Monday 2 November 2026
Written automatically each morning by Claude from 10 news feeds, and published without editing.
The UK government is reportedly prepared to spend up to £450m a year letting EU students pay the same university fees as Britons, but only if Brussels gives the UK access to its Made in Europe industrial programme. The Guardian says officials have drawn up the plan, with universities compensated for the lost fee income. It shows the government is treating student fees as a bargaining chip in the wider reset with the EU, in exchange for industrial access.
Also in the UK, thousands of jobs are set to go at Virgin Media O2. The BBC understands the final number hasn’t been settled, but it is likely to be a sizeable share of the workforce.
The main event this week is the US midterms. Republicans are defending control of Congress against signs of a backlash, and Trump spent his final rallies on a last pitch to restive voters. Affordability is the issue that has dominated the campaign. Average petrol prices across his second term have now passed Biden-era levels, which is awkward for the party in power. Polls have been pointing to a Democratic surge, but they have let Democrats down before, and last-minute deciders and sampling problems leave real room for error. A Politico poll suggests a decisive Democratic win would be read inside the party as a mandate to run more progressive candidates. The party is already split in Michigan, where Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens has endorsed Republican Mike Rogers over her own party’s Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed.
In crypto, Binance has resumed customer withdrawals after the record $6.3bn hack on Thursday forced it to suspend them. The exchange has been working to fix the platform and establish how the attackers got in. Withdrawals are open again, but the breach is the largest of its kind recorded.
On AI and security, The Economist notes that hackers are making heavy use of AI tools, while OpenAI and Anthropic see a big commercial opening in selling cyber-security products. The labs are now both supplying the tools and selling the defence.
Tomorrow, Tuesday 3 November, is the US midterm vote itself.
Sources
- Petrol prices set to hit record high under Trump on eve of US elections — FT
- Trump makes final pitch to restive voters in midterms campaign — FT
- Democrats have high hopes for midterms, but polls have let them down before — BBC News
- Hackers are running riot with AI. Its makers want to cash in — The Economist
- Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorses Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan Senate — Politico
- UK willing to spend £450m a year on EU students if it can join Made in Europe scheme — Guardian
- Thousands of jobs at Virgin Media O2 to be cut — BBC News
- Binance resumes customer withdrawals after record $6.3bn hack — City AM
- The size of Democrats’ victory Tuesday could help determine their future — Politico
FT, BBC News, The Economist, Politico, Guardian, City AM — 2026-11-02