You can run but you can't hide 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

Morning all. Locations of world leaders are notoriously difficult to find, for obvious reasons. Although apparently not, provided they have a load of bodyguards… that need to keep fit… and use Strava.

Le Monde, a French newspaper, managed to locate the likes of Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping all by tracking their security personnel on Strava. They even knew in real time the exact San Francisco hotel where Biden met President Xi of China, using an agents jogging route.

Sounds like a difficult meeting for the National Security HR teams, but it isn’t even the first time! In 2018, military bases in Afghanistan and Syria were located in the same way. Just another thing to think about with the US election on the cards for this week!

MARKETS

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PROJECT WATCH

🌊 Seaway7 (of Subsea 7), wins cabling work for Hornsea 3. Read more

🖨️ UK firm Kent win Gasunie tender for North Sea work. Read more

🤖 Autonomous subs to take on offshore inspection, repair and maintenance work. Read more

ECONOMY & FINANCE

Budget came and went
The boring stuff - Rachel Reeves delivered her first budget of the Labour tenure, and as expected, VAT on private schools was announced, along with funding for a 10-year plan in the NHS. There were also hikes for employer national insurance (13.8% to 15%) and an increase in stamp duty for additional properties (3% to 5%). Here’s the full summary from the government.

House price growth slows
As Bonfire Night approaches, it seems house price rockets are taking a breather, perhaps to enjoy the fireworks. UK house prices nudged up to £265,738 in October, marking a 2.4% year-on-year increase—though that's slower than a month prior, thanks to a plot twist in the budget pulling the stamp duty rug.

Nationwide's latest figures reveal that October was about as exciting as a cup of stewed tea, with house prices inching up by a mere 0.1% since September. But don't worry, Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, assures us the housing market has kept its stiff upper lip in the face of higher interest rates.

But the real drama? The stamp duty shakeup. With Chancellor Rachel Reeves calling time on the temporary increase in nil-rate thresholds by March 2025, buyers are scrambling to get their paperwork sorted faster than a last-minute Christmas shop. First-time buyers in the southern echelons are particularly nervous, likely to feel an extra £2,900 pinch thanks to the recalibrated thresholds.

Shell profits drop
Violins at the ready - The British energy behemoth, Shell, is navigating a rough patch as its third-quarter profits hit a speed bump due to plummeting oil prices and shrinking refining margins. The numbers tell the tale: net profits slumped to a “mere” $4.3bn, down from last year's $7bn streak. Let’s just say, they’re not exactly rolling in the same crude cash as they did a year ago.

On the upside, bolstering gas sales lent a little gas to Shell's financial fire. Yet, the company foresaw the turbulence as oil prices dipped on China's demand jitters and anticipated a crude overflow in 2025 (the more oil, the lower the price). Don't worry, though – they’re patching the balance sheet with a $3.5bn share buyback. Every cloud has a paper lining, as they say.

CEO Wael Sawan, in his best Greta Garbo impression, claimed the quarter produced "another set of strong results", all while quietly acknowledging an "accounting mismatch" among other restructuring costs. We’re not sure if he’s got a poker face or a glass-half-full problem, but given the job cuts announced in August, it seems Shell's accountants may have misplaced the abacus.

POLITICS

Mpox ashore
A case of the mpox virus variant Clade-1b, previously unseen in the UK, has been confirmed in London. The infected individual had recently returned from Africa, where this strain has been linked to significant outbreaks and over 1,000 deaths. UKHSA officials are tracing fewer than 10 direct contacts and maintain that the risk to the general public is low. Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at UKHSA, credited effective surveillance systems for early detection. Clade 1b has recently emerged in Europe, with Germany reporting its first case earlier this month.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting stated that the government is securing additional vaccines and ensuring healthcare professionals are equipped to manage new cases safely. Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, spreads through close physical contact. Vaccination efforts remain focused in high-risk areas, like London, Manchester, and Brighton, as the government ramps up preventive measures.

Kemi Badenoch elected Tory leader, sparks controversy by calling Partygate 'overblown'
Kemi Badenoch has been elected as the new Conservative Party leader, winning 53,806 votes over Robert Jenrick’s 41,388. In her victory speech, she pledged to rebuild the party’s credibility, admitting to past mistakes and calling for a political "renewal". However, in a controversial interview, Badenoch described the partygate scandal as “overblown” and criticized the imposition of COVID fines for minor rule breaches. She argued that rules criminalizing everyday activities, like social walks, were excessive and trapped former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in controversy.

African American Abolitionists’ UK Legacy
The Missing Pieces Project by Historic England is mapping 189 UK sites where African American abolitionists campaigned against slavery in the 19th century. This initiative highlights figures like Frederick Douglass, who spoke at Newcastle's Nelson Street music hall, and Sarah Parker Remond, who advocated in Manchester for boycotts against Confederate cotton. The project sheds light on often-overlooked historical activism and invites the public to contribute additional stories, aiming to deepen the understanding of these activists’ influence on Victorian society and Britain's industrial wealth.

ACROSS THE POND

The US election is on Tuesday 5th November this week, promising fireworks (if not, Guy Fawkes has got you covered). As of Saturday, 73 million Americans had cast their ballot already. Early polls at this point had Kamala Harris marginally ahead - that did however mean nothing when Trump trumped Clinton in 2016.

Arkansas wins the lithium lottery
Arkansas is taking a seat at the high table of global lithium production. Researchers have unearthed a gigantic stash of lithium in the Smackover Formation brines of southern Arkansas. With estimates ranging from 5.1m to a staggeringly impressive 19m tonnes, this treasure trove could single-handedly surpass global demand for lithium electric vehicle (EV) batteries by 2030. That's enough lithium to power an electric Birmingham on wheels.

The lithium jackpot was uncovered through a heady cocktail of machine learning and geological wizardry, mapping out concentrations more precise than a London stockbroker's coffee order. These statistical revelations place Arkansas's lithium stash as a veritable lithium lottery win, holding between 35% and 136% of all the lithium currently estimated within the US borders.

Zooming out globally, with lithium demand projected to leap past 3 million tonnes by 2030, EVs claim centre stage, gulping down roughly 87% of the lithium on market. Last year alone, a spectacular 14 million new EVs vroomed onto the global roads, like a never-ending episode of Top Gear. Battery production is poised to surge in North America, potentially fuelling up to 15 million new EVs annually, unless someone (probably Elon Musk) finally invents that teleportation device.

Trump suing CBS for $10bn
Donald Trump, has launched a gargantuan $10 billion lawsuit against CBS. Allegedly, this huff and puff are over some creative editing of an interview with Kamala Harris on the ever-popular 60 Minutes.

The bone of contention centres around Harris’s responses regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict, with CBS’s Sunday show Face the Nation airing a different snippet of her answer than its counterpart. CBS stands firm, dismissing any fiddling accusations. Their editing, they claim, is as pure as a baby cuddling a kitten. “Clarity, accuracy, and timeliness,” they proclaim. It seems the network regularly whittles down interview segments to the length of a tea break.

McFlurries back on the McMenu, McBoys!
McDonald's finally managed to unlock the secrets of their notoriously fickle McFlurry machines. Thanks to a recent legal breakthrough, those exhaustingly unavailable treats might just become less of a "flurry" and more of a reliable favourite. The US Copyright Office decided to wave the wand of sanity, allowing franchises to tinker with their Taylor-made machines without consulting the Oracle – or Taylor, the manufacturer, for permissions.

Before this watershed moment, desperate patrons faced the terror of encountering malfunctioning machines, The change, driven by persistent campaigners from Public Knowledge and repair maestros iFixIt, means these machines can now be repaired by those outside the inner sanctum of Taylor technicians. As it stands, competitive fast-food joints have had a field day, mocking the McFlurry failures, with nearly 15% of machines reportedly still on the fritz.

TECH

Monkeys typing Shakespeare?
A new study challenges the idea that monkeys, given infinite time, could type out Shakespeare's complete works. Mathematicians Stephen Woodcock and Jay Falletta from Sydney demonstrate that even with a universe's worth of time, this probability remains essentially zero and that the idea should remain bananas. This playful yet poignant study underscores the universe’s constraints on even theoretical probabilities.

NHS iPhone adapter trial for faster throat cancer detection
This device, known as the endoscope-i adapter, transforms an iPhone into a high-definition endoscopy tool with a 32mm lens attachment. The system is designed for use in community settings, capturing endoscopy footage for rapid specialist review, significantly reducing waiting times from weeks to 23 hours. The initial pilot has been promising, giving thousands of low-risk patients peace of mind and enabling early detection of cases. One patient in the trial credits the device with saving his life after it revealed his aggressive cancer early on.

Russia and Google
Russia has fined Google more than two undecillion rubles (a 36-zero figure) for failing to reinstate pro-government YouTube channels. This amount exceeds the world’s GDP by an astronomical margin and grows daily as the penalty remains unpaid. Google is reportedly barred from re-entering the Russian market unless it complies, though experts view the fine as purely symbolic given its unpayable nature.

WORLD

IKEA to compensate prison labourers
In a historic move, IKEA has agreed to pay €6m to a new German government hardship fund for victims of forced labour during the era of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). During the Cold War, political prisoners in East Germany were compelled to produce furniture for the Swedish company. The payment follows years of negotiations between IKEA Germany and victims’ groups, who hope this sets a precedent for other firms that benefited from prison labour.

China launches its youngest-ever crew
China has declared the launch of Shenzhou 19 a major success, as the crew, including the nation’s first female space engineer, Wang Haoze, arrived at the Tiangong space station. The team, featuring astronauts from a new generation born in the 1990s, will conduct a six-month mission involving experiments and spacewalks. President Xi Jinping’s push to establish China as a space superpower comes as the country intensifies its rivalry with the United States, aiming to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030. Despite concerns from the U.S. about potential military applications, Chinese officials maintain their space initiatives are for peaceful exploration.

Spanish Royals Attacked with Mud in Flood-Hit Valencia
In Valencia, Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia faced the anger of grieving locals during their visit to flood-ravaged Paiporta. Protesters threw mud and objects at the royal couple and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, expressing outrage over the government’s perceived lack of support following catastrophic floods that have claimed over 200 lives. The monarchs tried to console residents, but tensions ran high as emergency crews continued searching for survivors. Prime Minister Sánchez announced the deployment of 10,000 more responders but admitted significant shortcomings in the disaster response.

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💼📱 TikTok's surging popularity has made its co-founder, Zhang Yiming, China's richest person with a fortune of $49.3bn, despite stepping down in 2021.

🧬📉 DNA-testing firm 23andMe struggles for survival as its stock plummets from $321 to under $5, with questions about its sensitive and valuable DNA database's future.

🎆🚫 Firework control zones have been introduced in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee due to violent disorders during Bonfire Night. The new measures aim to curb firework-related crime.

📜🔍 Researchers in Sweden have discovered that Elfdalian, spoken by 2,500 people in Älvdalen, is a distinct ancient Nordic language, not merely a dialect of Swedish. Efforts are ongoing for recognition as a minority language, with increased efforts in preservation and education revitalising its use.

🏎️🌧️ Max Verstappen claims victory at the chaotic and rain-soaked F1 Brazilian Grand Prix, starting from 17th on the grid. Heavy rain caused multiple crashes and red flags during the event, leading to a dramatic and challenging race.

🐊🕊️ Cassius, the world's largest captive crocodile, has died in Australia at Marineland Melanesia, where he was a beloved attraction and Guinness record holder. The 5.5m crocodile lived there for over 37 years and brought joy to many visitors.