DALLAS (AP) — After three terms in the U.S. House and two unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate, Colin Allred said he’s heard plenty about voters’ suspicions that politicians are just trying to make a buck in Washington.

“‘What about the stock trading in Congress? What about people getting rich in Congress?’” Allred said they ask him regularly. “And I have to say to them, you’re absolutely right about that, too. We need to be better.”

He’s challenging Rep. Julie Johnson in the Democratic runoff for a Dallas-area House seat on Tuesday, and he’s one of several candidates trying to harness populist anger over congressional stock trading. Allred has denounced Johnson for trades involving companies like Palantir, a data analytics firm with ties to President Donald Trump’s administration.

Johnson said her trades were handled by a financial manager, and she accused Allred of being “only out for himself.” She pointed to financial disclosures that showed Allred’s wealth nearly doubling during his own time in Congress, although Allred said his assets were in a blind trust and the money came from his wife’s income as a partner at a law firm.

“To be clear, the sum total I made on that trade was only $90,” Johnson said of her Palantir stock. “My opponent is trying to make it seem like it was hundreds or thousands.”

The bitter campaign is emblematic of broader debates within the Democratic Party over the role of money in politics. Long a refrain of strident progressives and good-government reformers, accusations that political rivals are self-dealing or bought by special interests have become a mainstay of Democratic primaries. The heightened criticism of lawmakers’ personal wealth comes as the party looks to sharpen its anti-corruption message against Trump and to develop a platform for overhauling Washington if Democrats take power in the midterms.

Some are tracking congressional stock trading

Trump campaigned on a promise to “drain the swamp,” capitalizing on Americans’ disdain for the Washington establishment. Now that his family is profiting while he’s back in the White House, Democrats are eager to regain the upper hand on an issue that could prove potent with voters.

“The difficulty is that right now, no party has the mantle on anti-corruption,” said Daniel Lobo-Lewis, a political consultant in Washington. “Many voters outside of the beltway see both parties as corrupt, because they see all politicians as bought by the donors or by their own self-interest.”

Lobo-Lewis and Nico Agosto founded the Political Integrity Project last year to track stock trading and corporate donations involving members of Congress.

The organization asks candidates to sign an “integrity pledge” to refrain from trading stocks or accepting corporate donations while in Congress and vow not to work as a lobbyist after they leave office. So far, about 90 challengers and seven sitting lawmakers have taken the pledge, all of whom are Democrats.

“If we want to, in any way, start rebuilding trust in our political institutions, it starts with no-brainer changes like this that have an approval rating above and beyond any other issue you could imagine,” Lobo-Lewis said.

Congress has yet to enact a stock trading ban for its members, though insider trading is already illegal. for members just like it is for anyone else. There are multiple proposals on Capitol Hill but none have gained traction.

A bipartisan bill to ban congressional stock trading stalled this year despite receiving Trump’s blessing during his State of the Union. And Democrats remain divided over the number of alleged loopholes in their competing proposals.

Anti-corruption messages spread in Democratic primaries

A crowded race in a Democratic-leaning Utah congressional seat has featured attacks over candidates’ personal wealth. State Sen. Nate Blouin criticized his main rival, former Rep. Ben McAdams, for having equity in a Utah data center firm, and excoriated others in the race for past investments and jobs.

McAdams said the equity of several thousand dollars was payment for a past contract completed by his government consulting firm while he was a private citizen. His campaign defended the data center project by saying it would use no water and run on clean energy.

A spokesperson for McAdams also claimed Blouin “is currently hiding his corporate donations” by removing them from campaign disclosure reports, which McAdams’ campaign claims “is not only deceitful, it breaks campaign finance law.”

In an interview, Blouin rejected the claim that he broke the law, and said that he removed the donations because he returned the money to each donor.

“It was actually quite uncomfortable to return some of those,” said Blouin, because some of the firms included local firms and clean energy companies. “But there is a perception that campaign contributions from lobbyists and companies influence votes, and I think there is some truth to that.”

In a New York City congressional district that includes both Wall Street and the Democratic Socialists of America’s headquarters, the city’s former comptroller, Brad Lander, has accused Rep. Dan Goldman of trying to buy another term by using his own wealth to match campaign contributions. Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss family fortune, says he entered all of his assets into a blind trust after taking office in 2023.

A spokesperson for Goldman said Lander is “running a deceitful campaign based on absurd lies that Dan is beholden to special interests” and that Goldman has raised more campaign funds than Lander “without taking a dime of corporate PAC money.” Goldman has spent his own money on the race, the spokesperson said, “to ensure that the NY-10 voters can be sure that he is beholden only to them and his principles.”

Lander said Goldman’s spending is “not illegal, but it is certainly anti-democratic when a quarter-billionaire like Dan Goldman not only dumps millions of his own inherited wealth into his elections but also solicits money from the same forces who are rigging the economy and worsening the affordability crisis.”

More candidates are fighting over stocks in California

Even representatives who support a ban on congressional stock trading are feeling the heat.

Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California is facing multiple primary challengers who have criticized the congressman for holding stocks while serving in Congress. Sherman does not trade individual stocks and supports a ban on stock trading.

“I only own three individual stocks which I inherited from my mother when she passed away, which were originally acquired by my grandmother,” Sherman said. “I have never sold them because I made a promise to my constituents that I would not buy and sell individual stocks.”

One of Sherman’s primary challengers is Jake Levine, a former climate adviser to President Joe Biden, who signed the pledge from the Political Integrity Project. But Sherman said Levine “refuses to disclose key elements of his $18 million stock portfolio, and actively bought and sold stocks while serving on the National Security Council.” Levine has said he cannot disclose the portfolio because it is managed by his family and he has no oversight.

In the race to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California State Sen. Scott Wiener has critiqued his progressive opponent, Saikat Chakrabarti, over his personal wealth. Chakrabarti is a former software engineer who earned millions as an early employee at the tech firm Stripe. He later served as the first chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Wiener said that Chakrabarti “has enormous investments” and “is trying to buy this seat” while “spreading bogus conspiracy theories” with his own wealth. He criticized Chakrabarti for not disclosing the last decade of his stock trades.

“If you’re making a ban on stock trades a central part of your campaign — as Saikat is doing, running around saying that everyone under the sun is corrupt — how about you tell the voters about your own stock trading history,” Wiener said.

Chakrabarti retorted that his wealth as a private citizen is not relevant to his future time in office and that he would put all of his assets into a blind trust should he be elected. He critiqued Wiener for being supported by super PACs funded by the AI firm Anthropic and other major corporations.

“This is all part of a larger problem, which is just the whole idea of corruption in our politics,” Chakrabarti said. “If you’re in Congress, you sit on committees that oversee a lot of these industries, and it’s unethical to be using that insider information, that knowledge to make stock trades. But that doesn’t apply to a private citizen.”

The fire service have asked the public to cease contacting them regarding the incident as they have already received more than 180 calls since the blaze broke out.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We are currently in attendance at an incident on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh.

“Operations Control has mobilised three appliances to the scene. People are being asked to avoid the area as crews work to extinguish a large grass fire.

“There is no further need to alert our Operations Control to this incident as we have already received a large volume of calls.”

“It’s extremely addictive and bad for our health”

Wes Streeting has made demands for children to ‘get their childhood back’ amid a call for a social media ban for under-16s. The former health secretary likened tech companies to the tobacco industry ahead of the closure of the public consultation on online safety for young people.

The Government’s Growing Up In The Online World consultation, which floated measures such an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s, app curfews and limits on addictive features, closes at the end of Tuesday (May 26).

There have been widespread calls for the UK to follow Australia’s lead on a social media prohibition for children, although there have been questions about how effective it has been.

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Mr Streeting said: “Social media should be treated like tobacco – it’s extremely addictive, bad for our health, and Big Tech is borrowing the Big Tobacco playbook to avoid regulation. We’ve got to give our children their childhood back. A ban for under-16s must be the start, not the end.

“We have given the pen to tech moguls to write our future for us. It’s time to take the pen back.”

Mr Streeting stepped down from the Department of Health earlier this month and called on the Prime Minister to go. In his resignation speech in the Commons last week, the Ilford North MP argued that successive governments were ‘short-changing’ young people.

“This generation is the first left totally exposed to the time-sucking algorithms and perils of social media,” he said, adding that he had raised ‘concerns about the impact of this on their learning and their wellbeing’.

Mr Streeting has set out policies as he positions himself to replace Sir Keir Starmer, including a wealth tax to bring back the New Labour-era Sure Start programme, and planning reforms to fund council homes to prevent children growing up in temporary accommodation.

Ministers announced last month they would introduce ‘age or functionality restrictions’ on social media for under-16s regardless of the consultation outcome, with proposals to be unveiled by the summer and plans to legislate before the end of the year. The concession by the Government came after pressure from the House of Lords over the issue.

Peers voted four times to press the Commons into accepting an outright ban, ending their stand-off with MPs only after ministers agreed to restrictions.

Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has also joined calls for a full ban for under-16s, recently questioning on the The Rest Is Politics podcast: “Why you cannot just make a decision that when it seems so clear that that’s what you need to do?”

A Government spokesperson said: “Everyone – especially children and young people – should be able to have a positive, safe experience online. That’s why we are consulting on a wide range of measures, from restricting social media access to potential app curfews, to ensure we get the balance right and protect young people from harm.

“We are still seeking views from parents, young people and experts before taking our next steps. More than 70,000 people have already engaged, and there is still time for others to share their views before the consultation closes at midnight (on Tuesday).

“We are also taking wider action to tackle online harm. Through the Online Safety Act, platforms have to give users more control over the content they see and stronger protections from harmful material.”

The Met Office is forecasting highs in York of 33 degrees Celsius, which will be matched in Selby, and moving towards the coast thermometers will be hitting 32 degrees in Easingwold, 31 degrees in Helmsley and Malton and 30 degrees Celsius in Whitby.

It comes after the UK saw its hottest day in May for at least 79 years on Sunday with a high of 32.3C at Kew Gardens in south-west London.

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As reported by The Press yesterday, ice-cream vendors were enjoying a good weekend of trade in King’s Staith as the temperature gauges hit 31 degrees.

Tom Morgan, a Met Office meteorologist, told the Press Association: “We rarely see temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (C), even in the summer months, so to see temperatures getting close to 35C in May is, as I say, pretty historic.”

. (Image: Newsquest)

A yellow heat alert is in place for York, Yorkshire and The Humber until 5pm on Wednesday.

The alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), means there could be a significant impact across health and social care services, including the potential for a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions.

The heat is considered to be dangerous for some vulnerable groups including older adults as their bodies struggle to regulate temperature.

Age UK recommends staying inside during the hottest hours of the day, between 11am and 3pm, and having regular cold baths or showers.

Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams said: “We can all help older people stay safe during periods of hot weather by checking in on older relatives, friends and neighbours to see if they need anything or are struggling with the heat.

“Offering to pick up shopping or medication, or even lending a fan, can make a real difference.”

Wales and Northern Ireland also reached 2026 record temperatures of 27.4C in Cardiff and 23.4C in Armagh on Sunday.

Scotland saw highs of 23.5C in Edinburgh on Sunday, just below the current record of 23.6C recorded in Aboyne on May 1.

The Met Office said heatwave conditions were met in eight parts of England on Sunday – Heathrow in Greater London, Benson in Oxfordshire, Brooms Barn in Suffolk, High Beech in Essex, Kew Gardens in London, Northolt in London, Santon Downham in Suffolk and Writtle in Essex.

Although Monday is set to be hot for many parts of England, north-west Scotland will be breezier and damper with thicker clouds.

Saturday was the first time this year that the UK had passed 30C and Sunday saw the hottest recorded May temperature since 1947.

PARIS (AP) — Two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz is out injured. Promising 21-year-old French player Arthur Fils also pulled out with a physical issue. Jack Draper has been bothered for months by a right knee problem.

The list of candidates capable of challenging top-ranked Jannik Sinner, who enters the French Open on a three-month-long 29-match winning streak, has been dwindling.

Enter Rafael Jodar, the 19-year-old Spaniard who has been making waves on the ATP Tour.

Jodar continued to impress in his Roland Garros debut, dropping just five games in a 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 rout of American opponent Aleksandar Kovacevic on Monday despite boiling heat at the clay-court Grand Slam. The last man to concede fewer games in a French Open debut was Novak Djokovic, who allowed three to Robby Ginepri in 2005.

“I did the things very well from the start,” Jodar said. “It’s just my first year (on tour) and I’m experiencing a lot of things in these past few months.”

Mostly, Jodar has been experiencing victories: He’s won 16 of his last 19 matches, raised a trophy on clay in Morocco, reached the semifinals in Barcelona and had a run to the quarterfinals in Madrid ended by Sinner.

A year ago, Jodar was ranked No. 707 and playing challengers — tennis’ minor leagues — in the U.S. after he competed at the University of Virginia. Now he’s No. 29 and is seeded 27th in Paris.

“It was obviously another chapter of my life but I think that chapter also helped me to develop a lot and to be a better player now,” Jodar said.

Going to college also helped.

“Living there alone, it was great to develop and to do things by myself,” Jodar said. “It was a new chapter, new culture for me, actually a new life.”

Jodar appears destined to become a top-10 player and a serious contender for the biggest trophies.

And Jodar is in the bottom half of the draw in Paris — meaning he could meet Sinner only in the final.

Swiatek making no assumptions

Four-time champion Iga Swiatek eliminated 136th-ranked debutant Emerson Jones 6-1, 6-2 in her opener.

The only real issue for the third-ranked Swiatek came when she needed a trainer to re-tape the middle finger on her tennis-playing right hand for an apparent blister after the first set.

Swiatek has not won a title on clay this season and recently made a coaching change. She hired Francisco Roig, who previously worked with 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal.

“Nothing comes easy,” Swiatek said. “With more titles it’s even a bit harder because everyone expects you to be ready always and play perfectly. So you need to stay humble and not take anything for granted and work your way from the beginning of the tournament.”

She improved to 28-1 in first-round matches at Grand Slams.

Also advancing were Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, who beat Veronika Erjavec 6-2, 6-2; and recent Italian Open winner Elina Svitolina, who rallied past Anna Bondar 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3).

In men’s action, 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka was beaten by Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to end his 21st and last French Open.

Eighth-seeded Alex De Minaur defeated Toby Samuel 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Police Scotland said it had already dedicated “significant resources” to improving its misconduct, complaints and internal investigations systems, with all non-legislative recommendations from Lady Elish Angiolini’s review of complaints handling, investigations and misconduct already delivered.

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel’s air force targeted sites belonging to Hezbollah in Lebanon, including in the country’s eastern Bekaa Valley, late on Monday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to intensify attacks on the Lebanese militant group.

Netanyahu’s warning came as Hezbollah has been firing fiber optic drones — a weapon used widely in the war in Ukraine — at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and northern Israel in recent weeks.

“We will hit them. It’s true that they are shooting drones at us, fiber optic drones. We have a special team working on that and we will solve that too,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media. “What this requires of us now is to increase the blows, to increase the intensity. We will smite them hip and thigh.”

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said that after Netanyahu’s post, some residents started leaving Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah has large presence. The agency also said several airstrikes hit the eastern town of Mashghara in the Bekaa region on Monday night.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said that it carried out eight attacks earlier in the day, including a drone attack on Israeli troops in Misgav Am in northern Israel.

The daily attacks between Israel and Hezbollah have been ongoing despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in place since April 17.

A U.S. State Department official said earlier on Monday that Hezbollah has ignored repeated requests to stop firing at Israel, including a recent ultimatum. The official, who was not authorized to talk to the media and therefore spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Israel will never be expected to passively absorb attacks on its forces and civilians.

Since the ceasefire went into effect, Hezbollah has fired over a thousand drones and over 700 rockets to try and derail ongoing negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, the official said, adding that “the status quo is untenable.”

Last month, Lebanon and Israel began their first direct talks in more than three decades with meetings held in Washington. Lebanese and Israeli military officials are to meet again on Friday, at the Pentagon, to discuss the ceasefire. Israel and the United States are seeking to have Hezbollah disarmed.

The State Department official said the direct Lebanon-Israel talks and the implication that Lebanon stands to get significant support from the U.S. is a threat to the Iran-backed Hezbollah, along with a challenge to its narrative of resistance against Israel.

“A successful ceasefire led by the government of Lebanon would strip Hezbollah of their power and their narrative,” the official said.

Earlier Monday, an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Kfar Rumman killed four people and wounded three, the Lebanese NNA reported. It said Israeli drone strikes on other parts in the south — including one on a road near the municipality of Kfar Rumman — killed three people.

The Israel military said that throughout the day, it struck more than 70 Hezbollah infrastructure sites.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after the U.S. and Israel began their attacks on Iran.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest fighting, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Also, 22 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to Netanyahu’s office.

___

Lee reported from New Delhi. Associated Press journalists Isaac Scharf in Jerusalem and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel contributed to this report.

Temperatures have soared across the UK this weekend

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While many people across Britain will be enjoying the record-breaking hot weather this May, there’s one thing most won’t appreciate – getting to sleep.

While many holiday resorts and hotels typically have air conditioning installed, this is less in British homes so when the weather warms up it can be difficult to fall – and stay – asleep.

A heat health alert is currently in place across the North West with experts warning of an increase in demand for NHS care, LancsLive reports. The yellow alert will remain in place until Wednesday May 27.

The Red Cross has released a list of potential tips including advice on where to sleep and what to do before you get into bed.

Make sure all electrical items are turned off

Even while in standby mode, many electrical items can generate heat. People are being advised to make sure any in the bedroom are turned off and unplugged to help reduce heat.

Have a lukewarm or cool shower before bed

It is best not to get into bed feeling hot. You run the risk of overheating it your core body temperature is too high. One option is to take a lukewarm shower before going to sleep to bring your body temperature down slowly.

Choose loose-fitting clothing

Tighter clothes or pyjamas can trap warm air next to your body, so a better option might be to go for a loose t-shirt and shorts.

Stay hydrated

Dehydration can affect a person’s body temperature at night, causing them to feel too hot or too cold. Drinking a glass of cold water before bed and keeping one close during the night might help. However, balanced against that, it may be an idea to…

Avoid alcohol and caffeine in the evening

Alcohol often goes hand in hand with sunny weather – and many people will have spent the past few days enjoying the beer garden -but it is advised to limit consumption especially in the evening but causes poorer quality of sleep. As well as this, many caffeinated drinks are diuretics and may encourage your body to lose fluids, risking dehydration as well as increase your body temperatures. Try to opt for lighter, fresher foods like fruits and vegetables.

Change your bedding

Sleep with a thin, cotton sheet, which will absorb sweat. Body temperature drops overnight, so even if you go to bed hot you will still need a cover so you don’t wake up from feeling cold.

Wear cold socks

Cooling your feet helps to bring down your overall body temperature. Put a pair of socks in the fridge or freezer during the day and slip them on your feet before getting into bed.

Sleep on the lowest level of your home

Heat rises, so you might want to consider sleeping on a lower level of your home. If your home is only on one level, move to the coolest area of it.

Keep to your routine

Hot weather can often mean your everyday routine goes out the window but, eating and going to bed later may affect the quality of sleep. Try to stick to your usual eating and bed times and keep the same night-time routine.

The heat can also mean you feel more tired during the day because your body is using more energy to regulate internal temperature. Try not to give in to having a day time nap, as this disrupts your sleep pattern and can make it harder to fall asleep in the evening.

The local authority has received a planning application from TRJ Contracts seeking the go-ahead to develop a site at off Colliertree Road in Clarkston.

North Lanarkshire Council will decide whether to permit the construction of four houses on a site near a suburb of Airdrie.

The local authority has received a planning application from TRJ Contracts seeking the go-ahead to develop a site at off Colliertree Road in Clarkston.

If allowed, the housing would be in the form of four semi-detached dwellings on land which is currently vacant.

Several neighbouring properties have been notified of the application, and a coal mining risk assessment report on the site recommends that planning permission can be granted with relevant conditions in place to mitigate any risk from old mining works in the area.

For additional details or to leave a comment for consideration as this application is determined, visit North Lanarkshire Council’s website and search for planning reference 26/00349/FUL.

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READ MORE: Newmains residents to contend with major roadworks over the summer

His family has issued an emotional tribute

The family of a 24-year-old man who died following an incident in Abergavenny have described him as a “kind, loving and warm individual” who made a lasting impact on everyone he met.

Officers from Gwent Police were called to Old Hereford Road at around 6.15am on Friday, May 15. It was confirmed that a man in his 20s had been left with life-threatening injuries. Gwent Police confirmed that the injured man, who has now been named as Idris Squires, died in hospital.

In an emotional tribute, his family said they were devastated by the loss of a young man whose life had been “tragically cut short”.

“Idris was a beloved son,” they said. “We cannot begin to express the loss we feel, along with the rest of his family who have loved and supported him throughout his life.

“At only 24, he was only just beginning life’s journey but in his short time with us he made a hugely positive impact on so many people’s lives.”

Liam Bennett, 27, of Oak Tree Lane, Gilwern, has since been charged with Mr Squires’ murder.

Specialist officers are continuing to support Idris’ family as the investigation continues.

The family said Idris was well known for his kindness and ability to form close friendships, adding that they had received hundreds of messages from friends following his death.

“Idris made friends easily and had a huge circle of friends who he cared for very much, and this was reciprocated,” the tribute continued.

“We have been inundated with hundreds of messages of support from so many of Idris’ young friends.

“He was the most kind, loving and warm individual you could ever wish to meet. He never thought twice about helping others, young or old, he had the instinct to do the right thing.”

The family also spoke of their pride in Idris’ decision to join the organ donor register, describing it as reflective of the person he was.

“We are proud of his gift of organ donation — that he elected to be on the donor register speaks volumes for the man he was,” they said.

“Although we are overwhelmed by the grief of losing such a wonderful young man, we take comfort in the memory of the love, laughter and kindness that he shared with those he met.

“He will be forever in our thoughts and in our hearts.”

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