US politics: Battle lines being drawn for 2020 elections

There are calls from the US and Britain for an investigation after Ukrainian soldiers of the Azov regiment were reportedly injured by a "poisonous substance" during a Russian attack on the port city of Mariupol. No evidence has yet been gathered. The UK foreign secretary says it would be "a callous escalation" of the war. The Pentagon says it's "deeply concerning". Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has already expressed his fears that Russia could deploy chemical weapons in his country.

They're calling it the battle of Donbas. After nearly two months of mishaps and setbacks, Russia is putting all its might into a bid to capture the entire east of Ukraine. But will it capture it or flatten it? We ask our guests about the Kremlin's endgame.

Some social media users have been warning of electoral fraud during the French presidential election, showing paper ballots for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen that were "deliberately spoiled". According to specialists, this does not constitute an invalid vote. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.

It was only a leak of a draft. Yet punches have already been thrown outside the US Supreme Court in the first standoff over Justice Samuel Alito's 98-page argument in favour of overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion in the United States. We ask whether the document leaked to Politico is a turning point for more than just reproductive rights.

Northern Ireland voters go to the polls today (May 5) in what could be the most important election in a generation. They will elect the 90 members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, from which a power-sharing executive should be formed. These institutions were created by the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. According to opinion polls, Sinn Fein - representing mostly people of Catholic and Irish background - could become the largest party for the first time.

The British prime minister has faced calls to step down after breaking COVID lockdown rules. In Northern Ireland, polls suggest the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein could win the largest number of seats.

Is it a sign that Northern Ireland is ready to overcome old divides, or of new troubles ahead? For the first time ever, Unionists could find themselves in the minority when ballots are counted in regional assembly elections. Under the Good Friday Agreement, the DUP would still share power with Sinn Fein, who could trigger a referendum on a united Ireland.

On May 15, parliamentary elections will take place nationwide in Lebanon. The Lebanese diaspora, estimated to be double the size of the domestic population, already cast their ballots last week. Around 60 percent of people across 58 countries turned out, slightly more than in 2018. We bring you a special edition of Middle East Matters on Lebanon's first elections since the mass protests of 2019.

If you have been a constant follower of the Nigerian music industry, you would have noticed a constant bitter battle involving artists and record labels. Entertainment lawyer, Akinyemi Ayinoluwa talks to GuardianTV about the issues and how they can be solved. 

There's political upheaval in Nigeria after ten government officials step down, signalling their interest in the 2023 elections. And Somalia prepares for a presidential poll this weekend, after months of delays. Sunday's winner will have no shortages of challenges, as the country faces an Islamist insurgency, famine, and drought. Finally, in Niger, anti-corruption NGOs file a legal complaint over the government's accounting. They allege that over 95 million euros of state funds are missing.

Guardian Nigeria's Political Editor, Muyiwa Adeyemi speaks to GuardianTV on the leading candidates in a fierce battle to succeed Governor Kayode Fayemi in the 2022 Ekiti governorship election.