UK Economics

1. Britain’s economy stagnated in the third quarter, compared to a growth of 0.2% in the three months to June. High interest rates slowed investment, which fell by 4.2%. The Bank of England expects no growth in 2024. Jeremy Hunt has switched his stance on corporation tax cuts, from “virtually impossible” in September to “most important”.
2. The Office for National Statistics is planning to offer cash rewards for surveys, following criticisms about holes in their data. In September, its GDP figures painted a radically different picture of certain sectors’ performance. Last month, it only gave estimates on unemployment, instead of detailed information on the labour market.
3. Foxtons, the UK’s largest letting agency, acquired residential estate agency Ludlow Thompson on Tuesday for £10mn. With increasing demand for rental homes and falling demand for property, such types of takeovers have become common, with larger estate agencies consolidating their positions and smaller businesses looking to sell.

World Economics

1. WeWork filed a bankruptcy petition. In January 2019 the office-sharing company was valued at $47bn; it is now worth roughly 0.1% of that. The petition is limited to the firm’s locations in America and Canada, and its franchisees will continue to operate.
2. The IMF raised its forecasts for China’s growth to 5.4% in 2023 and 4.6% in 2024, up from 5% and 4.2% respectively, following unexpectedly good third-quarter growth and government stimulus. However, the Chinese economy is still under threat of deflation due to falling pork prices.
3. Turkey borrowed $2.5bn on the dollar bond market, in its first such deal since April. This was possible because investors were willing to engage with a government that ditched its unorthodox policies, such as keeping interest rates low despite extreme inflation. The five-year “sukuk” bond was sold with a yield of 8.5%.
4. UBS’s share price rose 3% despite reporting its first quarterly loss since 2017. The loss came from the costs of integrating Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank it acquired earlier this year. Without these, the bank would have made a pre-tax profit of $844m.
5. For the second time since it was founded in 2009, Uber made an operating profit, of $394m. In the same quarter last year, it made a loss of $495m. Since then, the average number of trips per day has risen by 25%, to 27m, and the firm’s revenue has grown by 11%, to $9.3bn. Uber’s share price has doubled since the start of 2023.

UK Politics

1. King Charles and Rishi Sunak led Britain in honouring war veterans this Remembrance Sunday, aiming to unify communities, following the pro-Palestinian march the day before. Approximately 300,000 people from across the country peacefully marched through Central London for Gaza, with police arresting far-right protestors.
2. Despite Rishi Sunak expressing “full confidence” in Suella Braverman, she was sacked on Monday in a cabinet reshuffle. David Cameron, former Prime Minister, has been appointed foreign secretary, and James Cleverly has replaced Suella Braverman as Home Secretary.
3. According to a Survation poll on behalf of the UK Spirits Alliance, Sir Keir Starmer is on track for a landslide general election victory even larger than Blair’s in 1997. If the election were held on Monday 13th November, he would secure the position of Prime Minister with a 212 seat majority.

World Politics

1. Russian forces have escalated their offensive to reclaim territory near Bakhmut and other areas in Eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, Kyiv faces its first air attack in 52 days.
2. Two premature babies have died, and 37 others are at risk in Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital due to a power loss during an alleged IDF attack. Hostage negotiations by Hamas have been suspended following the Israel Military closing in on al-Shifa hospital, leaving patients “in streets without care” as hospitals are forced to evacuate.
3. Since April,  Sudan has been in a state of civil war. A senior UN official warns that the violence is “verging on pure evil”. More than 10,00 people have been killed so far. As the war escalates, the UN has flagged this “catastrophic” humanitarian situation. Paramilitary troops move closer to capturing all of the western region of Darfur.
4. In his Veterans Day speech, Trump pledged to tackle “America’s greatest enemy”: the left. He vowed to “root out the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country”, expressing that no outside threat is more important. Additionally, he requests for his upcoming trial to be “seen by everybody in the world”.
5. Protests have been held across Spain on Sunday 12th November against an amnesty deal with Catalan separatists aimed at securing a new term for the Socialist-led government. An estimated 80,000 took part in the rally in Madrid.

Written by Zihan Tian and Jaymiel Savage