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The International Monetary Fund has called for the world’s economic powerhouses to avoid setting off a trade and tariff war. Deputy managing director Gita Gopinath told the BBC the global economy could lose gross domestic product equivalent to combined French and German economies in the event of a global trade war.

U.S.-directed rhetoric from presidential candidates in the US election on Nov. 7 have threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese goods, just one of the potential tax changes that could set off retaliatory actions.

She added that, “if you have some very serious decoupling and broad-scale use of tariffs, you could end up with a loss to world gross domestic product of close to 7%.”

The IMF also has said the global economy has weathered “some very tough knocks” in the last five years and has had a soft landing despite difficult circumstances.

Russia’s Central Bank on Oct. 25 raised its interest rate by two percentage points to a historic high of 21%, according to The Moscow Times, which said economists expected a rise but only an increase to 20%.

The newspaper reported bank executives took the action in a further attempt to curb inflation, which the bank hopes to bring down to an annual growth rate of 8% to 8.5% by the end of the year.

The news outlet added that “seasonally adjusted price growth [in September] rose to 9.8% year-on-year from 7.5% in August. Core inflation, meanwhile, increased to 9.1% from 7.7% over the same period.”

Zack Gharib, who started his role as president of Red Roof six months ago, said the U.S. hotel firm has achieved a lot in that time, including better driving consistency and quality, strengthening its management team and launching a new hotel prototype, a four-story, 80-room property type, according to Hotel News Now’s Bryan Wroten.

Gharib said such changes are critical in the current challenging development landscape.

Construction has been a challenge broadly for hotel developers, with high interest rates and uncooperative capital markets. He remains hopeful in light of The Federal Reserve's recent 50 basis point interest rate cut.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Gharib said, adding he hopes it will spur interest in new-construction deals.

Keir Starmer, the United Kingdom’s prime minister and leader of the Labour Party government, which took office in July, continued his strategy of forewarning the British populace of the tough decisions he believes he needs to make. In an address to Parliament on Oct. 28, Starmer said the Oct. 30 budget will “prevent devastating austerity in our public services,” adding that “things are worse than we could have possibly expected.” The opposition said he is trying to add taxes by stealth.

He has been at pains to state taxes will not increase for “working-class people.” Starmer, according to the BBC, said the country is at a grave point with both the economy sluggish and weaker public services, including the National Health Service.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced plans for a 50/50 joint venture with Spain's Grupo Piñero to bring the Bahia Principe brand's properties — and the Cayo Levantado resort in the Dominican Republic — into Hyatt's Inclusive Collection, Hotel News Now's Sean McCracken reports. The deal will add 12,000 rooms in 23 all-inclusive resorts across the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Jamaica and Spain to Hyatt's distribution portfolio.

The transaction will be structured in a way to keep Hyatt's model asset light. Upon the deal's closing, the joint venture company will manage the 23 properties and own the Bahia Principe brand. Grupo Piñero will maintain ownership of the properties and will use proceeds from the deal to "enhance existing Bahia Principe resorts."

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