Image source, EPA

We're now two days on from voting in the US midterm elections.

The future of the congress hangs in the balance, it is unclear which party will control the Senate and the House of Representatives remains undecided.

Three tight races are still too early to call

All eyes are on the Arizona and Nevada's Senate races, whereas we know Georgia's contest will head for a run off on 6 December

Republicans need to take two Democratic seats to win the majority - so the race is literally going to the wire.

In the House, the Republicans appear to be edging towards the 218 seats needed which would deliver them a majority - but still many races are too tight to call.

• See here for more in-depth updates of where we are now.

Laura Trevelyan
BBC World News America presenter

Image source, Reuters

The US newspapers owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch make brutal reading for Donald Trump today.

Once again, the two flagship Murdoch titles - the upscale conservative-leaning Wall St Journal (WSJ), which is influential with deep pocketed Republican donors, and the tabloid New York Post - have united to tell their collective readership that it is time for Republicans to move beyond Donald Trump.

That has already happened once this year, during public hearings of the congressional committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January last year.

"Trump is the Republican Party’s Biggest Loser", reads a headline on the WSJ editorial page, which also adds he’s now flopped in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

New York Post columnist John Podhoretz wrote a blistering editorial, saying: "After three straight national tallies in which either he or his party or both were hammered by the national electorate, it's time for even his fans to accept the truth: Toxic Trump is the political equivalent of a can of Raid."

While Republican lawmakers are so far loyal to the former president in public, the debate emerging from the Murdoch-owned press reflects the conversations Republicans are having in private.

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump has given some further reaction to the results of the US midterm elections - saying in a new message on his social media platform: "I am not angry at all."

Several reports have emerged, citing sources close to the former president, that Trump was upset at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on election night, after it became apparent that several of the high profile candidates he backed were stuck in extremely tight races or had lost.

On Truth Social, Trump said "the Fake News Media is 'crazed' and totally out of control",

"They MAKE UP stories and then push them down your throats."

Trump added he is "very busy looking into the future." It is expected that he may announce a 2024 White House bid some time next week.

Jessica Sherwood
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Projected results continue to roll in, and whilst all victories are special, some make history. Here are some of the candidates changing the record books in the 2022 midterms.

• Democrat Maxwell Frost, 25, is projected to win in Florida's 10th Congressional District. Born in 1997, he is the first member of Generation Z elected to serve in the US Congress.
• Republican candidate Katie Britt, 40, will be elected as Alabama's first woman to serve in the US Senate, according to projections from the BBC'S US partner CBS News.
• Democrat Wes Moore, 44, has also made history as Maryland's first black governor. He is only the third black governor elected in the nation's 246-year history, alongside Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Douglas Wilder of Virginia.
• Democrat Maura Healey, 51, the projected winner of Massachusetts's governor race, is the first lesbian to be elected governor.

• Democrat James Roesener, 26, is projected to become the first openly transgender man to be to elected to any state legislature in US history.

Read more on the candidates making history here.

Earlier this morning, the White House's deputy chief of staff, Jen O'Malley Dillon, said on a US network show that Democrats could still retain control of the House of Representatives.

The numbers show that path is there, though it is rather narrow. Here's a breakdown:

• A party has to win at least 218 seats in the House to hold control
• There are 31 seats that have not yet been called -18 of which are considered "battlegrounds". Some states out west, like California, are still counting votes.
• If we add the seats that are likely to be won by either party, the estimated count would be 211 seats for the Republicans, and at least 200 seats for the Democrats, according to our election partner CBS News
• If that estimate is accurate, Democrats would need 18 more seats to win House majority - the same number of seats that are currently too close to call
• By contrast, the Republicans only need seven seats to win majority

The reality is winning seven more seats is much easier than winning 18, which is why Republicans are favoured to win the House. But with some extraordinary luck, Democrats could, in theory, hold on.

Image source, .

Republican candidate Kari Lake is locked in a tight race to become Arizona governor.

During the campaign trail she was challenged by the BBC's Katty Kay over her remarks that Donald Trump should not have to run for president in two years time because the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Holly Honderich
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Getty Images

In her first term in Congress, Lauren Boebert rose to fame as a "Maga" phenomenon.

The pro-Trump Republican was predicted to glide to re-election in conservative western Colorado. Instead, as the final votes are counted, she's facing a formidable challenge from a middle-of-the-road Democrat.

In 2019, Boebert confronted Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke in Aurora, Colorado, after he had made gun control central to his campaign. It was the day he doubled down on his call to ban semi-automatic weapons.

Three months later, Boebert announced her bid to represent Colorado's third congressional district in Congress. Much like her run-in with O'Rourke, she arrived in Congress in January 2021 ready for a fight.

In one of her first days on the job, she voted to overturn the election results.

Keeping up her advocacy for gun rights, she vowed to bring her handgun to the Capitol and drew attention for a family holiday card picturing her four young sons wielding rifles.

Prominent state Republicans, including state Senator Don Coram, who ran against Boebert in the primary, called her an "embarrassment" and endorsed her opponent, Democrat Adam Frisch.

Read more about how Boebert is fighting for her political life against political newcomer Frisch.

Image source, Reuters

At least 124 Republicans elected in the US midterms have publicly denied the result of the 2020 presidential election, according to BBC analysis.

They include Marjorie Taylor Greene, the controversial politician whose personal Twitter account was suspended for breaking rules on coronavirus misinformation, and JD Vance, a former Trump critic and successful author.

Donald Trump continues to insist, falsely, that he won the 2020 election.

Before the midterms, BBC Monitoring & BBC World Disinformation Unit analysed and independently verified data published by the website FiveThirtyEight, which tracked statements from all candidates running for the Senate, House of Representatives and state governor positions.

They found 178 of them - all Republicans - had fully and publicly denied the result of the presidential race supporting Trump's false claim that he beat Joe Biden.

That accounted for more than one third of all Republicans standing in the races.

Read more on the teams' findings here.

Image source, Getty Images

US president Joe Biden says the cooling inflation numbers are a sign of economic strength in America, and his administration is making progress on its efforts to bring costs down.

"My economic plan is showing results," Biden says in a statement.

He says that with inflation slightly dropping, Americans are getting a "much-needed" break at the grocery store ahead of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

He also touts legislation his administration recently passed, which will soon bring down prescription drug prices and energy costs.

Looking ahead from the US midterm elections, Biden says he "will work with anyone - Democrat or Republican - on ideas to provide more breathing room to middle-class and working families".

"We are on the right path - we need to keep moving forward," he says.

Michelle Fleury
North America business correspondent in New York

Image source, Reuters

Red hot US inflation is showing signs of beginning to cool down.

Consumer prices rose by 7.7% year over the year to October. A high number to be sure, but a significant drop from the 9.1% recorded in June and its lowest level since January.

After excluding food and energy prices, which tend to move around a lot, prices grew by 6.3% on an annual basis.

For the occupant of the White House and for the Federal Reserve, this will be welcome news. A sign that inflation is responding to higher interest rates.

Just last week, policymakers raised the Fed Funds Rate by 0.75%, the latest in a series of massive increases to borrowing costs as it tries to lower prices.

Wall Street also breathed a huge sigh of relief. US stocks soaring are on the belief that inflation in America has peaked and that the central bank will not have to act so aggressively moving forward.

But many Americans may not feel much relief. Prices are still way above normal and they remain significantly above the 2% target set by the Fed.

John Sudworth
North America Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

For TV personalities-turned-politicians, Pennsylvania delivered a stinging rebuke in this election. Not only for Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor who came to fame on The Oprah Winfrey Show, but for Donald Trump too, the - well, you know the back story.

Trump lent Dr Oz his endorsement in April, saying that his chosen candidate for the crucial Senate race would help "stop the Radical Left maniacs from destroying our country".

Instead, he's gone down to a convincing defeat at the hands of his Democratic opponent John Fetterman, who successfully courted blue-collar Pennsylvanians with a traditionally left-wing raft of policies, including a promise to tackle corporate greed.

And - in a further twist that could be right out of a Hollywood script - the slick TV physician came up short against a candidate who's been struggling to overcome the debilitating effects of a stroke on the campaign trail.

Dr Oz's political demise arguably leaves Trump's role as Republican kingmaker on life-support, and the ex-president's chance of a third tilt at the White House in 2024 now the subject of serious probing.

Even his staunchest of allies are advising that he puts on pause a widely anticipated announcement, external, earlier teased to come next week.

No wonder Pennsylvania is being so roundly cheered by Democrats.

It is the highlight of an election that looks to have been about rejecting the Trumpian alternative at least as much as any condemnation of President Joe Biden's handling of the economy.

Read more here.

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It's now Thursday - two days after the US midterm elections - and the fate of the Senate remains unclear.

That is because votes are still being counted in Arizona and Nevada, while Georgia is heading off to a second election in December.

But what is taking so long in the desert states? And when do we expect to get results?

The short answer is no one knows for sure, though we have some idea of where the count is at so far:

Arizona

Around 275,000 ballots were dropped off at voting centres on election day in Maricopa County, the state's most populous. This is double the number of ballots the County saw on election day in 2020. These ballots are known as "late earlies" and are notorious for holding up results in Arizona, as each of these ballots needs to have its signature verified before it is counted. Officials have said it could take until at least Friday to count all the votes

Image source, .

Nevada

Election officials have been flooded with mail-in ballots, which will continue to arrive until Saturday as long as they are post-dated by election day. It is unclear how many ballots are yet to arrive, making it harder to predict when results will be available. This also the first US midterm election in which Nevada has sent a mail-in ballot to every registered voter. What we do know is that officials have until Thursday of next week to count all the ballots, though they hope to wrap up before then

Image source, .

The economy and inflation were big issues as we've just mentioned, but voters also had other topics on their mind when going to the polls.

Immigration, gun crime and of course the abortion rights dominated the campaign trails.

Inflation scored highly among Republication voters; while Democrat voters thought abortion was the most important issue.

Image source, .

Inflation and the economy were huge issues on the mind of Americans voting in Tuesday's elections.

US consumer prices have been soaring this year, with inflation hitting 9.1% in June and still running at 8.2% by September.

Grocery prices, housing and medical costs have risen sharply and the price of gas at the pump spiked in the summer at over $5 a gallon.

Although the Republicans failed to score the huge political gains many had expected, it is fair to say economic anxieties contributed to the loss of Democratic seats in the House of Representatives.

Image source, .

Like many other countries, the US has been struggling to control inflation in recent months and it is safe to say rising prices were near the top of many voters’ minds in the midterms.

In the last few moments, new government data has revealed US consumer inflation actually cooled down last month. The consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, rose 7.7% in the 12 months to October, after increasing 8.2% in September.

But, consumer prices remained at decades-high levels, according to the government data.

It keeps the pressure on President Joe Biden's administration as Democrats struggle to retain control of Congress.

Image source, Getty Images

With Republicans inching towards control of the House of Representatives, here's a reminder of US President Joe Biden's thoughts yesterday.

While he hailed the Democrats' success in fending off major Republican gains, Biden warned either party could still win the Senate.

Speaking at the White House, he said the results so far had made him breathe a "sigh of relief".

"It was a good day, I think, for democracy," he said.

The president added that he plans to stand for re-election in 2024. "Our intention is to run again, that's been our intention," he told reporters.

Biden, who turns 80 this month, said he was prepared to work with Republicans and would host bipartisan talks next week.

But he also said he believed the American people would view any Republican-led inquiries as "almost comedy".

Read more on Biden's reaction here.

Image source, EPA

We know the Democrats look set to lose the House of Representatives and the battle for the Senate is going to the wire, so why are we reporting that the party is outperforming expectations?

Over recent decades, the history of midterm elections , externalshows us that the party with the presidency almost invariably loses control of Congress at the first time of asking.

Since Richard Nixon's first set of midterms in 1969, the presidency and Congress have been unified just eight times and divided 18 times.

Of those eight occasions where one party controlled both branches of the US government, only Jimmy Carter (in 1977) and George W Bush (in 2002 and 2004) managed to hold control of both the House and Senate once they were already in office.

By comparison, Donald Trump, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton all lost control of Congress at their first midterm election.

Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush never had control of both chambers at any point in their presidency.

It's just gone 8:00 in Washington DC (13:00 GMT) and if you're just joining us, here's the latest as we await the results of the US midterms.

Control of the upper chamber of Congress, the Senate, is down to three remaining races that are yet to be resolved.

Votes are still being counted in Arizona and Nevada - but the race in Georgia won't be decided until December when a run-off vote will take place.

We're also awaiting confirmation of a likely Republican majority in in the House of Representatives.

Of the 435 seats in the House race, so far Republicans are ahead with 210 seats while Democrats have 192 seats.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

With inflation at 8% and poor approval ratings for the Democratic president, Republicans were hoping to make big strides in retaking Congress.

Why hasn't that happened?

It wasn't all about the economy

Inflation and the economy - while top of the list of voter concerns - proved not to be as damaging to Democrats as they had feared.

Analysts said that may reflect the fact that the economy, while slowing, has remained relatively healthy. Though the cost of living is rising, growth has continued and unemployment remains low.

An energised Democratic base

Initial voter data suggests that turnout was at a historic high for a midterm in many parts of the country - a fact that some attribute, in part, to a Democratic base that was driven by young people motivated by issues like reproductive rights.

A referendum on Donald Trump

This year's midterms were also widely seen as a litmus test on Donald Trump's legacy and his continued influence over the Republican Party.

Many voters who were on the fence may have decided to cast their ballots in an effort to undermine Trump's influence over the party.

Read more about why the "tsunami" Republicans had hoped for never materialised.

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We know that the US Senate race in Georgia will not be decided until a run-off election on 6 December. But what exactly does it mean?

Run-off elections are held when no candidate wins the required majority of votes.

Under Georgia state rules, if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, there is a second tie-breaking election, known as a run-off, four weeks later between the top two contenders.

And it's a tight race between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker - and there's another candidates vying for votes too.

As none of them managed to reach 50% on Tuesday, the Republican and Democrat candidates have been forced into a one-on-one battle next month.