## Democrats seen as taking back the House after Republicans quit in numbers not seen since the Great Depression

Authored by the-independent.com

There are plenty of reasons to believe that Democrats are headed toward a blue wave.

Democrats are turning out in record numbers in primary contests even in “safe” races.

But one of the biggest indicators of an impending Democratic win come November is the number of Republicans in the House of Representatives not running for reelection.

And if history is any indication, it is a bad sign for Trump and his party to retain control of the House.

To give a good contrast, in 2018, when Democrats won back the House with a net margin of 41 seats, 34 Republicans did not run for re-election.

In 2010, only 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans did not seek re-election, when Republicans won a whopping 63 seats in the House of Representatives.

And in 2022, 29 Democrats did not run for re-election compared to 20 Republicans. »

### ‘Succulent Chinese meal’ speech added to Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive

Authored by theguardian.com

Thirty-five years ago, when Jack Karlson was hauled into a police car outside a Chinese restaurant in Queensland, he couldn’t have known his bombastic speech would be watched by millions around the world, become a meme and, now, be preserved in Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive.

Batty’s speech, alongside Karlson’s, is one of the few non-music audio additions to make the collection.

More than 300,000 audio items are now housed in the National Film and Sound Archive, with one-third of the collection classified as at-risk and preserved through digitisation. »

### Trump threatens to ‘blow up’ desalination plants in Iran if no deal reached

Authored by aljazeera.com

Donald Trump has renewed his threat to “blow up” a range of civilian infrastructure in Iran, including all of the country’s desalination plants, in a move that would threaten the water source for millions of people and that experts say would be illegal.

This month, Iran accused the US and Israel of striking a desalination plant on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran, which is less dependent on desalination plants for drinking water than some of its Gulf neighbours, has threatened civilian infrastructure across the region if its own facilities are targeted by the US and Israel. »

### Iran's strike wounded over a dozen U.S. personnel and hit valuable jets in Saudi Arabia

Authored by npr.org

Iran's strike wounded over a dozen U.S. personnel and hit valuable jets in Saudi Arabia.

More than a dozen U.S. service members were wounded and two E-3 Sentry aircraft were damaged in an Iranian strike on an air base in Saudi Arabia on Friday, according to a U.S. official.

Araghchi stressed that the strikes were intended to hit U.S. forces, not Saudi Arabia itself, saying: "Iran respects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it a brotherly nation.". »

### 'The money is there': New NDP Leader Avi Lewis plans to tax billionaires and corporations

Authored by cbc.ca

'The money is there': New NDP Leader Avi Lewis plans to tax billionaires and corporations.

New NDP Leader Avi Lewis said it's 'far past time to properly tax' corporations and billionaires in his leadership victory speech on Sunday.

'The money is there, my friends,' Lewis said. »

## In pictures

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