Morning Briefing
Global markets are in freefall as the post-US-midterm shockwaves ripple out — the NASDAQ has shed nearly 11% and the Nikkei is down a brutal 18.7%, while Stephen Miller's elevation to White House chief of staff signals the new Democratic administration is about to face a firestorm from its own political flanks. Buckle up: this is a week that's going to be talked about for a while.
What Matters Today
- Stephen Miller named White House chief of staff — Trump's promotion of the hardline immigration architect has both Democrats and Republicans crying foul, with critics calling it a deliberate provocation ahead of what looks like a bruising Congress term. Classic chaos-as-strategy. Guardian AU
- Mass shooting in Kraków kills six — A gunman in military fatigues opened fire in Kraków's main square, killing four women and two men and injuring more than a dozen others. Polish PM Donald Tusk rushed to the city. No confirmed motive yet. BBC World
- Russia hammers Ukraine's power grid — Moscow launched 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles at Ukrainian energy infrastructure, causing blackouts and water shortages in Kyiv. This comes days before trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi — the timing is not a coincidence. Guardian AU
- AI stocks bounce, but the damage is done — Tech shares are clawing back some ground after a savage sell-off driven by fears a Democrat win means tighter AI regulation. The NASDAQ is still down nearly 11% — one day's recovery won't fix that. BBC Tech
- Microsoft kills AI Frontiers research group — Quietly devastating news for the research community: Microsoft has shuttered its AI Frontiers lab, the group behind some of its most ambitious long-horizon AI work. HN commenters are grim about what it signals for big-tech research culture. Hacker News
- New Zealand election too close to call — National will be the largest party but neither bloc has a majority, and NZ could be in coalition limbo for weeks. Not great timing for a country that needs policy clarity on housing and cost-of-living. Guardian AU
- Khawaja's sandpaper bombshell rattles cricket — Usman Khawaja's claim the entire Australian camp knew about the 2018 ball-tampering plot is being flatly denied by Darren Lehmann, who insists "everyone" was doing it globally anyway — which is quite the defence. Cameron Bancroft is reportedly letting his bat do the talking. ABC News
Markets
It's a bloodbath almost everywhere except home turf — the ASX 200 is somehow up 3.26% to 9,020, likely benefiting from defensive rotation and commodity plays as global money looks for shelter. The S&P 500 is down 5.65% and the Nikkei has cratered 18.74%, its worst session in years, as markets price in a prolonged period of political uncertainty and tighter US tech regulation. The AUD is off 1.63% at $0.687, gold is slipping despite the risk-off mood (down 1.59% to $4,074), and crypto is getting smashed — Bitcoin down 9.24% to $75.5k, Ethereum off 13.52%. Not a day to check your portfolio if you've been heavy on growth.
Worth a Read
- Ships loitering near subsea cables as Iran threatens Trump — Ars Technica reports suspicious vessel activity near undersea cables following Iran's warnings about retaliatory strikes on global communications infrastructure. This is the kind of slow-burn story that becomes very loud very fast if something actually gets cut.
- What I run on my $10 OpenStick homelab — A fun deep-dive into squeezing a surprisingly capable homelab out of a cheap USB stick device. Great weekend reading if you're into self-hosting and want to feel inspired rather than anxious for five minutes.
- Australia's COP31 credibility problem — Guardian AU asks the pointed question: can Chris Bowen credibly broker a global climate deal when Australia is still a major coal and gas exporter? Bowen says yes. The optics say it's complicated.
- Elon signals the end of the Cybertruck — BBC Tech reports Musk hinting production will wind down to make room for Cybercabs. A vehicle that became a cultural meme before it became a sales success. Fitting end, really.