Redraw

• Donald Trump is implementing a multi-pronged strategy to alter U.S. voting rules, which could have lasting consequences for future midterm elections. • The strategy involves creating a perception of widespread voter fraud through numerous investigations to justify the implementation of tighter voting restrictions. • Experts warn that these efforts represent a disruption of the democratic process, aimed at maintaining power by manipulating the system rather than attracting more voters.

• Global energy supply chains are undergoing a fundamental restructuring following two major international supply shocks within five years. • Recent exchanges of fire and instability in the Strait of Hormuz have shattered confidence in traditional transit routes, making trust a critical commodity for energy security. • These geopolitical tensions highlight the ongoing risks to global energy supplies, regardless of whether current conflicts escalate or reach a permanent resolution.

• Nvidia's surge toward a $5 trillion valuation signals a global paradigm shift where semiconductors have replaced oil as the primary driver of economic power. • The rise of industry giants like TSMC in Taiwan and Samsung in South Korea highlights how mastery of the semiconductor supply chain now defines national strength. • This transition is fueled by the rapid evolution of AI technology, which is fundamentally reshaping global financial stability and market dynamics.

Lawmakers cite rushed timeline and public input despite pressure to redraw districts after supreme court opinionGeorgia Republicans declined to redraw the state’s congressional map during a special session, citing a rushed timeline and incomplete understanding of the ramifications of a recent US supreme court decision that effectively gutted a major section of the Voting Rights Act.“We believe that it’s important to do things the Georgia way, responsibly, transparently, and with ample opportunity for public input,” said Jon Burns, the Georgia house speaker. Continue reading...

• Latin America is experiencing a record surge in internal displacement driven by criminal violence, weak state governance, and the neglect of marginalized neighborhoods. • According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), families are being forced from their homes but remain trapped within their own national borders due to a lack of protection. • This crisis signifies a shift in territorial control, where criminal entities often govern areas and profit from fear, effectively rendering citizenship conditional for displaced populations.

• Governments and enterprises in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America are increasingly adopting low-cost Chinese AI servers over US-dominated alternatives. • This shift is driven by severe budget constraints and a strategic desire to avoid over-dependence on a single global superpower. • The trend signifies a major reshaping of the global AI infrastructure map, challenging the market dominance of US tech ecosystems in emerging economies.

New map reshapes representative Steve Cohen’s majority-Black Memphis district and gives Republicans an advantageDemocratic representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee on Friday announced that he is ending his bid for re-election, his career upended by the redistricting battles that are sweeping the country after last month’s supreme court decision.Republicans in Tennessee this month enacted a new US House map that carves up Cohen’s majority-Black district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of Donald Trump’s strategy to hold on to a slim majority in the November midterm elections. Continue reading...

Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and more are pushing to eliminate Democratic districts after supreme court rulingUS southern states are rushing to redraw congressional maps to eliminate Democratic districts and dilute the influence of Black voters in electing candidates, a bare-knuckled blitz occurring even in some states where voting in congressional primaries has begun, and prompted by the US supreme court’s decision gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.Tennessee Republicans have already enacted a new map, carving up the majority Black city of Memphis into three different congressional districts to get rid of the state’s lone Democrat in Congress. Louisiana, the state at the center of the supreme court’s Voting Rights Act decision, is on the brink of implementing a new map that would eliminate the seat of one of the state’s two Black Democrats in Congress. Alabama has successfully petitioned the US supreme court to allow it to eliminate a district currently represented by a Black Democrat. Instead, it will use a map this cycle that a court previously ruled was intentionally drawn to discriminate against Black voters. Continue reading...

Brian Kemp’s move makes Georgia latest southern state to initiate map-making after dismantling of Voting Rights ActThe Republican governor of Georgia called a special session for next month to redraw electoral maps, the latest southern state to initiate a new map-making after the US supreme court’s dismantling of the Voting Rights Act.Brian Kemp announced the special session, which will start on 17 June, on Wednesday. It will focus on “enacting, revising, repealing, or amending” district lines for the state legislature and congressional district, in light of the supreme court’s decision in Louisiana v Callais. Continue reading...

However, Tate Reeves said he expects to redraw state’s four congressional districts before the 2027 electionsOn Wednesday morning, Mississippi’s governor, Tate Reeves, said that he is canceling a special legislative session that was scheduled to redraw the state’s supreme court districts next week. However, Reeves, a Republican, noted that he does expect the state to redraw its four congressional districts at some point in the near future.Reeves, in an appearance on SuperTalk radio, a conservative talk radio network, also said that it would be difficult for the state to redraw the congressional districts in the Republicans favor in time for the upcoming midterm elections, slated for November. Doing so might also hurt Republicans in congressional races. Continue reading...

Legislature has eliminated the state’s one Democratic, Black-majority congressional districtSign up for the Breaking News US email Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of US politics. Tennessee’s Republican-dominated legislature passed redistricting maps on Thursday, eliminating the state’s one Democratic, Black-majority congressional district as GOP lawmakers scramble to improve their fortunes ahead of the November midterms.The new map splits Shelby County, the home of Memphis, a majority-Black city that played a critical role in the civil rights movement, into three separate Republican-leaning districts. Continue reading...

Move comes days after supreme court ruling weakened Voting Rights Act protections against racial gerrymanderingUS politics live – latest updatesTennessee’s Republican-dominated legislature passed redistricting maps on Thursday, eliminating the state’s one Democratic, Black-majority congressional district a week after the US supreme court effectively gutted a major section of the Voting Rights Act.The move cracks Tennessee’s ninth congressional district, which covers Memphis, into three pieces, each of which contains almost exactly a third of the city’s Black voters. The new maps mean that all nine of Tennessee’s congressional districts are Republican-leaning. Continue reading...

Ketanji Brown Jackson blasted the decision, saying the court has hastened it ruling only twice before in 25 yearsThe US supreme court went out of its way on Monday to help Louisiana Republicans redraw their congressional maps before this year’s midterm elections by allowing a recent ruling that gutted a key part of the Voting Rights Act to take effect ahead of schedule.The procedural move comes less than a week after the court’s landmark decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional map and gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Usually, the court waits 32 days to formally issue its judgment to the lower court. Last week, Louisiana asked the court to speed up that process, citing the urgency with which it needed to redraw its congressional maps. On Monday, the court agreed to do so. Continue reading...

At the heart of the case was the question of how much lawmakers are allowed to consider race when they redraw districtsSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe US supreme court has ruled that Louisiana will have to redraw its congressional map, in a landmark voting rights case.At the heart of the case, Louisiana v Callais, was a thorny question of how much lawmakers are allowed to consider race when they redraw districts to ensure that Black voters are adequately represented. The supreme court initially heard oral arguments in the case last March, but took the unusual step of asking lawyers to re-argue the case last fall. In setting the case for a re-argument, the justices raised the stakes of the case, asking lawyers to focus on whether section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was constitutional. Continue reading...

Proposal from Ron DeSantis would net Republicans up to four additional US House seats ahead of midterm electionsRon DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, on Monday unveiled his proposal for redistricting his state’s congressional maps, a move he hopes will net his party up to four additional House seats in November’s midterm elections.The long-awaited reveal, which will be debated during a special session of Florida’s legislature called by DeSantis beginning Tuesday, is the latest, and possibly final, act of a nationwide “gerrymandering” battle for control of Congress sparked by Donald Trump that looks increasingly to be moving back in Republicans’ favor. Continue reading...