A Singaporean full-time national serviceman was amongst three convicted in Malaysia for illegal racing and vehicle performance testing along the Second Link on Nov. 3.

Singaporean Syajahan Alfian Abdullah, 19, was charged alongside two Malaysians, Muhammed Daniel Hakim Mohamed Rashid, 24, and Gonzales Mckhovic Anak George, 18.

Syajahan reportedly rode a motorcycle at high speeds at about 2:10am on Oct. 18, 12.5km south of the expressway, according to Malay Mail.

In response to Mothership's queries, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said Syajahan, who holds the rank of private, has been convicted and fined by the Malaysian courts for an offence committed in Malaysia.

He was in Malaysia in his personal capacity at the time of the incident, the ministry said.

MINDEF added that it would like to remind all National Servicemen to conduct themselves well in public, and abide by the laws of countries that they visit.

Convicted

Syajahan pleaded guilty and asked for leniency on the grounds that he was still young, and had to take care of his sick father, Lianhe Zaobao reported.

Rashid and George, meanwhile, were accused of riding motorcycles and racing at about 2am on Oct. 18, from 7.8km north of the expressway.

They both also pleaded guilty.

George asked for leniency on the grounds that he was only 18 years old, is about to enter society, and has limited savings.

Rashid told the court that he had moved to Johor Bahru for a month, and had to pay for his motorbike maintenance in addition to supporting his two younger siblings alone.

The prosecution asked for the offenders to be punished harshly as speeding on the expressway posed a danger to the lives and safety of other drivers.

The judge ordered the teenagers to pay a fine of RM3,500 (S$1,104) each.

They were released after paying the fine.

A number of Telegram group chats are suspected of using massage as a front for prostitution services in Singapore after some of them advertised services with explicit content.

Explicit content

Checks by Mothership showed that as of Nov. 5, there were at least 10 such groups claiming that they promoted massage services.

However, explicit messages in the group chat advertised sexual services, and attached photos of various women with their personal information and the specific services they could provide.

Messages also highlighted that the women tested negative for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

The number of members in each group chat ranged from over 7,000 to over 30,000.

Locations islandwide

One Telegram channel that Mothership found was created on Oct. 1, 2024, and is still active to date.

The services are apparently available islandwide, in locations ranging from Bishan to Lavender.

Advertisements are posted at various times throughout the day, promoting services by women from various countries.

Shin Min Daily News reported that some groups even directly list "shops" across different parts of Singapore, as well as extending their services to Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The list reportedly includes close to 100 locations like Changi, Aljunied, Ang Mo Kio, Yishun, Bedok, Redhill, and Toa Payoh.

Some of the groups were the same as telegram groups reported in previous instances of illicit activities in purported massage parlors.

Residents shocked, worried

Residents in the area expressed shock regarding this when Shin Min visited neighbourhood communities.

A 62-year-old woman said she was worried that these sexual services would have a negative impact on society.

"These days, if you want to find sex services, you can find them online, it's unbelievable," she said.

"Even if you don't intentionally seek them out, it's hard to guarantee you won't come across them when friends share information with each other every day!"

Another woman, 67, told Shin Min that she was more familiar with WhatsApp and Facebook.

She had seen similar massage advertisements on Facebook before, but the content was quite subtle and not as explicit as Telegram.

"We older folks aren't very tech-savvy, and we never expected to find this kind of thing online. It's really indecent!"

One of the women asked Shin Min how to find such group chats and identify if there were any massage parlours near her home.

"I feel like I could find one just two blocks away. I need to check if there are any near my house," said the woman, who wanted to prevent her husband from "going astray in his old age."

Penalties

Speaking to Shin Min, a 27-year-old woman said there are various ways to seek out sexual services online, adding that there are many ways for a partner to cheat if they wish to do so.

A 28-year-old man noted that he had received messages advertising similar services, but chose to ignore them.

Under Section 146A(1) of the Singapore’s Women's Charter 1961, any person—whether inside or outside Singapore—in the course of business uses a remote communication service with a Singapore link to offer, facilitate, organise, manage, or supervise paid sexual services involving a woman or girl in Singapore commits an offence.

There will also be new changes to the regulatory regime for massage establishments, the Singapore Police Force announced on Nov. 5, 2026.

Under the new regime, operators of open-concept MEs (OMEs) will no longer be exempted from licensing.

In addition, all OME operators must comply with the OME requirements.

These include the following:

Customers and members of the public must have an unobstructed view of massage services being provided at all times from both inside and outside of the premises.

The premises must not contain rooms, partitions, cubicles, curtains or other features that would allow massage services to be provided in private.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has dismissed his chief of staff, Listyo Sigit, after Sigit was arrested for allegedly illegally wiretapping him.

The decision was announced at a press conference on Nov. 4, with Aryo Windutomo appointed as the acting chief of staff, according to Indonesian media outlet Kompas.

It was reported that Sigit's purported wiretapping targeted Prabowo, state officials, political figures, the media, and civil society organisation leaders.

Two high-ranking Indonesian police officers, Police Legal Affairs Division Chief Inspector General Ahrie Sonta Nasution and Inspector General Eko Hadi Santoso, were also named in the case as suspects on Nov. 3.

Alleged wiretapping occurred in 2025 and 2026

Indonesia's Head of the Criminal Investigation Agency of the National Police, Commissioner General Asep Safrudin, said the alleged acts occurred throughout 2025 and 2026.

Kompas reported that Indonesian police also believe that the suspects deleted evidence of the wiretapping through the Lawful Interception Management System (LIMS).

LIMS is a platform that handles interception requests and distributes such information to legally authorised institutions for investigations, according to CNN Indonesia.

The phone numbers of the targeted figures were allegedly entered into the system without verification and intercepted without due process.

Kompas reported that Indonesian police seized 11 mobile phones, one iPad tablet and four USB flash drives in connection with the case.

The suspects were charged under local law and face a maximum jail sentence of six years, with Indonesian authorities applying for an additional charge that carries a prison term of up to eight years.

Sworn in on Oct. 1

Nikkei Asia reported that Sigit was sworn in as Prabowo's chief of staff on Oct. 1, 2026. He was formerly head of the Indonesian National Police.

The Indonesian State Secretary, Prasetyo Hadi, said on Nov. 4, "We think that what they did could be classified as... leaning towards treason".

Prasetyo noted that Prabowo was "deeply concerned" about the investigations.

According to Nikkei Asia, wiretapping is legal in Indonesia under strict conditions such as court authorisation.

Politicians weigh in

Former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took to X in a cryptic statement seemingly aimed at the alleged wiretapping.

He questioned: "How did our country end up like this? How did our politics become so unrestrained?"

"It seems that any means of gaining power (political power) is considered justified. It does not matter whether they are good or bad. Moral or immoral."

Susilo added that he worried Indonesians would eventually feel afraid or unable to live peacefully in their own country, calling for Prabowo to "revive civilised politics".

Nikkei Asia also quoted the secretary-general of Prabowo's Gerindra Party, who said the wiretapping was serious and "if elements meeting the legal criteria are established, the possibility that the act amounted to an attempt to overthrow the President should also be investigated".

Students from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have started an online petition calling for the school to protect the vendors at CresPion Canteen whose monthly fixed costs have allegedly doubled.

The CresPion Canteen serves both the Crescent and Pioneer student residential halls.

The petition, titled "Save Our CresPion Canteen", says that NTU's Office of Commercial and Auxiliary Services (OCAS) is changing the operators of CresPion Canteen.

In addition to an increase in rent, the new operator Food Paradise has supposedly imposed a fee of S$20,000 on each vendor to pay for the canteen renovation scheduled to start on Dec. 11, according to the petition.

As a result of the higher costs, the vendors are considering leaving.

Describing the vendors as "the heartbeat of CresPion" who provide affordable meals, the students behind the petition expressed concern for the vendors' livelihoods and the access to affordable meals on campus.

Mothership has reached out to Food Paradise for comment.

The cost increases

After interviewing various stakeholders, the students behind the petition shared a breakdown of the impending changes in monthly costs.

According to them, the CresPion Canteen vendors pay about S$3,600 a month now to the current operator.

This includes their roughly S$2,100 rent, and cleaning and management fees.

Under Food Paradise, base rent would go up to S$4,500, while cleaning and management fees would also increase.

In total, the vendors would need to pay about S$7,100 a month, as well as five per cent of their monthly sales as the Gross Turnover (GTO) sum.

On Nov. 2, NTU Financial Aid Friends posted on Instagram to share the petition, calling the cost increases on the vendors "exorbitant".

Concerns

An NTU student who has stayed in Crescent Hall for two years told Mothership she feels "a lot of injustice and sadness" for the vendors, whom she called kind and hardworking.

"I don't understand why the canteen needs a renovation, why the vendors are subjected to such a huge cost for the renovation," she said.

She highlighted the mixed rice stall where she could get a S$3.30 meal, and expressed gratitude to the vendors for maintaining affordable prices for the students.

Demands

According to the petition, CresPion Canteen offers "some of the most affordable meal options" in NTU, and students worry that the stalls would be replaced by more expensive ones due to the cost hike.

The main demands of the petition are thus for NTU's OCAS to protect the vendors' livelihoods and keep food and rental costs low.

"NTU should ensure that food on campus stays affordable," it said. "The welfare of students and workers on campus should come before profit."

The petition, which was created on Oct. 18, has received more than 1,800 signatures as of the time of writing.

NTU's statement

Responding to queries from Mothership, an NTU spokesperson said that the food court will undergo refurbishment works starting from December 2026.

It said this was due to dining facilities and food preparation areas showing signs of "age and wear".

"The refurbishment is part of our campus maintenance programme and ongoing efforts to enrich the campus experience, ensuring the facility remains safe, vibrant, comfortable, and well-equipped while providing a wide diversity of food choices for the campus community."

The spokesperson said Food Paradise was appointed as the new master operator to manage the food court following a proposal and evaluation process involving a committee of staff and student representatives from the Hall Council.

"Consistent with the practice in the F&B industry, NTU food court operators run their locations as independent businesses. Whilst NTU maintains active oversight of dining standards and the availability of affordable food options across campus, the master operator decides how best to manage the food court and sets commercial agreements directly and independently with individual stall owners."

The spokesperson said that the university prioritises keeping dining options diverse, nutritious and affordable for the students, pointing to initiatives such as benchmarking of food prices and mandatory provision of value meal options.

"Food court operators are also required to seek the University’s approval prior to price adjustments."

A 32-year-old male Chinese national was charged with allegedly offering bribes amounting to S$800 to multiple individuals at Changi Airport to gain entry into Singapore.

Zhang Yanxiong faced six charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and was charged on Nov. 5.

On Sep. 29 at Changi Airport Terminal 1, Zhang allegedly offered the bribes on six separate occasions to eight individuals.

He allegedly offered at least S$100 bribes to three Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers, a S$150 bribe to two ICA officers, a S$150 bribe to two ICA officers, and a S$150 bribe to an ICA officer.

The eight individuals were offered the money on six separate occasions.

Zhang also allegedly offered a S$150 bribe to a Certis Aviation security officer and a S$100 bribe to a customer service officer.

He apparently did so to influence the immigration clearance process to gain entry into Singapore.

The eight individuals rejected the bribes.

The case was subsequently referred to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).

If found guilty of corruptly giving or agreeing to give or offering any gratification to any agent as an inducement or reward, Zhang could face a fine of up to S$100,000 or a jail term of up to five years.

Acting Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Zaqy Mohamad will travel to Egypt in the coming weeks to discuss how Singapore can further support humanitarian assistance for those affected by the crisis in Gaza.

Zaqy, who is also Senior Minister of State for Defence, will meet Egyptian authorities and humanitarian partners during the visit.

Egypt plays a pivotal role in facilitating aid delivery into Gaza, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) said in a press release on Nov. 5.

Singapore to establish new humanitarian network

The upcoming trip follows the launch of SG for Humanity, a new national network uniting the Government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and the community to bolster relief efforts for Gaza.

The initiative was announced on Nov. 5 by Mr Zaqy, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, and Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth and Transport Baey Yam Keng.

Facilitated by MCCY, the network will initially bring together four established humanitarian partners:

- Humanity Matters

- Mercy Relief

- Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF)

- Singapore Red Cross (SRC)

While the four groups will continue to run their respective relief operations, the network will foster collaboration, identify joint opportunities, and strengthen coordination with overseas relief agencies.

It also seeks to expand avenues for the wider Singaporean public to contribute through fundraising, volunteering, and specialized skills.

To back the network's mission, the Singapore Government will assist in engaging foreign authorities and international partners to improve logistics and aid delivery corridors on the ground.

Over S$25 million in aid contributed since October 2023

Since October 2023, the Singapore Government, humanitarian organisations and the community have contributed more than S$25 million in humanitarian assistance for those affected by the crisis in Gaza.

The aid has supported essential needs including food, healthcare, clean water, shelter and education.

In 2025, the Government also provided S$1 million in seed funding, distributed equally among the four humanitarian organisations, to support their fundraising and relief efforts.

MCCY noted that further details about SG for Humanity's upcoming initiatives will be announced in due course.

A 32-year-old man filmed swimming in waters off VivoCity shopping mall on Nov. 2 night was rescued and later apprehended.

In response to Mothership's queries, the police said they received a call for assistance at 1 Harbourfront Walk at about 10:20pm.

The man was apprehended under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2008.

No injuries were reported, the police said.

Responding to Mothership's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they received a call for a water rescue at about 9:30pm.

A video posted to Facebook showed the topless man conscious, swimming and glancing back at the shore, while seemingly holding an item in his arms.

Swimming close to boardwalk

In the video, a Police Coast Guard vessel was seen with its searchlight on, scanning the waters for the man who hovered near the boardwalk.

Firefighters and police also lined the boardwalk.

The person was rescued by the Police Coast Guard using a life buoy before SCDF's arrival, said the SCDF.

SCDF assessed the person for minor injuries, and the person declined to be sent to the hospital.

Section 7 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2008 enables the police to apprehend any person believed to be a danger to themselves or others.

Helplines:

If you or someone you know are in mental distress, here are some hotlines you can call to seek help, advice, or just a listening ear:

National mindline.sg Hotline: 1771 (24 hours)

National mindline.sg WhatsApp: 66691771 (24 hours)

SOS 24-hour Hotline: 1-767

Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) announced new changes to the regulatory regime for massage establishments (ME) on Nov. 5, 2026.

Under the new regime, operators of open-concept MEs (OMEs) will no longer be exempted from licensing.

In a Facebook post on Nov. 5, Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat shared that the Housing & Development Board (HDB) has taken action on 26 cases involving vice activities across both sold and rental shops since January 2026.

This includes working with shop owners to evict errant operators and terminating the tenancy of a rental shop.

He added that the ministry will continue to work closely with SPF to "weed out such undesirable activities from our neighbourhoods".

Changes to Massage Establishments Act

In a press release, SPF said the changes will take effect from Dec. 1, 2026.

Those who wish to operate an OME must apply for a licence and undergo a fit and proper assessment before a licence may be granted, SPF said.

The applicant must also submit the relevant land planning approval from the HDB or the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for the premises to be used as an OME.

There will be a one-year grace period for existing OME operators, between Dec. 1, 2026 and Nov. 30, 2027, to transition into the new regime.

Existing OME operators may continue to operate during this grace period but must obtain a Category 3 ME licence and the requisite employee approvals by Nov. 30, 2027, or cease operations, SPF said.

Those who obtain the licence before June 1, 2027, will receive a 50 per cent licence fee concession.

In addition, all OME operators must comply with the OME requirements.

These include the following:

• Customers and members of the public must have an unobstructed view of massage services being provided at all times from both inside and outside of the premises.
• The premises must not contain rooms, partitions, cubicles, curtains or other features that would allow massage services to be provided in private.

A fireball with a long tail was seen from Singapore, streaking across the night sky on Nov. 4, 2026 night.

It was initially believed to be a meteor.

However, it has since been confirmed that the object was NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory re-entering Earth's atmosphere and burning up in the process.

The man-made space object completed a nearly 22-year mission.

NASA said the spacecraft reentered the atmosphere at 7:39am EST on Wednesday (Nov. 4), which corresponds to 8:39pm Singapore time.

It entered the atmosphere over the North Sumatra region of Indonesia.

Fireball phenomenon

A person in Singapore witnessed the fireball at around 8:40pm.

The same phenomenon was also spotted by others in Malaysia.

On social media, many Indonesians posted videos of the object burning up in the sky.

About Swift's role in science

The space telescope weighed about 1,450kg.

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory was initially designed for a two-year mission, but it far exceeded expectations by lasting over two decades in space.

Swift became an important tool in the study of gamma-ray bursts, supernovas, black holes and other cosmic phenomena, NASA said.

Launched in November 2004, Swift was designed to detect gamma-ray bursts, powerful explosions that occur throughout the universe.

Its three onboard telescopes let scientists observe cosmic events across different wavelengths, including ultraviolet, optical and X-ray light.

The telescope could swivel to focus on different sky targets in a matter of minutes, allowing it to rapidly follow up on sudden events like supernova explosions, NASA added.

NASA estimates that Swift's scientific observations have contributed to approximately 7,000 research papers.

On Nov. 3, the United States held its midterm elections, where Democrats were expected to take back the House of Representatives.

This was partly because Republican President Donald Trump was massively unpopular for a number of reasons, including tariffs, the war in Iran, and the subsequent cost-of-living crisis that worsened; it was expected that his party would be punished in the polls for it.

It is also a matter of course that the party of the U.S. president should lose seats during midterms, with there being only three exceptions in the past century.

But the scale of the losses was larger than most were expecting.

By the end of Nov. 4 (Singapore time), NBC News projected that Democrats would have around 258 seats in the House and at least 54 seats in the Senate, with two seats too close to call but with Democrats leading.

As someone who regularly writes about politics, curious friends have asked about the result, whether things like the war in Iran might be over because of the strength of the Democratic victory.

To those friends, I hope you had a good day yesterday, watching the results come in. Tomorrow is going to be tougher.

First things first: moderate expectations.

The most important thing to do tomorrow is to moderate your expectations for what’s going to happen over the next two years.

Mothership spoke to Adrian Ang, the coordinator of RSIS’s U.S. programme, just before the midterms were held on Nov. 3, and he cautioned that “basically what we’re looking at is principally gridlock for the next two years.”

“The president’s domestic agenda,” Ang said, “will face significant roadblocks.”

The "domestic agenda" portion is important as Trump faces far fewer restrictions in his foreign policy, save that a Democratic House can make it more difficult to appropriate money for some actions.

And Trump has made it clear that the way forward will be difficult, posting an image of his trademark red hat with the word "VETO" embroidered on it.

U.S. legislation that passes the House of Representatives and the Senate still requires approval from the president, who could otherwise veto the bill.

Both bodies can pass the legislation again, but would need a supermajority in both houses in order to overcome the veto: 290 votes in the House and 67 in the Senate.

So as impressive as Democratic performance in the election was, it is still not enough to surpass a presidential veto.

​But can't the Democrats impeach Trump?

​Yes, the requirement to impeach Trump, or any member of his cabinet, is a simple majority in the House: 218 votes.

​But to convict them afterwards, which then results in their removal, requires 67 votes in the Senate, so that’s unlikely to happen as well.

​Bilahari Kausikan, the former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said as much in a social media post around noon on Nov. 4, before most of the results were out.

He said that “substantive policy changes over China, Iran or tariffs are unlikely. If the Democrats take both Chambers, the main constraint on Trump will be his ability to make new appointments, a relatively inconsequential matter.”

He also warned of what I will deem point two.

“Never underestimate the capacity of the Democrats to self-destruct”

Bilahari said one should “never underestimate the capacity of the Democrats to self-destruct.”

​“A sweep of both Chambers will likely trigger a vicious internal debate over whether victory was due to ideological purity or dislike for the incumbent.”

Ang likewise warned that the Democratic leaders will now have to face two factions, their progressive and centrist wings, and that attention will have to be paid by Democratic leadership in managing what Ang called a “diverse”, “heterogeneous” coalition.

​The case of Abdul El-Sayed warns of what those fights might look like, and what they might be about, with battle lines drawn in blue and white.

El-Sayed endured a late betrayal by his Democratic primary opponent Haley Stevens, who, after much hemming and hawing over several months, surprised many by endorsing El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers.

​The Democratic Party coalesced around El-Sayed, with the consensus being that Stevens’s career in Democratic politics (she is a Representative prior to running for the Senate nomination) is over.

​But the bad blood between Stevens and El-Sayed is at least in part due to differences over support of Israel, with El-Sayed favouring cutting U.S. support, and his opponents, including Stevens, suggesting that he was anti-Semitic, and barbs were traded over donations to the Stevens campaign by pro-Israel groups.

El-Sayed and Stevens are not the only Democrats (or in Stevens's case, former Democrats) hashing it out over Israel, with a clear fracture existing between progressive and centrist Democrats which is far from being resolved.

This unity

There is no end to the number of things Democrats have traditionally been willing to tear themselves apart over, with the party disagreeing on many consequential and foundational issues, like wealth taxes  or support for law enforcement.

In fact, even where Democrats agree, the degree of support is something they have been willing to fight over in the past.

For example, one of the reasons former Democratic president Barack Obama’s endorsement of El-Sayed was so consequential was because El-Sayed had spent  years, from 2012 onward, criticising about how ineffectual Obama was, particularly on healthcare.

This was after Obama had managed to pass one of the most consequential healthcare bills in modern American history.

They disagree on so much, and so vehemently at times, it can be easy to forget how much the party has in common, and the challenge will be to focus on the things that hold the party together while their opponents try to prod them with what sets them apart.

Executive powers

Trump will also hardly be the first U.S. president to govern without the support of both houses of the legislature.

​Most recently, Barack Obama had to do so in his final two years as president when he too lost the Senate, adding to his loss of the House in the 2010 midterms.

​He governed by way of executive actions, a practice that Trump derided when he was first running for President in 2016, but turned to almost immediately upon taking office in 2017, so he will have no compunction about doing so again.

​But Trump has also offered an olive branch to the Democrats, suggesting that he was willing to work with them, even complimenting them for having "fought hard” during the midterms.

​Trump is capable of bipartisan governance, shown most notably in 2020, when he initiated Operation Warp Speed, the fast-tracking of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Republicans lost, Democrats did not win

What might drive the Democrats to the bargaining table is the knowledge that they didn’t really win the midterms; the Republicans lost.

Democratic popularity is only marginally better than the Republicans; according to RealClearPolling, there is literally just about two percentage points between them.

Both parties’ unfavourability ratings are in the mid-50s, with the Democrats squeaking ahead by less than two percentage points.

This view is borne out in the AP Voter Poll, as reported by PBS.

The poll highlights anger at Trump and the Republicans, particularly over inflation, tariffs, the Iran war, and corruption, as well as the fact that favourability for Democrats was barely higher than that of the Republicans.

Two in 10 said neither party was better equipped to deal with issues like economy, foreign policy, healthcare, taxes, and immigration.

If Democrats, and Republicans for that matter, hope to turn things around in time for the 2028 presidential elections, their main priority will be to bring about meaningful policy that helps their constituents.

The politics of strength

​And, in a perverse way, the Democrats might be in a good spot to do this.

Critics of Trump often accuse him of practising the politics of strength rather than any actual ideological position, displaying this in his admiration for strong leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping…

… and Zohran Mamdani, the leftist Mayor of New York City.

When the pair met in 2025 after Mamdani had spent months lambasting Trump, many expected fireworks.

But Trump appeared complimentary of Mamdani, and the pair have been able to work together to some degree.

Mamdani's pitch of a US$21 billion federally funded housing project in New York City is reportedly being favourably considered, although not yet approved.

Trump even recently said that Mamdani was "off to a start" to being a great mayor in the same week he was decrying other Democrats as "communist", and Mamdani's high approval ratings probably help.

​So if Trump respects strength, then there are few parties that look stronger now in the U.S. than the Democrats, warts and all.

​So while it might be that we should not mistake what is possible for what is likely, it is by no means a call to expect nothing.

As we said, moderate expectations.