The world's attention on Thursday is split between a war that has reshaped energy markets, a central bank trying to bring inflation under control, and a battlefield in Eastern Europe where diplomacy and bombardment are running side by side. Here is what is making waves around the globe, drawn from wire services and major outlets listed in the sources below.
Oil near $115 as the Strait of Hormuz stays under pressure
Energy remains the most market-moving story on the planet. Oil prices surged again this week, with Brent crude futures closing at about $115.32 a barrel on Wednesday and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at roughly $102.78, according to CNBC. The latest leg higher followed a Wall Street Journal report that Washington has told several Gulf Arab states to prepare for a short but intense military campaign against Iran after the US midterm elections.
Physical flows tell the same story as the futures screen. Kpler data reported earlier this month showed daily oil movements through the Strait of Hormuz falling to about 11.6 million barrels, down from a baseline of roughly 17.2 million, after Iranian strikes on tankers. An ANZ Research note cited this week put Hormuz transit volumes at around 60 percent of normal, with Gulf crude exports down for a fourth straight week. On 22 October, Brent touched its highest level in five months after Iranian state television claimed seven tankers had been damaged in the waterway, a report the Associated Press said it could not independently verify at the time.
| Benchmark | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Brent crude | About $115.32 a barrel | 28 Oct 2026 |
| WTI crude | About $102.78 a barrel | 28 Oct 2026 |
| Hormuz daily flows | About 11.6M vs 17.2M baseline | Week to 13 Oct |
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Another strand of the supply story is in Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni Houthi movement said on Tuesday that it fired a ballistic missile at the Ras Tanura refinery in the Eastern Province, claiming heavy fires, while a maritime security agency reported a fire that was later contained. The extent of any damage to oil operations remained unclear. For a deeper look at how the shock is feeding through to fuel and freight, see our coverage of surging oil prices and the wider world news section.
Gulf powers press Tehran as the US-Iran standoff drags on
The war between the United States, Israel and Iran, which began on 28 February, is now in an uneasy and unstable phase. On Monday, Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin travelled to Tehran, in the first joint visit since the three countries formed the Mecca defence pact in August. Their aim, according to Iranian and regional officials, was to stop the conflict from restarting at full scale.
Iranian officials described the talks as positive and the parties agreed to continue discussions, but no agreement to halt Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia was announced, Gulf News reported. Outlook India, citing Iranian media, said Tehran told Pakistan's army chief it would not engage with Washington until its demands are met. Egypt, meanwhile, has authorised military support for Riyadh, the Kuwait Times reported. Unconfirmed claims from Israeli media that Saudi Arabia offered the Houthis a large cash package in an Iran-brokered ceasefire deal should be treated with caution.
Federal Reserve holds as AI stocks wobble
On Wall Street, the focus was the Federal Reserve. At the central bank's October meeting, the Fed chose to hold interest rates rather than raise them again, with Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissenting because they preferred a quarter-point increase, according to InvestmentNews and Reuters. Chair Kevin Warsh said politics played no role in the decision and that he was honoured to lead the committee. He also said the Fed plans to cut back on the number of rate-setting meetings, in a break with recent practice.
The decision lands in a market already sensitive to artificial intelligence valuations. Reuters reported earlier this month that hotter-than-expected inflation hit AI-linked shares such as Oracle and CoreWeave, and the Associated Press said sharp falls in AI stocks dragged markets lower on 22 October. Sentiment picked up at the start of this week after Anthropic filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 26 October, according to the International Business Times, with investors now watching Big Tech earnings. Our tech news section follows the AI sector in more detail.
More headlines from around the world
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Oil prices surge as Gulf shipping risks deepen
Why Brent keeps testing multi-month highs and what it means for fuel costs.
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Local developments, economy and policy from across the country.
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Technology news
AI, software and devices: the latest from the tech world.
Ukraine: peace talks agreed, strikes continue
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to resume US-brokered peace talks next month, CGTN reported on 22 October, after envoy Steve Witkoff shuttled between Oslo and St Petersburg to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The agreement did not slow the fighting. Hours later, Russian missiles and drones struck Kyiv, killing one person and wounding 22, according to Ukrainian authorities.
On 26 October the Kremlin said the resumption of talks would not halt Russian strikes. A daily brief on 28 October noted a Russian strike on an apartment building in Kharkiv that injured five people, including a four-year-old child, and carried Zelensky's claim that Russia has fired more than 100 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region since 14 October, with delays in air-defence interceptors helping Moscow. Those figures come from Ukrainian officials and have not been independently verified here.
US midterms: five days to Election Day
Americans vote on 3 November in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. All 435 House seats, 35 of 100 Senate seats and 36 governorships are on the ballot, and Republicans enter the vote with a 53-47 Senate majority. Reuters reports that only about 50 House races are expected to be competitive and that Democrats need to gain three seats to reclaim the chamber. Newsquawk's preview described Democrats as favoured to flip the House, with the Senate too close to call. As always, polls are a snapshot rather than a prediction, and the war with Iran, inflation and fuel costs are all feeding into the campaign.
What to watch next
- 3 November: US midterm elections and what they mean for foreign policy and the Iran war.
- Gulf diplomacy: follow-up talks between Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, and any move on Houthi attacks.
- Oil markets: whether Hormuz traffic recovers or Brent pushes higher; our oil price coverage will track it.
- 8-9 December: the Fed's next policy meeting, which includes new economic projections.
- November: the planned resumption of Russia-Ukraine talks.
Readers in South Africa can follow the local fallout in our South Africa news section.