We’ve summarised the top stories of the last week into an easily digestible briefing, so that you can stay up to date on what’s happening around the world. You can subscribe to receive the briefing in your inbox each week.

UK Business & Economics

1. On the 21st of September, the Bank of England increased the bank rate to 2.25% after 5 members voted to add 0.5 percentage points to the pre-existing rate of 1.75%. This move follows the recent announcement of CPI reaching 9.9% in August.
2. The pound has slumped further against the dollar to a new low of $1.04, close to its absolute historical low in 1985. The drop comes after Kwasi Kwarteng announced the largest package of tax cuts in 50 years, with many fearing his plans are fiscally reckless.
3. Record numbers of older people are still in employment as the cost of living crisis continues to soar. Between April and June this year, there were reportedly an extra 173,000 people aged 65 and over who took on work. This brings the total figure to 1.47 million; the highest on record. 

International Business & Economics

1. France’s finance minister has pledged additional aid for larger companies hit by high energy prices, with a €3 billion package already earmarked for helping companies into 2023.
2. The UAE has agreed a deal to supply liquified natural gas to Germany following a visit by Chancellor Scholz to the Gulf state. The UAE has further plans to double its LNG production to 12 million tonnes a year by 2026.
3. The German government have nationalised Uniper, Germany’s biggest gas importer, to prevent it from collapsing. A further three refineries run by Rosneft have also been seized in an effort to secure a stable energy supply before this winter. 
4.  The Federal Reserve has increased its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points to a range of between 3% and 3.25%. There are expectations for the rate to increase to 4.25% before the end of the year. 
5. The Asian Development Bank has forecasted that the rest of developing Asia to grow at around 5.3% between 2022 and 2023, whilst China will see only around 3.3% in economic growth. This will be the first time in three decades that the rest of developing Asia will grow faster than China. 

UK Politics

1. Tory MPs have expressed significant concern that the new leadership team, notably Truss and Kwarteng, has already lost the Conservatives their next election. One Tory MP was quoted saying he was looking forward to entering opposition, and that ‘this madness has to end’.
2. Liz Truss has been accused of ‘lying’ to parliament about meeting with Gulf autocrats. The PM had told the foreign affairs committee that she used the meeting to raise human rights issues, yet the Foreign Office repeatedly refused to give any comments when questioned about the meeting.
3. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has promised to bring back the top rate of income tax and spend the money on hiring more NHS workers, accusing Truss and Kwarteng of behaving ‘like desperate gamblers in a casino’.

International Politics

1. Giorgia Meloni, leader of the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, which has its roots in neo-facism, declared victory in Italy’s general election today. She is set to be the country’s first female PM.
2. Vladimir Putin announced on the 21st September that Russia would begin to mobilise reserve forces, taking in approximately 300,000 conscripts. Reports of protests have emerged, with news arriving that a conscript shot military officer in a conscription office amidst the anger at Putin’s decision to continue the war in Ukraine.
3. Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a ceasefire this week after heavy conflict between the two nations on the border re-emerged. The Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020 was the last instance of high-intensity fighting between the two nations.
4. Eritrean soldiers have invaded Tigray, a northern province of Ethiopia that has been fighting Ethiopian government forces since 2020. The UN announced that Ethiopia’s blockade of Tigray was a crime against humanity. 
5. More than 2.1 million illegal migrants have been arrested along USA’s border with Mexico for the fiscal year starting in October 2021. Many migrants are now entering the country through Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. 

Written by Philip Weaver and Rob Webb