Good morning and welcome back. In today’s newsletter:

• Australia to review gun laws after yesterday’s attack in Sydney

• Trump’s EU assault opens rifts in the bloc’s leadership

• Hong Kong court convicts media billionaire Jimmy Lai

We begin in Australia, where authorities pledged to toughen the country’s firearms laws and do more to combat antisemitism after gunmen killed 15 people in an attack on a Jewish festival in Sydney.

What do we know? Some of the victims have been identified, including a British-born rabbi, a 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor. A further 27 people remain in hospital, some in critical condition.

Who are the attackers? Officials said a father and son were behind the shooting, which they were treating as terrorism. The older gunman was killed by police while the other is in custody. Australia’s home affairs minister said the country’s intelligence service had looked at the son in 2019 due to his association with others under investigation but he was assessed as presenting no threat of violence. The father legally possessed six guns, according to police, and held a licence to use firearms for a decade.

What does this mean? Speaking after visiting the site of the attack, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “The government is going to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws.” He said the government’s national cabinet would convene today to discuss stricter firearm regulations. Read the full story.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: The OECD publishes its G20 GDP growth report, while the EU releases October industrial production figures.

• ‘Joint way forward’: EU and Angolan ministers meet in Brussels.

• UK: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer appears before the Liaison Committee for questioning. Separately, former prime minister Rishi Sunak appears before the Covid-19 Inquiry on the pandemic economic response.

Five more top stories

1. Donald Trump’s assault on the EU has opened rifts within the bloc’s executive and set national leaders at odds, threatening to paralyse Europe’s response over fears that standing up to the US will hurt Ukraine. The US president had earlier denounced EU leaders as “weak” and issued a security strategy that called for “cultivating resistance” on the continent.

2. A Hong Kong court has found media billionaire Jimmy Lai guilty on national security charges, in the most closely watched trial since Beijing’s crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement six years ago. He faces up to life in prison. The trial has been viewed as a barometer for political and media freedoms in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

3. Russia is exporting “chaos” and the threat posed by Moscow will persist until Vladimir Putin is “forced to change his calculus”, Britain’s new spy agency head is set to warn. In her first public remarks since taking office, Blaise Metreweli will also say that UK support for Ukraine is “enduring”.

4. The Bank of England is poised to cut its benchmark interest rate by another quarter point to 3.75 per cent this week, as rising unemployment and the UK’s stagnating economy ease concerns about inflation. The move would bring the central bank closer to ending its rate-cutting cycle that began in 2024.

5. The UK can “lead the world in digital asset adoption” and attract investment, enabled by landmark new laws to regulate cryptoasset companies in Britain. Read more on City minister Lucy Rigby’s comments on the regime that will take effect in 2027.

The Big Read

Former staff allege bullying, misogyny and safeguarding lapses at the Singapore branch of an elite British school, saying profit was prioritised over education and welfare. Experts warn the situation shows the risks of franchising prestigious school brands without sufficient oversight.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Selling off the ‘crown jewels’: Kenya is offloading a $1.58bn stake in Safaricom to fund new infrastructure spending.

• ‘A bubble in bubble talk’: Ruchir Sharma outlines the four Os that predict a crash, and what this test tells us about the artificial intelligence wave.

• Art of the exit: Despite careful choreography for succession, even best-laid plans often unravel. Is there a right way for CEOs to quit, asks Anjli Raval.

• ‘Stablecoin supercycle’: Some technologists believe more than 100,000 such payment systems could swamp the world within five years.

Chart of the day

The share of school-age students receiving special support for their education needs has been rising. It could be argued that this points to improved identification and care, but deeper interrogation of the data lays bare systems that frequently fail those most in need.

Take a break from the news . . . 

In Lunch with the FT, Diébédo Francis Kéré, the best-known and most feted African architect of his generation, talks about building “from the earth”, why modern architecture is going too fast, and how it all began with wobbly school benches.