It's not Election Day in India — rather, it's more like Election Weeks. Plural. Voters in "the world's largest democratic election" started heading to the polls last Friday, CNBC said, to start the first of seven phases of voting that will play out over six weeks. There probably aren't many surprises in store at the end of that marathon: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are expected to win "another landslide victory" that would give Modi a third five-year term in office. That doesn't mean the campaign has been placid. "Armed men attacked polli ..read more

'Now do the border' Andrew Egger in The Bulwark President Joe Biden was "smart" to renew his call for a border-security bill as he signed long-delayed Ukraine-aid legislation, says Andrew Egger. "Earlier this year, Republicans spiked his border deal," which was tied to Ukraine aid, "at Donald Trump's behest." Trump's fellow Republicans knew "Biden was vulnerable on immigration and didn't want to give him an election-year life preserver." But with Ukraine removed from the equation, "their excuses for opposing it will become even less plausible." Read more 'The media say crime is going down. Don ..read more

What happened Ukraine's military is already hitting Russian targets with powerful long-range ballistic missiles secretly provided by the U.S., officials said Wednesday. Who said what The U.S. began sending Ukraine longer-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles last month and "will send more now that we have additional authority and money," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. President Joe Biden decided "the time is right to provide these" weapons, Adm. Christopher Grady said to The Associated Press. The commentary Biden had "resisted" sending Kyiv long-range missiles ove ..read more

What happened An Arizona grand jury on Wednesday indicted 18 people on felony charges related to a 2020 scheme to reverse former President Donald Trump's loss in the state, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) said. The indictment charges the 11 Arizona Republicans who signed certificates falsely claiming to be "duly elected and qualified" presidential electors plus seven close Trump allies, including Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani. Trump is identified as "unindicted coconspirator 1." Who said what "The scheme, had it succeeded, would have deprived Arizona's voters of their right to have th ..read more

'Everyone hates this election' Alex Shephard in The New Republic The high stakes of the first election clash between Joe Biden and Donald Trump fueled record vote totals in 2020, and their rematch this year will again have "existential significance," says Alex Shephard. "Trump is openly campaigning on an authoritarian platform." Biden has "handled Ukraine well" but "divided the Democratic coalition" by continuing to back Israel's far-right government. But voters are meeting the campaign with a "collective yawn," because they crave change and are "sick of both candidates."  Read more 'Bide ..read more

Campus unrest over the war in Gaza "has reached a fever pitch in the final weeks of classes," said The New York Times, with confrontations between authorities and pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, Yale University, New York University and others across the United States. The heart of the conflict: Administrators are "struggling to balance students' free speech rights and the need to protect Jewish students" from threats to their safety. The crisis is particularly acute at Columbia, where a rabbi linked to the school "urged Jewish students to stay home" to avoid "tense confronta ..read more

This article was updated on April 22, 2024. The year of America's next presidential election is here, which can only mean one thing: speculation will continue to ramp up about who will be the next person to occupy the White House.  While the campaign season started with a long list of competitors, the field has now narrowed to just two. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have locked up the required delegates to be the Democratic and Republican nominees, respectively. While several independent candidates remain in the race as long shots, this means that the United States ..read more

What happened Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified Tuesday that he agreed to use his tabloid to boost and shield former President Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign and publish articles, often fabricated, to damage his rivals. Pecker is the government's first witness in Trump's Manhattan criminal trial over hush money tied to election fraud. Who said what At an August 2015 Trump Tower meeting with Trump and then-fixer Michael Cohen, "I said I would run positive stories about Trump and I would publish negative stories about his opponent," Pecker testified ..read more

Former President Donald Trump's first criminal trial got underway Monday with opening arguments and the first witness testimony in a Manhattan courtroom. Prosecutors said that shortly before the 2016 election Trump ordered "hush money" payments to a porn star who claimed she had an affair with him years earlier, then tried to cover up the payments by falsifying business records.  As he arrived at the trial, which Politico described as "indisputably historic," Trump said the case was "election interference" intended to derail his 2024 bid to win back the White House from President Joe Bide ..read more

'Resolving border crisis requires increasing legal migration' Benjamin Powell in the Las Vegas Sun Simply cracking down on illegal immigration won't resolve "our border difficulties," says Benjamin Powell. The "root cause" behind record arrivals of undocumented migrants is "U.S. policy that essentially prohibits legal migration for most people." Asylum seekers or those with family here have a shot, but low-skilled workers from places like Honduras and Venezuela seeking economic opportunities don't. Giving "them a legal 'line to get in'" must be part of any plan to end the crisis. Read more 'Th ..read more