Morning Briefing
What It Means For You
- If you have a pension or an ISA, Thursday’s Wall Street rout and Friday’s falls in Asia and London will show up in your next statement; the FTSE 100 is still up almost 7% this year, and the Nasdaq about 4.6%, so this is a correction from a high, not a wipe-out.
- House prices fell 0.6% in October and the average two-year fix is near 6%: if your deal ends in 2027, as 2.3 million do, budget for a higher rate now rather than hoping Thursday’s rise is reversed quickly.
- Salaries on job adverts will become a legal duty; until the bill arrives, the government is urging firms to publish now, so expect more pay ranges in listings this winter and ask for the figure if one is missing.
GEO Geopolitical
Global stocks plunge as AI rout spreads to Asia and London
Trillions of dollars were wiped off technology shares after the Nasdaq fell 5.5% on Thursday, the S&P 500 4.36% and the Dow 3.44%, on fears that the new Democratic Congress will curb data-centre building. Japan’s Nikkei closed 6% lower on Friday, South Korea halted trading after the Kospi fell more than 8% before ending down 6%, and the FTSE 100 was 1.9% lower by mid-morning, heading for its worst day since March.
Dive deeper
Bomb hoaxes hit Dublin newsrooms as flight threats enter fourth day
RTÉ, the Irish Independent, Newstalk and Today FM were evacuated in Dublin on Friday after emailed bomb threats, and Sky in London said it had received a security threat, as the wave of hoaxes against European aviation spread to the media. At least 17 flights were disrupted by midday, Hungary scrambled fighter jets three times, France reported four new threats against aircraft in its airspace and Prague airport said nine flights were affected. No government has attributed the campaign.
Dive deeper
Trump promises Iran decision ‘very soon’ as satellites show missile-base rebuilding
Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he would decide shortly whether to strike Iran again: “I would prefer not to destroy what is left of the country, if possible, but I may have to do so. You will know very soon.” Satellite images analysed for the BBC show significant new construction near at least two major missile sites, at Garmdareh and Shahroud, and the Financial Times reports Russia agreed in 2024 to supply Iran with 90 helicopter-borne missile launchers.
Dive deeper
Melania Trump hosts Russian and Ukrainian envoys, urges lasting truce
Melania Trump brought Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Ukrainian MP Davyd Arakhamia and the two countries’ human-rights ombudsmen to the White House on Thursday, the first time a first lady has hosted representatives of two warring states, and handed over letters for Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. “Together, we can create something more enduring than a temporary ceasefire,” she said, after a six-day truce around Oleshky in Kherson allowed nearly 800 civilians to leave.
Dive deeper
Mississippi and Alaska Senate races within 2,000 votes; Hegseth and Rubio stay
Democrat Scott Colom led Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by just over 1,800 votes in Mississippi on Friday with about 3,600 mail ballots outstanding, and Mary Peltola was around 600 ahead of Dan Sullivan in Alaska, as the last two Senate contests stayed uncalled. In the House Democrats led 253 to 157 with 25 seats open. The White House dismissed as “fake news” reports that Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth would leave after the Republican defeat.
Dive deeper
UK UK Domestic Politics
House prices fall 0.6% in October, steepest drop in three years
The average UK home cost £296,285 in October, down 0.6% on September and 1.2% on a year earlier, according to Lloyds, whose index recorded its fourth monthly fall in a row and the sharpest since August 2023. Economists had pencilled in a 0.1% rise. The lender’s mortgages director, Andrew Asaam, said renewed inflation “driven in part by the conflict in the Middle East” was “keeping borrowing costs high and adding to the squeeze on household finances”.
Dive deeper
Burnham to force employers to put salaries on job adverts
Andy Burnham says his government will legislate “as soon as possible” to make pay details compulsory in job advertisements, and is telling firms to start now rather than wait. “Whether you’re a young person starting out or a parent trying to support your family, you should know what a job pays before spending your time and effort applying for it,” the prime minister said. Ministers have yet to decide which companies must comply, what they must publish or how it will be enforced.
Dive deeper
Tube drivers to strike eight times from 26 November
RMT Tube drivers will stage eight 24-hour strikes beginning at noon on Thursday 26 November, with further stoppages on 17 and 19 December — the last Saturday before Christmas — and on 4 and 6 January and 17, 23 and 25 February, in a dispute over Transport for London’s plan for a four-day week. The union says the scheme, which TfL insists is voluntary, is “a wholesale attack on drivers’ working conditions”; the rival Aslef union, which backs it, called the strike “a strange choice”.
Dive deeper
Met chief warns policing ‘heading for failure’ without regional forces
Sir Mark Rowley is using a speech on Friday to argue that policing in England and Wales is “heading for failure” unless the 43 forces are replaced by eight to ten regional ones, hundreds of local commands and a new National Police Service — the biggest reorganisation since the 1960s. “We have 43 overstretched forces trying to do too much, with too little,” he says. He also said he “wouldn’t be surprised if many more” women came forward with allegations against Russell Brand.
Dive deeper
Seven arrested as Bonfire Night mobs burn police van in Glasgow
Seven people were arrested after a night of fireworks attacks on emergency crews across Scotland, in which a police van was set alight in Greenside Street, Provanmill, and a police officer and an ambulance worker were hurt as they answered a call about an injured man. A 16-year-old boy was arrested over the burning vehicle. Fire crews were attacked in Knightswood, Castlemilk, Cumnock, Larkhall and Blackridge, and fireworks were thrown at the public in Clydebank and at police in Edinburgh.
Dive deeper
Evening Briefing
What It Means For You
- Bank Rate is 4% from today: a typical tracker mortgage costs about £31 a month more and a variable deal about £14 once your lender moves, while savings rates should edge up; fixed-rate borrowers are unaffected until they remortgage.
- The Bank now expects inflation to climb from 3.5% to around 5% by the middle of next year before easing, so the squeeze on food, fuel and energy bills gets worse before it gets better — and the Bank says more rises are possible.
- Expect the January energy price cap to bite harder than the rate rise: the BBC’s economics editor says a typical household bill surges by 27% in January to £2,150 a year, which is why the Bank sees inflation near 5% by spring.
GEO Geopolitical
Midterms: Mississippi still uncalled as Republicans turn on each other
Two days after the midterms the Senate race in Mississippi remains uncalled, with the Democrat Scott Colom 1,138 votes ahead of Cindy Hyde-Smith on 96% of the expected vote; the state has no formal recount process and mail ballots postmarked by polling day count until 10 November. Ted Cruz called the result “a Watergate-level repudiation” and Ron DeSantis “close to an extinction-level event”, as the party’s 2028 hopefuls dissected the rout.
Dive deeper
Nasdaq enters correction as Democratic sweep sparks AI fears
Wall Street fell sharply on Thursday as investors priced in tougher Democratic scrutiny of artificial intelligence and data centres: the Nasdaq dropped as much as 5%, more than 10% below its record close, on course for its worst day in eighteen months, and the Dow lost 2.5%, or 1,346 points. The S&P 500 was 3.5% lower by 17:30 GMT on CNBC’s feed. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.4% at 10,782 after rising 100 points earlier.
Dive deeper
Paraguay’s president resigns after collapse of bank holding public funds
Santiago Peña resigned as president of Paraguay on Thursday, a day after opposition deputies moved to impeach him over the collapse of Ueno Bank, which the central bank seized on Tuesday after its capital fell below half the legal minimum. The bank claimed more than 60% of the country’s adults as customers and held around $800m in public deposits, including pensions. “It was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me,” he said.
Dive deeper
France: ministry counts 600,000 marchers as CGT claims 1.6 million
At least 600,000 people joined Thursday’s strikes and marches across France by the government’s estimate, while the CGT union put the figure at almost 1.6 million; riot police fired tear gas at the end of demonstrations in Bordeaux and Lyon, where a car was set alight and black-bloc protesters clashed with officers, but the day was largely peaceful. The night before, the National Assembly had voted unanimously against the government’s 2027 budget plans.
Dive deeper
Joint List backs Eisenkot, handing him a majority of recommendations
Israel’s Joint List said it would tell President Herzog on Thursday evening that it recommends Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government, which Al Jazeera calculates would give him 67 recommendations, above the 61-seat majority, once its eleven members are counted. Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am has also backed Mr Eisenkot, while Degel HaTorah’s four members are recommending no one, so Benjamin Netanyahu’s 53-seat bloc may not deliver 53 endorsements.
Dive deeper
UK UK Domestic Politics
Bank raises rates to 4% and warns inflation will near 5%
The Bank of England raised Bank Rate by a quarter point to 4% on Thursday, its first increase since August 2023, by eight votes to one; Catherine Mann wanted a half-point rise to 4.25%. The committee now expects inflation, 3.5% in September, to reach around 5% by the middle of next year as energy prices feed through, before falling back. “Monetary policy is not on a pre-set path,” it said.
Dive deeper
Russell Brand guilty of rape and three sexual assaults; sentencing Monday
A jury at Southwark Crown Court found Russell Brand guilty on Thursday of one count of rape and three of sexual assault, and cleared him of two further rapes and one attempted indecent assault, after eight and a half hours of deliberation. The judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, said a conviction for rape meant “inevitably a significant custodial term” and remanded him in custody until sentencing on Monday. The Metropolitan Police are investigating allegations from two more women.
Dive deeper
Burnham seeks to ‘recast’ Chagos deal and may delay ten-year plan
Andy Burnham says Britain is talking to Washington about how to “recast” the Chagos Islands agreement “that better meets their concerns”, pointing to America’s Greenland deal with Denmark as a possible model for Diego Garcia, after President Trump called the arrangement “a terrible deal”. In the same interview with The Economist he said his promised ten-year plan for Britain “may go into the new year … December or January”, and confirmed Vladimir Putin will not be invited to the Manchester G20.
Dive deeper
Farage fears Trump will escalate Iran war after midterm ‘shellacking’
Nigel Farage said he worried that President Trump “will continue aggressively attacking Iran” after what he called “an absolute shellacking” in the midterms, warning of “even more serious implications for the price of oil, for inflation, for the whole western world”. Asked whether the war was a mistake, the Reform leader said: “There’s no question about it.” He was unveiling Angus MacIntyre, a former RAF wing commander, as Reform’s defence spokesman.
Dive deeper
BT sheds 7,731 jobs since March as profits rise 12%
BT’s workforce has fallen by 7,731 to 90,000 since the end of March, excluding its international business, most of the cuts falling at Openreach, the company said with half-year results that showed pre-tax profit up 12% to £1.1bn in the six months to September. Shares rose as much as 6% to a five-year high. Headcount is down 11,712, or 11%, on a year earlier, and stood at about 130,000 including contractors two years ago.
Dive deeper
Morning Briefing
What It Means For You
- If you have a tracker mortgage, a quarter-point rise to 4% at noon would add about £31 a month to a typical loan, according to UK Finance; the 470,000 households on variable rates must wait for their lender’s response, and savers should see better returns.
- Sterling at its strongest since the 2016 referendum on the Bank’s trade-weighted index means more buying power on imports and foreign holidays, and helps hold down inflation at home.
- The Energy Independence Bill would formally scrap gas standing charges, as promised in the Budget, though the saving depends on the bill passing; the new £2bn energy wealth fund is to invest oil and gas tax revenue in renewables.
GEO Geopolitical
Vance blames Iran war for defeat as Brent sinks below $95
JD Vance has told Republicans that “the reason we lost is the war”, in a statement on X that the BBC describes as 600 words long and carefully calibrated. President Trump called the assessment “largely true” but said he would “do it again”. Brent crude settled 8.7% lower at $94.62 on Wednesday as traders bet that the result makes a deal with Tehran more likely.
Dive deeper
Komyshuvakha toll reaches 40 as bodycam shows Russian double-tap strike
The death toll from Monday’s Russian attack on a school used as an aid point in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, has climbed to 40, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday, with more than 30 people feared still under the rubble. Regional officials have confirmed 37 deaths and say some 38 may be trapped. Bodycam footage from a police officer killed in the strike shows residents being sent into a shelter seconds before it was hit.
Dive deeper
Joshua Wong jailed for ten years under Hong Kong security law
Joshua Wong, the face of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, was sentenced on Thursday to ten years in prison for colluding with foreign forces under the national security law. Judge William Tam called him “a mastermind of the conspiracy” and reduced a 13-year starting point for his guilty plea. Mr Wong, who turned 30 last month, has spent almost six years in detention and had been due for release in January.
Dive deeper
France braces for 700,000 protesters as five unions strike
France’s five main unions have called a national day of strikes on Thursday, with the authorities expecting between 500,000 and 700,000 demonstrators and more than 250 separate actions. The interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, has deployed 70,000 police and gendarmes and promised “an extremely firm response” after more than 2,000 shops were looted on 17 October. Rail, hospital, postal and air-traffic staff are expected to join.
Dive deeper
Bomb hoaxes divert a dozen European flights for second time this week
An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was escorted by French fighter jets to the Evreux air base on Thursday after a bomb threat, one of at least a dozen aircraft targeted across Europe in a single morning. The French prime minister’s office said 151 passengers and six crew were moved to safety. Flights to Sofia, Prague, Brussels, Warsaw, Vienna and Bucharest were also diverted or searched; nothing was found and no arrests have been reported.
Dive deeper
UK UK Domestic Politics
Bank expected to raise rates to 4% as pound hits post-referendum high
The Bank of England announces its decision at 12:00 GMT, and most analysts expect the first rise since August 2023, from 3.75% to 4%, after inflation climbed to 3.5% in September. Sterling has reached its joint highest level since the June 2016 referendum on the Bank’s trade-weighted index, at 86.4, and stood at $1.3495 at 04:15. A quarter-point rise adds about £31 a month to a typical tracker mortgage, UK Finance calculates.
Dive deeper
Ministers move to outlaw new North Sea oil and gas exploration
The government has introduced an Energy Independence Bill that would strip the North Sea Transition Authority of its power to grant new oil and gas licences, making Labour’s manifesto moratorium permanent and reversible only by a Commons majority. Existing fields could still add output from adjoining areas under new transitional certificates, which ministers say could yield about 60 million barrels and support hundreds of jobs. Rosebank and Jackdaw are unaffected.
Dive deeper
UK signs up to ‘time-bound’ dialogue on slavery as summit closes
Commonwealth leaders ended their Antigua summit with an 18-page communiqué welcoming Britain’s agreement to “a structured, time-bound, inclusive and good-faith dialogue” on the transatlantic slave trade and its historical harms. No deadline is set, though Ed Miliband says the talks are likely to conclude within about a year, and Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda expects the framework to be settled by early next year. Andy Burnham has ruled out reparations but left an apology open.
Dive deeper
Palestine Action ban caused ‘crisis in confidence’, Supreme Court told
Lawyers for Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, told five Supreme Court justices that proscribing the group last year had produced a “crisis in confidence” in anti-terrorism law and provoked unprecedented civil disobedience. Home Office figures seen by the BBC show more than 4,000 arrests at protests where supporters held signs, with 1,200 charges authorised; those trials are in limbo. Twenty-seven people were arrested outside the court on Wednesday.
Dive deeper
British health worker with Ebola flown home from DR Congo
A British healthcare worker who tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being evacuated to the UK, the first British national infected in the current outbreak, which has killed more than 5,000 people. The patient is in a stable condition and will be taken by specialist ambulance to a high-consequence infectious disease unit, according to an official document seen by Reuters. The government says the risk to the public “remains low”.
Dive deeper
Evening Briefing
What It Means For You
- If the Energy Independence Bill passes, the daily standing charge on household gas bills goes: the government says around 60% of gas account holders would save an average of £45 a year, with 23 million households affected.
- The Bank of England decides on interest rates at noon on Thursday; a majority of the committee is expected to vote for a quarter-point rise to 4%, the first increase since 2023, which feeds straight through to tracker and variable mortgages.
- The Budget’s £100 winter energy payment for up to 20 million households in England and the £50 cut to the annual price cap stand alongside the bill; both are government figures and depend on the measures passing.
GEO Geopolitical
Trump ‘a little bit surprised’ as Republicans turn on him over defeat
Donald Trump said he was “a little bit surprised” by the Democrats’ sweep of both houses of Congress, blaming high petrol prices from the Iran war and, in a string of posts, Fox News. “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” he wrote. Inside his party, shock turned to anger: “It’s on him. It’s not on anybody else,” a senior Texas Republican lobbyist told the BBC.
Dive deeper
Brent falls below $100 for the first time since 7 October
Brent crude dropped below $100 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since 7 October, a fall of nearly $9 or more than 8%, as traders bet that the election result would push President Trump towards ending the Iran war without a major escalation. West Texas Intermediate slipped 8% to about $89. Earlier in the session Brent had been down a more modest 2.5% at $101.02.
Dive deeper
Zelensky decorates Melania Trump as Russia cuts power across Kyiv
Volodymyr Zelensky has awarded Melania Trump the Order of Princess Olha, first class, Ukraine’s highest award for women, for her “significant personal contribution to humanitarian support for Ukraine” after the Kherson ceasefire that allowed several hundred people to leave occupied Oleshky. Overnight Russian strikes on generating plants and substations in nine regions caused hours-long power and water outages across Kyiv, while Ukrainian drones killed three people in Russia’s Belgorod region.
Dive deeper
Hackers hit French blood banks as freezer attacks spread to 11 countries
The French Blood Establishment said hackers raised the temperature of cold rooms storing donated blood at three sites, through a refrigeration supplier, but monitoring systems caught it and “no blood products or samples were compromised”. It is the first known medical target in a wave of attacks that has spoiled tonnes of food in supermarkets across at least 11 European countries; the EU calls the incidents “not isolated”, and no one has claimed responsibility.
Dive deeper
Israel certifies election result as Herzog begins coalition talks
Israel’s Central Elections Committee certified the results of last week’s election on Wednesday, finding no evidence of fraud and rejecting claims from Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp that Arab-led parties had been “stealing” it. President Isaac Herzog, receiving the results in Jerusalem, began consultations on whom to invite to form a government, telling party leaders that “not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled” if they want to avoid another election.
Dive deeper
UK UK Domestic Politics
Energy Independence Bill ends new North Sea licences and scraps standing charges
The government introduced its Energy Independence Bill on Wednesday, removing the North Sea Transition Authority’s power to grant new oil and gas licences and making Labour’s manifesto moratorium permanent, while letting existing fields add output from adjoining areas under transitional energy certificates. Ministers will amend the bill to scrap standing charges on household gas bills, which they say gives about 23 million households more control and saves around 60% of gas account holders an average of £45 a year.
Dive deeper
Burnham: US result is an ‘opportunity’ to unite on cost of living
Andy Burnham said the midterm results gave the world “an opportunity now to unite around the issue that is affecting us all, and that’s the cost of living”, speaking from the Commonwealth summit in Antigua. “President Trump has accepted the results,” he said, adding that he could not bring living costs down “until the conflict in the Middle East is resolved” and Russia’s war in Ukraine ended. He promised to press other leaders to focus on both.
Dive deeper
Haigh and Burghart trade welfare figures at PMQs in Burnham’s absence
With the prime minister in Antigua, Louise Haigh took her first Prime Minister’s Questions against the Conservatives’ deputy leader, Alex Burghart, who pressed her on working-age welfare spending; when she declined to give a figure he put it at £183bn. Ms Haigh countered that welfare spending had risen by £88bn in a decade under the Conservatives. Mr Burghart also claimed the Office for Budget Responsibility had said 215,000 jobs were at risk from the Budget’s tax rises.
Dive deeper
Cocaine overtakes heroin as leading cause of drug deaths
Cocaine was involved in more drug-poisoning deaths in England and Wales last year than any other substance for the first time, the Office for National Statistics said, with 1,233 deaths and a 22% share. Total deaths fell slightly to 5,519 registered in 2025, 46 fewer than in 2024 and the first fall in the age-standardised rate since 2012, but they remain double the rates of ten years ago.
Dive deeper
MPs warned of ‘Notre Dame-style fire’ as Parliament repair costs climb
The Palace of Westminster is at risk of a Notre Dame-style fire or a similar catastrophe unless MPs stop delaying its restoration, the Public Accounts Committee has said, with maintenance costs set to reach £2m a week and every year of inaction adding an estimated £420m to the programme. A recent estimate put the full restoration at as much as £40bn over up to six decades. Decisions have been repeatedly delayed amid disagreement over method and spiralling costs.
Dive deeper
Morning Briefing
What It Means For You
- If you save into a workplace defined-contribution pension, ministers propose that your scheme should offer a default income for life as you approach retirement; you would remain free to choose another option.
- The Bank of England announces its interest-rate decision on Thursday, and a first rise since 2023 is widely expected; ten-year gilt yields stood near 5.27% on Tuesday, which feeds through to fixed-rate mortgage pricing.
- Under the planned UK–EU agrifood deal, pets travelling to Europe would need a pet passport rather than a certificate for every trip, though parts of the package will not take effect until 2028.
GEO Geopolitical
Democrats seize both houses of Congress in rebuke to Trump
Democrats have won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, flipping seven Republican-held Senate seats, among them Texas, Kansas, Ohio and Maine. The BBC projects 245 House seats for the Democrats to 166 for the Republicans. “Today begins the great American comeback,” said Hakeem Jeffries, who is poised to become the first black Speaker when the new Congress sits in January.
Dive deeper
Trump concedes Iran war cost votes, but signals vetoes ahead
President Trump acknowledged that the war had contributed to Republican losses — “Iran was a piece of it” — but said he did not regret launching it and that it would end “when I say it ends”. He told CBS he wanted to strike deals with congressional Democrats, then posted an image of his red cap emblazoned with the word “veto”.
Dive deeper
Tehran says Americans ‘said no to war’ as tankers burn near Hormuz
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the midterm results showed that “Americans said no to war”, warning that if Washington betrayed that will, “our ‘no’ comes with a nightmare”. The Revolutionary Guard claimed four tankers had been destroyed by naval mines on a prohibited route south of the Strait of Hormuz, two of them still burning. The claim has not been independently verified.
Dive deeper
Oil firms and US futures slip as markets weigh divided government
Brent crude rose 0.8% to $104.42 a barrel by 05:10 GMT in volatile trading, reversing earlier losses, as investors awaited Washington’s next move on Iran after the Democratic sweep. S&P 500 futures were 0.1% lower and Nasdaq futures 0.3% lower, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.4%. Brent had settled on Tuesday at its lowest level in nearly four weeks.
Dive deeper
Spain’s transport minister resigns after Urda crash that killed 69
Óscar Puente has resigned as Spain’s transport minister, six days after a high-speed train ploughed into a stationary one near Urda, south of Madrid, killing at least 69 people. “A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents of this seriousness in less than a year,” he told Congress. He will not stand in the 29 November election.
Dive deeper
UK UK Domestic Politics
Burnham to unveil EU deals on youth visas, pets and carbon
Andy Burnham is preparing to announce three agreements with the EU at a Brussels summit on 20 November: an agrifood deal including pet passports, British access to the EU emissions trading scheme, and a visa scheme for under-30s. He says the package would add £17bn, or 0.4%, to the economy. “I will not run ahead of public opinion,” he told ITV.
Dive deeper
Miliband says slavery apology will not cost British taxpayers
Ed Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, has insisted that a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade would not mean higher costs for taxpayers, and accused past governments of a “sweep it under the carpet” attitude. “Is it weak to do this? I think it’s the opposite of weak,” he told the BBC. An apology may come around the Manchester G20 summit in November 2027.
Dive deeper
Cyber chief warns of AI-powered ransomware on infrastructure by 2028
The National Cyber Security Centre judges it “highly likely” that AI-powered malware will be used in a ransomware attack on Britain’s critical infrastructure by 2028. Its chief executive, Richard Horne, said this week’s hacking of supermarket freezers across Europe was “just the foothills”. “For decades, we have collectively got away with doing tech on the cheap,” he said.
Dive deeper
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor summonsed to give evidence in fraud trial
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been served with a witness summons to give evidence in a High Court fraud trial on or around 15 December, the BBC understands — thought to be the first such summons to a royal since the 19th century. He is not accused of wrongdoing, but is said to have received some of the disputed payments, including £750,000.
Dive deeper
Ministers propose default lifetime pensions for 17 million private-sector savers
Around 17 million private-sector workers saving into defined-contribution pensions would be offered a default income for life under “guided retirement” plans launched by Torsten Bell, the pensions minister. Schemes would have to provide the default as savers approach retirement, though members could still choose otherwise. “We are resurrecting proper pensions for private sector workers,” Mr Bell said.
Dive deeper
Evening Briefing
What It Means For You
- Most analysts expect the Bank of England to raise Bank Rate from 3.75% to 4% on Thursday, its first rise since 2023; the decision feeds through to mortgage, credit card and savings rates.
- Some drivers mis-sold car finance between April 2007 and November 2024 may now receive early compensation offers, starting with Barclays; accepting is voluntary, but it ends any further claim.
- Hoax bomb threats disrupted seven European flights on Tuesday, two of them from the UK; all were false alarms. The government said Britain has “one of the most robust aviation security systems in the world”.
GEO Geopolitical
Americans vote as Democrats seek control of Congress
Voting is under way across the United States in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress for the last two years of Donald Trump’s presidency. Democrats need net gains of three House seats and four in the Senate, and go into polling day with a nine-point lead on the generic ballot in CNN’s poll of polls. The first polls close at 23:00 GMT.
Dive deeper
Trump says American military aid to Israel will end this year
President Trump said on polling day that the United States would stop its roughly $4bn a year in aid to Israel at the end of 2026, under a deal he said he had struck with Benjamin Netanyahu. “We’ve already agreed that by the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel,” he told Fox News. Israeli defence officials said they had not expected the announcement.
Dive deeper
Tehran holds to its terms after American strikes on Qeshm
Iran insisted on Tuesday that its conditions must be met before the Strait of Hormuz reopens, hours after American forces struck Qeshm Island in what US officials called a defensive response to Iranian surface-to-air missile fire. A senior Iranian official told Reuters the two sides remained far apart. Qatari mediators were in Tehran discussing a draft agreement.
Dive deeper
Komyshuvakha toll rises to 33 as Kremlin confirms Abu Dhabi talks
At least 33 people are now known to have died in the glide-bomb strike on an aid centre in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia, and President Zelensky called it “one of the largest mass killings committed by Russia during this war”. Russian strikes also hit a hospice in Dnipro and a hospital in Kharkiv. The Kremlin confirmed it will attend US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi on 10–11 November.
Dive deeper
Hoax bomb threats disrupt seven flights across Europe
At least seven passenger flights bound for Warsaw, Sofia, Rome and Murcia were searched after bomb threats on Tuesday, including a Ryanair flight from Manchester and a LOT flight from London diverted to Warsaw’s Modlin airport. No devices were found. The government called them “malicious hoax threats”; no one has claimed responsibility.
Dive deeper
UK UK Domestic Politics
King calls slave trade a ‘shameful chapter’ but offers no apology
Opening the Commonwealth summit in Antigua, the King said the transatlantic slave trade “fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow”, and that it “still casts a shadow” over the 56-nation association. He stopped short of a formal apology. Andy Burnham, also at the summit, is open to one but rejects reparations.
Dive deeper
MI5 spared contempt proceedings despite lying to three courts
Three senior judges, including the Lady Chief Justice, ruled that MI5 and its officers will not face contempt of court proceedings, although the agency admitted giving false evidence to three courts about an abusive informant known as Agent X. A contempt case would be too complex for the court, they said; police could instead investigate possible misconduct in public office.
Dive deeper
Gilt yields climb as Bank is tipped for first rise since 2023
The ten-year gilt yield rose back above 5.2% on Tuesday, recovering from near two-month lows before Thursday’s Bank of England decision. Economists polled by Reuters expect Bank Rate to rise from 3.75% to 4%, its first increase since August 2023, with a 7–2 vote. The FTSE 100 fell 1.1% to 10,638 in a global sell-off.
Dive deeper
Watchdog clears early car finance payouts as Barclays moves first
The Financial Conduct Authority will allow lenders to make early compensation offers to drivers mis-sold car finance, provided they are no worse than its proposed redress scheme, which faces a legal challenge in February. Barclays will begin making offers now. “Fair settlement offers could result in some people getting money sooner,” said the regulator’s Stephen Braviner Roman.
Dive deeper
Welsh first minister warns BBC cuts risk ‘irreversible deterioration’
Rhun ap Iorwerth has warned the BBC’s director-general, Matt Brittin, that planned cuts in Wales risk an “irreversible deterioration” in its service and could put the corporation in breach of its Royal Charter obligations. BBC Wales announced 58 job cuts in September under UK-wide plans to save £500m. Mr Brittin replied that the BBC takes its duties to Wales “extremely seriously”.
Dive deeper
Morning Briefing
What It Means For You
- Foreign care workers already in the UK who earn at least £25,000 a year will now wait five years for permanent settlement, rather than the 15 originally proposed.
- The draft UK–EU food deal would scrap £200 export health certificates and £25 phytosanitary certificates, and allow exports of fresh sausages, burgers and seed potatoes to resume.
- Binance customers should see withdrawals restored for more crypto assets in phases, the exchange said, after last week’s record $6.3bn hack.
GEO Geopolitical
US carries out ‘defensive’ strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island
American forces struck Iranian targets on Qeshm Island, at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, late on Monday; US officials called the action limited and defensive, a response to the Revolutionary Guard firing on a US aircraft. Iranian state media reported several explosions. Hours earlier President Trump said: “We had a war with Iran. We won.”
Dive deeper
Americans vote in midterms seen as referendum on Trump
Control of both chambers of Congress, each held by the Republicans, is at stake in today’s midterm elections. Mr Trump’s approval rating stands at 34% in CNN’s poll average, and voters say the cost of living is their foremost concern. On the eve of polling, the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s bid to set aside 20,000 disputed Californian ballots.
Dive deeper
Russian bombs kill 29 at Ukrainian aid centre
At least 29 people were killed and 48 remain missing after at least nine 3,000kg aerial bombs struck a school used as an aid centre in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia, regional officials said on Tuesday. President Zelensky called the attack “utterly horrific”, saying a second strike hit the place where survivors had sheltered. Washington has announced new peace talks for 10 and 11 November.
Dive deeper
Anglo-French force to rehearse Ukraine deployment in Poland
Britain and France will lead Exercise Koalicja in Poland this month, rehearsing how a European force could deploy rapidly to Ukraine after a peace deal. Some 2,800 personnel will take part, including 1,500 French troops and 300 from Britain’s 7th Light Mechanised Brigade. Western officials said troops would be permitted to return fire if attacked by Russian forces.
Dive deeper
North Korea denies record $6.3bn Binance hack
Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un, rejected FBI claims that Pyongyang orchestrated the $6.3bn theft from Binance, the largest crypto hack on record, calling them a “grave political provocation”. The FBI and blockchain analysts Elliptic and Chainalysis attribute the attack to the state-backed TraderTraitor group. Binance said it would progressively reopen withdrawals.
Dive deeper
UK UK Domestic Politics
Mahmood declines to cost settlement climbdown on care workers
The home secretary has refused to say how much scrapping longer settlement waits for foreign care workers already in the UK will cost; the Home Office had suggested the original plan could save £10bn. Shabana Mahmood insisted the state would still save “billions”. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp called it “a U-turn”; the morning papers broadly agree.
Dive deeper
UK and EU agree draft deal scrapping Brexit food checks
Britain and the EU have agreed a 200-page draft sanitary and phytosanitary agreement removing post-Brexit checks on food and agricultural trade, ahead of a UK–EU summit this month. EU member states will consider the text in Brussels on Wednesday, alongside drafts on emissions trading and a youth mobility scheme. It is the most significant element of the Brexit reset so far.
Dive deeper
Burnham offers Commonwealth ‘debt reset’ as slavery apology talks begin
Andy Burnham will join the King at the opening of the Commonwealth summit in Antigua and begin talks on a formal UK apology for the slave trade within the next year. Downing Street said he would set out a “debt reset” for members burdened by interest costs. “Britain is bringing a new approach to this meeting,” the prime minister said.
Dive deeper
Labour ends Green coalitions in 11 councils over Zionism motion
Labour has withdrawn from power-sharing arrangements with the Greens in 11 councils, including Sheffield, Warwick and Lewes, after the Green Party adopted a policy defining Zionism as racism. Party chair Bridget Phillipson said the policy “crosses a line and we cannot work with any party that supports it”. Zack Polanski said the move would “backfire”.
Dive deeper
Carla Lockhart quits DUP over Drumcree parade dispute
The Upper Bann MP has left the Democratic Unionist Party with immediate effect, citing a “point of principle”, and will sit in the Commons as an independent unionist. She had urged the DUP to withdraw the deputy first minister to force Michelle O’Neill from office over Sinn Féin’s role in Garvaghy Road protests that blocked an Orange Order parade.
Dive deeper
Evening Briefing
What It Means For You
- Brent fell almost 8% today to about $105 a barrel; if the slide holds, pressure on petrol and heating costs should ease in the coming weeks.
- Economists unanimously expect Bank Rate to rise to 4% on Thursday, which would push up tracker and variable mortgage payments, though savers should see better rates.
- Migrants on the route to settlement now face a default ten-year wait unless they meet earnings or public-service thresholds; those earning over £50,271 can still settle after five years.
GEO Geopolitical
Oil plunges as Rubio signals Washington prefers peaceful end to war
Brent crude fell 7.7% to $104.66 a barrel by midday in New York after Marco Rubio said President Trump “hasn’t made a decision” on renewed military action and that the administration “would prefer to do it peacefully”. West Texas Intermediate slid below $97. Abbas Araghchi said an agreement was achievable if Washington “demonstrates goodwill”.
Dive deeper
Iranian delegation leaves Qatar amid fears of post-midterm strikes
Qatari mediators met Iranian officials on Sunday for a third consecutive day in an effort to restart direct talks with Washington. Tehran says it has a two-day plan to halt attacks on Hormuz shipping and resume negotiations, contingent on the American response. The region is braced for possible US and Israeli strikes shortly after Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Dive deeper
Election chief rejects Likud bid to delay certifying Israeli result
Justice Noam Sohlberg refused a Likud request to postpone certification of the election, ruling that the Central Elections Committee has no authority to withhold results or intervene in an ongoing investigation. Avigdor Liberman said he would not serve with Benjamin Netanyahu “under any circumstances”. Anti-Netanyahu parties hold 67 of 120 Knesset seats.
Dive deeper
Coordinated cyberattacks sabotage supermarket fridges across six European countries
Hackers seized refrigeration control systems at supermarket chains in Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and Estonia, switching evaporators to defrost mode and spoiling food. Affected chains include ICA, Coop, Ahold Delhaize, Colruyt and Carrefour; thirteen Musgrave SuperValu stores in Ireland were hit.
Dive deeper
Yotova becomes Bulgaria’s first elected female president
Acting President Iliana Yotova won Sunday’s run-off with 57.6% of the vote against 39.5% for the liberal Andrey Gyurov, who conceded. Yotova said she had voted “for national consensus through dialogue, for institutions that work for citizens”. She will be inaugurated on 22 January for a five-year term.
Dive deeper
UK UK Domestic Politics
Mahmood unveils earned settlement, doubling default wait to ten years
Shabana Mahmood set out rules ending near-automatic settlement after five years. The default qualifying period rises to ten years; the highest earners may settle within three, while those earning over £50,271 and some public servants, including doctors, nurses and teachers, keep five. Those who breached immigration rules face at least twenty.
Dive deeper
Bank of England expected to raise rates for first time since 2023
All 35 economists in a Bloomberg survey expect the Monetary Policy Committee to raise Bank Rate to 4% from 3.75% on Thursday, its first increase in more than three years. Ten-year gilt yields fell to their lowest since 22 September, around 5.2%, as oil retreated.
Dive deeper
FTSE 100 edges higher as BP and Shell slide with crude
The FTSE 100 closed up 0.29% at 10,761.33, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 gained 1.4%. BP fell 4.4% and Shell 3.3% as oil tumbled; Ryanair rose 3.5%. Sterling firmed to $1.3415. October manufacturing PMI rose to 52.8, a five-month high.
Dive deeper
Commons committee says government has failed to deliver China strategy
The Business and Trade Committee’s first report on doing business with China concludes the government has not delivered its 2024 promise of a strategic, long-term approach. Ministers began re-engagement “without having finalised its China audit or published a strategy”, the 102-page report says.
Dive deeper
Badenoch rejects slavery reparations, provoking Antigua’s prime minister
Kemi Badenoch said the Chogm summit was “yet another opportunity for people to start asking Britain for money because of the slave trade”, adding that Andy Burnham should not apologise. Antigua’s prime minister told ITV News it was “no wonder” she was not prime minister.
Dive deeper
Morning Briefing
What It Means For You
- If you fly with Ryanair next year: its chief executive expects European fares to rise by 10%, “maybe even 20%”, in 2027 as cheap fuel hedges expire. Unhedged jet fuel is at $170 a barrel, and the airline says higher fares will not fully cover a €2bn rise in its fuel bill.
- If you have a mortgage or savings: the Bank of England announces its next rate decision on Thursday 5 November. Bank Rate stands at 3.75%; three of nine committee members voted for 4% in September, and the Bank says the Iran war has pushed up energy prices and inflation.
- If you are a legal migrant, or employ one: the home secretary puts final settlement rules before MPs today. Most applicants are expected to wait ten years rather than five for indefinite leave to remain, some up to fifteen, with social care workers already in the UK likely to be exempt.
GEO Geopolitical
Iran says two tankers hit mines and caught fire in Hormuz
The Revolutionary Guards say two crude tankers struck mines and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, two days after a Qatari gas carrier was attacked. President Trump says the war will end “very soon, one way or the other”: “Either they’ll make a deal, or we’ll just end it.” Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister, says talks with mediators on a two-day plan to reopen the strait continue.
Dive deeper
Israeli election officials reject Netanyahu’s claim the vote was stolen
Israel’s election chief says last Tuesday’s result stands, after the prime minister’s Likud party claimed without evidence that Arab-led parties “stole” the vote with Qatari money. “Even if the suspicions are substantiated, this would not undermine the integrity of the electoral process,” said Noam Sohlberg, appearing with the Shin Bet chief and the attorney general. Qatar calls the allegation “ridiculous and dangerous”.
Dive deeper
Ukrainian and Russian air-raid alert apps hacked as Kherson truce ends
Ukraine’s air-raid alert app sent fake warnings of nuclear and chemical threats around Kyiv on Sunday evening, including a false report that the Oreshnik hypersonic missile had been launched. Hours later Moscow said its own emergencies app had suffered a “massive cyberattack”. Both followed the end of the localised ceasefire in occupied Kherson, the longest of the war.
Dive deeper
Trump makes final pitch as Americans prepare to vote on Tuesday
President Trump closed his midterm campaign with rallies in Florida, Iowa and Kansas — states he once won easily — as polls suggest Democrats could win at least partial control of Congress. Facing anger over prices, he warned that Democrats would “bankrupt your family” and urged supporters to “pretend I’m on the ballot”. Both final speeches were repeatedly interrupted by hecklers.
Dive deeper
Ryanair warns fares could rise 20% as the war’s fuel shock bites
Ryanair’s half-year profit fell 15% to €2.15bn as the cost of its unhedged fuel doubled, and the airline is weighing temporary pay freezes. “Unless there is a swift resolution of the Middle East conflict, we expect jet-fuel prices to remain elevated well into 2027,” said Michael O’Leary, its chief executive, who expects European fares to rise by up to 20% next year.
Dive deeper
UK UK Domestic Politics
Mahmood sets out ten-year wait for migrants seeking settlement
The home secretary puts final rules before MPs today under which most legal migrants are expected to wait ten years, not five, for indefinite leave to remain, and some up to fifteen. Social care workers already in the UK are likely to be exempted after Cabinet objections. “To become a part of this country, permanently, is therefore not a right but a privilege,” Shabana Mahmood said.
Dive deeper
Reeves says Britain’s future lies inside the European Union
Rachel Reeves, in her first major intervention since leaving the Treasury, says Brexit made the country “poorer, weaker and less secure”. “I do believe Britain’s future lies in the European Union,” she wrote. Separately, ministers are prepared to spend up to £450m a year letting EU students pay home fees — but only if Brussels admits Britain to its Made in Europe industrial scheme.
Dive deeper
Healey signals delay to equal minimum wage for younger workers
The chancellor, John Healey, has declined to promise that 18 to 20-year-olds will receive the full adult minimum wage before the next election, putting a Labour manifesto pledge in doubt. “We’ll take one step at a time,” he said. From this year the younger rate rises to £11.27 an hour against £13.21 for over-20s.
Dive deeper
MPs warn Britain is making up China policy as it goes along
A Commons committee says Britain’s failure to set a coherent China strategy since 2024 has “combined the worst of both worlds”, leaving businesses without opportunities and security risks unaddressed. Liam Byrne, its Labour chairman, warns the UK risks being “cut off” from big European manufacturing contracts as the EU turns protectionist.
Dive deeper
King to address slavery at Commonwealth summit in Antigua
The King will speak on the transatlantic slave trade with “unflinching honesty, sincere sorrow” when he addresses Commonwealth leaders in Antigua on Tuesday, the Palace says. Andy Burnham has said he is “open” to a formal British apology, though not to reparations. Kemi Badenoch called “endless talk about apologies” a “distraction”.
Dive deeper
Evening Briefing
What It Means For You
- If you have a mortgage or savings: markets expect the Bank to raise rates to 4% from 3.75% on Thursday, which would be the first rise since 2023. That is an expectation rather than a decision. Inflation was 3.5% in September, the energy cap rose 3.6% on 1 October, and a further rise of about 22% is forecast for January.
- If you are travelling by train at Christmas: book around ten days of engineering works now. Birmingham New Street closes from Christmas Eve to 29 December, Great Western services terminate at Reading from 27 December to 4 January, and the east coast main line is part-closed on Christmas Eve with buses between Newark and York adding two hours.
- If you follow the Gulf: nothing has been agreed and no date exists for anything. Tehran has cut the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz it is offering from seven days to two, mediation is in its third day, and the American president says one or two nuclear sites remain. Oil rose 2.4% on Friday on that uncertainty.
GEO Geopolitical
“One or Two Sites” Left, as Mediators Cut the Hormuz Window
Speaking to reporters at his Florida club on Saturday, the American president said of Iran: “We’ve knocked out their nuclear. We still have to take care of, I would say one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes.” Meanwhile Qatari mediation entered a third day, and Tehran has cut its offered reopening of the Strait of Hormuz from seven days to two.
Dive deeper
Ebola Passes Five Thousand Deaths, With No Vaccine for This Strain
More than 5,000 people have now died in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s deadliest Ebola outbreak, with more than 10,300 confirmed cases across eight of its 26 provinces. The epicentre is a conflict zone. There is no treatment or vaccine for the species responsible, though trials are under way.
Dive deeper
Oleshky Emptied, and the Ceasefire That Allowed It Ends Tonight
The local truce in Kherson region, the most significant between Kyiv and Moscow since the invasion, is expected to end this evening. It allowed a joint evacuation of the besieged front-line city of Oleshky that finished on Saturday. About 2,000 civilians were there when it began; the number who left has deliberately not been published.
Dive deeper
Tusk Says There Can Be No Compromise on the Polish Court
In a prime-time address on Saturday night, after the riot police we reported yesterday, Poland’s prime minister vowed to see the contested overhaul of the constitutional court through: “in certain matters, there can be no compromise”. He said the tribunal in the form his predecessors imposed “was not a genuine court”.
Dive deeper
Sixteen Minutes of Silence, and the Arrest of a Police Chief
Thousands marched in silence through Novi Sad in the rain today, two years after a station canopy collapsed and killed sixteen people — sixteen minutes of silence, sixteen wreaths. Hours earlier, the head of Serbia’s criminal police, whom student groups accuse of brutality against the protests, was arrested over an unrelated case.
Dive deeper
UK Domestic
An Apology Without Reparations, and a Leader Who Rejects Both
The chancellor confirmed this morning that the apology the prime minister is open to would carry no financial liability: considering one “doesn’t mean accepting that British people now should accept the financial liability” for acts “in which they had no role”. The Conservative leader rejects an apology too, calling it a lever to open the door to cash.
Dive deeper
Starmer Says Europe Can No Longer Rely on American Money
The former prime minister told an audience in Dublin on Friday that the change in Europe’s defence relationship with the United States is permanent, not “an aberration of the Trump presidency”, and that Washington will no longer “bankroll” European security. He called for a common security framework with Britain at its centre.
Dive deeper
325 Arrested Outside the Embassy as the Ban Faces Appeal
The Metropolitan Police say 325 people were arrested at a protest supporting the proscribed group Palestine Action outside the American embassy at Nine Elms on Saturday, 320 of them for expressing support for a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act. At least 4,000 arrests have now been made over the group.
Dive deeper
Green Party at a Crossroads After the Zionism Motion
A former Green co-leader says the party is at a “crossroads” and should return to its “core values”, weeks after members adopted a motion defining Zionism as a form of racism. The current leader replied that there is “no environmental justice without social, racial and economic justice”.
Dive deeper
Ten Days of Christmas Rail Works Close Paddington and New Street
Engineering works over the holidays will shut London Paddington, disrupting intercity services to the west of England and Wales into January, and close Birmingham New Street for five days. The east coast main line is partly closed on Christmas Eve. Network Rail says most routes stay open and expects to carry out about £152m of work.
Dive deeper
Weekly Roundup
The stories that defined this week View roundup
The Week In Numbers
- John Healey’s first Budget handed about 20 million households a one-off £100 towards energy bills, at a cost of £2.6bn, paid for by doubling the bank surcharge to 6% for 15 months and lifting the tax on savings and property income to 24%, 44% and 49% from April 2027. The OBR cut its 2027 growth forecast to 1% and expects inflation to peak near 3.75%; the IFS identified a £28bn-a-year gap, and the Resolution Foundation expects typical working-age incomes to fall by £1,050, or 3%, by 2029.
- Technology stocks had their worst week of the autumn. Alphabet shed just over $500bn in a single session on Thursday after warning that AI summaries were eroding search advertising; Intel fell 29% on Friday, its worst day since 1974, and US tech lost more than $1tn in value. The S&P 500 slid 1.8% on Friday to 7,580, while the FTSE 100 held near 10,730 on the strength of Shell’s best quarter since 2022. Gold fell to a one-year low of about $3,875, down 5.9% in October. Brent spiked to $115.59 on a Houthi strike claim against Ras Tanura and finished near $113.
- Binance lost $6.3bn in what is likely the largest exchange hack ever, which the FBI has attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group; it says 90% has now been replenished and withdrawals began reopening this morning. Israel’s election left Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc on 53 seats and Gadi Eisenkot’s on 48, both short of 61, with Arab-led parties on a record 19. At least 69 people died in Spain’s worst rail crash in 13 years, and Lula won a fourth term in Brazil with 51.79% of the vote.
What Moved Forward
Healey Delivers a Budget of Modest Relief and Deferred Pain
DomesticThe first Budget of Andy Burnham’s premiership came on Wednesday and was built for “breathing space”, not reform. Households in council tax bands A to D get £100 towards winter energy bills, gas standing charges are abolished during 2027, the 5p fuel duty cut runs on to July and the minimum wage rises 3.9%. Banks and savers pay for it: the surcharge doubles to 6% and the tax on savings and rental income rises four points, although the planned cut to the cash ISA allowance was dropped. Burnham then ruled out an election within twelve months. The measures cover less than a fifth of the expected rise in bills, but the government has shown it can get a Budget through without a market revolt.
The Kherson Truce Holds and Oleshky Is Reached at Last
GeopoliticalA ceasefire brokered by Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV began in occupied Oleshky on Tuesday, two days early, and was soon extended across the Kherson region without a reported breach. On Friday a convoy of 25 buses carried hundreds of residents out of the devastated town. It was the first joint relief operation of the war; several hundred mostly elderly residents chose to stay. Kherson itself had its first quiet days in years. It is a single humanitarian corridor, not a peace process, and the Kremlin still rejects Volodymyr Zelensky’s broader ceasefire offer. Even so, it shows that a negotiated pause can be agreed and kept, which the war had not managed until now.
Voters Topple Vučić and Return Lula
GeopoliticalTwo elections last Sunday ended with decisive results. In Serbia, a leaderless student list that grew out of two years of protest defeated Aleksandar Vučić’s party, which has governed since 2012, on the highest turnout in decades. Vučić conceded before the final count, and the new MPs are already demanding that the police and intelligence chiefs go before the handover is complete. In Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, now 80, overturned a first-round deficit to beat Flávio Bolsonaro by 4.4 million votes. Bolsonaro demanded the result be annulled, then left the country after his passports were cancelled. In both countries the institutions held up under heavy pressure.
Binance Covers Its Losses as the FBI Names North Korea
MarketsBinance lost $6.3bn on Thursday, a breach wider than first disclosed and the largest exchange hack on record. Chainalysis and TRM Labs blamed the North Korean unit TraderTraitor, and on Saturday the FBI formally attributed the theft to the Lazarus Group. The exchange then moved quickly: it froze about half the funds, set aside more than the stolen sum from its own treasury, and by Saturday said it had replenished 90% of losses, with bitcoin, ethereum and Tether holdings fully restored. Withdrawals began reopening in phases this morning. The theft confirms that Pyongyang is now the most capable thief in crypto, but the industry’s largest firm avoided a run.
What Stalled
Hormuz Diplomacy Circles as the Shooting Resumes
GeopoliticalThe week brought plenty of diplomacy over Iran and no settlement. Defence and intelligence chiefs from the Mecca pact states met President Pezeshkian in Tehran and agreed only “to continue the dialogue”. JD Vance wrote to Iran’s security chief offering direct talks in Istanbul or Doha; Tehran acknowledged the letter but sent no reply and kept its seven conditions. Meanwhile the Houthis fired at Saudi Arabia and claimed a strike on Ras Tanura, and a limpet mine disabled a tanker off Oman, the first such attack of the war. Araghchi’s offer to reopen the strait within two days depends on sanctions relief, a US drawdown and the release of frozen funds, which Washington is unlikely to accept. The strait remains shut.
Israel’s Election Produces Deadlock, Not a Government
GeopoliticalTuesday’s turnout was the highest since records began in the early 1970s, but the result settled nothing. With every vote counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc has 53 seats and Gadi Eisenkot’s 48. Arab-led parties won a record 19 and now hold the balance. Likud has accused them of “stealing” the election, and Shin Bet is investigating claims of illegal Qatari and Turkish funding. Thousands rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday urging Eisenkot to govern with Arab support, which would give him 67 seats but has no precedent in Israeli politics. President Herzog’s consultations begin this week, and weeks of bargaining or another election look more likely than a quick coalition.
The AI Trade Breaks Down
MarketsResults week tested the AI investment story, and it did not hold up. Alphabet grew revenue 25% but reported a 25% fall in profits and negative free cash flow, and conceded that its own AI summaries were hurting search advertising; it lost $500bn in a day. Amazon fell after hours, and Intel’s 29% collapse on Friday wiped more than $1tn from US technology stocks. Gold, which had been a refuge all year, fell to a one-year low, and the Federal Reserve held rates while two members voted to raise them. For British savers in global trackers, which are heavily weighted to these companies, the week was a reminder of how concentrated their exposure is.
Defence, Welfare and Local Government Reform Postponed
DomesticFor all its short-term giveaways, the Budget put off the hardest decisions. The route to 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 was deferred to next year’s Spending Review, and departments were told to find another 1% of capital savings to cover a £4.7bn hole; Kemi Badenoch called it “a plan to have a plan”. Burnham could not promise a cut to welfare spending, forecast to reach £431bn, before the election. The government withdrew nine of fourteen planned council mergers, including Kent, Devon and Lancashire, while it seeks legal clarity. The DUP also blocked Michelle O’Neill from Burnham’s first National Economic Council for the nations, and the first ministers of Scotland and Wales told him that devolution within their nations is for their own parliaments to decide.
What To Watch Next Week
America’s Midterms and the Strikes Promised to Follow
GeopoliticalAmericans vote on Tuesday. Democrats lead the generic ballot by about eight points, and more than 43 million early votes had been cast with five days to go. Losing the House would leave the second half of Donald Trump’s term exposed to subpoenas and budget fights. The more immediate risk is in the Gulf: Trump has said strikes on Iran would not resume until after polling day, has told Gulf allies to prepare for a short, intense campaign, and insists one or two nuclear sites remain to “take care of”. Watch whether Tehran answers the Vance letter before the polls close. If it does not, Brent could move sharply in either direction soon after.
The Bank of England’s November Decision
MarketsMarkets expect the Bank of England to raise interest rates this month. The OBR’s inflation forecast of about 3.75%, oil above $110 and ten-year gilt yields near 5.3% have all pointed that way, and the two hawkish dissents at the Federal Reserve add to the pressure. A rise would push up the cost of new and remortgaged home loans just as the Budget’s £100 energy payment arrives, and it would erode Healey’s already reduced headroom by raising the cost of servicing nearly £100bn a year of debt interest. Watch the vote split and the Bank’s guidance on how much of the energy shock it expects to persist into 2027.
The King in Antigua and the Slavery Apology Row
DomesticThe King addresses Commonwealth leaders in Antigua on Tuesday and will speak, the Palace says, with “sincere sorrow” about the transatlantic slave trade. The prime minister has expressed “sorrow and regret” and said he is open to a formal state apology while ruling out reparations, a position that satisfies neither Caribbean governments, which want compensation, nor critics at home who accuse him of drawing the monarch into a political dispute. Protests are expected in St John’s. Watch what the communiqué says, whether Burnham commits to an apology at the summit, and how far the King departs from his government-approved script.
Mahmood’s Settlement Rules and Poundland’s Deadline
DomesticShabana Mahmood will put her final decision on indefinite leave to remain before Parliament this week. Most workers would have to wait ten years rather than five, and some lower-paid workers fifteen, though social care staff already in Britain are likely to be exempt. Cabinet colleagues have objected, so watch for further concessions. In the high street, Poundland’s ten-day window to find a rescue deal runs out at the end of the week, with 12,000 jobs at stake after its US owner rejected a takeover offer. Together they will show how Burnham handles immigration and job losses under pressure.
Morning Briefing
What It Means For You
- If you are aged 18 to 20 and on the minimum wage: your rate rises to £11.27 an hour against £13.21 for over-20s, and the chancellor would not promise this morning to close the gap before the next election — “We’ll take one step at a time,” he said.
- If you watch your energy bill: the chancellor says ministers will sign off new offshore wind farms only if the grid can carry their power without raising costs. The National Audit Office warned in September that paying turbines to switch off could cost homes and businesses £7.8bn a year by 2030.
- If you hold Binance funds: the exchange says it has covered 90% of the $6.3bn stolen, with bitcoin, ethereum and Tether holdings fully replenished, and remains on track to reopen withdrawals today. It will confirm details before doing so.
GEO Geopolitical
Iran Offers Two-Day Hormuz Reopening if Washington Meets Its Terms
Abbas Araghchi says talks with Qatari mediators have produced a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days, down from five, provided America lifts sanctions, cuts its regional forces and releases frozen funds. President Trump said talks were “going fine but you know they’re not very reliable”, while insisting one or two nuclear sites remained to “take care of”.
Dive deeper
German Youth Protests Turn to Looting as France Marches Again
Cost-of-living demonstrations organised by the youth group Gen Z regelt turned violent overnight in Frankfurt, where shops were looted, a gun shop’s windows smashed and molotov cocktails thrown at emergency services. Police used water cannon in Cologne and Hamburg. In France, the interior ministry counted 320,000 protesters, 70,000 of them in Paris.
Dive deeper
Tel Aviv Rally Urges Eisenkot to Govern With Arab Parties
Thousands rallied in Tel Aviv urging opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to strike a deal with Arab-led parties to remove Benjamin Netanyahu. With all votes counted, Mr Netanyahu’s bloc holds 53 seats and Mr Eisenkot’s 48 — both short of the 61 needed — while Arab-led parties won a record 19. Together, Eisenkot and the Arab parties would command 67.
Dive deeper
Tens of Thousands Rally in Delhi Demanding Election Chief Quit
Rahul Gandhi is leading a Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan demanding the resignation of the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, over a voter-list revision that has removed 130 million names from draft rolls. The Election Commission says it is purging the dead and those who have moved; the opposition calls it “vote chori” — vote theft.
Dive deeper
Binance Covers 90% of Losses as FBI Blames North Korea
The FBI said on Saturday that North Korea was responsible for the $6.3bn theft from Binance, naming the Lazarus Group, also known as TraderTraitor. The exchange says it has replenished 90% of the stolen assets from its own treasury and other funds, and remains on track to reopen withdrawals today.
Dive deeper
DOM UK Domestic Politics
Reeves Says Britain’s Future Lies in the European Union
In her first major intervention since leaving the Treasury, Rachel Reeves writes in the Sunday Times: “I do believe Britain’s future lies in the European Union.” She offers no timetable and does not say whether a referendum would be needed. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said any change would require a mandate at a general election.
Dive deeper
King to Address Slavery With ‘Sincere Sorrow’ as Apology Row Grows
The King will speak with “unflinching honesty” and “sincere sorrow” on the transatlantic slave trade when he addresses Commonwealth leaders in Antigua on Tuesday, Buckingham Palace says. The Sunday papers lead on Mr Burnham’s openness to a formal apology, the Express accusing him of letting the King down.
Dive deeper
Healey Will Not Promise Equal Minimum Wage Before Election
The chancellor, John Healey, has declined to commit to paying 18 to 20-year-olds the full adult minimum wage before the next election, potentially breaking a 2024 manifesto pledge. “There is no question about whether or if, it’s a question of when,” he told the BBC. He also signalled readiness for deep departmental cuts.
Dive deeper
Healey to Veto Offshore Wind Farms That Cannot Lower Bills
New offshore wind projects bidding for subsidy contracts will be signed off only if the grid can absorb their power without pushing up consumer costs, the chancellor says. “There’s no sense building power that can’t connect and then paying to switch it off,” he wrote in the Times.
Dive deeper
Mahmood to Set Out Settlement Rules With Care Workers Spared
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, will present her final decision on indefinite leave to remain to Parliament this week. The BBC understands social care workers already in Britain are likely to be exempt from a longer wait, while most other workers would need ten years rather than five before qualifying for settlement.
Dive deeper
Morning Briefing
What It Means For You
- If you hold savings outside an ISA or let out property: from 6 April 2027 the tax on that income rises to 24%, 44% or 49% depending on your band — four points above the rates on earnings. The official estimate is that about 12% of taxpayers pay an average of £113 a year more, and that a basic-rate taxpayer would need over £150,000 in savings at 4% before paying any tax on interest.
- If you have an anxious pet tonight: nothing has changed in the law yet. A government consultation closed this month proposing that the loudest fireworks be sold only to professionals and that the consumer noise limit fall from 120 to 110 decibels, roughly halving loudness. A complete ban on public sales has been ruled out, and any change comes with a six-month transition.
- If you are on a hosepipe ban or near a reservoir: the wettest week in two years has not ended the drought. Most of England and Wales remain in drought, parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Sussex are in severe drought, and up to ten dry days are now forecast. This is England’s third drought in five years.
GEO Geopolitical
America Approves 500 Patriots That May Take Years to Arrive
The State Department has cleared the sale of 500 PAC-3 interceptor missiles to Ukraine at a cost of $2.1bn, the one weapon that reliably downs Russian ballistic missiles. President Zelensky welcomed the decision and then warned that deliveries may begin, in his words, “only in a few years”. The statement gave no delivery date.
Dive deeper
Poland’s President Forces His Way Into the Constitutional Court
Judges elected by the current parliamentary majority moved to suspend the Constitutional Tribunal’s president and vice-president and take procedural control of the court. Riot police were deployed in Warsaw, three people were detained, and the head of state turned his plane around mid-flight, pushed through the police cordon after midnight and was still inside the building at four in the morning.
Dive deeper
Half the Record Crypto Theft Frozen as Investigators Close In
The exchange that lost $6.3bn this week says it has frozen about half the stolen funds and set aside more than that sum of its own money to cover customers. The US Secret Service says it is working around the clock to trace and recover the assets. The breach was wider than first disclosed.
Dive deeper
Yerevan Nature Deal Lands With One Target of 24 on Course
After nearly two weeks of negotiation in Armenia’s capital, governments agreed a new accord on nature and acknowledged they are falling behind. The 2022 framework they are meant to be delivering set 24 targets, including protecting 30% of the world’s land and seas by 2030. The UN says one is on track.
Dive deeper
Democrats Lead by Eight Points With Three Days to the Midterms
Americans vote on Tuesday, and one polling average puts Democrats 8.2 points ahead on the national congressional ballot, 51.4% to 43.2%. A wire-service analysis counted more than 43 million early or postal votes five days out, nearly ten million more than at the same stage in 2022. A separate survey found 44% of registered voters expect Democrats to take the House against 31% for Republicans, with the Senate far closer.
Dive deeper
UK Domestic
Settlement Decision Due Next Week After Cabinet Objections
The home secretary is expected to put her final decision on settlement rules for legal migrants to Parliament in the coming week. Her proposal would double the wait for permanent residence from five years to ten, with some lower-paid workers waiting fifteen. It has drawn objections from inside the government.
Dive deeper
Savers and Landlords Face Four Points More From April 2027
Wednesday’s Budget added two percentage points to the tax rates on savings interest and property income, on top of two already announced by the previous chancellor. From April 2027 the rates become 24% for basic-rate taxpayers, 44% for higher-rate and 49% for the additional rate. The plan to cut the cash ISA limit was dropped.
Dive deeper
Sorrow and Regret Offered, but Reparations Refused
In a signed article before next week’s Commonwealth summit in Antigua, the prime minister called the transatlantic slave trade “a brutal and barbaric violation”, expressed “sorrow and regret”, and said he is open to calls for a formal state apology. He refused financial reparations: “I do not believe that is the right answer.”
Dive deeper
Bereaved Families Win Full Asbestos Compensation From Today
From today, families of people who died of asbestos-related disease before they could claim will receive the same compensation the sufferer would have been entitled to, ending a gap of roughly £7,000. About 300 families a year are affected. For a claimant of sixty, a dependant could now receive £56,656 rather than £24,526.
Dive deeper
Up to Ten Dry Days After the Wettest Week in Two Years
High pressure is returning and the United Kingdom could see as many as ten consecutive days without rain, after an unsettled end to October in which the Environment Agency says England had its wettest week in two years. Halloween evening should stay largely dry, with some rain possible in the Western Isles.
Dive deeper
Evening Briefing
What It Means For You
- If you were planning a heat pump: the boiler upgrade scheme still offers a typical household £7,500, but its funding will now rise only with inflation after the Budget took £741m from it. Installations are expected to stagnate or grow far more slowly than planned.
- If you hold tech funds or gold: Intel fell 29% on Friday and US tech stocks were on course to lose more than $1tn in value. Gold has dropped to a one-year low and is down 5.9% so far this month.
- If you are a Yorkshire Water customer: the Environment Agency has rated the company one star out of four, its lowest rating, after 260 pollution incidents in 2025. Its chief executive, Nicola Shaw, leaves on 1 January.
GEO Geopolitical
Limpet Mines Disable Tanker in First Such Hormuz Attack of War
On Thursday a small boat attached explosives to the hull of the Panama-flagged tanker Louise 1, about 25 nautical miles north-east of Khasab in Oman. The blast started a fire that was later put out. Maritime security sources told Reuters it was the first known successful limpet-mine attack on a tanker in the area since the war began. Separately, the IRGC claimed that three tankers had struck sea mines on a southern route it calls unauthorised.
Dive deeper
Intel Suffers Worst Day Since 1974 as AI Sell-Off Deepens
Intel shares fell 29% on Friday, on course for their worst day since 1974, after the company gave weaker-than-expected guidance. It blamed a plant shutdown in Israel and weak PC demand. US tech stocks were on track to lose more than $1tn in value, a day after Alphabet lost about $500bn. By early evening the S&P 500 was down about 1.8%, and gold had fallen to a one-year low.
Dive deeper
Hundreds Evacuated From Occupied Oleshky Under Kherson Ceasefire
Hundreds of residents left the devastated, Russian-occupied town of Oleshky on Friday. It was the first joint relief operation of the war, made possible by a ceasefire across the Kherson region brokered by Melania Trump. A convoy of 25 buses had four hours to take out up to 750 people. Several hundred residents, most of them older, chose to stay. Those heading for Ukraine must travel through Crimea, Anapa in southern Russia and Belarus.
Dive deeper
G20 Photo Scrapped as Europeans Refuse to Stand With Lavrov
The United States cancelled the traditional ‘family photo’ at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta after European diplomats, including the UK’s, refused to pose with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov. A US official said Washington had dropped the picture rather than let it become “a diplomatic distraction”. Ukraine was not invited to the meeting, which is hosted by Marco Rubio.
Dive deeper
Novaya Gazeta to Close, Accusing Russian State of Killing It
Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s best-known independent newspaper, announced on Friday that it will close. It had received an eviction order, and at the same time the system it used to collect readers’ donations was disabled. “They’ve killed us,” its statement said, blaming “the repressive state apparatus”. The paper had already lost its licence, and its website was blocked.
Dive deeper
UK UK Domestic Politics
First Ministers Tell Burnham Local Devolution Is Theirs to Decide
Andy Burnham chaired his first National Economic Council for the nations in Glasgow and urged all four nations to “move together” on handing power to regions. John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth agreed to work with him. But both insisted that further devolution within Scotland and Wales was a matter for Holyrood and the Senedd alone. Northern Ireland sent only officials after a row between Sinn Féin and the DUP.
Dive deeper
Streeting Denies Kicking Defence Spending Can Down the Road
Wes Streeting rejected claims that the government is putting off decisions on defence spending. He and John Healey announced that foreign firms winning UK defence contracts worth more than £50m must invest the same amount in Britain. These ‘offset’ rules will apply case by case from April 2027. Critics point out that the Budget set no path to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030.
Dive deeper
Budget Takes £741m From Heat Pump Scheme to Help Fund Defence
John Healey’s Budget cut more than £3bn from the energy department, much of it to pay for defence. This includes £741m from the boiler upgrade scheme, which subsidises heat pumps. The scheme’s funding will now rise only with inflation, instead of increasing to just over £700m by 2029–30. Experts warn that the target of 250,000 installations a year by 2030 is slipping out of reach.
Dive deeper
Yorkshire Water Chief Quits a Day After One-Star Rating
Nicola Shaw will step down as Yorkshire Water’s chief executive on 1 January. Her announcement came 24 hours after the Environment Agency gave the company its lowest rating and classed it as ‘poorly performing’. The regulator said the firm was responsible for 260 pollution incidents in 2025, its highest total since 2011. Nicola Medalova, who previously worked at National Grid, will succeed her.
Dive deeper
Number 10 North Advertises 50 Jobs in Manchester Hiring Drive
Andy Burnham’s Manchester office has advertised 50 jobs, including a ‘rewiring the state deputy director’ paid up to £117,000. BBC analysis puts the total basic salaries at up to £2.8m. No10 North already has 120 staff, nearly half the 280 who work in Downing Street. It will move to a permanent office on First Street in spring 2027.
Dive deeper
One To Read
Evacuations begin from Oleshky under Melania Trump-brokered ceasefire — CNN. A detailed account of how a town cut off by mines and drones for years was finally reached, and of the people who chose to stay behind.
Morning Briefing
What It Means For You
- If you rely on public services: the IFS says the Budget leaves a £28bn-a-year gap and points to “a spending review that looks pretty brutal for some departments”, including real-terms cuts. Departments have already been told to find 1% savings to fund defence.
- If you hold crypto on an exchange: Binance says $6.3bn of assets were hit in what may be the largest hack ever, and has pledged to “cover all losses”. Analysts blame a North Korean unit; check your exchange’s security notices.
- If you have a pension or index fund: Alphabet lost just over $500bn in market value on Thursday after warning that AI search summaries are hurting ad sales. Big US technology stocks make up a large share of most global trackers.
GEO Geopolitical
Tehran Holds Vance Letter as US Floats Istanbul or Doha Talks
Iran has confirmed through the Tasnim news agency that it received JD Vance’s letter to its security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, but has not yet replied. Tasnim says Tehran still insists its seven conditions be met. The Washington Post reports that Vance has offered to meet Rezaei, with Istanbul or Doha the likeliest venues.
Dive deeper
Binance Hit by $6.3bn Hack Blamed on North Korea
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, says $6.3bn of digital assets were affected in what may be the biggest hack in history. About half has been frozen, and the exchange says it will “cover all losses”. Chainalysis and TRM Labs have attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit.
Dive deeper
Xi’s Purges Leave Record Empty Seats at China Plenum
China’s Communist Party expelled a record 33 members as its fifth plenum closed. Only 279 of the 376 Central Committee members named in 2022 attended, the most empty seats in modern Chinese history. Those expelled include Zhang Youxia, formerly Xi Jinping’s second-in-command in the military hierarchy, and Ma Xingrui, the former party secretary for Xinjiang.
Dive deeper
Serbia’s Student Victors Demand Police and Intelligence Chiefs Go
Newly elected Student List MPs have called on the heads of Serbia’s police, the BIA security agency and its anti-terror unit to stand down. The demand comes days after the movement ousted Aleksandar Vučić’s party from power. The movement fears that evidence of wrongdoing could be destroyed during the weeks-long handover.
Dive deeper
Alphabet Loses $500bn as AI Weighs on Search Advertising
Alphabet lost just over $500bn in market value on Thursday after it said AI summaries in search were hurting advertising revenue. Its shares fell almost 13% to a six-month low. Revenue rose 25% to $127.6bn, but profits fell 25% and free cash flow turned negative by more than $9bn. Amazon fell 6% after hours.
Dive deeper
DOM UK Domestic Politics
DUP Blocks O’Neill From Burnham’s Economic Council
The DUP has blocked First Minister Michelle O’Neill from attending the National Economic Council with Andy Burnham in Glasgow today. It acted after Sinn Féin joined protests that stopped an Orange Order march along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown. “Her law breaking must have consequences,” said Gavin Robinson. O’Neill called the move “reckless and irresponsible”.
Dive deeper
IFS Warns of £28bn Gap and ‘Brutal’ Spending Review
The Institute for Fiscal Studies says John Healey needed to set aside another £28bn a year to cover inflation and reach 3% of GDP on defence by 2030. IFS director Helen Miller warned of “a spending review that looks pretty brutal for some departments”. Healey has since said there is no timetable for cutting welfare in this parliament.
Dive deeper
Mahmood Angers Ministers Over Asylum Homelessness Impact
Shabana Mahmood has angered Cabinet colleagues by repeatedly refusing to say how much she expects her asylum changes to increase homelessness. Home Office ministers will meet other departments in the coming days to agree a compromise, amid warnings of a staffing crisis in social care. The Home Office insists that ending asylum hotels “will not leave people homeless”.
Dive deeper
MPs Say Government’s Obesity ‘Moonshot’ Is Doomed to Fail
The Commons health and social care committee says the government’s pledge to “end the obesity epidemic” within a decade is “doomed to fail” without a rethink. MPs want a cabinet committee chaired by the prime minister and a cross-government plan within three months. In England, 30% of adults live with obesity, and 66% are overweight or obese.
Dive deeper
Nine Council Mergers Withdrawn as Reorganisation Stalls
The government has withdrawn decisions on nine of 14 planned council mergers, including Kent, Devon and Lancashire, while it seeks “legal clarity”. Only East Sussex, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire will go ahead, after three more weeks of consultation. Shadow local government secretary Katie Lam called it “a farce”.
Dive deeper
One To Read
China expels a record number from Communist party amid Xi’s intensified purges of top officials — The Guardian. A clear account of how far Xi’s discipline campaign has hollowed out the party and military elite ahead of next year’s congress.