International

According to industry data, global solar power generation has surpassed nuclear power generation in annual electricity statistics for the first time, marking a further rise in the position of renewable energy in the energy mix. The milestone reflects a decade of rapid declines in photovoltaic installed capacity and generation costs, alongside the aging-and-new-build dilemmas facing nuclear power in many countries.

U.S. retail and industry data show that the energy-price spike triggered by the Iran war is being passed through to the retail side, with broad increases in gasoline, household goods, and food prices. U.S. households face continued consumption pressure in the weeks before the midterm elections, with some voters treating inflation and disposable-income concerns as their top voting priorities.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on October 17 bypassing a Congress-passed Russia sanctions bill named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham, citing ’national interests.’ Ukrainian President Zelenskyy immediately warned the move amounted to ‘rewarding Putin’ and would extend the war. The bill was set to take effect in 11 days, and Trump simultaneously waived tariffs on the largest buyers of Russian oil, prompting bipartisan criticism and concern from European allies.

Southern California was hit by the season’s first Santa Ana wind event on October 16-17, with gusts near 100 km/h fanning multiple simultaneous wildfires; the roughly 465-acre Norte Fire has burned homes in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, while a separate Malibu-area blaze has forced large-scale evacuations of coastal communities. Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued across parts of Los Angeles County and Orange County, and fire crews are battling the blaze under extremely dry and windy conditions, an episode that highlights how climate change is pushing California’s wildfire season earlier and making individual fires far more intense.

EU heads of state and government gathered in Brussels on October 15-16 for a two-day autumn summit focused on four major issues: the 2026-2027 long-term budget, continued aid to Ukraine, the energy price spike, and migration control. The summit failed to reach consensus on multiple major decisions, with several key questions deferred to a later meeting, highlighting deep divisions among member states on fiscal burden-sharing, energy-market intervention, and migration-responsibility allocation. At the closing press conference, European Council President Antonio Costa stressed that the EU remained united on Ukraine while acknowledging that budget negotiations and the energy relief package still required further consultation.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has dispatched senior epidemiologists to Pennsylvania to assist with an expanding measles outbreak. As of mid-October, confirmed cases in the state have climbed to 1,222 with a sixth death reported. Public health officials have described the outbreak as one of the largest sustained measles events in the United States in recent years, underscoring the systemic risks of vaccine-preventable disease resurgence amid declining MMR coverage.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired missiles at the presidential palace in Aden on October 15, killing at least two people and injuring several others. A Yemeni government minister confirmed the strike targeted the palace compound. The incident underscores the continuing escalation of tensions in the Red Sea region and has heightened international concerns about Middle Eastern security and global shipping stability.

US President Donald Trump announced on October 15 that he is withdrawing a Pentagon plan to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter. The plan had drawn strong bipartisan congressional opposition along with criticism from religious leaders and military ethics experts who warned it would set a dangerous precedent across civil-military relations, military discipline and public ethics. Trump abandoned the plan under pressure, though the episode itself has exposed deep tensions between the US military justice system and public opinion.

US wholesale inflation climbed to its highest level since 2022 in September, according to Labor Department data released on October 15, with the producer price index rising far more than markets expected. Treasury yields and the dollar jumped after the print, US equity futures fell, and bets on whether the Federal Reserve will cut rates again this year split sharply. Sticky services inflation combined with energy price volatility has widened the divide inside the Fed over the path of disinflation, exposing global asset prices and cross-border capital flows to a fresh round of volatility.

The EBA designated Circle’s USDC as the EU’s first significant e-money token under MiCA, with enhanced supervision effective November 12, 2026. The move signals substantive enforcement of stablecoin oversight in the EU and reshapes the global stablecoin landscape.