LongBeachGazette.com

U.S. housing starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.221 million in September, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported October 20. That was 5.2% below the revised August estimate of 1.288 million.

Hybrid vehicles accounted for 16% of new U.S. light-duty vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2026, according to an Energy Information Administration analysis released October 19. Hybrids continued gaining market share even as battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles lost ground compared with a year earlier.

Thousands of people gathered at Tom McCall Waterfront Park on October 17 before a march through downtown Portland, according to the Portland Police Bureau. The bureau described the demonstration and march as peaceful and reported no arrests. Those statements reflect the police account of the event, rather than an independently verified attendance count.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced October 16 that it intends to provide up to $50 million in Defense Production Act funding for a transmission-capacity project in Virginia and West Virginia. Virginia Energy would lead the proposed work with utilities and regional partners.

Canada reported October 20 that a five-day creative-industries trade mission to Shanghai, Shenzhen and Suzhou produced seven signed commercial agreements worth more than C$4.2 million. The figures are the Canadian government’s account of the mission, which concluded over the preceding weekend.

The European Union began the 2026 edition of its Integrated Resolve crisis-management exercise on October 19. The European Commission’s civil-protection and humanitarian-aid department says the exercise is scheduled to continue through November 20.

Ofgem outlined the next phase of its electricity-system review on October 19 after receiving the National Energy System Operator’s preliminary account of events during the week beginning June 22. The new development is the review update, not a claim that the summer heat events occurred this week.

The European Cybersecurity Competence Centre reported on October 16 that its governing board and the network of national coordination centres had met in Cyprus from October 13 through 15. Their agenda focused on coordinating cybersecurity investment and implementing European funding programs.

Construction production increased 1.8% in the euro area and 2.0% in the European Union in August compared with July, Eurostat reported October 20. The figures are first estimates adjusted for calendar and seasonal effects. They describe August activity, not construction performed on the publication date.

Canada’s Consumer Price Index rose 3.1% from a year earlier in September, up from 3.0% in August, Statistics Canada reported October 19. Gasoline was the main contributor to the acceleration: its annual increase widened to 27.8%, compared with 22.8% the previous month.

Canada announced C$18.5 million in federal support on October 16 for a C$87.5 million Prevost project intended to modernize its bus platform and manufacturing capabilities. The investment concerns operations in Sainte-Claire, Quebec, rather than a new manufacturing plant in Montreal.

NASA published a progress update October 20 on the robotic and crew-carrying rovers intended to support its planned Moon Base. The vehicles have different roles, from mapping and resource investigations before astronauts arrive to transporting crews, samples and tools during later missions.

NOAA announced October 20 that it has signed a two-year research agreement with San Carlos, California-based Cowboy Space Corporation to test processing environmental satellite data in orbit. The objective is to examine whether useful information can reach Earth faster while reducing transmission requirements.

Cybersecurity Career Week began October 19 and continues through October 24, the National Institute of Standards and Technology announced. Coordinated by its NICE program, the campaign brings together government, education, nonprofit and industry participants to explain cybersecurity work and the learning routes that can lead to it.

The National Science Foundation announced a new X-Labs funding opportunity on October 16 focused on connecting biological sequences with function. The topic, From Sequence to Function, seeks platform technologies that could make the design of proteins and genomes more predictable.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station began unpacking a Dragon cargo spacecraft and preparing new experiments, NASA reported on October 16. The spacecraft docked the previous day at 10:27 a.m. Eastern time. Crew members opened the hatch after completing leak and pressure checks.

NOAA plans to begin lowering the orbit of its Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite on December 1, the agency announced October 19. The end-of-mission sequence is expected to take approximately 12 days before a planned reentry over a remote area of the South Pacific.

The European Commission opened public feedback on October 19 on a proposed change to rules for certain liquid fertilizers recovered from livestock manure. The initiative would give member states more flexibility under the Nitrates Directive while retaining conditions intended to protect the environment.