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Wednesday 4 November 2026
In your briefing today:
US President Donald Trump has seen his Republican Party take a rout in midterm elections across the US
Amid all the noise, the US may also have made a hugely significant shift in its policy towards Israel, cutting funding to its ally
The Rosebank oilfield could be approved without breaching the UK’s emissions targets
Why did a fishing boat suddenly vanish off the Isle of Lewis?
Scotland head coach Sebastien Pocognoli has named his squad
TODAY’S WEATHER
THE BIG STORIES
Voters deliver a stunning rebuke to Trump | Rosebank won’t breach targets | Celebrity loses High Court bid
📣 Voters in the United States have delivered a stunning rebuke to President Donald Trump, with the Democratic Party enjoying sweeping gains across the country that will see them take control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Their gains appear likely to exceed even the giddiest Democratic expectations.
At send time, the Democrats were 53/42 up in the Senate, with 30 of 35 races counted. In the House, they were up 224/133, with 357 of 435 seats counted. (Guardian)
Through the US evening, Republican heartland seats flipped one after the other - most dramatically in Texas, where James Talarico defeated Trump and Musk-backed Ken Paxton - but also in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North and South Carolina and Ohio.
In a phone call to Fox News, made just after midnight Eastern time (5am UK), President Trump congratulated his Democratic Party opponents, was critical of his Republican colleagues and said he would accept the results.
Live coverage: BBC | CNN | New York Times | London Times
Trump is dealt a historic repudiation (Washington Post)
In an interview, Donald Trump admitted the wildl unpopular Iran war was partly to blame for Republican losses (WSJ has the exclusive)
Reports and key moments, later in today’s briefing ⬇️
📣 The Rosebank oilfield could be approved without breaching the UK’s emissions targets, “government insiders” have told the Guardian, a blow to those campaigning to block the giant development.
The decision is proving divisive in the UK government: a number of senior ministers, including Chancellor John Healey, want to see it approved, not least because it’s already planning on having tax revenue from the field.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, is said to be minded to reject the project, but she may now be forced to rethink. (Guardian)
Carbon capture technology is a “fairy tale”, climate campaigners say. They’re accusing the Scottish Government of not doing enough to reduce emissions. (Scotsman has the exclusive)
The SNP putting “thousands of jobs at risk” over onshore wind impasse (Scotsman)
📣 A celebrity has lost a High Court bid to block reporting of sex abuse allegations. The well-known man made the argument that he would kill himself if the claims went public. But Mr Justice Nicklin refused to grant the injunction, ruling that the celebrity should remain anonymous until a later date.
Two outlets - ITN and the Guardian - say they have interviewed more than 100 people with knowledge of the celebrity’s misconduct against a “large number” of women and girls over a number of years.
But the celebrity’s legal team say the individual has attempted to kill himself twice since being contacted about the allegations in May. (Guardian)
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AROUND SCOTLAND
📣 A woman has warned a popular contraceptive jab creates a “ticking time bomb” of devastating side-effects, and is calling for more routine screenings. (Daily Record)
📣 A £10,000 seaside away day for top civil servants cost too much, Joe Griffin - permanent secretary to the Scottish government - has admitted to staff. (Times)
📣 Why did a fishing boat sink without trace off the Isle of Lewis? The Royal Navy says it didn’t have any submarines in the area where the FV Kilda vanished. But the disappearance came only shortly after NATO war games closely monitored by the Kremlin. (Daily Express)
📣 The Scottish Government’s “rapid” review of business rates still hasn’t started, almost five months after it was promised. (Herald)
AROUND THE UK & WORLD
📣 The US is to cut $4 billion in annual aid to Israel from next year, but will continue to sell arms to the country, President Trump said. (AP)
This could be a stunning shift in US policy towards Israel (CNN)
📣 Prime Minister Andy Burnham is preparing to announce billions of pounds in trade deals with the EU and a deal that will allow the UK to participate in the bloc’s protectionist “Made in Europe” scheme. (Guardian)
📣 The King said the slave trade “fills my heart with horror” but stopped short of offering a full apology as he spoke to Commonwealth leaders. The UK is facing growing calls to pay reparations for its role in the trade. (Independent)
Miliband says slavery apology will not bring cost to UK taxpayers (BBC)
📣 Filipino police are said to be “very close” to filing formal charges against Thomas Markle after child abuse images were found at his flat in Cebu. (Mail)
📣 There’s no rice in your Rice Krispies and Coco Pops now: maker Kellogg’s says “changing weather conditions” have disrupted supplies. (BBC)
SPORT
⚽️ Scotland head coach Sebastien Pocognoli says standards need to improve as he unveiled his second Scotland squad. Stalwarts Scott McTominay, Che Adams and Kieran Tierney return to the fold for games against North Macedonia and Switzerland. (Daily Record)
Pocognoli seeks a mood-shifting result (BBC: Report & see the full squad)
⚽️ Manchester United managed the sort of comeback they used to be famous for, roaring back from 2-0 down against Roma to win 3-2 to hand beleaguered manager Michael Carrick a lifeline. Matheus Conha scored twice in the turnaround, earning a yellow for his dive-in-the-crowd celebrations after the winner. He got another card - and thus a red - in the dying moments of the game. (Report) (Highlights)
⚽️ There are some more crackers in prospect tonight, including:
RB Leipzig v Manchester City (8pm, TNT Sports 2)
Slavia Prague v Arsenal (8pm, TNT Sport 1)
FC Porto v Napoli (8pm, TNT Sport 5)
IDEAS
US midterm elections: a stunning set of reversals as voters punish Trump for war and high prices
“I consider it to be the most successful two-year period in the history of any president.”
🗣️ Just after 5am this morning, our time, there was another of those Donald Trump moments which - once - would have seemed utterly extraordinary, but have become commonplace in recent times. The 47th President of the United States called up Fox News: to have a moan about the result, to berate his Republican colleagues, to say Democrats had already been calling him, to warn he had an “impervious” power of veto. He sounded weary, and beaten.
And what a beating it appears to be. Across the country, Democrats celebrated into the night with wins that, in many cases, exceeded their wildest expectations.
Here are ten headlines from a day that seems likely to change America’s course and, in turn, ripple around the world.
Texas was one of the biggest headlines of the night. James Talarico became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state since 1988. Talarico, a former schoolteacher, made the cost of living a central theme of his run - and had been backed by the Bush family. Few listening to his victory speech, where he talked of “the politics of love”, would imagine his ambitions stop in Texas: his credentials, now he has won the most expensive Senate race in history, are impressive. (BBC)
Texas may never be the same again, with a 32-year Republican grip on the state loosened. (New York Times)
In Maine, another stunning Democratic victory: Troy Jackson ended Susan Collins's 30-year Senate career in one of the biggest midterm upsets. Former lumberjack Jackson successfully painted Collins as being loyal to President Trump. (Guardian)
In Kansas, a Democrat was sent to Senate by the state for the first time in nearly a century. A Methodist megachurch pastor, Adam Hamilton, won in a state where Donald Trump had commanded a 16% lead in 2024. (Washington Post)
In Michigan, in that rancorous race in which the Democrats had appeared divided against their own Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, Fox News projects that the Democrats will still win, beating Republican Mike Rogers. This will be a huge triumph for the party’s left wing. (Fox News)
In South Carolina, a Trump endorsement of Darline Graham - who he’d personally urged to run - appeared to backfire badly. CNN was projecting she would lose her Senate seat to Democrat Annie Andrews. (CNN)
In Ohio, perhaps less surprisingly, Republican Max Millar - who’d faced domestic abuse allegations and a divorce - lost to Democrat Brian Poindexter in a congressional race. (Guardian)
It’s not just the political affiliation of those who have been elected: the diversity of elected representatives has also taken a significant turn, with a number of historic firsts: Keisha Lance Bottoms is expected, in one move, to become the first Black governor of Georgia, the first female governor of Georgia and the first female Black governor in US history. Others include the first out gay male US senator, the first Black governor of Florida, the first Hispanic governor of Texas, and the first elected woman US senator in South Carolina. (CNN)
In California, and as expected, former David Cameron aide Steve Hilton lost to Democrat Xavier Becerra in the race for California’s governorship. (NBC News)
Trump didn’t just speak to Fox News. Speaking to New York Times reporters, he blamed the losses on his name not being on the ballot, but confirmed he’d accept the results. (New York Times)
👍 That’s your Early Line for the day
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