‘Counting window’ seen as high-risk time for Trump to cast doubt on midterm results | First Thing

Donald Trump at the Republican national midterm convention in Dallas this month. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Donald Trump at the Republican national midterm convention in Dallas this month. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images First Thing: ‘Counting window’ seen as high-risk time for Trump to cast doubt on midterm results Experts warn Republicans may try to sow distrust and claim ‘foreign interference’ in crucial hours after counting begins. Plus, two pandas have a new home thanks to US-China diplomacy Good morning. Election experts have warned that Donald Trump’s administration could use the crucial hours and days after November’s midterm elections to disrupt the results after struggling to enforce the crackdown it wanted on voting. After a succession of court setbacks to plans to restrict voting access, and with less than six weeks remaining until polls close, the post-election “counting window” is being seen as a particularly vulnerable moment by former US federal government officials. How might Republicans cause doubt over results? Caitlin Durkovich, a former deputy homeland security adviser, said: “I think because the administration has lost so many of their attempts to disrupt the normal process in court, that they are going to use the claim of foreign interference at the end of voting days to either seize equipment or to seize ballots, whether they’re legally justified to do so or not.” What are Democratic prospects for the midterms looking like? With control of the US Congress in the balance, Shrai Popat has interviewed Yasmin Radjy, a grassroots organizer, about what Democrats are getting right – and wrong – in the election run-up. UK counter-terror police investigate Iran link over suspected bomb plot at English base used by US forces View image in fullscreen A B‑1B Lancer bomber parked at RAF Fairford airbase. Photograph: Toby Shepheard/Reuters British counter-terrorism police are investigating whether Iran is behind a suspected bomb plot after armed officers found explosives in three vans parked minutes from an RAF base used by the US military. After five men were arrested on terrorism charges, investigators were examining materials found in the vans near RAF Fairford, with an initial view being that they were consistent with improvised explosive devices. What have authorities said about the plot? Counter-terrorism police said: “At around 12.45am Sunday, police received a call relating to three suspicious vehicles which appeared to be travelling towards the airbase. Armed officers responded and five men were arrested.” How did the arrests unfold? A resident of the village of Whelford was driving home from a party when she saw three white vans parked on a country road. She was immediately suspicious, she said, and became all the more so when she spotted a “large group of hooded and balaclavaed” men. She called emergency services and police arrived on the scene 15 minutes later. You can follow the latest developments in this story in our live blog. What has the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said about attempts to end the US-Iran war? “They were asking for everything upfront with a promise that they would then talk,” Waltz told CNN. “The president is just not confident that the Iranians are coming in good faith and that we will truly negotiate the end of their nuclear program.” Republican senator criticizes White House for taxpayer-funded Trump ads View image in fullscreen A screenshot from a pro-Trump ad that the US government paid to broadcast in 2026. Photograph: White House The US senator John Kennedy told CBS News on Sunday “there ought to be a rule” against the White House expanding a taxpayer-funded advertising campaign to promote Donald Trump’s political agenda before the November midterm elections – before tacitly admitting such spending is “probably” illegal. Kennedy appeared to also be acknowledging the argument made by Jamie Raskin, a Democratic congressman, that any government employees who worked on the pro-Trump ads may have committed a felony violation of the Hatch Act, a law that bars government workers from partisan campaign activities. US attorney general defends Trump’s White House media ban View image in fullscreen Todd Blanche, the US attorney general. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Donald Trump’s attorney general, Todd Blanche, argued that the administration was permitted to ban three news outlets from the White House because “it is a privilege and not a right to be there”. On Thursday, a judge issued a temporary restraining order requiring the White House to temporarily restore the credentials of affected journalists at CNN, MS Now and Politico, and they were allowed entry to the executive complex. However, on Saturday CNN said its journalists were barred from joining the press pool traveling with the president on Air Force One. Pressed to point to a specific report the administration objected to, Blanche seemed to suggest that any negative reporting about Trump must be inaccurate, saying: “The information coming out of CNN and some of these other networks is wholly and completely, almost 100% negative toward the president.” Without providing any evidence, Blanche repeated the administration’s position that the affected three outlets’ reporting amounted to a “national security problem”. In other news … View image in fullscreen Taylor Swift and Madonna. Photograph: CBS/Getty Images Madonna and Taylor Swift triumphed at the 2026 MTV Video Music awards, with the former winning three trophies and the latter winning the night’s top honor, extending her run as the most-awarded artist in VMAs history. Bill Gates has called on the US to regulate the development of artificial intelligence, saying that the technology left unchecked could cause “a billion deaths”. Datacenter developers are manipulating the EPA’s air pollution permitting process to avoid emission controls and scrutiny of their projects, environmental advocates allege. France’s far-right National Rally has surged in senate elections, with Marine Le Pen hailing a “historic victory”. Stat of the day: 61m tonnes of rubble – Gaza aid workers face delicate task of clearing ruins concealing up to 10,000 bodies View image in fullscreen Rehabilitation works in Gaza City. Photograph: Amjed Tantesh/The Guardian The removal of the war debris, in which lives, memories and unexploded Israeli bombs lie buried, is one of largest clearance operations in modern history. Seham Tantesh reports from Gaza City for the Guardian. Building Power: Climate protesters call out big tech’s disconnect from reality View image in fullscreen People protest outside OpenAI’s office, and anti-AI buttons. Composite: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian In New York City activists gathered outside the OpenAI offices during climate week as figures showed that from 2024 to 2026 at least $64bn in proposed datacenter buildout was blocked by local organizing. Don’t miss this: US states grapple with uptick in encounters between bears and humans View image in fullscreen A bear encounter. Photograph: Amber Baeslar for The Washington Post via Getty Images Experts largely attribute the increase in human-bear encounters – up in 15 states – to the impact of unusual weather on the animals’ food sources and a rebound in recent decades in black, brown and grizzly bear populations. … or this: A new museum coaxes Austrians to embrace The Sound of Music View image in fullscreen The Sound of Music featuring Julie Andrews. Photograph: Historical Picture Archive/Alamy It is a beloved classic all over the world – except where it was filmed. Now a new museum aims to lift the profile of The Sound of Music in the beautiful Austrian city of Salzburg, where much of it was made. Climate check: Hurricane Nolo still threatens Hawaii as nor’easter storm batters US east coast View image in fullscreen Cars drive through a flooded road in New Jersey. Photograph: Ryan Murphy/Getty Images Hurricane Nolo was moving away from the Hawaiian islands on Sunday, but the threat of heavy rain, flash flooding and strong winds persisted. Mexico’s National Meteorological Service said Polo was expected to make a Baja landfall on Monday. Meanwhile, a nor’easter storm was battering the US east coast with heavy winds causing power outages. Last Thing: Two giant pandas arrive after Xi-Trump summit View image in fullscreen Visitors to Atlanta will soon be able to enjoy sights like this. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images A longstanding diplomatic soft-power move by China has been the loan of endangered giant pandas to zoos, and after Xi Jinping’s trip to Washington, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang will be settling in to Atlanta zoo. It is certainly softer diplomacy than the reports that Trump asked Xi if China would like to buy US weapons. 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