Thursday 8 October: Fed hike signals and a chemistry Nobel

World news (past 24 hours)

Top stories

Russian strike kills at least 19 in Pryluky. A Russian cruise missile hit a five-storey apartment block in Pryluky, in Ukraine's Chernihiv region, killing at least 19 people, among them five children. President Zelenskyy said the overnight attack killed at least 25 people across Ukraine and also hit energy sites in Kyiv and other cities. Early counts differed: one Reuters report gave 11 dead, and local officials later said 20. Separately, Bulgaria says drones hit two commercial ships in its Black Sea economic zone, the first such attack there. (RFE/RL, Kyiv Post, Just Security / Reuters, AP)

Gulf attacks spread. Saudi aviation authorities said Houthi attacks damaged two airports near the border with Yemen and wounded three people. A tanker off Qatar also reported being hit by several projectiles, according to a maritime agency. The Times of Israel live blog describes Saudi interceptions rather than confirmed hits on Saudi airports, so details still differ. The attacks keep pressure on Gulf shipping and oil prices. (Just Security / WSJ, Times of Israel)

Chemistry Nobel for the "mirror image" mystery. Henri Kagan of France and Kenso Soai of Japan won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. They found how one mirror-image form of a molecule can win out over the other, which helps explain why life uses only one form of amino acids. Their work also helps chemists make medicines. The prize is 12 million Swedish kronor, shared equally. (NPR, Royal Society of Chemistry, Boston Globe)

Politics

US sets terms for ending Iran war. US Vice President JD Vance told Reuters that Iran must make a "meaningful" cut to its uranium enrichment to end the seven-month war. Trump has rejected Tehran's latest offer and warned that operations could intensify after the midterm elections. Iran's foreign ministry said the US knows who Trump's counterpart in Tehran is, after Trump said no one knows who runs Iran. Both sides have swapped proposals to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. (Just Security / Reuters, Times of Israel)

Israel marks three years since 7 October. Israel held ceremonies, memorials and protests at more than 400 places, with a minute of silence at noon. Al Jazeera describes a country that has moved further right since the attack. In Gaza, a year into the ceasefire, Israeli strikes continue and no hospital is fully working again. (CNN, Al Jazeera, Times of Israel)

Economy

Fed minutes point to one more hike. Minutes of the US Federal Reserve's September meeting show most officials expect another rate rise by the end of the year. Officials split on why they raised rates: some pointed to energy shocks, others to strong demand. Markets now expect no change at the 27 and 28 October meeting, and a hike more likely in December. The US 30-year yield is near 5.7 percent, the highest since 2002. (Reuters via Investing.com, The Hill, IEX)

Oil near 100 dollars pulls stocks off records. Brent crude traded around 100 dollars a barrel as attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz picked up. A G7 release of 100 million barrels from reserves capped the rise. US stocks slipped from Tuesday's record highs on fears that high oil prices will keep inflation up. The dollar hit a 17-month high. (Yahoo Finance, TheStreet, Rio Times)

Dutch news (past 24 hours)

Top stories

Cancer cases set to rise sharply. The number of cancer diagnoses in the Netherlands could rise by about 23 percent by 2045 without extra action. The rise shows up in almost every type of cancer. Ageing is the main driver. It means more pressure on hospitals and care staff in the coming decades. (NL Times, DutchNews)

7 October remembered in the Netherlands. Ministers attended a commemoration of the 2023 Hamas attack in an Amsterdam synagogue. Mayor Femke Halsema called open support for Hamas at a pro-Palestinian protest on Dam Square the night before "shocking and distasteful". Cinemas paused screenings of the Gaza documentary Naza around the anniversary. (NOS via Drimble, NL Times, DutchNews)

Most expensive month ever at the pump. Petrol cost on average 2.45 euro a litre in September, the highest monthly average since CBS daily records began in 2006. Diesel averaged 2.50 euro. A year of petrol for an average car now costs about 1,550 euro, 321 euro more than a year ago. The cause is high oil prices linked to the Iran war. (ANP, NL Times)

Politics

Cabinet and unions talk again on social security. The Jetten cabinet met employers and unions at the Catshuis about a new social deal, after it put its cuts to the state pension, unemployment and disability benefits on hold. Union FNV says there is no fixed savings target. Finance minister Heinen says the social partners could save even more than the cabinet planned. If talks fail, cuts to education are on the table. (WNL, NOS)

Jail for blocking deportation. Asylum minister Bart van den Brink (CDA) wants rejected asylum seekers who obstruct their own return to face up to six months in jail. The bill went out for public consultation on Wednesday and concerns about 300 people. The minister calls it the closing piece of asylum policy. Critics call it symbolic politics and point to the shortage of prison cells. (RD / ANP, WNL, NL Times)

Hybrid heat pump to become mandatory from 2029. Housing minister Boekholt-O'Sullivan (D66) told parliament that homes must get at least a hybrid heat pump from 2029 when an old gas boiler is replaced. Homes on heat networks, flats and monuments will likely be exempt. A working boiler can stay. Parliament still has to debate the plan. (Nederlands Dagblad, NL Times)

Economy

NAM pays out 1.4 billion despite deal. Gas company NAM is paying about 1.43 billion euro to its owners Shell and ExxonMobil. That pushes its solvency below the 25 percent agreed with the state in 2018, a buffer meant for Groningen earthquake costs. Minister Heerma wants an explanation. NAM calls its finances still "robust". (BNR, RD)

State cuts ABN Amro stake. The Dutch state will reduce its stake in ABN Amro from about 20.7 percent to 10.5 percent. The shares will be sold gradually through a trading plan run by BofA Securities Europe. (NL Times, BNR)

Savings tax reform under pressure. The planned tax on real gains on savings and investments from 2028 may be delayed. The Council of State and the Dutch banking association told NOS they cannot finish the steps in time. The coalition is also still divided on how to pay for it, with the VVD against touching inheritance tax. (NL Times, DutchNews, IEX / NOS)

AI news (past 24 hours)

Anthropic launches Claude Haiku 5.5. Anthropic released Claude Haiku 5.5, its new small and fast model. It costs 10 cents per million input tokens for shorter requests, a 90 percent cut on Haiku 4.5's per-token price. Anthropic says typical workloads get about 75 percent cheaper. It is the first Haiku with adjustable effort. (VentureBeat, 9to5Mac, The New Stack)

Meta backs open standard for personal AI agents. Meta and Sierra launched the Personal Agent Protocol, a standard for how personal AI agents deal with businesses. Walmart, Shopify and Stripe are among the partners; reports differ slightly on the full list. A first version is due later this month, without payments. It was announced Tuesday and drew wide coverage on Wednesday. (The Next Web, PYMNTS, CMSWire)

Microsoft bets on local AI PCs. At its Windows and Surface event, Microsoft showed the Surface Laptop Ultra, built on Nvidia's RTX Spark chip. It also showed a small developer box and new Windows features for AI agents. It was not a Windows 12 launch. Pre-orders are open. (Engadget, HotHardware)

Samsung profit tops 100 trillion won. Samsung Electronics expects a record third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, about 80 billion dollars, driven by AI chip demand. That is roughly nine times last year's figure. It was slightly below some forecasts, and the shares dipped. (CNBC, Korea Herald)

Also

Sports. On the new FIFA world ranking the Netherlands stay ninth, closing in on eighth-placed Belgium. Sources differ on the gap: 0.56 points or 2.82 points. Oranje are also sure of a top seed for the Euro 2028 qualifying draw. (FCUpdate, Mee Met Oranje)

Nature. The Draconid meteor shower peaks tonight, from dusk on 8 October into the early hours of the 9th, under an almost moonless sky. It is a modest shower, about five meteors an hour, and is best in the evening. The meteors come from dust left by comet Giacobini-Zinner. (EarthSky, timeanddate)

On this day. On 8 October 1871 the Great Chicago Fire started near a barn on DeKoven Street. It burned for two days and destroyed about four square miles of the city. The famous story of a cow kicking over a lantern was made up by a reporter, who admitted it in 1893. (City of Chicago, Wonderopolis)

Weather in Groningen. Between 11 and 16 degrees. Dry this morning, with a chance of showers from about 1 to 4 in the afternoon, then drier again tonight. Total rain only a few millimetres, wind from the northwest. (Open-Meteo, Weersvoorspelling.nl)

On the agenda today

• Nobel Prize in Literature: the Swedish Academy names the winner at 13:00 CEST at the earliest. (NobelPrize.org)