- Donald Trump held a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, where some of his allies caused a stir with vulgar and racist remarks. Trump announced that he would launch a comprehensive deportation program for migrants and abolish “sanctuary cities” if he won the election. Giuliani and other speakers provoked with derogatory remarks, which the campaign of Kamala Harris criticized as divisive and offensive. Elon Musk also supported Trump and promised to cut costs. Trump and Harris are neck and neck in the polls in key US states.
- After the election in Japan, the formation of a government is on the brink as no party was able to win a majority. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito lost many seats due to a donation scandal and the rising cost of living. The largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDPJ), won seats but fell short of a majority. Smaller parties could now be decisive in forming a government. At the same time, a record number of 73 women were elected to parliament. The uncertainty had a negative impact on the yen and analysts expect negotiations to last for weeks.
- China is secretly easing the pressure on private tutoring providers to support the economy. After a 2021 crackdown aimed at easing the burden on parents and students, which hit many providers, a gradual easing is now becoming apparent. Although there has been no official announcement, parents and industry experts are noticing increased activity in the tutoring sector. In particular, large providers such as New Oriental and TAL Education are once again experiencing growth and are hiring more staff. Authorities are now tolerating controlled expansion as long as providers comply with regulations.
- Egypt proposes a two-day ceasefire in Gaza to exchange four Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. The aim is to prepare negotiations for long-term peace. Israel and Hamas have not yet officially responded. Brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the USA, the proposal is intended to stem the escalating violence and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
- CDU leader Friedrich Merz made it clear in the *Report from Berlin* that support for Ukraine and ties to the West were non-negotiable conditions for a possible coalition with the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance in Saxony and Thuringia. Merz emphasized that turning away from NATO and the EU was not an option for the CDU. With regard to defense policy, he called for the delivery of “Taurus” cruise missiles to Ukraine and underlined the need to achieve NATO's two-percent target in the long term. Should the BSW not support these positions, Merz suggested that the BSW could enter into a coalition with the AfD.
- Following the parliamentary elections in Georgia, President Salome Zurabishvili calls for protests against the government. The opposition does not recognize the election result, which attributes around 55 percent to the ruling Georgian Dream party, and accuses it of manipulation. Zurabishvili condemned Russia's influence and spoke of a “subjugation of Georgia”. Opposition politicians announced that they would not run for office in order to isolate the government and call for new elections. Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban showed solidarity with the government and is planning a visit during the announced protests.
- The UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the Israeli airstrikes on targets in Iran. According to Israeli sources, Israel attacked military targets in Iran on Saturday in response to a missile attack from Iran at the beginning of October. Four Iranian soldiers are said to have been killed in the attacks and, according to Iranian reports, one civilian was killed. Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened Israel with “harsh consequences”. The conflict has also spread to southern Lebanon, where Israeli airstrikes killed at least 21 people.
- In a retaliatory strike on Iran, Israel carried out targeted attacks on Iranian missile production sites and air defense positions without the Iranian air defense being able to land any relevant hits. The attack was carried out in several phases, initially taking out Iranian and allied air defense facilities in Syria and Iraq. In the first wave of attacks, Israel deployed its hard-to-detect F-35 stealth jets, followed by F-15 and F-16 jets. The strike was in response to rocket fire from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on October 1. The Israeli Air Force used advanced electronic warfare technologies, further weakening Iran's air defenses, which consist of Russian and older American and Chinese systems. These systems, including the Russian S-300 and possibly S-400, also showed weaknesses in defending against Western missiles in the Ukraine conflict.
- At the BRICS summit, Vladimir Putin is aiming to move away from the US dollar and introduce an alternative payment system to counteract Western sanctions. The BRICS countries support this idea, but internal conflicts, particularly between India and China, could make implementation more difficult. Experts doubt that without unity, the group is economically strong enough to seriously challenge the West. Despite the support, it is clear that there are cracks in Russia's partnerships, which could jeopardize Putin's plans.
- IMF: Calls for more investment in the German economy The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants the German government to invest more in the weakening economy. Germany is one of the industrialized countries with the lowest investment rate, and bureaucratic hurdles and administrative burdens need to be reduced. (ZON)
- One topic, two summits: confusing economic policy of the traffic light government The traffic light government continues to argue about economic policy: the Chancellor wants to talk to industry representatives on Tuesday - now the FDP is announcing its own economic meeting on the same day. The CDU/CSU speaks of “summit inflation”. (TAG)
- Real estate and retail businesses: What has already been sold from Benko's empire KaDeWe, Upper West, Selfridges, Chrysler Building: Following the bankruptcy of René Benko's Signa empire, insolvency administrators are trying to recover money by selling the real estate and retail businesses. (MM)
- Oscar Mayer: $3 billion for the sausage?
The US food company Kraft Heinz is all about the sausage - specifically the iconic Oscar Mayer hot dog brand. JBS, the world's largest meat processor, and a Mexican group are apparently willing to pay billions. (MW)
- Prosus: $100m for new CEO - if he hits valuation target Fabricio Bloisi is the new CEO of South African investment holding company Prosus - which made one of the best investments in recent history in 2001, buying 26% of Chinese gaming giant Tencent for $32m. The Prosus stake is now worth $115 billion, but Prosus itself is worth just $105 billion. Bloisi is expected to increase Prosus' value to $168 billion by mid-2028 - at which point he will receive a $100 million bonus. (FT)
- OpenAI: But no model called 'Orion' this year OpenAI has denied reports that it will release a new AI model called 'Orion' this year. A spokesperson for the company told US media TechCrunch that there are no plans for such a model. (TC)
- Google: Prepares preview of AI that can control computers Google parent company Alphabet is apparently planning to present a new AI technology in December that is capable of taking over web browsers - to perform tasks such as research and online shopping. This technology is part of the “Jarvis” project and will be introduced together with a new version of the Gemini language model. (FT)
- Agility Robotics: Close to $150 million funding The AI-powered startup Agility Robotics - known for its bipedal humanoid robots currently being tested in Amazon warehouses - is on the verge of raising $150 million from investors. The funding round is led by investment firm DCVC and could value the company at around $1 billion. (BBG)
- Mercedes & Porsche: profit slump due to China crisis. Both Mercedes-Benz and Porsche have reported significant profit losses for Q3.
- Trump crisis for European shares and China crisis for German car manufacturers.
- Germany: Agrees hydrogen cooperation with India (ZON)
- Study: Shying away from shares costs German savers hundreds of billions (MM)
- Construction industry: records biggest growth since the end of 2021 (NTV)
- Bundesbank chief: Inflation wave ebbs (FOC)
- Fielmann boss: “Germany is one of the most unfashionable countries in Europe” (HB) USA: Remains global growth engine according to IMF assessment (RT)
- BlackRock: Leads opposition to new US limits on bank holdings (FT)
- Nvidia: Most valuable company on the stock markets again (RT)
- Microsoft CEO: Satya Nadella collects $80m (MM)
- Apple: Allegedly two years behind leading AI developers (FP)
- Ex-OpenAI CTO: Mira Murati launches new AI startup - Barret Zoph, former OpenAI researcher, could join (RT)
- AI investments: Is Softbank boss Masayoshi Son further inflating the bubble? (BBG)
- TSMC challenges: Free trade weakens, chip giant founder warns of growth hurdles (RT)
- Pharos: Y Combinator startup uses AI for quality reporting in hospitals - and receives $5m (TC)
- Meta: Introduces quantized Llama models for mobile devices (META)
- Anthropic: Improves Claude 3.5 Sonnet and introduces Claude 3.5 Haiku (ANTH)
- Mochi 1: Open source video generator from Genmo (VB)
- Runway Act-One: Transfers facial expressions and emotions into 3D characters (RW)
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