Italian 20-year-old is on the verge of becoming the youngest world champion with the Mexican Grand Prix ready for a carnival coronation atmosphere

An undeniable highlight of this Formula One season, marked by discontent at the new regulations, has been getting swept along by the sheer joy that the world champion-in-waiting, Kimi Antonelli, has displayed on his way to a title he will almost surely secure this weekend at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Antonelli was still a teenager for the first half of the year and it seemed fitting to describe him as such. His exuberant embrace of competing for Mercedes at the sharp end of F1 in just his second season was that of any 19-year-old. Like discovering a life-changing new band or how much fun can be had with a cold beer, a wide grin was barely off his face.

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© Photograph: Manuel Velasquez/Formula 1/Getty Images

© Photograph: Manuel Velasquez/Formula 1/Getty Images

© Photograph: Manuel Velasquez/Formula 1/Getty Images

As Serbia remembers the 16 people killed when a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad railway station collapsed, students who toppled the ruling party two years later say they can look to the future with hope.

There were doubts about how a decentralised, leaderless civic movement could possibly transform itself into a political alternative at the ballot box. But the students had already shown that their democratic imagination knew few limits.

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James Talarico, the Democratic nominee in Texas, attacked his Republican opponent Ken Paxton for cancelling some of his final rallies before the midterm election.

“No one’s going to Ken Paxton’s rallies, so he’s canceling them and hoping Elon Musk will buy his seat for him,” Talarico wrote, referencing the donations Paxton has received from the world’s richest man.

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© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

US citizen Leo, who has clashed with Donald Trump over several issues, submits his vote by post in Chicago

Pope Leo has voted in the US midterm elections – the first time a sitting pontiff is known to have cast a ballot in any political election at any time in history.

Leo, who has clashed with the US president, Donald Trump, over several issues, submitted his vote by post in Chicago, where he was born, the Vatican said on Friday. Leo became the first American leader of the Catholic church last year after the death of Pope Francis.

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© Photograph: Maria Grazia Picciarella/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Maria Grazia Picciarella/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Maria Grazia Picciarella/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

There are 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 in the Senate and 39 governorships up for grabs in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Jonathan Freedland is joined by Carrie Dann, of the Cook Political Report, to run through some of the races to watch before the final weekend of campaigning

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

• Pool B + C: England 34-12 Papua New Guinea

• Women’s side crash out after defeat by Samoa

Game over. Two ultimately straightforward victories from three group games would ordinarily be enough to secure qualification in the Rugby League World Cup, but the format means that, barring a rugby league miracle from Tonga on Sunday, England are heading home early.

That format – 10 teams in lopsided groups and England in a unique position of being effectively out after defeat on the opening weekend – has been a point of discussion since that defeat by the Tongans a fortnight ago. But at some stage, the attention has to turn internally and the tough, uncompromising questions have to be asked of English rugby league.

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© Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

Harris poll for Guardian finds 76% believe officials care more about self-enrichment than helping everyday Americans

Government corruption has emerged as a top issue in the upcoming US midterm elections, with an overwhelming majority of Americans saying US government officials use their public office for personal financial gain, according to an exclusive Harris poll for the Guardian.

Nearly nine out of 10 Americans said that government corruption, as defined as elected officials putting their own or their donors’ financial interests ahead of the public’s, is a problem, according to the survey.

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© Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA

© Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA

© Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA

Both US parties scramble to win young voters via influencer operations. The evidence doesn’t support their efforts

In tight races, any group that shifts a few points can be called decisive. In 2024, however, gen Z voters actually earned the spotlight.

Take Michigan, where Donald Trump won by about 1.4 points: he and Kamala Harris evenly split the youth vote, a 24-point collapse in the Democratic edge since 2020. If young voters made up just 15% of the state’s electorate, their swing toward the president would be worth roughly 3.6 points, larger than Trump’s entire margin of victory.

Alex Bronzini-Vender is a writer living in New York

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© Photograph: Call Her Daddy/Reuters

© Photograph: Call Her Daddy/Reuters

© Photograph: Call Her Daddy/Reuters

Prime minister says room for manoeuvre was limited by geopolitical crises and Labour’s 2024 manifesto

Andy Burnham has admitted his first budget as prime minister was not as radical as he would have liked because of the economic uncertainty facing the country.

He said he would have liked to have gone further with this week’s announcement – including with higher energy support payments – but felt hemmed in by external events such as the war in Iran, which has pushed up borrowing costs.

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© Photograph: Darren Staples/PA

© Photograph: Darren Staples/PA

© Photograph: Darren Staples/PA

Candidate for Ohio governor confirms campaign no longer airing ad that smeared rival and was defended by Trump

Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, confirmed on Thursday that his campaign is no longer airing an attack ad that features the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton.

The ad prompted a wave of revulsion since Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, lost custody of her daughter in 1978, when her second husband, Cledith Arthur, was charged with raping her daughter between the ages of 10 and 12.

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© Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

• 28-year-old still believes he will win world title one day

• Kimi Antonelli misses media duties with ‘viral illness’

George Russell has insisted he will not let his difficult Formula One season define his career and believes he still has plenty of years left to come back and win the world championship.

Russell has been outdriven by his 20-year-old Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli in a bruising season for the British driver. Antonelli is set to win the title and become F1’s youngest world champion at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix if he finishes in ninth place or above.

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© Photograph: Daniel Cárdenas/Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Daniel Cárdenas/Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Daniel Cárdenas/Anadolu/Getty Images

Experts round on chancellor over ‘scattergun’ budget, saying he ducked big tax and spending decisions

John Healey has backed away from cutting the cost of welfare this parliament, amid dire warnings his first budget could lead to brutal spending cuts because of a £28bn shortfall in public finances.

Experts rounded on Healey’s steady-as-she-goes budget on Thursday, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies saying he had left himself a mountain to climb by ducking big tax and spending decisions.

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© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

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• Alaska governor orders investigation into Peltola’s Senate campaign

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With days until the midterm elections, a new poll from CNN places Democrats well in the lead in key Senate races in Texas and Michigan, while projecting tighter contests in Kansas and Maine.

In Texas, the poll found 49% of likely voters would back James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, over Republican Ken Paxton, who netted just 43%.

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© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

Thinktank says chancellor has given himself a mountain to climb after ducking big decisions in low-key speech

John Healey has paved the way for a “brutal” spending review next year after his budget failed to cover a £28bn shortfall in the public finances needed to avoid a return to austerity, according to Britain’s leading tax and spending experts.

A day after his address to the Commons, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the chancellor had left himself a mountain to climb by ducking several big decisions in his debut tax and spending statement.

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© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

The Michigan Senate candidate is calling for public ownership and other reforms, offering a potential antidote to ideological gridlock

The Michigan senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat, occupies a strange but increasingly common place in modern American politics. He’s praised by progressives, begrudgingly tolerated by moderate Democrats and largely demonized by Republicans.

He’s also uniquely positioned to forge an all-too-elusive thread of political kinship between these perpetually-at-odds groups with his bold but contentious plan for reining in AI, called AI Under Democracy.

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© Photograph: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

In advance of the midterms, Trump is blaming Kyiv for high gas prices while making clear moves to support Russia

As the US midterms approach, Donald Trump is abandoning Ukraine’s democracy in a desperate effort to deny responsibility for worsening inflation. Yet this past weekend’s dramatic elections in Brazil and Serbia show that voters can see through such subterfuge.

There is nothing like a political party’s corrupt indifference to the plight of ordinary people to galvanize voter turnout. If US voters follow in the footsteps of their Brazilian and Serbian counterparts, a Democratic landslide is likely.

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© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Democrats have failed to win statewide office in Texas for 30 years. Before the midterms, Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone travel to San Antonio to follow James Talarico and Ken Paxton on the campaign trail - to find out whether the state's Senate race is really up for grabs, how Elon Musk's millions are affecting the race and whether voters have changed their minds on Trump

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© Photograph: The Guardian

© Photograph: The Guardian

© Photograph: The Guardian

Speculation is mounting over who will run Serbia’s public broadcaster RTS after its director-general Manja Grcic acceded to Student List demands and resigned on Wednesday evening.

After 14 years of rule by Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, the state’s security and police institutions are compromised. Swift reforms and strong oversight mechanisms are necessary to end abuses and build a safer country.