Saturday, 24 October 2026
Sat 24 Oct · At a glance
Saturday, 24 October 2026
Oil hits $116.72 on bets of new US strikes on Iran, as Israel seals off Hebron
365 stories in 12 beats
Signals: what moved across the beats
- Dearer fuel from the Iran warHigh ↑ · 5 beats
- Decisions timed to the US voteBuilding ↑ · 4 beats
- Companies cutting staffBuilding ↑ · 3 beats
- France braced for cost-of-living marchesBuilding ↑ · 2 beats
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Dearer fuel from the Iran war
Day 4 of this signal
Seen in 5 of the 12 beats
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Finance
A barrel of oil closed at $116.72 on Friday, up 6.2% in a week and its highest close since April. Petrol and diesel in the United Arab Emirates cost more than 70% more than in March.
The Finance stories →World
October has seen more attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf's narrow sea exit, than any month on record. A US envoy said the US could strike Iran as soon as this weekend.
The World stories →Climate
Sales of petrol-only cars in China fell 43% in September as fuel got dearer. Belgium is adding 15 million euros to help poorer homes buy heating oil.
The Climate stories →Money
Heating oil cost 47.7% more in Jersey, a Channel island, than a year earlier. Fuel sales in Great Britain rose 2.2% in September, as drivers filled up before prices rose further.
The Money stories →Food
With the Strait of Hormuz nearly closed, food prices in Dubai were 8.05% higher in September than a year before.
The Food stories →What is going on
Traders are pushing oil up on the fear of new US strikes on Iran, even though more Gulf oil is reaching buyers than before the war.
What is going on
Drivers and homes that heat with oil pay for it at the pump and the tank, while makers of electric cars gain as buyers in China move off petrol-only cars.
Decisions timed to the US vote
Seen in 4 of the 12 beats
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Finance
Changes to US tariffs on Canadian goods start on 30 October, four days before Americans vote. The US government says it will not strike Iran before the vote.
The Finance stories →World
The Trump administration sued to stop Alaska certifying its Senate result if the Republican loses narrowly.
The World stories →Money
North Carolina votes on 3 November on making lawmakers cap property tax rises. Californians vote the same day on a one-off 5% tax on billionaires' wealth.
The Money stories →Mind & body
US health officials want their promised definition of ultraprocessed food out before the vote. It has stalled after pushback from food firms and from President Trump's own officials.
The Mind & body stories →What is going on
The US government is fitting trade, war and health decisions around the vote, and the fight over how votes are counted has already reached the courts.
What is going on
In North Carolina, a cap on property tax would leave schools and emergency services to absorb the gap, or push up sales taxes and fees.
Companies cutting staff
Seen in 3 of the 12 beats
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Finance
American Express, the card company, is cutting 5% of its staff to prepare for AI. Barclays, a British bank, said it will cut 5,000 jobs, also about 5% of its staff.
The Finance stories →Gaming
Microsoft plans to close Arkane Lyon, a French game studio with 217 jobs, unless a buyer is found. Analysts say EA closed BioWare because its buyout left it paying $1.8 billion a year in interest.
The Gaming stories →Tech
China's cabinet told government agencies to give workers who lose their jobs to AI training, career advice and help finding new work.
The Tech stories →What is going on
Banks say they are cutting staff to make room for AI, and game owners are closing studios to save money while they carry big debts.
What is going on
The staff pay first, with their jobs, and in China the government has told its agencies to retrain the people AI pushes out.
France braced for cost-of-living marches
Seen in 2 of the 12 beats
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World
France is putting about 70,000 police on the streets for Saturday's protests over the cost of living. Paris shops have been boarding up their windows all week.
The World stories →Sports
French police stopped PSG v Lyon, a top football match, being played on Sunday, so it moves to Monday night. Toulouse v Troyes was moved too.
The Sports stories →What is going on
The police France needs for the marches cannot also guard big football matches, so the matches give way.
What is going on
Fans who planned around Sunday's game pay with a new date, while Paris shops board up their windows.
Where the day is heading
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Dearer fuel from the Iran war
The next test is the US vote on 3 November, after which traders expect US strikes on Iran to resume.
Decisions timed to the US vote
The next test is the vote itself on 3 November.
Companies cutting staff
The next test is whether Arkane Lyon finds a buyer, which French law gives until 13 November and Microsoft has stretched by a month.
France braced for cost-of-living marches
The next test is the size of Saturday's marches, the first day those 70,000 police are on the streets.
The day, beat by beat
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World · 55 stories
Israel seals off Hebron and starts knocking down homes after two soldiers are killed at a checkpoint, four days before Israel votes
- Gunmen kill seven at a church funeral in Jordan
- US envoy says Iran could be struck this weekend
- Truce agreed for one Ukrainian town
Finance · 33 stories
Brent oil closes at $116.72, its highest since April and up 6% in a week, as traders bet US strikes on Iran resume after the US election, and Wall Street ends the week lower
- Moody's keeps France's grade, for now
- France's businesses shrink again
- US swaps which Canadian goods pay 50%
Tech · 38 stories
OpenAI now trains its most powerful AI models with no live internet, after one reached the web through a setup error in September
- Amazon drops four data centres in Virginia
- Google lets connected Gmail shape ads
- Data-centre builders drop secrecy deals
Mind & body · 17 stories
Children in the UK met as much harmful content online, mostly through their feeds, nine months after new child-safety duties began, Ofcom finds
- A court weighs Medicaid's new work rules
- 28% of US adults put off care they could not afford
- Medicare stops paying for some pain treatments
Climate · 34 stories
US calls imported wind turbines a national security risk but picks 180 days of trade talks over tariffs, as its lawyers ask courts to undo three offshore wind permits
- Storm Austen cuts power, and Boelo follows
- Record October rain floods Queensland
- Wales plans to ban steel pylons
Space · 19 stories
NASA lays out Artemis III, a 14-day test of both Moon landers near Earth in 2027, and keeps two paths open to a 2028 landing
- SpaceX turns down three military launches
- Space Force wants a third launch site by 2030
- Ariane 6 to fly again on 23 November
Biotech · 20 stories
A patient dies in Bristol Myers Squibb's trial of a cell treatment for multiple sclerosis, the first death among 190 people given it for immune diseases
- India caps mark-ups on 137 cancer drugs
- Takeda's stomach-cancer drug wins a final trial
- Iza-bren slows a common breast cancer
Money · 20 stories
The US orders every state to put chips on SNAP food-aid cards, after thieves skimmed 470 million dollars from families' cards in a year
- UK government steps into water bill setting
- Income limits set for England's first-home loans
- Britain's chancellor has less room in his first Budget
Sports · 45 stories
Peres Jepchirchir, the world and Olympic marathon champion, is provisionally suspended after a test taken before her Sydney win found EPO, a banned blood booster
- Hatton and Poulter leave LIV Golf
- Sparks put up for sale at $700m
- Cowboys cheerleaders get a union
Gaming · 33 stories
Arkane Lyon, the French Xbox studio making Marvel's Blade, nears a 13 November deadline under French law to find a buyer, and Microsoft adds a month to the talks
- Analysts tie BioWare's end to EA's debt
- Netflix and Xbox split $300 million apart
- Xbox's first operations chief leaves after three months
Food · 26 stories
US feedlots take in 1.78 million cattle in September, the fewest for a September since 1996, and only about a fifth of the cut-price beef allowed in has arrived
- US lifts tariffs on Canadian farm boxes
- US farm bankruptcies reach 292 this year
- US crop farms broke even on payments
Cyber · 25 stories
Quest Diagnostics, the US lab that tests one in three American adults, says intruders got into the website doctors use to order tests and read results
- A third PHP flaw gets a setting, not a fix
- Millions of PHP attacks, no confirmed break-in
- Chainguard's boss defends breaking the PHP silence
That's the day at a glance.
4 signals, seen across 9 beats. Now the stories, beat by beat.
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