Good morning.
Joe Biden hailed “a good day” for democracy after Democrats defied history and outperformed expectations in the midterm elections, leaving control of Congress on a knife-edge.
With ballots still being counted, Democrats were hopeful about holding the Senate, though the outcome of the tight races in Arizona and Nevada were still uncertain yesterday evening and another key race in Georgia was heading to a runoff. Democrats need to win two of those seats to maintain Senate control.
Republicans, meanwhile, felt they were on course to win the House – but by a much narrower margin than widely predicted.
“We had an election yesterday – it was a good day, I think, for democracy,” Biden told reporters at the White House. “And I think it was a good day for America.”
The president added: “While the press and the pundits are predicting a giant red wave, it didn’t happen … Democrats had a strong night.”
Who will have control of the Senate? Control of the Senate was still up in the air this morning as several hotly contested seats remained uncalled and the fierce race between Georgia’s Democratic incumbent senator, Raphael Warnock, and his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, moved to a runoff.
Who was the midterms biggest loser? He wasn’t on any ballot but Donald Trump is widely seen as the night’s biggest loser as so many of his endorsed candidates failed and he was being blamed by members of his own party for the failure of the Republicans’ anticipated “red wave”.
Where can I see the full live results of the congressional midterms? You can view them here, seat by seat.
World’s biggest carmakers to build 400m more vehicles than 1.5C climate target will allow
The world’s biggest carmakers plan to build about 400m more diesel and petrol cars than what is sustainable to contain global heating, a study has found.
Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), the University of Applied Sciences of the Industry in Bergisch Gladbach and Greenpeace Germany compared the rate at which the world needed to embrace zero-emission vehicles with the rate at which major car companies were planning to produce various models.
The report, which focused on 12 carmakers globally, showed popular brands such as Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai/Kia were on track to make far more petrol and diesel cars than is sustainable if the world is to limit global heating to the Paris climate agreement target of 1.5C.
Researchers calculated the global carbon budget – how much carbon the world can still emit and remain within a 1.5C envelope – using a climate model developed by UTS and came up with a figure of 53Gt.
What about electric cars? Carmakers are shifting towards electric vehicles, with some companies planning to stop manufacturing petrol engines, some as soon as 2025, but millions of diesel and petrol cars are set to be made in the meantime. Sven Teske, an associate professor at UTS and co-author of the report, said the research showed there was a need for a global ban on new petrol vehicles beyond 2030.
US estimates 200,000 military casualties on all sides in Ukraine war
The US’s top general has estimated that 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Ukraine, and that Kyiv’s armed forces have probably had a similar level of casualties in the war.
Gen Mark Milley also suggested that as many as 40,000 Ukrainian civilians had been killed after being caught up in the conflict.
The figures provided by Milley, which could not be independently confirmed, are the most precise to date from the US government more than eight months into the war. His remarks offer the highest US estimate of casualties in the nearly nine-month conflict to date, and come as Ukraine and Russia face a potential winter lull in fighting that experts say could offer an opportunity for some kind of negotiations.
“You are looking at well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded,” Milley said in remarks at the Economic Club of New York. “Same thing probably on the Ukrainian side.”
What else is happening in Ukraine? Here’s what we know on day 260 of the invasion.
In other news …
Vladimir Putin will not attend a gathering of leaders from the G20 nations in Bali next week, Indonesian and Russian officials confirmed on Thursday, ending weeks of speculation about a possible confrontation with Joe Biden.
Progressives had a lot to smile about yesterday after many of their preferred candidates won crucial races in the midterm elections. House progressives held on in closely fought races and appeared poised to expand their ranks, even as control of the lower chamber remained up for grabs.
A longtime Pennsylvania state representative was re-elected in a landslide – even though he died last month. The Democrat Tony DeLuca was the choice in more than 85% of votes cast. His victory has triggered a special election that will be held on a later date.
The Taliban have banned Afghan women from entering the capital’s public parks and funfairs, months after ordering access to be segregated by gender. The new rule, introduced this week, further squeezes women out of an ever-shrinking public space.
Elon Musk sought to reassure advertisers on Twitter that his chaotic takeover of the social media platform would not harm their brands. But his effort came amid “blue check” verification chaos, and an acknowledgment from Musk that some “dumb things” might happen as he transforms the company.
Stat of the day: Biggest art sale in history as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s collection fetches $1.5bn
Dozens of works by artists including Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh fetched a total of $1.5bn at an auction of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s vast collection of paintings and sculpture. The total represented the highest amount ever collected at a single art auction, according to the auction house, Christie’s in New York. Proceeds will be donated to philanthropic causes in accordance with the wishes of Allen, who died in 2018. Allen personally selected all the works, which span more than 500 years, rather than relying on an art buyers to pick them out as some billionaires do.
Don’t miss this: Would you have your legs broken to make yourself taller? The men who go through hell for a little extra height
A couple of years ago, Lewis paid a surgeon tens of thousands of pounds to break his legs and make them longer. He knew it would be a risky, painful procedure. But he also knew that, all being well, he would come out of it about three inches (7.6cm) taller. “The day before the surgery I started to get really nervous,” says Lewis. “But this is what I really wanted.” He’s not alone. Demand for cosmetic leg lengthening, also known as stature lengthening, is on the rise, particularly among young men. Yet there is also concern. What does it say about a society that potentially vulnerable people are lining up for major surgery?
Climate check: Whose job is it to save the planet?
In November last year, the world’s gaze focused on Glasgow at Cop26 as “a historic, collective achievement” was forged between 200 countries: the Glasgow climate pact. Since then, global events have threatened this commitment to limiting climate destruction, and the hopes of “keeping 1.5 alive” have been dashed. We followed the award-winning Guardian environment correspondent Fiona Harvey as she prepared for Cop27 in Egypt, asking presidents, global leaders, activists and scientists if global diplomacy is enough to save humanity from the brink of annihilation.
Last Thing: Video captures rare giant octopus encounter
A recent viral encounter between a diver and an octopus has highlighted the particular magic of the sunken kelp forests off the coast of British Columbia. When Andrea Humphreys and her friends slipped into the waters, they wanted to see an enigmatic local: the giant Pacific octopus. They got more than they bargained for when a curious cephalopod drew closer and closer to them until it fully embraced Humphreys. For the next 40 minutes, the octopus stayed close by, inspecting her dive equipment and taking a particular interest in her camera. “It kept changing the lights on my camera system and fiddling with it,” she said.
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