How nervous are investors about the stock market? Every week it seems US financial markets are hit by another bout of fear. The latest worries spread this week from the banking sector in the US, after two regional lenders warned they would be hit by losses from alleged fraud. But before that, markets swooned over signs of rekindled US-China tensions, as the two superpowers face off over tariffs, advanced technology and access to rare earths. The bankruptcies of car parts supplier First Brands and subprime car lender Tricolor acted as a trigger for nervous chatter in September.

OpenAI has temporarily stopped its artificial intelligence (AI) app Sora creating deepfake videos portraying Dr Martin Luther King Jr, following a request from his estate. It said disrespectful content had been generated about the civil rights campaigner. Sora has become popular in the US for making hyper-realistic AI-generated videos, which has led to people sharing clips of deceased celebrities and historical figures in outlandish and often offensive scenarios. OpenAI said it would pause images of Dr King as it strengthens guardrails for historical figures - but it continues to allow people to make clips of others. The firm has faced controversy over this stance, as videos featuring notable figures such as President John F. Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth II and Professor Stephen Hawking have been shared widely online.

Taylor Swift fans are driving a surge in popularity of a German museum exhibiting a portrait of the Shakespeare character Ophelia, recently reimagined in a song and music video from Swift's new album The Life of a Showgirl. The Hessische Landesmuseum in the central German city of Wiesbaden saw hundreds more visitors than usual over the weekend, as fans hoped to see the real version of the painting that opens the music video for The Fate of Ophelia. In the video, viewed more than 65 million times on Youtube, the painting comes alive, with Swift at its centre. We're really enjoying this attention - it's a lot of fun, museum spokesperson Susanne Hirschmann told the Associated Press. Hirschmann said that one family had travelled from the northern city of Hamburg, a five-hour drive away, while some of the visitors were Americans from an army base nearby.

China's biggest shopping event starts five weeks early to revive spending It's known to be China's biggest online shopping event - taking place on 11 November each year. But this year, Single's Day sales have already begun in mid-October, as part of efforts by Chinese retailers to boost spending in a sluggish market. China has been plagued with issues like growing youth unemployment, a prolonged property crisis, steep government debt and an ongoing trade war with the US - all of which is making the country's consumers cut back on spending. The Chinese government has been spending billions - through family subsidies, more wages and discounts for consumer goods in a bid to counter this, but retail sales growth is still failing to meet expectations. Originally created by Alibaba as a Chinese shopping festival, Singles' Day is akin to Amazon's Prime Day or Black Friday promotions elsewhere in the world.

Sam Fender has won the 2025 Mercury Prize for his third album, People Watching, a steely-eyed dissection of working-class life in the north of England. The singer looked stunned when his name was announced. I didn't think that was going to happen at all, he told the BBC as he came off stage. I've spent the last 10 minutes crying. Fender beat the likes of Pulp and Wolf Alice - both former winners of the £25,000 prize for the best British or Irish album of the year - at a star-studded ceremony in Newcastle's Utilita Arena.

Trump says he will meet Putin in Hungary for Ukraine talks after'very productive' call US President Donald Trump says great progress was made during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, with the pair agreeing to face-to-face talks in Hungary. He said the call, the first with Putin since mid-August, was very productive, adding that teams from Washington and Moscow will meet next week. Trump did not confirm a date for his meeting with Putin in Budapest. The Kremlin said work on the summit would begin immediately after the extremely frank and trustful call. The talks came a day before Ukraine's President Zelensky was to visit the White House, and with Trump weighing whether to arm Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep into Russia.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said a new anti-drone system should be fully operational by the end of 2027, as part of a drive to toughen defences against Russia and be fully prepared for possible conflict by 2030. Drones are already redefining warfare. Having drone defences is no longer optional for anyone, Kallas said, referring to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and fears that Moscow may attack the EU. The European Commission's defence roadmap also proposes strengthening the EU's eastern borders and building air and space shields. Several EU nations have faced Russian incursions into their airspace and US President Donald Trump has urged the bloc to do more to defend itself.

Plans for a groundbreaking rare earths refinery in East Yorkshire have been abandoned, after the company behind the project decided to seek investment in the United States instead. Pensana has spent the past seven years developing a rare earths mine in Angola. The $268m (£185m) project, one of the largest of its kind in the world, will begin delivering raw materials in 2027. The company had planned to build a refinery at the Saltend Chemicals Plant near Hull, which would have processed the raw materials into metals used to create powerful magnets. These magnets would then be used in high-tech applications such as motors for electric vehicles, wind turbines and robotics.

Sharon Osbourne has said it would be amazing if Birmingham Airport was renamed in honour of her late husband, rock legend Ozzy Osbourne. The TV personality has given her support to a campaign to call the airport Ozzy Osbourne International, which was launched by podcaster and comedian Dan Hudson after the Black Sabbath singer died at the age of 76 in July. More than 70,000 people have signed a petition backing the idea, which Hudson said was inspired by airports being named after famous figures such as John Lennon. It would be amazing, Osbourne said of a potential rebrand. It's just a dream right now, but sometimes dreams come true.

India casts doubt on Trump's claim Modi will stop buying Russian oil India's foreign ministry has said it is not aware of a phone call in which US President Donald Trump claimed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop purchasing Russian oil. On Wednesday, Trump said his Indian counterpart had assured me today that it would end Russian oil imports, a move the US has pushed for in a bid to increase economic pressure on the Kremlin to end the war in Ukraine. But asked about the call on Thursday, an Indian government spokesman cast doubt on Trump's account, saying he was not aware of any conversation between the two leaders taking place the previous day. The Indian government had earlier said discussions were still ongoing with the US over its Russian oil purchases. India has become a key energy customer for Russia since the outbreak of the war, partly allowing the Kremlin to withstand the impact of Ukrainian allies slashing oil and gas imports, the country's biggest export market.