The lawyers representing Curtis Dickinson and the PLP in a legal tussle over membership rules have delivered their arguments. Now we wait for Justice Shade Subair Williams to deliver a judgement…
It was the last day in court for the PLP membership trial – but we’ll still have to wait for the final judgement.
On Friday, the PLP’s defence lawyer Mark Pettingill argued that bulk membership payments, made on behalf of applicants by the Curtis Dickinson campaign, must be individually verified by the party before each one is counted.
Today, Mr Dickinson’s lawyer Delroy Duncan supplied a list that the campaign had made which connected some of the bulk payments to individual name and constituencies.
Mr Pettingill suggested this only shows that the campaign made a list of those potential members, but does not verify that those individuals approved their applications and payments.
The defence also stated that the list only covered one of the five bulk payments, to which Mr Duncan responded that the total list could be supplied.
The court case was brought by Curtis Dickinson in response to the Central Committee voting to pass membership amendments which would impact new PLP members, or members who recently campaigned for other parties.
One of those amendments would have made brand new members ineligible to become delegates who can vote directly during the upcoming leadership election at the delayed Annual Delegates Conference.
Those amendments are currently restrained by the court, and the PLP has conceded to the plaintiff’s position that they were not passed in line with the party’s constitution.
In court today, Mr Duncan argued that the PLP’s constitution does not make membership dependant on the payment of a membership fee – only that the subscription must be paid in order to be a voting member.
He also questioned whether a verification process outside of the normal membership process is being used to exclude certain applicants.
He implied that his client has been the specific target of the amendments, saying “I suppose its just a coincidence that it coincides with Mr Dickinson bringing in a large number of applicants”…
He also said that there was no membership verification process in the PLP constitution, although Justice Shade Subair Williams asked if such a process is not implicit.
Mr Duncan argued that such an important process should either be in the constitution, or the constitution should contain a clear delegation of authority for such a process.
Justice Subair Williams has reserved her judgement on the case, so we await the final outcome.
Brent crude futures settled $1.93, or 1.89%, lower at $100.32 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude lost $1.68, or 1.84%, at $89.43
Smoke rises from a fire at the Aramco refinery south of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 3, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Stringer
International News via Reuters:
Oil prices lost about $2 on Monday after crude exports from the Middle East increased and the Group of Seven nations pledged to boost supplies, though selling was limited by ongoing disruption fears linked to the US war with Iran.
Brent crude futures settled $1.93, or 1.89%, lower at $100.32 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude lost $1.68, or 1.84%, at $89.43.
Middle Eastern crude exports rose above pre-war levels in four of the seven days of the final week of September, shipping data showed on Monday, despite attacks on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Although tankers are still at risk, the hope is that at the end of the day more oil reaches the market,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
Meanwhile, G7 countries agreed on Friday to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency reserves and pledged to refrain from energy export restrictions after pressure from US President Donald Trump.
However, Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov said the market remained sceptical as it was unclear how much of the oil pledged under the new agreement would come from the remaining volumes of the International Energy Agency-coordinated 400 million-barrel emergency release announced in March.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said last week that members had released about two-thirds of the 400-million-barrel agreement.
British oil major BP has adjusted its refineries to focus on producing more diesel, CEO Meg O’Neill told the Energy Intelligence conference in London on Monday.
SUPPLY BACKDROP STILL TIGHT
“A truce in the Middle East remains elusive, and renewed hostilities between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis will ensure that attacks on energy infrastructure and vessels will continue, keeping the geopolitical risk premium at an elevated level,” said PVM Oil Associates analyst Tamas Varga.
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told the Energy Intelligence conference that he expected crude oil and refined fuel supplies to remain stretched and that refilling global stockpiles after emergency withdrawals might take two years.
Inventories of crude oil in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to 283 million barrels last week, the lowest since October 1982, according to data released by the Department of Energy on Monday.
The fighting between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen continued to heighten concerns about production at the top exporter in the region.
Yemeni government forces attacked Houthi positions in the Dhubab district overlooking the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Monday, two military sources said, a day after the internationally recognised government launched a campaign to retake Houthi-held territory.
OPEC+ delayed a review that would determine 2027 oil output quotas for its members after the Iran war disrupted projects to expand capacity across the Middle East, throwing estimates of future production potential into uncertainty, said two sources close to the matter.
Aramco, meanwhile, unexpectedly cut November crude oil prices for Asia to six-year lows.
Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York and Seher Dareen in London; Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Florence Tan and Sethuraman NR; Editing by David Goodman, Jan Harvey, Bill Berkrot and Jonathan Spicer and Sanjeev Miglani
The snap vote is a high-stakes gamble for Sanchez, whose Socialist Party trails in nearly every opinion poll
International News via Reuters:
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday called an early election for November 29, aiming to increase his parliamentary support after lawmakers last week rejected proposals to address a housing crisis that has drawn nationwide protests.
The snap vote is a high-stakes gamble for Sanchez, whose Socialist Party trails in nearly every opinion poll. An electoral defeat would spell the end of one of Europe’s last remaining left-leaning governments at a time when the far right is making unprecedented gains across the region.
It reflects a broader malaise across Europe, under pressure from US President Donald Trump on defence spending, cheap Chinese imports, higher borrowing costs, disaffected youth and the biggest surge in support for the far-right since the 1930s.
However, Sanchez, a wily political operator, has proven time and again his ability to surprise those who had long written him off. An election now could see him capitalise on a wave of anger at unaffordable housing in Spain.
“We need to mobilise and win a much larger progressive majority in parliament, one that will allow us to overcome vested interests, deliver new social advances and continue transforming Spain,” Sanchez said in a televised address.
Spain’s blue-chip index was flat after the announcement, while Spanish government bonds were broadly steady.
OPPOSITION PLEDGES MORE HOMEBUILDING
Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, leader of the opposition People’s Party (PP), on Monday pledged to almost double homebuilding in Spain to 200,000 units a year and cut taxes if he gained power.
“Housing has been this government’s great failure and must be the next one’s success. When a prime minister has been in office for eight years, it is very difficult to blame others for what he has failed to do,” Feijoo said at a small business conference.
Sanchez has made a name internationally with progressive stances on issues from Palestinian statehood to defending multilateral institutions and cracking down on “tech oligarchs”, even as a series of scandals weakened his position at home.
The recent protests over housing have given him a much-needed fillip, with proposals that were struck down by right-wing lawmakers on Friday welcomed by protesters.
Spain’s two largest unions said they would call a 24-hour general nationwide strike this autumn to request better salaries to help people afford housing, fulfilling a request by the protesters after parliament rejected Sanchez’s housing decrees.
“We will continue mobilizing and engaging in collective bargaining until housing ceases to be a privilege and wages allow for a life with dignity,” unions CCOO and UGT said in a joint statement, adding no date had been set for the strike.
Polls suggest a coalition led by the PP with the support of anti-immigration Vox is the most likely outcome, which would usher a far-right party into central government for the first time since Spain’s return to democracy following the 1975 death of dictator Francisco Franco.
PP and Vox would win a combined 203 seats in the lower house, a comfortable majority in the 350-seat chamber, according to a Sigma Dos poll published on Monday in El Mundo newspaper. The Socialists and their junior coalition partners Sumar were projected to win 112 seats.
Sanchez has cobbled together a series of fragile coalitions including voices from the far-left to the separatist right to remain in power for eight years.
Growing fragmentation among his partners has meant the government has failed to pass a budget and has enacted only a few laws since 2023, even as Spain’s economy has continued to outperform the rest of the developed world.
Sanchez plans to force through the two housing decrees that were rejected by parliament last week via a rarely used legislative mechanism, according to state broadcaster TVE and newspaper El Pais.
When the 350-member chamber is dissolved ahead of an election, a standing body made up of 68 members plus the house speaker remains in place to pass emergency legislation, which has a slim 35-34 majority in favour of the measures.
VOX SEES UNPREDICTABLE ELECTION
Vox leader Santiago Abascal warned the election result would be unpredictable despite favourable polling for the right.
The decision to call a snap election reflected Sanchez’s inability to govern without a stable majority, said Miriam Nogueras, parliamentary spokesperson for the Catalan pro-independence party Junts, which in recent years had stopped voting with the government.
Sanchez won a second four-year term in office in 2023 after promising a highly controversial amnesty for pro-independence Catalan leaders in exchange for their support, a move still bitterly remembered by many voters as a betrayal of Spanish unity.
He won early plaudits for moves including the exhumation of Franco from a mausoleum the dictator built for himself outside Madrid, and a labour law reform that has helped reduce unemployment to its lowest level in almost two decades.
He has argued that immigration is essential for sustaining Spanish growth and has refused to agree to US-led demands to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP, angering Trump.
Sanchez’s housing measures provided a rare chance for him to pitch himself as the leader of a mobilised left and distract from the more politically damaging issues of the migrant crisis in Ceuta and corruption scandals, said Lorenzo Bernaldo de Quiros, economist and president of consultancy Freemarket Corporate Intelligence.
“This is a window of opportunity,” Bernaldo de Quiros said. “If he does not call elections fast, (those topics) will return to centre stage.”
Reporting by David Latona, Victoria Waldersee, Emma Pinedo and Mireia Merino; additional reporting by Joan Faus; Writing by Charlie Devereux and Aislinn Laing; Editing by Susan Fenton, Alexandra Hudson, Hugh Lawson and Jonathan Spicer
Flash floods in the capital Dakar and elsewhere disrupted traffic, testing the West African country’s infrastructure weeks before it hosts the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics, starting on October 31
International News via Reuters:
Heavy rains flooded roads and destroyed buildings over the weekend in Senegal, as the government said several people had been killed and warned of more rain to come.
• Flash floods in the capital Dakar and elsewhere disrupted traffic, testing the West African country’s infrastructure weeks before it hosts the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics, starting on October 31.
• Local media reported that a mother and her child had been killed in the Parcelles Assainies area of Dakar after their home was flooded.
• The Interior Ministry reported deaths and injuries in Dakar and the northeastern town of Matam. It said a building had collapsed in the southern town of Kaolack.
• Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo said there was a high probability of more rain on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
• He also said this week’s start of the school year could be postponed if floodwaters did not recede.
• Senegal’s meteorological agency ANACIM said the town of Rufisque, just outside Dakar, and the town of Ranerou in the Matam region had recorded 142 mm of rain in 24 hours. Dakar’s Yoff district recorded 138 mm.
Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Diadie Ba; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Kevin Liffey
The Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet said Deisseroth, 54; Hegemann, 71; and Nagel, 73, had been selected for their “discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”
Karl Deisseroth, a co-winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, celebrates at Stanford University’s James H. Clark Center in Stanford, California, US, October 5, 2026. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo
International News via Reuters:
American Karl Deisseroth and Germans Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for developing optogenetics, a technique that uses light to control individual nerve cells in the brain.
The Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet said Deisseroth, 54; Hegemann, 71; and Nagel, 73, had been selected for their “discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”
“This method makes it possible to switch on, or off, the activity of individual nerve cells in a living brain,” said Thomas Perlmann, Secretary-General of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet.
Anna Wedell, a professor in genetics and a member of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, said a new era in neuroscience had opened but it was only the beginning.
“For the first time we can actually start to understand how the brain processes information and how different neurons interact across the brain,” she said.
The trio will share a prize sum of 12 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million). Announcements will follow in the coming days on this year’s Nobel physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics prizes, with the winner or winners of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to be announced on Friday.
Deisseroth said he was still awake in the early hours when he was called from Stockholm.
“I was not yet asleep, being a night owl, and now I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep for quite a while,” he said.
Hegemann said he was overwhelmed at getting a call from a number he recognized to be in Sweden: “It’s unbelievable when you get this message.”
Nagel said he was sitting on a terrace “in a nice little village outside Naples” when the call came through.
“I actually thought it would not happen, but some other people always told me this will happen,” Nagel said.
BREAKTHROUGH FROM ALGAE
Deisseroth was training to become a neurosurgeon when he encountered patients he could not help at a psychiatric clinic. That encounter – witnessing suffering he had no tools to treat – prompted a career-defining question: Why does the brain work so differently in different people?
The answer would come from an unexpected place: an alga, and two German scientists driven by equally simple curiosity.
Hegemann, fascinated by exploration and unknown territory, began investigating in the early 1990s how the alga Chlamydomonas reacts to light in half a millisecond.
He hypothesized that a single protein both captured light and acted as an ion channel, and contacted Nagel to ask him to test it.
“This was a good chance to do something new and exciting,” Nagel said of the original call from Hegemann, which resulted in him injecting Chlamydomonas genes into frog eggs and discovering channelrhodopsin-2, a light-sensitive ion channel.
In 2003, Nagel and Hegemann published findings showing the protein could be introduced into human cells to generate electrical impulses using light. Deisseroth showed the technique in rat nerve cells in 2005, and the method was named optogenetics in 2006.
One scientist at Hegemann’s Max Planck Institute in Frankfurt in 2007 recalled researchers taping optical fibers salvaged from Christmas decorations to microscopes.
“We didn’t really know how it worked, we didn’t really have any tools,” said Dima Kuzmin, a neurochemist at the time. “And it was massively exciting.”
TREATMENTS UNDER DEVELOPMENT
The three laureates’ research is now providing insights about brain disorders. Animal models are being used to understand schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and addiction – conditions that affect millions of people worldwide and have limited treatment options.
Deisseroth used optogenetics to control the movements of mouse whiskers by activating specific nerve cells in the motor cortex. He also used light to wake sleeping mice, confirming that specific nerve cells control wakefulness.
“There are mouse models of dementia, epilepsy, addiction,” Wedell said. “By understanding which cells are active in these diseases in mice, we can understand where to look in humans.”
Researchers are also applying the technique to try to restore vision to people blinded by retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive eye disease, by inserting a light-sensitive protein into the retina. They also hope optogenetics could improve cochlear implants, potentially allowing more precise stimulation of the auditory nerve than current electrical devices.
“When you think about it in the retina, all patients need to do is open their eyes and you have the light,” said Paul Bresge, CEO of US biotechnology company Ray Therapeutics, which is developing a therapy to treat retinitis pigmentosa. “So it makes a lot of sense as a potential therapy.”
The most advanced of the treatments are autism spectrum disorder therapy by a US-based biotech company MapLight, co-founded by Deisseroth, and a vision restoration medicine for retinitis pigmentosa by Nanoscope, also based in the United States, though both are still some way from reaching patients.
Manuel Valero, researcher at Barcelona-based Hospital del Mar, where he heads the Neural Computation Laboratory, said optogenetics had “allowed us to push the boundaries between science and science fiction.”
“In laboratory animals, we have managed to control emotions, create false memories or even recover lost memories in models of Alzheimer’s disease,” Valero said. “Perhaps the great promise it has yet to fulfil is precisely one of its founding promises: its ability to treat diseases of the human brain.”
Each laureate’s path reflected their distinct character. Hegemann developed an early fascination with exploration, viewing scientific research as charting unknown territory.
Nagel had worked as a teacher, opened a cafe and taken up hang gliding as a hobby. The suffering witnessed by Deisseroth at the psychiatric clinic drove him to seek deeper understanding of the brain through research rather than clinical practice alone.
Additional reporting by Niklas Pollard, Simon Johnson, Greta Rosen Fondahn, Terje Solsvik and Anna Ringstrom, Ilze Filks, Tom Little, Anna Uras and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by Niklas Pollard in Stockholm and Bhanvi Satija in London, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Sanjeev Miglani
In the season finale, Shara explores the true meaning of health beyond social media standards, emphasizing adaptability, connection, and balance across various life aspects.
Romania’s interior ministry said 11 crew members of the ship, which it described as sinking, had been rescued
Firefighters and rescuers work near a helicopter at an emergency helicopter base in Constanta, Romania, during a rescue operation following a maritime incident involving a fire aboard a vessel outside Romania’s territorial waters, in which two people died and others were rescued, in this handout image released on October 5, 2026. Romanian Interior Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
International News via Reuters:
Romanian authorities said on Monday that two people had died and others had been rescued after a fire on a ship in the Black Sea outside Romania’s territorial waters.
Romania’s interior ministry said 11 crew members of the ship, which it described as sinking, had been rescued. The country’s Naval Authority said the incident involved a fire on the ship Royad Mammadov.
The authorities did not give details on the cause of the fire, and a spokesperson for the Romanian Naval Authority said she could not provide more information.
Romanian media reported the ship was Turkish and carrying grain. The incident occurred near an oil platform operated by Romanian energy company OMV Petrom, media said.
The ship, flying under the flag of St Kitts & Nevis, was headed to Ravenna, Italy and was last in port at Izmail, Ukraine, according to website VesselFinder.com.
NATO member Romania shares a 614-km (382-mile) land border with Ukraine. Since the Ukraine-Russia war started four years ago, it has seen Russian drones breaching its airspace as well as mines floating in the Black Sea across key trade and energy routes.
Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Pawel Florkiewicz and Jason Hovet; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Jan Harvey
The Bermuda Hotel Association Board of Directors are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Greg Ramey as their new Chief Executive Officer, effective 1st. October 2026.
The appointment of Mr. Ramey who is the Managing Director of BermudAir Holidays, a role that he will retain, follows an extensive advertising and recruitment process over the past several months, as the BHA Board sought to fill the pending vacancy following the announcement of the retirement of their outgoing CEO, Mr. Stephen Todd, who has served in the role for the past 12 years.
Mr. Ramey joined BermudAir in 2023 and built BermudAir Holidays, the airline’s flight-and-hotel packaging business, from launch. Before moving to Bermuda, he was the second employee at BLADE, the US short-distance aviation company, and held multiple leadership positions there. He also co-founded Batch, a venture-backed group travel platform, serving as its Chief Revenue Officer. He holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) Degree from the University of Vermont.
The BHA President, Clarence Hofheins stated “The Board in considering the strategic objectives of the Association in determining the future growth and direction of the hotel industry, believes that Mr. Ramey’s overall business experience aligns perfectly with the core objectives that the Board is seeking to achieve. The extensive local and international experience that Greg brings to the BHA will permit him to work in close collaboration with the BHA Board of Directors, the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA), the Ministry of Tourism & Transport, Culture & Sport, as well as all industry sectors, in the implementation of a core Sales & Marketing Business Model and Strategic Plan, with oversight by the Board, with the objective of achieving measurable and significant growth in our key hospitality industry sector.”
Mr. Ramey stated “Bermuda is home for my family, and our hotels are the heartbeat of the visitor experience. I’m grateful to Stephen for his 12 years of leadership and for his help with the handover. I look forward to working with our members, the BTA, the Bermuda Government, and our travel partners to make Bermuda a true year-round destination.”
Mr Hofheins stated that on behalf of the BHA Board of Directors and our Association Members, we wish to thank Stephen for his leadership, guidance and valued contributions over the past 12 years in leading the BHA, as we wish him a long and well-deserved happy retirement.
The planes had been stationed at RAF Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers located 90 miles (145 km) west of London, which had recently been used for US strikes on Iran
A B-1 bomber takes off from RAF Fairford airbase, as the US removes its B-1 bombers one week after several men were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video in Fairford, Gloucestershire, Britain October 4, 2026. @CraigYoungMedia via X/via REUTERS
International News via Reuters:
The United States has removed its B-1 bombers from a British air base one week after five men were arrested nearby on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, a suspected plot that British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said was likely backed by Iran.
The planes had been stationed at RAF Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers located 90 miles (145 km) west of London, which had recently been used for US strikes on Iran. A Pentagon official said on Sunday they had now returned to their home bases in the US.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in late July that the base was a legitimate target. A NATO military source said on Monday: “It is still believed that Iran poses an acute threat to US assets in the UK”.
The five men arrested by British police have been released on bail, and the incident remains largely unexplained. A sixth man, a dual UK-Iranian national arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, has also been released on bail.
Iran has said accusations it was involved in any plot are baseless, and its foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, wrote on X: “I can confirm Iran’s belief that releasing supposed terrorists working for foreign states really says it all. You’re barking up the wrong tree.”
KEY AIR BASE FOR US OPERATIONS
As one of the US Air Force’s only European airfields suitable for heavy bombers, the Fairford base has historically played a key role in previous US campaigns in the Middle East, although its bombers are not stationed there permanently.
During the current conflict, the US had permission to use Fairford to only strike Iranian missile sites that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz – so-called defensive strikes – after London refused to grant permission for the US to use British bases for offensive strikes on Iran.
That approach has strained ties between the US and Britain, typically one of Washington’s closest allies.
“We can acknowledge now that all US bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have re-deployed to their home stations in the United States,” a Pentagon spokesman wrote in an email.
The Pentagon added that the country’s bomber force remained ready to deliver precision global strike capabilities “anywhere, anytime”.
The New York Times, citing two US officials, said the US had rushed over the weekend to move the bombers after commanders received new threats about an Iran-backed plot. It said some of the planes had left while aerial refuelling aircraft were still being scrambled.
A US official declined to comment. The British government has declined to comment.
Christoph Bergs, research analyst at defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute, said the redeployment would in the short term reduce the US’s capacity “to quickly surge sorties against Iran, reducing the threat level somewhat”.
But he noted that use of Fairford was already limited given London’s stipulation on defensive strikes. The aircraft could now potentially be sent to either Diego Garcia or bases in the Gulf, to reduce the need for more air-to-air refuelling to cover the additional distance, but that would depend on capacity availability, negotiations with allies and security, he added.
PLOT WAS FOR ‘BIG DAMAGE’
In the early hours of September 27, five British men in their 20s were arrested after being seen running into fields from three white vans parked near the base. Police said no explosive devices were found but a quantity of petrol was present.
US President Donald Trump said at the time that those involved in the plot had planned “big damage” and that it might have been connected to Iran, adding that he would not have released the suspects on bail. “I wouldn’t have done that,” he said on Tuesday.
A senior NATO military official said the move would not have any impact on the alliance: “NATO’s defensive agility towards any aggression remains unchanged and unmatched thanks to the unity, strength, and combined capabilities of 32 nations”.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the removal of the US bombers.
Additional reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York and Sabine Siebold in Germany; Editing by Sergio Non, Nia Williams and Hugh Lawson
The yield gap between French bonds and safe-haven Bunds – a market gauge of the risk premium that investors demand to hold French debt – widened to about 150 basis points on Friday
U.S. dollar and Euro banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 24, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
International News via Reuters:
The euro slid to a 17-month low against the dollar on Monday as concerns about France’s ability to rein in its budget deficit and a sharp bond market selloff last week stirred fears of a return of sovereign debt crisis dynamics in the euro zone.
French government bonds have come under pressure as expectations of higher policy rates and rising political uncertainty ahead of the 2027 election cast doubt on the ability of the euro area’s second-largest economy to put its public finances on a more sustainable footing.
The yield gap between French bonds and safe-haven Bunds – a market gauge of the risk premium that investors demand to hold French debt – widened to about 150 basis points on Friday, the highest since the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis in 2011, before pulling back to 140 bps. It was last up 5 bps to 145.50.
“Latest bond market dynamics are increasingly concerning and somewhat reminiscent of a sovereign debt crisis. Friday’s acceleration of the selloff in OAT spreads and flight-to-quality patterns in Bunds are a case in point,” said Hauke Siemssen, strategist at Commerzbank.
“The (French) spread selloff seems to increasingly feed on itself, creating a dangerous market backdrop,” he said, adding that there is a fundamental justification for wider OAT spreads.
The euro sank to as low as $1.1161 in Asian hours, its weakest since May 2025, and was last down 0.47% at $1.12. The single currency recorded on Friday its fourth straight weekly fall against the dollar, its steepest in around four months.
Analysts argued that France’s fiscal problems were daunting enough on their own, but an upcoming presidential election and a hung parliament where compromise has often proved impossible make them even harder to address.
Planned budget cuts, which have deepened an already acute funding crunch in the education sector, have fuelled discontent and sparked protests across the country.
The single currency dropped 1.8% against the Swiss franc since last Thursday and was last down 0.32% to 0.9295.
“Euro/Swiss franc is historically the cleanest way to hedge the euro zone fiscal risk, and we could see further downside,” said Francesco Pesole, forex strategist at ING.
“Still, the franc’s idiosyncratic fragilities may get in the way,” he added, referring to the low levels of interest rates and the central bank’s willingness to act against a rapid appreciation of the franc.
US DOLLAR CLOSE TO LIBERATION DAY’S HIGHS
The euro’s appeal as the market’s primary alternative to the greenback was already fading after the Federal Reserve’s September rate hike, but last week’s sharp widening in French bond spreads dealt a further blow, analysts said.
Traders are now pricing in an 80% chance of the US central bank holding rates steady in October, compared with 36% a week earlier, the CME FedWatch tool showed. They still expect a hike in December and another two in the first half of 2027.
The US dollar index, which measures its value against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.30% to 102.23, after reaching 102.53, its highest level since April 10, 2025.
‘Liberation Day’ is the name given by President Donald Trump to the sweeping tariff package he unveiled in early April 2025, which triggered a broad selloff in US assets. The dollar index was around 104 before the announcement.
YEN SUPPORTED BY TIGHTER POLICY
The Japanese currency was roughly unchanged at 157.92, supported by recent verbal warnings from the government and authorities against yen depreciation and its safe-haven status.
Concerns about Japan’s fiscal outlook eased as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reiterated her commitment to fiscal sustainability, reassuring investors worried about rising bond yields and deteriorating public finances.
Data showed on Friday that annual core inflation in Japan’s capital accelerated in September at its fastest pace in 10 months, bolstering the case for further interest rate hikes.
Reporting by Stefano Rebaudo; Editing by Kevin Buckland, Kim Coghill and Jan Harvey
Britain’s Judicial Office, part of the non-political civil service which supports the courts, said on Monday a hearing would take place on Thursday after the former prince sought to quash the search warrants that were issued as part of the arrest
International News via Reuters:
King Charles’ younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, is taking the police to court to challenge his arrest in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he sent confidential government documents to Jeffrey Epstein.
Britain’s Judicial Office, part of the non-political civil service which supports the courts, said on Monday a hearing would take place on Thursday after the former prince sought to quash the search warrants that were issued as part of the arrest.
Thames Valley Police, which carried out the arrest, confirmed it was engaged in legal proceedings and declined further comment.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested in February on suspicion of leaking government documents to Epstein when Mountbatten-Windsor was a special representative for trade between 2001 and 2011.
The second son of the late Queen Elizabeth has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, and said he regrets their friendship. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
Mountbatten-Windsor was questioned all day by detectives and a Reuters photograph which captured the former prince as he left the police station showed him looking in a state of shock.
He was forced to quit all official royal duties in 2019 over his ties with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Epstein, and was then stripped by his older brother of his titles and honours last October after further revelations about their relationship. Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 in what was ruled a suicide.
The judicial office said the hearing on Thursday regarded an effort by the police to restrict access to court documents. The hearing will begin in private.
News of the legal challenge was first reported by the Daily Telegraph.
Reporting by Kate Holton in London and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Timothy Heritage
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The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
![The Intention Effect | Episode 6 [Season 2] (Season Finale)](https://bbc.bm/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/The-Intention-Effect-Season-2-Thumbnail-768x432.png "The Intention Effect | Episode 6 [Season 2] (Season Finale)")
