Hello team, and welcome to the biggest news day of the year of big news days.

1. The U.S. election! It’s here! Americans are voting right now as we speak, and you can follow our hour-by-hour guide right here. With a massive surge in mail-in voting, there’s a good chance we won’t know which presidential candidate won many states, including key battlegrounds, on election night. Here are some people to follow on social media if you want a good view.

2. About 100 million Americans had voted as of early Tuesday morning, more than doubling the record 2016 early-voting total. More than 35 million early in-person votes were cast, and almost 64 million mail-in ballots had been returned, according to the U.S. Elections Project.

3. Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, is planning to declare victory if news organisations announce him as the winner of the election on Tuesday night, Axios reported. Biden campaign advisors told Axios that the former vice president wanted to avoid taking a defensive posture if the president spreads misinformation about the election or moves forward with lawsuits. According to Biden’s schedule, he’s planning to address the nation on Tuesday night, regardless of what the results show.

4. National Guard troops in at least seven states are on standby and bracing for unrest as Americans go to the polls, according to Military Times. While active-duty military cannot conduct domestic law-enforcement missions, except in rare situations, the National Guard can be called in to support local law enforcement, as they were over the summer as protests rocked states across the US.

5. U.S. stocks surged on Tuesday as investors eagerly awaited the results of Tuesday’s presidential election. A decisive election winner would remove uncertainty from the market and spur investors to buy stocks, one Wall Street strategist said. Stocks moved higher on broad participation from many sectors, with the industrial, information technology, consumer discretionary, and financial sectors leading the market higher.

6. The German lender Deutsche Bank is seeking to dump about $US340 million in debt owed by President Trump, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The bank could seek to sell the loans after the election or seek repayment of the money, which starts becoming due in two years, bank officials told the news agency. Trump’s ties with Deutsche Bank have long been scrutinised. The lender has handed over records to Manhattan’s district attorney as part of a criminal investigation into Trump’s businesses.

7. Okay, enough of that for now, and onto stuff that actually affects us. The RBA cut the official interest on Tuesday from 0.25% to 0.1%, as widely expected. As expected, the move lower was accompanied by a bigger foray into quantitative easing (QE), with the RBA committing to purchasing $100 billion in government bonds of 5 to 10 years maturity over the next six month.

8. Victoria has recorded no new COVID-19 cases for fifth day in a row. What a great result. One new local case was recorded in New South Wales, with two new cases acquired overseas.

9. At least 26 executives at government agencies took home six-figure bonuses on top of their regular pay in the last financial year, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The news comes amid the Australia Post scandal, and a broader conversation about bonus culture at taxpayer owned and funded entities.

10. Neobank Xinja says it is working closely with Dubai-based World Investment Group (WIG) on a half a billion dollar funding deal. An audit has raised concerns about the company’s ability to remain solvent, with the report pointing to “a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on its ability continue as a going concern.”

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Thinking of developing new skills in these uncertain times? Here are some online platforms you can look to for help.

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