Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s headlines. If you’d like to receive this briefing by email, sign up here.
Top story: huge Latino turnout means record representation
Latino turnout increased by 174% at the 2018 midterms, according to Democrats, who have credited the party’s $30m investment in minority voter engagement with a surge in Hispanic congressional representation. From January, there will be a record number of Hispanic lawmakers on Capitol Hill, with at least 34 Democrats and eight Republicans across both chambers.
End results. A week after the midterms, the results are coming into clearer focus, with Democrats on track to pick up more than 35 House seats and the Republicans’ projected net gains in the Senate downgraded to no more than two.
Florida recounts. Democrats have warned Donald Trump to “stop lying” about the results in Florida, where acrimonious senate and gubernatorial election recounts are set to conclude on Thursday.
Melania calls for firing of senior White House aide
A top White House adviser, Mira Ricardel, is thought to be on her way out of the administration after clashing with the first lady, Melania Trump, who has taken the rare step of publicly calling for her dismissal. Melania’s communications director said in a statement that it was “the position of the Office of the First Lady that [Ricardel] no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House”.
Seating arrangements. Ricardel, who has served as the deputy US national security adviser since April, reportedly feuded with the first lady’s staff over the seating arrangements on their plane during a recent foreign tour.
California’s wildfire death toll rises to 50
Authorities in northern California have reported six more deaths from the Camp fire, taking the death toll from the state’s deadliest ever wildfire to 48. Two people have also died in the Woolsey fire near Los Angeles, increasing the statewide toll to 50. More than 200 people are still missing, while many survivors are suffering so-called “evacuation fatigue” after fleeing fires up to five times in two years.
Fire starter. Fire expert Matthew Hurteau explains why Trump was wrong to blame the wildfires on “poor forest management”.
Natural response. The scientists Alistair Smith and Crystal Kolden say we can learn lessons from nature in how to prevent wildfires and protect ourselves from their consequences.
G20 politicians prioritise fossil fuels over climate, report finds
Politicians are still paying greater heed to the fossil fuel industry than to advice from climate scientists, according to a report by Climate Transparency, which found that all but one of the G20 nations were way off course in tackling the causes of climate change. George Monbiot argues that only radical action can save the planet from a climate “death spiral”.
Nuclear fallout A group of US scientists has warned that the scheduled closure of many nuclear plants risks increasing greenhouse gas emissions if their power output is replaced by coal and gas.
Birds and words The acclaimed author – and devoted birdwatcher – Jonathan Franzen tells Oliver Milman that climate change is far from the only factor in the global decline of bird species.
Crib sheet
The much-anticipated trial of the Mexican cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has begun at last in New York.
Canada registered a sixfold increase in the number of US citizens seeking asylum in 2017, a spike apparently fuelled by people’s fears of deportation by the Trump administration.
Bangladesh has moved troops into its border refugee camps amid fears that Rohingya refugees are to be forced to return to Myanmar against their will.
Representatives for the K-pop band BTS have offered “sincere apologies” after photographs emerged showing one band member wearing a Nazi-inspired hat, and another in a T-shirt apparently celebrating the atomic bombings of Japan.
Listen to Today in Focus: the plastics conspiracy
Stephen Buranyi tells Anushka Asthana the world has woken up to the danger posed by single-use plastics to the environment. But consumer pressure is not enough to clean up decades of waste.
Must-reads
How Trump’s presidency has divided Jewish America
The recent murder of 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh was immediately linked to a stark rise in antisemitism under the Trump administration. Yet some Jews have hailed Trump for his support of Israel. Ed Vulliamy finds America’s Jewish community is just as divided as the rest of the country.
Quiet cleavage and the downfall of the push-up bra
Profits are way down at Victoria’s Secret as the lingerie brand contends with changing tastes in cleavage. The “scaffolded” bust is out of fashion, writes Jess Cartner-Morley, while a more natural décolletage is in vogue – and in Vogue.
The truth about time management
It was parenthood that forced the productivity expert Julie Morgenstern to get organised. Can she teach Zoe Williams to conquer chaos and manage her time more effectively?
The legendary promoters of rock
In 2005, the concert promoter Frank Barsalona was awarded a rare “lifetime achievement” honor by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Little known beyond the music world, Barsalona is arguably the man who created the modern rock tour, as a new documentary reveals.
Opinion
Amazon is building new HQs in New York City and Washington DC, two of the country’s wealthiest, most liberal cities. Robert Reich says the decision exposes America’s political and economic divides – and threatens to widen them ever further.
Relative to these booming mega-cities, America’s heartland is becoming older, less educated and poorer … on one side, mega-urban clusters centered around technologies of the future; on the other, great expanses of relatively open space inhabited by people left behind.
Sport
The NFL has moved the forthcoming Rams-Chiefs clash from Mexico City to Los Angeles, six days before the game, because the field at the Azteca Stadium was deemed not to meet “NFL standards for playability and consistency”.
Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, the world’s two top-ranked chess players, are still deadlocked in their world championship match after a fourth straight draw, but there was controversy away from the board on Tuesday as a clip of Caruana’s secretive preparations was apparently leaked to YouTube.
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