Paxton has trailed Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in fundraising, and some Republicans say the party will have to spend millions to win the Senate race.

Donald Trump may be celebrating that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won Tuesday’s Senate primary, but some Republicans now worry that they have a Texas-sized problem on their hands.

Paxton, with Trump’s endorsement, handily defeated four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the runoff. Democrats largely viewed Paxton as the weaker candidate because of his many controversies. But his fundraising struggles are also raising alarm bells among Republicans.

“Economically, it’s a disaster. Texas is extremely expensive,” said a GOP consultant working on Senate races, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about party resources.

An investigation by the European Commission said the Chinese e-commerce site had inadequate risk assessments, after investigators found dangerous baby toys and faulty chargers were available on its platform.

State’s governor looks to thwart US president’s plan to divert money to allies, including January 6 rioters

California governor Gavin Newsom is looking to thwart Donald Trump’s $1.776bn “anti-weaponization fund” by imposing a 100% tax on any payout received by state residents.

In May, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced a fund to compensate alleged “victims of lawfare and weaponization”. It’s unclear who qualifies under this category.

The fund was the product of a settlement reached between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – the agency the president sued over his leaked tax returns.

Critics, including Newsom, have slammed the fund as a “boondoggle” designed to divert money to Trump’s allies. Speculation has swirled that its benefactors could include the individuals who were arrested in the 6 January 2021 siege of the US Capitol. The Trump administration has described the rioters as patriots and since pardoned many who were charged in relation to the attack.

Global temperature record could be broken as soon as 2027, with El Niño expected later this year

A record-breaking hot year is almost certain by 2030 as the climate crisis intensifies, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization has warned.

With an El Niño event expected later this year, the global temperature record could fall as soon as 2027.

Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are continuing to rise, trapping more heat and driving more extreme weather, including the record-breaking heatwave that has hit the UK and Europe this week.

Global heating is already estimated to be taking one life every minute, with the toll likely to rise unless emissions fall rapidly.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday that his government would not purchase early-warning-radar planes from the United States, opting instead for a European model.

Canada will purchase Swedish Saab's GlobalEye, which is based on the Canadian-manufactured Bombardier Global 6500 jet.

Tensions between the US and Canada have been high since Donald Trump launched a trade war against the US' northern neighbor and even suggested that Canada should become the 51st US state, which caused widespread outrage in Canada, just as Carney was seeking the post of prime minister and succeeded in getting elected to it.

Since then, the Canadian government has also opted ot review the planned purchase of US F-35 fighter jets to explore other options.

Maine oyster farmer Graham Platner is leading Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) by 9 points in polling ahead of their November faceoff.

The Pine Tree State Poll from the University of New Hampshire, released Wednesday, found that 51 percent of likely voters said they would cast their ballot for Platner while 42 percent said they’d back Collins. Another 2 percent said they would choose another candidate and 6 percent are undecided.

The findings resemble results from February, when the numbers showed the Democratic candidate with 49 percent support compared to the incumbent’s 38 percent. Platner rose as a front-runner for Democrats in the state after Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) dropped her bid.

Several weeks after NBC News reached out to Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield about the denial, the insurer changed its policy to include coverage of deep brain stimulation for certain children.

Alabama on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to use a congressional map favoring Republicans in this year’s elections, despite a lower court’s ruling that the redistricting plan intentionally discriminates against Black people.

The state’s Republican leadership filed an emergency appeal with the justices a day after a three-judge court refused to let the state use a map it adopted three years ago that has a majority Black population in just one of its seven congressional districts.

The judges instead required Alabama to continue using a court-ordered map that was put in place for the 2024 elections that includes two districts where Black residents comprise a majority or close to it.

Refunds came after the supreme court ruled Trump overstepped his authority in enacting sweeping tariffs

US importers are expected to receive $85bn in tariff refunds after the supreme court struck down Donald Trump’s tariffs in February, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency that collects tariffs.

Importers and shippers have so far been refunded $20bn, according to court documents filed on Tuesday, with about $65bn more on the way.

After months of uncertainty and higher costs, American businesses largely welcomed the supreme court’s ruling that Trump overstepped his authority in enacting sweeping tariffs, including a baseline 10% tariff on all imports. It was the first time the highest court overruled Trump’s policies in his second term.

US president calls on US ally to ‘behave … or else we’ll have to blow them up’ in casual aside during cabinet meeting

Donald Trump has threatened to “blow up” Oman if it fails to “behave” in a casual aside during a cabinet meeting, as the US scrambles to reopen the strait of Hormuz.

The US president made the threat after reports of talks between Iran and Oman about jointly charging a toll for ships passing through the crucial waterway, which has been all but closed since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran.

The strait – which typically carries about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies – has been blockaded by Iran since late February, triggering a global energy crisis and raising fears for the world economy.

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump gleefully painted his opponents as trigger-happy interventionists who would get the United States bogged down in all manner of foreign wars — up to and including World War III.

As president, Trump has racked up an astonishing list of countries he’s both threatened to attack and actually attacked.

Trump added a new entry to that list on Wednesday, threatening to strike Oman if it tries to control the Strait of Hormuz along with Iran.

“Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow ‘em up,” Trump said at a White House Cabinet meeting.

If Trump’s name is removed, a ‘vital fundraising connection will be severed,’ the center’s chief executive argued

A Trump-Kennedy Center official warned a federal judge that stripping the president’s name from the renowned arts institution would cause unbearable financial damage, marking the latest twist in a months-long legal battle.

Charles Matthew Floca, the center’s 39-year-old executive director, filed a declaration Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing the institution’s funding is inextricably linked to President Donald Trump.

“President Trump’s fundraising on behalf of the Center is exemplified by the tens of millions of dollars already raised,” Floca wrote. “Further, the President has committed to raise $150 billion on its behalf from private donors over the next two years.”