FT reports the Bank of England is studying one of the largest mortgage-rule changes since the 2008 crisis as government and industry press for higher homeownership. The FPC is weighing loosening post-crisis curbs that since 2014 have restricted lenders to no more than 15% of mortgages above 4.5x income; it is considering raising the high-risk loan-to-income threshold from 4.5x to 5x after a July 2025 relaxation already lifted high-LTI lending materially.

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting cited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps saying a fourth tanker exploded after striking a mine in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Russian Defence Ministry said overnight Oct. 30-31 Russian forces used drones to strike Ukrainian energy and logistics infrastructure and vessels supporting Ukrainian troops. Moscow named targets including a Kyiv combined heat-and-power plant that supplied a Ukrainian logistics facility and equipment storage, a weapons-component workshop and a drone warehouse in Kharkiv, and a cargo ship south of Odesa transporting materiel. The ministry said Russian air defences intercepted and shot down 433 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones across multiple regions, including Belgorod and Samara, between 20:00 on Oct. 30 and 08:00 on Oct. 31. President Zelenskiy said Russian drone strikes damaged a CHP in Kyiv, four substations and a gas-distribution facility in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and a CHP in Shostka, Sumy Oblast, and hit rail infrastructure in Dnipro and Kharkiv; he said about 200,000 households in Dnipro and surrounding areas and more than 80,000 in Kyiv region lost power. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 134 drones overnight and, as of 08:30, Ukrainian air defences had destroyed 105 of them.