Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:
(1) Senior officials in Israel and the US suggested that talks on securing the release of Hamas-held hostages are intensifying.

(2) The United Nations said Israeli ground attacks and shelling increased around hospitals, with several being directly hit.

(3) The immediate threat of chaos in London’s streets has subsided, but that may only provide a brief respite for Rishi Sunak; chief among his challenges is whether to fire his Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

(4) Asking prices for UK homes recorded the biggest November decline in five years as more sellers accepted the reality of finding buyers in a credit-constrained market, according to Rightmove.

(5) A reckoning has come for Britain’s £262 billion trust industry as central bank interest rates and bond yields hit multi-year highs .