By Julia Harte and Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Crime dominated the debate between New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Lee Zeldin on Tuesday, as polls indicate Zeldin has leveraged the issue to narrow the gap against the Democratic incumbent ahead of the Nov. 8 election.

The state’s majority Democratic electorate has not chosen a Republican governor since 2002. But recent public opinion polls show Zeldin is gaining on Hochul, prompting the governor to put new focus on public safety in the final weeks of her campaign. Early voting starts in four days.

Zeldin declared the state was “in crisis,” citing crime, the economy and other issues, while ramping up criticism of policies Hochul has supported, such as eliminating cash bail for non-violent felonies and most misdemeanors.

“There are criminals out there who need to pay the consequences for their action, instead of the catch and release policies that Kathy Hochul champions,” said Zeldin, a U.S. representative from Long Island.

Hochul, the state’s former lieutenant governor who took office last year after Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned over sexual harassment accusations, turned the crime debate to the Republican’s expansive view of gun rights over gun control.

“It is a joke to talk about a crime policy that doesn’t include doing something about illegal guns,” Hochul said.

“No more school massacres by teenagers. Let’s have background checks. Let’s have safety checks. Let’s do it smart. You are nowhere to be found.”

Hochul is still projected to win, and some polls showed her ahead by more than 20 percentage points as recently as this summer. But as Zeldin called attention to some sensational crimes on the New York City subway system, her lead dwindled to single digits in some mid-October polls. Quinnipiac University and SurveyUSA showed her leading by just four and six points, respectively.

While the economy remains the top priority for the biggest share of voters, 5% have continuously ranked crime or corruption as the most important problem facing the United States today, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling from late September to late October.

Hochul’s campaign previously focused on attacking Zeldin’s ties to Republican former U.S. President Donald Trump, warning that Zeldin would roll back abortion rights in New York if elected.

She has emphasized public safety more in recent days, releasing an ad on Friday that pledged “a safer New York for every child” and appearing with New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday to announce a surge in the police presence in the city’s subway system.

(Reporting by Julia Harte in New York and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, Calif.; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Josie Kao)

By Byron Kaye and Harshita Swaminathan

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian No. 2 grocer Coles Group Ltd flagged climate change as its next big operational challenge on Wednesday as floods pushed up prices in the first quarter, lifting sales revenue but squeezing the farming supply chain.

The commentary shows one of the country’s biggest companies acknowledging that extreme weather events will likely become more common as the planet warms.

Australia’s east coast, home to four-fifths of the population, has endured floods through 2022 that Treasurer Jim Chalmers said were disrupting livelihoods and pushing up the cost of living when he delivered the federal budget on Tuesday.

Coles said supermarket sales rose 2.3% in the three months to end-September, helped by price inflation of 7.1%, nearly double the previous quarter’s 4.3%, and added that prices would rise further due to flooding.

“We’re very alert to the (fact) that the climate is changing, and we’re doing a lot of work around how do we secure supply better, to manage our way through these various things that will … continue to happen over the next 10 years,” Coles CEO Steven Cain told analysts on a call.

So far, most disruption brought by floods was related to access to farms rather than destroying entire crops, but Cain said it was not clear what the quality of the fruit would be.

Total comparable sales revenue, which include liquor and a chain of service station stores that Coles sold during the quarter, came in at A$10.2 billion ($6.52 billion), up 1.8%.

Coles shares fell 3% by mid-session, against a flat overall market, as analysts weighed the impact of inflation, which economists also blame on soaring energy prices, on profit growth.

The end of pandemic-era stockpiling had likely contributed to declining sales volumes but “trading down is likely contributing to this as well,” Ord Minett analysts wrote in a note, referring to buying cheaper products.

Shares of larger rival Woolworths Group Ltd, which reports September quarter sales on Nov. 3, were also down 3%. At its annual meeting, Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci said inflation remained a concern and the company expected the operating environment to remain challenging.

With Australian inflation at a 32-year high of 7.3% in the September quarter, Coles CEO Cain said cost of living pressures were changing customer behaviour, with lower-income shoppers buying less fresh produce and more canned goods, and “catering in bulk” to reduce food waste.

($1 = 1.5662 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Byron Kaye in Sydney and Harshita Swaminathan and Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Jamie Freed)

By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House on Tuesday welcomed moves taken by Saudi Arabia to help Ukraine in its war with Russia as President Joe Biden ponders how tough to be against the Saudis for joining an oil output cut.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden and his team would take their time in assessing what consequences Saudi Arabia should face for an Oct. 12 decision by Saudi-led OPEC+ to cut oil output.

Biden, worried that gasoline prices will spike ahead of Nov. 8 congressional elections, has warned the Saudis will face consequences for siding with Russia and agreeing to cut output. Some lawmakers want the United States to suspend arms sales to the longtime Middle Eastern ally.

Since the OPEC+ decision, Saudi Arabia’s representative to the United Nations has condemned Russia’s annexation of four regions inside Ukraine.

“We’ve taken note since the OPEC+ cut that Saudi Arabia voted against Russia at the United Nations and also pledged $4 million to support Ukraine’s reconstruction and humanitarian needs,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.

The White House has given no timeline for completing a policy review on Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said at a forum in Riyadh that his country and the United States will get over their “unwarranted” spat, highlighting long-standing corporate and institutional ties.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Editing by Mark Porter and Cynthia Osterman)