Good morning. It's Tuesday, Nov. 8, and we're covering Election Day in the US, a sweeping power outage in southern Ukraine, and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.
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Millions of voters across the US will cast ballots today in one of the most highly anticipated midterm elections in recent years. Polls suggest the final weeks of campaigning were defined by a shift in momentum toward Republicans, driven by persistent inflation and economic concerns. Some projections give the GOP a 55% chance of winning the Senate and more than an 80% chance of retaking the House. See final polls here.
Early voting across the US has surpassed the levels seen four years ago, with more than 43 million early votes cast—roughly 20 million ballots were submitted in person, with 23 million mail ballots collected so far. Early voting varies by state; see a breakdown here.
The cycle has also shattered records for the most amount of money poured into races, at more than $16B. See the top individual donors, and where the money went, here.
Historically, the party that holds the White House averages a loss of 28 House seats and four Senate seats during midterm cycles. See a visualization of midterm outcomes under each president dating back to Harry Truman. Presidential approval ratings are often viewed as a bellwether for electoral outcomes; President Joe Biden enters the day with net ratings below 50% in 45 states.
Some contests may not be called until later in the week—here's when we should know the outcome of the races in every state. |
The Russian-occupied city of Kherson lost power over the weekend for the first time since Russia took control of the region. Russian-installed authorities said they are working on restoring power and blamed the outage on a “terrorist attack” by Ukrainian forces damaging power lines.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned residents to be prepared for another round of attacks on its energy infrastructure by Russia's Iranian-supplied drones. Russian strikes have destroyed about a third of the country’s power stations over the past month, and nearly 4.5 million civilians are without power.
The news comes after Russia ordered civilians out of Kherson in anticipation of a Ukrainian counteroffensive to recapture the city. Ukraine has retaken around 13% of territory previously held by Russian forces, and clashes between the two forces over the next three weeks is expected to determine control of the region.
Separately, Ukraine accused Russian troops of looting and occupying empty homes in Kherson. |
Spyware Scandal in Greece |
Greece's government announced yesterday it would ban the sale of spyware, the latest move amid a wiretapping scandal enveloping Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' government. The announcement follows weekend reports claiming over 30 public individuals' phones were infected by a spyware program overseen by the government, reports Mitsotakis denied yesterday.
After July security checks revealed opposition leader Nikos Androulakis had been spied on by Greek intelligence last year, Mitsotakis fired two officials and claimed he had not been aware of the espionage. Out of national security concerns, the prime minister withheld the government's rationale for the wiretap, prompting calls for a deeper investigation from both Greek politicians as well as the European Union.
The scandal in Greece comes amid broader European concerns over the use of spyware against high-ranking officials, a year after at least 14 sovereign leaders' phones were targeted by Pegasus, a military-grade spy technology. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
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> Jimmy Kimmel tapped to host 95th Academy Awards (March 12, ABC); will be Kimmel's third time as Oscars host (More) |
> Actress Leah Remini alleges Scientology plot against director Paul Haggis during testimony at Haggis' sexual assault civil trial (More) | Duran Duran founding member Andy Taylor reveals stage 4 cancer diagnosis (More) |
> Fenway Sports Group, owners of the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Penguins, to sell English Premier League's Liverpool, currently valued at $4.4B (More) |
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> Annual UN climate change summit, known as COP27, holds keynote speeches; countries agree to discuss compensation by industrialized countries to poorer nations for climate change-linked damages (More) |
> Scientists discover yeast cells release a toxin that kills neighboring cells, including its own clones, when food sources are scarce; marks the first time such behavior has been observed in single-celled organisms (More) |
> Earliest known gibbon fossil discovered in southern China; 7-million-year-old specimen fills in key gap in early primate evolution (More) |
🚀 Have you signed up for 1440's Knowledge Hub email? Every day we come across dozens of fascinating podcasts, videos, visualizations, and more which don't make it into the daily digest. Get a wrap-up of our favorites each week, delivered to your inbox every Sunday. Sign up for the Knowledge Hub email here.
In the meantime, you've probably heard about the imminent 5G wireless revolution—but what does that really mean? Check out this quick overview of 5G, what it is, and how it works. |
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> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +1.0%, Dow +1.3%, Nasdaq +0.9%) ahead of today’s midterm elections (More) |
> VillageMD—Walgreens-backed primary care provider—to acquire urgent care provider Summit Health in $9B deal (More) |
> US Justice Department seized 50,000 Bitcoin, once worth over $3B, from Georgia man who pleaded guilty to stealing the cryptocurrency from Silk Road market in 2012 (More) |
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> China records six-month high in COVID-19 cases, reporting more than 5,500 in a single day; widespread restrictions continue amid reports officials are reconsidering "zero-COVID" policy (More) |
> Kremlin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin admits past attempts to influence US elections, the first such public acknowledgment by a Russian oligarch or official; Prigozhin runs the Wagner mercenary group, among other organizations (More) |
> Hurricane watch issued for Florida's east coast as Subtropical Storm Nicole is projected to develop into a hurricane, reach state Thursday (More) | See trajectory (More) |
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> Do Politics Make Us Irrational?
TED | Jay Van Bavel. How intense partisanship can shape our ability to logically process information, even for the most rational among us. (Watch)
> The Master of Disguise
Global News | Jackson Proskow, Brennan Leffler. A former CIA operative who concealed identities of spies—including himself—during the Cold War now uses his skills to help disfigured people. (Read) |
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