Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Shares are falling faster than wickets in Perth at the start of trading in London, as fears of an AI bubble rip through markets again.

Following losses on Wall Street last night, the FTSE 100 share index has dropped by 104 points, or just over 1%, at the start of trading to 9423 points. That’s a one-month low.

it’s been a truly remarkable 24 hours, with a sequence of moves that were almost impossible to predict….

After the world’s largest company reported spectacular results, the stock was up around +5% by 3pm London time. It closed down -3.15%. The broader market followed a similar pattern: the S&P 500 initially climbed +1.93%, only to fade and close down -1.56% as doubts about AI valuations crept back in. That marked the biggest intra-day swing for the S&P since the six days of extreme market turmoil that followed the Liberation Day tariffs in early April. Adding to the negative backdrop for crypto were lingering questions over the crypto market structure bill that’s being worked on in Congress.

• Former world champion promises to restore trust in sport

• World Boxing replaced IBA as governing body this year

The former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is to be elected president of World Boxing and lead the sport as it heads towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Golovkin, who won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 and went on to make the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate approved by the sport’s independent vetting panel for Sunday’s election.

European Central Bank president says Europe’s dependence on international trade has made it vulnerable

Europe’s economy is “geared towards a world that is gradually disappearing”, according to a warning from Christine Lagarde that the EU needs reforms to spur growth.

The president of the European Central Bank (ECB) said the EU’s dependence on international trade had left it vulnerable, as major partners had turned away from the trade that made the bloc’s exporters wealthy.

Italian MEP ‘disgusted’ after US president received $130,000 engraved gold bar weeks before he decided to slash tariffs on Swiss imports

A gold Rolex desk clock and a $130,000 engraved gold bar given to Donald Trump by a group of Swiss billionaires have raised questions in Europe and the US about the personalisation of US presidential power.

Pasquale Tridico, an Italian MEP and the former head of the country’s National Institute for Social Security said he was “disgusted” by the golden charm offensive, made weeks before Trump decided to slash 39% tariffs on Swiss imports to 15%.

Alice and Ellen Kessler, who died by joint assisted suicide this week, entertained – and occasionally scandalised – Europe with their glitzy and subversive pop music and classically informed dance

• The Kessler twins die together aged 89 – news

When Dean Martin announced the Kessler sisters’ appearance on his show in 1966, he remarked that he had been desperate to book them not just because the German-born dancer-singers were “so pretty and so talented”, but “also because they’re twins, that means there are two of them”. “They’re a double,” he added with a nod to his half-drunk crooner persona, “and there’s nothing I like more than a double”.

The two sisters, who died by joint assisted suicide earlier this week, also performed with Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte and Fred Astaire, but the American market never impressed them much. In 1964 they turned down a role in Elvis’s Viva Las Vegas for fear of being pigeonholed in American musical comedies.

Group’s first summit on the continent, which opens on Saturday, comes at a febrile time in global politics

The dispute between South Africa and the US over the Trump administration’s decision to boycott the G20 in Johannesburg has continued, with South Africa objecting to a US plan for a junior embassy official to take part in the closing ceremony meant to mark the handover to the next summit, which will take place in Florida.

The two-day summit, which opens on Saturday, comes at a febrile moment in global politics. The US has proposed a deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it agreed with Moscow without the involvement of Ukraine or the EU.

Plus Vanity Fair’s plucky decision to feature only men in its Hollywood Issue and the reporter fired after RFK Jr ‘sexting scandal’

We’ve all said things that didn’t come out right, and it’s my instinct – stand by for some counter-intuition! – that Donald Trump’s “quiet, piggy” admonishment of a female reporter on Air Force One this week, was a very weird attempt at affection, or possibly, flirtation. As with everything the man does, the effect was disastrous and totally inappropriate. But rewatching the video, I saw from the president less an example of his usual bigotry and more an attempt at what looked like “OK, kiddo” cuteness that, catastrophically, and before I could nip it in the bud, had triggered a tiny sprig of sympathy.

Students taken from Catholic school in Niger state amid threats from Donald Trump to intervene to end what he calls a ‘Christian genocide’

Unknown gunmen have abducted an unidentified number of students from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, the second mass abduction in the country in a week.

The latest kidnapping, in Papiri community in Niger state, came against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s threat to intervene militarily to end a “Christian genocide”, which the Nigerian government has denied is happening.

He has penned hits for Adele, Dua Lipa and Bieber, but the sought-after Canadian pop songwriter has only ever released one album himself. Now, 10 years on, comes a second –and it’s a scorching account of a breakup

Goon, the 2015 debut album by Canada-born LA musician Tobias Jesso Jr, was one of the revelations of the 2010s. An album of heartfelt, earnest ballads in the vein of 70s singer-songwriters such as Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson, it instantly established Jesso as a rising indie star and was one of the year’s most acclaimed records. The problem was that Jesso didn’t care much for the attention: he struggled to feel like a genuine performer, leading him to drink heavily before shows, and felt he was playing a version of himself in interviews. “I was forced to do all these things I wasn’t really confident in,” he says. “I was just like … I don’t know what I’m doing, anywhere.” So, toward the end of his breakout year, he cancelled all future shows and, in essence, put his career on ice.

In the decade that followed, he kept himself behind the scenes, in the process becoming one of the world’s most successful and in-demand pop songwriters – thanks, in no small part, to his focus on simple, emotions-first songwriting. He co-wrote Adele’s hit When We Were Young and a handful of tracks on Dua Lipa’s 2024 album Radical Optimism; has collaborated with Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, FKA twigs and Haim; and in 2023 won the first ever Grammy for songwriter of the year.

From Claire Foy’s Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall to Adriana in The Sopranos, we meet the actors who had to bump off TV legends … and then face the wrath of the public

Talk about being a pantomime villain. It’s unpopular enough playing the antagonist who murders a long-running TV character. When your victim is a fan favourite, though, you risk being vilified even more. So what’s it like being the ultimate baddy and breaking viewers’ hearts? Do they get booed in the street or trolled online? We asked five actors who killed off beloved characters – from Spooks to The Sopranos, Wolf Hall to Westeros – about their experiences …

A dark’n’stormy rides a moscow mule to an Indian restaurant …

Serves 1

Sai Pawan, head of bar, Farzi, London SW1

Police say Nathan Gill received at least £40,000 while he was an MEP from Oleg Voloshyn, an alleged Russian asset

Reform UK’s former leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, has been jailed at the Old Bailey for 10 and a half years for taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia when he was an MEP.

Gill, a member of the Ukip and Brexit party blocs led by Nigel Farage in the European parliament, had pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery between 6 December 2018 and 18 July 2019.

Harvard-educated head of Russia’s wealth fund has risen to key role despite having little diplomatic experience

• Europe live – latest updates

When relations between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin soured this autumn, with the US president publicly accusing Moscow of blocking a path to a peace in Ukraine and announcing significant sanctions against Russia’s oil sector, one man saw an opening.

Kirill Dmitriev, the US-savvy, Harvard-educated head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, boarded a plane to Florida late October, where he met Steve Witkoff, the property developer serving as Trump’s freelance envoy on Ukraine.

Cannon, three coins and a cup taken from San José, a 1708 wreckage that could hold items worth billions of dollars

A cannon, three coins and a porcelain cup are among the first objects recovered by Colombian scientists from the depths of the Caribbean Sea where the legendary Spanish galleon San José sank in 1708 after being attacked by a British fleet.

The recovery is part of a scientific investigation authorised by the government last year to study the wreckage and the causes of the sinking. Colombian researchers located the galleon in 2015, leading to legal and diplomatic disputes. Its exact location is a state secret.

As she prepares to deliver her budget next week, Reeves speaks of pressure of being UK’s first female chancellor

• UK politics live – latest updates

Rachel Reeves has said she is sick of people “mansplaining” how to be chancellor to her as she prepares to deliver her budget next week.

Reeves made the comments in an interview with the Times in which she spoke of the pressure of being the UK’s first female chancellor and the subject of constant political attacks.

• Australia 49 runs behind after 19 wickets taken at Perth

• Mitchell Starc: ‘It’s pretty good bowling from both teams’

Brydon Carse hailed England’s “relentless” pace attack after an extraordinary first day of the Ashes, across which 19 wickets fell, ended with Australia nine down with just 123 runs on the board.

After winning the toss England were bowled out for 172, with Mitchell Starc outstanding in claiming seven wickets for 58. But while Carse admitted their total was under par, he said the mood inside the tourists’ dressing room – and that displayed by their captain, Ben Stokes – never dipped.

The Springboks are the standard-bearers in world rugby and will look to underline that position with a first win in Dublin in the Rassie Erasmus era

Be careful what you wish for. That would be my message to England supporters getting a little bit ahead of themselves and wishing that South Africa were due at Twickenham on Sunday. By all means get a little carried away – that’s the beauty of following a team on a winning run and it’s a demonstration of the confidence surrounding this England team at the moment – but the Springboks can wait until next summer.

South Africa remain the standard-bearers in world rugby. They are perfectly placed to achieve their goal of finishing the year as the No 1 team in the world and, given South Africa have never won in Dublin under Rassie Erasmus, there will be plenty of motivation to create another slice of history against Ireland on Saturday. The question is, have England closed the gap this autumn? And if so, by how much.

The lifestyle guru’s advice on 1980s entertaining was absurd – but reminds us that hosting should always be fun

The celebrations were imminent and the greenhouse ready to accommodate – among the orchids, in unseasonable November warmth – an intimate Hawaiian luau. The table was set with giant clam shells for serving vessels and miniature hibachis for grilling Dungeness crab. Somebody had found a small, pink pineapple and secured it on the watermelon like a brooch. The hostess considered the merits of a hula dancer, but in the end settled on a more succinct spectacle: a 19lb suckling pig, enwreathed with sub-tropical flowers and caparisoned in bronze.

It was, and could only ever have been, a Martha Stewart affair. This was before the media empire, in more innocent days, when Stewart was a caterer in Connecticut. She was brilliant even then. It takes a spark of something dazzling, even dangerous, to notice a single detail – an orchid, say – and from this to extrapolate a 20-person luau. A while later, Stewart wrote about the party in Entertaining, her 1982 cookbook debut, lushly photographed and with step-by-step instructions for chicken wings with banana. “The pig wore a necklace of starfruit,” she explained. It speaks to Stewart’s generational talent for nonsense that this isn’t even in the top 10 wildest sentences in the book.

The masked singer’s jagged pop deals in suburban bleakness, English nationalism and jilted romance against a backdrop of DIY drum machines and acoustic guitar

From Darlington, County Durham
Recommended if you like Blood Orange, Dean Blunt, Elliott Smith
Up next The Dirt Pt 1 EP out now

As the internet spits out underground artists like mouthwash, it’s becoming harder to separate the visionaries from the vibe-hackers. But Pollyfromthedirt’s jagged pastoral pop demands more than just a passing scroll. Released independently this week, the County Durham native’s first EP clashes brass band samples, shuddering Midi strings and awkward acoustic guitar together. There’s a trace of Elliott Smith in his grey-skied songwriting, yet made entirely his own by the crude drum machines, pitched-up vocals and DIY production. At best, like the EP’s weirdest track, Kalm, the music departs from traditional song structure and coalesces into delay-steeped, swirling ambience.

• McLaren driver feels title race ‘can easily go opposite way’

• Norris unmoved by being booed after last two wins

For all the sound and fury of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is refusing to get excited about the prospect of putting one hand on a first drivers’ championship trophy in Sin City.

Norris leads his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by 24 points in the title race and Max Verstappen by 49 with a maximum of only 83 on the table over the three remaining meetings. But with the 26-year-old Briton having wrought an extraordinary comeback from 34 points behind Piastri after August’s Dutch Grand Prix, he is determined to focus on executing with the clinical calm that has put him into the lead in the standings, not the potential outcome of the race.

The return of Charlie and Lola; the second lives of trees; the dangers of time travel; a YA Bluebeard retelling and more

The Street Where Santa Lives by Harriet Howe and Julia Christians, Little Tiger, £12.99
When an old man moves in on a busy street, only his little neighbour notices; with his white beard and round belly, she’s convinced he’s Santa. But when Santa falls ill, other neighbours must rally round to take care of him. Will he be better in time for Christmas? This sweet, funny, acutely observed picture book is a festive, joyous celebration of community.

I Am Wishing Every Minute for Christmas by Lauren Child, S&S, £12.99
Twenty-five years after their first appearance, this delightful, engaging new Charlie and Lola picture book is filled with Lola’s excited impatience as she and her big brother get everything ready for Christmas.

Long before her big-screen success as Elphaba, the British actor lit up the stage with performances in Sister Act, The Color Purple and other hit shows

Ill-advised, in which 75-year-old actor doles out advice and his innermost secrets, is fast becoming cult podcast of the year

Bill Nighy is single. He has never read a self-help book, had no intention of becoming an actor and briefly went deaf after putting toilet paper in his ears to get to sleep. He has shutters, not curtains, in his bedroom, but has no idea what time he wakes up. If you invite him to a dinner party he will bring you exfoliating products, except don’t invite him, because he won’t come. He is good at making custard, but doesn’t cook because he lives alone “and it would be too sad”.

The Surrey-born actor is as renowned for his suits as he is his singular ability to inhabit a role while remaining recognisably himself throughout. But almost 50 years into his career, Nighy is finally playing himself. A new podcast called Ill-advised casts the 75-year-old as an agony uncle, doling out advice and his innermost secrets to listeners from Italy to Mongolia to Scotland. The actor describes it as a “refuge for the clumsy and awkward”. But it’s gently becoming the cult podcast of the year. In the most recent episode, Nighy has even threatened to make merch.

Two critically hurt after attack on walking trail in British Columbia as police and conservation officers search for bear

A grizzly bear has attacked a group of schoolchildren and teachers on a walking trail in British Columbia, Canada, injuring 11 people, two of them critically.

The attack happened late on Thursday in Bella Coola, 435 miles (700km) north-west of Vancouver. The Nuxalk Nation said the “aggressive bear” remained on the loose and police and conservation officers were on the scene.