What happened
British police forces are increasing the level of protection around Jewish sites following yesterday’s attack in Bondi. The Metropolitan Police has increased its presence at synagogues and other venues in London, saying there is “significant heightened concern about safety” despite no specific local threat intelligence. Police Scotland is also implementing patrols and discussing extra precautions with Jewish leaders.

Who said what
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the Sydney atrocity “sickening”. Dave Rich, policy director at a Jewish charity, said “as much as the government and police are doing things to try to stop this, the fact it is still ongoing means that not enough is being done”.

As events to mark Hanukkah get underway, “many members of the community are volunteering to keep events safe”, said Ryan Prosser in Metro.

What next?
A menorah was lit last night in Trafalgar Square, while dozens of people gathered for a vigil outside Australia House in central London. The Board of Deputies of British Jews said terrorism and antisemitism were “shared, international challenges” that must be tackled together.

What happened
The Conservative Party has unveiled plans to eliminate the 2030 prohibition on the sale of new vehicles powered by internal combustion engines while also abandoning the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate. The ZEV directive establishes a yearly increasing legal requirement for auto makers to ensure that a fixed percentage of their new car sales are zero-emission vehicles, reaching 100% by 2035. Abolishing this quota would also involve cancelling associated non-research subsidies, which the party projects would save £3.8 billion over the next decade.

Who said what
“By scrapping the ZEV mandate and the ban on petrol cars we are putting fairness and common sense back into the system and saving money for taxpayers,” said Kemi Badenoch.

The Conservative leader’s comments “come after her meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has lobbied the EU to water down its own plans for a ban”, said Sofia Ferreira Santos on the BBC.

What next?
Labour has said it will continue to invest in manufacturing and infrastructure to support the transition to electric vehicles. In its latest Budget the government announced an extra £1.3 billion in funding for the UK’s Electric Car Grant scheme to encourage drivers to make the switch to EVs.

Bulgaria’s government has resigned just weeks before the country is due to join the eurozone.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov stepped down after “tens, or perhaps hundreds of thousands” of Bulgarians “thronged” the centres of cities across the country, accusing the government of widespread corruption, said Polish news network TVP World.

The “wave of street protests” has destabilised Bulgaria as the country is preparing to join the euro on 1 January, said Bloomberg. This “should be a moment for celebration”, but it has “exposed a growing sense of resentment” – especially among younger people – that the European Union has “failed to deliver on a promise of improved rule of law”.

Bringing the EU’s “poorest nation” into the single currency area before it’s “delivered on basics like the rule of law” is “a move opponents of enlargement will be ready to exploit”. This could “hurt the bloc’s entire geopolitical strategy since eventual membership for Ukraine is fundamental to restoring stability on its eastern borders”, added the news agency.

But while the recent protests have been “widely portrayed online as an anti-EU uprising”, political scientist Dr Spasimir Domaradzki told TVP World “the people on the streets are the most fervent supporters of European integration”. Rather than being a Bulgarian “Brexit moment”, he said the protests were another chapter in a long struggle over who controls the state.

Despite the “political drama in Sofia”, Bulgaria’s “move to join the euro is not seen as being under threat”, said the BBC. European economic leaders have told Bulgarians the euro is “more than just a currency: it’s a geopolitical insurance policy in a fragmenting world”, according to Politico.