Brent crude oil tops $116, a six-month high, as tensions swell in the Middle East

CNBC - Oct 23, 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump accused Iran on Thursday of trying to manipulate the oil market.

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French authorities seek to ban or curb fresh protests
Oct 23, 2026
French authorities seek to ban or curb fresh protests

PARIS — French authorities on Thursday imposed bans or restrictions on fresh protests springing up in the wake of demonstrations last weekend that degenerated into the country's worst street violence in years. President Emmanuel Macron said after chairing a meeting of key ministers and intelligence officials that curfews and other security measures would be imposed, including bans on "groups without legitimacy" holding protests. "The priority is a return to calm," he said, adding that he would chair a defence council meeting of key ministers on Friday to decide "the next steps" for new nationwide demonstrations called for Saturday and afterwards. The worst of the violence, Macron said, "was led by organised ultra-left groups aiming to bring down the republic," that he accused of "sedition." Officials are still reeling from the clashes, widespread looting and vandalism of public buildings that broke out on October 17, on the margins of mass demonstrations of more than half a million people against the surging cost of living. Macron's government has admitted police lost control, and candi

Magnitude 7 earthquake strikes China's Tibet
Oct 23, 2026
Magnitude 7 earthquake strikes China's Tibet

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck China's southwestern region of Tibet at around 10:33 p.m. (1433 GMT) on Thursday, the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said. Local authorities have found at least two people injured in a village near the epicentre, with some houses in villages closest to the epicentre showing cracks, the state broadcaster said. The quake is the strongest to hit China since January 2024. The epicentre was in a sparsely populated, high-altitude county in Nagqu, northern Tibet, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The average elevation within 5 km of the epicentre is about 4,864 metres (15,960 feet), CENC data showed. Videos released by local officially run media showed people leaving their homes and seeking shelter outside or in their cars parked on the street. One resident reported being awakened by the strong quake and heard the house squeaking in the tremor. The quake was clearly felt in the local area, CENC said. The epicentre was around 400 km from the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. Local fire and rescue teams have mobilised and are heading to the affected region, state

S. Korea repatriates aid worker from Ukraine over safety
Oct 23, 2026
S. Korea repatriates aid worker from Ukraine over safety

South Korea's international aid agency has decided to bring back one of its two staff members from its office in Ukraine's capital on safety grounds, the Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday. Kyiv has come under increasingly heavy Russian drone and missile attacks in recent weeks, more than 4-1/2 years after Moscow's invasion of its neighbour. South Korea has also been caught up in a diplomatic dispute with Ukraine and withdrew its ambassador this month after accusing Kyiv of breaching a confidentiality agreement over the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers to the South. The decision by the Korea International Cooperation Agency to repatriate the aid agency staff member was made after a safety meeting, Yonhap said in its report. It cited an official from the agency who did not mention the dispute over the prisoners of war. The other staff member would stay in Kyiv, it added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the UN General Assembly in September that Ukraine had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to the South. He said the men had been sent there after be

Oil hits 5-month high as Houthi attacks stoke supply fears
Oct 23, 2026
Oil hits 5-month high as Houthi attacks stoke supply fears

NEW YORK — Oil prices climbed about 2 percent to a five-month high on Thursday after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked concerns of further disruption to energy supplies from the key exporting region. Brent futures rose $2.42, or 2.2 percent, to $111.24 a barrel at 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.14, or 1.2 percent, to $98.29. That drove Brent into technically overbought territory for a third time in a week and set for its highest close since May 18. Saudi Aramco has told staff to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran on the Gulf near Bahrain, Reuters reported, as fighting between the world's largest crude exporter and Yemen's Houthis intensifies. Clashes between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen's internationally recognised government have raged since the Iran-aligned group pushed towards Bab el-Mandeb, a shipping chokepoint at the Red Sea's mouth. "Reports of Middle East crude oil exports exceeding pre-conflict levels are more than countered by attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the Houthi strikes on Sa

No more taking out the trash at your Airbnb
Oct 23, 2026
No more taking out the trash at your Airbnb

PARIS — The days of having to take out the trash or wash the dishes before leaving an Airbnb are numbered as the short-term rental platform is tightening rules on what conditions hosts may impose on guests. "Our rules regarding accommodations allow travelers to receive guidelines from hosts; however, our community has let us know that they can be confusing, restrictive, and difficult to manage," Airbnb said Thursday to AFP. New rules published this week that will apply to reservations made from November 20 will seek to reduce that confusion. In particular the new rules will generally prohibit hosts from asking guests "to complete tasks that require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner, including stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, or washing and putting away dishes." Hosts can still ask guests to put dirty dishes in the sink or separate trash and recyclables. Hosts will also no longer be able to impose fines or penalties on guests, who instead must seek compensation for any damage from insurance provided through Airbnb.

French justice minister says 217 people jailed over riots
Oct 23, 2026
French justice minister says 217 people jailed over riots

PARIS — French courts have jailed 217 people after convicting them in fast-track trials linked to last weekend's rioting, the justice minister said Thursday, hailing the judiciary's "extremely firm" response. Speaking outside the Fleury-Merogis prison on the outskirts of Paris, Gerald Darmanin said 2,700 people had been detained since Saturday. More than 1,000 of them had appeared in court, he said, of whom "217 people have been imprisoned... and this figure is continuing to rise a lot." Darmanin told reporters that of the 217 sent to jail "half had no criminal record," adding that "in general these are men aged between 18 to 25." "This shows that prosecutors and judges are imprisoning people who, until now, were not known to the judiciary and are first offenders. It shows that the decisions of the judiciary are being applied in an extremely firm way." Darmanin has vowed to oversee expedited trials to rapidly clear the backlog of cases and to serve as a deterrent. New protests over grievances including the rising cost of living are planned this weekend. But he has faced criticism from so

US envoy highlights shipbuilding cooperation with S. Korea
Oct 23, 2026
US envoy highlights shipbuilding cooperation with S. Korea

WASHINGTON — U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel on Thursday highlighted the potential for greater shipbuilding cooperation between Seoul and Washington following a visit to a shipyard operated by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. "By combining American and Korean expertise, we can strengthen our shipbuilding industries, drive innovation and create new opportunities for workers in both countries," she wrote in a post on social media platform X after visiting the Geoje shipyard, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul. She thanked Samsung Heavy Industries, the world's fifth-largest shipbuilder in terms of its existing orders, for welcoming her and for sharing the company's vision for shipbuilding cooperation. The remarks come amid South Korea's broader efforts to revive the U.S. shipbuilding industry under the MASGA, or "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again," initiative. Earlier this year, Samsung Heavy Industries established a research center in San Diego to support the South Korea-U.S. initiative. The SHI-SDSU Advanced Maritime Center, jointly launched with San Diego State Universit

Rush to patch software flaw that could impact 70% of websites worldwide
Oct 23, 2026
Rush to patch software flaw that could impact 70% of websites worldwide

LONDON — Governments and corporations worked throughout the night on urgent security updates after the AI-assisted discovery of vulnerabilities in a programming language vital to 70% of websites globally. Many government sites appeared to be functioning normally Thursday, but outages or limited service continued while security work was under way. The FBI’s cyber division warned on Wednesday that the vulnerabilities could allow malicious actors to remotely execute code in the programming language, PHP, which powers websites and web applications. That raised the risk of sensitive data and networks being compromised, said the agency, which recommended that operators take websites offline if they can’t update them immediately. Cybersecurity experts who spoke to the Associated Press said the impact of the vulnerabilities discovered would have ripple effects for some time but said governments were following cyber best practice by taking down websites while they were patched. Limited disruptions on government websites In Britain, some “limited” government services may temporarily be of

What to know about the AI-detected security bug impacting wide swaths of the internet
Oct 23, 2026
What to know about the AI-detected security bug impacting wide swaths of the internet

The language that's known as the backbone of the internet is now subject to what experts describe as one of the most notable vulnerabilities in recent memory. PHP is a widely used general-purpose scripting language that is geared towards web development, and thus, it powers the vast majority of websites across the world. When the organization behind the language and the FBI’s cyber division warned on Wednesday of significant vulnerabilities in the language , government agencies, corporations and other organizations were sent into a flurry. The episode also highlights how artificial intelligence is changing the game when it comes to web security. Here's what to make of the discovery of the vulnerabilities and the fallout. The vulnerabilities opened sites to a host of potential security concerns The official website for PHP and several other organizations and agencies released security advisories Wednesday urging PHP users to patch two critical vulnerabilities or shut down their sites if they couldn’t update them immediately. The PHP Foundation, which works to provide transparency and ac

Wall Street sinks as Nasdaq falls over 2% on AI cost worries
Oct 23, 2026
Wall Street sinks as Nasdaq falls over 2% on AI cost worries

The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid more than 2 percent on Thursday as growth stocks weakened after earnings from mega-caps Tesla and Meta did little to address AI-related concerns, with a recovery in oil prices further adding to market unease. Meta slipped 5.2 percent after the social media giant unveiled a new class of non-voting shares to help fund its costly AI expansion. The decline came despite stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue and an upbeat fourth-quarter sales forecast. The market weakness marked a sharp reversal from Wednesday, when robust results from SpaceX and Super Micro sparked an AI-fueled rally. The optimism faded as investors shifted their focus from earnings strength to the enormous capital required to build AI infrastructure and their uncertain return timeline. The selloff put the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index on track to shed more than $616 billion in market value, while the Nasdaq-100 was set to erase nearly $1 trillion. The semiconductor index fell 5.6 percent to its lowest since July 29. "Semiconductors and the Nasdaq have been elevated to a huge degree by inve

Govts, companies take websites offline over PHP vulnerabilities
Oct 23, 2026
Govts, companies take websites offline over PHP vulnerabilities

Several government, school and hospital websites across Europe and beyond were taken offline on Wednesday as organizations rushed to protect themselves from two critical security flaws in PHP, a programming language that powers a large share of the internet. Cybersecurity agencies across the world warned that organizations unable to apply fixes in time should consider taking affected sites offline. PHP's developers said a set of new updates fixing two previously identified critical vulnerabilities was available. Here are some major websites and services taken offline or otherwise affected: Germany A spokesperson for the German digital ministry said on Wednesday the federal IT service provider ITZBund had taken several websites offline due to the discovery of PHP vulnerabilities. The temporary deactivation was purely preventive and no security incidents were known to have occurred, the spokesperson said. France The Interior Ministry said it had temporarily taken offline the websites of prefectures, which are local government administrative offices, while awaiting a security fix for the PHP

Worldwide drops for AI stocks send Wall Street toward its worst day since July
Oct 23, 2026
Worldwide drops for AI stocks send Wall Street toward its worst day since July

NEW YORK — Drops for stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry are dragging markets down worldwide on Thursday, while oil prices hit their highest levels since May on worries about the war with Iran. The S&P 500 fell 1.4 percent toward its worst day since July, while the Nasdaq composite tumbled 2.8 percent. The weakness for tech stocks was so overwhelming that it masked strength for the rest of the market, where the majority of U.S. stocks actually rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down only a modest 0.2 percent, or 113 points, as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. AI-related stocks have become shaky on worries that their boom may be under threat because of how expensive it’s become to borrow money to build data centers and buy more AI chips. Concerns also remain that their prices shot too high following a yearslong frenzy, even though companies in the industry continue to report growth. Lam Research, whose equipment and services help make semiconductors, reported gains in profit and revenue for the summer that were slightly stronger than analysts expected, for example. Usual

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