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This is the world in brief from the Economist.

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Hamas freed two American hostages.

The Israeli Prime Minister's office confirmed.

The hostages, a mother and daughter, were reportedly released to the Red Cross in Gaza and on their way to an Israeli military base.

Qatar had been mediating between America and Hamas to secure the release of hostages captured from Israel on October 7.

Earlier, Joe Biden asked Congress to approve an aid package worth $105 billion.

It includes money and weapons for Israel and Ukraine, as well as humanitarian assistance for Gaza.

The UN's Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Egyptian side of the Raffa border crossing, as humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza were held up by disagreements over inspections.

The besieged enclave was due to receive water, food and medicine via Egypt on Friday, under an American brokered deal with Israel.

Gaza's Ministry of Health said that, as of October 20, the death toll in the enclave stood at 3785.

In an international election, Republicans voted to drop Jim Jordan, a conservative hardliner, as their nominee for Speaker of American House of Representatives, after he failed to get elected in the House for a third time.

The chamber has been without a speaker since October 3.

Republicans plan to hold another secret ballot next week to pick a new speaker nominee.

American Express, a pricey credit card company, beat earnings expectations in the third quarter, posting a revenue of $15.4 billion, compared with $13.6 billion a year earlier.

Customers spent 7% more on their AMEX cards from January to September, but the company also expects more bad loans.

It has set aside $1.2 billion to cover losses, compared with just under $800 million last year.

Another defendant pleaded guilty in the Georgia racketeering case, which alleges there was a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election in favour of Donald Trump.

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