California governor’s race remains unresolved as vote count continues – US politics live

Key events

Michelle R Smith

Three scientific papers that raised questions about vaccine safety and were used by the Trump administration to justify controversial changes to US vaccine policies have over the last two months been removed, retracted or placed under investigation by the journals that published them.

In some cases, the actions occurred years after scientists first raised alarms about the studies’ scientific merits.

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary who has been a leader in the anti-vaccine movement for decades, relied on two of the studies that are now facing scrutiny for a 2023 book he co-wrote that argued unvaccinated children were healthier than children who had been vaccinated. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cited one of the papers when it changed its long-held position that vaccines do not cause autism, cutting against the scientific consensus. And all three papers were cited by an anti-vaccine lawyer who called for changes to the childhood immunization schedule before an influential federal vaccine advisory panel.

It was not clear why the journals have not acted until now. Scientists who previously criticized the papers said the actions are a positive step, as public health officials and physicians across the US are reporting a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases such as whooping cough and measles. They argue that the three studies have been used by the anti-vaccine movement to plant seeds of doubt with parents, eroding confidence in the safety of life-saving vaccines.

“People and organizations intent on spreading vaccine misinformation have been very savvy in their misuse of scientific terms, such as ‘gold-standard science’”, and publishing flawed studies to give their claims the appearance of credibility and confuse the public, said Dr Karina Top, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta. “These papers are poor science, it appears the authors are making the data fit their hypothesis that vaccines are harmful.”

Leftwing US commentator calls decision to ban him from UK ‘Kafkaesque’

A leftwing US political commentator has described the UK government’s decision to ban him from entering the country as “haunting and hilarious” and “Kafkaesque”.

Cenk Uygur, the founder and a host on Young Turks, a well-established progressive media outlet, was banned earlier this week from entering the UK to attend a speaking engagement alongside Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who has become a popular figure on the US political left.

The decision by the Home Office to cancel their electronic travel authorisations (ETA) because their presence in the UK “may not be conducive to the public good” has led to questions over government censorship of free speech, been criticised by the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, as “grim”, and described by the free speech advocates Index on Censorship as a “worrying escalation”.

When asked about the government’s decision on Thursday morning by Sky News, Uygur said: “It’s both a little bit haunting and hilarious at the same time.

“I don’t really know what I’m being charged with here,” he added. “Am I really not going to be allowed in Britain from now on? And how is someone who is almost religiously for nonviolence a threat to the public order?”

The government has not commented on the specific reasons for the ban against Uygur, who travelled to the UK in 2025. Both Uygur and his nephew, Piker, were due to appear at SXSW London and will now speak virtually at an event run by the Oxford Union Society which they were due to attend.

California governor's race remains unresolved as vote count continues

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

The race to become California’s next governor in the Senate remains up in the air, with voters potentially waiting weeks until the results are known.

State election officials continue to work through the uncounted primary ballots, a process that could take days or weeks, as the polls give British-born conservative pundit Steve Hilton a narrow lead.

He is followed by former US human services and health secretary Xavier Becerra, while billionaire Tom Steyer continues to trail behind the pair. Under California’s primary system, the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election as they bid to replace incumbent Gavin Newsom.

The question of which two will face off in November may be unanswered for weeks, according to election officials. Per state law, California counties must finish counting ballots by 15 June, but certain ballots are exempt from that deadline. For example, mail-in ballots postmarked by election day and received by 9 June are valid and can be processed beyond the deadline.

An estimate of the number of remaining unprocessed ballots is expected on Thursday. Faced with a crowded slate of gubernatorial contenders, many Democratic voters held on to their mail-in ballots up until election day as they weighed which candidate had the best chance of reaching one of the top two slots.

The ongoing tabulation also did not stop Donald Trump from declaring victory for his favored candidate.

“Congratulations to Steve Hilton on coming in first, last night, in the California Vote for Governor,” he wrote in a Wednesday Truth Social post. “If Californians are smart, which I know they are, they will put Steve into the Governor’s Mansion, and watch their State get better at a rate that has probably never been seen before.”

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In other developments:

• A leftwing US political commentator has described the UK government’s decision to ban him from entering the country as “haunting and hilarious” and “Kafkaesque”. Cenk Uygur, the founder and a host on Young Turks, a well-established progressive media outlet, was banned earlier this week from entering the UK to attend a speaking engagement alongside Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who has become a popular figure on the US political left.

• The US House of Representatives delivered a stunning rebuke to Donald Trump over his war on Iran on Wednesday, as representatives backed a move to force him to seek approval from Congress or withdraw US forces.

• Before signing an executive order related to customs in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump took seven minutes to reassure an anxious public, beset by worries about a protracted war with Iran, surging gasoline prices and rising inflation, that progress has been made on at least one front: the resurfacing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is nearly complete.

• The president also took time to once again attack the CNN host Kaitlan Collins for not smiling in his presence and blamed her network for the suicides of four January 6 defendants.

• The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, refused to say whether Trump, his family and his businesses would still get immunity from IRS audits after the administration yesterday abandoned plans for a $1.8bn fund that would have benefited the president’s allies.

• Bessent did confirm that he threatened to beat up a fellow administration member, Bill Pulte, last summer.