Donald Trump may have been the biggest loser of the US midterm elections, but Elon Musk came a close second.
The Tesla and SpaceX founder spent a staggering $445m of his own money supporting Republican candidates across the country – and seemingly got next to nothing in return as Republicans lost control of both the House and the Senate to a “blue wave” of Democratic Party wins.
The richest man in the world, with a fortune of around $900bn, Musk was the biggest donor in this campaign. His efforts were especially focused on Texas, the state he moved to in 2020 after suggesting that California, his previous home, had become too liberal and its taxes were too high.
How a lab grown ‘human lens’ may bring new eye treatments
Scientists have grown a realistic human lens from stem cells for the first time which could potentially pave the way for new treatments for cataracts and other eye conditions.
New stem cell eye
In a new breakthrough, researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) created the “mini lenses”.
The team, which also includes experts from Cardiff University and the University of Osaka in Japan, said that the lenses closely resemble the natural lens inside the human eye.
It is hoped the new lenses will now be able to be used to test new medicines and better understand eye diseases.
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Hope for treating cataracts in the future
“This is a major step forward as it is very difficult to obtain and study human eye lens tissue while it is developing.”
Said Professor Barbara Pierscionek, from the Centre for Biomedicine and Health Innovation at ARU
The key nutrients you won’t get from drinking oat milk
Replacing dairy products with plant-based ones, such as oat and almond milks, could lead to people missing out on vitamins and minerals, a study suggests.
Milk alternatives might cause health issues
New research suggests that swapping normal milk for plant-based alternatives might cause health issues.
The research team, from the University of Surrey and Queen’s University Belfast, found that even a partial swap may lead to deficiencies in certain essential vitamins and minerals.
The findings
What was studied?
Researchers looked at the risks of dropping dairy in favour of plant-based items.
Vitamins and minerals
They examined the effect on micronutrient intake for iodine, calcium and vitamins B2 and B12.
The findings
They found that even modest replacements of dairy intake with plant-based alternatives led to declines in all four micronutrients.
The health impacts
Vitamin B12 helps , while B2 is important for skin, eyes and the nervous system.
Dr Sarah Bath, associate professor at the University of Surrey and lead author, warned of the impacts from a lack of iodine, which is “needed to make thyroid hormones to regulate our metabolism, support healthy growth and brain development“.
Calls for better food fortification
“Nutrition policy must evolve in tandem with environmental targets, however, it is important that shifts towards more sustainable diets do not compromise on public health.”
Dr Katie Nicol, co-author of the study and research fellow at the University of Surrey
Battle of the supermarkets – the cheapest, revealed
Consumer champion Which? has revealed which supermarket is the cheapest in the UK.
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The cheapest supermarkets revealed
Which? has published its list of the cheapest supermarkets in the nation, comparing the costs of a list of 87 grocery items across all the major supermarkets.
October’s items included a mixture of own-brand and branded products – including milk, cheese and Hovis sliced bread.
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The top three
Retaining the title of cheapest, Aldi’s 87 items came to (£154.34).
Lidl Plus followed closely at £157.17.
Tesco’s Clubcard prices came in third with a basket total of £181.77.
- 4Sainsbury’s Nectar scheme came in fourth with a basket total of £181.77 across 18 discounted products.
- 5Despite having beaten Tesco and Sainsbury’s member prices in September, Asda slipped to fifth place – outpaced in a competitive market (£183.47).
- 6Morrisons (£186.77) came in ahead of Tesco (£187.31) and Sainsbury’s (£191.56) but only without loyalty prices.
- 7Ocado and Waitrose brought up the rear both exceeding £200.
I like to think I’m ahead of the butter curve, but it’s having such a moment right now that I’m not sure anyone can keep up. The rise in popularity of real butter is somewhat curious.
The damning numbers behind the UK’s child obesity crisis
Obesity among children in England is on the rise, according to new data from the National Child Measurement Programme.
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New data on childhood obesity
- Some 10.7 per cent of children in Reception (ages four and five) are obese, which rises to 22.8 per cent for those in Year 6 (ages 10 to 11).
- The new data means that when figures from the pandemic are removed, obesity in Reception is at its highest-ever level since records began.
- Among children in Year 6, obesity is also higher than the previous year (22.2 per cent) and higher than pre-pandemic levels.
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Childhood obesity on the rise
- 1Overall, 1.1 million children were measured in state schools in England as part of the National Child Measurement Programme.
- 2The research found that 14 per cent of teenagers were active every day. In Finland, 28 per cent are active and in Canada, 25 per cent.
- 3Obesity in the most deprived regions is also more than double the most affluent areas both for Reception (14.2 per cent compared to 6.9 per cent) and Year 6 (30.3 per cent compared to 13.9 per cent).
A ‘gulf in children’s health’
“Today’s data shows worsening levels and that the gulf in children’s health between those living in deprived versus wealthy areas has widened.”
Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation charity
Five things will happen now that Trump has lost Congress
Former chief of staff of the US Department of Homeland Security
American voters just delivered a once-in-a-generation rebuke of a sitting president and his movement. Here are five things that will happen now Trump has lost Congress…
Midterm results
The Democrats made sweep victories in the midterm elections taking states such as Texas, Maine and Michigan to regain control of Congress.
I was in the White House the last time Trump lost part of Congress, in the 2018 midterm elections. Here’s what to expect out of Washington in the weeks and months ahead.
Five things that will happen
- 1Trump will axe members of his administration. His chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, are in the firing line.
- 2Democrats will gear up for the biggest investigations in Congressional history.
- 3The companies and firms that cosied up to Trump will have to explain their decisions under oath.
- 4Before Democrats officially take power, Republicans will start to abandon Trump.
- 5Trump will re-focus on foreign policy.
The results that reveal Trump’s historic humiliation
Democrats have taken control of both chambers of Congress after momentous US midterm elections that will tip the balance of power in Washington DC and shape the rest of Donald Trump’s presidency. The results represent a humiliation for the President, who had asked Republicans to vote as if he was on the ballot.
Watch more from The i Paper
The ways HMRC will be able to raid your bank account
New debt recovery powers allowing banks access to accounts could be a “sledgehammer” leaving some people struggling to pay their bills, warn tax experts.
Healey’s plan
John Healey’s plan to let HMRC raid bank accounts over unpaid taxes has sparked fears it could push some people into financial hardship.
The Chancellor revealed at the Budget that the tax authority will get stronger powers to collect overdue tax “from those who can clearly afford to pay”.
How HMRC will raid bank accounts
From July 2029, HMRC will be able to order banks to start taking regular deductions from a person’s current account to recover tax debt that is owed.
- HMRC will also be able to recover money from a couple’s joint bank account to pay for just one partner’s debt.
- “Eligibility verification measures” (EVMs) were issued last month, asking banks to identify claimants who may have undeclared savings or remain abroad longer than benefit rules allow.
- These checks can be made on people receiving universal credit, Pension Credit and Employment and Support Allowance.
Issues with the new powers
Nimesh Shah, of tax firm Blick Rothenberg, told The i Paper the new powers could become a “sledgehammer” that will unfairly hit pensioners, people on low-incomes, and those with mental health issues.
Meanwhile, the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) is worried that non-engagement with HMRC may reflect genuine financial problems or difficulty understanding tax debt requests, rather than a refusal to pay.
Disability Rights UK said it is worried that the DWP could use EVMs to “undertake fishing exercises with absolutely no evidence of fraud”.
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Only needed when necessary
“The Government is not interested in where people do their weekly shop or how much they’re spending on new clothes.”
Banks will only be asked “to identify if somebody may no longer meet the rules for the benefits they receive, allowing us to investigate further where necessary”, Lilian Greenwood, DWP minister for fraud and debt said.
Who will actually be better off after this Budget? The i Paper writers’ verdicts
Following the Chancellor’s somewhat underwhelming Budget, The i Paper’s team of experts explain how it will affect your pocket.
Now, in a delicious irony, Texas has elected its first Democrat to the US Senate since 1988, as well as a Democrat governor.
After his win, Senator-elect James Talarico said that he will focus on getting “big money out of our politics”. More pointedly, he told CBS: “Last night, the people of Texas delivered a crystal-clear message to the world’s first trillionaire: Texas is not for sale.”
Texas voters also backed a Democratic Attorney General, the top prosecutor in the state, meaning that Musk, who has shown a distain for environmental regulations, will likely face much tougher scrutiny of his businesses.
On X, the social media network he owns, Musk tried to play down the difficult night he and the Republican Party had. “Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” he joked in one post, along with a shrug emoji.
In another, he hinted at the likelihood of the incoming Democratic governor of Texas, Gina Hinojosa, blocking the development of new data centres in the state. Musk is relying on such sites for xAI, his artificial intelligence company.
“Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,” he wrote.
Musk had largely sat out of politics since the 2024 presidential election and the controversy that ensued when he took control of Doge, the cost-cutting agency Trump set up upon his return to the White House.
Musk claimed that the quasi-government department would save taxpayers $2trn due to aggressive cost cutting, but the amount was far less, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office, which said there were no receipts for the majority of the $214bn Doge claimed to have saved.
He eventually fell out with Trump and left the agency, later admitting he got “carried away” with Doge and became “intoxicated” with the project, which led to tens of thousands of government workers being laid off and the shuttering of the entire USAid department, which distributed foreign aid for the US government.
In the aftermath, Democrats painted Musk as a comic-book villain, and for months he appeared to be chastened, keeping his distance from Trump. But last year they made up – it seems that if there’s one thing that can cause Trump to put his misgivings aside it’s the possibility of a large pot of money.
When Musk once again opened his wallet, he went big – especially in Texas, where he donated $168m to the Senate Leadership Fund, which spent most of the money on the campaign for scandal-plagued Republican Ken Paxton, who lost on Tuesday.
In the final days of the campaign, Musk reposted to his 241m X followers a comment that Talarico was the “most left wing, extreme radical candidate imaginable”.
“Every single position he has taken would be considered far left even in California,” the post said. “Talarico wants to shut down the oil industry in Texas, he wants to trans children and he believes there are 6 genders. It is bizarre that he is even competitive in Texas.”
Talarico ended up winning 55 per cent of the vote to Paxton’s 43 per cent, a stunning result in a state that has been reliably Republican for more than three decades.
Musk’s warnings that a Democratic victory would mean “the end of democracy in any meaningful sense of the word” also fell on deaf ears as voters rejected the Trump administration in the starkest terms.
The coming years may now feature unprecedented scrutiny for Musk, with some Democrat lawmakers vowing to investigate Trump’s allies through their control of the House and the Senate. Before the midterms, Democrats had already demanded an explanation as to why Musk’s Starlink satellite communications platform was cut off for Ukraine’s military earlier this month.
There will also be scrutiny of Musk’s government contracts, which could be reconsidered by a Democrat-controlled Congress.
“They are going to need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we’ll be printing,” Senator Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, posted on X Tuesday night.
Musk himself had half-joked about the fate that could await him if Democrats ever stormed back to power. Speaking to Tucker Carlson ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Musk said that if Trump lost, then “I’m f*****”.
Then, to nervous laughter, Musk added: “How long do you think my prison sentence is going to be?”