Facts only. Every item links to its original source.
Thursday, October 1, 2026
Evening edition
AI
Barclays expands use of Anthropic's ClaudeAnthropic said on Oct 1 that more than 16,000 Barclays employees use a Claude-based Colleague Knowledge Assistant and that Barclays' Global Markets business processes about 120,000 emails a day with Claude models. Anthropic Chief Commercial Officer Paul Smith said Claude "will be in the hands of most Barclays engineers by 2027."
OpenAI dismisses three safety researchersOpenAI parted ways with three researchers from its safety team, The Wall Street Journal reported, per Quartz on Oct 1. OpenAI said the three "violated policies on accessing and handling sensitive information by sharing it with a third-party AI safety organization." The researchers were not named.
Tencent to lease about 100,000 AI chips from Oracle, FT reportsThe Financial Times reported that Tencent agreed to a five-year, $7 billion lease with Oracle for roughly 100,000 AI chips in Oracle data centers in Southeast Asia, with about 30% paid upfront, per Quartz. No statement from either company was found.
OpenAI says it disrupted a model-distillation campaignOpenAI said on Sept 30 that it found a coordinated campaign to extract protected reasoning from its models, peaking at about 16,000 requests on July 24-25. OpenAI attributed "a core cluster of the activity to individuals associated with Moonshot AI, the developer of Kimi," and said it banned the accounts involved.
Treasury yields at highest since 2002The 10-year Treasury yield rose 4 basis points to 5.3338%, its highest since April 2002, and the 30-year yield rose to 5.6702%, its highest since July 2002, per TheStreet.
Jobless claims 197,000Initial jobless claims were 197,000 in the week ending Sept 26, down from a revised 198,000, per Labor Department data. Continuing claims were 1.701 million for the week ending Sept 19.
30-year mortgage rate rises to 7.28%Freddie Mac said Oct 1 the average 30-year fixed rate rose to 7.28% from 7.03% a week earlier; a year ago it was 6.34%. The 15-year rate rose to 6.60% from 6.42%. Fox Business reported it is the highest 30-year rate since Nov 2023.
Construction spending up 0.9% in AugustThe Census Bureau said Oct 1 that August construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,203.1 billion, up 0.9% from July and 1.7% below August 2025. Private residential construction rose 1.1% to $882.3 billion.
Realtor.com: 20.8% of listings cut prices in SeptemberRealtor.com's September report, released Sept 30, said 20.8% of listings had price reductions, the highest September share since 2018. Active listings rose 5.4% from a year earlier to 1,161,615, and the median list price was $419,250, down 1.4%.
LA County begins mailing November ballotsLos Angeles County began mailing vote-by-mail ballots Thursday for the Nov 3 general election, which includes races for LA mayor, governor and Congress. Every registered voter is to be mailed a ballot by Oct 5, per Registrar-Recorder Dean C. Logan's office.
Life without parole in killing of Deputy ClinkunbroomerKevin Eduardo Cataneo Salazar, 32, was sentenced Thursday in LA County Superior Court to life without parole for the first-degree murder of Sheriff's Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, who was shot Sept 16, 2023, near the Palmdale Sheriff's Station. Judge Ronald S. Coen denied a defense motion for a new trial.
Medical helicopter crash off CatalinaA REACH Air Medical Services Airbus H-135 carrying five people went down in the water off Pebbly Beach on Catalina Island around 7:50 p.m. Wednesday. LA County Fire said two people died, two were hospitalized and one was missing; the search continued.
Newsom vetoes smart-glasses recording billGov. Gavin Newsom vetoed SB 1130 by Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes, which would have required wearable recording devices to show a visible indicator when recording, starting in 2028. Newsom said the bill's definition of a wearable recording device was too broad and that existing law already bars non-consensual recording in private spaces.
Lineman dies in fall from power pole in Hermosa BeachA contractor lineman fell from a power pole at Bayview Drive and 2nd Street in Hermosa Beach Wednesday night and died at the scene. The LA County Medical Examiner is investigating. Southern California Edison said the worker was with City Light & Power.
Ayala sworn in to Metro boardUpdate: Mayor Pro Tem Patsy Ayala was sworn in Thursday at City Hall as the first Santa Clarita representative on the LA County Metro Board, representing 12 North County cities. She replaces Glendale Councilmember Ara Najarian.
Five Orange County robbery suspects arrested on I-5 in ValenciaCHP Newhall Area officers took five armed robbery suspects wanted in Orange County into custody Thursday afternoon on the northbound 5 Freeway south of Valencia Boulevard, at LAPD's request. CHP Officer Carlos Burgos-Lopez said all northbound lanes were blocked during the arrests; the lanes have reopened.
Jeffrey Berman runs for City Council District 4Jeffrey Berman announced Thursday he is running for Santa Clarita City Council District 4. He listed traffic, road safety, development planning, emergency preparedness, healthcare access and student transportation as his priorities.
Supreme Court takes immigration detention caseThe Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, on the administration's position that a 1996 law requires detaining immigrants "seeking admission" without bond hearings. No argument date was set.
Judge orders fired Western Washington US attorney reinstatedUS District Judge Stanley Bastian on Thursday ordered the immediate reinstatement of US Attorney Rogoff, whom federal judges appointed in July and President Trump fired by email. The Justice Department said it disagrees and plans to appeal and seek a stay.
Renee Good's family sues over fatal ICE shootingRelatives of Renee Good filed suits Thursday in federal court in Minnesota against the US government and ICE officers over her fatal shooting by an ICE officer in January, alleging a Fourth Amendment violation, battery and illegal confinement. The Justice Department said it does not comment on pending litigation.
Medicare wheelchair-upgrade bill heads to the presidentThe Senate cleared by voice vote Wednesday night a bill creating separate Medicare billing codes for carbon fiber and titanium wheelchairs, letting beneficiaries pay only the difference over a standard chair. Reps. John Joyce and Vern Buchanan sponsored the bill; it now goes to President Trump.
Trump says more strikes on Iran are "possible"Asked Oct 1 whether he would increase bombing of Iran after the midterms, President Trump said "Possible." He told TIME that Iran's ceasefire proposal to reopen "some aspects of" the Strait of Hormuz was "just not good enough." Update: Iran said its delegation's departure from New York had been scheduled in advance and communicated to the State Department on Sept 17.
More US warships head to the Middle EastCBS News reported Oct 1 that the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the USS Makin Island amphibious ready group, with more than 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines, are heading to the Middle East. A US official told Al Jazeera three carriers and two amphibious groups will be deployed around Iran by the end of November.
Treasury sanctions Russian payments networkThe Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct 1 designated the A7 Network a significant transnational criminal organization, and FinCEN proposed a rule to block transactions with A7 sub-agents. Ilan Shor and Russia's Promsvyazbank were also named. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Treasury "is dismantling the financial infrastructure that allows Iran and other adversaries to evade sanctions."
Pilot stabbed on flydubai flight to Tel AvivOn Sept 30, aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, one pilot stabbed the other, according to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu; the plane landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where Saudi authorities detained the suspect. On Oct 1 Netanyahu said Israel would decide within days whether the co-pilot had links to Iran, and Trump said "we're working on it right now." Flydubai said the motives "are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation."
New arrest in RAF Fairford investigationUpdate: UK counterterrorism police arrested a 27-year-old dual UK-Iranian national in London on suspicion of terrorism and questioned a 26-year-old British man under caution. Five men arrested after Sunday's incident near the base were released on police bail.
Yemen: clashes in Taiz, drones intercepted over Saudi ArabiaCBS News reported that Houthi and Yemeni government forces clashed in Taiz on Oct 1 and that Al-Thawra Hospital received six bodies and 35 wounded. Al Jazeera reported the Saudi-led coalition destroyed four Houthi drones over southern Saudi Arabia.
Russian drones hit Kyiv bridge and a schoolKyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Russian drones struck the Southern Bridge around 11:30 a.m. Oct 1, the second strike on it that day, and traffic was suspended. He said an overnight drone hit a school in the Solomianskyi district while children and teachers were in its shelter; no one was hurt. Ukraine's Air Force said MiG-29 pilot Capt. Marat Mambetov, 25, was killed when a Russian missile downed his jet over eastern Ukraine.
Storms flood Crete; one deadAn 80-year-old farmer from the Rethymno area, missing since Wednesday, was found dead under flood debris, and a bridge collapsed near Zoniana. Greece's Civil Protection sent 112 emergency alerts early Oct 1 and Crete was placed under the highest weather warning; schools and Samaria Gorge closed.
Syria: bus attack kills 7; pipeline blast shuts 3 power plantsOn Sept 30, gunmen attacked a civilian bus at the Masyaf bridge in Homs province, killing at least seven people. The same day, a gas pipeline explosion near Damascus took three power plants offline; Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said the cause is still unclear.
Floods kill 2 in Xalapa, MexicoXalapa Mayor Daniela Griego Ceballos said a landslide killed a man and a 23-year-old woman died after being trapped in a supermarket. Flooding affected 43 neighborhoods and at least 60 homes in the Veracruz state capital, per a Sept 30 report.
NTSB preliminary report on Miami cargo crashA federal report released Oct 1 says the air traffic controller "did not issue information about the wind" to the pilots of the Amazon cargo Boeing 767 that overran a runway at Miami International Airport on Sept 6; regulations require that information when there is a tailwind. Five people were killed in the crash.
First recorded sea turtle nests on the US West CoastOlive ridley sea turtles nested at Seal Beach and Huntington Beach around Sept 22 and 25, the first such nests documented on the US West Coast. Officials moved 204 eggs to incubators at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
Gobi fossil reveals a new early mammalResearchers from the American Museum of Natural History and three universities described a nearly complete skeleton of a previously unknown mammal, Tamirkhan balcarceli, from Mongolia's Gobi Desert, in Nature on Sept 30.
Former golf course becomes a seabird wetlandThe National Trust turned a former golf course at Sandilands, Lincolnshire, bought in 2020, into a pesticide-free wetland reserve now used by plovers, terns, avocets and lapwings.
Indonesian villagers paid for wildlife photosKehatiKu, run by Borneo Futures in West Kalimantan, pays more than 800 villagers in nine communities for wildlife photos and has logged 378,000 confirmed observations, including Bornean orangutans and Abbott's gibbons.
12-year-old collects 30,000 diapers for Phoenix food bankSloan, 12, of Phoenix, collected 30,000 diapers in her fifth annual diaper drive, above her goal of 22,500, and delivered them to the Nourish Phoenix food bank.
Martha's Rule expands to all A&E departments in EnglandMartha's Rule, which lets patients and families call for an urgent clinical review, now covers all A&E departments in England. From September 2024 to June 2025 its helpline received 4,906 calls, 241 of which led to what the scheme describes as potentially life-saving interventions.