Wednesday briefing: Improbable victory for city’s first Muslim mayor offers new playbook for fight against Trump

In today’s newsletter: With more than 50% of the vote, Mamdani tells supporters: “In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light”Good morning. A few hours ago, Zohran Mamdani was declared the winner of the New York City mayoral election with more than 50% of the vote on the biggest turnout since the 1960s. A rank outsider when the race started, he will become the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in more than 100 years. And as an avowed socialist who has emerged as a national symbol of opposition to Donald Trump, he has given progressive Democrats something they believe is worth fighting for.It was a good night all over for Democrats, who won governorships in Virginia and New Jersey and saw voters in California support a redistricting plan designed to counter Republican efforts to redraw the map to their advantage in red states. But Republicans believe Mamdani is a gift for them, too: in frequently racist attacks on his candidacy, they have tarred him as a “Jihadist”, a communist and claimed he represents a new extremity on the left.NHS | An “ugly” racism reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s has become worryingly commonplace again in modern Britain and NHS staff are bearing the brunt of it, Wes Streeting has warned. Racist abuse now happens so often that it has become “socially acceptable to be racist”, the health secretary said.Productivity | Employers have been told in a landmark government review that fixing Britain’s health-related worklessness crisis will require them to spend £6bn a year. The report said that a drastic expansion in occupational health was needed to help prevent hundreds of thousands of people from falling out of the workforce.US politics | Dick Cheney, the divisive US vice-president under George W Bush who helped lead the country into a disastrous invasion of Iraq, has died aged 84.UK politics | Rachel Reeves is considering slashing funding for more energy-efficient homes to pay for a reduction in energy bills, sources have told the Guardian, as the chancellor looks for ways to ease the cost of living in this month’s budget.US news | A UPS cargo plane has crashed shortly after take off in Kentucky, erupting into a massive fireball that left at least seven dead and 11 injured. Continue reading...