Crude prices soared more than three percent Thursday after a report said the White House has asked the Pentagon to draw up options to hit sites in Iran ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

Global benchmark Brent surged 3.6 percent to $103.80 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was up 3.4 percent at $91.27, fueling fresh fears about a spike in inflation.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said one of its posts was targeted on Wednesday near the border with Israel by small-arms fire, but there were no casualties.

"This morning, several rounds of small arms fire impacted a UNIFIL position near Kfarshouba along the Blue Line in Sector East," the U.N. force said in a statement, referring to the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon.

The International Monetary Fund is preparing to offer support to countries exposed to the effects of El Nino, the organization's director Kristalina Georgieva told AFP on Wednesday, expressing concern about food security.

The western world must embrace "national power" and technological innovation or risk sliding into decline, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was set to warn on Wednesday during a visit to Greece.

A Palestinian man was killed and nine people were injured during an Israeli settler attack followed by army intervention in an occupied West Bank village on Wednesday, according to the mayor and the Palestinian health ministry.

A court Wednesday ordered ex-German spy chief August Hanning to remain jailed after his arrest on suspicion of espionage and treason, along with a former deputy who allegedly supplied him with secret files.

Israel carried out new strikes in Gaza on Wednesday as it marked the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks by Hamas, with Palestinian officials reporting three people dead.

The Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 has accelerated Israel's decline, the chief of staff for Iran's armed forces said Wednesday, as Israelis marked the third anniversary of the deadliest day in their country's history.

"The Resistance Front turned its defensive strategy into an offensive strategy for the legitimate defence of the Palestinian people and their land, and accelerated the decline of the Zionist regime," Ali Abdollahi said in a statement.

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that it deemed the public health risk across Russia to be low, following reports that a laboratory technician had died of plague.

COP31 opens in the Turkish city of Antalya on November 9 as countries grapple with record global temperatures, mounting climate damage and growing pressure to accelerate the shift away from planet-heating fossil fuels.