The Group of Seven, an international organization of leading democracies, agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from emergency reserves to cool surging fuel prices.

The announcement comes after President Donald Trump pushed European countries to tap into their stockpiles to increase supply and help lower prices at US pumps.

How long will it take to hit? The release will be spread over four months, with most of the diesel expected to hit the market in the first 20 days.

Diesel is crucial for trucking, farming, and heavy industry, which each pass higher fuel costs down through the prices of food, goods, and services.

Lately, record prices have been hitting all three. Since the Iran war began in late February:

That adds up: Brown University found in September that the rise in fuel prices has cost Americans over $100 billion, with each US household having to absorb roughly $763.

/ Why is this important? The development could lower fuel prices in the short term, especially for truckers and farmers, which could also eventually ease pressure on groceries, deliveries, and other everyday goods.

However, the benefit may be limited if continued supply disruptions in the Middle East keep oil above $100 a barrel.

See new updates, live data, past briefings, and more on our Watchlist.

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Is it just me or is higher education kind of being stepped on? A new poll found a record low number of Americans think college is still worth the investment.

As the kids might say, college is having a major aura loss. Analytics company Gallup recently found:

That skepticism is pretty widespread, too: Since 2019, the share saying college is very important has fallen among men, women, Democrats, Republicans, younger adults, older adults, and even college graduates themselves.

Employers still have a favorable outlook… In a separate Gallup-Lumina study, 74% said degrees or credentials will stay just as important or become more important for getting a good job at their organization over the next five years.

/ How does this affect you? The trend could push more young people toward apprenticeships, trade schools, certifications, or immediate employment instead of taking on the cost of a four-year degree.

If that continues, employers may respond by dropping degree requirements and expanding skills-based hiring and paid training for jobs that once automatically required a diploma.

Click below to track the latest updates on education with our Watchlist.

🦠 White House tracking suspected plague outbreak in Russia. The White House is keeping an eye on a possible pneumonic plague outbreak in Russia after a 28-year-old worker at an anti-plague research lab died from severe pneumonia. Local reports say she became sick after accidentally breaking a test tube containing plague bacteria, although Russian health officials dispute that account and have not confirmed she had the disease. Nearly 200 people who came into contact with her have been placed under medical observation.

☄️ A “planet born from a dead star” may have been found. Researchers revisiting Hubble findings from 1999 discovered an unusual amount of niobium around a white dwarf, which they believe came from a Jupiter-sized planet formed out of material the dying star previously blasted into space. NASA’s TESS telescope also spotted signs of a planet orbiting the dead star just 3.7 million miles away, where intense radiation is currently stripping away its atmosphere. If confirmed, the discovery would show that planetary systems may be able to (basically) start over, with new worlds forming from the “bodies” of dead stars.

✈️ New information released on FlyDubai plane hijacking. The 29-year-old Omani pilot accused of attacking the captain of a FlyDubai flight to Israel had reportedly been flagged before, including being barred from flying for another carrier in 2024 over concerns about extremist views. Oman Air had also moved him from a copilot trainee role to an administrative job after radical materials were found in his possession, though it remains unclear whether those concerns were shared with other airlines or governments.

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The US job market added just 29,000 jobs last month, well below the roughly 84,000–90,000 economists expected and a far cry from the 133,000 gained in August.

Well, virtually no one. Healthcare, which has led the job market in employment for two decades, even saw a dip:

The slowdown isn’t thanks to firings: Weekly jobless claims have stayed close to multi-decade lows, and the unemployment rate only ticked up 0.1%. Economists say it’s mainly just because most employers simply aren’t hiring as much.

Since the jobs numbers were so weak, the Federal Reserve suddenly has less reason to cut interest rates… again.

Why is that? A weak jobs report suggests the economy is slowing, which naturally reduces price pressures. Plus, raising interest rates would slow it even more, so the Fed will be less likely to hike.

/ Why does this matter? As hiring slows, finding work, switching jobs, or negotiating a raise could become more difficult. On the flip side, the weaker labor market may give the Federal Reserve less reason to raise rates again, which could prevent borrowing costs from climbing even higher.

On the Watchlist: US Job Market · ↗ Escalating

The Treasury Department and IRS released proposed rules for a new federal school-choice program, which would help teachers cover K–12 education expenses.

The program, called the Education Freedom Tax Credit, offers taxpayers a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for donations to approved scholarship organizations, which then distribute the money to eligible students.

What do the scholarships cover? They can be used for a pretty wide range of expenses, including private-school tuition, tutoring, special-education services, books, supplies, computers, some after-school programs, and more.

It could help quite a few kids: The Treasury Department estimates the program could bring in roughly $26 billion a year by 2030, enough to fund 2.2 million scholarships per year. And with about 96% of students in participating states potentially meeting the income limit, eligibility could be extremely broad.

/ Why should you care? The program could give eligible kids access to things their families might not otherwise be able to afford, which could mean a chance to move to a different school, get extra academic help, or receive specialized support that better fits their needs.

See the latest developments on education, birth rates, and more with our People index.

After his father developed Parkinson’s, founder Clint Brauer began questioning agriculture’s dependence on herbicides. That question led to BOTONY, a robotic farming system designed to enable a more regenerative approach to farming. 

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> An AI engineer successfully cracked a military code written by Napoleon Bonaparte 217 years ago using OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra model. It took only a few hours.

> Brazil’s long tradition of “joke candidates” is alive and well, with some of the names running for Congress including Plínio Trump, Barack Obama, Mick Jagger, Tsunami Grandmother and Samurai Taxi Driver.

> A newly discovered feathered dinosaur could rewrite the story of flight, with researchers finding that it actually belonged to a separate family tree of modern birds.

> Researchers found that people whose speech sounded older than their actual age also tended to show more signs of cognitive and biological aging, meaning a simple voice recording could someday help flag dementia.

> Google has officially sent its AI chips into space for the first time, testing whether future data centers could orbit Earth instead of consuming massive amounts of land and electricity on the ground.