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Trump refuses to say he will accept US election result

Donald Trump has refused to say that he will accept the result of the United States presidential election.

When pressed by the moderator of the third and final debate to confirm that he will accept the outcome of the vote, he said: "I will look at it at the time.

"I will keep you in suspense."

Hillary Clinton described his comment as "horrifying" and said it was extraordinary that the nominee of a major party would say such a thing.

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The question related to Mr Trump's recent insistent claims that the election is rigged.

The Democratic candidate then said she agreed with the assessment of her campaign chairman that her rival was the most "dangerous person" to run for the American presidency in modern history.

Before those dramatic moments, the Las Vegas debate had been ill-tempered but substantive, with the candidates disagreeing and actually debating over issues such as Russia, abortion, immigration and foreign policy.

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In the most drawn out confrontation of the evening, Mr Trump was challenged to admit to and condemn Russia's suspected involvement in hacking emails and trying to interfere with the US elections.

Mrs Clinton implied that Mr Trump is connected to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

She said Mr Putin would prefer the Republican candidate to win because "he would rather have a puppet for a president".

Mr Trump shot back: "You're the puppet.

"She has been outsmarted and outplayed."

The pair also clashed over immigration, with Mr Trump accusing Mrs Clinton of wanting open borders.

In a memorable line, he promised again to build a wall on the border with Mexico, because "we have some bad hombres here and we are going to get them out".

He also promised that by appointing pro-life judges to the Supreme Court, the law enshrining a woman's right to abortion would be overturned "automatically".

The candidates did not shake hands before or after the debate, a public display of the rancour between them.

Mr Trump accused the "crooked" Clinton camp of inciting violence at some of his rallies and of orchestrating the recent chorus of allegations that he groped and kissed women without consent.

Mrs Clinton said: "Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger.

"He never apologises for anything."

The audience at the Thomas and Mack arena at the University of Las Vegas included former Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who had been invited by the Trump campaign.

In a controversial move, the Trump campaign also invited President Barack Obama's half brother Malik.

Earlier in the year Malik Obama announced he would be voting for Mr Trump.

The debate comes after the worst two weeks of the Republican's campaign.

Mrs Clinton has been pulling away in both the national polls and also in most of the crucial swing states.

Now, even reliably Republican states like Arizona and Georgia could be up for grabs.

This debate represented both candidates' last chance to reach a massive TV audience of American voters.

There are now just 19 days until America goes to the polls.

:: Watch the debate in full here .