high
Follow Chronicle's coverage of "high" — 28 published articles so far, refreshed hourly.
Brent crude tops $117 for a six-month high as Gulf attacks and Fed week collide
Brent crude briefly topped $117 a barrel and settled at its highest since April as Houthi attacks on Saudi energy sites and fears of renewed US strikes on Iran rattled markets — just days before the Federal Reserve's October policy meeting.
Bering Sea Storm Batters Western Alaska as Coastal Flooding Threatens Y-K Delta Villages and Snow Shuts Interior Routes
A powerful Bering Sea storm is driving coastal flooding along Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta while heavy snow and 65 mph gusts hammer the state's interior, with forecasters warning low-lying villages to stay alert as high tides and gale-force winds combine.
Summer 2026 Was Europe's Deadliest on Record: Heat Killed More Than 50,000, Study Finds
New research estimates 50,391 heat-related deaths across 854 European cities between June and August 2026 — the highest toll in at least 26 years — with nearly two-thirds blamed on human-caused climate change.
French borrowing costs hit 24-year high as civil unrest and budget deadlock spook markets
The yield on France's benchmark 10-year bond topped 5% for the first time since 2002, as investors punish the eurozone's second-largest economy for a stalled budget, a widening deficit and weekend riots. The gap over German borrowing costs is now the widest in the eurozone.
US Housing Policy News: Rent, Mortgages and Reform Updates
Mortgage rates hit 7.28% in October 2026, the highest since 2023, while rents sit at a four-year low. Track the latest US housing policy news: federal reform proposals, HUD rule changes, and what the affordability debate means for buyers and renters.
ICE News Today: Latest US Immigration Enforcement Updates
ICE news today: arrests hit record highs in the summer of 2026 as enforcement shifted to quieter tactics, detention numbers surged toward 67,000, and the Supreme Court let third-country deportations resume. Here is the complete picture of US immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
Driverless 18-wheelers are hauling freight on US highways — and regulators are still catching up
Aurora Innovation's autonomous semi-trucks are hauling freight with empty driver's seats on Texas highways, with expansion to 200 trucks planned by year-end — but safety questions, thin margins and an unresolved labour question are riding shotgun.
Anthropic Quietly Pitches Its Own AI Safety Bill to US Lawmakers: A Federal Off-Switch With a Very High Bar
Anthropic has circulated a draft bill on Capitol Hill that would let the US government block a frontier AI model's release only when it poses an imminent risk of more than $1 billion in damage or killing or seriously injuring 50-plus people — setting a sky-high threshold for federal intervention.
France's Yellow Vests Return: 'Finish What We Started' as They Join Students in Nationwide Day of Action
Eight years after they shook Emmanuel Macron's first presidency, France's Yellow Vests are marching again — this time alongside striking high-school students in a nationwide day of action on October 17 against rising prices and what demonstrators call a fraying social model. Hundreds of thousands are expected on the streets.
Lula Reverses Course, Backing Criminal Responsibility From Age 16 in High-Stakes Runoff Bid
Brazil's president announced in a TV Globo interview that he now supports lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 for heinous crimes, reversing a decades-long position with the presidential runoff just over a week away.
Costa Rica Opens Mega-Prison Modeled on El Salvador's CECOT as Crime Fight Intensifies
President Laura Fernandez inaugurated the Center for High Containment of Organized Crime (CACCO), a 5,100-bed maximum-security prison modeled on El Salvador's CECOT, as Costa Rica escalates its fight against drug-driven violence. The first inmate transfers begin at the end of October.
US School Book Bans Hit a Record of Nearly 12,000 as AI Screening and Texas Laws Drive the Surge
PEN America has recorded 11,982 book bans in US public schools during the 2025-26 school year — the highest total since it began tracking in 2021 — with Texas accounting for more than 8,100 and school officials increasingly using AI to pick books for removal.
Poland Arrests Man Over Alleged Plot to Assassinate PM Tusk and Defence Minister
Poland detained a man on Sunday accused of plotting to kill Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, in a country already on high alert after a wave of school violence that left one dead and many injured in four days.
AI Revenue Questions Pull Semiconductor Stocks Off October Highs
Semiconductor shares slid after the Financial Times reported that OpenAI told investors its annualised revenue was nearing $50 billion at the end of September — below the roughly $70 billion figure cited in media reports. The PHLX Semiconductor Index finished the week lower after five straight sessions of gains, reviving doubts about whether AI infrastructure spending can keep justifying record valuations.
Trump Clings to Tariffs as Voters Blame Them for the Cost of Living Ahead of the Midterms
With less than a month until the November 3 midterms, an AP/NORC poll finds 64% of Americans say Trump's tariffs have gone too far and 69% say he is failing on the cost of living — yet the president shows no sign of backing away from the highest US import duties since the Great Depression.
Hope's Heroics: West Indies Chase Down 250 to Beat India in Record T20 Thriller
Shai Hope's unbeaten 102 off 45 balls powered West Indies to a six-wicket win over India in Ranchi, completing the highest successful T20I chase in their history and the second-highest ever — levelling the five-match series 1-1.
Delta Slashes 2026 Profit Forecast as $6 Billion Fuel-Cost Surge Overwhelms Record Demand
Delta Air Lines cut its 2026 profit forecast by nearly a quarter on Friday as soaring fuel costs — expected to add $6 billion to its bill — overwhelmed strong travel demand and higher ticket prices. Its shares fell 2.5% in early trading.
The Hormuz bonus: tanker captains offered $100,000 salaries and $50,000 per-trip payouts as war chokes the strait
As attacks in the Strait of Hormuz hit their highest level since the US-Israel war on Iran began, shipping firms are paying captains base salaries of up to $100,000 plus $50,000 bonuses per voyage — and deck crews can earn four to six times normal pay.
Australia's Top Court Blocks Coal Mine Extension in Landmark First Climate Case
The High Court of Australia has dismissed MACH Energy's appeal with costs, upholding the block on a 22-year extension of the Mount Pleasant coal mine — the first climate change case ever decided by the nation's highest court, with sweeping implications for future fossil fuel approvals.
France Suspends Police Stun Grenades at Student Protests After Teen Loses Hand in Lens
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has suspended police use of stun grenades at France's high school student protests after a 15-year-old lost his hand in Lens, as the largest youth protest movement in years entered its second week and Prime Minister Lecornu prepared a televised address.
New Zealand's Greenhouse Gases Hit Record Highs as Glaciers Face a Bleak Future
Fresh data shows carbon dioxide in New Zealand's atmosphere reached a record 423.1 parts per million in 2025, while new research warns most of the country's 3,300 glaciers could vanish by century's end.
US Mortgage Rates Hit Three-Year High, Squeezing Buyers Less Than a Month Before the Midterms
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate jumped 19 basis points to 7.49% for the week ending October 2 — its highest level in nearly three years — pushing mortgage applications to their lowest since February 2025, just weeks before congressional midterm elections.
Salvador Dalí's 150-Kilogram Bronze 'Book of the Apocalypse' Stolen From French Museum
A 210-kilogram 'Book of the Apocalypse' designed by Salvador Dalí — its bronze, gold and gemstone cover alone weighing 150 kg — was stolen overnight from a contemporary art centre in Issoire, central France. Prosecutors describe the piece as 'highly valuable' in the latest of a wave of French museum heists.
Israel Puts Military on Alert for October 7 Anniversary, Warns Gazans Will Pay a 'Heavy Price'
Defence Minister Israel Katz has placed the military on high alert ahead of Wednesday's third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack, warning that Hamas and Gaza's population would pay 'a heavy price, beyond all proportion' if Israeli forces are harmed, after intelligence pointed to planned Hamas attacks on troops in Gaza.
Former Prince Andrew Asks High Court to Quash Search Warrants From Epstein Probe
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has filed a judicial review seeking to throw out the search warrants behind the February raids on his Windsor and Sandringham homes, in what reports call the first royal challenge to criminal proceedings since Charles I in 1649.
U.S. Natural Gas Output Hits All-Time Record in July 2026 as Permian Basin Pumps 137 Billion Cubic Feet a Day
U.S. gross natural gas withdrawals averaged a record 137 billion cubic feet per day in July, the EIA said — the first new monthly high of 2026, powered by the Permian Basin and new pipeline capacity moving gas to Gulf Coast LNG terminals.
Pretorius Stuns the Cricket World: 20-Year-Old's Unbeaten 188 Smashes Gayle's 13-Year T20 Record
South Africa's Lhuan-dre Pretorius smashed an unbeaten 188 off 79 balls for the Titans against the Knights in Bloemfontein, breaking Chris Gayle's 13-year-old record for the highest individual score in men's T20 cricket.
France Gripped by Spreading Student Protests as PM Calls Crisis Meeting
High-school students across France are blockading schools over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and dilapidated buildings. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a crisis meeting and ordered ministers to cancel travel as arrests mounted into the thousands.