Wednesday, 28 October 2026
349 stories · 12 beats · 4 signals
Signals
A barrel of oil rose 1.5% to $115.60 on Wednesday after two days of falls. New Zealand's central bank expects prices there to rise 4.4% this quarter, mostly because fuel costs more.
Pakistan raised diesel by Rs2.25 to Rs398.07 a litre. A delivery driver in Wales spends about £350 a month on petrol, 40% to 50% more than at the start of the year.
A farmer who owns two fuel stations in western Iowa says petrol and diesel ran short at harvest. Britain is cutting import taxes on fertiliser to ease costs linked to the war.
A newspaper report says the US told Gulf states to be ready for a short, intense attack on Iran after its 3 November vote. US defence figures put the war's cost so far at over $47 billion.
What is going on
The war keeps oil dear, and that cost reaches the pump and the price of fertiliser. Drivers who work on the road and farmers at harvest pay it first.
Where it is heading
The next date is the US vote on 3 November, after which, a newspaper report says, the US has told Gulf states a short attack on Iran may come.
SK Hynix, a big South Korean maker of memory chips, expects too little memory until at least 2030. Its finance chief expects fewer PCs and phones to be sold because memory costs more.
SK Hynix made an operating profit 632% bigger than a year ago. South Korea's main share index rose as much as 6.57% during Wednesday.
What is going on
Memory is scarce, so it costs more, and SK Hynix, which makes it, has just reported a record profit. The cost lands on the makers and buyers of PCs and phones, and SK Hynix expects fewer of them to be sold.
Where it is heading
SK Hynix's own forecast is a shortage until at least 2030, and the next reading is how many PCs and phones are sold.
NOAA, the US weather and oceans agency, has lost about 20% of its staff since January 2025, ahead of a strong El Nino winter.
The deputy head of the CDC, the US disease-control agency, leaves on 12 November after four months in the job. The FDA, which approves medicines, has had an acting head since May.
The Trevor Project, a charity that helped build the US crisis line for young LGBTQ+ people, lost a $25 million contract when that part of the line shut.
What is going on
Each agency now runs with fewer people or with an acting boss. The people who rely on them for a storm forecast, a decision on a new medicine or a crisis call are the ones who wait if the work slows.
Where it is heading
The US Senate, which must vote on the nominee to lead the FDA, is away until 9 November.
Bird flu went from 9 to 27 Washington dairy herds in about a week, and a dairy worker was infected. Four more animals with screwworm, a flesh-eating fly, were confirmed in Texas and New Mexico.
Florida has passed 700 cases of dengue, a virus spread by mosquitoes, in its largest outbreak in modern times.
Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo have passed 10,000, with 4,887 deaths since mid-May. Kenya now has nine cases, and Nigeria has reported its first.
What is going on
In Washington and on the US-Mexico border, animal diseases are being fought by stopping animals and trade, so healthy farms near a sick herd lose sales too. The danger itself falls on the people closest to it: a dairy worker in Washington, and families where dengue and Ebola are spreading.
Where it is heading
Washington now announces only new counties, so the next herd count will appear on the state's website rather than in a statement.
12 editions
World
The truth: Israel's voters took away Netanyahu's majority, but both main camps refuse to govern with the Arab-led parties that won 18 or 19 seats, so neither can reach 61.
Finance
The truth: Buyers in Mumbai paid 21% more for Jio on its first morning than the share sale charged, and Reliance's own shares fell the same morning.
Tech
The truth: Google is selling its own AI chips beyond its own cloud, as companies look for cheaper options than Nvidia's.
Mind & body
The truth: Heat caused by climate change killed more than half a million people in 2023, the Lancet Countdown estimates, and the harm is now growing faster than the response.
Climate
The truth: The US government is removing the rule that made oil and gas firms find and fix their biggest methane leaks, and the firms that gain most own tens of thousands of small, leaky wells.
Space
The truth: On 26 October the US military's spy agency published what it says China is building to attack satellites, with a sharp photo of China's secret spaceplane.
Biotech
The truth: The US FDA proposed that one licence can cover many gene-editing versions, each built for a different patient's faulty gene, and that new versions can be added on lab tests instead of new trials.
Money
The truth: Several of the day's stories turn on who has cash at the start.
Sports
The truth: Arsenal left Declan Rice, Gabriel and David Raya at home for a League Cup it has not won in 33 years, and lost to a club that had hoped to earn about 400,000 pounds from the night.
Gaming
The truth: Rockstar's UK staff are voting on a union in the same two weeks that GTA 6, Rockstar's biggest game, goes on sale, and a tribunal over 31 fired union members hears its closing arguments.
Food
The truth: Bird flu jumped from 9 to 27 Washington dairy herds in about a week, and the state now announces only new counties, so most new herds appear only on its website.
Cyber
The truth: A flaw in start-up code shared by most servers became public about four months early, because AMI, one of the firms fixing it, posted its fix where anyone could read it.