Good morning and welcome to FirstFT. In today’s newsletter:

• US recalls B-1 bombers from UK air base

• M&A boom loses steam

• UK banks to lobby chancellor for capital rules cut

• Extreme heat is raising risks for pregnant women and babies

The US has withdrawn B-1 bombers stationed at the UK’s Fairford air base and brought them back to American soil, a US defence official confirmed yesterday, following a suspected terrorist plot to target the British facility.

“While operational security precluded us from confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real time, we can acknowledge now that all US bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have redeployed to their home stations in the [US],” the official said. 

American officials have insisted that the withdrawal of the bombers from the British base will not affect the US military’s ability to strike overseas targets.

The recall comes a week after a major security alert at Fairford when five British men were arrested near the base. All five were released on bail but remain under investigation. Read the full story.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: The Eurozone, France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US publish purchasing managers’ index data for services, while the EU posts second-quarter house sales figures. The UK reports on September official international reserves, while the US releases the Conference Board employment index.

• Nobel Prize: The prestigious awards kick off this week with the announcement of the winners in physiology or medicine.

• Brazil: Flávio Bolsonaro is in pole position to win the presidential election after he built a strong lead in the first round of voting.

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Five more top stories

1. Global dealmaking fell below $1tn in the third quarter for the first time since Donald Trump unleashed his trade war last year, as high interest rates and AI anxiety threaten to derail a blockbuster year for mergers and acquisitions.

• Cheaper AI models: The UK should not automatically reach for “extraordinarily expensive” frontier products for many public services, the head of the Alan Turing Institute has urged.

2. UK chancellor John Healey will this week face pressure from top British lenders to back a cut in their capital requirements. Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury select committee, said that authorities needed to consider whether easing some requirements for building societies in particular would help lending.

• FNZ: Canadian pension fund La Caisse, the London-based fintech’s largest investor, has overhauled the company’s management team after losing faith in its turnaround plan.

3. Exclusive: Estonia is shifting to a strategy of “active defence” by moving troops permanently closer to its border with Russia and acquiring weaponry that could strike deep inside its neighbour, as the Nato frontline country prepares for potential Russian aggression beyond Ukraine, according to officials.

• Kremlin-backed money laundering: A British payments industry executive was given a senior role at a company linked to secretive fintech A7.

4. Exclusive: The UK’s accounting watchdog is exploring whether to overhaul governance rules for audit firms as an influx of private equity investment reshapes the industry, stoking concern about conflicts of interest. The move is part of a wider review of the sector’s governance code for Britain’s largest audit firms.

5. Merchant shipping companies are racing to bolster their fleets’ defences after a wave of attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea and Middle East. Counter-drone specialists said they had received a surge of inquiries from shipowners, with interest particularly strong among companies that transport oil and gas and those working around offshore energy infrastructure.

Russia’s new drive to crush Ukraine

Ukraine’s drone strikes on targets in Russia early this year emboldened some of Kyiv’s allies to be cautiously optimistic about the war. Moscow responded with a ruthlessly targeted air offensive that has closed the Black Sea to shipping, blocking Ukrainian exports’ main route to market. Beyond severing an economic lifeline, this is linked to a broader campaign to throttle the economy and crush Ukraine.

We’re also reading . . .

• Heat-related complications: High temperatures are sharply increasing risks for pregnant women and their babies, according to a poll of global health professionals.

• Empty racks: London office developers are calling for looser bike parking requirements and conversion of existing spaces to gyms, saying thousands of slots sit unused due to cycling uptake falling short of expectations.

• Bosnia elections: Pro-Russia strongman Milorad Dodik has claimed victory despite recent efforts by the international community to sideline him.

• Wrexham AFC: The chief executive of one of the world’s oldest professional football clubs talks about how its turnaround has become a fairytale success story.

Map of the day

Egypt’s Mediterranean coast is a popular summer holiday spot for wealthy locals. But the region is now on the brink of what developers, mostly from the Gulf, hope will be a far greater transformation that will turn it into an international hub drawing foreign property buyers and tourists.

Take a break from the news . . . 

From Paris’s Maison Bonnet to London’s EB Meyrowitz and Ransome Optical, the world’s best indie eyewear makers are creating one-off frames to suit the quirks, asymmetries and idiosyncrasies of each individual face.

You can also listen to today’s top news stories in the FT News Briefing podcast.

Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm