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  • WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
    Israel heads to the polls, Anthropic’s gargantuan IPO, and Malawi’s fuel crisis

     
    today’s international story

    Netanyahu urged Iran strike before election

    What happened
    Benjamin Netanyahu spent weeks seeking approval for another air strike against Iran ahead of today’s election, but faced resistance from Israel’s military leadership, according to senior defence officials and people briefed on the discussions.

    Chief of staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir argued that there was no pressing military justification for an attack at that moment. He also reportedly feared that a separate, unspecified operation could provoke Iranian retaliation.

    Who said what
    Former defence minister Avigdor Liberman accused the prime minister of risking soldiers’ lives in order to improve his electoral prospects and called for an investigation. Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment on the reports.

    The “behind-the-scenes tensions” over a possible Israeli attack come as Netanyahu has been “publicly portraying the stakes of the election in increasingly apocalyptic terms”, said David M. Halbfinger in The New York Times. Over the weekend the PM posted an AI-generated image on social media of a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv, claiming that the vote would decide “Israel’s existence”.

    Netanyahu’s dire warnings “were a marked contrast with his triumphalism in the immediate wake of the wars on Iran that launched last year and this spring”, said Emma Graham-Harrison in The Guardian. Back in March Netanyahu said Israeli and US strikes had destroyed Iran’s ability to enrich uranium, and last year he laid claim to a “historic victory” over Iran that would remain for generations.

    What next?
    As Israelis head to the polls, Netanyahu’s party is neck and neck with that of former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, who “has emerged as his strongest rival in a campaign that has revolved around everything from Israel’s security and military conscription to bread-and-butter issues like the economy”, said Matt Bradley on NBC News.

     
     
    today’s crime story

    Government launches probe into Nowak killing

    What happened
    Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has ordered an independent review of the murder of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old university student who was stabbed to death in Southampton in December.

    Vickrum Digwa, who falsely claimed that he had suffered racist abuse and acted in self-defence, was sentenced to life imprisonment in June, with a minimum term of 21 years. The case prompted widespread criticism after bodycam footage showed police handcuffing Nowak as he lay dying despite his repeated pleas that he had been stabbed and could not breathe.

    Who said what
    Former justice secretary Alex Chalk KC will lead the review, which Nowak’s family described as a “significant moment in our fight for justice”.

    The investigation was launched “despite a sentencing judge ruling that Nowak would not have survived his injuries, however quickly he received treatment”, said Henry Moore on the BBC.

    What next?
    The inquiry will initially examine whether police, health services, schools and other organisations missed opportunities to prevent the murder. A second phase will assess police conduct and the police watchdog’s response after its own investigation concludes. The review is expected to report its findings within five months.

     
     
    Today’s technology story

    Analysts say Anthropic IPO could become biggest ever

    What happened
    Anthropic has revealed key details of its business ahead of its plan to sell shares to the public in a move that experts believe will be an indicator of the future of AI.

    In the filing Anthropic said its revenue had risen rapidly to $16.3 billion (£12.2 billion) in the first half of the year – a 14-fold increase from a year earlier – but it also revealed losses of more than $80.7 billion (£60.5 billion). The maker of the Claude chatbot did not say how much capital it plans to raise in its IPO, but “there is speculation that it could seek around $100 billion at a $2 trillion valuation”, said Axios. That would exceed SpaceX, which this summer was the biggest ever stock listing at an initial valuation of about $1.8 trillion (£1.4 billion).

    Who said what
    The AI giant “painted a picture of future growth propelled by the technology”, said The New York Times. The projected successes include “advances in science, discovering cures for diseases and bringing about explosive economic growth”.

    “It will be the first true AI company to go public, marking a test for the future of the technology,” said BBC News.

    What next?
    This IPO “is likely to become a referendum on the business of AI, even if it’s just a securities offering from a single company”, said Axios.

     
     

    It’s not all bad

    Harry Kane has won the 2026 Ballon d’Or, becoming the first British footballer to claim the world’s most prestigious individual award since Michael Owen in 2001. The 33-year-old England captain beat out Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal after producing a remarkable season for Bayern Munich and his country that saw him score 73 goals in 65 games. Kane also collected the best striker award, capping off an extraordinary year for the prolific forward.

     
     
    under the radar

    Road to nowhere: Malawi’s deepening fuel crisis

    Across Malawi, filling up your petrol tank has become an endurance test. In the past four weeks fuel shortages have become a “national emergency” in the south-east African country, according to The Guardian.

    Drivers wait for hours at empty forecourts for deliveries, with one morphing into a “makeshift village” where some camp out for days. At Mount Meru petrol station in Zomba – the former capital and Malawi’s fourth largest city – drivers sleep “under the bellies of trucks” and “aggressively block any queue-jumpers” as the situation turns “patience into hostility” at the nation’s pumps.

    Fuel shortages have been a “recurring problem” in Malawi for years and were a “major issue” in last year’s general election, said Reuters. There had been a temporary improvement in supplies, but the onset of the Iran war has plunged the country back into crisis.

    Despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi has one of the “highest fuel pump prices in Africa” at more than $3 (£2.25) a litre, said Semafor. The recent crisis has sparked a “nationwide crackdown” on stockpiling and “black market sellers”; petrol stations “caught hoarding” risk losing their licence and unauthorised sellers face arrest.

    In a bid to solve the crisis, pressure is being applied to the government to “change its importation policies” and open the fuel market to more suppliers, said Malawi24. The Consumers Association of Malawi believes that licensing more operators to import fuel and sell it “at prices that reflect the cost of securing supplies under the current market conditions” will ease the situation, “even if consumers have to pay higher prices”.

     
     
    on this day

    27 October 1982

    China announced that its population had exceeded one billion people, making it the first nation in history to reach that threshold. This week it was revealed that its total number of citizens had fallen for a fourth consecutive year in 2025, with experts warning that the decline could continue.

     
     
    Today’s newspapers

    ‘Time to pay fair’

    “It’s time to pay fair”, says The Mirror, commenting on the reported increase in the minimum wage. “Burnham blames Brexit for small boats crisis”, says The Independent. “PM’s new foot in mouth Brexit blunder”, says the Daily Mail. “Labour ‘falsified’ defence spending”, says The Telegraph. “Jesy’s jungle U-turn for sick twins”, reports The Sun. “Liz leafs Daily Star out of her book”, says the Daily Star.

    See the newspaper front pages

     
     
    tall tale

    Vegemite fails

    A murderer who claimed that his human rights as an Australian were being breached because he was denied access to Vegemite in prison has failed to overturn the ban on the polarising spread. The country’s answer to marmite has been barred from prisons since 2006, prompting Andre McKechnie to sue Victoria’s corrections department on the basis that Vegemite formed part of his earliest memories. “I consider Vegemite and my consumption of Vegemite an integral part of the practice of my Australian culture,” he said. But a judge ruled that the prison’s obligation to provide adequate meals did not extend to supplying foods of cultural significance.

     
     

    Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Jamie Timson, Rebekah Evans, Ross Couzens and Chas Newkey-Burden.

    Image credits, from top: Nir Elias / Pool / AFP / Getty Images; Finnbarr Webster / Getty Images; Samuel Boivin / NurPhoto / Getty Images; Amos Gumulira / AFP / Getty Images.
     

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