NEWS

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Former congresswoman and CIA officer Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, has clinched the Virginia governorship in a closely watched election. Her victory over Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears is being touted by her party as a potential national trend-setter. The Democratic successes extended elsewhere, with a gubernatorial win in New Jersey and the historic election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City's first Muslim mayor.

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McDonald's is strengthening its commitment to staff safety by implementing new sexual harassment training for managers, a move agreed upon with the equality watchdog. This initiative directly addresses "serious allegations" that have surfaced, including a two-year-old investigation detailing groping and harassment of workers as young as 17, and more recent reports from staff of continued abuse.

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Streaming giant Spotify is facing a new federal lawsuit alleging it knowingly tolerates extensive bot networks that artificially inflate streaming figures, thereby benefiting megastars like Drake at the expense of lesser-known artists. Filed Sunday in a US federal court, the legal action claims the Canadian rapper receives millions in revenue from these fake streams, while Spotify itself gains significant commercial value by appearing to have more users than it genuinely does.

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Despite concerns about public interest, a US court has granted the government's request to dismiss a criminal charge against Boeing related to two deadly 737 Max crashes. Judge Reed O'Connor explicitly stated his "disagreement" with the decision, though he found no sufficient legal grounds to deny it. This move effectively clears Boeing of a criminal charge it had previously agreed to plead guilty to, stemming from accusations of violating a crash-related settlement.

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Dick Cheney, the hard-charging conservative who became one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S. history and a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, has died at age 84.

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In the wake of Hurricane Melissa's devastation across parts of Jamaica last week, reggae superstar Sean Paul has highlighted the "overwhelming" scale of relief efforts facing the country. The Grammy-winning artist described the Category 5 storm as "very frightening, especially for my young kids.” Winds of up to 185mph (295 km/h) caused at least 28 deaths. Paul and his family were in the capital Kingston, while areas further west suffered the greatest damage.