Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/briefing/midterm-election-results-russia-kherson.html

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Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Wednesday.

1. Control of Congress remains in play, as parties await results in swing states.

Republicans are close to securing a narrow House majority. But control over both chambers of Congress remains uncertain, after Democrats defied historical odds in yesterday’s midterm elections and stopped an anticipated “red wave” from materializing. Results will continue to trickle in over the next few days: Follow along for more election results and live updates.

“It was a good day for democracy and I think a good day for America,” President Biden said this afternoon during which he added that he planned to run for re-election but would make a final decision early next year.

Control of the Senate will be determined by tightly contested races in Arizona and Nevada, which are still counting mail ballots, and in Georgia, where a runoff will be held on Dec. 6, after none of the candidates there were able to secure a majority of the votes. If either party wins two of the races, it would have a majority in the chamber.

In the House, control will be decided by more than two dozen competitive races that have yet to be called. With Republicans expected to finish ahead, Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, already announced his bid for speaker.

2. Democratic candidates across the country were lifted by the issue of abortion rights.

The issue, which became central after the Supreme Court removed the constitutional right to abortion, appears to have been decisive in many battlegrounds.

Voters in Michigan, California and Vermont chose to enshrine abortion protections in their state constitutions. In Kentucky, where abortion is currently banned, voters rejected an amendment that would have said that there is no constitutional right to the procedure.

In other ballot measures, Maryland and Missouri voted to legalize recreational marijuana, and similar efforts were defeated in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.

3. Democrats and Biden beat expectations. They now face new challenges.

Biden appears to have had the best midterm performance of any president in 20 years, with his party avoiding the enormous House losses of his predecessors and flipping a key Senate seat in Pennsylvania.

Democrats also prevailed against Republican opponents who, to varying degrees, had campaigned on overhauling elections in ways that would have both benefited their party and called into question their commitment to democratic outcomes. Still, the results fell short of being a nationwide backlash against Republican election deniers.

With Republicans favored to take control of the House, Biden faces two years of gridlock and hostility in Congress. And without any clear path to legislative action, much of the president’s agenda could be stalled.

4. Ron DeSantis proved to be the Republicans’ biggest bright spot.

In an election seen by some as a repudiation of candidates associated with Donald Trump, one of his onetime patrons who is now an emerging rival offered Republicans their most significant win of the night. DeSantis, Florida’s governor, managed to flip the Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade County en route to a clear re-election victory over his Democratic opponent.

Elsewhere the party’s results were mixed. In Ohio and North Carolina, two Republicans cruised to important Senate victories, and in New York, a Republican challenger defeated Sean Patrick Maloney, the chairman of the House Democrats’ campaign arm. But a variety of factors stopped the Republicans from coming away with the “red wave” they had wanted.

5. Russia says it is retreating from Kherson, in a major potential blow to Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s defense minister announced the retreat from the strategically important southern city on television.

A full departure from Kherson — the first major city to fall to Russian forces — would be a watershed moment in Ukraine’s campaign to reclaim territory. But Ukraine’s military has warned that Russia could be feigning a retreat in hopes of drawing Ukraine into urban combat.

In other news from Russia, Brittney Griner, the American basketball star who has been jailed in the country since February, is being transferred to a penal colony, according to her lawyers.

6. Tropical Storm Nicole strikes the Bahamas and strengthens as it heads for Florida.

The storm’s center is expected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in Florida by late tonight or early tomorrow morning, before sweeping into Georgia by the end of Thursday. Florida declared a state of emergency and warned its residents to expect strong winds and flooding. Follow our updates live.

Nicole made landfall in the Bahamas just before noon with winds up to 70 miles per hour. Videos showed significant flooding in the streets.

In other climate news, because of a growing population and a warming planet, Jordan is running out of water.

Also, John Kerry, the top U.S. climate negotiator, has met at least three times with his Chinese counterpart at this year’s U.N. climate summit.

7. The collapse of a major cryptocurrency exchange puts the entire industry on edge.

Over the last two days, a dramatic shift happened in the world of crypto: Sam Bankman-Fried, who was heralded as a formidable leader in the industry, was essentially forced to seek a buyer for his massive cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, at a steep discount in order to prevent a liquidity crisis. Its rival, Binance, said yesterday that it had reached a deal to buy FTX, but Binance pulled out of the deal this afternoon.

Within the crypto world, FTX’s collapse is being referred to as the industry’s “Lehman moment” — a reference to the collapse of the firm in 2008 that set off a global financial panic.

In other business news, Meta, the company behind Facebook, said it had laid off more than 11,000 workers in the company’s most significant job cuts since it launched.

8. Steven Spielberg’s latest film examines a subject he has never tackled: himself.

Spielberg’s movie, “The Fabelmans,” which arrives in theaters this week, is a disarmingly, at times painfully intimate movie about a family closely modeled on the Spielbergs. It tells the story of an unraveling marriage and confronts what it means to be Jewish in America. Spielberg spoke to our film critic A.O. Scott about making a movie about his life alongside his collaborator Tony Kushner.

“Tony did a good job in giving me the kind of comfort I needed when we were tapping into moments in my life, secrets between myself and my mother that I was never ever, ever going to talk about,” Spielberg said. “We got into those tender trenches.”

What to watch: The annual Country Music Association Awards are on tonight at 8 p.m. Here’s what else is on television this week.

9. A shareable cheese board is just a few steps away.

As the weather cools down and gatherings of family and friends are pushed indoors, an easy and appealing snack to offer guests is a cheese plate.

To make it, grab three cheeses: one hard like Cheddar, one semisoft like Camembert and one fresher option like goat cheese. With toasted baguette slices and a handful of pecans and grapes, you’ll have a ready-to-eat appetizer.

For a dessert, consider pumpkin-butterscotch custard or mini oatmeal-cranberry whoopie pies. (Both are good alternatives to traditional pies for Thanksgiving.)

10. And finally, consider regifting this year.

Passing along a holiday gift to someone else has long been considered a taboo. But if you’re able to get that present in the hands of someone who would appreciate it more than you, regifting can be a good thing — and can reduce waste.

That’s just one of more than a dozen frequently asked gifting questions we answered as holiday season approaches and anxiety about gifts begins to increase. One other tip: Ask someone what they would like instead of guessing.

Have a present night.

Hannah Yoon compiled photos for this briefing.

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