A landmark ruling set back the right Congress granted – of racial equality in electoral opportunity – to keep Republicans in power

In the late 19th century, after Reconstruction, US federal protections for Black voters began to erode. Southern states sought to reshape their electoral systems – through poll taxes, literacy tests and districting – to consolidate political control for white supremacist politicians. Over decades this led to Jim Crow laws, under which most Black Americans in the south were effectively disenfranchised despite constitutional rights. The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 was supposed to end that iniquity. The US supreme court is turning the clock back; reviving a system where formal voting rights for minorities remain, but political power does not.

What is striking today is the speed of the reversal: following last week’s court decision to substantially weaken section 2 of the VRA – the main federal limitation on gerrymandering in many red states – Republicans are moving swiftly to redraw maps, placing previously protected Black congressional districts at risk. Moira Donegan argued in the Guardian last week that the court’s 6-3 decision not only reflected its rightwing bias but completed chief justice John Roberts’s long project of dismantling the VRA. It’s hard to disagree.

The rising number of private renters in Britain have for too long put up with chronically insecure tenancy agreements and poor conditions

The defining trend in British housing in recent decades has been towards private renting. The sector in England nearly doubled in size between 2004 and 2013. By 2023 almost two-fifths of households were either renting privately or socially. Meanwhile, the dream of home ownership has steadily eroded: 39% of 25- to 34-year-olds owned their home in 2023, 20 percentage points lower than the peak (59%) in 2000. Many younger adults now rent from a private landlord as the default, and expect to do so for the rest of their lives.

Which is why the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act is important. Until last week, landlords could evict a tenant for requesting a reasonable repair, or challenging a rent hike. A poll in 2023 for the charity Shelter found that tenants who complained to their landlord or local authority were 159% more likely to be served a no-fault eviction notice than those who did not. The fear was that complaints could cost tenants their homes. It was customary for landlords to pre-emptively evict tenants if they wanted to raise rents.

Russian pavilion to stay closed as outcry over Israel’s inclusion also grows – but nesting seagull provides some light relief

The 61st Venice Biennale vernissage began on Tuesday under grey clouds and rain showers, as political tension, parties and protest dominated proceedings at one of the art world’s biggest events.

Lubaina Himid, the British entrant, who has spent a career creating work that picks at her country’s colonial past, took over the UK’s pavilion with her large-scale paintings and sound collage that recalls a “perfect British summer’s day”.

Manchester City did not choke at Everton to hand Arsenal the advantage but it was another reminder the Premier League’s random qualities are still key

For me Clive, it’s all about the Socratic paradox. The wisest man is the man who knows enough to know he knows nothing. I’ve always said that. Or never said it. Or only said it sometimes. One of those. Either way the Premier League title race could have been designed to prove that, in an age of thundering takes and mega-certainties, nobody actually has any idea what’s going on here.

Manchester City’s draw at Everton on Monday night has already been described as The Moment. Advantage Arsenal. This is the consensus. On Tuesday morning, Rob Earnshaw was asked on Sky Sports if this is “the week the season will be decided” and replied: “ABSOLUTELY,” almost before the question had ended. And while you have to admire Rob Earnshaw’s sense of showmanship, there is still a large chance this might not actually be the case.

Authorities investigate leak of 2.9 million voters’ details, adding to turmoil around independence push

Alberta separatists have delivered more than 300,000 signatures to elections officials in western Canada, in support of their attempt to force an independence referendum in Canada’s oil-rich province.

But the effort stumbled immediately as a separatist-linked group posted the personal data of nearly three million residents online in one of the largest data breaches in Canadian history, fomenting fears of a possible political interference crisis.

​De grote bijeenkomst van het jaar waarin de grootste sterren verzamelen om zich om z’n mooist te presenteren aan de wereld. Het zou over het Met Gala, maar net zo goed over het congres van het CDA kunnen gaan. Weet jij ze uit elkaar te houden? Doe nu de test!

1. O ja, deze vrouw. Waar is zij ook alweer van? Zat zij niet in de film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri? Bijna goed, dit is Tabitha van Krimpen, CDA-lid en tevens Theoloog des vaderlands.

2. Dit is een moeilijke. Als je denkt: ‘goh, die Henri Bontenbal, wat is die lekker aan het sporten geslagen’, dan heb je het mooi mis. Hoewel hij er ontzettend op lijkt, is dit de acteur Connor Storrie, van de televisieserie Heated Rivalry. We begrijpen de verwarring.

3. Sybrand Buma? Op het Met Gala? Hoe komt hij daar nou binnen? Niet, want dit is een foto van een CDA-congres.

4. Wie zit er achter het masker? Is het misschien minister van Economische Zaken en Klimaat Heleen Herbert? Nee, had natuurlijk wel gekund. Het is Katy Perry, zangeres van 'Firework' en 'Roar'. Maar dat was ook heel moeilijk te zien.

5. Na grondig onderzoek kwamen wij tot de conclusie dat A$AP Rocky en Rihanna geen lid van het CDA zijn of ooit zijn geweest. Met dat gegeven kunnen we maar tot een conclusie komen: dit is een foto op het Met Gala.

6. Natuurlijk, eerst kwam hij er jaarlijks, maar na het einde van zijn glansrijke tv-carrière en zijn debuut in de Tweede Kamer heeft Tijs van de Brink geen enkele uitnodiging meer ontvangen van het Met Gala. Kortom, dit is een CDA-congres.

7. Oude man? Dat moet wel het CDA zijn. Fout! Dit is Bad Bunny, met make-up op. Had ‘ie je toch even te pakken.

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