Election Day dominates the hour, and the Iran war runs through it. More than 58 million Americans voted early in midterms widely framed as a referendum on Trump's presidency ¹. Polling shows 68% of Americans believe the Iran war is not worth fighting, making it a liability for Republicans in competitive Senate races ², and Ron DeSantis called it a 'big, big drag' on the party that has pushed gas prices higher ³. The diplomatic signals conflict. Trump confirmed an overnight US strike on an Iranian air-defense site, calling it minor and 'not war' as indirect talks continue ⁴. Gulf allies are reportedly bracing for heavy US bombardment after the vote and Iranian retaliation against their infrastructure ⁵. Tehran says there are no new developments in talks ⁶, even as oil extended losses on hopes of a US-Iran deal ⁷. Separately, Trump said the US will end $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel by year-end ⁸, reportedly surprising Israeli officials because their bilateral MOU runs until next year ^9,10. Voting itself saw friction: Westchester County scanners could not read paper ballots, though officials say all votes will be counted ¹¹. DeSantis declared an emergency in seven Florida counties over flooding that could disrupt polling ¹², and the FBI arrested an Oklahoma man over white-powder letters sent to officials ¹³. The Supreme Court also rejected a Trump administration emergency bid to force California officials to separate ballots from roughly 20,000 alleged noncitizens . In markets, an Apple margin warning triggered a global tech rout that pulled European shares lower ¹⁴. US tech stocks, however, broke a three-session losing streak despite Apple's slump ¹⁵. The CFTC approved single-stock perpetual futures under joint SEC oversight ¹⁶, and the HYPE token rose in response ¹⁷. A TD Cowen analyst expects a Democratic Congress would stall the CLARITY Act for two years ¹⁸. Binance disclosed that hackers used fake job interviews and modified software to steal about $6.3 billion ¹⁹. The FBI attributed the theft to North Korea ²⁰, which rejected the allegation as absurd . The hack prompted South Korea's president to call for a cybersecurity czar ²¹. In Ukraine, a Russian strike on a school serving as an aid center killed at least 31 people ²², and Kyiv suspended tram and trolleybus service over a critical power-system situation ²³.