By Arathy Somasekhar and Muyu Xu

(Reuters) – Oil prices surged on Wednesday as tension escalated in the Middle East after hundreds were killed in a blast at a Gaza hospital, sparking concerns about potential oil supply disruptions from the region.

Brent crude futures gained $2.07, or 2.3%, to $91.97 a barrel at 0225 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures were up $2.26, or 2.6%, at $88.92 a barrel.

Markets factored in risk premiums after about 500 Palestinians were killed in a blast at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other.

Jordan then cancelled a summit it was to host with U.S. President Joe Biden and Egyptian and Palestinian leaders.

“The cancellation of a summit between Biden and Arab leaders reduces the likelihood of a diplomatic solution to the Israel Hamas conflict,” Vivek Dhar, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a client note.

Markets are nervous about a threatened Israeli ground offensive in Gaza.

“A long occupation looms as the scenario that pushes Brent oil futures above $US100/bbl because it raises the risk that the Israel Hamas conflict expands and potentially draws in Iran directly,” Dhar said.

Biden is set to visit Israel on Wednesday to show support for the country in its war with Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group Hamas. The White House said he will make clear he does not want the conflict to expand.

Also supporting oil prices, U.S. crude stocks fell by about 4.4 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 13, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. That was much steeper than a 300,000 barrel draw that analysts had forecast.

Official U.S. government data is due later on Wednesday.

On the demand side, China’s economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, official data on Wednesday showed, suggesting the recent recovery may carry enough steam to reach Beijing’s full-year growth target.

Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in September, spurring expectations of another interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve by year-end. Interest rate hikes to curb inflation can slow economic growth and reduce oil demand.

Venezuela’s government and its political opposition on Tuesday agreed to electoral guarantees for 2024 presidential elections, paving the way for possible U.S. sanctions relief that could boost oil supplies.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on oil exports from Venezuela since 2019 and while sanctions relief is expected to boost oil supply oil flow, analysts expect any increases from the country to take time due to a lack of investment.

(Reporting by Arathy Somesekhar and Muyu Xu; Editing by Sonali Paul)

(Reuters) – A Gaza health ministry spokesman said hundreds were killed in a blast at a Gaza City hospital that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other and that ignited protests in the West Bank and around the Middle East.

CONFLICT

* “The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

* Daoud Shehab, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, told Reuters: “This is a lie and fabrication, it is completely incorrect. The occupation is trying to cover for the horrifying crime and massacre they committed against civilians.”

* Yossi Landav, 55, has worked in search and rescue for 33 years but nothing could prepare him for what he saw in the aftermath of a Hamas attack in southern Israel which killed at least 1,300 people.

DIPLOMACY AND PROTESTS

* Jordan cancelled a summit it was to host in Amman on Wednesday with U.S. President Joe Biden and the Egyptian and Palestinian leaders to discuss Gaza, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said.

* “I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted,” Biden, who is traveling to Israel, said in a statement. “The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy.”

* The hospital blast drew condemnation across the Arab world, and protests were staged at Israel’s embassies in Turkey and Jordan and near the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, where security forces fired tear gas toward demonstrators.

* Palestinian security forces in Ramallah fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters throwing rocks and chanting against President Mahmoud Abbas as popular anger boiled over after the deadly Gaza hospital attack.

* Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group denounced what it said was Israel’s deadly attack on the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza, which is run by the Anglican church, and called for “a day of unprecedented anger” against Israel and Biden’s visit.

* The United Nations Security Council will now vote on Wednesday on a Brazilian-drafted resolution that calls for humanitarian pauses in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.

* The U.S. State Department will continue to offer government-sponsored charter flights to Europe from Tel Aviv to help Americans leave Israel through at least Sunday.

* Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited a marked rise in antisemitism in Canada after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent deadly air strikes in Gaza.

ANALYSIS

* Whatever unfolds in Gaza war, judgment day looms for Netanyahu

* EXPLAINER-Why Gaza’s Rafah border crossing matters, and why Egypt is keeping it shut

EXPLAINER-What you need to know about Hezbollah, the group backing Hamas against Israel

FACTBOX-US aircraft carriers – What they bring to the Middle East

(Compiled by Lincoln Feast. Edited by Gerry Doyle)

By Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential contenders are scheduled to face off in a third primary debate on Nov. 8.

Here are some facts about the forum:

WHERE IS IT?

The third debate will take place in Miami. NBC News announced it will host the event at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County and air it from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (0100 to 0300 GMT). Florida is the home of former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who are running first and second in national opinion polls, respectively.

Florida was until recently a battleground between Republicans and Democrats, but the state now leans conservative. The state hosts a Republican primary contest in March, which has played a crucial role in previous primary elections, though it is considerably less important than contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, which are slated for January and February.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

To qualify for the debate, a candidate will need to receive at least 4% in two national polls or 4% in one national poll as well as 4% in a poll in at least two “early states.” Those early states are Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, all of which are among the first to hold nominating contests. The Republican National Committee has laid out several requirements for surveys to count toward this requirement, including that they must take place after Sept. 1.

Candidates will also be required to have at least 70,000 unique donors, including at least 200 donors from 20 or more states or territories. They also must sign a pledge which requires participants to support the eventual Republican nominee.

WILL TRUMP BE THERE?

Trump holds a 37-percentage-point lead over DeSantis, his closest challenger, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, limiting the debate’s significance if he is not there.

Trump opted out of the first two Republican debates, saying it would be “stupid” to expose himself to attacks from opponents after he previously implied he would not participate in any of the debates. While the possibility that Trump changes his mind cannot be ruled out, his campaign advisers on Oct. 2 called for the RNC to cancel the upcoming Miami debate.

WHICH OTHER CANDIDATES WILL BE THERE?

DeSantis, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy appear to have the support needed to make the debate stage. Former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina also appear to have a solid shot of being there, according to recent polls.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum faces longer odds. Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who did not qualify for the second debate in California, is unlikely to be there, unless his fortunes change.

HOW MUCH WILL THE DEBATE MATTER?

The November debate could make a difference for some candidates, but is unlikely to change the fundamental dynamics of the race. After the first presidential debate in Wisconsin, for instance, Haley received a measurable polling boost and renewed interest from donors thanks to a well-received performance. Still, that debate did not dent Trump’s massive lead.

With the third debate just over two months before the first primary contest in Iowa in January, the candidates will be under intense pressure to begin chipping away at Trump’s lead.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery and Nathan Layne; additiona reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Ross Colvin, Deepa Babington and Jonathan Oatis)

(Reuters) – Nine Republican candidates have qualified for the party’s debates so far as they seek the nomination to take on Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden, who is running for reelection in the November 2024 presidential contest.

Here is a list of the Republican Party’s leading candidates.

DONALD TRUMP

Trump, 77, has embraced his indictments in four separate state or federal criminal cases – unprecedented for a former American president – which have boosted his popularity among Republicans and helped make him the frontrunner in his party’s race for the presidential nomination.

Trump has called the indictments part of a politically motivated witch hunt to thwart his pursuit of a second four-year term, an assertion that the Justice Department has denied. In a sign of his extraordinary hold on his party, just two rivals at the first Republican presidential debate on Aug. 23 said they would not support him as the nominee if he were convicted.

Trump has vowed to enact tougher immigration restrictions and harsher curbs on trade with China, and to carry out political reprisals against those he perceives to have wronged him. He has a firm grip on his party’s right wing, but may struggle to get moderates and independents to support him in a general election should he win the Republican nomination.

RON DESANTIS

After a glitch-filled campaign launch in May on Twitter, now called X, DeSantis has positioned himself to the right of Trump on a number of key social issues such as abortion. But his well-funded campaign has struggled to gain traction, and his top donor has said he won’t give the Florida governor more money unless DeSantis adopts a more moderate approach.

DeSantis, 45, is Trump’s top rival, but remains nearly 40 percentage points behind the former president in opinion polls. He has fired staff and rebooted his campaign several times since May, but those steps have done little to boost his candidacy. DeSantis’ campaign says it is focused on stopping Trump in Iowa, where the party will hold its first nominating contest in January.

MIKE PENCE

Trump’s vice president has broken with his former boss over Trump supporters’ Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as Pence was inside, presiding over Congress’s certification of Biden’s 2020 victory. Pence, 64, says, “history will hold Trump accountable” for his role in the attack.

A staunch conservative, the former Indiana governor is appealing directly to the evangelical Christian community. His campaign, however, has struggled to raise money and he is stuck in the low single digits in opinion polls.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY

A former biotechnology investor and executive, Ramaswamy, 38, started a company in 2022 to pressure firms to abandon environmental, social, and corporate governance initiatives. The political outsider has stoked grassroots chatter as a potential alternative to Trump. Ramaswamy is a fervent supporter of the former president, and says that if he won the White House, he would pardon Trump.

NIKKI HALEY

A former South Carolina governor and Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Haley, 51, has emphasized her relative youth compared to Biden and Trump, as well as her background as the daughter of Indian immigrants.

Haley has gained a reputation in the Republican Party as a solid conservative who has the ability to address issues of gender and race in a more credible fashion than many of her peers. She has also pitched herself as a stalwart defender of American interests abroad. She has low single-digit support among Republicans, according to opinion polls.

TIM SCOTT

The only Black Republican U.S. senator has low name recognition outside his home state of South Carolina, but his optimism and focus on unifying his divided party have helped him draw a contrast with a more aggressive approach from Trump and DeSantis. Scott’s supporters, however, acknowledge that while his sunny demeanor is a selling point, it may not be enough to win. Scott, 58, attracted 2% support among Republicans, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

ASA HUTCHINSON

The former Arkansas governor launched his bid for the White House in April with a call for Trump to step aside to deal with the former president’s first indictment. Hutchinson, 72, has touted his experience leading his deeply conservative state as proof he can deliver on policies Republican voters care about, citing tax cuts and job creation initiatives.

Still, his name recognition remains limited outside Arkansas, and he earned no support among Republicans polled by Reuters/Ipsos. Hutchinson qualified for the first Republican debate, but not the second one.

CHRIS CHRISTIE

Christie, 61, advised Trump’s White House campaign, but became a vocal critic of the former president after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. The former New Jersey governor and federal prosecutor stepped up his verbal attacks as Trump faced a growing number of criminal charges.

Christie has received about 2% support among Republicans in Reuters/Ipsos polls.

DOUG BURGUM

Burgum, 67, is serving his second four-year term as North Dakota’s governor after selling his software business to Microsoft in 2001. A proponent of low taxes and fewer regulations, he has sought to portray himself as a traditional conservative with a focus on the economy and national security. One of the least-known contenders, he gets close to no support in polls.

OTHER CANDIDATES

Several other Republicans are also vying for the nomination, including right-wing radio host Larry Elder, though neither has gained enough traction so far to qualify for the debates.

(Compiled by the Washington newsroom; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

By Nell Mackenzie

LONDON (Reuters) – Global hedge funds last week sold food, beverage and tobacco company stocks at the fastest pace in 11 weeks, a Goldman Sachs note said, as these stocks, viewed as a proxy for bonds, could not match the recent surge in U.S. Treasury yields.

Hedge fund short bets in consumer staples in the week to Friday Oct. 13 hit the highest amount seen in three months and ranked among the highest levels hit in the past five years, said the note from Goldman Sachs prime brokerage, which serves hedge funds.

Short selling bets the price of a stock will fall.

Shares of U.S. consumer staples have fallen about 10% so far this year as these stocks, which normally deliver consistent and higher dividends than U.S. Treasuries, were no match for recent soaring government bond yields.

U.S. 2-year Treasury yields rose about 15 basis points from Tuesday Oct. 10 to Friday the 13th. They continued their rise on Monday, climbing about 1.5 basis points.

The consumer staples sector, selling products such as household goods, alcohol and tobacco products, in the week ending Oct. 13 made up the weakest performing group in the S&P 500 and was also the most net sold U.S. sector on Goldman Sachs’ prime brokerage trading book, said the bank.

Short sales outpaced long buys about 4 to 1, said Goldman Sachs.

The selling took the form of short bets on companies that sell food, beverage and tobacco products and the exit of long positions in household products and food products.

(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie, Graphics by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Dhara Ranasignhe and Deborah Kyvrikosaios)

(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden will make a high-stakes visit to Israel on Wednesday as it prepares to escalate an offensive against Hamas that has set off a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and raised fears of a broader conflict with Iran.

DIPLOMACY

*Group of 7 president Japan will provide $10 million in aid for civilians in Gaza, its foreign minister said, adding she was making final preparations for talks with her Iranian counterpart while monitoring the situation in Gaza with concern.

* Diplomats renewed calls for aid to the besieged Gaza Strip while Iran’s foreign minister said Israel would not be allowed to act there, warning of “preemptive action” in the coming hours.

* Egypt President al-Sisi and U.S. President Biden underlined the necessity in a phone call of containing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict so that it doesn’t threaten regional security, Sisi’s office said.

* Russian President Putin told Netanyahu that Moscow wanted to help prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza as he waded into the Middle East crisis with a flurry of calls to regional players.

CONFLICT

* A top leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas said it “has what it needs” to free all Palestinians in Israel’s jails, indicating Hamas may try to use the Israelis it kidnapped as bargaining chips to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners.

* Hamas has about 200-250 Israeli captives in Gaza, the group’s armed-wing spokesman said. The Israeli captives include high-ranking officers from the Gaza Division, said former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal.

* Iran’s top envoy said Israel will not be allowed to take any action in the Gaza Strip without facing consequences, state TV reported.

* Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas, discussed the release of civilian prisoners held by the group, a ministry source said.

* The head of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency took responsibility for failing to prevent Hamas from carrying out its Oct. 7 rampage through Israeli towns that killed more than 1,300 people.

HUMAN IMPACT

* Gaza hospitals struggled to cope with air strikes and a blockade as they awaited the expected Israeli ground offensive.

* 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Ruth Haran had felt safe in her own home in Israel but that changed on Oct. 7 when Hamas gunmen attacked the kibbutz of Beeri in southern Israel. They forced her into the house’s safe room. She emerged unscathed hours later. Her family did not.

INSIGHTS AND EXPLAINERS

* How Hamas secretly created a ‘mini-army’ to fight Israel.

* Hamas uses a global financing network to funnel support from charities and friendly nations, passing cash through Gaza tunnels or using cryptocurrencies to bypass international sanctions.

* What are the origins of Hezbollah: Iran founded it in 1982 to export its 1979 Islamic Revolution and fight Israeli forces after their 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

MARKETS AND BUSINESS

* Defense exchange-traded funds saw sharp inflows as the conflict threatened Middle East stability.

* Oil prices fell slightly on Tuesday after a more than $1 slide amid hopes the U.S. would ease sanctions on producer Venezuela and as Washington stepped up efforts to prevent an escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas.

* Stablecoin issuer Tether has frozen 32 cryptocurrency wallet addresses containing a combined $873,118 linked to “terrorism and warfare” in Israel and Ukraine, the company said.

*Asian stocks rose in cautious trade on Tuesday, with investors choosing to focus on corporate earnings prospects and the resilience of the U.S. economy ahead of tensions in the Middle East.

(Compiled by Grant McCool; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Miral Fahmy)

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -A Russian-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution that called for a humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in Gaza failed to pass on Monday, while a vote on a rival Brazilian text was delayed until Tuesday.

The draft resolution received five votes in favor and four votes against, along with six abstentions. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the five permanent members – the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain – to pass.

“Today, the entire world waited with bated breath for the Security Council to take steps in order to put an end to the bloodletting, but the delegations of the Western countries have basically stomped on those expectations,” Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told the council after the vote.

Russia proposed the one-page draft text on Friday, which also called for the release of hostages, humanitarian aid access, and the safe evacuation of civilians in need. The text condemned violence against civilians and all acts of terrorism, but did not name Hamas, which killed 1,300 people in Israel on Oct. 7.

“By failing to condemn Hamas, Russia is giving cover to a terrorist group that brutalizes innocent civilians. It is outrageous. It is hypocritical and it is indefensible,” said the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

She said the United States, which traditionally shields its ally Israel from council action, does “agree that this council should take action, but we have to get it right and we’ll work intensively with all members on the council to do so.”

A vote on the rival Brazilian-drafted resolution, which condemns “the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas,” was delayed until late Tuesday to give the council more time to negotiate.

The council met as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a marathon meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.

Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas – which controls the Gaza Strip – after its fighters stormed Israeli towns, killed 1,300 people and seized hostages in the worst attack on civilians in Israel’s 75-year-old history.

Israel is preparing for a ground offensive in Gaza while subjecting the enclave to the most intense bombardment ever, putting Gaza under total siege. Gaza authorities say at least 2,750 people have been killed.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Susan Heavey, Howard Goller and Leslie Adler)

By Victoria Waldersee

BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen is running behind schedule in defining key measures of a planned 10 billion euro ($10.5 billion) cost-cutting drive for its namesake brand, two people familiar with the matter said, as talks with powerful labour leaders drag on.

The volume brand of Europe’s top carmaker said in June that the drive’s measures, designed to help it meet a return-on-sales target of 6.5% by 2026, were expected to be in place by October 2023.

The first meeting with workers representatives, however, did not happen until early October and key measures are now expected to be defined by year-end, the sources said.

Return on sales is a metric used to evaluate a company’s operational efficiency.

A delay would mark a setback for Volkswagen, which is in the midst of a strategy shift and has pledged to slash fixed costs and improve productivity to boost margins in the face of sagging stock-market performance.

Volkswagen has said that cost-cutting plans would include focusing on fewer high-volume models as well as streamlining production of VW passenger cars, SEAT/CUPRA and Skoda.

The Volkswagen brand has the company’s highest sales volume by far, but margins traditionally lag behind luxury Audi and Porsche vehicles.

The company plans to implement similar cost-cutting drives, dubbed ‘performance programmes’, across all brands, with finance chief Arno Antlitz in July demanding progress by the end of the year.

A Volkswagen brand spokesperson confirmed that talks began with workers in early October and that it would not comment further on the timeline or content of discussions.

Brand chief Thomas Schaefer said last month the company was working on a concrete package of measures “by autumn.”

Labour representatives, including the head of Volkswagen works council Daniela Cavallo, make up half of the company’s supervisory board per German corporate governance law for large firms.

A works council spokesperson confirmed a first meeting had taken place but declined to comment further on the timeline.

“This was just the start,” the spokesperson said of the meeting, adding the works council would not accept any cuts to collective bargaining agreements or threats to job security.

Cavallo, last month criticised that management still had not provided more information on what the programme entailed.

($1 = 0.9484 euros)

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Editing by Christoph Steitz and Rod Nickel)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Dozens of China-listed companies announced plans on late Monday to buy back shares or scrap plans of stock selling, following a slew of measures authorities took to boost a flagging stock market.

This follows more than a hundred Chinese companies committing to buybacks or withdrawing share sales in August after China imposed new rules as part of measures to shore up a sinking stock market as the country’s post-COVID-19 recovery lost momentum.

Its blue-chip stock index <.CSI300>, however, is near one-year lows as investor sentiment remained weak in recent months despite stimulus policies to shore up confidence.

More than a dozen Chinese companies, including China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, China Railway Construction Corp, China Mobile said in stock exchanges filings on late Monday that they had purchased back their shares or plan to buy back shares in public markets.

Meanwhile, more than 70 other companies in filings vowed that their major shareholders would not sell shares in the coming months, or withdrew plans to offload shares.

Wanma Technology and GoodWe Technologies Co both said in their own statements that their controlling shareholders would not sell stocks in the next six months, based on confidence in their companies’ future development.

It comes as China’s state fund Central Huijin Investment increased stakes in China’s “Big Four” state banks last week, fuelling hopes that the authorities would step in to rescue the market.

(Reporting by Jason Xue in Shanghai and Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

By Nell Mackenzie

LONDON (Reuters) – Global hedge funds last week sold food, beverage and tobacco company stocks at the fastest pace in 11 weeks, a Goldman Sachs note said, as these stocks, viewed as a proxy for bonds, could not match the recent surge in U.S. Treasury yields.

Hedge fund short bets in consumer staples in the week to Friday Oct. 13 hit the highest amount seen in three months and ranked among the highest levels hit in the past five years, said the note from Goldman Sachs prime brokerage, which serves hedge funds.

Short selling bets the price of a stock will fall.

Shares of U.S. consumer staples have fallen about 10% so far this year as these stocks, which normally deliver consistent and higher dividends than U.S. Treasuries, were no match for recent soaring government bond yields.

U.S. 2-year Treasury yields rose about 15 basis points from Tuesday Oct. 10 to Friday the 13th. They continued their rise on Monday, climbing about 1.5 basis points.

The consumer staples sector, selling products such as household goods, alcohol and tobacco products, in the week ending Oct. 13 made up the weakest performing group in the S&P 500 and was also the most net sold U.S. sector on Goldman Sachs’ prime brokerage trading book, said the bank.

Short sales outpaced long buys about 4 to 1, said Goldman Sachs.

The selling took the form of short bets on companies that sell food, beverage and tobacco products and the exit of long positions in household products and food products.

(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie, Graphics by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Dhara Ranasignhe and Deborah Kyvrikosaios)