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A battle for Congress. A big moment in Donald Trump's presidency. And a test for the Democrats.   @JustinOnWeb is in Washington DC for the US Midterms. Listen live for all his analysis on BBC Sounds.

"I think the package that I've announced strikes the right balance." Shabana Mahmood defends her work as Home Secretary after watering down plans to make foreign care workers already in the UK wait 15 years to qualify for permanent settlement.

Will Shabana Mahmood's watered-down settlement plans for migrant care workers mean the staff we need will chose to go elsewhere? To Canada or Europe? @bbcnickrobinson asks the Home Secretary.

" I care more about what are you gonna do for me as a lobsterman in Maine." Lobster boat captain and Republican voter Matt says he will vote for the party’s longstanding senator, Susan Collins, in the Midterms, because he sees it more as a local race than a referendum on Donald Trump.

" If the Democrats put up a very common sense, moderate Democrat... I think you'll see people like me voting for them.” Maine voter John, who works in logging and voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 US Election, says some of the president’s decisions have made his industry ‘bleak’ and ‘uncertain’.

"It's close, it's a very bitter fight." @JustinOnWeb reports from Maine - a key battleground state in the US Midterms - as the Democrats seek to unseat longstanding Republican Senator Susan Collins. Listen to Justin's analysis of the elections on BBC Sounds.

"We want to hear an unambiguous apology and then we can talk about reparations." Prof Verene Shepherd, from the Caricom Reparations Commission, sets out what Caribbean countries want to discuss as Commonwealth leaders meet in Antigua. The King is set to address the issue of transatlantic slavery, after Andy Burnham wrote he was 'open' to the UK formally apologising.

"The places are out there." Wikipedia co-founder and 'pathological optimist' Jimmy Wales tells @jonnydymond about finding positivity online amongst the toxicity.

"We are acting in the fog of war." Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Ukrainian Parliament, speaks to @JonnyDymond, after Ukraine and Russia say their emergency alert apps have been hit by cyber-attacks.

"It wouldn't take much for the (markets’) spotlight to cross the channel onto our shores." Andy Haldane, former advisor to Andy Burnham, tells @bbcnickrobinson he was looking for a bit more fiscal headroom from the budget. Full interview: bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0033q…

"Putin - my personal enemy, who killed my husband." Marina Litvinenko, widow of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko who was the poisoned in London with Polonium-210, says she believes justice for her husband's death will happen 'one day'. A 2016 public inquiry found that Mr Litvinenko's assassination was 'probably' approved by President Vladimir Putin.

Sir Patrick Stewart, star of stage and screen, has died at the age of 86. Sir Gregory Doran, former RSC artistic director, and actor Sir David Suchet pay tribute to their friend.

"If it was as easy to do the arbitrary cuts that they are putting forward, they would've done it when they were in government five minutes ago." Labour's Wes Streeting pushes back against criticism of the government's Budget savings in order to boost defence spending.

"I'd give it a four out of ten." Former Burnham advisor Andy Haldane gives the Chancellor's budget a Strictly Come Dancing-style judgement, as he explains to @bbcnickrobinson's Political Thinking what more he would like to have seen from John Healey. Listen here: bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b08qm…

"It's easy to promise change but the track record suggests you didn't deliver it, particularly on welfare?" @BBCNickRobinson asks Andrew Griffith, as the Conservative Shadow Chancellor calls the Budget 'disjointed' and criticises it for lacking detail on benefit cuts.

"It does look pretty bleak, doesn't it?" @bbcnickrobinson asks the Chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, Jonathan Haskell, about their description of living standards as a 'pretty grim picture' up to the end of the decade.

"Was it really worth getting rid of Keir Starmer for this?" @bbcnickrobinson asks Chancellor John Healey why the Burnham government promised a transformation of Britain but delivered a Budget of small measures.

"In the end, it is stronger growth in the British economy that will help lift this country." As the Office for Budget Responsibility calls the outlook for living standards 'pretty grim', Chancellor John Healey insists his budget will boost the economy.

"There will be a reduction in the benefits bill... It is simply not good for Britain." Chancellor John Healey insists he will cut welfare spending before the next election, as Kemi Badenoch claimed the benefits bill was rising 'because this government has put welfare first'.