attention

Politics in the year after a presidential election are typically focused on local and statewide contests.

But the races decided on Tuesday — which include a pivotal mayoral contest in New York and California’s referendum on congressional redistricting — will have national implications. The gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey will be a report card on President Trump’s second term.

As a result, cable news will be paying special attention. The races will also serve as an important test run for a couple of cable news networks in transition.

“This is the first election of the 2026 midterms, and we know what happens 30 seconds after the mid-terms are over — 2028 starts in earnest,” said Chris Stirewalt, political editor for Nexstar Media Group’s NewsNation. “In New Jersey and Virginia, you have two states that look a lot like the country as a whole. President Trump’s approval ratings in those places is about the same as it is nationally.”

MSNBC will be covering its first election night without the resources of NBC News. The progressive-leaning network — which changes its name to MS NOW on Nov. 15 — is being spun off by parent company Comcast into a new entity called Versant.

NBC News no longer shares correspondents or analysts with MSNBC. The channel’s line-up of opinion hosts including Rachel Maddow, Joe Scarborough, Nicolle Wallace, Ari Melber and Lawrence O’Donnell remains intact.

Loyal MSNBC viewers will notice that election data maven Steve Kornacki will not be crunching numbers on his big board. Kornacki signed a new deal last year with NBC, where he works for the news and sports divisions.

Kornacki will be a part of the network’s coverage on NBC News Now, its free streaming channel. “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas is leading the coverage with Hallie Jackson, the network’s senior Washington correspondent; and “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker.

MSNBC host Ali Velshi will take on the voter analysis duties previously held down by Kornacki. The network said it will have 15 correspondents reporting throughout the country, including West Coast-based Jacob Soboroff delivering analysis on TikTok.

MSNBC national correspondent Jacob Soboroff.

(MSNBC/Paul Morigi/MSNBC)

CNN will use the night to test the appeal of its new direct-to-consumer streaming service launched last week.

While CNN will have its usual array of anchors and experts led by anchor Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett, the network will also offer an alternative streaming feed featuring its analyst Harry Enten alongside conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and “The Breakfast Club” radio host Charlamagne tha God.

“CNN Election Livecast” will be only be available from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Pacific to subscribers of CNN All Access. The program will be a discussion of the results presented as “a more casual option” for viewers, according to a representative for the network.

The feed will mark the first time CNN, owned by Warner Bros. Discover, has produced full-scale live coverage exclusively for a streaming audience.

Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier of Fox News

(Fox News)

Fox News will rely on anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum for a special telecast at 10 p.m. Eastern and 7 p.m. Pacific, pre-empting its comedic talk show “Gutfeld!”

The 2025 election night will also mark a change in calling the results. All of the major broadcast networks and cable channels will be using data analysis from the Associated Press, which teamed with Fox News and NORC at the University of Chicago several years ago to create an alternative to the research company used by CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN.

Starting Tuesday, all five networks will get voting results at the same time.

Leland Vittert, Elizabeth Vargas and Chris Cuomo will anchor election night coverage for NewsNation.

(NewsNation)

The exception is Nexstar Media Group’s NewsNation, which will use Decision Desk HQ to call its races during its coverage co-anchored by Stirewalt, Chris Cuomo, Leland Vittert and Elizabeth Vargas. The service was the first to call the results of the 2024 presidential election, beating the competition by 15 minutes.

The ability to call the races sooner means more time for analysis, which is expected to lean heavily into what the results say about the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential campaign.

Stirewalt said the night has the potential to set up the political plot lines of the next two years. He believes the passage of Proposition 50 in California and a victory for New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani would elevate Gov. Gavin Newsom and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as 2028 presidential contenders.

“That’s would be a big feather in the cap for AOC, who can say that she’s leading a movement,” Stirewalt said. “Gavin Newsom gets to ring the bell. He gets to say ‘I won. I did something that was controversial. I took it to Donald Trump. I’m delivering a win.’”

Manager Michael O’Neill felt had Northern Ireland beaten Germany at Windsor Park in World Cup qualifying on Monday night that they would have been in a “strong position to achieve something amazing”.

It was not to be with Nick Woltemade’s somewhat fortuitous goal the difference between the two sides in Belfast.

When the dust settles on a window during which his young side also beat Slovakia 2-0 on Friday, O’Neill will surely feel encouraged that such a possibility remains on the table as he seeks to take the side to the game’s biggest stage for the first time in four decades.

For the second time in five weeks, Northern Ireland’s players left the field against the four-time World Cup winners believing they could and perhaps should have taken something from the game.

In Cologne last month, it took until after the 70th minute before the visitors tired and quick-fire goals from Nadiem Amiri and Florian Wirtz secured an unconvincing 3-1 win.

Back in Belfast on Monday night, it was Northern Ireland who finished the stronger of the sides, but they could not find an equaliser during a final 25 minutes played largely in Germany’s third of the pitch.

The result ends any realistic chance of O’Neill’s side topping Group A, but the performance, allied with wins in their other two matches to date, means they can have real belief that they can both make and then succeed in the play-offs.

A draw in next month’s seemingly crunch fixture in Slovakia followed by a win over Luxembourg, provided as O’Neill put it “Germany take care of business at home when they play Slovakia” in the final matchday, would be enough for second place.

Even should that not come to pass, there remains a likely backdoor into the play-offs as an otherwise unqualified group winner from last year’s Nations League, although that would potentially mean a considerably stronger opponent in an away semi-final.

“We’ve gained some momentum and picked up some good results,” said defender Paddy McNair, one of two players in O’Neill’s current squad who played for Northern Ireland in their last major tournament at Euro 2016.

“If I was the opposition, I would not like to face us in the play-offs.

“It’s pretty hard to finish first now, but I think we have to get to Slovakia and get three points and you just never know what could happen going into the last game.”

Cricket players, fans, experts and officials must let the sport return to a “moment of sanity” when India and Pakistan meet in the final of the Asia Cup 2025 on Sunday, says former player and administrator Ramiz Raja.

Millions of fans – in both South Asian countries and across the world – will watch and follow the game with bated breath as the heated rivalry unfolds at Dubai International Cricket Stadium for the third time in 15 days.

“The temperature must be lowered and all eyes should be on the game of cricket,” Raja told Al Jazeera on the eve of the final.

“It is not only the responsibility of the cricket boards and players but also the fans, stakeholders, and social media commentators to demonstrate astuteness because the emotions are still raw. Everyone needs a moment of sanity.”

The fallout of mixing politics with cricket

The build-up to the final has been dominated by actions that have little to do with the sport itself – be it a no-handshake row, politically loaded statements, controversial gesturing or complaints lodged with the game’s governing body, which responded by giving both sides a slap on the wrist.

The match will be played in the aftermath of disciplinary hearings, which were carried out by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) lodged complaints over the rival players’ statements and gestures.

India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav was the first to appear for a hearing at the ICC headquarters in Dubai on Thursday. The PCB took objection to his mention of “Operation Sindoor” – the military operation carried out by India’s armed forces in Pakistan in May – during his post-match comments following India’s seven-wicket win on September 14.

Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan and Haris Rauf were also summoned to the ICC headquarters on Friday for their gestures during the second meeting between the two sides on September 21, when India won the Super Fours fixture by six wickets.

Farhan mimicked a gunshot to celebrate his maiden half-century against India, and Rauf was seen responding to the crowd’s heckling by gesturing the downing of aircraft and holding up his fingers to represent the number six, an alleged reference to Pakistan’s claims of downing six Indian air force planes during the four-day conflict.

ICC match referee Richie Richardson conducted the hearings.

Al Jazeera understands that Yadav and Rauf were handed a fine of 30 percent of their respective match fee, while Farhan was let off with a warning by Richardson.

The ICC has not officially announced the sanctions. Al Jazeera reached out to the ICC for a comment on the hearings, but has not received a response.

With the off-field theatrics dealt with, Raja believes the attention must return to the on-field action.

“The ICC’s decision to fine players on both sides must have reduced the pressure on them [players] and helped redefine the rules of engagement [for the final],” he explained.

Raja, who has also been at the helm of the PCB in the past, said the circumstances turned grave in the aftermath of Yadav’s comments and the Pakistani players’ gestures, and it was a turmoil that both parties could have avoided.

The match on Sunday will mark the first India vs Pakistan final in the Asia Cup – a fateful meeting that organisers, broadcasters and sponsors may have dreamt of in the 31 years since the tournament’s inception but were never able to pull off in its 15 iterations.

Bilateral cricket series and tours remain suspended between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, and any meeting at an ICC event or regional competition is a highly anticipated affair.

‘Attention must return to cricket’

Raja, also a former Pakistan captain, has called on the players to refrain from letting the political tensions boil over onto the cricket field.

“It [mixing politics with sport] takes away the innocence of cricketers, as they are not geared to engage in political rhetoric,” he said.

Raja played 38 international matches against India in a career spanning from 1984 to 1997.

“It is an unfamiliar territory for them [players]. They do not know how much and what needs to be said.”

Pakistan’s captain Salman Agha cut a picture of calm before the proverbial storm on Saturday, when he took questions from the media before the final.

He chose not to comment on the provocative questions about the Indian team and media, while reiterating his stance on playing “good cricket” in the final.

Meanwhile, India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel, who spoke to the media late on Friday, also anticipated a tough fight between bat and ball.

“Let’s look forward to the battle on Sunday.”

Raja agreed and said the conversation should move on.

“The debate should be whether Pakistan will lift their game [in the final] or if it will be a third-time malfunction [against India].”

India have remained unbeaten on their way to the final, while Pakistan’s only defeats in the tournament have come against India.

Pakistan have now lost seven international matches to India, whom they last beat in September 2022.

Despite the one-sided results in recent years, India vs Pakistan remains the hottest-selling item in international cricket, and Raja believes politics has a lot to do with it.

“The entire world waits for this contest not because of the skill levels of the players or the quality of contest, but due to the political needle between these two countries,” he said.

On Sunday, though, Raja hopes the attention will return to the sport when India and Pakistan meet to write yet another historic chapter in their bitter rivalry.