UK unemployment rate 4.7% in September, up from 4.40% previously.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened scrutiny of large outbound corporate investments to curb capital outflows amid rupee weakness. Last week the RBI sent banks a standardized due-diligence checklist seeking details on overseas direct investments above $1.0bn and on transactions exceeding four times the investee's net worth (the regulatory cap). The rupee is down over 5% YTD amid strong dollar demand and outflows. The step follows earlier tightening of corporate FX-hedging rules and measures to limit importers’ dollar purchases; the RBI has not introduced new formal limits on such outbound investments.

In the early hours of Oct. 20, the US littoral combat ship USS Charleston entered waters near Xianbin Reef in the Spratly Islands without Chinese government permission. The PLA Southern Theater navy deployed forces to track and monitor the vessel in accordance with law. China said it has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, called the US action an infringement of its sovereign rights and a threat to maritime security and regional stability, and demanded the activity stop immediately. Theater forces remain on high alert.