Kia ora and welcome to the final Morning Brew for 2025.
First up, UK interest rates have been trimmed to 3.75%, the lowest level in almost three years, as the Bank of England faced a knife-edge vote, the BBC reported.
Policymakers voted 5-4 in favour to lower rates from 4% amid concerns about rising unemployment and a weak economy.
Inflation could now fall "closer to 2%" next year, earlier than previous forecasts. However, the economy could notch zero growth in the final few months of this year.
"We still think rates are on a gradual path downward but with every cut we make, how much further we go becomes a closer call," said Governor Andrew Bailey.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank held rates, as widely expected. President Christine Lagarde said the Eurozone’s economy had been “resilient”.
Norway’s central bank also kept rates on hold, with economists suggesting the next rate cut might not come until later in 2026, while Sweden’s central bank also held overnight, CNBC reported.
ECB President Christine Lagarde.
Elsewhere, the father and son suspected of Sunday’s horrific Bondi Beach massacre were holed up in a hotel for most of their almost month-long stay in the Philippines in November, CNN reported.
A staff member of the hotel told the broadcaster the pair had no visitors during their stay. The trip has become a key focus of investigations into their motives and preparations for the attack, which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration in Sydney.
European Union leaders have gathered in Brussels to hold a vote on whether they are able to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine over the next two years, Al Jazeera reported.
On the ground in Ukraine, Russian forces carried out a number of new attacks across the country, injuring dozens of people in several regions.
Speaking during a visit to Poland, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte noted the need for strong security guarantees for Ukraine if the country was unable to join the alliance.
“As we speak, a couple of allies are saying they will not give their consent and therefore will withhold unanimity to Ukraine entering Nato – countries like Hungary, the US, Slovakia and maybe a couple of others.”
He said security guarantees were necessary and would come in the form of three layers: bolstering the Ukrainian military, setting up a “coalition of the willing” to ensure a sustainable peace, and finding a role for the US, Al Jazeera reported.
In business news, BP has appointed new chief executive Meg O'Neill as the first woman to lead a major global oil firm, the BBC reported.
O'Neill currently runs Australian oil and gas firm Woodside Energy. BP is expected to continue its new strategy of moving away from renewables to refocus on its core oil and gas business.
Elsewhere, Egypt said a natural gas deal with Israel was a “purely commercial” arrangement and denied any so-called “political dimensions”, Al Jazeera reported.
Egypt’s State Information Service said the agreement was struck by private energy companies under market rules and without government involvement. “The agreement serves a clear strategic interest for Egypt, namely strengthening its position as the sole regional hub for gas trading in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier announced the approval of the gas agreement with Egypt and called it “the largest gas deal in Israel’s history”.
US President Donald Trump.
US President Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group announced a $US6 billion merger with fusion power company TAE Technologies, marking an unexpected pivot into energy technology, the ABC and AFP reported.
The all-stock transaction will see shareholders of each company hold approximately 50% of the combined entity, which plans to begin construction of a ‘utility-scale fusion power plant’ next year.
Trump Media chief executive Devin Nune said the deal represented “a big step forward” towards a revolutionary technology. Fusion power plants would generate electricity through the same process that powers the sun, a goal long pursued by researchers.
Staying in the US, underlying inflation rose in November at the slowest annual pace since early 2021, while overall CPI climbed 2.7% from a year ago, Bloomberg reported.
Finally, rideshare company Uber has announced further executive changes amid wider scrutiny over passenger security in the United States, Bloomberg reported.
Gus Fuldner, senior vice president for safety and core services, will leave the firm in January after more than a decade. That followed the departure of another longtime executive Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty earlier this year.
Uber faces lawsuits in the US from mostly female passengers who said their Uber drivers sexually assaulted or harassed them. In September, Uber won a jury trial that determined it didn’t fail its legal duty for care and caution in maintaining the safety of its passengers, Bloomberg said.
