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Rising star of the American left Zohran Mamdani is now officially the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, according to official results released Tuesday.The 33-year-old self-declared democratic socialist defeated his nearest rival by a strong margin, winning 56 percent to former governor Andrew Cuomo’s 44 percent, in the third round of vote counting.Neither candidate won a majority of votes in the June 25 primary vote, prompting election officials to begin a process of eliminating lower-ranking candidates and recounting. But after Mamdani earned 43 percent outright, Cuomo — aiming for a comeback after a sex scandal — conceded defeat the night of the vote, a stunning outcome for the Democrats.Staunchly pro-Israel Cuomo led in polls for most of the race, with massive name recognition as well as support from powerful centrist figures including former president Bill Clinton.”Democrats spoke in a clear voice, delivering a mandate for an affordable city, a politics of the future, and a leader unafraid to fight back against rising authoritarianism,” Mamdani said Tuesday. Born in Uganda of South Asian parents, New York state assemblyman Mamdani would be the first Muslim mayor of the heavily Democratic city if he wins the general election in November.Polling currently shows him ahead of current Mayor Eric Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa for the November vote.Adams was elected in 2021 as a Democrat but is running as an independent. Mamdani and others have accused the mayor of allowing the Trump administration to conduct immigration raids in exchange for burying federal corruption charges against Adams.Cuomo is still weighing a possible run as an independent, which could further complicate the race.The mayoral contest has catapulted Mamdani from an unknown to the national stage, with Democrats debating if he is too far-left or just what is needed to beat back President Donald Trump’s MAGA agenda.Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday if he is a communist, Mamdani responded with a negative but added, “I don’t think that we should have billionaires.””Frankly, I’ve heard he’s a total nut job,” Trump said Tuesday morning. “I think the people in New York are crazy because they go this route.”

The deadly May collision of a Mexican Navy vessel with the Brooklyn Bridge resulted in over half a million dollars in damages to the sailing ship, US investigators said, without pinpointing a cause.A preliminary report by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released Monday detailed the minute-by-minute movements of the Cuauhtemoc on May 17, when the training ship departed Manhattan on its way to Iceland.After moving astern away from its docking location at Pier 17, a pilot on board the vessel directed it to go forward, the report said.However, the ship began moving backwards up the East River, with its masts eventually colliding one-by-one with the Brooklyn Bridge.Numerous sailors were positioned among the Cuauhtemoc’s rigging at the time of the crash, with two killed and nineteen others injured in chaotic scenes captured by onlookers.The NTSB report said that alcohol and drug tests came back negative for the two pilots directing the Cuauhtemoc through the harbor, as well as the captain of a tugboat accompanying the ship.The investigation “of all aspects of the accident is ongoing,” the report said.”We are examining the propulsion system, operating control system, relevant crew experience and training, and operating policies and procedures,” it added.New York authorities identified no significant damage to the bridge, according to the report.

Struggle with math? A gentle jolt to the brain might help.A new study published Tuesday in PLOS Biology suggests that mild electrical stimulation can boost arithmetic performance — and offers fresh insight into the brain mechanisms behind mathematical ability, along with a potential way to optimize learning.The findings could eventually help narrow cognitive gaps and help build a more intellectually equitable society, the authors argue.”Different people have different brains, and their brains control a lot in their life,” said Roi Cohen Kadosh, a neuroscientist at the University of Surrey who led the research.”We think about the environment — if you go to the right school, if you have the right teacher — but it’s also our biology.”Cohen Kadosh and colleagues recruited 72 University of Oxford students, scanning their brains to measure connectivity between three key regions. Participants then tackled math problems that required either calculating answers or recalling memorized solutions.They found that stronger connections between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which governs executive function, and the posterior parietal cortex, involved in memory, predicted better calculation performance.When the researchers applied a painless form of brain stimulation using electrode-fitted caps — a technique known as transcranial random noise stimulation — the low performers saw their scores jump by 25–29 percent.The team believes the stimulation works by enhancing the excitability of neurons and interacting with GABA, a brain chemical that inhibits excessive activity — effectively compensating for weak neural connectivity in some participants.In fact, the stimulation helped underperformers reach or even surpass the scores of peers with naturally stronger brain wiring. But those who already performed well saw no benefit.”Some people struggle with things, and if we can help their brain to fulfill their potential, we open them a lot of opportunities that otherwise would be closed,” said Cohen Kadosh, calling it an “exciting time” for the field of brain stimulation research.Still, he flagged a key ethical concern: the risk that such technologies could become more available to those with financial means, widening — rather than closing — access gaps.He also urged the public not to try this at home. “Some people struggle with learning, and if our research proves successful beyond the lab, we could help them fulfil their ambitions and unlock opportunities that might otherwise remain out of reach.”

The US foreign aid agency formally closed down Tuesday, with President Donald Trump’s administration trumpeting the end of the “charity-based model” despite predictions that millions of lives will be lost.Founded in 1961 as John F. Kennedy sought to leverage aid to win over the developing world in the Cold War, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has now been incorporated into the State Department — after Secretary of State Marco Rubio slashed 85 percent of its programming.In a farewell to remaining staff on Monday, former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama — as well as U2 frontman Bono — saluted their work and said it was still needed.Bush pointed to PEPFAR, the massive US effort to fight HIV/AIDS that he considers one of the top achievements of his 2001-2009 Republican presidency.”This program shows a fundamental question facing our country — is it in our nation’s interest that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is,” Bush said in a video message seen by AFP.Obama, who like Bush has been sparing in openly criticizing Trump, said that ending USAID was “inexplicable” and “will go down as a colossal mistake.””Gutting USAID is a travesty and it is a tragedy because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,” the Democrat said.A study published in the medical journal The Lancet predicted that more than 14 million people would die, a third of them small children, by 2030 due to the foreign aid cuts.- ‘Little to show’ -Rubio painted a drastically different picture of USAID, which was an early target of a sweeping government cost-cutting drive led for Trump by billionaire Elon Musk.Rubio said that USAID’s “charity-based model” fueled “addiction” by developing nations’ leaders and that trade was more effective.”Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War,” Rubio wrote in an essay.He also complained that many recipients of US aid do not vote with the United States at the United Nations and that rival China often enjoys higher favorability among the public.A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that The Lancet study relied on “incorrect assumptions” and said the United States will continue aid but in a “more efficient” way.He said that PEPFAR will remain, with a priority on stopping HIV transmission from mothers to children.But he acknowledged the United States was no longer funding PrEP medication, which significantly reduces the rate of HIV transmission and has been encouraged by high-risk communities.”No one is saying that gay men in Africa shouldn’t be on PrEP. That’s wonderful. It doesn’t mean that the United States has to pay for every single thing,” the official said.He said the Trump administration was looking at “new and innovative solutions” and pointed to food deliveries in war-battered Gaza staffed by US military contractors and surrounded by Israeli troops.Witnesses, the United Nations and local Gaza officials have reported that Israeli troops have repeatedly opened fire and killed Palestinians waiting for aid — although the US-backed initiative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, denies any deadly incidents.- ‘No line of defense’ -Bob Kitchen, the vice president for emergencies at the International Rescue Committee, said that the 14 million death prediction was consistent with what the humanitarian group was seeing.Among the group’s programming that was funded through USAID, he said that nearly 400,000 refugees who fled the war in Sudan have now been deprived of acute aid and that more than 500,000 Afghans, mostly women and girls, have been cut off from education and healthcare.European Union nations and Britain, rather than filling the gap, have also stepped back as they ramp up defense spending with encouragement from Trump.Kitchen warned that cuts will not only worsen frontline emergencies but weaken more stable countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya, which will have no back-up if rains fail again.Kitchen said that, beyond moral considerations, the cuts will aggravate migration, a top consideration for Trump.”It’s self-interest. If insecurity spreads, outbreaks spread, there’s no line of defense anymore.”

Donald Trump and Elon Musk reignited their bitter feud Tuesday, with the US president threatening to deport the tech tycoon and strip federal funds from his businesses for criticizing Trump’s flagship spending bill.The world’s richest person was Trump’s biggest political donor in the 2024 election, and became his inseparable ally during his first months back in the White House as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).But the Space X and Tesla boss is now threatening to turn his riches against Trump, mulling a rival political party to challenge Republican lawmakers who vote for the president’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”Trump, 79, reacted vengefully on Tuesday as he headed to the opening of a new migrant detention center in Florida dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.””We’ll have to take a look,” he told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who has held US citizenship since 2002.Trump also signaled that he could take aim at the huge contracts and subsidies that Musk’s Space X rocket and Starlink satellite internet businesses receive from the US government.”We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” Trump said.Trump added later in Florida: “I don’t think he should be playing that game with me.”- ‘Head back home’ -In reply to a post on his X social network featuring Trump’s deportation comments, Musk said on Tuesday: “So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.”Shares of Tesla sank around five percent Tuesday after Trump’s threats.Trump had made similar comments on Monday, saying Musk was attacking the bill because he was annoyed that it had dropped measures to support the electric vehicles (EV) industry.”Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.The tycoon and the president shared a brief but intense bromance after Trump’s return to power in January.Wearing MAGA baseball hats, Musk was an almost constant presence at Trump’s side. Trump returned the favor by promoting Tesla electric vehicles when protesters targeted them for Musk’s cost-cutting drive at DOGE.But they had a huge public blow-up in May as Musk criticized the spending bill and then left the government.- ‘Don’t bankrupt America’ -Musk had kept a low profile in recent weeks but returned to the fray as the bill began its difficult path through Congress.He has since posted a steady stream of posts against the bill on the X social network that he owns.The billionaire’s criticisms center on claims that the bill would increase the US deficit. He also accuses Republicans of abandoning efforts to place the United States at the front of the EV and clean energy revolution.”All I’m asking is that we don’t bankrupt America,” he said on social media Tuesday, accusing Republicans of supporting “debt slavery.”More worrying perhaps for Trump is the way that Musk is seeking to target vulnerable Republican lawmakers ahead of the 2026 US midterm elections.Musk has said he will set up his own political movement called the “America Party” if Trump’s bill passes.And he has pledged to fund challengers against lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill.”VOX POPULI VOX DEI 80% voted for a new party,” he said after launching a poll on the idea on X.

The Republican-led US Senate approved President Donald Trump’s mammoth domestic policy bill Tuesday by the narrowest of margins, despite misgivings over delivering deep welfare cuts and another $3 trillion in national debt.Republican leaders had struggled to corral support during a record 24-hour “vote-a-rama” amendment session on the Senate floor, as Democrats offered dozens of challenges to the most divisive aspects of the package.But Senate Majority Leader John Thune was able to turn around wavering moderates to deliver a 50-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie.The sprawling text now heads to the House of Representatives, where it faces unified Democratic opposition and multiple Republicans balking at the budget-busting costs, as well as slashed health care and food aid programs for poor Americans.Trump’s bill proposes a $4.5 trillion extension of his first term tax cuts, contentiously offset with $1.2 trillion in savings mainly targeting the Medicaid health insurance program, as well as federal food aid.The health care cuts could see an estimated 12 million low-income and disabled Americans lose coverage.The package also rolls back billions of dollars in green energy tax credits while providing a $350 billion infusion for border security and Trump’s mass migrant deportation program.The president made clear that the goal remains to get the bill through the House in the coming days and sign it into law by Friday’s July 4 Independence Day holiday.”It’s going to get in, it’s going to pass, and we’re going to be very happy,” Trump told reporters ahead of the vote.- ‘Utter shame’ -Polls show the bill is among the most unpopular ever considered, and Democrats hope to leverage public anger ahead of the 2026 midterm elections when they aim to retake the House.Backed by extensive independent analysis, they say the bill’s tax cuts would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social safety net programs for the poorest Americans.”Today, Senate Republicans betrayed the American people and covered the Senate in utter shame,” said Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Senate Democratic minority.”In one fell swoop Republicans passed the biggest tax break for billionaires ever seen — paid for by ripping away health care for millions of people and taking food out of the mouths of hungry kids.”A handful of senators in the Republican majority had threatened to upset the apple cart, voicing concerns that the bill would add more than $3.3 trillion to the nation’s already yawning budget deficits over a decade.The most high-profile opposition came in the shape of tech billionaire and estranged former Trump aide Elon Musk, who balked at the bill’s debt implications and stripping of clean energy subsidies.A furious Trump on Tuesday said he would consider deporting Musk — whose electric car company Tesla gives him extensive interests in green energy — and ending federal funds for his companies.”Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump posted on social media.- Focus on House -Although the House of Representatives has already passed its own version of the bill, it will have to come back to the lower chamber for a final rubber stamp before it reaches Trump’s desk.House Republicans were watching anxiously from the sidelines to see if their Senate colleagues would adopt changes that would be hard for Speaker Mike Johnson to sell to his lawmakers.Fiscal hawks in the lower chamber are furious at what they say is $651 billion of extra deficit spending in the Senate’s tweaks.A House vote could come as early as Wednesday but even with full attendance, House Republicans can only afford to lose three votes.”The House will work quickly to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill that enacts President Trump’s full America First agenda by the Fourth of July,” Johnson said after the vote.”The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years of Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay.” 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Tuesday with counterparts from Australia, India and Japan, shifting focus to Asia after a tenure so far marked by crises elsewhere and domestic priorities.Rubio had welcomed the foreign ministers of the so-called Quad on January 21 in his first meeting after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, seen as a sign that the new administration would prioritize engagement with like-minded countries to counter China.Since then, much of Rubio’s attention has been on the Middle East, with the United States bombing Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israel; on Ukraine, as Trump unsuccessfully seeks a ceasefire in Russia’s invasion, and on boosting Trump’s domestic priorities such as mass deportations of migrants.Welcoming the three foreign ministers, Rubio did not directly mention military concerns over China but said he sought cooperation among business and on raw materials — also key goals for the Trump administration.Rubio told them he was focused on “diversifying the global supply chain of critical minerals — not just access to the raw material, but also access to the ability to process and refine it to usable materials.””It’s critical for all technologies and for all industries across the board,” Rubio said, voicing hope for “real progress” on the issue within the Quad.China holds major reserves of several key minerals including the vast majority of the world’s graphite, which is crucial for electric vehicles.Beijing has sought to impose restrictions as leverage, as the United States in turn curbs its access to semiconductors and as Trump wields the threat of punishing tariffs on both friends and foes.- ‘Free and open’ -Trump is expected to travel to India later this year for a summit of the Quad. The four-way partnership was first conceived by late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who saw an alliance of democracies around China — which has repeatedly alleged that the Quad is a way to contain it.Trump has long branded China as the top US adversary, but since returning to office has also saluted his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.Both the Indian and Japanese foreign ministers said that they wanted the Quad to focus on a “free and open Indo-Pacific” — a phrasing that is a veiled allusion to opposing Chinese dominance in Asia.”We’re all committed to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said.”It is essential that nations of the Indo-Pacific have the freedom of choice, so essential to make right decisions on development and security,” he said.Jaishankar also made clear that India would raise its strikes last month against Pakistan in response to a major attack on mostly Hindu civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir.”India has every right to defend its people against terrorism, and we will exercise that right. We expect our Quad partners to understand and appreciate that,” he said.Despite shared concerns on China, the Quad members have differed on other hotspots. India has maintained a historic relationship with Russia despite the invasion of Ukraine.Both India and Japan also have historically warm relationships with Iran, whose nuclear sites the United States bombed in June in support of an Israeli campaign.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk reignited their bitter feud Tuesday, with the US president threatening to deport the tech tycoon and strip federal funds from his businesses for criticizing Trump’s flagship spending bill.The world’s richest person was Trump’s biggest political donor in the 2024 election and became his inseparable ally during his first months back in the White House as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).But the Space X and Tesla boss is now threatening to turn his riches against Trump, mulling a rival political party to challenge Republican lawmakers who vote for Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”Trump, 78, reacted vengefully on Tuesday. “We’ll have to take a look,” he told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who has held US citizenship since 2002.In reply to a post on his X social network featuring Trump’s deportation comments, Musk replied on Tuesday: “So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.”Trump also signaled that he could take aim at the huge contracts and subsidies that Musk’s Space X rocket and Starlink satellite internet businesses receive from the US government.”We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” Trump said.- ‘Head back home’ -Shares of Tesla sank more than six percent early Tuesday after Trump’s threat.Trump doubled down when he said he believed Musk was attacking his so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” because he was annoyed that it had dropped measures to support the electric vehicles (EV) industry.”He’s losing his EV mandate. He’s very upset about things, but you know, he could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you right now. Elon can lose a lot more than that.”Trump made similar comments on his Truth Social network late Monday, saying that “without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.””No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE,” the president said. “Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”The tycoon and the president shared a brief but intense bromance after Trump’s return to power in January.Wearing MAGA baseball hats, Musk was an almost constant presence at Trump’s side. Trump returned the favor by promoting Tesla electric vehicles when protesters targeted them for Musk’s cost-cutting drive at DOGE.But they had a huge public blow-up in May as Musk criticized the spending bill and then left the government.- ‘Don’t bankrupt America’ -He had kept a low profile in recent weeks but Musk returned to the fray in recent days as the bill began its difficult path through Congress.Musk has since posted a steady stream of posts against the bill on the X social network that he owns.The billionaire’s criticisms center on claims that the bill would increase the US deficit. He also accuses Republicans of abandoning efforts to place the United States at the front of the EV and clean energy revolution.”All I’m asking is that we don’t bankrupt America,” he said on social media Tuesday, accusing Republicans of supporting “debt slavery.”More worrying perhaps for Trump is the way that Musk is seeking to target vulnerable Republican lawmakers ahead of the 2026 US midterm elections.Musk has said he will set up his own political movement called the “America Party” if Trump’s bill passes.And he has pledged to fund challengers against lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill.”VOX POPULI VOX DEI 80% voted for a new party,” he said after launching a poll on the idea on X.

Jurors were deliberating Tuesday in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs to determine whether the music mogul was the ringleader of a criminal organization that facilitated coercive sex marathons with escorts.The New York jury ended their first day of deliberations Monday without a verdict. Before the courthouse closed they sent a note requesting clarification about legal rules surrounding drug distribution.The seven-week trial included at times disturbing testimony — two women spoke of feeling forced into lurid sex parties, and some former employees told jurors of violent outbursts — along with thousands of pages of phone, financial and audiovisual records.Now jurors must scrutinize what they’ve heard and seen for the truth.Combs, 55, faces life in prison if convicted on five federal charges that include racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for purposes of prostitution.The producer and entrepreneur, once one of the most powerful people in the music industry, denies the charges.Central to the prosecution’s case is their accusation that Combs led a criminal enterprise of senior employees who “existed to serve his needs” and enforced his power with offenses including forced labor, drug distribution, kidnapping, bribery, witness tampering and arson.But defense attorney Marc Agnifilo underscored that none of those individuals testified against Combs, nor were they named as co-conspirators.Many witnesses were given immunity orders so they could speak without fear of incriminating themselves.To convict Combs on racketeering, jurors must find that prosecutors showed beyond reasonable doubt that he agreed with people within his organization to commit at least two of the eight crimes forming the racketeering charge.The eight men and four women must reach a unanimous decision, deciding either a guilty or not guilty verdict on each count.- ‘Not a god’ -Combs is also charged with sex trafficking two women: Casandra Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane.Both were in long-term relationships with Combs. And both testified of abuse, threats and coercive sex in wrenching detail.But while the defense has conceded that Combs at times beat his partners, his lawyers insisted the domestic violence does not amount to the sex trafficking or racketeering he is charged with.Agnifilo scoffed at the picture painted by prosecutors of a violent, domineering man who fostered “a climate of fear.”Combs is a “self-made, successful Black entrepreneur” who had romantic relationships that were “complicated” but consensual, Agnifilo said.The defense dissected the accounts of Ventura and Jane and at times even mocked them, insisting the women were adults making free choices.But in their final argument, prosecutors tore into the defense, saying Combs’s team had “contorted the facts endlessly.”Prosecutor Maurene Comey told jurors that by the time Combs had committed his clearest-cut offenses, “he was so far past the line he couldn’t even see it.””In his mind he was untouchable,” she told the court. “The defendant never thought that the women he abused would have the courage to speak out loud what he had done to them.””That ends in this courtroom,” she said. “The defendant is not a god.”

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he could consider deporting Elon Musk, after the South African-born billionaire slammed his flagship spending bill.Trump also said the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — which Musk headed before stepping down late May — may train its sights on the Tesla and SpaceX founder’s government subsidies.”I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he would consider deporting Musk.”We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”Trump doubled down on the threat when he said he believed Musk was attacking his so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” because he was annoyed that it had dropped measures to support electric vehicles (EV).”He’s losing his EV mandate. He’s very upset about things, but you know, he could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you right now. Elon can lose a lot more than that.”Trump made similar comments on his Truth Social network late Monday, saying that “without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.”Musk, the world’s richest person, was Trump’s biggest donor in the 2024 election and initially maintained a near constant presence at the newly elected president’s side.They had an acrimonious public falling out this month over the bill and the tycoon has reprised his criticisms in recent days, accusing Republicans of abandoning efforts to place the United States at the front of the EV and clean energy revolution.Musk has also renewed his calls for the formation of a new political party called the “America Party” if the bill passed.