.png)
4 hours ago
8
Former US vice-president Dick Cheney dies aged 84 - family statement
The former US vice-president, Dick Cheney, has died aged 84, according to a family statement.
“Richard B. Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States, died last night, November 3, 2025. He was 84 years old,” Cheney’s family said in a statement quoted by The Hill and other media outlets.
“His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed. The former Vice President died due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.”
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
US government shutdown ties record for longest in American history
The US government shutdown on Tuesday entered its 35th day, matching a record set during Donald Trump’s first term for the longest in history.
The last shutdown, which started in December 2018 and was brought about by disagreements over money to fund a wall along the US-Mexico border, lasted 35 days – the longest in American history (up until that point).
The toll of the current shutdown on ordinary Americans increases by the day. Food assistance for the poor has been halted for the first time and federal workers – from airports to law enforcement and the military - are going unpaid.
The Senate has voted more than a dozen times against a House of Representatives-passed stopgap funding measure, and no lawmakers have changed their position.
Trump’s Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate but need votes from at least seven Democrats to meet the chamber’s 60-vote threshold for most legislation.
Democrats are withholding their votes to extract an extension of some healthcare insurance subsidies.
Republicans and Democrats have entered a war in legislatures and courts to narrow the political battlefield of 2026 before a single vote is cast.
Normally, redistricting only occurs after the US census counts residents in each state every 10 years. A demand from Donald Trump to lock in more Republican-leaning districts in Congress, together with a changing legal landscape around partisan gerrymandering, set off a chain of mid-decade reapportionments.
Republicans hold control of the US House with a 219-213 margin, one of the smallest majorities in American history.
Three representatives have died in office – two Democrats and a Republican – who have yet to be replaced. Each was in a district considered safe for their party. The Democrat Adelita Grijalva of Arizona has won election but, controversially, has not yet been seated.
The Guardian’s George Chidi and Andrew Witherspoon used data from the Cook Political Report and local media to tabulate the aspirations of leaders in each state where redistricting before the 2026 midterms has been contemplated.
Recent polling suggests that Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani has at least a 10 point lead over his opponents in the mayoral race: independent candidate, Andrew Cuomo, and Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.
Atlas Intel poll ending 30 October shows Mamdani leading with 41% in support, compared to Cuomo with 34% support and Sliwa getting 24% support.
Trump reluctantly backs Cuomo for New York City mayor
Donald Trump has reluctantly endorsed Andrew Cuomo’s bid for the New York mayoralty.
Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor and a long-term Trump critic, is running as an independent candidate after losing the party’s primary to Zohran Mamdani, who will become the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in more than 100 years if he wins.
“If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad.”
Trump’s comments echo those broadcast on Sunday during his appearance on CBS’s 60 minutes, in which he said: “It’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York, because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there.”
Mamdani has said that if Cuomo wins, he would be a “puppet” for Trump. “I think what scares me in this moment is the prospect of Donald Trump’s puppet becoming the (mayor),” he told NBC News.
Former US president Barack Obama has offered to be a “sounding board” to New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani if his polling advantage turns into victory, according to reports.
Obama reportedly also praised the campaign Mamdani had run against his main independent rival, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, and the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa. The call was first reported by the New York Times and then confirmed to Reuters by Mamdani’s spokesperson.
“Zohran Mamdani appreciated President Obama’s words of support and their conversation on the importance of bringing a new kind of politics to our city,” Mamdani’s spokesperson, Dora Pekec, said.
Mamdani, a state assembly member, has polled well ahead of Cuomo and Sliwa before Tuesday’s general election. A recent Atlas poll estimated Mamdani (40%) had about a six-point edge over Cuomo (34%) and a 16-point advantage over Sliwa (24%).
Why might California redraw its congressional maps?
Chris Stein
Texas redrew their maps to favor Republicans at Trump’s urging, one of several states that the president has pushed to use partisan gerrymanders to help the GOP hold seats in the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections.
For various reasons, only a handful of Democratic-led states can redraw their maps to offset the expected Republican gains, with California offering the best opportunity.
Because the state has an independent redistricting commission, voters will be asked to approve proposition 50, which would enact a new map that could allow Democrats to pick up five more House seats.
Backed by governor Gavin Newsom, polls have shown the proposition with a strong lead.
Why is Zohran Mamdani such a big deal?
Chris Stein
New York City has probably the most high-profile mayor in the country, and in June, Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblyman and democratic socialist, won the Democratic primary in an upset over former governor Andrew Cuomo.
Though Cuomo remains in the race as an independent, polls show Mamdani with a formidable lead, and if he wins, his brand of left-wing politics will be given a prominent platform.
Anna Betts
On Monday, the candidates for New York City mayor spent a frantic final day campaigning across the city. Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner, whose campaign has been centered on affordability, has maintained a commanding lead, with most polls showing him leading by double digits.
The 34-year-old Democratic nominee, a state assembly member from Queens, began his Monday walking across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise. He was joined by the New York attorney general, Letitia James; the city comptroller, Brad Lander; as well as several city and state lawmakers and throngs of supporters.
He finished the walk at city hall, where he told a news conference that “we stand on the verge of ushering in a new day for our city”, and was scheduled to join volunteers before they began a final day of canvassing in Astoria, Queens, later in the day.
Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic governor running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in June’s primary, kicked off the last day of the campaign with an interview on the Spanish-language radio station La Mega before heading to a campaign stop in the Bronx. He reportedly planned to visit all five boroughs on Monday.
Running a distant third has been Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate and founder of the Guardian Angels, a non-profit organization dedicated to “unarmed crime prevention”. According to social media, Sliwa spent part of Monday morning at Coney Island and was set to host a tele-rally in the evening.
Americans go to the polls, with elections in New York City, New Jersey, Virginia and California
We are restarting our live coverage of US politics.
Americans are heading to the polls on Tuesday in a number of elections that will show where support for Donald Trump’s Republicans stands and whether Democrats have cause for hope.
Much attention in the US and abroad will be on Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor, who is facing off against former governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary against Mamdani earlier this year, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
In California, voters could tear up their congressional maps to turn Republican districts into Democratic ones in an effort to counter gains the GOP is expected to make elsewhere after the party gerrymandered maps in states including Texas and Missouri.
Virginia and New Jersey will hold high-stakes gubernatorial and legislative elections that may serve as a proxy for voters’ views on the president.
We will bring you the latest news and reactions as election day unfolds.
