District

• 金曜日に発表された新しい POLITICO‑Citrin Center‑Possibility Lab の調査によると、共和党と民主党の両方の大多数が、連邦下院の選挙区を画定するための独立委員会の設置を支持しており、党派的なゲリマンダリングの廃止に反対する議論を弱めている。 • Trump 政権は、独立した選挙区割り委員会を導入する州に連邦資金を紐付けることで、これらの委員会を法制化する提案を検討している。これは、2026年以降の激戦区の勢力図を塗り替える可能性のある戦略である。 • 民権団体や投票権擁護団体はこの調査結果を歓迎し、独立委員会は、現在両党に有利に偏っている区割り地図の党派的な操作を減らすことになると主張している。

• Louisiana 知事 Jeff Landry は、2026年4月29日、congressional maps に関する裁判所の判決が redistricting の争いを激化させたことを受け、House 予備選挙を中断する計画を発表した。 • この決定は人種的な gerrymandering を巡る継続的な争いに起因しており、midterms を前にさらに数十件の訴訟が控えている。 • 中断により選挙が遅延し、州内における GOP の戦略が再構築される可能性がある。

• Virginia の有権者は、複数の GOP 現職議員を危うくする Democratic が支持する連邦下院の redistricting 案を僅差で承認しました。 • この措置は、主要な選挙区で Democratic に有利になるよう境界線を引き直すもので、2026 midterm races に向けた勢力均衡を変化させます。 • この沿岸部での redistricting を巡る争いは、公正な地図（fair maps）と党派的な優位性を巡る全米的な緊張を浮き彫りにしています。

Special session comes after Virginia voted to redraw maps and as Trump pressures Republicans to protect House majorityFlorida begins a special session on Tuesday in what may be the last front of the redistricting war before the 2026 election, with Republicans trying to redraw maps to pick up more seats in Congress.Lawmakers enter the session in Tallahassee cloaked in mystery, with no preview of a proposed map to consider and no clear path for Republicans to increase their representation in what appears to be a hostile year for their party. Continue reading...

• House Republicans openly questioned President Donald Trump's mid-decade redistricting strategy on Wednesday, following a Democratic victory in Virginia on Tuesday that threatens the GOP's slim House majority. • The Virginia vote paves the way for as many as four Republican seats to be lost, intensifying GOP concerns about the redistricting war Trump sparked. • Republican lawmakers are now expressing misgivings about the strategy, signaling potential fractures within the party over Trump's aggressive electoral positioning ahead of the November midterms.

Democrats within reach of House majority after voters rebel against Republican gerrymanderingSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxMonths into his second term, Donald Trump wagered that he could beat the historic trend of the party in power losing seats in midterm elections if Republican-led states redrew congressional maps to sweep Democrats out of office.The gamble is looking to be a bust, or at best a draw, for the president, after Democrats fought back with their own redistricting efforts, the latest of which came to fruition in Virginia on Tuesday, when voters approved a plan that could remove all but one of the five Republicans in its current House of Representatives delegation. Continue reading...

• The latest POLITICO-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab survey reveals strong majorities in both parties favor an independent panel for drawing House district lines. • Over 70% of Democrats and Republicans support the nonpartisan approach to prevent gerrymandering ahead of midterms. • This consensus could pressure Congress to reform redistricting processes and reduce partisan map battles.

Purple state which recently elected a Democratic governor will now choose whether to replace existing voting maps with ones that favor DemocratsNearly three months to the day after his term as Virginia’s governor ended, Republican Glenn Youngkin stood in an unshaded corner of an office parking lot to warn dozens of conservative activists that they were in the midst of “the most important election” in the commonwealth’s 237-year history.The question before the voters casting ballots at an early voting precinct a few yards away in the city of Leesburg ahead of Tuesday’s special election was whether to temporarily set aside Virginia’s congressional maps intended to advantage neither party and replace them with a new version that could allow Democrats to win all but one seat in the 11-member delegation in the November midterm elections. Continue reading...

Officials grant Grade II* protection to ‘rare building that raises more questions than it answers’It is an elite list with some of the most significant and beautiful buildings and structures in England, including Battersea power station, Middlesbrough’s Transporter Bridge and the London Coliseum.Now the Grade II* landmarks are being joined by a mysterious, limestone rubble “barn” on a grassy knoll in the Lake District, which was most recently used as a shelter for sheep and cows. Continue reading...

• Republican Clay Fuller defeated Shan Harris in the Georgia 14th Congressional District special election runoff on Tuesday, securing 55.9% of the vote to 44.1%. • Fuller thanked President Trump for his support and plans to relaunch his campaign for a full two-year term in November. • The victory was expected in the heavily Republican district but was watched closely amid Trump's sagging approval ratings, rising gas prices, and concerns over the Iran war.

• Democrat Emily Gregory, a first-time fitness business owner, defeated Republican Jon Maples in a Florida State House special election for a district encompassing President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home. • Maples was endorsed by Trump and aligned with his policies, yet Gregory flipped the seat previously won by 19 points by Republican Mike Caruso in 2024. • The stunning upset signals building Democratic momentum ahead of the 2026 midterms in Trump's backyard.

• Democrat Emily Gregory won a special election on March 24, 2026, flipping a solidly Republican Florida state legislative district that includes President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. • The victory serves as a warning sign for Republicans amid high gas prices driven by the Iran war, unprecedented airport security delays from a five-week partial government shutdown, and voter concerns over living costs and inflation. • President Trump rallied the GOP at the National Republican Congressional Committee's fundraising dinner on March 25 in Washington, promising 'bigger majorities' despite polling showing public disapproval of U.S. military action in Iran and weakening labor market.

Emily Gregory defeats Republican Jon Maples in district that is home to US president’s Palm Beach estateDemocrats managed to flip a seat in the Florida state house in the district that is home to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.Emily Gregory, a Democrat, defeated Republican Jon Maples, who had an endorsement from the US president. The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday evening. Continue reading...

Romantic poet’s Rydal Mount and Gardens, marketed for over £2.5m, will remain open under Wordsworth TrustIt was the family home where William Wordsworth hosted Alfred, Lord Tennyson, lived as poet laureate and worked on his epic autobiographical poem The Prelude.Now, after a long period of decline in visitor numbers, Rydal Mount and Gardens has been saved from descending into the “half-choked with willow flowers and weeds” state Wordsworth described in his 1814 poem The Excursion – and will be preserved by a charity that will ensure it remains open to the public. Continue reading...

Midwestern state has a slate of competitive races with money flowing in from donors including AipacSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxIllinois voters on Tuesday will decide between a crowded field of Democratic candidates vying to be the state’s next senator as the midwestern state also nominates candidates for five open congressional seats.Longtime Illinois senator Dick Durbin’s retirement leaves a competitive race that includes two US representatives and the lieutenant governor vying to replace him, with massive infusions of money coming to the candidates from outside groups, including donors affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), that are spending millions to sway voters. Continue reading...

An unidentified air strike targeted a house in Baghdad's Karrada district early Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding two others, according to Iraqi security officials and Iranian-backed group affiliates. The Iraqi military condemned the attack as a violation of humanitarian values and international conventions. This incident occurs as US Embassy in Baghdad faces repeated threats from Iran-aligned militias. Investigations continue to determine the strike's origin amid ongoing regional hostilities.