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A US commercial mission carrying astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, marking the first time in decades that these nations have sent crew to space.Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, lifted off early Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule riding a Falcon 9 rocket.Onboard were pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India; mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary; and Commander Peggy Whitson of the United States, a former NASA astronaut now with Axiom Space, which organizes private spaceflights.The capsule, the fifth and final Dragon in the SpaceX fleet, was christened “Grace” after reaching orbit.It achieved “soft capture,” or the first stage of docking, with the orbital lab Thursday at 6:31 am Eastern Time (1031 GMT).They later entered the station through the hatch and were greeted by the current ISS crew during a brief welcome ceremony.”It’s so great to be here at last,” said Whitson. “That was a long quarantine.”The crew will now spend about 14 days aboard the station, conducting some 60 experiments — including studies on microalgae, sprouting salad seeds, and the hardiness of microscopic tardigrades in space.- Key step for India -The last time India, Poland or Hungary sent people to space, their current crop of astronauts had not yet been born — and back then they were called cosmonauts, as they all flew on Soviet missions before the fall of the Iron Curtain.Shukla is the first Indian to reach space since Rakesh Sharma, who flew to the Salyut 7 station in 1984 as part of an Indo-Soviet mission.India’s space agency, ISRO, sees this flight as a key step toward its first independent crewed mission, slated for 2027 under the Gaganyaan (“sky craft”) program.”What a fantastic ride,” Shukla said in Hindi after liftoff. “This isn’t just the start of my journey to the International Space Station — it’s the beginning of India’s human space program.”Each country is funding its astronaut’s seat.Poland has spent 65 million euros for its astronaut’s flight, according to the Polish Space Agency. Hungary announced a $100 million deal with Axiom in 2022, according to spacenews.com, while India has not officially commented.The Ax-4 launch comes after technical issues delayed the mission, originally slated for early June.It also follows an online spat between US President Donald Trump and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and, until recently, Trump’s ally and advisor.Trump threatened to yank SpaceX’s federal contracts — worth tens of billions of dollars — prompting Musk to threaten an early retirement of Dragon, the only US spacecraft currently certified to carry astronauts to the ISS.Musk walked back the threat a few hours later and in the days that followed continued to deescalate, stating on X that he had gone “too far.”Any falling out between SpaceX and the US government would be massively disruptive, given NASA and the Pentagon’s reliance on Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy to send up crew, cargo, satellites and probes.But for now, analysts believe both sides are too entangled to risk a serious break.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to hold a news conference on Thursday to offer a fresh assessment of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, following a stinging row over how much American bombardment set back Tehran’s nuclear program.After waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites and retaliatory missile fire from Iran since June 13, the United States bombed three key Iranian atomic facilities at the weekend.The extent of the damage in Iran, where Israel said it had acted to stop an imminent nuclear threat, has become the subject of profound disagreement in the United States.An initial classified assessment, first reported by CNN, was said to have concluded that the strike did not destroy key components and that Iran’s nuclear program was set back only months at most.Another key question raised by experts is whether Iran, preparing for the strike, moved out some 400 kilogram (880 pounds) of enriched uranium — which could now be hidden elsewhere in the vast country.The US administration has hit back furiously, with Trump repeatedly saying the attack “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities, including the key site of Fordo buried inside a mountain.”I can tell you, the United States had no indication that that enriched uranium was moved prior to the strikes, as I also saw falsely reported,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.”As for what’s on the ground right now, it’s buried under miles and miles of rubble because of the success of these strikes on Saturday evening,” she said.Trump said that Hegseth, whom he dubbed “war” secretary, would hold a news conference at 8 am (1200 GMT) on Thursday to “fight for the dignity of our great American pilots”.CIA chief John Ratcliffe said in a statement on Wednesday that “several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years”.The Israeli military said it had delivered a “significant” blow to Iran’s nuclear sites but that it was “still early” to fully assess the damage.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that “we have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”.”And if anyone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to foil any attempt,” he said.- Nuclear talks? -Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told Al Jazeera that “nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure”.After the war derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, Trump said Washington would hold discussions with Tehran next week, with his special envoy Steve Witkoff expressing hope “for a comprehensive peace agreement”.Trump told reporters that Israel and Iran were “both tired, exhausted”, before going on to say that talks were planned with Iran next week.”We may sign an agreement. I don’t know,” he added.Iran has systematically denied seeking a nuclear weapon while defending its “legitimate rights” to the peaceful use of atomic energy.It has also said it was willing to return to nuclear negotiations with Washington.In both Iran and Israel, authorities have gradually lifted wartime restrictions.Iran on Wednesday reopened the airspace over the country’s east, without allowing yet flights to and from the capital Tehran.In the Israeli coastal hub of Tel Aviv, 45-year-old engineer Yossi Bin welcomed the ceasefire: “Finally, we can sleep peacefully. We feel better, less worried… and I hope it stays that way.”- State funeral -While Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war for decades, their 12-day conflict was by far the most destructive confrontation between them.The Israeli strikes on Iran killed at least 627 civilians, Tehran’s health ministry said.Iran’s attacks on Israel killed 28 people, according to official figures.According to Mehr news agency, the funeral of Revolutionary Guard commander Hossein Salami, who was killed in an Israeli strike, will no longer be held in his hometown on Thursday.Instead, a state funeral will be held on Saturday in Tehran for top commanders including Salami and nuclear scientists killed in the war.burs-ami/ser

At a church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hundreds of people gathered recently for a weeknight charity fundraiser hosted by a celebrity guest.The venue was not announced in advance due to security concerns, and attendance cost at least $60 a pop — with some spending $1,000 to get a photo with the host.Yet, the event was not a gala hosted by a movie star or famed politician, but by a photojournalist: Gaza native Motaz Azaiza, whose images of the Israeli assault following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas launched him to international recognition.Wearing a black T-shirt, jeans, sneakers and gold-framed glasses, the 26-year-old boasts nearly 17 million followers on Instagram for his images from the war in Gaza.”I wish you would have known me without the genocide,” Azaiza told the crowd, his voice faltering.Before the war, Azaiza was a relative unknown, posting photos from his daily life in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip to his roughly 25,000 Instagram followers at the time.But as soon as the first strikes from Israel hit Gaza, he became a war photographer by virtue of circumstance, and his wartime posts soon went viral.”As a photojournalist, I can’t watch this like anyone else, I’m from there, this is my home,” Azaiza said.- ‘I want to go back’ -After surviving 108 days of Israeli bombardment, Azaiza managed to escape Gaza via Egypt, and he has since become an ambassador of sorts for the Palestinian territory, sharing the story of his people as the conflict rages on.”Every time you feel like you regret leaving, but then you lose a friend, you lose a family, you say, OK, I saved my life,” Azaiza said.Before the war, Azaiza had been hired to manage the online content for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the humanitarian agency accused by Israel of providing cover for Hamas militants.This month, he is touring the United States to raise money for UNRWA USA, a nonprofit which collects funding for the agency.”I can’t handle this much of fame…it’s a real big responsibility,” Azaiza told AFP from the fundraiser in Philadelphia.”This is not me… I’m waiting to the genocide to stop. I want to go back to Gaza, continue my work capturing pictures,” he added.At one point he embedded himself in the crowd, posing for a selfie before shaking hands with donors.At the fundraiser, a UNRWA USA official solicited donations.”Is there someone who wants to give $20,000? I would like to have $20,000. Nobody? Is there someone who want to give $10,000? I would like to have $10,000,” the official calls out.Once the call lowered to $5,000, five hands raised, and even more went up when asked for donations of $2,000 and $1,000.One of the donors, Nabeel Sarwar, told AFP Azaiza’s photographs “humanize” the people in Gaza.”When you see a picture, when you see a child, you relate to that child, you relate to the body language, you relate to the dust on their face, the hunger, the sadness on their face,” Sarwar said.”I think it’s those pictures that really brought home towards the real tragedy of what’s going on in Gaza.”- ‘A million words’ – Veronica Murgulescu, a 25-year-old medical student from Philadelphia, concurred.”I think that people like Motaz and other Gazan journalists have really stuck a chord with us, because you can sense the authenticity,” she said.”The mainstream media that we have here in the US, at least, and in the West, it lacks authenticity,” she added.Sahar Khamis, a communications professor at the University of Maryland who specializes in Arab and Muslim media in the Middle East, said Gazan journalists like Azaiza who have become social media influencers “reshape public opinion, especially among youth, not just in the Arab world, not just in the Middle East, but globally and internationally, including in the United States.””The visuals are very, very important and very powerful and very compelling…as we know in journalism, that one picture equals a thousand words.”And in the case of war and conflict, it can equal a million words, because you can tell through these short videos and short images and photos a lot of things that you cannot say in a whole essay.”

At a minimalist Los Angeles matcha bar, powdered Japanese tea is prepared with precision, despite a global shortage driven by the bright green drink’s social media stardom.Of the 25 types of matcha on the menu at Kettl Tea, which opened on Hollywood Boulevard this year, all but four were out of stock, the shop’s founder Zach Mangan told AFP.”One of the things we struggle with is telling customers that, unfortunately, we don’t have” what they want, he said.With its deep grassy aroma, intense color and pick-me-up effects, the popularity of matcha “has grown just exponentially over the last decade, but much more so in the last two to three years,” the 40-year-old explained.It is now “a cultural touchpoint in the Western world” — found everywhere from ice-cream flavor boards to Starbucks. This has caused matcha’s market to nearly double over a year, Mangan said.”No matter what we try, there’s just not more to buy.”Thousands of miles (kilometers) away in Sayama, northwest of Tokyo, Masahiro Okutomi — the 15th generation to run his family’s tea business — is overwhelmed by demand.”I had to put on our website that we are not accepting any more matcha orders,” he said.Producing the powder is an intensive process: the leaves, called “tencha,” are shaded for several weeks before harvest, to concentrate the taste and nutrients.They are then carefully deveined by hand, dried and finely ground in a machine.- ‘Long-term endeavor’ -“It takes years of training” to make matcha properly, Okutomi said. “It’s a long-term endeavor requiring equipment, labor and investment.””I’m glad the world is taking an interest in our matcha… but in the short term, it’s almost a threat — we just can’t keep up,” he said.The matcha boom has been fuelled by online influencers like Andie Ella, who has more than 600,000 subscribers on YouTube and started her own brand of matcha products.At the pastel-pink pop-up shop she opened in Tokyo’s hip Harajuku district, dozens of fans were excitedly waiting to take a photo with the 23-year-old Frenchwoman or buy her cans of strawberry or white chocolate flavored matcha.”Matcha is visually very appealing,” Ella told AFP.To date, her matcha brand, produced in Japan’s rural Mie region, has sold 133,000 cans. Launched in November 2023, it now has eight employees.”Demand has not stopped growing,” she said.In 2024, matcha accounted for over half of the 8,798 tonnes of green tea exported from Japan, according to agriculture ministry data — twice as much as a decade ago.Tokyo tea shop Jugetsudo, in the touristy former fish market area of Tsukiji, is trying to control its stock levels given the escalating demand.”We don’t strictly impose purchase limits, but we sometimes refuse to sell large quantities to customers suspected of reselling,” said store manager Shigehito Nishikida.”In the past two or three years, the craze has intensified: customers now want to make matcha themselves, like they see on social media,” he added.- Tariff threat -Anita Jordan, a 49-year-old Australian tourist in Japan, said her “kids are obsessed with matcha.””They sent me on a mission to find the best one,” she laughed.The global matcha market is estimated to be worth billions of dollars, but it could be hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Japanese products — currently 10 percent, with a hike to 24 percent in the cards.Shortages and tariffs mean “we do have to raise prices. We don’t take it lightly,” said Mangan at Kettl Tea, though it hasn’t dampened demand so far.”Customers are saying: ‘I want matcha, before it runs out’.”At Kettl Tea, matcha can be mixed with milk in a latte or enjoyed straight, hand-whisked with hot water in a ceramic bowl to better appreciate its subtle taste.It’s not a cheap treat: the latter option costs at least $10 per glass, while 20 grams (0.7 ounces) of powder to make the drink at home is priced between $25 and $150.Japan’s government is encouraging tea producers to farm on a larger scale to reduce costs.But that risks sacrificing quality, and “in small rural areas, it’s almost impossible,” grower Okutomi said.The number of tea plantations in Japan has fallen to a quarter of what it was 20 years ago, as farmers age and find it difficult to secure successors, he added.”Training a new generation takes time… It can’t be improvised,” Okutomi said.

A US judge on Wednesday handed Meta a victory over authors who accused the tech giant of violating copyright law by training Llama artificial intelligence on their creations without permission.District Court Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco ruled that Meta’s use of the works to train its AI model was “transformative” enough to constitute “fair use” under copyright law, in the second such courtroom triumph for AI firms this week.However, it came with a caveat that the authors could have pitched a winning argument that by training powerful generative AI with copyrighted works, tech firms are creating a tool that could let a sea of users compete with them in the literary marketplace.”No matter how transformative (generative AI) training may be, it’s hard to imagine that it can be fair use to use copyrighted books to develop a tool to make billions or trillions of dollars while enabling the creation of a potentially endless stream of competing works that could significantly harm the market for those books,” Chhabria said in his ruling.Tremendous amounts of data are needed to train large language models powering generative AI. Musicians, book authors, visual artists and news publications have sued various AI companies that used their data without permission or payment.AI companies generally defend their practices by claiming fair use, arguing that training AI on large datasets fundamentally transforms the original content and is necessary for innovation.”We appreciate today’s decision from the court,” a Meta spokesperson said in response to an AFP inquiry.”Open-source AI models are powering transformative innovations, productivity and creativity for individuals and companies, and fair use of copyright material is a vital legal framework for building this transformative technology.”In the case before Chhabria, a group of authors sued Meta for downloading pirated copies of their works and using them to train the open-source Llama generative AI, according to court documents.Books involved in the suit include Sarah Silverman’s comic memoir “The Bedwetter” and Junot Diaz’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” the documents showed.”This ruling does not stand for the proposition that Meta’s use of copyrighted materials to train its language models is lawful,” the judge stated.”It stands only for the proposition that these plaintiffs made the wrong arguments and failed to develop a record in support of the right one.”- Market harming? -A different federal judge in San Franciso on Monday sided with AI firm Anthropic regarding training its models on copyrighted books without authors’ permission.District Court Judge William Alsup ruled that the company’s training of its Claude AI models with books bought or pirated was allowed under the “fair use” doctrine in the US Copyright Act.”Use of the books at issue to train Claude and its precursors was exceedingly transformative and was a fair use,” Alsup wrote in his decision.”The technology at issue was among the most transformative many of us will see in our lifetimes,” Alsup added in his decision, comparing AI training to how humans learn by reading books.The ruling stems from a class-action lawsuit filed by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who accused Anthropic of illegally copying their books to train chatbot Claude, the company’s ChatGPT rival.Alsup rejected Anthropic’s bid for blanket protection, ruling that the company’s practice of downloading millions of pirated books to build a permanent digital library was not justified by fair use protections.

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars allocated for the construction of electric vehicle charging stations in over a dozen US states.In a ruling Tuesday, US District Judge Tana Lin granted a preliminary injunction to require distribution of funds for National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) development, which was allotted $5 billion for use from 2022 to 2026.Signed into law by then-president Joe Biden in 2021, the NEVI program was defunded by the Trump administration’s Department of Transportation in February, axing expected funding for 16 states and the District of Columbia.President Donald Trump has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax,” abandoned electric vehicle booster programs and campaigned to drill for oil extensively. Trump has also blocked California’s plan to ban internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035.Seventeen attorneys general sued the Trump administration to unfreeze funds in May, led by California, the state with the largest number of electric vehicles.”It is no secret that the Trump Administration is beholden to the fossil fuel agenda,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, adding legal programs can’t be dismantled “just so that the President’s Big Oil friends can continue basking in record-breaking profits.”The Democrat praised Lin’s order and said California “looks forward to continuing to vigorously defend itself from this executive branch overreach.”In responding to the ruling, a Department of Transportation spokesperson on Wednesday blasted the Biden-era NEVI program as a “disaster” and said Lin was “another liberal judicial activist making nonsensical rulings from the bench because they hate President Trump.”It was not clear whether the administration intends to appeal the ruling.”While we assess our legal options, the order does not stop our ongoing work to reform the program,” the spokesperson added.The Trump administration has until July 2 to appeal or release funds under Lin’s order, which applies to Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Fresh from his success with the “Dune” saga, Denis Villeneuve has been tapped to direct the next movie in the storied James Bond franchise, Amazon MGM Studios announced Wednesday.The online retail giant has chosen a filmmaker very much in vogue in Hollywood as he makes his first foray into the world of the now-iconic British agent 007, first brought to life seven decades ago by writer Ian Fleming.Villeneuve, who is Canadian, said he grew up watching Bond films with his father. “I’m a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory,” Villeneuve said in a statement released by Amazon. “I intend to honor the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come,” he added. “This is a massive responsibility, but also, incredibly exciting for me and a huge honor.”There is no word yet on who will play Her Majesty’s spy.Daniel Craig’s final portrayal of James Bond came in 2021 following the release of “No Time to Die.” Since then, 007 has seen many twists and turns.Amazon paid nearly $8.45 billion to buy legendary Hollywood studio MGM in 2022, which included distribution rights to Bond’s extensive back catalog.But for the subsequent three years, the retail behemoth was met with resistance from Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, the franchise’s historic producers who for decades had jealously guarded the governance of one of cinema’s most valuable properties.The company run by Jeff Bezos finally reached a financial agreement with the pair in February to take creative control of the franchise.Some fans have expressed concern that the character will be exploited by Amazon through a multitude of new films, or spinoff series that go direct to its streaming platform Prime.Against this backdrop, the choice of Villeneuve, who also directed “Blade Runner 2049” and “Arrival,” resonates as a pledge to purists.”We are honored that Denis has agreed to direct James Bond’s next chapter,” Mike Hopkins, head of Amazon MGM Studios, said in the statement, noting Villeneuve’s track record with “immersive storytelling.””He is a cinematic master, whose filmography speaks for itself.” Villeneuve’s two installments of science-fiction saga “Dune” were each nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. “Dune: Part Two,” released in 2024, grossed $700 million globally and won Oscars for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects.

After weeks of painstaking testimony in the high-profile trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, legal teams will enter a pivotal moment of the proceedings Thursday as they deliver closing arguments.Both sides have said their climactic summations will last several hours each, as the fate of the once-powerful music mogul hangs in the balance.Prosecutors say Combs, 55, masterminded a decades-long pattern of wrongdoing that saw him and an inner circle of employees carry out crimes including forced labor, arson, bribery and witness tampering.The famed producer coerced two women — the singer Casandra Ventura and later a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane — into years of drug-addled sex with paid escorts, prosecutors say.The most serious charge of racketeering — which includes the existence of a criminal enterprise that committed a pattern of offenses — could send Combs to prison for life. He also faces two charges of sex trafficking and two more for transportation for purposes of prostitution.But Combs denies it all: his lawyers have argued the artist’s relationships were consensual and have sought to convince jurors that many of the witnesses who testified were doing so for reasons including financial gain or jealousy.Along with alleged victims, government witnesses included former assistants and other employees, as well as escorts, friends and family of Ventura, and a hotel security guard who said he was bribed with $100,000 in a paper bag.Law enforcement officials and a forensic psychologist were also among the 34 individuals to take the stand.Combs opted against testifying on his own behalf, a common strategy of defense teams who are not required to prove innocence, only to cast doubt on government allegations of guilt.The government’s evidence included thousands of pages of phone and text records, and hours of testimony involved meticulous readings of some of the most explicit and wrenching exchanges.Many of those records appear to indicate distress on the part of the alleged victims. But a lot of the messages also show affection and desire — texts the defense underscored again and again.Jurors have seen video evidence of the sex parties prosecutors say were criminal, while the defense has exhibited exchanges they said imply consent.Also in evidence are reams of financial records — including CashApp payments to escorts — as well as flight and hotel records.- Deliberations up next -Since early May the proceedings have gripped the Manhattan federal courthouse where they’re taking place. And though electronics — that includes phones, laptops, and even AirPods — are barred from the building and must be left with security, dozens of influencers and content creators have buzzed around the courthouse’s exterior every day, delivering hot takes to eager social media fans.Combs is incarcerated and does not enter or exit the courthouse publicly. But some of the high-profile attendees and witnesses do, including members of the music mogul’s family and figures like Kid Cudi, the rapper who testified that Combs’s entourage torched his car.The marathon closing arguments are anticipated to wrap up on Friday.There is a slim chance jurors will go into deliberations that afternoon, but legal teams have indicated it’s more likely the panel of citizens will get the case on Monday.Then the world waits, as 12 New Yorkers consider the future of a man whose reputation as a dynamic starmaker is now in tatters.

A Mississippi man who had been on Death Row for nearly 50 years was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday, one of two executions in the United States this week.Richard Jordan, 79, was convicted in 1976 of the murder of Edwina Marter, the wife of a bank executive in the town of Gulfport.Jordan, a shipyard worker, kidnapped Marter from her home and demanded a $25,000 ransom.He was apprehended when he went to pick up the money.Jordan confessed to murdering Marter and led the authorities to her body, which had been hidden in a forest. She had been shot.Jordan was pronounced dead at 6:16 pm Central Time (2316 GMT) at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, according to a statement issued by the Mississippi Department of Corrections.He was Mississippi’s longest-serving and oldest death row inmate at the time of his execution, the statement said.His execution came one day after that of Thomas Gudinas, 51, who was put to death by lethal injection in Florida on Tuesday.Gudinas was sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder of Michelle McGrath, who was last seen leaving a bar in the city of Orlando in the early hours.McGrath’s battered body was found the next day and Gudinas was arrested shortly afterwards.Florida has carried out more executions — seven — than any other US state so far this year.The execution in Mississippi was the first in the southern state since December 2022.There have been 25 executions in the United States this year: 20 by lethal injection, two by firing squad and three by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.The use of nitrogen gas as an execution method has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment, and on his first day in office called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

Young self-declared socialist Zohran Mamdani was on the cusp of a stunning victory Wednesday in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary — pummeling his scandal-scarred establishment rival in a race seen as a fight for the future of the Democratic Party.Results were not yet final, but Mamdani — who is just 33 and would become the city’s first Muslim mayor — had such a commanding lead that his biggest rival, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, conceded defeat overnight.  Mamdani’s success was seen as a rebuke to Democratic centrists who backed the powerful Cuomo, as the party flails nationally in search of a way to counter Republican President Donald Trump’s hard-right movement.The Ugandan-born state assemblyman was behind Cuomo in polls until near the end, surging on a message of lower rents, free daycare and other populist ideas in the notoriously expensive metropolis.Commenting on the primary result in his former hometown, Trump lashed out at Mamdani as “a 100% Communist Lunatic,” adding that Democrats had “crossed the line” by choosing him.The top two Democrats in Congress, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — both from New York — separately applauded Mamdani’s victory, but did not explicitly endorse him.”Tonight we made history,” Mamdani said in a victory speech to supporters. On Wednesday he suggested his campaign and shock upset could serve as a model for the future for Democrats.”It has been tempting, I think, for some to claim as if the party has gone too left, when in fact what has occurred for far too long is the abandonment of the same working-class voters who then abandoned this party,” he told public radio WNNY.Cuomo, a 67-year-old political veteran vying to rebound from a sexual harassment scandal, said he called his rival to concede.Mamdani had taken 43 percent of the vote with 95 percent of ballots counted, according to city officials. Cuomo was at around 36 percent and appeared to have no chance to catch his rival.However, the contest is ranked-choice, with voters asked to select five candidates in order of preference. When no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote outright, election officials start the time-consuming process of eliminating the lowest-ranking candidates and retabulating.For political scientist Lincoln Mitchell, the vote was “a clear referendum on the future of the Democratic Party.”- Prime Trump target? -Cuomo had big money and near universal name recognition in the city, as a former governor and son of another governor.However, he was weighed down by having quit in disgrace four years ago after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment. He was also accused of mismanaging the state’s response to the Covid pandemic.Even so, Mamdani’s success was stunning.The son of Indian-origin immigrants, he is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America party — the kind of niche, leftist affiliation that many Democratic leaders believe their party needs to shed.The fact Mamdani speaks out for Palestinians and has accused Israel of “genocide” also makes him a prime target for Trump.His supporters include two favorite Trump foils — fiery leftist Senator Bernie Sanders and progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”Billionaires and lobbyists poured millions against you and our public finance system. And you won,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. – Big ideas, low experience -Currently a New York state assemblyman representing the borough of Queens, Mamdani’s eye-catching policy proposals include freezing rent for many New Yorkers, free bus service, and universal childcare.In a city where a three-bedroom apartment can easily cost $6,000 a month, his message struck a chord.Voter Eamon Harkin, 48, said prices were his “number one issue.””What’s at stake is primarily the affordability of New York,” he said.The confirmed winner will face several contenders in November, including current Mayor Eric Adams, who is a Democrat but has vowed to run again as an independent.