Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Wed 23 Sept · At a glance
Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Iran offers to reopen its shipping lane, oil drops, and diesel sets another record
277 stories in 12 beats
Signals: what moved across the beats
- Diesel still scarce while oil fallsHigh ↑ · 5 beats
- Big companies taking over what others builtHigh ↑ · 4 beats
- AI apps moving into banks, shops and courtsBuilding ↑ · 4 beats
- Data centres and who pays for their powerBuilding ↑ · 3 beats
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Diesel still scarce while oil falls
Seen in 5 of the 12 beats
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World
Diesel in the US reached a record $6.53 a gallon, up more than 70% since February. France asked the European Union to delay a methane rule so its refineries can make more fuel.
The World stories →Finance
A barrel of oil fell below $100 after a report that Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The US is weighing a ban on selling its diesel abroad.
The Finance stories →Food
The average price of diesel in the US passed $6.50 a gallon, a record. Sulfur for fertiliser went from $46 a ton in 2024 to over $1,000 in July, and a shortage shut two fertiliser plants.
The Food stories →Climate
Only two tracked cargo ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Saudi Arabia started pumping oil again through a pipeline that goes around it.
The Climate stories →Money
Petrol in Britain rose from about 130p a litre in February to about 170p. The European Central Bank raised its interest rate to 2.5% because prices are rising with the war.
The Money stories →Big companies taking over what others built
Seen in 4 of the 12 beats
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Biotech
Telix, an Australian maker of radioactive cancer drugs, agreed to buy its German rival ITM for at least $1.65 billion. Novartis agreed to pay a company in China up to $900 million for one early drug.
The Biotech stories →Gaming
Microsoft moved its Halo games to Activision, the Call of Duty publisher it owns. It began talks on closing Ninja Theory, the studio behind Hellblade, after two deals to sell it fell through.
The Gaming stories →Food
Russia's president handed Nestle's six Russian factories and Auchan's 229 Russian supermarkets to a manager picked by the state. Nobody paid the owners, who keep them only on paper.
The Food stories →Finance
Paramount started selling $49 billion of debt to pay for buying Warner Bros Discovery. Twelve US states had settled their lawsuit against the deal.
The Finance stories →AI apps moving into banks, shops and courts
Seen in 4 of the 12 beats
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Finance
Schwab fell 6.1% and Allstate 5.5% after Meta's AI app Muse topped the download charts, because investors fear it will shop around for their customers. Shopify, which lets Muse buy from its shops, rose nearly 7%.
The Finance stories →Tech
Anthropic and OpenAI cut the price of their newest AI models by 40% to 50%. Four paying customers are suing them, saying the labs broke competition law when they agreed to slow down together.
The Tech stories →Cyber
Banks set out rules for AI programs that shop on a customer's behalf. Programs that steal passwords now also copy the login keys that AI coding helpers keep.
The Cyber stories →Biotech
AbbVie signed a research deal with Iambic, a company that uses AI to design drugs. A team of AI programs proposed a new lung-cancer drug.
The Biotech stories →Data centres and who pays for their power
Seen in 3 of the 12 beats
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Climate
North Carolina's regulator refused Duke Energy a $584 million gas turbine meant partly for data centres. California passed laws making data centres pay for the grid upgrades they need.
The Climate stories →Tech
Accelevation, which makes power and cooling kits for data centres, wants to raise up to $720 million by selling shares.
The Tech stories →Finance
Big AI companies are expected to borrow a record $420 billion next year. Lenders have started to get choosier about which of those loans they take.
The Finance stories →The day, beat by beat
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World · 40 stories
Trump tells the UN Iran can have a deal after the US midterms or be annihilated, as his envoys talk to Iran through mediators
- UN chief gives his last opening speech
- Zelensky asks Trump for an energy truce
- Drones hit a refinery in Samara
Finance · 32 stories
Meta's AI app Muse topped the download charts. Schwab fell 6.1% and Allstate 5.5%, and Shopify rose nearly 7% after letting Muse shop
- US two-year borrowing costs the most since 2024
- Oil drops below $100 on an Iran offer
- Saudi Arabia tests its bypass pipeline
Tech · 22 stories
Anthropic and OpenAI cut the price of their new AI models. They are the first releases since both backed a call to slow down.
- Customers sue AI labs over their slowdown pact
- Universal and Sony sue Suno a second time
- AI labs ask Australia for a training exception
Mind & body · 35 stories
Ebola vaccines teach the body the shape of the virus's outer protein, and the Ebola spreading in Congo has a different one
- Two treatments tested against Bundibugyo
- Congo's Ebola response misses its targets
- A vaccine made for Bundibugyo itself
Climate · 31 stories
El Nino's heat could cause about 450,000 extra deaths by February, most of them in hot, poor places, a University of Chicago lab estimates
- States sue to stop paid-off wind farms
- North Carolina refuses Duke a gas turbine
- California makes data centres pay their own way
Space · 5 stories
NASA's chief says China is heading for the same few landing spots on the Moon. Partners now have to bring something NASA needs, in time.
- Judge lets SpaceX swap land in a wildlife refuge
- Top US officer says the battlefield reaches the Moon
- Starship's booster is on the pad, but not its licence
Biotech · 23 stories
Telix is buying ITM for at least $1.65 billion, a month after the US regulator turned down ITM's cancer drug over how it is made
- FDA advisers review a blood test for many cancers
- First win in a late-stage Sjogren's trial
- US weighs letting drug deals with China continue
Money · 10 stories
Britain's full state pension is on course to pass the tax-free allowance next April. Only pensioners with no other income have been promised no tax.
- Bank of England expects prices above 4%
- Euro countries' interest rate goes up
- Trump promises 500 and 5,000 dollars
Sports · 25 stories
The Presidents Cup starts on Thursday. The Americans have lost it once in 15 tries, and the PGA Tour runs both teams.
- A world title and a borrowed bike
- A 21-year-old takes world silver
- India's first gold comes in cricket
Gaming · 14 stories
Xbox gives Halo to Activision and moves to close Ninja Theory, the Hellblade studio. 268 more jobs go.
- State of Decay's makers now own their studio
- Blizzard layoffs reported to be close
- Game Pass may stop launching new games on day one
Food · 19 stories
Russia takes control of Nestle's six factories and Auchan's 229 shops, without buying them
- Russia sends its grain north
- Trump backs a US diesel export ban
- Sulfur shortage shuts two fertiliser plants
Cyber · 21 stories
A hacking gang says it broke into the FBI's jobs website and took files on its staff. It wants a warning withdrawn, not money.
- Microsoft shuts a rented inbox-theft service
- Shoppers' details taken through a store add-on
- One group turned old flaws on 996 switches
That's the day at a glance.
4 signals, seen across 9 beats. Now the stories, beat by beat.
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