World news

Subterms

    More stories

    • 138 Shares56 Views

      in US Politics

      The most diverse, anti-establishment Congress in history is cause for optimism

      by

      After years of outrage or numbness being the main options for dealing with politics, Tuesday’s results were permission to be optimisticThis was originally published in the Stakes 2026, a newsletter about the midterm elections. Sign up to get it in your inboxWe shed some tears this midterm cycle.US politics always makes people emotional, but I heard from friends and colleagues many times this year that speeches, campaigns and underdog success stories moved people in unexpected ways, whether it was this ad of Michigan senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed doing bedtime, a photo of newly elected Texas Democrats James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa at a Whataburger, or Georgia’s Keisha Lance Bottoms becoming the first Black female governor in the entire country. Continue reading… More

    • 250 Shares42 Views

      in US Politics

      After the midterms, the global right is reeling. But the danger of Trumpism will never be gone | Jonathan Freedland

      by

      Yes, the Republicans suffered humiliating defeat. But the fact that a Trump presidency was even possible means something like it could happen againHe’s down, but not quite out. Barring divine or other intervention, Donald Trump will remain in the Oval Office for a further two years and 10 weeks. Or, as the White House put it in a plaintive social media post brimming with neediness: “PSA [Public Service Announcement]: Trump is still your president.” But that’s not the only reason why the global celebrations that greeted the Democratic tidal wave that swept Republicans out of even their deepest heartlands should be tempered, if only a tad.Don’t get me wrong, the results of Tuesday’s midterm elections are cause for genuine international jubilation. The defeats of Trump allies in Serbia and Brazil were delicious appetisers, but this was the feast. No mere electoral setback in line with midterm tradition, this was a thorough repudiation of the second Trump presidency and of Trumpism. The 16% swing to Democrats in the popular vote for the House of Representatives was greater even than the 11.2% swing recorded in the Watergate midterms of November 1974, following the resignation in disgrace of Richard Nixon. Trump had worked hard for many months to undermine these elections, either by gerrymandering districts in his favour or preparing the ground for a later claim the vote was rigged, but to no avail: the democratic system proved too resilient, and the American public too determined to have their say. And have it they did, in a voice loud and clear. Continue reading… More

    • 150 Shares33 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump signs order to make Oval Office a national monument – video

      by

      Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday that he says will turn the Oval Office and the adjacent Cabinet Room into national monuments. The declaration will reportedly prohibit any future presidents from tearing down or making major modifications to the Oval Office or Cabinet Room without approval of Congress. Since returning to office, the US president has transformed the Oval Office with gold accents and statuettes, portraits of famous Americans pulled from storage and a copy of the Declaration of Independence that hangs on the wall.The redesign has drawn criticism, including from the former president Barack Obama, who recently joked that ‘he’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere.’Trump signs proclamation to try to prevent changes to gold-covered Oval Office Continue reading… More

    • 225 Shares32 Views

      in US Politics

      Deep-red Kansas votes for change as patience wears thin with Trump: ‘The economy is really taking a beating’

      by

      Bills have soared in rural state buffeted by tariffs and war in Iran – and Democrat Adam Hamilton’s stunning upset shows how deep economic frustrations runLinda Olson always does her homework before voting – a trait she inherited from a family invested, and interested, in politics. Her father was a photographer who took portraits of political leaders in Washington, while her grandparents were farmers who cared deeply about their industry.In 2024, Olson’s research led her to Donald Trump. She trusted that the then-former president would improve their economic realities in Junction City, Kansas – where she was born and raised – if he returned to the White House. Continue reading… More

    • 250 Shares32 Views

      in US Politics

      The Guardian view on the midterms and foreign policy: American voters spoke, and now the world waits anxiously | Editorial

      by

      The Democrats have gained new powers to constrain Donald Trump. But the drubbing that Republicans received could yet prompt him to new excessesDonald Trump is a president without parallel, but history can still be instructive. Lame duck presidents often focus on foreign policy to escape domestic discontent and establish a legacy in an area where a hostile Congress offers less of an obstacle. Mr Trump, who was stunningly rebuffed by voters in Tuesday’s midterms, might seek satisfaction in construction projects, the 2028 presidential race and his family’s future. Or, amid the humiliation and with Republican critics growing louder, he could distract attention with fresh adventurism – perhaps escalating against Cuba – or more likely a vengeful new offensive against Iran.Mr Trump won’t put in the legwork or attention to detail demanded by, say, Bill Clinton’s push for lasting peace in the Middle East. But he loves the glitz of state visits, spectacular military action, hobnobbing with strongmen and (unearned) credit for dubious “peace deals”. With a potential three-way meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping mooted for the Apec summit in China this month, Ukraine, Taiwan and others have reason to be nervous.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading… More

    • 138 Shares32 Views

      in US Politics

      How did Republicans lose a Senate seat in fireball-red South Carolina?

      by

      Bitter postmortem under way as party comes to terms with Darline Graham’s stunning loss to Annie AndrewsQ&A: Ask your questions about Democrats’ win in the midtermsIt’s not that Shane Brown somehow didn’t know about the US Senate election in South Carolina. Nor was he unaware that the outcome of the race between Senator Darline Graham and her Democratic challenger, Annie Andrews, was shockingly competitive when he refrained from voting on Tuesday.The campaigns would not let him forget it. Continue reading… More

    • 100 Shares48 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump has been humbled. Now what? – podcast

      by

      Journalist Molly Ball reports from Washington DC after the Republicans’ resounding midterms defeat. Will the party finally distance itself from Donald Trump? And what will the Democrats do with the power they’ve just gained? Send your comments and questions to [email protected] will Donald Trump react to the Republicans’ midterm drubbing? And do the Democrats have a plan beyond being the anti-Trump party?The veteran political journalist Molly Ball talks through the ramifications of a historic set of midterm results as Trump oversaw a string of losses in red states from Kansas to Texas to South Carolina. Continue reading… More

    • 238 Shares37 Views

      in US Politics

      Both sides of the Atlantic sense more hope: voters are drawn to the ‘politics of love’ | Alexander Hurst

      by

      Trump’s rout could be part of a democratic spring that began in Hungary. But will it extend to the French elections next May?Hungary, Brazil, Serbia, and now the US. So far this year, when their hand has been held to the stove, voters have chosen what the Texas senator-elect James Talarico, the new face of the US’s Christian left, campaigned on as a “politics of love”: a society where we aren’t at each other’s throats, or a police state at ours.Is it any surprise that when there is clarity about the choice on offer, voters have started to shrink away from a vision fuelled by billionaire wealth and runaway inequality? Away from oligarchic rule and unapologetic corruption, connivance with aggression, expansion, colonialism and war; environmental degradation and the surrender of the human spirit to a reality mediated by the algorithm.Alexander Hurst writes for Guardian Europe from Paris. His memoir Generation Desperation is out nowDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading… More