Good morning.
The Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani has been elected as the 111th mayor of New York City, defeating the former governor Andrew Cuomo and the Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
The 34-year-old Democratic socialist secured victory with more than 50% of the vote to become the city’s first Muslim mayor. Cuomo finished second with just over 40%, while Sliwa received just over 7%.
Mamdani’s victory came alongside Democratic wins across the country, with Abigail Spanberger elected as Virginia’s first female governor, Mikie Sherrill defeating the Trump-backed Jack Ciattarelli in the New Jersey gubernatorial race, and California voting for Gavin Newsom’s push for redistricting maps that would yield five new congressional seats for the party.
How did the New York vote go? Mamdani received more votes than all the other candidates combined. With 97% of votes counted, he was on 50.4% of the total, while Cuomo was on 41.6% and Sliwa on 7.1%.
What does it mean for the city? Mamdani wants to freeze rent for 2 million people, to raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour, increase taxes on the highest earners, make bus transit free, offer universal childcare and increase affordable housing provision, among other things. The question now is how much of that platform he can deliver.
Dick Cheney, former vice-president and giant of Republican politics, dies aged 84
Dick Cheney, a former White House chief of staff, member of Congress, secretary of defense and vice-president, has died aged 84, his family announced.
He was one of the country’s most powerful US vice-presidents, widely reported to wield great influence over the less experienced George W Bush, under whom he served.
What is Cheney’s legacy? His place in history will be dominated by the decision to invade Iraq. Cheney had been defense secretary during the first Gulf war against Saddam Hussein. His and Bush’s public rationale to go to war again was that the Iraqi dictator was linked to al-Qaida and thus 9/11, and possessed weapons of mass destruction. By March 2003, when US and coalition forces invaded, no proof had been found for either charge, and both claims were soon proved false.
Torture and beatings in Israeli detention rose sharply during war, says freed Palestinian author
Nasser Abu Srour, a celebrated Palestinian author who was freed last month after more than 32 years in Israeli prisons, has said the use of torture increased dramatically during his last two years of captivity – as Israel came to treat its jails as “another front” in the Gaza war.
Abu Srour, 56, whose prison memoir is tipped to win a big international literary prize this month, was among more than 150 Palestinians serving life sentences who were freed as part of the Gaza ceasefire and then exiled to Egypt.
“They [the prison guards] started acting like they were in a war and this was another front, and they started beating, torturing, killing like warriors,” he said.
What do we know about conditions in Israeli prisons? Dozens of mutilated bodies of Palestinians were returned by Israel to Gaza, officials fromthe territory’s health ministry told the Guardian last month. Separately, a UN commission listed 75 deaths of Palestinians in Israeli custody between 7 October 2023 and 31 August 2025. (The Israeli prison service denies the use of torture.)
In other news …
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said the war in Sudan is spiralling out of control as he called for a halt to the fighting and an end to the violence.
David Beckham became a “Sir” yesterday after being knighted by King Charles, with the 50-year-old former soccer star and Inter Miami owner saying he was “immensely proud”.
Two different US courts have called on immigration officials to halt the deportation of a Pennsylvania man who spent more than 40 years in prison for a murder conviction that was recently overturned.
Peru is severing diplomatic relations with Mexico over the asylum claim of the former Peruvian prime minister Betssy Chávez, who is under investigation for rebellion.
Stat of the day: Elon Musk’s $1tn Tesla pay deal to be rejected by huge Norway wealth fund
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, has said it will vote against a $1tn pay package for the Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk. Norges Bank, which owns a $17bn stake in the carmaker, said it was “concerned about the total size of the award.”
Don’t miss this: Life and death on India’s toxic trash mountains – on the ground
Several miles wide and more than 200ft high, giant mountains of trash stand as symbols of Delhi’s inability to deal with its waste. Hannah Ellis-Petersen visited communities living in their shadow to see how people have become reliant on what is simultaneously poisoning them.
Climate check: Documentary explores how Republicans changed course on the climate
In 1988, George HW Bush said: “Those who think we’re powerless to do anything about this greenhouse effect are forgetting about the White House effect.” The clip is included in a new documentary – The White House Effect – that examines the evolution of the climate crisis from non-partisan reality to divisive political issue.
Last Thing: How DJing is helping Ukraine’s war veterans with recovery
At the Superhumans Center in Ukraine, the EnterDJ music therapy program teaches war-wounded soldiers how to mix, rehabilitating them with dance music. “It switches my mind automatically and makes me feel better,” said Roman Cherkas, who has been drawn to drum’n’bass.
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