World

• US bans Microsoft from sponsoring foreign workers for US residency [Thu, 08 Oct 15:45]
  Announcement impacting several tech groups marks White House’s latest attempt to limit immigration
• Starbucks has explored takeover of Chipotle in restaurant megadeal [Thu, 08 Oct 15:45]
  Purchase of $41bn market-value burrito chain would rank as largest restaurant acquisition of all time
• US adds torture charges to case against former Venezuelan president [Thu, 08 Oct 15:03]
  New York federal prosecutors allege Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores conspired to commit torture of American citizens
• Oil prices jump on tanker attacks and slowing flows through Strait of Hormuz [Thu, 08 Oct 14:51]
  Transit via vital waterway rose close to 90% of prewar levels last month but has since fallen sharply
• Trump says US ‘will not be attacking Iran’ before midterm elections [Thu, 08 Oct 14:16]
  President says Washington and Tehran are having ‘productive discussions’
• OpenAI annualised revenues $20bn less than previously signalled [Thu, 08 Oct 13:40]
  AI group recently told investors the critical figure was approaching $50bn in September, far less than the $70bn that was widely reported
• Over 100 Riyadh flights cancelled after Houthis target airport [Thu, 08 Oct 13:12]
  Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted missiles as residents hear booms over the capital
• Former prince Andrew wins legal challenge over search warrants [Thu, 08 Oct 13:01]
  Police accept unlawfulness of warrants obtained to search properties belonging to younger brother of King Charles but said investigation is continuing
• UK open to Germany joining fighter jet scheme as Burnham bids for deeper ties [Thu, 08 Oct 12:49]
  British prime minister discusses Global Combat Aircraft Programme with Chancellor Merz during talks in Berlin
• US mortgage rates rise for seventh straight week to hit highest since 2023 [Thu, 08 Oct 12:38]
  Benchmark borrowing costs continue to climb against backdrop of surging Treasury yields, elevated energy prices and expected tightening by Fed
• Two Latvian nationals arrested on suspicion of trespass at RAF base [Thu, 08 Oct 12:24]
  Men arrested inside perimeter of Cambridgeshire military facility on suspicion of ‘entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK’
• Iran war blows near-£12bn hole in Britain’s public finances [Thu, 08 Oct 12:18]
  FT estimates show inflation and soaring borrowing costs have slashed chancellor John Healey’s headroom in half
• French bond sell-off prompts ‘bottom fishing’ across Europe [Thu, 08 Oct 12:06]
  Fears of a blow-up similar to the Eurozone debt crisis have been overdone, asset managers say
• Pension ‘triple lock’ was first costed at just £50mn, says ex-government adviser [Thu, 08 Oct 11:21]
  Guarantee on value of state pension was a demand of Liberal Democrats in negotiations to form coalition with Tories after 2010 election
• Daughter of Trump’s chief of staff works at firm that lobbies for Republika Srpska [Thu, 08 Oct 11:17]
  Susie Wiles’s daughter is latest White House-linked adviser to the Russian-aligned Balkan entity
• Goldman to pay top executives $500mn in special bonuses [Thu, 08 Oct 10:14]
  Wall Street bank preparing to hand out equity awards from five-year scheme to senior leaders
• UK investors face three-month wait to recoup money from property funds [Thu, 08 Oct 10:03]
  FCA seeks to avoid repeat of fund suspensions during market turmoil by restricting immediate access to investments in illiquid assets
• Avocado giant Mission Produce banks on orchards outside Mexico to help meet US demand [Thu, 08 Oct 10:00]
  Farms in Peru and Guatemala help offset import troubles from violence-stricken growing regions
• ECB minutes reflect cooler appetite for additional rate rises in September [Thu, 08 Oct 09:20]
  Governing council notes that inflation situation had worsened but that second-round effects remained absent
• This US Senate race is putting Trump’s record with blue-collar voters to the test [Thu, 08 Oct 09:00]
  Also in today’s newsletter, a US oil trader’s extraordinary $2bn gamble
• Russian bomb attack kills dozens at Ukraine bus stop [Thu, 08 Oct 08:38]
  At least 30 die after aerial strike hits two passenger buses in frontline city of Kramatorsk