45 m. ago Socialist Zohran Mamdani could be New York’s next mayor. This is what the western left could learn from him | Owen Jones

He has used clear messaging to redirect anger from the disenfranchised to the economic elites. That the wealthy are worried shows it’s workingThe Zohran Mamdani phenomenon should not be happening, if received wisdom is a reliable predictor of events. He’s the 33-year-old Muslim leftist and Queens assemblyman running for the New York mayoralty with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America, and the vitriolic campaign against him suggests his momentum has caused panic in gilded circles. His chief opponent for the Democratic nomination, Andrew Cuomo, could not scream party establishment more loudly: he’s New York state’s former governor – just like his father was – and a former cabinet secretary. He married into that classic Democratic royalty, the Kennedys; his endorsements include the former president Bill Clinton; and billionaires such as Mike Bloomberg are pouring millions into his Super Pac.In another age, someone like Mamdani would have been a no-hoper. What changed was...

Politics

4 h. ago Zohran Mamdani appears to pull ahead of Andrew Cuomo, according to new poll

Progressive assemblyman may be leading the former governor in race for New York City mayor, survey findsZohran Mamdani, a Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, has drawn level with Andrew Cuomo in the city’s primary, according to a new poll, as voters brave record-breaking temperatures to cast their ballots.Mamdani, a 33-year-old New York assemblyman, may even be leading Cuomo, the 67-year-old former governor and scion of a prominent New York political family, if the poll’s simulation of the system of ranked-choice voting is correct. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Free buses, more housing, taxing the rich: how Zohran Mamdani has gone viral in the New York mayor’s race

He was 30 points behind former governor Andrew Cuomo just months ago, but now he’s surging in the contest to lead the largest US cityZohran Mamdani trailed Andrew Cuomo, the frontrunner to be the next New York City mayor, by 30 points just a few months ago.Now, just ahead of the Democratic primary on Tuesday, the 33-year-old democratic socialist has bridged the gap with Cuomo, a politician so of the establishment that a giant bridge north of New York literally bears his last name. Continue reading...

Politics

31 h. ago Israel is playing an outsized role in a heated New York City mayoral race. Will it matter?

The race has turned into an Israel-Palestine proxy war of sorts, even as voters on both sides wish the focus remained on local issuesSpeaking from a Jerusalem bomb shelter last week as Iran and Israel exchanged fire, a New York state senator posted a video message to New York City voters: “There is a mayoral primary coming up this week where one of the candidates does not believe the Jewish state has a right to exist,” said Sam Sutton, the senator from Brooklyn. “We don’t want to be in a situation like this in America.”Sutton called on New Yorkers to elect a “great friend of the Jewish people”: Andrew Cuomo, New York’s former governor. Continue reading...

Politics

31 h. ago Israel is playing an outsized role in New York City’s mayoral race. Will it matter?

The election has turned into an Israel-Palestine proxy war of sorts, even as voters on both sides wish the focus remained on local issuesSpeaking from a Jerusalem bomb shelter last week as Iran and Israel exchanged fire, a New York state senator posted a video message to New York City voters: “There is a mayoral primary coming up this week where one of the candidates does not believe the Jewish state has a right to exist,” said Sam Sutton, the senator from Brooklyn. “We don’t want to be in a situation like this in America.”Sutton called on New Yorkers to elect a “great friend of the Jewish people”: Andrew Cuomo, New York’s former governor. Continue reading...

Politics

56 h. ago The paradise island where millionaires go to avoid death (and taxes): Isle for the libertarian super

This isn't a place for a break but one to escape bureaucracy, regulation, and the two forces that usually catch up with everyone: death and taxes.

Economics

5 d. ago Why establishment Democrats still can’t stomach progressive candidates like Zohran Mamdani | Arwa Mahdawi

The anti-Mamdani mobilization is depressingly predictable, with a party that is allergic to fresh blood and new thinkingWho’s afraid of Zohran Mamdani? The answer, it would seem, is the entire establishment. The 33-year-old democratic socialist and New York City mayoral candidate has surged in the polls in recent weeks, netting endorsements not just from progressive voices like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders but also his fellow candidates for the mayoralty, with Brad Lander and Michael Blake taking advantage of the ranked-choice voting system in the primary and cross-endorsing Mamdani’s campaign.With the primary just around the corner, polls have Mamdani closing the gap on Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor of New York. This has spooked the establishment, which is now doing everything it can to stop Mamdani’s rise. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago New York City might elect a truly progressive mayor – thanks to ranked

Mamdani’s campaign deserves credit for offering a clear, inspiring, progressive message. But ranked-choice voting is also helping make him competitiveWith a week left until New York’s Democratic mayoral primary, one might have thought that the former governor Andrew Cuomo would be measuring the drapes at Gracie Mansion. Real estate developers, corporations like Doordash, a smattering of billionaires and even Billy Joel have shoveled cash into his campaign, with his Super Pac spending more money than any other outside force in the city’s political history. This is on top of his entering the race with major name recognition advantage, amounting to a 20- or 30-point lead as recently as May.But according to a new poll, Zohran Mamdani – the insurgent state assemblyman and democratic socialist whom the Nation recently co-endorsed along with fellow mayoral candidate and New York City comptroller Brad Lander – has pulled ahead of Cuomo for the first time.Katrina vanden Heuvel is editorial d...

Politics

6 d. ago Top New York official Brad Lander’s arrest is ‘fascism’, says mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani – US politics live

Arrest by masked federal agents at a New York immigration court draws immediate condemnationA memorial outside the Minnesota house chambers displays a photo of Melissa and Mark Hortman behind a table where people are dropping off flowers, notes, a hard hat, a plaid shirt. Signs in front of it read “in honor of our beloved Melissa”. On her desk, a photo and a bouquet of roses.On Monday afternoon, the skies darkened, spilling sheets of rain across the Minneapolis suburbs Melissa Hortman represented. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Voices: ‘Tax the rich first’: Readers demand fairer burden as Reeves faces fiscal squeeze

Our community overwhelmingly believes that to tackle the UK’s economic challenges fairly, the wealthy must pay their share through higher taxes and reforms, while calling on the government to move beyond austerity and provide clear, responsible funding plans

Politics

1 week ago New York mayoral candidate accuses Cuomo donors of altering photo in act of ‘blatant Islamophobia’

Zohran Mamdani says Andrew Cuomo’s Super Pac altered his image in a mailer to voters, giving him a darker beardZohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist state assemblyman waging a progressive bid to become mayor of New York City, has accused donors to the frontrunner Andrew Cuomo of “blatant Islamophobia” after a mailer from their Super Pac altered Mamdani’s image giving him a darker, bushier beard.Mamdani, 33, posted a closeup of his face as featured in the mailer from the Cuomo-backing group Fix the City alongside the original photograph from which it was drawn. In the transition, the image’s visual contrast appears to be manipulated, slightly lightening Mamdani’s skin but also giving him the appearance of a longer and significantly fuller beard. Continue reading...

Culture

1 week ago The Sexual Evolution by Nathan H Lents review – colourful tales of animal reproduction

From gay penguin parents to snake orgies, a biology professor looks at sexual adaptation in the animal world In 1998, Roy and Silo, a pair of male chinstrap penguins at Central Park Zoo in New York, were given an abandoned egg to incubate after zookeepers observed them performing mating rituals together. For 34 days, they took turns sitting on it. When the egg hatched, the story became a viral sensation. The New York Times celebrated “A Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name”. Roy, Silo and their daughter Tango became the subject of a LGBTQ-friendly children’s book, And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell.Biology professor Nathan Lents remembers receiving copies of Tango as a gift when he and his husband became foster parents. Fast-forward to the present day, and Tango tops Pen America’s list of the most frequently banned picture books in the US. It was part of a high-profile lawsuit in Nassau County, Florida, and was designated for pulping by officials in...

Politics

1 week ago Airbnb is spending $1m on NYC mayoral race hoping it can return to the city with fewer restrictions

The ad, put out online on Monday, singles out Democrats Zohran Mamdani, Scott Stringer and Brad Lander

Economics

2 w. ago UK special investigations team doubles tax haul in crackdown on the rich

HMRC department raised £1.5bn in 2023-24 tax year

Economics

2 w. ago New York City Democratic mayoral primary debate: six key takeaways

Frontrunners Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani sparred on stage as all candidates said they’d stand up to TrumpIn the first debate of the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, nine candidates took the stage and fielded questions on housing, affordability, crime, policing, public safety, political regrets and how each candidate would handle the Trump administration if elected.The candidates included former New York governor Andrew Cuomo; democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani; the New York City council speaker, Adrienne Adams; the current New York City comptroller, Brad Lander; former comptroller Scott Stringer; former Bronx assemblyman Michael Blake; state senators Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos; and former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Forcing rich pensioners to pay back winter fuel allowance would be tax ‘nightmare’, Reeves warned

Chancellor expected to reinstate universal winter fuel payments - but claw grants back from some through higher taxes

Events

2 w. ago Ditch rising cost of living in the UK for tax havens where you can save and enjoy the sunshine too

The super-rich have long cashed in on this, but with many taxes increasing in the UK more people are being tempted by the lure of lower-tax jurisdictions.

Economics

3 w. ago Trump’s tax bill helps the rich, hurts the poor and adds trillions to the deficit | Katrina vanden Heuvel

The ‘big, beautiful bill’ has reaffirmed that a pledged golden age is really just a windfall for the uber-wealthyThe blush is off the rose, or, rather, the orange. The erstwhile “First Buddy” and born-again fiscal hawk Elon Musk recently said he was “disappointed” by Donald Trump’s spendthrift budget currently under debate in the US Senate. Squeaking through the House of Representatives thanks to the capitulation of several Republican deficit hardliners, this “big, beautiful bill” certainly increases the federal debt bigly – by nearly $4tn over the next decade.Equally disappointed are those who have been busy burnishing Trump’s populist veneer. Steve Bannon had repeatedly promised higher taxes for millionaires, but he has confessed he’s “very upset”. That’s because the bill would cut taxes by over $600bn for the top 1% of wage-earners, also known as millionaires. It amounts to the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Tulsa’s new Black mayor plans $100M reparations for descendants of 1921 Race Massacre

Monroe Nichols announced the plan despite ‘a tough environment’ under Donald Trump

Events

3 w. ago Tulsa's new Black mayor proposes $100M trust to 'repair' impact of 1921 Race Massacre

Tulsa’s new mayor on Sunday proposed a $100 million private trust as part of a reparations plan to give descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre scholarships and housing help

Events