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Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s headlines. If you’d like to receive this briefing by email, sign up here.

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Top story: Blue wave sweeps the House, GOP holds the Senate

The Democrats have taken back the House, while the Republicans tightened their grip on the Senate. Perhaps the only people who could plausibly claim outright victory after Tuesday’s midterms are the pollsters, although that didn’t stop Donald Trump from trying it. Here are some of the key takeaways from election night.

With the so-called “blue wave” sweeping Democrats into Congress on a projected popular vote margin of more than 7%, the US’s constitutional checks and balances will be somewhat restored, Trump’s power checked, and his tax returns potentially subpoenaed. But it was still a disappointing night for many Democrats. Beto O’Rourke came close – but not close enough – to unseating Ted Cruz in Texas, while Andrew Gillum was not elected Florida’s first black governor.

Winning women. Female candidates won in record numbers across the US, including 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, and Ayanna Pressley, the first black House member from Massachusetts.

Voting rights. Florida has passed a ballot measure restoring the voting rights of former felons, the state’s largest expansion of voting rights in decades. Next door in Georgia, gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams is in a photo finish with Republican Brian Kemp, despite Kemp’s alleged voter-suppression efforts.

Big beasts. The conservative champion and sometime Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker lost his bid for a third term as Wisconsin governor. In the Kansas gubernatorial contest, Trump ally Kris Kobach was defeated by Democrat Laura Kelly. Meanwhile Mitt Romney will be moving to Washington after he was elected US senator for Utah.

Russia facing stricter sanctions over Skripal poisoning

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Zizzi’s Salisbury restaurant has reopened, eight months after the Skripals dined there before their poisoning. Photograph: Matt Alexander/PA

The US state department has said Russia will be subjected to a second round of “more draconian” sanctions over the Skripal poisoning, after Moscow failed to prove it had ended its chemical weapons programme. A first round of sanctions was imposed in August, in response to Russian intelligence agents’ use of the novichok nerve agent to poison the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the British city of Salisbury.

Sanctions menu. The state department did not specify what sanctions would be imposed, but President Trump is expected to choose three options from a menu of six, including restrictions on bank loans and downgrading diplomatic relations.

Boeing to issue advice on 737 Max jets after Lion Air crash

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Family members of the Lion Air crash victims visit the crash site near Jakarta. Photograph: Donal Husni/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock

Boeing is offering advice to airlines on how to deal with erroneous cockpit readings aboard its 737 Max jet following the Lion Air crash in Indonesia last week, in which 189 people were killed. The FAA is also planning to issue safety warnings about potentially unreliable flight-control software on the aircraft, after black box data from the crashed Lion Air plane revealed an airspeed indicator had been damaged for its previous four flights.

Other airlines. Among the other airlines to fly the 737 Max are Canada’s WestJet and SilkAir, an offshoot of Singapore Airlines.

Crib sheet

The Russian oligarch who bought a Florida mansion from Donald Trump has been detained by police in Monaco as part of an investigation into corruption and influence peddling, Le Monde newspaper has reported.

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America organisation is suing the Boy Scouts of America for trademark infringement, after the latter dropped the word “boy” from its program name and announced it would welcome older girls.

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan is reportedly developing a feature film, Greenbrier, which will be “set in the existing Breaking Bad franchise”.

Footage has been released of the world’s longest train wreck: a 2km-long runaway iron ore train that travelled 57 miles (92km) through remote Western Australia with no one on board before it was deliberately derailed.

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Can a traumatised child grow into a happy adult? Illustration: Nathalie Lees

Can people be saved from a terrible childhood?

Researchers in the US have created a parenting programme for carers of young children who have already experienced abuse, neglect or conflict. Lauren Zanolli learns how traumatised infants can be raised into happy, healthy adults.

The incredible true story of the fastest woman in the world

In 1976, Kitty O’Neil drove a three-wheeled rocket car called the Motivator into the history books at 512.710mph, setting a women’s land-speed record that still stands. Pamela Hutchinson recalls the remarkable life of the legendary stuntwoman, who died last week.

A Kindertransport survivor tells his story, 80 years later

Bernd Koschland and his sister escaped from Nazi Bavaria to England on the Kindertransport in 1939. He never saw his mother and father again. Eight decades on, he tells Stephen Moss: “I’m thankful that my parents sent me away to carry on living.”

Ballet is broken, but Misty Copeland knows how to fix it

She’s the trailblazing black ballerina who advised Barack Obama and toured with Prince. Now Misty Copeland is dancing in Disney’s latest movie and swapping ideas with Spike Lee. She tells Lyndsey Winship that ballet has to “evolve with the times”.

Opinion

David Attenborough is the most trusted man in Britain. But by downplaying the environmental crisis in his new BBC series, George Monbiot says he is betraying that trust – and the natural world he loves.

The cameras reassure us that there are vast tracts of wilderness in which wildlife continues to thrive. They cultivate complacency, not action.

Sport

Jurgen Klopp has warned his Liverpool team they must improve if they hope to advance in the Champions League, after a 2-0 loss at Red Star Belgrade, their third consecutive away defeat in Europe.

Elsewhere in the Champions League, Barcelona made it through to the last 16 despite a draw at Inter, while Harry Kane kept Tottenham’s European ambitions alive with two late goals against PSV.

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