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

On today's podcast:
(1) A temporary ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas has begun. An initial group of women and children hostages will be released by Hamas in the afternoon. In total Hamas has agreed to free 50 hostages while Israel will release 150 jailed Palestinians. All of those involved in the deal are women and children.

(2) Barclays is working on plans to reduce costs by as much as £1 billion ($1.3 billion) over several years, which could involve slashing as many as 2,000 jobs, according to Reuters.

(3) Germany will suspend a constitutional limit on net new borrowing for a fourth consecutive year after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government was forced into a radical budget overhaul by a ruling last week from the nation's top court.

(4) UK consumer confidence rebounded in November, with households more willing to splash out on major purchases ahead of Christmas, a survey found. 

(5) A growing number of London's richest homebuyers are choosing to rent rather than buy as high interest rates and a tough tax environment curb investment.