Wednesday briefing: Everything you wanted to know about the spending review (but were afraid to ask)

In today's newsletter: All governments do them. But what exactly are they and how can you tell if they worked or not?

Good morning. There are certain phrases in news stories about government, aren't there, where your eyes glaze over like you've just wound down the window and asked someone for directions. Autumn statement; early day motion; fiscal rules; white paper; ping pong, weirdly. They're definitely all very important, but it would be cruel to stop the average punter halfway through a news story and ask them for a crisp definition.

Today's case in point: the spending review. I mean, we all know what a spending review is, obviously - it's when they review the spending. But it's also one of the defining moments in the life of any government - and the one now being undertaken by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has been billed as the crucial first step in Labour's plan to hit the milestone" targets Keir Starmer set out last week, and on which he has said the government should be judged.

UK news | Vodafone unjustly enriched" itself at the expense of scores of vulnerable small business owners by slashing commissions to franchisees running high street stores, according to allegations filed on Tuesday in the high court. Vodafone denied any misconduct ahead of a 120m legal claim.

Syria | Syria's leading rebel group has named a new prime minister, Mohammad al-Bashir, to head the country's transitional government. Meanwhile, Israel said it had carried out more than 480 strikes over the previous 48 hours against weapons stockpiles to keep them out of the hands of extremists.

Courts in crisis | The head of the government's sentencing review has said that specialist courts focused on breaking cycles of addiction could be rolled out across England and Wales. In an interview with the Guardian, David Gauke praised very encouraging" pilots of intensive supervision courts.

Iran | Women in Iran could face the death sentence or up to 15 years in prison if they defy new compulsory morality laws due to come into effect this week. Amnesty International said the laws could lead to the execution of women who send videos of themselves unveiled to media outside Iran or engage in peaceful activism.

US news | The suspect in the shooting death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, will plead not guilty and fight extradition from Pennsylvania to New York, his lawyer said yesterday. Outside a court hearing, Luigi Mangione shouted: This is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people".

While some of these efforts have made notable savings for the public purse and improved civil service capability ... they have often taken the form of discrete, temporary initiatives, and had less success embedding efficiency as a continuous process and culture across government. None, moreover, have led to a fundamental step-change in government's approach to public spending.