Leo XIV has become the first pope to vote in a U.S. general election, casting a mail-in ballot in a contest that will decide America's future as the Trump era slowly comes to an end.

Support for Édouard Philippe, the leading candidate from the centrist bloc, has eroded, while his far-right and far-left rivals benefit.

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From France to Brazil, voters are railing against the status quo, even as the politics of disenchantment make lasting change nearly impossible.

The surge is especially pronounced in Texas, where voters are deciding closely watched Senate, House and governor's races. More than 6.3 million Texans had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase.

Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola denied Thursday that she knew anything about an effort to put another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent as the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation with new grand jury subpoenas.

Plus, the Friday news quiz.

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Young men swung to Donald Trump in 2024. Polling shows they are now moving away — but to what? Sabrina Tavernise, a reporter for The New York Times, went to Michigan to find out.

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A backlash over high prices helped Republicans capture a majority in 2024. Now, it may be the source of the party’s own undoing.

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Polls show the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham in a virtual tie with her Democratic opponent, Dr. Annie Andrews. An upset was unthinkable just a few months ago.

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The fate of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive candidate in the race, will serve as a litmus test for the left’s potency heading into the next presidential contest.

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Gains for Arab-led parties have electrified Taibe, in central Israel, even as voters elsewhere in Israel say they have no place in any future government.

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Forget California’s billionaire wealth tax. The economist Natasha Sarin believes there are better ways to make billionaires pay up.

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President Trump has been holding hours-long rallies for G.O.P. candidates nearly every day for weeks.

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Ryan Dinnage – who accompanied Reform UK leader on walkabouts before local elections – was later jailed, raising questions about vetting failure

One of Nigel Farage’s security team who accompanied him on the local election campaign trail this year was facing a rape charge and was later jailed for eight years, raising questions about a failure of vetting.

Ryan Dinnage spent time protecting Farage in April and May, but in June was convicted of having raped a woman while she slept in a caravan at the Royal Windsor horse show.

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© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

Ryan Dinnage – who accompanied Reform UK leader on walkabouts before local elections – was later jailed, raising questions about vetting failure

One of Nigel Farage’s security team who accompanied him on the local election campaign trail this year was facing a rape charge and was later jailed for eight years, raising questions about a failure of vetting.

Ryan Dinnage spent time protecting Farage in April and May, but in June was convicted of having raped a woman while she slept in a caravan at the Royal Windsor horse show.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

The Justice Department issued subpoenas, a House oversight committee sought interviews and the state opened its own inquiry into a Democratic plan to recruit a spoiler into a Senate race.

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Results released by election officials on Thursday showed Netanyahu's bloc winning 53 seats in the 120-member assembly, well below the 68 seats it had controlled at its peak in the previous parliament.

Some groups stood by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, but support fell off among others. Turnout was also a striking factor in the election.

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The company said it was looking into hundreds of new accounts that had placed wagers in two markets related to the election on Tuesday.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party and its allies won 53 seats in Parliament, falling short of the outright majority needed to form a government. The main opposition bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, won 48.

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