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US Heated Midterms Determine the Course of the Country

Former US President Donald Trump during a campaign in Florida (AFP)
Former US President Donald Trump during a campaign in Florida (AFP)
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US Heated Midterms Determine the Course of the Country

Former US President Donald Trump during a campaign in Florida (AFP)
Former US President Donald Trump during a campaign in Florida (AFP)

Tens of millions of US citizens head to the polls on Tuesday to choose their representatives in the Senate and the House of Representatives in midterms between Democrats and Republicans, the results of which will determine the course of the country.

The ghost of elections' past looms over the polls amid fears of foreign interference after Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, admitted that he interfered in the US elections in the past.

"Gentlemen, we have interfered, are interfering, and will interfere. Carefully, precisely, surgically, and in our own way, as we know how to do," Prigozhin posted on social media.

While the odds are still high that the Republicans will gain a majority in the House of Representatives, the fate of the Senate remains in hindsight, given the crucial races in several swing states such as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire.

The Republicans' chances of winning the Democrats' seats are increasing because President Joe Biden's popularity has fallen dramatically following the economic situation in the country.

Candidates struggle to secure victory in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina, where Republicans usually win without competition. Some attribute it to the interference of former President Donald Trump in the race to support candidates with little political experience.

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Russia Expels Two UK Diplomats as it Negotiates to Restore US Ties

A flag flies at the British embassy in Moscow, Russia September 13, 2024. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A flag flies at the British embassy in Moscow, Russia September 13, 2024. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Russia Expels Two UK Diplomats as it Negotiates to Restore US Ties

A flag flies at the British embassy in Moscow, Russia September 13, 2024. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A flag flies at the British embassy in Moscow, Russia September 13, 2024. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Russia accused two British diplomats on Monday of spying and gave them two weeks to leave the country, reinforcing the downward trajectory of Moscow's diplomatic relations with Europe even as it negotiates to restore ties with the United States.
Britain's Foreign Office rejected the allegations against its diplomats as "baseless".
Moscow has been angered by Britain's continued military support for Ukraine and by Prime Minister Keir Starmer's recent statements about putting British boots on the ground and planes in the air in Ukraine as part of a potential peacekeeping force, Reuters said.
The expulsions also come days after three Bulgarians were found guilty in a London court of being part of a Russian spy unit run by Wirecard fugitive Jan Marsalek to carry out surveillance on a US military base and other individuals targeted by Moscow.
The two Britons appear to be the first Western diplomats to be expelled from Russia since Moscow and Washington opened talks on restoring staff at their respective embassies that have been depleted by tit-for-tat expulsions, part of Donald Trump's rapprochement with the Kremlin that has alarmed European allies.
Similar expulsions have sharply curtailed the functioning of Russian embassies across the West and of Western missions in Russia since President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022.
Russia's Federal Security Service said the two British diplomats had provided false information when getting permission to enter the country, and it had "identified signs of intelligence and subversive work" they had carried out, harming Russian security.
The Kremlin said Russia's intelligence services were doing everything necessary to safeguard national security.
Responding to Moscow's decision, Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement: "This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff."
RELATIONS IN DEEP FREEZE
Russia's Foreign Ministry said it had summoned a British embassy representative over the expulsions and had complained that the diplomats were "undeclared" employees of Britain's intelligence services, something Moscow would not tolerate.
The ministry said it would "respond in kind" if London now decided to "escalate" the situation.
Russian police in February opened a criminal investigation into an alleged assault on a freelance journalist by a person believed to be an employee of the British embassy, an allegation London dismissed as "an interference operation" designed to intimidate legitimate diplomats.
That announcement came a day after Britain announced it was expelling a Russian diplomat in retaliation for Moscow throwing out a British diplomat last November.
Relations between Britain and Russia have plunged to post-Cold War lows since the start of the Ukraine war. Britain has joined successive waves of sanctions against Russia and provided arms to Ukraine.