World
Dozens of delegates left the General Assembly hall on 24 September as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his address, the sharpest public protest of a week in which world leaders criticised Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke to the same hall earlier in the day. The speeches put Washington's stalled 20-point plan for Gaza at the centre of the 81st session, days after President Donald Trump praised the Security Council for approving it and creating a Board of Peace. On the sidelines, US envoy Steve Witkoff held at least two hours of talks with Iran's foreign minister.
AP / Al Jazeera / CNN
Politics
A federal judge ruled on 24 September that the White House must restore press credentials for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, a week after President Donald Trump banned the three outlets from the building. Secret Service officers had turned their reporters away on 19 September and seized their press passes. The three organisations sued on 21 September, arguing the ban violated the First Amendment, and said credentials had been pulled without notice or process. The ruling restores access, but the administration controls pool rotations and travel seats, and further legal fights are expected.
CNN / NBC News / BBC
Business
Drewry's World Container Index rose 1% in the week to 24 September to $4,339 per 40ft container, pushed up by the Pacific trades. Shanghai to New York jumped 10% to $8,706 and Shanghai to Los Angeles gained 6% to $6,244, while Asia to Europe slid, with Shanghai to Genoa down 8% to $5,080. Carriers cancelled ten sailings in each of the past two weeks and plan seven more, a sign that rate support is coming from capacity discipline rather than a surge in cargo. For shippers closing out peak season, space is the bigger worry.
Drewry / Trading Economics
Technology
Memory prices are still rising, just more slowly. TrendForce expects conventional DRAM contract prices to gain 13% to 18% quarter on quarter in Q3 2026, with NAND up 10% to 15%, as long-term supply deals cap server prices. The damage lands on consumer hardware: notebook makers are passing higher memory costs into retail prices, and smartphone vendors are lifting prices and trimming production plans. Gartner had forecast a 130% surge in combined DRAM and SSD prices by the end of 2026, pushing PC prices up 17% and phone prices up 13%.
TrendForce / Gartner / Tom's Hardware
Science
Refineries separate crude oil by heating it above 350C and cooling the vapour, a process that consumes roughly 1,100 terawatt-hours a year worldwide, about the output of 130 large nuclear plants. A team led by KAIST with Georgia Tech has shown that a bare, inexpensive polyacrylonitrile membrane can fractionate real crude at room temperature: heavy hydrocarbons settle on the pore walls and narrow them into channels under 2 nanometres, letting naphtha, gasoline and kerosene through while holding the rest back. Simulations put energy savings at 32% as a distillation pre-treatment.
Nature / KAIST / TechXplore
Sports
Tampa Bay has won the American League East for the first time since 2021, holding off the Yankees, who are lined up for a wild-card series against Boston. In the AL West, the Rangers and Astros are still fighting for the division, with the loser taking the last wild-card spot, while the Guardians have edged ahead of the White Sox in the Central. Milwaukee has the National League's best record and a bye, with the Dodgers and Braves in behind. The WNBA regular season ended on 24 September, and the playoffs start on 27 September.
MLB / ESPN / CBS Sports
Health
A study of more than 95,000 adults in the UK Biobank found that people who spent more time in REM sleep had a lower risk of 83 diseases, including heart failure, dementia, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. Participants wore wrist monitors for seven days and nights, and researchers then followed their health records for about nine years against more than 1,000 conditions. The work, led by researchers at Peking University, was published in PLOS Medicine. It is observational, so it shows an association rather than proof that REM sleep prevents disease.
PLOS Medicine / ScienceDaily
Environment
Heat waves over land are starting earlier, ending later and lasting longer, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change on 23 September. Across a 45-year record, the first heat wave of the season arrived about two weeks earlier and the last one came about 24 days later, lengthening the season by roughly 39 days. The season is now expanding by 8.71 days per decade, and recent years show a new shift: the first heat wave builds faster than it used to. Drylands are seeing the biggest timing changes.
Nature Climate Change / Phys.org