World News – 7 October 2025

• French markets sank after Prince Minister Sebastien Lecornu unexpectedly quit just a day after President Emmanuel Macron’s cabinet picks disappointed even members of the proposed new government. Bruno Retailleau — who was tapped to become interior minister and leads the center-right Republicans — slammed the choice of ministers as failing to “break” with the past.
• European Central Bank officials are set to hold off on further rate cuts this year, bucking trends at the Federal Reserve and other global peers. They’ve made it clear that they’re comfortable with where rates are at present, concluding inflation won’t stray too far from their 2% target. Meanwhile, the EU has started lending out its excess cash in repo markets in exchange for bonds, providing a fresh injection of euros to investors grappling with an increasing debt supply.
• Switzerland’s gambling regulator has opened a preliminary probe into sales of blockchain-based tokens backed by FIFA, which fans can exchange for tickets to games at the 2026 World Cup. Gespa, which also oversees lotteries and sports betting, is examining whether FIFA is selling the potential to win tickets to a sporting event, or offering something closer to gambling.
• Czech billionaire Andrej Babis set about forging a new Czech government hours after scoring his biggest election victory, with his return to power poised to bolster the ascendant ranks of populist leaders in the EU. The 71-year-old businessman, who was Czech prime minister for four years until 2021, has made clear that he’s against any form of “Czexit” and remains an adherent of NATO. But his Donald Trump-inspired Czech-first campaign put Brussels on notice that the roster of leaders challenging policies from migration to military aid to Ukraine is about to expand.
• Dutch pension funds became the latest to cut Israel risk. PME, a Dutch pension fund with $68 billion in assets, said it has exited investments in a number of companies exposed to the Palestinian territories, after identifying the holdings as potentially tied to human rights violations. The decision was made as US President Donald Trump presses Israel and Hamas to seal a settlement to the two-year conflict that’s devastated Gaza and destabilized the Middle East.
• Denmark is tightening regulation of oil tankers passing through its waters as Europe targets the shadow fleet that’s helping Russia skirt sanctions. Authorities say they’ll target older ships which are often used by the shadow fleet and which present an environmental risk because of their poor condition. The decision is being made as the amount of oil sailing the world’s oceans on tankers jumped. The total amount of oil in transit climbed to the 1.2 billion barrels, according to Vortexa data, the highest since at least 2016.
• Scientists are upset with a plan to reflect sunlight onto solar panels at night. Reflect Orbital aims to launch its first of a planned 4,000 satellites into orbit next year. Scientists worry that it would be “ruinous” for research. Whether or not new technologies can put a break on global heating will be up for discussion at next month’s COP30 climate summit in Brazil. Nearly 200 countries will gather at the gates of the Amazon rainforest for a new round of United Nations-sponsored talks. But there is still intense discussion about what the main outcome ought to be.
• India May Waive Billions in Vodafone’s Fees to Aid UK Ties.
• Turkey Eyes US Rare Earths Deal After China, Russia Talks Slow.
• If Trump’s Tariffs Are Ruled Illegal, Businesses Expect Refund Chaos.
• JPMorgan Names New EMEA Co-CEOs After Gori Relocates to New York.
• Anti-Trump Booze Boycotts Are Squeezing US Exporters.
• London’s IPO Drought Breaks With Test From Trio of UK Firms.
• AMD just scored a multi-year AI chip deal with OpenAI worth tens of billions. OpenAI even gets dibs on 10% of AMD stock. Cue fireworks: AMD shares rocketed 34%, adding R1.4-trillion ($80 billion) in market value.
• Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi just won the 2025 Nobel Medicine Prize for discovering regulatory T-cells, the body’s self-control squad. Their work could turn today’s autoimmune disorders — and even cancer — into tomorrow’s curable conditions.
• Apple’s in hot water again — French prosecutors have opened a cybercrime probe into Siri after a researcher accused it of snooping on users. Apple insists it cleaned up its act since 2019, saying “Hey Siri” isn’t “Hey, surveillance”.
• Illinois Sues Trump Admin to Halt National Guard Deployment to Chicago: The state of Illinois and city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Oct. 6 in a bid to halt the federal government from deploying National Guard.
• Trump Urges Israel, Hamas to ‘Move Fast’ on Gaza Peace Plan: President Donald Trump said on Oct. 5 that there have been “positive discussions” with Hamas and several countries on a peace plan to end the war in Gaza.
• Trump Says Federal Layoffs Happening Right Now Amid Shutdown: President Donald Trump said on Oct. 5 that federal layoffs are “taking place right now ” in the midst of a government shutdown, now in its sixth day.
• Supreme Court Begins New Term, Set to Consider Trump Cases: The Supreme Court returns on Oct. 6 for its new term, when it will consider a range of high-profile issues, such as gender and redistricting, and challenges to President Donald Trump.
• Trump Calls on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to Encourage Homebuilding: President Donald Trump is calling on government-sponsored mortgage financers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to create incentives for homebuilders, suggesting that millions of lots are staying idle.
• China accused of cutting water to British diplomats in Beijing while pressuring Starmer to allow ‘mega embassy’ in London.
• LDS church in Australia destroyed by fire, cause under investigation.
• Two indicted in US over alleged money laundering tied to Maduro’s inner circle.
• Ukraine launches drone attack, hitting Russian ammo plant, oil terminal and weapons depot.
• Oregon – Portland DA drops charges against conservative influencer Nick Sortor after attack near ICE facility: Chicago mayor introduces ‘ICE-free zones’ on city-owned property, says Trump admin ‘wants a rematch of the civil war’
• Bessent taps Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano to serve as IRS CEO.
• DHS Secy Noem slams NFL over Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime pick, vows ICE will show up and ‘enforce the law’.
• Senate remains gridlocked as shutdown enters new week.
• Trump to deploy 300 Illinois National Guard troops to Chicago amid ‘ongoing violent riots and lawlessness’.
• Trump: Israel agrees to initial withdrawal line in hostage deal, beginning the end of ‘this 3,000-year catastrophe’.
• Peace talks in Egypt continued through Monday, with sticking points now the focus of indirect negotiations. That things have not broken down on day one is encouraging at least.
• President Donald Trump said he would want to know what Ukraine intended to do with Tomahawk missiles before agreeing to supply them. Evidently, “to hit the Russians” is not specific enough.
• Activist Greta Thunberg was greeted by a cheering crowd on arrival in Athens. Speaking after 161 of those captured by the Israelis were deported to Greece, Thunberg said, “Our international systems are betraying Palestinians. They are not even able to prevent the worst war crimes from happening.”
• Syria’s preliminary first parliamentary composition since Bashar al-Assad was kicked out has shown little representation of women and religious minorities. The Sunday parliamentary vote comprised 6,000 members of regional electoral colleges voting on pre-approved lists.
• Today in 2023, Hamas attacks Israel, killing more than 1,200 and kidnapping more than 250 people.
• A fertiliser designed to cut chemical use and improve crop yields has been waiting more than a year for approval from the South African Department of Agriculture. The department has confirmed backlogs in “some areas”, including pesticides, stock remedies and fertilisers.
• Massachusetts’ top court says families can sue Harvard university for mishandling donated bodies, after its morgue manager sold parts on the black market. Judges ruled Harvard “failed miserably” in ensuring dignified treatment of human remains.
• The African Development Bank will lend Nigeria R8.6-billion ($500-million) this year, part of a R17-billion ($1-billion) support package rewarding the president’s bold economic overhaul. Approval could land before year-end, says AfDB’s Bode Oyetunde.
• The Tax Court sided with Tharisa Minerals against SARS in a long-running fight over how mining royalties are worked out. The win covers tax years going back to 2015 – and beyond.
• ech group Altron will release its half-year results on Monday, 3 November, but it’s already hinting at solid growth for the six months to end-August.
• The financial affairs of the Road Accident Fund will take centre stage today, as a parliamentary inquiry will seek to expose years of dysfunction, alleged corruption and mismanagement at the embattled fund.
• rench President Emmanuel Macron gave his outgoing prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, 48 hours to negotiate with political parties in a last-ditch effort to prevent the country from falling deeper into crisis. French bond futures underperformed German counterparts in Asian trading. Gold pushed closer to $4,000 an ounce.
• Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to get help on her plans to patch up the UK’s multi-billion-pound budgetary black hole from an unlikely quarter: inflation. By lifting the taxable value of incomes, profits and prices in cash terms, rising prices will deliver a much-needed net £5 billion boost to the chancellor’s plans, an analysis shows.
• The Irish government is to deliver its toughest budget in years. Finance Minster Paschal Donohoe, who is expected to unveil a €9.4 billion tax and spending package today, has said he is prioritizing long-term capital investment over the one-off measures it has given to taxpayers in recent budgets.
• Christine Lagarde sees the European Central Bank nearing its 2% inflation target and expects economic growth to pick up in 2026. She told EU lawmakers that sluggish exports and a stronger euro are expected to hold growth back for the remainder of the year.
• Orsted Raises $9.4 Billion to Counter Hit From US U-Turn on Wind.
• Tesla Plans to Unveil Cheaper Version of the Model Y on Tuesday.
• Trump Eyes Health Care Talks With Democrats to End Shutdown.
• Pope Leo is shaking things up by limiting the Vatican Bank’s role in managing the Holy See’s funds. The move aims to spread responsibility across various institutions, addressing past scandals and striving for transparency.
• UK news – Neighbours of the Manchester synagogue attacker reported concerns to police about him and a family member being “radicalised” and attempting to “preach” the Qur’an to local children, the Guardian has been told.
• Gaza – International activists, journalists and lawyers deported from Israel after attempting to breach the 16-year maritime blockade of Gaza as part of a humanitarian flotilla have alleged being subjected to brutal physical and verbal abuse by Israeli forces during their detention.
• Politics – The finances of one of Nigel Farage’s key confidants are being examined by the UK’s tax and revenue authorities amid questions over his income from wealth and business activities, the Guardian understands.
• US news – The US supreme court has declined to hear an appeal from Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell of her sex trafficking conviction. Maxwell in 2022 was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking and related crimes.
• France – The country’s political crisis has deepened after the new prime minister dramatically resigned within hours of appointing a government. Sébastien Lecornu, the third prime minister in a year, quit hours before his first cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon.
• South Africa should close many of its universities and replace them with technical colleges focused on practical, industry-relevant skills, as the current system wastes resources on irrelevant degrees.
• Johann Rupert’s R254 billion empire: South Africa’s richest man, Johann Rupert, took his family’s business empire to new heights and helped found some of the country’s biggest companies.
• South Africa running out of money: South Africa is on the brink of a financial crisis as government debt has reached unsustainable levels, resulting in the state running out of borrowing capacity.
• SARS gives taxpayers a lifeline – with a catch: A new SARS process offers financially strained but compliant taxpayers a faster, structured way to reduce and settle unaffordable tax debts, but trying to benefit without proper guidance is risky.
• JustMarkets wins the Best Global Broker 2025 award at MEI 2025: The Best Global Broker 2025 award highlights JustMarkets’ mission to create a convenient and transparent trading environment where everyone can reach their full investment potential.
• DStv at 30 — From caravan to R55-billion buyout: DStv was launched in South Africa 30 years ago and has grown into a continental video entertainment powerhouse.
• Fikile Mbalula under fire for R684,000 luxury trip with accusations of corruption and money laundering: AfriForum is criticising the NPA’s decision not to prosecute ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula over a sponsored trip he took while serving as a minister.
• Cell C’s big plans for South Africa: Cell C has broken down its financial goals ahead of a possible listing on the JSE.
• Afrihost recently achieved a notable double victory in the prestigious 2025 MyBroadband Awards, securing both ISP of the Year and Hosting Provider of the Year.
• How much Eskom’s CEO gets paid: Eskom released its annual financial results for the year ended 31 March 2025, which revealed how much its CEO, Dan Marokane, was paid for a year of work.
• Capitec coming for MTN and Vodacom in South Africa: Capitec Connect, the bank’s successful mobile virtual network operator, has experienced tremendous growth since launch, hitting 1.1 million clients and R165 million in net income in its latest interim results.
• The man behind South Africa’s largest beauty salon chain has a new job: Ian Fuhr, who founded the Sorbet Group, the largest chain of beauty salons in South Africa, is now backing a new beauty brand set to take South Africa by storm.
• Good news for South African homeowners: South Africa’s housing market is steadily recovering, with rising house price inflation, renewed buyer confidence, and strong first-time buyer demand.
• Delegates from Israel and Hamas began indirect talks in Egypt yesterday to hash out sticking points in a US-led 20-point proposal to forge a ceasefire and arrange a hostage-prisoner exchange. The negotiations—mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt—kicked off on the eve of the war’s second anniversary.
• Endurance, the famed 20th-century polar expedition ship that stranded 28 men after being crushed by Antarctic ice, was structurally weaker than long believed, according to a report published yesterday.
• Jilly Cooper, renowned bestselling British romance author and journalist, dies at age 88.
• Canadian rock band Rush announces 2026 summer reunion tour, their first concerts since 2015.
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to trio of American and Japanese immunologists for discoveries underpinning new autoimmune and cancer therapies.
• Deadly tornado that hit North Dakota in June upgraded to strongest classification, marking the first such rating in the US since 2013; winds reached 210 mph, and width peaked at more than 1 mile.
• Researchers link fathers’ exercise regimens to endurance and metabolic health of children, suggesting sperm microRNAs transmit benefits of physical activity.
• US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.4%, Dow -0.1%, Nasdaq +0.7%) as the federal government shutdown enters its second week.
• OpenAI to purchase computing capacity from chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices for artificial intelligence data centers; AMD shares close up 23.7%.
• Fifth Third Bancorp to buy Comerica in $10.9B all-stock deal, creating ninth largest US bank; operations will span the Southeast, Texas, California, and the Midwest; Comerica shares close up 13.7%.
• US Supreme Court declines to hear an appeal by Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted sex trafficker and former associate of Jeffrey Epstein.
• Federal government shutdown enters seventh day after Senate fails to pass either of two competing stopgap bills; Republican-led bill failed 52-42, with Democratic bill failing 50-45.
• Rescue efforts begin to save hundreds of hikers stranded on Mount Everest in Tibet amid heavy snowfall, at roughly 16,000-foot elevation.
• Trump Says He May Invoke Insurrection Act.
• Senate Again Rejects Competing Bills to End Government Shutdown.
• Trump Open to ‘Right Deal’ on Obamacare Subsidies Amid Shutdown Standoff.
• Trump: All Medium-, Heavy-Duty Trucks Entering US Will See 25 Percent Tariff on Nov. 1.
• The first supermoon of 2025 rose last night and was named the Hunter’s Moon.
• Entry expectations: The EU’s new Entry/Exit System launches this week.
• Israeli tanks, boats and jets pounded parts of Gaza, giving Palestinians no respite on the anniversary of the Hamas attack that led to two years of war and underlining the challenges at talks on Donald Trump’s plan to halt the conflict.
• Early in the Gaza war, Inas Abu Maamar was featured in a defining image after a Reuters photograph showed her stricken in a hospital morgue, cradling the shrouded body of her five-year-old niece. Israeli airstrikes and tank shells have killed many more of her close relatives since.
• The world came to know her as the little Israeli-American girl who lost her parents in Hamas’ October 7 attack and was abducted by the militant group to Gaza. Two years on, with a new pink backpack, she’s off to her first day of school.
• France’s President Emmanuel Macron faced pressure to hold a snap parliamentary election or even resign to end the political chaos that has forced the resignation of five prime ministers in less than two years.
• The state of Illinois and the city of Chicago sued President Donald Trump, seeking to block the deployment of federalized National Guard troops to Chicago, as hundreds of National Guard troops headed to the nation’s third-largest city from Texas.
• After months of delay, the Pentagon will select the defense company to design and build the Navy’s next stealth fighter, a US official and two people familiar with the decision said, it will be a multibillion-dollar effort for a jet seen as central to US efforts to counter China.
• The Supreme Court was set to hear a free speech challenge to a Colorado law banning psychotherapists from conducting “conversion therapy” that aims to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
• US-based scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for “experiments that revealed quantum physics in action,” the award-giving body said.
• Efforts to evacuate more than 200 trekkers still stranded near the eastern face of Mount Everest in Tibet are expected to wrap up, a source familiar with the situation said, after snowstorms tore across western China.
• Private credit for emerging markets — driven by investors’ hunt for yields and saturation in developed Western markets — could grow exponentially, veteran investors told Reuters, providing tens of billions in funding as bilateral lending and foreign aid shrink.
• China is building oil reserve sites at a rapid clip as part of a campaign to boost crude stockpiles that increased in urgency after Russia’s Ukraine invasion upended global energy flows and has accelerated this year, according to public data, traders and industry experts.
• Wegovy-maker Novo Nordisk has laid off dozens of employees at the largest US manufacturing site for its blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs, a Reuters review of LinkedIn posts showed, a signal of where it is making cuts in a major restructuring under new CEO Mike Doustdar.
• Trump said that all medium and heavy-duty trucks imported into the US will face a 25% tariff rate starting November 1, a significant escalation of his effort to protect US companies from foreign competition.
• Britain’s biggest carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover said some factories would restart manufacturing after an almost six-week shutdown following a cyberattack, one of the country’s most disruptive hacks.
• Tighter US immigration policies, particularly for the H-1B skilled-worker visa, are making families in India less inclined to marry their children to Indian citizens based in the United States for fear the potential partners might lose their job or immigration status, according to matchmakers, academics and prospective brides and grooms.
• Gen Alpha (born 2010 to basically yesterday) is set to wield an economic impact of $5.46 trillion by 2029.
• ANC declares an economic emergency and sets up ‘War Room’: The African National Congress has unveiled a 10-point plan, which it says will revive growth, but analysts are skeptical that the party can fix what it largely broke.
• South Africans saying goodbye to Eskom: Private power registrations have resurged after a quieter 2024, with record capacity set to be reached by the end of the year.
• Fikile Mbalula under fire for R684,000 luxury trip with accusations of corruption and money laundering: AfriForum is criticising the NPA’s decision not to prosecute ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula over a sponsored trip he took while serving as a minister.
• South Africa’s ticking time bomb: The IRR CEO warns that the deep and sustained exclusion of young people from the economy cannot continue indefinitely without consequences.
• Toyota’s fix for high car prices in South Africa: Toyota’s CEO has called on South Africa to adjust the way it calculates new car prices if it wants to protect local carmakers from Chinese imports.
• The 30 bank branches where you can get a new South African passport or smart ID: South Africans can expect at least 153 new bank branches offering smart ID and passport services by March next year.
• Eskom tariff hikes undone: A new analysis of Eskom’s demand profiles shows that the power utility’s steep tariff increases in 2025 are being undone by a drop in demand, as customers flee to find alternatives.
• South Africa running out of money: South Africa is on the brink of a financial crisis as government debt has reached unsustainable levels, resulting in the state running out of borrowing capacity.
• South Africa should close many of its universities: South Africa should close many of its universities and replace them with technical colleges focused on practical, industry-relevant skills, as the current system wastes resources on irrelevant degrees.
• The new traffic law that makes it easier to lose your driving licence: South Africa’s soon-to-be-implemented driving laws will profoundly impact motorists and change how traffic fines are enforced.
• The Huguenot Tunnel will remain closed for at least another week after an unexplained bus fire at the weekend, Sanral has confirmed.
• EWN reports that alleged underworld crime boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s court case has been postponed to 11 November, after the State asked for more time to centralise matters into the case.
• And the Nobel Prize in Physics goes to… John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis for “experiments that revealed quantum physics in action”.
• The evacuation of more than 200 trekkers stranded near the eastern face of Mount Everest in Tibet is expected to wrap up today. They were stuck on the mountain after a snowstorm over the weekend.
• Senate Again Rejects Competing Bills to End Government Shutdown.
• Trump Says He May Invoke Insurrection Act in Portland If Necessary.
• Southern right whales are swimming in greater numbers off the coast of Argentina’s Patagonia this year.
• The Kremlin has welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about Russia’s offer to extend the last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the United States, saying it raises hope for keeping the pact alive after it expires in February.
• Police are investigating a hate crime after a mosque was set on fire in an English coastal town.
• A group of 10 migrants deported from the United States have arrived in the African nation of Eswatini.
• Addis Ababa — President Taye Atsek Selassie announced that the government is actively pursuing reconciliation and peace options as a top priority to secure lasting peace in the country.
• Addis Ababa — The government of Ethiopia is intensifying efforts to secure the nation’s rightful access to the Abay (Nile) and Red Sea waterways, ensuring its fair and sustainable utilization, President Taye Atske Selassie underscored.
• Market data has revealed that shea nut prices in Nigeria are stabilising after a brief dip following the federal government’s ban on raw exports. Prices, which fell sharply in the days immediately after the announcement, have steadily rebounded as domestic processors step in to absorb supply. Today, average prices are approaching pre-ban levels, signaling growing confidence in the policy.
• President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday rallied Nigerians to support and appreciate the contributions of the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, especially given his contributions to the nation’s economy.
• As Tanzania’s national elections approach, a familiar humdrum of coverage has emerged. It goes like this. In its crackdowns, censorship and harassment of the opposition, Tanzania is becoming increasingly repressive.
• A new report, The First 100 Paychecks: An Investigation into South Africa’s new professionals, by the University of Cape Town (UCT) Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing, has revealed that South African graduates find the transition to adulthood more challenging than ever. Over 80% of surveyed graduates view their degrees as worthwhile investments, but many struggle with independence and long-term financial stability.
• The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has welcomed the landmark Constitutional Court ruling on parental leave equality as a significant step forward in advancing gender equality in South Africa.
• Nairobi — The Government will retain at least 80 percent of employees in State-owned sugar companies under the ongoing leasing of mills to private investors, Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) Chair Fredrick Gumbo has said.

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