleigh, he's expected to head to Pennsylvania, perhaps the biggest prize on the electoral map, for rallies in Reading and Pittsburgh.

Trump has taken the stage to roaring applause in Raleigh, North Carolina — and the arena is now much fuller than it was an hour ago, with only a smattering of empty seats.

He sounds a little hoarse after a busy campaign schedule that will include another three stops later Monday.

Trump says of the presidential race: “It’s ours to lose.”

The joint statement Monday by the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors said election officials have been working for four years to prepare for the Nov. 5 presidential election and have devoted “extensive time, energy and resources to safeguard America’s elections.”

They cautioned that “operational issues” could happen, such as polling places opening late or long lines at voting locations, but election officials have contingency plans to address these.

They also urged the public to be patient, saying “accurately counting millions of ballots takes time” and noting recounts may be needed for close races.

More than a dozen counties in the presidential battleground of Pennsylvania have received bulk challenges from conservative activists to voters’ mail-in ballot applications that voting rights lawyers and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration say are illegal.

The deadline to challenge a voter based on their residency in Pennsylvania was Friday, but voting rights lawyers say such challenges must be individualized and be supported by credible evidence.

The challenges — to more than 4,000 voters total — are based on “theories that courts have repeatedly rejected and appear to be two separate, coordinated efforts to undermine confidence in the Nov. 5 election,” Shapiro’s Department of State said in a statement.

Many of those voters also received form letters from the activists urging them to cancel their registration. Some challenges target voters living overseas, while others target voters who appeared in the U.S. Postal Service’s change-of-address database.

RALEIGH, N.C. — From what Noah Frederick, 23, has seen in the lead-up to Election Day, he thinks Trump is going to win the presidency. He attends Duke University as an electrical engineering student but cast his mail-in ballot for his home state of Pennsylvania about two weeks ago.

Something Frederick said surprised him is that several friends from his hometown of Pottsville who used to be more “Democrat-friendly” are now pro-Trump. His decision to cast his ballot for Trump came a few months ago when former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris.

“Their supporting (of) Kamala kind of tells kind of tells you all you need to know about her foreign policy and Trump’s,” he said.

Frederick said there was “no way” he would have voted for Harris because of foreign policy issues and the Biden administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

RALEIGH, N.C. — A smattering of Trump’s supporters are once again wearing yellow and orange safety vests to his rally — copying the uniform Trump donned last week when he climbed aboard a garbage truck to draw attention to President Joe Biden’s comments calling his supporters “garbage.”

Among them was Trey Gainey, 21, a barber from nearby Clinton.

“Joe Biden called us supporters ‘garbage’ so I decided to show up like I saw Trump do,” he said as he waited for the former president to take the stage in Raleigh.

Gainey, who said he cast his ballot for Trump on the first day of early voting, said he’s confident Trump will emerge the winner, but is worried about a nebulous force interfering.

“I feel like Trump already beat Kamala. I feel like now we have to beat the people we can’t see,” he said.

RALEIGH, N.C. — There are plenty of empty seats at the Raleigh, North Carolina, arena where Trump is kicking off a busy last day of campaigning, with four rallies planned across three battleground states.

Trump was scheduled to take the stage at 10 a.m. at the J.S. Dorton Arena, a 5,000-seat venue with additional seating on the floor.

Trump has held events in North Carolina each of the past three days, underscoring the importance of a state he carried in both 2016 and 2020.

More people are still filing in so the arena could fill up more by the time Trump takes the stage.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Ebony Coots is excited for Trump to win but says she’s tired of seeing all the negative political ads. Coots also feels a bit nervous — not about Trump’s chances of winning but rather what Democrats “might try to do,” she said.

In 2016, Coots cast her ballot for Hillary Clinton because of the “girl power” sentiment, which she now says was a mistake.

Wearing a shirt memorializing Corey Comperatore — the volunteer firefighter who was shot and killed at Trump’s July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania — the 48-year-old delivery driver said animosity toward police during the widespread protests against the killing of George Floyd pushed her to vote for Trump in 2020 and support him since.

Monday’s rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, was her ninth since 2022, Coots said.

If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the election, Coots summed up what she’ll do in one sentence.

“You know, actually, I might try to go to another planet,” she said.

RALEIGH, N.C. — There are plenty of empty seats at the Raleigh, North Carolina, arena where Trump is kicking off a busy last day of campaigning, with four rallies planned across three battleground states.

Trump was scheduled to take the stage at 10 a.m. at the J.S. Dorton Arena, a 5,000-seat venue with additional seating on the floor.

Trump has held events in North Carolina each of the past three days, underscoring the importance of a state he carried in both 2016 and 2020.

More people are still filing in so the arena could fill up more by the time Trump takes the stage.

It’s the election that no one could have foreseen.

Not so long ago, Donald Trump was marinating in anger at Mar-a-Lago after being impeached twice and voted out of the White House. Even some of his closest allies were looking forward to a future without the charismatic yet erratic billionaire leading the Republican Party, especially after his failed attempt to overturn an election ended in violence and shame. When Trump announced his comeback bid two years ago, the New York Post buried the article on page 26.

At the same time, Kamala Harris was languishing as a low-profile sidekick to President Joe Biden. Once seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, she struggled with both her profile and her portfolio, disappointing her supporters and delighting her critics. No one was talking about Harris running for the top job — they were wondering if Biden should replace her as his running mate when he sought a second term.

▶ Read more about how we got here

The vice president is holding a rally in Allentown with rapper Fat Joe before visiting a Puerto Rican restaurant in Reading with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.

She’ll also hold an evening Pittsburgh rally featuring performances by DJ D-Nice, Katy Perry and Andra Day, before rallying at Philadelphia’s Museum of the Arts’ “Rocky Steps,” featuring a statue of the fictional boxer.

The final event includes remarks from DJ Cassidy, Fat Joe, Freeway and Just Blaze, as well as Lady Gaga, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Ricky Martin, The Roots, Jazmine Sullivan and Adam Blackstone, and Oprah Winfrey.

Former President Donald Trump is closing out what he says will be his last campaign day for the White House with a jam-packed schedule that includes four rallies across three battleground states.

He’ll begin Monday in Raleigh, North Carolina, underscoring the significance of a state he has visited the past three days.

He then heads to Pennsylvania — perhaps the biggest prize on the electoral map — for rallies in Reading and Pittsburgh.

He will end his night — and likely spend the early hours of Election Day morning — in Grand Rapids, Michigan. That’s a campaign tradition for the former president who also held last-day rallies there during his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

After a visit to Scranton, Harris will speak in Allentown — a majority Hispanic city that’s home to tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans — at an event with rapper Fat Joe, whose parents were of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent.

Pennsylvania is a swing state that could decide the election. But the stop also comes after a comic at a recent Donald Trump rally suggested that Puerto Rico was “garbage.”

Harris later heads to Reading, where she plans to visit a Puerto Rican restaurant with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Supporters get ready before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak to a campaign rally at J.S. Dorton Arena, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Supporters get ready before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak to a campaign rally at J.S. Dorton Arena, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak to a campaign rally at J.S. Dorton Arena, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Atrium Health Amphitheater, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Macon, Ga. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Jenison Field House on the campus of Michigan State University, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in East Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)