{"id":205628,"date":"2026-04-22T02:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/205628\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T02:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:24:16","slug":"virginias-vote-is-crucial-in-the-fight-for-control-of-congress-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/205628\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia\u2019s Vote Is Crucial in the Fight for Control of Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virginia is voting today on whether to allow Democrats to redraw the state\u2019s congressional map<\/a>. If the referendum succeeds, Democrats will be expected to flip as many as four House seats held by Republicans.<\/p>\n

Opinion polls suggest voters are split. Virginia Democrats say they want to fight back in a rare mid-decade cartographic arms race that Texas Republicans started last year when, urged on by President Trump, they redrew their map. Virginia Republicans call it a power grab.<\/p>\n

Follow the results here<\/a>, which could be pivotal in the national battle to win control of Congress in November\u2019s midterm elections. Republicans have built a small advantage in the monthslong redistricting war and today\u2019s vote in Virginia could essentially cancel that out. Republicans could still regain a slight edge if Florida pushes through a new map, as Gov. Ron DeSantis has promised.<\/p>\n

For more: These maps show how Republicans and Democrats are slicing up urban areas to gain a partisan advantage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump extends Iran cease-fire<\/p>\n

Just hours before the two-week truce between the U.S. and Iran was set to expire, Trump announced that he was extending the cease-fire until Iran\u2019s leaders \u201ccome up with a unified proposal.\u201d Until then, the president said, the U.S. military would continue to blockade Iran\u2019s ports in the Persian Gulf. Follow here for the latest updates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the afternoon, my colleagues reported that Vice President JD Vance\u2019s trip to Pakistan \u2014 where American and Iranian officials were expected to sit for a second round of negotiations \u2014 was put on hold because Iran\u2019s leaders failed to respond to the Trump administration\u2019s terms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Iranian officials, who are fearful of being burned by U.S. promises<\/a>, said today that they have not yet decided whether to resume talks.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s Fed chair pick vows not to do the president\u2019s bidding<\/p>\n

Kevin Warsh, Trump\u2019s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, sat for his confirmation hearing today on Capitol Hill. He faced sharp skepticism from Senate Democrats<\/a>, who questioned his independence. Warsh, a former Fed governor, promised that he would not cut interest rates simply because the president wants to, adding that Trump had \u201cnever asked me to predetermine, commit, fix, decide on any interest rate decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other Trump administration news:<\/p>\n

Where are all these fireballs coming from?<\/p>\n

We live on a giant rock hurtling through space, so it\u2019s not terribly unusual for space rocks to enter our atmosphere and turn into fireballs. But early this year, there was a significant increase in the number of meteors spotted over the U.S. and Europe. In the first three months of 2026, the American Meteor Society received twice as many reports as usual.<\/p>\n

Zach Galifianakis wants us all to tend a garden<\/p>\n

I thought it might be a comedy bit when I first heard that Zach Galifianakis, the \u201cHangover\u201d actor, was hosting a show teaching children about the wonders of gardening. But Galifianakis, who grows fruits and vegetables at his home in rural Canada, genuinely loves gardening<\/a>. The series is real, too; it premieres on Netflix tomorrow.<\/p>\n

During the show, Galifianakis still throws in a few jokes. But he says he is happiest when he is down and dirty. \u201cAll the gardens I visit, there\u2019s always peace there,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you see nature making sense, it\u2019s really fulfilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wagyu has changed<\/p>\n

When Wagyu referred exclusively to mind-bendingly fatty beef imported from Japan, it was a delicacy that you might find at a high-end restaurant, but certainly not a grocery store. Now, Wagyu is seemingly everywhere.<\/p>\n

Its popularity coincided with an expansion of what the word \u201cWagyu\u201d could mean. There is now lots of high-quality beef from the U.S. and Australia that claims to be Wagyu, and there are many scams as well. Our critic Tejal Rao explained what you are paying for when you order Wagyu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fishing in the heart of a city<\/p>\n

Treviso, Italy, is a gem just north of Venice. It is threaded with rivers and canals, which flow softly past elegant cafes and markets. It is also one of the few places where you can spot an angler \u2014 hip deep in a canal \u2014 casting a line in the middle of the city.<\/p>\n

Carp, chub and trout are a common sight in Treviso because the waterways are consistently clean and cool. Our writer put on waders and rubber boots and spent a full day fishing across the city. It was a serene experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Have a calm evening.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading. I\u2019ll be back tomorrow \u2014 Matthew<\/p>\n

Brent Lewis was our photo editor.<\/p>\n

We welcome your feedback. Reach us at evening@nytimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Virginia is voting today on whether to allow Democrats to redraw the state\u2019s congressional map. If the referendum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-205628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}