Wednesday briefing: US midterm results put brake on Trump

Democrats win House but ‘blue wave’ absent … stabbings prompt call to stagger school finish times … and the ballerina breaking boundaries

Hello, it’s Warren Murray ensuring you are fully informed this morning.

Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives after the US midterm elections, with the Senate remaining in the hands of the Republicans who are on track to increase their majority in the upper house. Our live coverage continues this morning. The changeover in the House is significant because Democrats will have the ability to investigate Donald Trump – including the power to subpoena the administration and go after his tax returns – as well as frustrating his agenda. Nancy Pelosi, set to return to the role of House speaker, said Democrats would use their newly won majority to pursue a bipartisan agenda for a country that has had “enough of division”. She received a congratulatory call from Donald Trump.

Among notable victories, the Republicans’ Ted Cruz is still senator for Texas after seeing off a challenge by the insurgent Beto O’Rourke of the Democrats. Mitt Romney – the former Republican presidential candidate, Massachusetts governor and Trump critic – has been elected senator for his home state of Utah. The midterm campaign has featured a diverse field of history-making candidates, a number of whom are now bound for office. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat, has become the youngest woman elected to the House by winning the 14th congressional district of New York. Two Democrats, Sylvia Garcia, from Houston, and Veronica Escobar, from El Paso, have become the first Hispanic women from Texas to be elected to the House.

Source: TheGuardian

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