By Maya C. Miller, CalMattersAttendees wait for the opening of the afternoon general session during the California Democratic Party convention at Moscone West in San Francisco on Feb. 21, 2026. For a Democratic Party convention with the theme, “Together, we win,” there was a lot of infighting, culminating in a Sunday morning shouting match between two Democratic heavyweights. But at 8 a.m., Hicks made an eleventh-hour move to block McGuire’s endorsement by approving a review sought by Denney. Instead of endorsing Hicks, McGuire as the Senate leader backed his opponent, Chris Rogers, a decision McGuire’s supporters say has made him a target for retribution from leadership. Hicks would not say why he took steps to guarantee Denney’s challenge would be heard.

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It records a 28% primary vote for One Nation that equals its best-ever result from last fortnight’s YouGov poll, marking a four-point increase on the last DemosAU poll a month ago. The Coalition remains at 21%, with Labor down a point to 29% and the Greens down one to 12%. A seat projection has Labor in the range of 76 to 85, One Nation from 43 to 54, and the Coalition from nine to 20. Results from the latter poll on upper house voting intention for the March 21 election were featured yesterday in InDaily. As if all that weren’t enough, we can also presumably expect the fortnightly Sky News Pulse poll from YouGov tomorrow.

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After the Trump administration official in charge of immunization policy suggested that childhood polio vaccines should be made optional, experts and survivors of the deadly disease are warning that it could make a furious comeback. Measles vaccination rates had already been dipping for years amid rising anti-vaccine sentiment. Childhood vaccination rates have dropped across the board over the past five years. Where about 95% of kindergarteners received the measles and polio vaccines in the 2019-20 school year, that number had plummeted to 92.5% in 2024-25. Caplan said he was "furious" at Milhoan's contention that childhood vaccine requirements should be reconsidered just because polio is no longer around.

Benjamin Sesko scores the only goal of the game (Peter Byrne/PA)It was enough to secure a fifth win in six matches and move United into fourth, only three points behind Aston Villa. Manchester United manager Michael Carrick embraces Benjamin Sesko (Peter Byrne/PA)The goal owed plenty to Matheus Cunha’s searching pass from deep in his own half to isolate Bryan Mbeumo one-on-one with Michael Keane, the forward having the pace to go past the centre-back and square for Sesko to emphatically convert. The goal came during the best passage of play from Everton, who had spent the first half competing but not threatening only to come out after the break and immediately create their best chance. It made up for a lacklustre first half, which United dominated without capitalising. After Cunha’s shot had escaped Pickford but not the covering Tarkowski, the visitors failed to advance against a back four which had midfielder James Garner at right-back and centre-half Jarrad Branthwaite on the left.

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British police on Monday arrested Peter Mandelson, a former U.K. ambassador to the United States, in a misconduct probe stemming from his ties with Jeffrey Epstein. Police are investigating Mandelson over claims he passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago. Mandelson served in senior government roles under previous Labour governments and was U.K. ambassador to Washington until Prime Minister Keir Starmer fired him in September over his ties to Epstein. The Epstein files suggest that Mandelson passed on sensitive — and potentially market-moving — government information to Epstein in 2009, when Mandelson was a member of the then-government. Mandelson also appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses.

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LONDON/SYDNEY, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would back plans to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession to the British throne in a letter he sent to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office. Any changes to the succession to the throne have to be approved not just in Britain but also in the other realms. In a statement on Tuesday, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's office said his government would support any proposal to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the order of succession. The last time changes were made to the line of succession came in 2013, when a law was passed to end a 300-year-old system that gave precedence to male heirs. The British government has said any change would follow the completion of a police investigation.

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