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CHICAGO: Zohran Mamdani, 33, a Uganda-born Indian Muslim who served in the New York State Assembly in Queens, appears to have defeated former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in Tuesday’s Democratic primary race for mayor.

The two bitterly debated on opposite sides of the Gaza war. Last year, Cuomo joined the legal team to defend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is charged with war crimes and faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

Cuomo, 67, conceded the election, even though New York has a special provision that kicks in when no one receives more than 50 percent of the vote.

The Ranked Choice Voting law allows votes cast for other candidates with lower totals to be assigned to their second ballot choice.

New Yorkers vote to rank candidates from “most preferred” to “least preferred.” If their first preferred candidate does poorly, their next preferred choice receives their vote.

Mamdani received 43.5 percent of the votes while Cuomo received 36.4 percent, with 95 percent of nearly 1 million votes cast. Nine other candidates received between 11 percent and 0.1 percent.

Mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday that have yet to arrive by mail can still be counted for one week after the election.

The shifting of votes under the Ranked Choice Voting system is not likely to be released until July 1, leaving a slim chance of uncertainty.

Cuomo told the New York Times that he may run as an independent in the November mayoral election.

If the preliminary victory holds for Mamdani, he is expected to face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, an independent who did not face a primary contest.

Mamdani’s unofficial victory is still considered formidable as the majority of the city’s voters are Democrats.

He is a strong opponent of the Gaza war, while Cuomo received significant pro-Israel lobbying campaign donations.

The two candidates traded accusations of antisemitism and Islamophobia. Cuomo attacked Mamdani when he refused to condemn the phrase “globalize intifada,” put to him by a media podcaster.

Mamdani said he believed the phrase spoke to “a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights,” while stressing his opposition to antisemitism and commitment to non-violence.

For years, the Cuomo name was politically formidable. Cuomo served as governor of New York from 2011 to 2021.

Before that, he was New York State attorney general and US secretary of housing and urban development. He is the son of the late Mario Cuomo, who also served as governor of New York.

The Republican candidate in the November election will be Curtis Sliwa, who made a name for himself founding a band of unarmed volunteers called “The Guardian Angels” in 1979, providing protection to targets of random crime.

TAIPEI: Taiwan said Wednesday military drills to be held in July will involve the largest ever mobilization of reservists for the annual exercises, which are being extended to improve the island’s response to “grey zone” harassment by China.

Beijing insists democratic Taiwan is part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

The Han Kuang exercises, which the defense ministry said would be held from July 9-18, are conducted every year across Taiwan to train its armed forces as China ramps up military pressure on the island.

Defense Minister Wellington Koo told parliament as many as 22,000 reservists would be called up to take part in the exercises, up from 14,647 last year.

“Our main objective is to verify how much time it takes for a reserve brigade to regain full combat capability after being called up,” Koo said.

Taiwan maintains a standing call-up system to train its reservists. This year the mobilization will be expanded as part of the annual Han Kuang military drills.

The defense ministry also said the annual drills would be extended to 10 days and nine nights, compared with five days and four nights last year.

Koo said the most significant change would be the inclusion of “grey zone harassment” scenarios, simulating a military escalation based on “regional developments.”

Taiwan accuses China of using “grey-zone” tactics – actions that fall short of an act of war – to weaken its defenses.

Beijing regularly deploys fighter jets, warships and coast guard ships near Taiwan, and has held several major military exercises around the island in recent years.

The Taiwan reservists called up will undergo a full 14-day training program, 10 days of which will be dedicated to participation in the drills.

In March, Taiwan’s defense ministry said it would simulate possible scenarios for a Chinese invasion in 2027 during Han Kuang drills.

Officials in the United States – Taipei’s main backer and biggest arms supplier – have previously cited 2027 as a possible timeline for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.