The Breakfast Table

Prices for fuel and rent have gone up in many European countries. People there have marched to say schools and public services are not good enough. In France, high school students began the protests more than three weeks ago, asking for more teachers and better buildings.

A trade union, a group that speaks for workers, then joined them. Some marches turned violent, and French police made 2,400 arrests over one weekend. President Emmanuel Macron condemned the violence and blamed far-left activists.

In Italy, inflation, the rate at which prices rise, was 4.2% in September. That was higher than the 3.8% for countries that share the euro. In Spain, the prime minister has called an election for November.

In Albania, students have joined a movement in the capital, Tirana. It wants Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign and asks for an end to corruption. Mr Rama has called the protesters “ideologized and radicalized.”

On 3 November, Americans vote in the midterm elections. They are held halfway through a president's term, and they decide who controls Congress, the group that makes the country's laws.

Many people vote early, by mail or in person. The University of Florida's Election Lab counted more than 16 million early votes in 41 states and Washington, D.C. About 10 million came by mail, and about 6 million were cast in person.

The Associated Press, a news agency, found huge jumps in Kansas and Texas. Maine, North Carolina and Ohio each saw at least 30% more early votes than four years ago.