Democrat politicians in the US are being encouraged to “embrace a new form of combative rhetoric” aimed at “winning back voters” who like “Donald Trump’s no-holds-barred version of politics”, said The New York Times. As the left ramps up for the midterm elections in November, some party members seem willing to try out a more aggressive communication style, known in online circles as “dark woke”.

What is dark woke?
It’s an attempt to “step outside the bounds of the political correctness that Republicans have accused Democrats of establishing”. Examples include California Governor Gavin Newsom’s aggressive brand of meme warfare, and Texas congresswoman Jasmine Crockett’s fondness for “alliterative insults” (such as referring to Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene as a “bleach blonde bad built butch body”).

Dark woke redresses an “extreme imbalance in strategy that allows Republicans to say stuff that really grabs voters’ attention”, while Democrats are stuck in a “respectability prison”, communications consultant Bhavik Lathia told the NYT.

What is the goal?
The objective of the dark woke agenda is to “subvert the qualities” that many think “made wokeness cringe”, like “virtue-policing” and “the polite ‘when they go low, we go high’ posturing”, said GQ. The left is now trying to “go Joker mode to make Democrats cool again”.

Dark woke is “rooted” in the “demand posed by grassroots Democrats to the party establishment: throw some punches, or we’ll primary you into oblivion”, said UnHerd.

How effective is it?
Going dark woke “could serve as a cathartic release for the many jaded progressives fed up with the tame grandstanding and insipid inertia of their party’s leaders”, said GQ. But right now, it “mostly feels like an algorithmic fad built on quick thrills”: “a meme, not a movement”.

The “real trouble with dark woke” is that it is a “plainly false, calibrated attempt at gritty authenticity”, said Ross Barkan at Intelligencer. It is “awkward and alienating” when politicians suddenly decide they must “dispense with decorum to catch up to Trump”. The “young, male, and politically heterodox” voters they are hunting are not interested in “garden-variety Democrats” who curse every once in a while.

The “extraordinary” rape trial of the son of Norway’s crown princess increases the “already considerable woes” of the country’s royal family, said The Sunday Times.

Marius Borg Høiby (pictured above), stepson of Crown Prince Haakon, faces 38 charges, including rape, domestic abuse and filming women’s genitals without consent. His lawyer says Høiby “denies all charges of sexual abuse, as well as the majority of the charges regarding violence”. The trial begins in Oslo on Tuesday. If convicted, the 29-year-old faces up to 10 years in prison.

‘Horrific’ attack
Mette-Marit, a single mother from a non-aristocratic background, married Haakon in 2001. Her son Høiby, who was then four, was raised as part of the royal family but without any claim to the throne.

In 2024, police were called to an Oslo flat over a case of suspected domestic violence. They found “a knife embedded in the wall”, said The Sunday Times. Prosecutors say the victim had been hit, pinned to the bed and “repeatedly choked so that she could not breathe”. The alleged perpetrator was Høiby; the victim, his then girlfriend. “The ferocity of the attack, thought to have been the culmination of months of abuse, made it especially horrific.” 

In a statement, Høiby said he had acted “under the influence of alcohol and cocaine after an argument”, having suffered from “mental troubles”. Shortly afterwards, more of Høiby’s ex-girlfriends accused him of abuse, and he was charged last August.

This week, prosecutors added six more charges. The “most serious” alleges Høiby “received and transported at least 3.5kg of marijuana”, said Vanity Fair. Høiby, “once seen as a symbol of the openness of the monarchy, has acknowledged those allegations as true”.

‘Tarnished’ reputation
The case is just “one of the challenges” facing the Norwegian royal family. Harald V, king since 1991, is 88 and “in delicate health”. Crown Princess Mette-Marit needs a lung transplant after “years of chronic illness” that has forced her to withdraw from royal duties. And just weeks after Høiby’s arrest, the king’s eldest daughter, Princess Märtha Louise, married “an American conspiracy theorist and self-professed shaman”, said The Sunday Times.

Membership of the republican association Norge Som Republikk has “more than tripled in the last two years”, its leader told The Guardian. The royals traditionally enjoyed high support but the “ongoing omniscandal” has “really tarnished their reputation”.

Novak Djokovic pulls off an astonishing four-hour win in the Australian Open men’s singles semi-final. The 39-year-old tennis star beat 24-year-old defending champion Jannik Sinner over five stunning sets. He will bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title against Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.

Izhar Khan / AFP / Getty Images

Dorset: Apple Tree Cottage, Tarrant Monkton
A fine Grade II cottage in a tranquil setting. 4 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, 2 receps, study, self-contained 3-bed annexe, outbuildings, garden, parking. Was £850,000, now £800,000; Symonds & Sampson.

Cornwall: The Cottage, Trebetherick
Moments from Daymer Bay Beach and the Southwest Coast Path, this handsome house offers panoramic sea and estuary views. 4 beds, 3 baths, kitchen, 2 receps, garden, garage. Was £2.25 million, now OIEO £1.85 million; John Bray Estates.

Kent: Prestbury House, Smarden
This picturesque, early 19th century Grade II house is set in mature, well-established gardens. 4 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, 4 receps, paddock, Victorian-style greenhouse, workshop, garage. Was £1.25 million, now £1.195 million; Savills.

East Sussex: Bodle Street Green, Hailsham
This charming 16th century, Grade II house is set in 2.5 acres. 5 beds, 3 baths, kitchen, 4 receps, workshop, garage. Was £1.95 million, now £1.895 million; Knight Frank.

Kent: Hall House, Boughton Monchelsea
A remarkable Grade II house dating back to the 1500s and set in approx. 9 acres, including an orchard, woodland and kitchen garden. 5 beds, 5 baths, kitchen, 4 receps, 2-bed cottage, tennis court, garage. Was £2 million, now £1.75 million; Knight Frank.

At last… Kemi Badenoch has embraced her inner Nigerian!
Ava Vidal in The Independent
“You can take the girl out of Nigeria, but you can’t take Nigeria out of the girl,” writes comedian Ava Vidal. “Born in Wimbledon and raised in Lagos”, Kemi Badenoch is “from the Yoruba tribe”, who are known for “combining strength with outspokenness”, and her “blistering speech” about Tory defectors to Reform was certainly a “sick burn”. I actually “felt sorry” for Robert Jenrick, who “clearly had no idea who he had been playing with”.

Has Harry Styles killed the music tour?
Alexander Larman in The Spectator
Harry Styles’ decision to forgo a “proper” world tour in favour of “extended” stints in seven cities “has been met with a disappointed and indignant response”, writes Alexander Larman. Fans are “irritated” about having to “fork out” for hotels and travel on top of “extortionate” tickets. But it’s “a sign of the times”. Many musicians “have wearied of an exhausting country and city-hopping schedule” and prefer “to pitch up” for a “well-paid residency” instead.

Optimistic Lithuania puts Britain to shame
Edward Lucas in The Times
Lithuania “is forging ahead” as “we wallow in stagnation”, writes Edward Lucas of the Center for European Policy Analysis. Its capital, Vilnius, was “a decaying wreck” following Soviet occupation but is now the “richest city in the Baltics, humming with opportunity and excitement”. And, despite the continuing Russian “menace”, a new poll suggests that Lithuanians “are the most optimistic people in Europe”. As a Brit, “I find that blush-making”: we should emulate their “gutsy, resourceful spirit”.