US Midterms

The US Midterm elections took place yesterday, and the results are now coming in thick and fast. The news is not good for the Democrat party, and there is now a clear Republican majority in the Senate, and a gain of at least 13 seats in the house. There are lots more details on this here in the New York Times, which has some excellent maps, some helpful graphics here in the Guardian, and all the data you would ever need here at Real Clear Politics

Berlin

Here is a fascinating article from the BBC about Berlin, to mark the 25th Anniversary of the wall coming down on 9 November 2014. It examines how Berlin has changed since then, becoming more united in many ways but still retaining some distinct differences between East and West. One of the most famous of these was taken by NASA, noting how West Berlin mainly has white streetlights, while East Berlin has retained its sodium yellow ones.

You may also enjoy these photographs taken on 9 November 1989, this attempt to retrace the route of the wall, this "secret history" of the Berlin Wall, and this article about the significance of Berlin in the Cold War, the last two both from "History Today".