SECURITY · LEAD
Moscow says Ukraine's refinery strikes are back, Dnipro spent the day in the dark, and Kyiv asked again for Patriot interceptors. Europe's answer this week came as contracts, and the contracts carry delivery dates.
This morning's question was whether Ukraine had quietly paused its drone campaign against Russian refineries. By Friday lunchtime Moscow had answered it, in a single sentence. "We had a lull that lasted a certain time, but today the attacks on oil refineries resumed," Russia's deputy prime minister for energy, Alexander Novak, told state television. He said three refineries and one gas-chemical complex had been attacked overnight. Kyiv had made no immediate comment. A fire was reported at the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in Samara region, which CNBC says produced jet fuel for the Russian armed forces, and the regional governor said two men died after a drone attack while clearing up afterwards. Russia's defence ministry said its air defences had shot down more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones overnight.
The traffic ran both ways. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched ballistic missiles, four guided aerial missiles and 113 Shahed-type drones overnight, 83 of them jet-powered, and that three of the missiles and 96 of the drones were intercepted or suppressed. It did not say how many ballistic missiles came or how many were stopped. Desk arithmetic: 17 of the 113 drones were not reported as stopped, so about 85% were. That leaves out the ballistic missiles entirely, and they are the weapon that matters most.
Security & Order · 3 min · Read the piece →
MARKETS · PODIUM VS PRINT
France's economy minister says a budget will show investors that France is not heading for crisis. On the morning he said it, the bond market printed its own view.
Markets & Macro · 2 min · Read the piece →
GEO-ECON · DESK NOTE
Brent's December contract went out on a high after a limpet-style attack in Hormuz. The same contract also shows a spread the headline misses: the next month is about $5 cheaper.
Geo-economics · 2 min · Read the piece →
POLITICS · DESK NOTE
Israel's final count is out and the party leaders spent Friday saying whom they will not sit with. Add up the refusals and the 120 seats get very small, very fast.
Politics & Institutions · 2 min · Read the piece →
PSYCHOLOGY · DESK NOTE
An Australian team proposes a 'circadian' form of depression. The careful part of the story is how many of the researchers' own colleagues say: not yet.
Psychology & Behaviour · 2 min · Read the piece →
ENERGY · DESK NOTE Chart
Friday's auction has priced Saturday's power. It is the dearest Saturday of the year by a distance, and eight times last Saturday's bill.
Energy & Industry · 2 min · Read the piece →
MONEY · DESK NOTE Chart
Europe's statisticians handed in their third quarter on schedule. The total held up better than forecast; the parts tell four different stories.
Money, FX & Committees · 2 min · Read the piece →
ORDINARY · DESK NOTE
Germany's October inflation fell to 2.8%. At the pump and on the heating-oil bill, the household's year looks different from the headline.
Ordinary & Inherited Life · 2 min · Read the piece →
TECH · DESK NOTE
The press release had the record margin. The quarterly filing, published this morning, has the two longest columns in the building: what customers have promised to pay, and what Amazon has promised to pay others.
Tech & Compute · 2 min · Read the piece →
HEALTH · DESK NOTE
Roland Berger's annual hospital survey finds German clinics forecasting their losses better than ever. That is the worrying part.
Health & Care · 2 min · Read the piece →
CLIMATE · DESK NOTE Chart
Aon's nine-month catastrophe tally is the lowest since 2019. The number that matters for you is the gap underneath it.
Climate & Weather · 2 min · Read the piece →
