Something for the weekend: The mother of all elections

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What is the collective noun for elections? We tried to Google it but couldn’t find the answer. Please email us with any suggestions.

We ask because we are right in the middle of election fever. In Brazil last weekend Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president from 2003 to 2010, staged an extraordinary comeback after a bitter, divisive campaign.

Another remarkable return to power came on Friday as Benjamin Netanyahu became prime minister of Israel — again. And in Denmark Mette Frederiksen’s centre-left Social Democrats had their best result in 20 years.

The FT has covered each campaign through our network of foreign correspondents — we have the largest network of any UK newspaper. And of course the very best of their reporting has appeared in FT Edit.

But the main event is still to come, as the US goes to the polls next week for midterm elections for seats in Congress and the Senate. Edward Luce, the FT’s chief US commentator, wrote this week that these votes will be the “mother of all midterms” with roughly half of the Republicans running for office publicly stating that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. “That means America’s system itself is on the ballot,” he noted.

FT Edit will be here to bring you the best insight and explanation through the week, starting on Monday with a big read from Georgia, along with analysis and comment from Edward, Gillian Tett and others.

Our favourite pieces

• To mark Halloween, we ran this fascinating piece about how the design of buildings can make us see ghosts.
Malcolm Moore (@malcolmmoore)
Editor, FT Edit

• We’ve all heard about China’s uncompromising zero-Covid policy; the FT’s Shanghai correspondent, Thomas Hale, experienced it first-hand when he was sent to a secret Covid detention centre at an undisclosed location with little by way of explanation. His tale of 10 discombobulating days in a grim portacabin makes for a disconcerting read.
Hannah Rock
Deputy editor, FT Edit (@HannahRockFT)

Our favourite fact of the week . ..

In the UK, the fax machine is soon to be dead. Communications regulator Ofcom has said it will scrap legislation that forces BT to operate dedicated landlines for the machines. From The UK finally kills the fax machine

Something to listen to

Tech Tonic — In our new season of TechTonic, we ask whether there is a climate friendly way to keep flying.

Weekend podcast — The editors of Globetrotter, the FT’s indispensable travel guide, give us their tips on how to plan, but not over plan, your perfect trip.

Behind the money — JPMorgan Chase’s financial advisers are fighting over who should manage some of the bank’s wealthiest clients. Joshua Franklin, the FT’s US banking editor, explains what is going on.