Iran is to boycott next week’s World Cup finals draw in Washington because the United States refused to grant visas to several members of the delegation, the Iranian football federation announced on Friday.
“We have informed FIFA that the decisions taken have nothing to do with sports and the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw,” the federation’s spokesperson told state television.
Iranian sports website Varzesh 3 had claimed on Tuesday that the United States had declined to issue visas to several members of the delegation, including the president of the federation, Mehdi Taj.
On Thursday, Taj had denounced the decision as being a political one.
“We have told the head of FIFA mister (Gianni) Infantino, that it is purely a political position and that FIFA must tell them (US) to desist from this behaviour,” added Taj.
According to Varzesh 3, four members of the delegation, including Amir Ghalenoei, the coach, had been granted visas for the draw on December 5.
Iran qualified for the sport’s quadrennial showpiece in March, guaranteeing them a fourth successive appearance and seventh in all.
They have yet to progress to the knockout stages, but there was unconfined joy when in the 1998 finals in France, Iran beat the USA 2-1 in their group match.
The USA avenged that by beating Iran 1-0 in the 2022 edition.
The United States — which is co-hosting the World Cup with Canada and Mexico — and Iran have been at loggerheads for over four decades.
They had, though, been holding high-level nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington that had begun in April, during which the two sides were at odds over Iran’s right to enrich uranium — which Tehran defends as “inalienable”.
However, they ended when, in mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a 12-day war that the United States briefly joined with strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities. (Punch)
A Grammy-winning rapper who “betrayed his country for money” has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, who was part of 1990s hip-hop group The Fugees, was convicted of illegally funnelling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012.
The Justice Department had accused the 53-year-old of accepting $120m (£92m) from Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, who wanted to gain political influence in the US.
Prosecutors said Michel “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his actions” – and sought to deceive the White House, senior politicians and the FBI for almost a decade.
In 2018, it is claimed he urged the Trump administration and the justice department to drop embezzlement investigations against Low.
Michel was convicted of 10 counts by a federal jury in 2023 – and last month, he was ordered to forfeit about $65m (£50m) for his role in the scheme.
Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio testified at the trial, and Low was a primary financier in his 2013 film The Wolf Of Wall Street.
The Oscar-winning actor said the businessman’s funding and legitimacy had been carefully vetted before they entered a partnership.
Prosecutors had been seeking a life sentence to “reflect the breadth and depth of Michel’s crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed”.
However, the rapper’s lawyer Peter Zeidenberg has argued that the 14-year term is “completely disproportionate to the offence” – and is vowing to appeal.
Last year, a judge rejected Michel’s request for a new trial after claiming that one of his lawyers had used AI during closing arguments.
Low Taek Jho has been accused of having a central role in the 1MDB scandal, amid claims billions of dollars were stolen from a Malaysian state fund.
The 44-year-old is a fugitive but has maintained his innocence, with his lawyers writing: “Low’s motivation for giving Michel money to donate was not so that he could achieve some policy objective.
“Instead, Low simply wanted to obtain a photograph with himself and then President Obama.”
Michel, who was born in Brooklyn, was a founding member of The Fugees with childhood friends Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean – selling tens of millions of records. (SkyNews)
Two US National Guard soldiers were shot and critically wounded Wednesday two blocks from the White House and police said a suspect had been taken into custody.
“Please join me in praying for the two National Guardsmen who were just shot moments ago in Washington DC,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X.
An AFP reporter near the scene said she heard several loud pops that sounded like gunshots, and then saw people running away from Farragut Square, a popular and busy outdoor area near the White House and a subway station.
Donald Trump, who is in Florida, was quickly briefed on the “tragic” situation, a spokeswoman said.
“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Local authorities confirmed that emergency services responded to and transported three gunshot victims from the area.
Secret Service were seen behind yellow police tape, their guns drawn.
“We heard gunshots. We were waiting at the traffic light and there were several shots, Angela Perry, who was in her car with her two children, told AFP.
“You could see National Guard running toward the metro with their weapons drawn,” the 42-year-old said.
Trump has sent National Guard troops to Democratic-run Washington, Los Angeles and Memphis to combat crime and help enforce his crackdown on undocumented migrants.
Last Thursday a federal judge ruled that Trump’s deployment of thousands of National Guard troops in the US capital is unlawful.
His extraordinary domestic use of the Guard was also challenged by California earlier this year after the president sent troops to Los Angeles to quell protests sparked by the rounding up of undocumented migrants. (Channels)
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday, slammed the factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Tanimu Turaki, over his call on United States President Donald Trump to intervene in Nigeria’s political affairs.
This was as the police on Wednesday sealed the national secretariat of the PDP in Abuja over the party’s violent leadership tussle.
While receiving board members of the South-South Development Commission, led by its chairman, Chibudom Nwuche, at his office on Wednesday, Wike said Turaki’s statements posed a threat to national security and accused his PDP faction of ignoring court rulings, which he described as an act of impunity.
Turaki had on Tuesday called on Trump and other advanced democracies to “save Nigeria’s democracy”, following a confrontation between rival PDP factions at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Turaki said democracy was under threat in Nigeria, in addition to alleged Christian genocide.
But speaking on Wednesday, Wike said Turaki ought to have been invited for questioning by security agencies.
He said, “Look at a threat to national security. You are calling Trump to come and save your democracy when you cannot obey a simple court judgment. Simple court judgment: don’t do this until you have done this. Now you are turning it around against a government. What is their business? You cannot keep your house in order; you are blaming an outsider for not keeping your house in order. Who does that?”
He further questioned Turaki’s claim of genocide and noted that security agencies had not investigated the matter.
“You come out and make a statement on national television to say, look, it is not only killing—genocide against Christians. And where are the security agencies? For somebody to make such a statement, you won’t invite them to come and give facts. But if it is Wike—kill him!” he added.
Meanwhile, police on Wednesday sealed the PDP national secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Abuja.
Officers mounted a barbed-wire barricade across the main entrance, saying the order came “from above” but declining to provide further details.
Efforts to reach the FCT Police Command spokesperson were unsuccessful.
The sealing of the secretariat followed a day of heightened tensions at the venue amid a leadership tussle between rival PDP factions.
Confusion erupted on Tuesday after two conflicting notices were issued for a National Executive Committee meeting—one by expelled National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and the other by Turaki.
Each faction claimed legitimacy, resulting in a standoff.
Following the confrontation, Turaki, accompanied by governors Seyi Makinde and Bala Mohammed, accused Wike of instigating the unrest and called for international attention to what he described as a threat to Nigeria’s democratic process. (Punch)
Injury-time wonder-goals by Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean handed Scotland a stunning 4-2 win over Denmark on Tuesday to qualify them for the 2026 World Cup, while Spain also booked their ticket with a 2-2 draw against Turkey.
Belgium thumped Liechtenstein 7-0 to reach next year’s tournament as Switzerland and Austria ground out draws to secure their places in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Scotland’s late show in Glasgow means Steve Clarke’s side have qualified for the global footballing showpiece for the first time since 1998.
Level at 2-2 as the clock ticked past 90, Denmark were set to advance to the World Cup as Group C winners until Tierney curled in an exquisite finish from distance three minutes into injury time.
McLean then put the match beyond doubt as he lifted the ball over Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who was well off his line, from the halfway line on 98 minutes.
“That just sums up this squad,” captain Andy Robertson told the BBC. “Never say die. We just keep going right to the end and one of the craziest games.
“We put the country through it, but I’m sure it’s worth it. We’re going to the World Cup.”
Earlier, Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay had given the hosts a third-minute lead with a towering overhead kick.
McTominay’s clubmate Rasmus Hojlund leveled for Denmark from the spot just shy of the hour, before his side went down to 10 as Rasmus Kristensen picked up a second booking.
An anxious Hampden Park let out a roar of ecstasy and relief in the 78th minute as Lawrence Shankland turned in from close range.
But Denmark struck back again through Patrick Dorgu four minutes later before Tierney and McLean stole the headlines.
Denmark will now be in Thursday’s draw for the European play-offs, which will take place next March.
Switzerland will appear in a sixth successive World Cup finals after drawing 1-1 in Pristina against Kosovo.
With the Swiss needing to avoid a defeat by six goals to seal top spot, they rarely looked troubled as Ruben Vargas handed them the lead in the 47th minute before Florent Muslija equalised.
Euro 2024 winners Spain found themselves in a similar situation in Seville against Turkey but also never looked like going down to the seven-goal loss that would have sent the visitors through in their place.
Dani Olmo fired Spain ahead but Deniz Gul and Salih Ozcan struck for Turkey as the hosts conceded their first goals in the qualification process.
But Mikel Oyarzabal hit back after the hour to extend Spain’s unbeaten run.
“We wanted to finish with a win and a clean sheet, so it’s bitter-sweet… but we’re happy to qualify for the World Cup,” Olmo told TVE.
Michael Gregoritsch bundled home a 77th-minute leveller to snatch a 1-1 draw for Austria against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which sealed Ralf Rangnick’s team a first World Cup appearance in 28 years.
“I can’t believe it; we made it! I have been trying to reach the World Cup for 18 years. Finally now, at the end of my career, we got there. I can’t wait,” 36-year-old Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic said, according to UEFA.com.
Haris Tabakovic’s early strike had looked as if it might be enough for the visitors to snatch first place from under Austria’s noses until Gregoritsch condemned Bosnia to the play-offs.
Belgium, semi-finalists in 2018, cruised into the draw for the World Cup with a Jeremy Doku-inspired hammering of Liechtenstein.
The Manchester City winger grabbed a brace in Liege as Charles De Ketelaere also netted twice and Hans Vanaken, Brandon Mechele and Alexis Saelemaekers completed the rout.
In Group J’s other match, second-placed Wales also ran up seven goals as they beat North Macedonia 7-1 with Harry Wilson scoring a hat-trick of set-piece goals.
North Macedonia can, nonetheless, look forward to a play-off place courtesy of their Nations League performance.
Romania, who beat San Marino by the same scoreline, will also have the chance to reach the World Cup thanks to the Nations League after finishing third in Group H.
Sweden, who picked up just their second point of the qualifying campaign with a 1-1 home draw against Slovenia, advanced in the same manner.
The 16-team European play-offs will allow an additional four teams from the continent to make it to North America next year. (JapanToday)
Webtoon Entertainment will bring a batch of stories that originated on mobile phones to life as animated projects under a new deal with Warner Bros. Animation. The companies intend to enter into an agreement to co-produce 10 fan-favorite Webtoon webcomics series for global distribution.
The collaboration is a “significant expansion of Webtoon Entertainment’s animation pipeline,” according to the company. Projects are to be selected from the company’s Korean- and English-language platforms, with development support from Webtoon Entertainment’s U.S.-based Webtoon Productions and Japanese intellectual-property business teams.
The projects Webtoon plans to co-produce with Warner Bros. Animation could be films or series, but right now it’s early in the process — and no release dates have been targeted yet. The creators of the original Webtoon webcomics own the IP and, under their agreements with the company, will receive a share of revenue generated from the animation projects, said Yongsoo Kim, Webtoon Entertainment’s chief strategy officer and head of global.
“Our creators are building franchises that Gen Z audiences love, and working with Warner Bros. Animation gives us an incredible opportunity to take those stories further alongside one of the most respected names in animation,” said Kim.
Other Webtoon Entertainment adaptations are available on Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video, Sony’s Crunchyroll and other platforms. The company’s content partners include Disney, Discord, HYBE and DC Comics. Webtoon, a pioneer in the webcomic format, has about 155 million monthly active users globally.
Warner Bros. Animation is home to animated characters from the DC, Hanna-Barbera, MGM and Looney Tunes libraries. WBA recently released original anime feature film “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” with New Line Cinema and “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie,” released on March 14, 2025, with Ketchup Entertainment.
“Bringing together the world-class artistry of Warner Bros. Animation and the vibrant storytelling of Webtoon creates an awesome combination and opportunity to build something special,” said Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe.
Sinbae Kim, chief growth officer of LINE Digital Frontier, leads Webtoon’s global animation efforts and was involved in inking the Warner Bros. Animation deal. According to Kim, Webtoon has a “unique ability to discover original voices, nurture global fandoms and build the next generation of franchise storytelling from the ground up… This partnership with Warner Bros. Animation is an exciting next step in that journey — one that expands what’s possible for our creators, our studios and our fans.”
“From hits like ‘True Beauty,’ ‘Clevatess’ and ‘Tower of God’ to many more adaptations in progress, we’re proving that great stories can start on a phone screen and grow into global entertainment phenomena,” said Kim. (Variety)
The BBC has apologised to US President Donald Trump for a Panorama episode that spliced parts of his 6 January 2021 speech together, but rejected his demands for compensation.
The corporation said the edit had given “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action” and said it would not show the 2024 programme again.
Lawyers for Trump have threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn (£759m) in damages unless the corporation issues a retraction, apologises and compensates him.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told BBC Breakfast she was confident the corporation was “gripping this with the seriousness that it demands”, adding her role was to ensure “the highest standards are upheld”.
But she also told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the BBC’s editorial standards and guidelines were “in some cases not robust enough and in other cases not consistently applied”, adding that there would need to be people “at a very senior level with a journalistic background”.
Political appointments to the corporation’s board would be examined in the BBC’s charter review, she said in response to a question asking if member Sir Robbie Gibb, a former political adviser to Theresa May, had overstepped his remit and weighed into politics.
While this was a matter for the board and its chairman, she said, those appointments “damaged confidence and trust in the BBC’s impartiality”.
Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey had urged the prime minister on Thursday to “get on the phone to Trump” to put a stop to his lawsuit threat and “defend the impartiality and independence of the BBC”.
The fallout from the scandal led to the resignations of BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness on Sunday.
BBC News has approached the White House for comment.
The apology comes hours after a second similarly edited clip, broadcast on Newsnight in 2022, was revealed by the Daily Telegraph.
In its Corrections and Clarifications section, published on Thursday evening, the BBC said the Panorama programme had been reviewed after criticism of how Trump’s speech had been edited.
The BBC had been given a deadline of 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) on Friday to respond.
“We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action,” the statement said.
Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday, a BBC spokesperson said.
“BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme,” they said.
They added: “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
In Trump’s speech he said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
More than 50 minutes later in the speech, he said: “And we fight. We fight like hell.”
In the Panorama programme the clip shows him as saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
Speaking to Fox News, Trump said his speech had been “butchered” and the way it was presented had “defrauded” viewers.
The BBC received the letter from Trump’s lawyers on Sunday. It demands a “full and fair retraction” of the documentary, an apology, and that the BBC “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused”.
In its letter to Trump’s legal team, the BBC sets out five main arguments for why it does not think it has a case to answer.
First it says the BBC did not have the rights to, and did not, distribute the Panorama episode on its US channels.
When the documentary was available on BBC iPlayer, it was restricted to viewers in the UK.
Secondly, it says the documentary did not cause Trump harm, as he was re-elected shortly after.
Thirdly, it says the clip was not designed to mislead, but just to shorten a long speech, and that the edit was not done with malice.
Fourthly, it says the clip was never meant to be considered in isolation. Rather, it was 12 seconds within an hour-long programme, which also containedlots of voices in support of Trump.
Finally, an opinion on a matter of public concern and political speech is heavily protected under defamation laws in the US.
A BBC insider said that internally, there is a strong belief in the case the corporation has put forward, and in its defence. (BBC)
Joe Lewis, the British billionaire and former owner of Tottenham Hotspur FC, has been pardoned by Donald Trump over a 2024 conviction for his part in a “brazen” insider trading scheme.
Lewis, 88, was fined $5m (£3.8m) and given three years probation by a New York judge last year but was spared jail time after pleading guilty to involvement in a plan that prosecutors said was designed to enrich his friends, lovers and employees.
Lawyers for the east London-born investor initially accused prosecutors of making an “egregious” mistake by charging him with multiple counts of securities fraud and conspiracy.
But Lewis, who also owns the largest stake in one of the UK’s biggest operators of pubs, bars and restaurants, Mitchells & Butlers, later changed his plea to guilty after prosecutors agreed to a non-custodial sentence.
Lewis retained his right to change his plea again if a custodial sentence were imposed.
In a statement to the court at his sentencing last year, he said: “I made a terrible mistake. I broke the law. I am ashamed, sorry, and I hold myself accountable.”
The judge, Jessica Clarke, said Lewis’s circumstances did not warrant incarceration and imposed a $44m fine on his company, Broad Bay, on top of his $5m personal fine and probation.
But on Thursday, the Daily Telegraph was first to report that Trump planned to pardon Lewis entirely. The Guardian understands that the fine will not be repaid to Lewis or his company.
The White House later confirmed the pardon and said Lewis requested it so that he could receive medical treatment and visit his grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the US, the Associated Press reported.
Lewis said: “I am pleased all of this is now behind me, and I can enjoy retirement and watch as my family and extended family continue to build our businesses based on the quality and pursuit of excellence that has become our trademark.”
A source close to the family said: “Joe and the Lewis family are extremely grateful for this pardon and would like to thank President Trump for taking this action.
“Over his long business career, Joe has been a visionary, creating businesses across the world, which multiple generations of his family are now taking forward. There is so much more to the Joe Lewis story than this one event.”
Lewis already transferred his majority ownership interest in Tottenham to his family via a trust in 2022, the year before he was charged.
The north London football club is now overseen by Lewis’s daughter Vivienne, his son Charles, and Vivienne’s son-in-law Nick Beucher.
Details of the insider trading scheme were documented in a 29-page dossier published by the US attorney for the southern district of New York in 2023.
Prosecutors accused Lewis of passing on share tips based on inside information to his employees, including his private jet pilot and his then 33-year-old girlfriend, Carolyn Carter, to allow them to make a profit from stock trading. (Guardian)
BBC director general Tim Davie has told staff that “we’ve got to fight for our journalism” after Donald Trump threatened to sue the corporation for $1bn (£760m) over a Panorama programme.
It comes after a leaked internal BBC memo, published by the Telegraph last Monday, said the film had misled viewers by splicing together parts of the US president’s speech on 6 January 2021 and made it appear as if he had explicitly encouraged the Capitol Hill riot.
“We have made some mistakes that have cost us, but we need to fight,” Davie, who resigned on Sunday alongside BBC News CEO Deborah Turness after mounting pressure over the memo, said on Tuesday.
“This narrative will not just be given by our enemies, it’s our narrative,” he added.
He said the BBC went through “difficult times… but it just does good work, and that speaks louder than any newspaper, any weaponisation”.
Trump threatened to take legal action if the BBC did not make a “full and fair retraction” of the programme by Friday. The corporation has said it will reply in due course.
BBC chair Samir Shah said in a letter to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMS) on Monday that the corporation would like to apologise for the edit, which he called an “error of judgement” which gave the impression of a “direct call for violent action”.
During Tuesday’s staff call, where Shah also spoke, neither Davie nor the BBC chair mentioned Trump’s legal threat.
Davie said the fact that “there was an editorial breach, and I think some responsibility had to be taken” was one of the reasons he was quitting.
He also cited the upcoming charter renewal – saying he wanted to give his successor a “runway into that” – and the personal pressures of the “relentless” role.
Shah also defended the fact that the corporation did not respond to the memo’s publication for seven days.
“We had a deadline, that was Monday… and we met that,” he said, referring to the deadline given by the CMS, and stressed that he “needed to be careful and get it right”.
No timeline was given for selecting Davie’s replacement, but the chair said the corporation was in “succession mode”.
The BBC’s culture editor Katie Razzall said there was “some disquiet” from BBC staff over the Q&A session, which was moderated by a member of the BBC’s communications team, not by a journalist.
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy defended the BBC from “sustained attacks” by politicians who she said were going beyond criticising its editorial failures.
She said the “concerns are serious” but there was a “fundamental difference from raising serious concerns about editorial failings and members of this house launching a sustained attack on the institution itself.”
She added that the BBC was “essential to this country” and wasn”not just a broadcaster, it’s a national institution” – “It is a light on the hill here and around the world.”
Nandy confirmed that the once-a-decade process of reviewing the corporation’s charter would begin shortly and that it would ensure a BBC which is “fiercely independent” and “genuinely accountable” to the public.
At its meeting on Tuesday, the CMS committee agreed to hold an evidence session with members of the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee in coming weeks, including Shah and BBC board members Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson.
Shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston said the BBC “needs saving from itself” and that whilst “we all want the BBC to succeed” there needed to be “institutional change…not just a few people at the top”.
Downing Street has refused to comment on Trump’s legal threat, explaining that this was a “matter for the BBC”.
“It is clearly not for the government to comment on any ongoing legal matters,” the prime minister’s official spokesperson said.
“Our position is clear, the BBC is independent and it’s for the cooperation to respond to questions about their editorial decisions.”
Asked whether there were concerns the issue would impact Keir Starmer’s relationship with Trump, the spokesperson said the two had a “very strong” relationship.
The spokesperson would not be drawn on whether the BBC should apologise directly to the president.
Trump’s legal team wrote to the BBC on Sunday threatening to take action over the “false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading, and inflammatory statements” in the Panorama programme.
The BBC said the programme, which was first broadcast on 24 October 2024, was not available to watch on iPlayer because it was “over a year old”. (BBC)
Democrats swept a trio of races on Tuesday in the first major elections since Donald Trump regained the presidency, elevating a new generation of leaders and giving the beleaguered party a shot of momentum ahead of next year’s congressional elections.
In New York City, Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, won the mayoral race, capping a meteoric and unlikely rise from an anonymous state lawmaker to one of the country’s most visible Democratic figures. And in Virginia and New Jersey, moderate Democrats Abigail Spanberger, 46, and Mikie Sherrill, 53, won the elections for governor with commanding leads, respectively.
Tuesday’s contests offered a barometer of how Americans are responding to Trump’s tumultuous nine months in office. The races also served as a test of differing Democratic campaign playbooks ahead of 2026, with the party locked out of power in Washington and still trying to forge a path out of the political wilderness.
That said, the midterm election is a year away, an eternity in the Trump era, and opinion polls show the Democratic brand remains broadly unpopular, even as Trump’s own approval rating has declined. The contests on Tuesday also all unfolded in Democratic-leaning regions that did not support Trump in last year’s presidential election.
Perhaps the biggest practical boost to Democrats on Tuesday came out of California, where voters gave Democratic lawmakers the power to redraw the state’s congressional map, expanding a national battle over redistricting that will shape the race for the U.S. House of Representatives.
The winning candidates on Tuesday could reenergize and inspire more engagement from Democratic voters, many of whom have clamored for fresh faces at the vanguard of the party. Turnout in the New York City mayoral race was the highest since at least 1969.
All three Democratic candidates emphasized economic issues, particularly affordability, an issue that remains top of mind for most voters. But Spanberger and Sherrill hail from the party’s moderate wing, while Mamdani used a viral video-fueled insurgent campaign to present himself as an unabashed progressive in the mold of Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“The Democratic Party is back,” Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, assrted on X.
Mamdani, who will become the first Muslim mayor of the biggest U.S. city, outlasted former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, 67, who ran as an independent after losing the nomination to Mamdani earlier this year. Cuomo, who resigned as governor four years ago after sexual harassment allegations that he has denied, portrayed Mamdani as a radical leftist whose proposals were unworkable and dangerous.
Mamdani has called for raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for ambitious left-wing policies such as frozen rents, free childcare and free city buses. Wall Street executives have expressed concern about putting a democratic socialist at the helm of the financial capital of the world.
Republicans have already signaled they intend to present Mamdani as the face of the Democratic Party. Trump has incorrectly labeled Mamdani a “communist” and vowed to cut funding for the city in response to Mamdani’s ascension.
In a social media post on Tuesday night, Trump blamed the losses on the fact his name was not on the ballot and on an ongoing federal government shutdown.
Spanberger, who beat Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, will take over from Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin in Virginia. New Jersey’s Sherrill defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli and will succeed Democratic Governor Phil Murphy.
Both Sherrill and Spanberger had sought to tie their opponents to Trump in an effort to harness frustration among Democratic and independent voters over his chaotic tenure.
“We sent a message to the world that in 2025 Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship,” Spanberger said in her victory speech. “We chose our Commonwealth over chaos.”
Trump gave both candidates some late-stage grist during the ongoing government shutdown.
His administration threatened to fire federal workers — a move with an outsized impact on Virginia, a state adjacent to Washington, D.C., and home to many government employees. He froze billions in funding for a new Hudson River train tunnel, a critical project for New Jersey’s large commuter population.
In interviews at Virginia polling stations on Tuesday, some voters said Trump’s most contentious policies were on their minds, including his efforts to deport immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally and to impose costly tariffs on imports of foreign goods, the legality of which is being weighed by the U.S. Supreme Court this week.
Juan Benitez, a self-described independent, was voting for the first time. The 25-year-old restaurant manager backed all of Virginia’s Democratic candidates because of his opposition to Trump’s immigration policies and the federal government shutdown, for which he blamed Trump.
For Republicans, Tuesday’s elections served as a test of whether the voters who powered Trump’s victory in 2024 will still show up when he is not on the ballot.
But Ciattarelli and Earle-Sears, both running in Democratic-leaning states, faced a conundrum: criticizing Trump risked losing his supporters, but embracing him too closely could have alienated moderate and independent voters who disapprove of his policies. (JapanToday)
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