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The Federal Aviation Administration has directed airlines to reduce domestic flight operations by 4% at 40 high-traffic airports starting at 6 a.m. ET (1100 GMT) on Friday, citing safety concerns about air traffic control due to staffing shortages during the government shutdown. The reductions mark the first widespread disruption for airlines as a result of the shutdown. International flights will be spared from the cuts.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

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The University of Pennsylvania has confirmed that a hacker stole university data in a recent cyber breach. Alumni and other affiliates had received suspicious emails from official university email addresses. “We love breaking federal laws like FERPA (all your data will be leaked),” the message from the hackers read. “Please stop giving us money.” Penn had at first told TechCrunch that the email was “fraudulent,” but has now confirmed the hacker's claim that data was taken during the breach.

 

Techcrunch

The Washington Post has confirmed it is among the victims of a cyber breach linked to Oracle's E-Business Suite. The ransomware group CL0P publicly identified the newspaper as a target, amidst a wider campaign affecting over 100 companies that use Oracle’s software.

 

Reuters

Pirates off the coast of Somalia have launched the first successful boarding of a commercial vessel in 18 months, according to maritime authorities and shipping analysts. Greek shipping company Latsco Marine Management confirmed the attack on a ship carrying gasoline. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the raid happened about 560 nautical miles south-east of the Somali town of Eyl. Private security firm Ambrey said the attackers were probably Somali pirates, who have been active in the region in recent days.

 

BBC News

Financial Times

The Louvre has spent too much on new artworks and not enough on security in recent years, France’s state auditor has said. Pierre Moscovici, the head of the French Court of Auditors, France's highest audit institution, said in a highly critical report on Thursday that last month's heist was a "deafening wake-up call" for museum security, which had been moving at a "woefully inadequate pace." 

 

France 24

Financial Times

A senior executive from Bain Capital has said that there are currently no systemic risks in the global private credit market, although it appears to be "a little frothy." The firm said it sees significant growth potential in Asia, particularly in direct lending. Bain is actively raising funds for its Asia direct lending and special situations initiatives, aiming to capitalise on the emerging opportunities in the region.

 

Reuters

Insurance leaders say climate risk is pervasive and the one risk which is most likely to worsen every other threat businesses face. Speaking at a panel discussion on emerging corporate risks at the Insurance Innovators Summit in London, Beazley climate risk specialist Nicholas Gough observed that climate change remains the key emerging risk due to its systemic nature. “It affects every sector, every geography, every supply chain,” he said. “And it doesn’t just create new risks; it increases the severity of existing ones.”

 

Insurance Business

President Donald Trump has appointed Andrea Lucas as chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a move that signals a vote of confidence for her efforts to stamp out diversity programs and prioritize religious rights in the workplace. Trump elevated Lucas to acting chair of the agency in January and concurrently fired two Democratic commissioners, clearing the way to establish a Republican majority. Lauren Khouri, senior director of workplace equality at the National Women's Law Center, said: “Andrea Lucas was handpicked by Trump to lead the EEOC and his mission of weaponizing the agency to attack hardworking people across the country . . . Lucas has a history of abandoning workers at every turn and leaving them without protection, including women workers, transgender and nonbinary workers, and workers of color."

 

U.S. News

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago estimates that the U.S. jobless rate rose to 4.36% in October, its highest level in four years, from 4.35% in September. "The October 2025 reference week (October 12th through October 18th) for the BLS survey used to estimate the unemployment rate overlapped with the federal government shutdown that began in early October," the Chicago Fed said. "This special factor is likely to be only partially reflected in the October 2025 Final release of the Chicago Fed Labor Market Indicators. The Congressional Budget Office expects that as many as 750,000 federal government workers have been furloughed during the government shutdown, representing up to 0.4 percent of the civilian labor force (as of August 2025 data)."

 

Reuters

David Sacks, the White House artificial intelligence and crypto czar, has said there will be no federal bailout for AI. "The U.S. has at least 5 major frontier model companies. If one fails, others will take its place," Sacks wrote on his personal X account, adding that the United States wants to make permitting and power generation easier, and the "goal is rapid infrastructure buildout without increasing residential rates for electricity."

 

Reuters

The Federal Reserve has finalized a revised framework for grading large banks, aiming to simplify the process for institutions to maintain a passing grade. This new approach allows banks to be downgraded only for deficiencies across multiple categories, rather than just one, which contrasts with previous standards. The revised framework is designed to facilitate banks obtaining a "well managed" rating from examiners, promoting a more lenient assessment process.

 

Reuters

Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport has told the Wall Street Journal that the cybersecurity company has cleared a U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) antitrust review of its acquisition by Google parent Alphabet. The deal, valued at about $32bn, will integrate Wiz into Google's cloud unit, enhancing the company's cybersecurity solutions to help businesses mitigate critical risks.

 

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Fire victims from the January wildfires in Los Angeles are urging Governor Gavin Newsom to demand the resignation of California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. They claim Lara has allowed insurers to delay, deny, and lowball claims. “Gov. Newsom, we need your help,” said Jill Spivack, a resident whose home was destroyed. Victims are particularly frustrated with State Farm, which they accuse of providing inadequate estimates and poor claims handling. Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, emphasized the urgency of the situation, saying: “We have an unprecedented housing crisis on our hands.” Despite the backlash, Lara's office maintains that he has acted decisively to support wildfire survivors.

 

Los Angeles Times

A decision to dismiss a New Jersey mother’s lawsuit over children who heckled her and called her a “Karen” at an indoor amusement park has been upheld by an appeals court. The 55-year-old woman was at iPlay America, a massive indoor fun center, with her two children in October 2022 when a worker told her she didn’t meet the height requirement for a go-kart ride. Her protests precipitated the name-calling by other children who were standing in line. The woman’s lawsuit claimed that iPlay America was negligent for not allowing her to take the ride and that the center was responsible for preventing other guests from yelling at her.

 

New York Post