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. The UK government has announced plans to “cut red tape” from financial regulation to “turbocharge growth”, with the finance ministry’s package of 30 reforms designed to review both previous EU rules and rules imposed following the GFC.
  2. James Bowler, secretary to the Treasury, told MPs on Monday that former UK Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng brushed aside Treasury advice over warnings about £45bn worth of unfunded tax cuts. Bowler claimed he was satisfied that officials gave the “right advice”. 
  3. UK GDP grew by 0.5% between September and October according to recent data published by the Office for National Statistics. This was 0.1% than the original 0.4% expansion predicted by Reuters.

International Business & Economics

  1. Investors expect the Federal Reserve, the BOE, and the ECB to increase interest rates further at meetings later this week, albeit at a slower pace than in recent months, encouraged by signs of easing inflation in the US and eurozone in recent weeks.
  2. According to the International Air Transport Association, the global airline industry should return to profitability by 2023. Net losses this year are estimated at $7bn but this is a major improvement over the $138bn loss in 2020.
  3. Central banks across the euro area will have to pay around £70 billion of interest on the deposits of commercial banks next year, a sum significantly larger than in recent years wherein the ECB’s aggressive monetary easing led to negative interest rates, meaning lenders paid money to deposit in the central bank.
  4. Kyiv officials have made multiple trips to London to promote international investment in the economy. It is estimated that around $349bn is needed to rebuild parts of the nation devastated by the war.
  5. Japanese tech executives have warned that the newest US controls over computer trips are unlikely to suppress China’s progress in artificial intelligence and super computers. 

UK Politics

  1. The government has been discussing contingency plans for the widespread upcoming strikes, including the use of military and civil servants to cover Border Force Staff, at an emergency Cobra meeting. Downing street has warned that nonetheless there would be “serious disruptions”.
  2. The government has now declared that sexual harassment on the street will be made a crime with jail sentences liable up to two years. Suella Braverman has said that “every woman should feel safe to walk our streets”
  3. Fewer than 100 individuals who crossed the Channel in small boats illegally have been arrested under a new power to deter them, with the figure representing only 0.3% of those who have made crossed the border since the law was changed earlier this year.

International Politics

  1. China said it will abolish its mobile covid-tracking service as it continues to ease its zero-covid policy. Official reported cases have dropped significantly, although this is likely due a rollback in mass testing.
  2. The US warned that Iran and Russia are entering a “full fledged defence partnership” that could include the joint production of drones.
  3. Putin has announced he may cut oil output in response to what he deemed was a “stupid” response by the West to impose a price cap on Russian oil exports.
  4. Brittney Griner, an American WNBA player arrested in Moscow early this year for possession of cannabis oil, was exchanged in a prisoner swap for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death”.
  5. Putin has cancelled his annual press conference for the first time in a decade. A kremlin spokesperson has announced “We hope that the president will still find an opportunity to talk to journalists”.

Written by Philip Weaver and Rob Webb

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