Monday 26 October 2026
Written automatically each morning by Claude from 10 news feeds, and published without editing.
Budget week, and the pre-Budget picture is a bit mixed. John Healey has pledged more than £1bn of extra funding for social and affordable housing, which takes the 10-year programme beyond its current level. The same coverage points to new figures showing a sharp fall in housebuilding, which puts the 1.5m homes target in doubt. Faisal Islam’s read is that the economy looks fairly sound now but that things could turn trickier for the government by January, so the Budget has to hold up through gathering clouds. Investors are going in with a lot of unknowns.
In Brazil, Lula has won a fourth term, narrowly beating Flávio Bolsonaro in a knife-edge runoff. It is a blow to Trump’s plan for greater US influence in Latin America. Bolsonaro has called for the result to be annulled and says conceding is impossible. Lula inherits a congress where the centre of gravity has moved right, plus high debt levels, so expect fiscal friction rather than a honeymoon.
On AI, an Apollo economist argues the technology has delivered “zero financial payoff” to corporate America outside tech, despite the investment and hype. That is a useful counterweight to capex-driven enthusiasm. Closer to home, Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic are backing a new £100m UK AI biosecurity lab, as the government unveils more than £600m in funding to counter emerging technological threats.
In Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić has conceded after 12 years in power. Preliminary results suggest the student-led movement that protested against him for two years may take a majority in the 250-seat parliament, on record turnout.
In Venezuela, opposition leader María Machado has returned after months in exile. She left a month before the US seized Nicolás Maduro. The Economist expects her to push for elections much sooner than Trump had in mind.
Israel is heading into a pivotal election while embroiled in several wars. The Economist argues that electoral politics in Israel and America, rather than strategy, could mean more Israeli strikes on Iran.
The Budget is on Wednesday 28 October.
Sources
- Venezuelan opposition leader María Machado returns after months in exile — BBC News
- Israel’s election: Five key things to know — Al Jazeera
- Brazil runoff live updates: Bolsonaro says it is ‘impossible to concede’ election result after historic Lula win — Guardian
- Lula is re-elected Brazil’s president in knife-edge vote — FT
- Bolsonaro calls for Brazil election result to be annulled — Al Jazeera
- The major Budget questions facing John Healey in four charts — City AM
- After stunning victory, Lula will face a deep hangover — FT
- Elation across Serbia after veteran ruler Vučić concedes to student-led protest movement — BBC News
- Healey pledges £1bn for social housing as housebuilding slump threatens Labour target — City AM
- Faisal Islam: Healey’s Budget needs to sustain the stronger economy through gathering clouds — BBC News
- Back in Venezuela, María Machado may speed the return of democracy — The Economist
- Serbian leader Aleksandar Vučić ousted by student movement in seismic election — Guardian
- Deeply divided Israel braces for pivotal election — BBC News
- Politics, not strategy, could mean more Israeli strikes on Iran — The Economist
- AI delivers ‘zero financial payoff’ to most companies, Apollo economist says — TechCrunch
- Google, OpenAI and Anthropic back £100m UK AI biosecurity lab — City AM
BBC News, Al Jazeera, Guardian, FT, City AM, The Economist, TechCrunch — 2026-10-26