The Milbank Arms in the “charming” village of Barningham was highlighted by local foodie expert The Yorkshireman for its focus on “high-level food and proper Yorkshire ales”.

The Grade II listed country pub, which is not too far from the Yorkshire Dales, says it offers the “best” produce in the region, and customers have praised it for its “fabulous” Sunday roasts and “homely” atmosphere.

The Milbank Arms has ‘bags of traditional charm’

The Yorkshireman shared: “A hidden gem pub found in the village of Barningham, just outside of Richmond, The Milbank Arms is a truly stunning country pub, Grade II listed with bags of traditional charm.”

He added: “Putting a focus on high-level food and proper Yorkshire ales, The Milbank Arms is no ordinary pub lunch.

“Their offering surpasses your typical restaurant quality, bringing beautifully presented dishes of Yorkshire produce from wild game, to market steak.

“Every dish that passed our mouths evoked an audible reaction, and their Sunday lunch, in particular, is a real must-try.

“For the full experience, check yourself in for the night and huddle up by the fire with a glass of red wine and a bit of dinner. Wake up the next day, and repeat the process with a Sunday dinner.”

On its website, the dog-friendly pub reveals that The Milbank Arms is nestled just minutes from Barnard Castle and Teesdale.

“Beautifully restored, The Milbank Arms blends heritage charm with modern comfort – offering luxury rooms, charming cottages, fine dining and real ales.

“Our locally sourced menu features the best of the region, from wild game to fresh seafood, with dishes changing seasonally. Enjoy hand-pulled ales, stunning surroundings and a warm welcome.”

Commenting on its menu, it continues: “Located on the edge of a grouse moor, we make the most of the abundance of wild game.

“Our fish is sourced from Hodgson’s in Hartlepool for which our chefs will pick the freshest available. Our meat is pasture-raised and from neighbouring farms wherever possible.

“We take a lot of pride in our cask beer and will always have 2-3 local hand pulled ales available.”

Pub Quiz Tips

Just some of the main menu dinner options include corn fed chicken with breast foie gras, king oyster, cauliflower and white port sauce, as well as crispy goat’s cheese pastilla that comes alongside chargrilled broccoli, wilted spinach and toasted pine nuts.

Meanwhile, Saturday lunch mains feature the likes of wild Scottish venison burger, with caramelised onions, mature cheddar and homemade pickles, all on a brioche bun.

Similarly, the Milbank Milanese features buttermilk chicken, tomato, buffalo mozzarella, wild garlic mayo and rocket on a brioche bun.

When it comes to Sunday lunch options, you can choose from dry-aged sirloin of beef, 28oz dry-aged côte de boeuf for two, chateaubriand or wild Scottish venison haunch.

All of the above are served with beef fat roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, seasonal vegetables and roast gravy.

The fish served at The Milbank Arms is sourced from Hodgson’s in Hartlepool (Image: Tripadvisor)

Elsewhere, The Milbank Arms has a “very good” 4.3/5 rating on Tripadvisor, based on 75 reviews.

A recent visitor said: “Lovely pub that is well run and serves local seasonal produce. Staff are friendly and efficient, and the menu offers some of the best of locally sourced food. Thoroughly recommend the venison. Also dog friendly which is a bonus.”

This person posted: “A lovely find, on a wet night we had a fantastic meal beautiful monkfish and fantastic venison. Staff were attentive and engaging. Atmosphere was homely.”

Another shared: “We have enjoyed a fabulous Sunday lunch and evening meal here. Wonderful food, service and ambience – thank you so much for such a lovely experience.”

Meanwhile, one guest commented: “Beautifully finished rooms in a country pub in a charming village. Fantastic food with a great steak menu. Staff ever so friendly. Couldn’t do more to help. Great breakfast too.”

Will you be visiting The Milbank Arms this year? Let us know in the comments below.

Manchester United are set to be without Lisandro Martinez once again when they take on Crystal Palace today.

The Argentina international has formed a formidable partnership with Harry Maguire once again at the heart of Michael Carrick defence, playing every minute of the new manager’s first five games in charge.

Martinez missed the 1-0 win over Everton after picking up a minor calf injury in the days leading up to that game on Merseyside. Carrick is hopeful it is not another long-term issue with the centre-half to be further assessed over the coming days.

It remains to be seen whether he will be fit for the trip to Newcastle United on Wednesday but the former Ajax star will have no role to play today.

Leny Yoro deputised in his place on Monday night having also turned in a fine performance off the bench against West Ham. The young Frenchman is expected to keep his place in the side.

United remain without Mason Mount and Matthijs de Ligt with still no real timeline on when either player will be available again.

De Ligt has not played since the end of November having previously played every minute of the season before his back issue struck.

Patrick Dorgu also remains sidelined with the hamstring injury he picked up in the win over Arsenal and is expected to be sidelined until April.

Carrick remains with the same squad that secured that narrow win at Everton last time out – but has a big decision to make up front.

Man Utd XI to face Crystal Palace – Metro prediction

Just as he did against Fulham and West Ham, Benjamin Sesko again came off the bench to score a vital goal for United on Monday having now netted six in his last seven appearances.

Carrick has resisted the urge to throw him into the starting XI, throwing real value behind his role as  a ‘finisher’ off the bench.

But against West Ham and Everton, United laboured somewhat in attack until he came on, lacking an option to stretch the opposition in the absence of Dorgu.

Sesko offers that, albeit in a different role up top, and his presence could be vital in breaking down Palace.

Amad Diallo’s contribution has waned in recent games with the Ivorian perhaps in need of a rest after his exploits at the Africa Cup of Nations. He could be the man to drop out.

Man Utd vs Crystal Palace TV channel, live stream and kick-off time

Man Utd vs Palace kicks off at 2pm today (Sunday 1 March).

 You can watch the match live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event with streaming also available through the Sky Go app and NOW TV for subscribers.

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The byelection in Gorton and Denton this week has been huge for the Green party of England and Wales, with Hannah Spencer pushing Reform’s Matt Goodwin into second place, and Labour into third. Having one extra MP in parliament may not seem like a big milestone, but this byelection win is record-breaking for the Greens. I believe it shows their potential to be a credible alternative to Labour.

The Greens had never won a byelection before. They polled less than 7% of the vote (coming in fourth place) in the Runcorn and Helsby byelection in May 2025. And, unlike Reform UK in that byelection, the Greens didn’t just edge this victory – they took nearly 41% of the vote. That’s a whopping 28-point increase on their performance in the same constituency at the 2024 general election.

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Victory in Gorton and Denton is historic for the Greens – and cataclysmic for Britain’s two-party politics

The victory has given party leader Zack Polanski the confidence that voters now see the Greens as a viable alternative to Labour, even in former Labour strongholds. He announced to supporters, “this is what replacing Labour looks like”.

Over the past few years the Greens have really professionalised their party. We saw the impact of this in the 2024 general election, when they quadrupled their number of MPs and finished second in 40 constituencies.

Under Polanski’s leadership, they’ve developed a more populist edge, focusing on issues such as the cost of living and moving away from being “just” a climate party. They’ve also had a more visible media presence and started to take their communication strategy more seriously.

Spencer’s win increases the size of the Green parliamentary group to five MPs. In the context of a 650-member House of Commons, this doesn’t seem like much.

The Greens certainly aren’t large enough to swing any votes, or cause the government many problems. And although they now have more MPs than ever before, they are still only the sixth-largest party group in the Commons. There are still over twice as many independent MPs as there are Greens.

The win will, however, give the Greens some breathing space. It’s a tough job being a small party in the Commons, and the existing group of four Green MPs have shared a heavy burden of responsibilities in the chamber since their arrival in 2024. As Spencer finds her feet, she will be able to take on some of these policy portfolio responsibilities.

Having a bigger parliamentary team doesn’t just alleviate some of the pressure to be in the chamber all the time. It also allows the party to be more strategic, and to insert Green voices into more conversations than before.

This could be through places on committees scrutinising legislation, trying to catch the speaker’s eye during high-profile government statements and question times, or holding backbench debates on more local issues. There is no place for passengers in any small party, so we can expect to see Spencer playing a very visible role for the rest of the parliament.

The battle ahead

When the next general election draws closer, the Greens may be grateful of this bigger team. They will want to capitalise on their success in Manchester and continue to professionalise their operations as a national party.

They are also likely to face more hostility at Westminster. Labour is now fighting a war on two fronts. The party’s embarrassing third-place result in Gorton and Denton – which Keir Starmer called “very disappointing” – will have hammered this home. We can expect to see more attacks on the Greens, including in the Commons chamber.

Until now, the prime minister has focused much more consistent attention on discrediting Reform. Now, he needs to worry much more about Polanski and the Greens, and will be directing some focus to winning back Labour voters who see the Greens as the stronger party of the left.

We had a glimpse of this in January, when North Herefordshire’s Ellie Chowns used her occasional opportunity to question the prime minister to ask about water pollution. Starmer turned it into a partisan attack on the unrelated topic of Polanski’s comments about Nato.

While the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, regularly berates Starmer in the Commons, the Greens rarely take such an overtly partisan approach. Reform MPs tend to participate more frequently in high-profile parliamentary occasions, where they can question the government. The Greens tend to have a more balanced, policy-focused approach, regularly popping up on committees to scrutinise legislation.

This is helped by Polanski’s position as a leader who sits outside the Commons (a member of the London Assembly). He can delegate the scrutiny of government policy to Chowns and her colleagues, while he takes broader comments about the government’s performance directly to the press.

This balance will be important as the Greens think about the upcoming local elections. Spencer told the press today that the party can now “win anywhere”, and Polanski predicted a “tidal wave” of Green MPs at the next election.

To do this, they need to maintain the momentum they’ve created this week. This means keeping a tight hold of the former Labour voters who chose them instead in Gorton and Denton.

It will be difficult for the party to carry out the same intensive campaign strategy on a more national level, but this sort of intensity is key to ensuring that the left vote goes to the Greens rather than to the other alternatives. Having more party members than ever before will help with this, but they will need to rely on their on-the-ground campaigners to feel secure.

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The Dinosaurs (6 March)

Boyfriend On Demand (6 March)

War Machine (6 March)

One Piece (10 March)

Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere (11 March)

The Plastic Detox (16 March)

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (20 March)

Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen (26 March)

A selling point of hotels has traditionally been the standardised service offered by their trained staff. In contrast, “peer-to-peer” accommodation – of which Airbnb is the most popular host platform – is usually run more informally by individual hosts who have little if any formal hospitality training.

What they offer instead is personal interaction, a sense of authenticity, and local knowledge about the area. And our multi-year research shows that this is often rated much more highly by visiting guests.

Our study (with colleagues), recently published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, investigates the key reasons international guests staying all over India – one of the world’s fastest growing tourist markets – give their Airbnb accommodation a five-star review, or rather less.

One clear pattern was how guests talked about their relationship with hosts. Many appreciated meeting friendly, helpful hosts – but only when contact felt optional. Our survey and interview findings showed around one-third of guests said they were uncomfortable when communication felt too frequent or too personal.

This points to an important tension in Airbnb stays. Guests often want reassurance without intrusion. A takeaway recommendation was the importance of short, polite messages that reassure guests help is available if needed – but not excessive contact. Feeling welcome is less about ongoing interaction and more about responsiveness, clarity and respect for boundaries.

Our study began in 2019 by developing a new way of analysing thousands of Airbnb guest reviews in India to understand the key indicators of satisfaction (and dissatisfaction). After being interrupted by COVID, we followed this up with surveys and in-depth interviews in the same country to establish the priorities guests give to different aspects of how they were hosted.

Some guests also talked about experiences that stood out for the wrong reasons. These were not “horror stories”, but moments where boundaries felt unclear – such as hosts dropping by unexpectedly, asking too many personal questions, or being slow to respond when something went wrong.

Expectations also played a big role in how stays were judged. Guests who felt well-informed before arrival – about the space, the rules and the neighbourhood – tended to be more relaxed and forgiving of small issues. By contrast, even minor surprises could negatively affect how the entire experience was remembered.

These patterns became stronger after COVID. Guests became more sensitive to cleanliness, safety and communication, and many preferred less face-to-face contact than before.

With all this in mind, here are five practical ways our research suggests hosts can increase their prospects of a five-star rating – and a return stay.

1. Tell guests what to expect – truthfully

Frustrations sometimes start building before they have even arrived. Many guests, particularly from other countries, rely on clear, practical information to feel confident about their choice.

Hosts should make sure their listing answers all common questions upfront and truthfully: how check-in works, what the neighbourhood is like, whether the space suits families or remote work, and what amenities are (and are not!) available.

Small gaps between what guests expect and what they find can shape how they judge their entire stay. Guests who feel well informed are less likely to focus on minor issues.

2. Comfort counts, not just appearance

Good photos matter, but guests judge accommodation on how it feels to actually stay there. We found features such as comfortable furniture, a calm atmosphere and a sense of privacy strongly influence how enjoyable a stay feels.

Hosts do not need to make expensive upgrades. But paying attention to lighting, noise, clutter and basic comfort is non-negotiable.

3. Be responsive, but don’t overdo it

Guests value personal interaction in different ways, but they consistently appreciate hosts who are reliable and easy to reach. Yet feeling welcome does not require constant communication.

Simple actions matter: replying promptly to messages, giving clear instructions, and dealing calmly with problems when they arise. We found this sense of feeling “looked after” is closely linked to whether guests want to return.

4. Anticipate small issues before they snowball

It’s notable how often small problems can snowball during a stay. Issues such as non-working equipment are usually forgotten if clearly explained and calmly dealt with. But slow responses to concerns – or worse, displays of frustration or anger from hosts – can quickly affect how a stay is judged.

Anticipating common issues and dealing with them early can prevent small problems from overshadowing the guest experience. Clear house information, well-maintained facilities and simple backup plans all help.

5. Focus on return visits, not ratings

Positive reviews matter, but they do not tell the whole story. In our research, the most important indicator of guest satisfaction was whether they said they wanted to return.

While enjoyment and value are closely linked with recommendations, feeling comfortable and welcome plays a stronger role in repeat bookings. Creating a space that is easy to use, pleasant to stay in and welcoming will encourage guests to come back, even in a crowded market.

Small, thoughtful choices in these areas shape how guests remember their visit. Hosts who want long-term success should think beyond ratings and consider whether guests will genuinely want to return.

It’s 2028 and you’re getting a taxi home from a night out. So far, so normal, the only difference is that this one is flying.

Sounds futuristic but it’s far from unrealistic according to Vertical Aerospace, which is aiming to have its taxis soaring across London’s skyline within two years.

The Bristol-based firm successfully tested its electric flying taxi above the Cotswolds last year.

Uber has slightly tempered its ambitions to 2030, although its partnership with Joby Aviation is set to bring flying taxis to Dubai already later this year.

It joins cities in China and the United Arab Emirates which harbour similar ambitions.

Uber’s chief product officer Sachin Kansal revealed he would be ‘very disappointed’ if the 2030 milestone wasn’t hit.

‘London is going to be a very high priority market,’ he said.

‘We know our users (there) would love a feature like this, which will help them escape a lot of the traffic and be able to get from their home to the airport within a few minutes rather than hours.’

How fast would a flying taxi journey be?

To put that in perspective, a 10-mile journey across central London could take as little as 10 minutes in a flying taxi – compared to in excess of 90 minutes during peak times.

‘To me, the number one advantage of being able to take that ride is time,’ Sachin explained.

‘Of course the aircraft itself is going to be an amazing experience, but being able to save an hour is going to be amazing.’

Joby’s electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) will launch like a helicopter before tilting forward to cruise like a plane to travel at speeds of up to 200mph.

It will carry a pilot and four passengers, cover up to 100 miles on full battery, which takes up to 10 minutes to charge from empty.

And it won’t be priced beyond the means of ordinary Londoners.

How much would flying Uber trip cost?

Fares would be comparable to Uber Exec, the premium tier of the Uber app. In central London, a 10-mile Uber Exec journey typically costs between £50 and £70 depending on traffic and demand.

Like with Uber, customers will be able to book shared trips or an entire aircraft. They will travel via ‘vertiports’ — landing pads on rooftops, car parks, or repurposed helipads.

Under Uber’s model, passengers can take ‘stitched’ journeys where a car takes them to the ‘vertiports’ and another picks them up when they land for the final leg of their journey.

On top of this, they are significantly quieter than conventional aircraft. Joby claims their eVTOLs are around 55 decibels when flying overhead, roughly equivalent to a loud conversation in a restaurant.

So far, no infrastructure exists to accommodate eVTOLs – although not many ‘vertiports’ would be needed to serve London, according to Sachin.

‘My expectation would be that we would pick a few spots that give us enough coverage in the city as well as on the outskirts … which could be starting points,’ he said.

‘You just need a clearing to get enough angle to come in, you need enough space, and you need charging infrastructure. And all of that is very creative.’

What happens next with flying taxis in UK?

Joby is currently testing the taxis out in Dubai – which promises to be the guinea pig before the models expand to the US and then London.

Despite the ambitions, significant hurdles remain.

Before any commercial service can begin, aircraft must receive certification from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The regulator must approve their safety, and operators must secure licences covering pilot training, routes, and maintenance.

Local authorities could also block the building of ‘vertiports’, especially if locals raise concerns about issues like noise.

Jonathan Nicholson, from the CAA, said we were ‘very close’ to seeing flying taxis ‘as long as it is safe we will seek to enable it’.

But there are also broader concerns over public confidence.

Autonomous cars have yet to be rolled out on a large scale in the UK. Until this is normalised, it remains to be seen how popular self-flying taxis will be.

Until these hurdles are overcome, the dream of beating London traffic by air remains just that.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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The number of potholes reported this year to date has more than tripled compared to the number reported this time last year

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Pothole reports in Peterborough have increased significantly since last year, according to Peterborough City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment & Transport.

Speaking at the Full Council Budget meeting on Wednesday (February 25), Councillor Angus Ellis (Lab) said 2026 has already been a bad year for drivers across the city.

He said: “This year is worse than last year; up from January last year to where we are today, there were 231 reports. This year, so far, there are 787.”

Cllr Ellis suggested recent harsh weather conditions had been the driving force behind the exponential increase in road surface damage. “The cold weather followed by the extremely wet weather has created perfect conditions for potholes to form,” he said.

The councillor said road maintenance teams were working hard to get on top of the situation. “We have already fixed 2,431 by the end of January,” he said, “but there is more to do.”

Cllr Ellis highlighted how highways maintenance company M Group have deployed their specialist pothole-fixing utility vehicles – known as ‘Dragon Masters’ – to help resolve the issue.

“Since Monday, they have been fixing potholes,” he said, “and they’ve put an extra crew out there to fix potholes during the night.”

Semenyo’s winner silenced a raucous and rowdy crowd with a real poacher’s finish, reacting quickest to latch on to Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross and converting with aplomb.

“We made a lot of passes that we needed to do to survive without much intention to attack,” said Guardiola.

“The reaction was amazing – unbelievable with the goal we scored. A complete game in a tough, tough place, and 10 games left in the Premier League. Time to be decisive.

“Now we are building these players and they have a long, long time here. It is important for the future for the club.”

Semenyo is taking the goalscoring burden off Haaland’s shoulders – only his team-mate with 29 and Brentford‘s Igor Thiago (19) have been involved in more Premier League goals than Semenyo’s 18.

Since signing for City, Semenyo has scored four league goals and provided one assist, a goal contributions record which is bettered only by Chelsea pair Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro, who have six apiece.

In late November Haaland had scored 58% of City’s goals, taken 30% of their shots and had 57% of their expected goals (xG).

He had scored 19 goals in all competitions. Burnley‘s Maxime Esteve was City’s second highest scorer in the league thanks to his two own goals in the game at Etihad Stadium.

Now, while Haaland’s impressive haul of 29 goals for the campaign still leads the way, Semenyo – and others – are silencing those who feared City were too reliant on the Norwegian’s goals.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, whose fierce denunciation of military adventurism abroad fueled his unlikely rise to the top of the Republican Party, risks becoming ensnared by that very type of conflict.

The U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran Saturday cemented Trump’s decade-long transformation from a candidate who in 2016 called the Iraq War a “big, fat mistake” to a president warning Americans to prepare for potential casualties overseas and encouraging Iranians to “seize control of your destiny.” The strikes were also at odds with Trump’s warnings during the 2024 campaign that his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, was surrounded by “war hawks” eager to send troops overseas.

Trump justified the action as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons or developing missiles capable of reaching the US, less than a year after he said airstrikes “obliterated” their capability. US intelligence has also said Iran’s weapons capability was substantially degraded.

For Trump, memories of the false pretenses underlying the Iraq War could lead to pressure to prove his assertion that Iran’s weapons production posed an imminent threat to Americans. And for Republicans already facing a challenging election year weighed down by economic anxiety, the shift could force a reassessment of how the attacks fit into the “America First,” isolationist-leaning movement the party has embraced during the Trump era.

While Trump might benefit from an early rally-around-the-flag effect, that could be hard to sustain for weeks and months, if not longer, a far different scenario from the swift effort to remove Nicolás Maduro from power earlier this year in Venezuela.

Success on day one is one thing. The days after are inherently unpredictable.

“The question is whether Iran’s goal is simply to outlast America and whether Trump has strategic attention deficit disorder, which will allow the Iranians to rise from the ashes and claim victory,” said Michael Rubin, a historian at the American Enterprise Institute who worked as a staff adviser on Iran and Iraq at the Pentagon from 2002 to 2004.

Many Republicans get behind Trump

Many Republicans were quick to line up behind the president, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn and state attorney general Ken Paxton, who are fighting a competitive Senate primary election on Tuesday.

“Hopefully lives will not be lost needlessly, but this always entails risk,” Cornyn said Saturday at a campaign stop near Houston. “But we know that Iran will not stop unless the United States and our allies stop them.”

Others, like Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, praised the military and were critical of Iran while noting that Americans will have questions that “must be answered.”

And there was outright opposition from some who have long criticized overseas entanglements, including Sen. Rand Paul, the Republican of Kentucky, who lamented the start of “another preemptive war.” Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who was once a close Trump ally, rejected the president’s warning of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“It’s always a lie and it’s always America Last,” she wrote online. “But it feels like the worst betrayal this time because it comes from the very man and the admin who we all believed was different.”

Little advance preparation for Americans

The administration did little in advance to prepare Americans for such a dramatic action.

Vice President JD Vance told The Washington Post this week there was “no chance” that the U.S. would become involved in a drawn-out war as it did in Iraq. During his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Trump dedicated just a few lines to Iran, arguing the country and its proxies have “spread nothing but terrorism, death and hate.”

That stands in stark contrast to the lengthy runup to the Iraq War.

President George W. Bush, for example, named Iraq as a member of the so-called axis of evil in January 2002. Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered a now-infamous speech to the United Nations in February 2003, making the case for war based on the inaccurate assertion that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The invasion, which ultimately dominated Bush’s second term, didn’t begin until March 2003.

“We just have to be honest that there is a sense that this was not sold to the American public sufficiently,” Andrew Kolvet said Saturday on “The Charlie Kirk Show,” an online program founded by the late conservative activist who was close to Trump. “Perhaps there will be an opportunity on the backend of this.”

Kolvet was willing, however, to give Trump leeway, noting these are the types of challenging decisions presidents are entrusted with.

“President Trump has earned a big, long leash,” he said. “Not an unlimited one. But a very long one to make tough decisions.”

Polling suggests that many Americans share Trump’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, even if they’re less confident in the president’s response. About half of U.S. adults were “extremely” or “very” concerned that Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to the U.S., according to a poll this month from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Most Americans, 61%, said Iran is an “enemy” of the U.S., which is up slightly from a Pearson Institute/AP-NORC poll conducted in September 2023. But their confidence in the president’s judgment when it comes to relationships with adversaries and the use of military force abroad is low, the new poll shows, with only about 3 in 10 Americans saying they have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of trust in Trump.

Democrats sense an opening

Democrats sense a political opening on the issue. In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills and Graham Platner are competing for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in the fall. They both issued statements on Saturday pressing Collins, the only Republican on the ballot this year in a state won by Harris, to step up her oversight of the administration.

Collins was one of three Senate Republicans who backed an unsuccessful push last month for a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela. Democrats said Saturday they would quickly seek a vote on a similar proposal for Iran.

“If we’ve started a war where we begin to lose American lives, that starts changing the political calculus,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean.

But he noted that Democrats have vulnerabilities of their own, particularly if there’s a domestic terror attack while the Department of Homeland Security is closed as they demand changes to how immigration operations are conducted.

For now, Trump isn’t offering much of a detailed strategy on what comes next. In a social media post Saturday evening, he said bombings could continue “as long as necessary.”

___

Associated Press writer Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

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