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Lese-Ansicht

California Had the Most Expensive Governor’s Race in U.S. History. It’s Still Not Over.

Nearly $316 million was spent on campaign ads in the primary for California governor. Now the general election spending will begin.

© Mark Abramson for The New York Times

Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer were leading the vote count Wednesday in California’s primary election for governor, the most expensive gubernatorial contest in the country’s history.
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Billionaires and Silicon Valley Have Flooded California’s Races With Cash

Tom Steyer has spent a staggering $216 million on his campaign for governor. Tech titans have lined up behind one of his rivals. And in other races, rich donors are spending big.

© Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times

Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund investor and a longtime megadonor to liberal causes, has lavishly self-funded his bid for California governor.
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Powerful A.I. Super PACs Duel Over the Midterms: ‘This Is a War’

One super PAC is allied with Anthropic. The other is tied to OpenAI. They’re both spending millions to influence this year’s elections.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The artificial intelligence industry has begun spending tens of millions of dollars on elections, routing the money through allied super PACs.
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What We Know (and Don’t) About the E. Jean Carroll Lawsuits Inquiry

Prosecutors would face substantial hurdles in potentially pursuing charges against Ms. Carroll, who twice won cases against Donald Trump, or the billionaire who helped pay her lawyers.

© Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times

E. Jean Carroll arrived for closing arguments in her defamation trial against Donald Trump in Manhattan in 2023.
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Student loans inquiry responses show ‘massive scale of frustration and upset’

More than 52,000 people respond to Commons committee’s call for evidence amid criticism of loan terms

Thousands of graduates have told an official inquiry their horror stories and bad experiences relating to student loans, underlining what the chair of an MPs’ committee called massive levels of “frustration and upset”.

Amid an ongoing row over the ballooning cost of degree course debts, more than 52,000 people responded to a call for evidence by the Commons Treasury select committee as part of its inquiry into student loans and the taxation of graduates.

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© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

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The Jaw-Dropping Cost of the Texas Senate Primary: Nearly $130 Million

The race between Senator John Cornyn and his right-wing rival, Ken Paxton, has cost mountains of cash. More of it has gone to help Mr. Cornyn — but that money may not be enough.

© Desiree Rios for The New York Times

The Republican primary race for Senate between Senator John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, has become the most expensive primary campaign in the country’s recent history.
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BP removes chair Albert Manifold over ‘serious’ governance and conduct concerns

Oil company is FTSE’s biggest faller as chair departs immediately after only eight months in the role

BP has removed its chair, Albert Manifold, with the oil company’s board saying it had serious concerns about “important governance standards, oversight and conduct”.

The FTSE 100 company announced Manifold’s departure with immediate effect on Tuesday, without giving further details. He had lasted only eight months in the role.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Will Maureen Galindo’s ‘Zionists’ Comments Matter in Texas House Runoff Election?

Democratic leaders accused Maureen Galindo of antisemitism and are trying to stop her from winning the party’s primary in a contested U.S. House district.

© Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News, via Getty Images

Maureen Galindo is a progressive with little political experience.
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UK universities warn of cuts for impoverished students if dire funding issues continue

Nearly a third of vice-chancellors would cut hardship support if necessary over next three years, according to poll

Vice-chancellors have said they may need to cut hardship support for impoverished students and reduce outreach activities aimed at disadvantaged groups if the dire funding struggles at universities continue.

The anonymous poll of leaders by Universities UK (UUK) revealed the extent of the budgetary quagmire facing higher education, with more than two-thirds prepared to cut staff jobs by compulsory redundancy if difficulties continue over the next three years, while nearly 90% said they were looking at hiring freezes or voluntary redundancies.

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© Photograph: Jeffrey Blackler/Alamy

© Photograph: Jeffrey Blackler/Alamy

© Photograph: Jeffrey Blackler/Alamy

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Lutnick Donated $5 Million to House Republicans Before Epstein Testimony

Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, made the donation after agreeing to an interview with lawmakers about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

© Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

Howard Lutnick, the secretary of commerce, at a hearing in Washington last month.
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Thomas Massie, a Trump Critic, Causes Latest Midterm Fight Over Israel

In primary races across the country, debates over Israel are taking center stage, dividing Democrats and Republicans alike.

© Jon Cherry/Getty Images

“I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede, and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv,” Representative Thomas Massie said in his concession speech on Tuesday night, referring to his Republican opponent.
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Trump Endorses Ken Paxton in Texas Senate Runoff Race Against John Cornyn

The president embraced Ken Paxton, a MAGA loyalist, over Senator John Cornyn, despite warnings from Republican leaders about Mr. Paxton’s history of scandal.

© Desiree Rios for The New York Times

Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, has maneuvered for President Trump’s support ahead of the May 26 runoff election in the Republican primary for Senate in the state.
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Trump’s Push to Defeat Thomas Massie Is the Most Expensive House Primary in Recent Years

The Republican primary in Representative Thomas Massie’s district has drawn vast spending, but it is just one of several contests on Tuesday that will test the power of big money.

© Michael Swensen for The New York Times

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Peltola Debuts First Television Ad in High-Profile Alaska Senate Contest

Democrats face an uphill battle to win the Senate. They see in Mary Peltola, the first Native Alaskan elected to Congress, their best chance to unseat Senator Dan Sullivan.

© Kerry Tasker/Reuters

The former Representative Mary Peltola of Alaska is seeking to unseat Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican.
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Free up fertiliser supplies to avert global food crisis, Yvette Cooper urges

UK foreign secretary says urgent pressure needed to get strait of Hormuz reopened and fertiliser and fuel moving

Global fertiliser supplies must be freed up within weeks to avoid disaster, with harvests suffering and food prices rising, the UK’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said.

The war in Iran has frozen shipments of fertiliser through the strait of Hormuz, creating a supply crunch that has already damaged farming in the UK, Europe and the US and is having its worst impacts in the developing world, where farmers cannot afford the higher prices now being charged.

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© Photograph: Narendra Shrestha/EPA

© Photograph: Narendra Shrestha/EPA

© Photograph: Narendra Shrestha/EPA

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ActBlue C.E.O. Agrees to Testify Before Congress About Foreign Donor Vetting

The Democratic fund-raising group, which backs candidates up and down the ballot, has been the subject of scrutiny by Republicans.

© Vincent Alban/Reuters

Regina Wallace-Jones, the chief executive of ActBlue, at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
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