Hour in Review — 2026-11-01 18:00 UTC 20 sources
With the US midterms this week 1, the hour's dominant story was the Democratic rupture in Michigan's Senate race. Rep. Haley Stevens, narrowly beaten by Abdul El-Sayed in August's primary 2, stood beside Republican Mike Rogers at a Sunday service at Detroit's Perfecting Church 3, praised him and tweeted an endorsement days before the vote 4. The trigger was a Rebellion PAC ad linking grocery costs to US support for Israel, which Jewish leaders condemned as antisemitic 5. Stevens had demanded that El-Sayed denounce it, and he instead asked her to stay away from his remaining events 6. Rep. Debbie Dingell said Stevens was asked to skip the joint appearance after the dispute became a distraction 3, and Stevens's fiancé has also backed Rogers 4. Behind the races, the fight over how the vote is run is intensifying. Trump's Justice Department has sued Alaska seeking to bar certification if the incumbent Republican loses 7,8. It also plans to station 1,000 monitors at polling places, which has drawn suspicion from election officials 9. A court granted a temporary restraining order in an SEIU suit against the DOJ and denied the government's TRO request in United States v. California 10. Multiple forecasts show Democrats poised to take the House 11. Separately, Sen. Chris Murphy is hospitalized after a stroke, and aides say he is alert and responding well 12. In other legal news, a federal judge dismissed with prejudice Trump's $10 billion defamation suit against the Wall Street Journal's publisher over the Epstein birthday-letter report, finding actual malice was not adequately alleged 13. In crypto, the FBI attributed the theft of over $6 billion from Binance to North Korea's TraderTraitor operation, and Binance says it replaced about 90% of the funds itself 14. In Ukraine, Kyiv resumed strikes on Russian refineries despite Trump's pressure, with the Kstovo refinery set ablaze 15. A brief ceasefire mediated with Melania Trump's involvement allowed 17 buses to evacuate residents of occupied Oleshky 16. During that operation, Ukrainian forces also moved 167 civilians, including 22 children, off Kherson's right bank 17. On Iran, the army says a new war could outlast the previous one as Doha talks enter a third day 18, while Gulf states fear fiercer retaliation if the US strikes again 19. On the economy, third-quarter wages rose 3.1% while employer health contributions jumped 6.4% 20.
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