Marine veteran won 72% of the vote despite infidelity and abuse allegations that emerged during primary campaign

• Platner shrugs off scandals to win Maine Democratic Senate primary

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

Graham Platner won the Maine Democratic primary for Senate and called for supporters to “believe people can change” amid his controversial candidacy.

Redemption is not just some simple or easy destination; it’s a journey. I’ve made mistakes in my life, mistakes I regret, that I live with, that I continue to learn from. I’m still far from perfect. But every day I wake up and I try to be a little bit better and a little kinder than I was the day before. And if you give me the chance, I will be a senator for the people who cannot afford to buy a senator.

House Republicans narrowly passed a reconciliation bill on Tuesday, by two votes, to provide another $70bn in funding over the next three years to the Department of Homeland Security, ensuring that agencies carrying out Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda remain funded until the end of his presidency.

At nearly the same moment, the US struck Iran again, in retaliation for the downing of a US helicopter near the strait of Hormuz.

JD Vance, the US vice-president, said that a deal with Iran to end the war launched by the US and Israel 102 days ago, “could happen in the next week, but the deal could also happen months from now.”

Lesley Groff, longtime executive assistant to Jeffrey Epstein, the late child sex offender Trump socialized with for nearly two decades, testified before the House oversight and reform committee.

Jermiah Copeland had admitted killing Angelina Resendiz, attacking another sailor and illegally recording another

• Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

A member of the US navy has been ordered to spend 44 years in federal prison after admitting that he fatally strangled a fellow sailor in his barracks room, violently squeezed the neck of a second woman onboard an aircraft carrier and illegally made secret video recordings of a third, including while they were being intimate.

Meanwhile, the family of the petty officer whom Jermiah Copeland acknowledged murdering, Angelina Resendiz, has called for reforms within the armed forces meant to better protect women serving in the military.

Lawmakers warn appointment of presidential loyalist will scuttle bipartisan agreement to renew Fisa surveillance law

Donald Trump is pushing ahead with his controversial plan to install political loyalist Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, a move that has sparked bipartisan congressional backlash and imperiled the reauthorization of a powerful surveillance law set to expire at the end of this week.

Trump’s Tuesday evening announcement came after he met earlier in the day with the House speaker, Mike Johnson, to discuss Pulte’s elevation to the role, which has prompted widespread concern over his complete lack of national security experience and the prospect that he could use the office’s spying powers to continue his campaign of targeting Trump’s perceived political enemies.

EV maker aims to overtake Toyota, as it plans to spend £1.8bn to build five-minute flash chargers in Europe

• Business live – latest updates

The Chinese car company BYD has said it aims to be the world’s biggest automaker within the next five years.

Targeting Toyota’s long-held top spot, BYD’s founder and chair, Wang Chuanfu said he was confident it could overtake global rivals through rapid advances in battery technology and fast charging, as well as growing production overseas, including Europe.

‘Temporary agreement’ in place since Football Association safeguarding investigation began three years ago

David Sullivan has faced restrictions on his contact with West Ham’s women’s and youth teams since 2023 because of a safeguarding investigation.

The Football Association began an inquiry three years ago after receiving a complaint, which the Guardian understands involves an allegation of sexual misconduct unrelated to football.

From Spain to Japan, experiments have repeatedly shown a left-turn bias, but exact mechanic ‘is still an open question’

“I’m not an ambi-turner,” laments Derek Zoolander in the eponymous noughties satire about the world’s hottest male model and his rare catwalk hangup. “It’s a problem I’ve had since I was a baby … I can’t turn left.”

Now, research suggests that the fashionista’s career-threatening quirk was even more unusual than previously thought. Tests reveal that when people are ambling about, they have a natural tendency to turn to the left and walk in an anticlockwise direction.

Taliban forces fire on crowds in Herat, who were protesting at manhandling of women arrested over hijab dress code

A Taliban crackdown on women’s dress code in Afghanistan has escalated into a rare mass street protest in the western province of Herat, with at least two people killed by security forces.

Officials made a wave of arrests in recent days targeting women and young girls accused of “improper hijab”. Residents say many families had received no information about the whereabouts or condition of those detained.

Renewed outrage at White House’s use manga and anime imagery after US president is depicted as ninja Naruto

Japanese anime and manga fans are urging Donald Trump to stop using their favourite characters in his social media posts.

About 20,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org entitled Protect Japanese Manga, protesting against the official White House X account posting videos featuring unauthorised use of imagery from the popular Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto series. Angry fans have also been posting on social media.

Billboards are being painted over and former allies seem eager to forget the man they once glorified

For years, his bewhiskered face stared down from propaganda billboards glorifying the supposedly revolutionary rule of a dictator who styled himself as “the protector of the people”.

The spin-doctored adoration was such that factories churned out plastic action figures exalting Nicolás Maduro as an “indestructible” and “iron-fisted” caped crusader nicknamed “Super Moustache”.

• Artan deemed a threat to national security by US officials

• ‘I promise you that I will attend the next one’

The World Cup referee from Somalia who was denied entry to the US arrived on Wednesday in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, where he was received by a crowd of supporters and officials.

Omar Artan was due to be the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup after making Fifa’s final list for the tournament. He is one of Africa’s top referees and was named the continent’s best male referee in 2025.

Suspect refused legal representation and is remanded in custody for four weeks

• Violence erupts in Belfast after protests over knife attack

• Tell us: how have you been affected by the situation in Belfast?

Hadi Alodid refused legal representation and made no reply to charges which were put put to him through an Arabic interpreter as he appeared in court charged with attempted murder following the Belfast knife attack, the Press Association reports.

The 30-year-old, with an address at Duncairn Avenue in Belfast, appeared before the city’s magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning.

He is charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie on Monday, with threatening to kill an NHS radiographer on the same day and with the possession of a knife.

Outcome of polls in four states offers mixed signals about direction of two major parties before November’s midterms

Progressives rallied round the controversial Graham Platner after his primary victory in Maine on Tuesday, while Donald Trump again exerted his grip on the Republican party, helping to defeat a politician who had pushed for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Primary elections were held in four states – Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina – ahead of November’s midterms to decide control of both houses of Congress. The results offered mixed signals about the direction of the two major parties.

Microsoft co-founder to appear in closed-door session as part of lawmakers’ investigation into convicted sex offender

Bill Gates is set to testify in front of the House committee on oversight and reform on Wednesday as part of the panel’s investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Microsoft co-founder will appear in a closed-door session, where lawmakers are expected to question him about his past relationship with Epstein. A transcript of the interview is expected to be released at a later date.

Northern Ireland’s justice minister says online ‘bad faith actors’ have incited racism in city after knife attack

The disorder in Belfast was fuelled by people online who would have struggled to find the city on a map before a recent stabbing attack, a senior Northern Ireland minister has said.

Naomi Long, the minister of justice of Northern Ireland and leader of the Alliance party, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “bad faith actors” had incited racism in the city.

Retailer plans to shut unprofitable stores as shopper numbers at airports fall amid Middle East conflict

• Business live – latest updates

WH Smith has issued a profit warning after shopper numbers at its stores in US airports fell as a result of the war in the Middle East.

The retailer, which operates 1,200 outlets globally in airports, railway stations and hospitals, also announced plans to raise about £100m to strengthen its balance sheet, pay down debt, invest in technology and shut down unprofitable stores after “a downturn in trading conditions”.

England supporters face paying inflation-busting £95 for an adult shirt as the tournament begins in the US

Fans of World Cup teams kitted out by Nike face the highest costs if they want to buy a replica shirt before the tournament kicks off this week amid a “striking” overall increase in prices.

Alongside the official match versions, which are retailing for as much as €160, manufacturers typically make “stadium”, or replica, versions aimed at supporters.

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

European stock markets are taking a more decisive turn downwards now – the UK’s FTSE 100 has fallen 0.5%. The German Dax is down 0.6% and the French Cac 40 is down 0.3%.

The Europe Stoxx 600 is down 0.4%.

The 700 projects include wind and solar farms, battery storage, gas and hydro plans

More than half the renewable energy projects needed to meet the government’s clean power targets by 2030 are now able to plug into the electricity grid after years of delay, according to the system operator.

The National Energy System Operator (Neso) has offered more than 700 clean energy projects in Great Britain a grid connection date since the start of the year, after a two-year process to unblock a bottleneck that threatened to delay projects into the 2030s.

Government plan to de-link gas and electricity prices aims to reduce bills for consumers after global surge in prices

Households in England, Scotland and Wales could save nearly £200 a year on their energy bills if the government stepped into the market to act as the sole buyer of electricity, according to a thinktank.

The research found that public procurement of electricity, meaning the government would become the “single buyer” of power before it is resold to consumers, could shave billions of pounds from electricity prices.

Apple Peiqing Ni targeted by account portraying her as promiscuous drug addict after posting about Tiananmen Square

A high-profile Chinese activist in the UK who was inundated with deepfake posts on X portraying her as a sexually promiscuous drug addict was told that the abuse did not breach the rules of Elon Musk’s platform.

Apple Peiqing Ni, the 27-year-old founder of the UK-based China Dissent Network, had been advised by UK police to complain to the US-headquartered platform after she was targeted by what she believes is a pro-regime bot.