FT News Briefing

An election supercycle could push Europe to the right

FT News Briefing

Show Notes

The IMF is warning that the world’s leading economies need to take “urgent” action to rebuild their public finances, Pakistan is stuck in a tricky place as its ally Saudi Arabia fights off the Houthis, and Mark Zuckerberg says Meta has caught up with rivals at the “frontier” of AI. Plus, a number of elections in Europe could fundamentally shift the EU, and the UK has imposed new sanctions on Iran over a security incident at a RAF base.

Mentioned in this podcast: Top economies heading for biggest budget deficits since Covid, IMF warns Pakistan’s hard choice on Saudi Arabia’s war Riyadh defiant as Houthis launch new missile strikes on Saudi Arabia Mark Zuckerberg says Meta has reached AI ‘frontier’ The election supercycle set to drag Europe right UK imposes new sanctions on Iran over RAF Fairford incident India’s Narendra Modi faces ‘bitter pill’ as Cockroach protests mount

Want to get in touch? Email us at [email protected]

Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts

The FT News Briefing is produced by Sonja Hutson, Saffeya Ahmed, and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Our editor is Marc Filippino. Our video producer is Zachary Alfred. Our show is mixed by Sam Giovinco and Alex Higgins. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann, Michael Lello, Peter Barber and David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Flo Phillips is the FT’s global head of audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from FT News Briefing

Oct 23, 2026

Global stocks sold off as AI spending fears flare up, Brazilians will vote this weekend in a close presidential race, and the US is prepared for a lengthy stalemate in the war with Iran. Plus, how banks are reacting to a potential tax rise from UK chancellor John Healey, and why are western pharmaceutical companies heading to China?

Oct 22, 2026

Meta plans to create a new class of non-voting shares, Mathias Döpfner, chief executive and co-owner of Germany’s Axel Springer, has sought to acquire a stake in TikTok’s European operations, and US envoy Steve Witkoff discussed resuming peace talks between Russia, the US and Ukraine. Plus, can Elon Musk pull off a merger of SpaceX and Tesla?

Oct 21, 2026

The leaders of Ukraine, Finland and Norway hailed progress in talks in Oslo on Tuesday, SpaceX and Tesla are studying a merger, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing to restart large-scale strikes on Iran. Plus, UK gilts are catching back up with their peers after a sharp sell-off earlier this year.

Oct 20, 2026

Protests across Europe over the high cost of living have turned increasingly disruptive, investors are racing to buy credit default swaps to protect their portfolios in the event the AI boom unravels, and Big Tech starts releasing their earnings reports this week. Plus, India’s second-richest man will try to pull off the country’s biggest initial public offering and Saudi Arabia has postponed its flagship “Davos in the desert” investment conference following Houthi attacks.

Oct 19, 2026

France is reeling after "unprecedented" violent riots, America’s debt-laden $10tn AI infrastructure boom is a reckoning for the data centre build-out underpinning the US economy, and Albertans gear up to vote today on whether to leave Canada.

See all episodes →