August 2026
All columns and Brief analyses.
10 results
Rwanda lifts its policy rate as inflation reaches 14.5 per cent
Rwanda's central bank raised its policy rate 50 basis points to 8.75 per cent after inflation reached 14.5 per cent. Iceland's August consumer prices rose 0.20 per cent monthly and 5.6 per cent annually. In Indonesia, a House commission approved Destry Damayanti as Bank Indonesia governor for 2026-2031; a plenary vote is still needed to make the appointment binding.
SoftBank is in talks for control of humanoid robot maker 1X at a 6 billion dollar valuation
SoftBank is negotiating to acquire a majority stake in 1X Technologies, a humanoid robot developer backed by OpenAI, at a valuation of about 6 billion dollars. The ongoing discussions could still change, and neither SoftBank nor 1X has commented on the negotiations. The potential deal builds on SoftBank's earlier robotics acquisitions and highlights increasing interest in human-like automation.
Tariff refunds lift second-quarter earnings at four US retailers
Four major US retailers reported second-quarter earnings lifted by a wave of tariff refunds. Dollar Tree and Dollar General both raised their annual profit outlooks after the refunds added to their quarterly earnings per share. Burlington Stores plans to invest its 55 million dollars of refund money into lower prices this autumn, while Best Buy credited a 34 million dollar refund with helping expand its domestic gross profit margin.
The Fed's preferred price gauge stays at 3.7 per cent as a renewed effort to remove Governor Cook stalls
The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 3.7 per cent year-on-year in July, with core PCE at 3.3 per cent, while real consumer spending barely grew. Meanwhile, Fed Governor Lisa Cook rejected renewed allegations tied to mortgage documents, calling any discrepancy unintentional after the Supreme Court blocked an earlier removal attempt.
The past 40 years brought the strongest El Niños in a millennium
A thousand-year temperature series built from Galápagos corals finds that major El Niños in the past 40 years were about 40 per cent stronger than preindustrial events. Two reports published the same day trace consequences at other scales: an ice-and-rock collapse triggered a deadly flood on the Nepal–Tibet border, while an analysis of 916,404 Chicago emergency and urgent-care visits found several diagnoses became more common above 33.7 °C.
Unexpected asymmetries in Mars's interior and its moon Deimos
Planetary scientists analyzing decades of spacecraft tracking data have discovered that the interior beneath Mars's south pole is significantly hotter and partly molten compared to its northern hemisphere. In a separate study, hydrodynamic simulations suggest that the oddly smooth surface and prominent crater of the Martian moon Deimos could be the result of a single large asteroid impact that globally redistributed debris without shattering the small satellite.
Unowned packages reached corporate networks through coding agents' documentation files
Researchers found 227 install commands in 120 machine-readable documentation files pointing to unregistered packages or expired domains; coding agents at several companies executed proof-of-concept packages, and one abandoned package name was already serving malware. A separate letter from at least 100 technology and infrastructure companies asks governments to fund AI-enabled defence for hospitals, water systems and local authorities before attacks become more capable.
Washington seizes hacking domains tied to Beijing as Wang Yi presses for a clean Trump-Xi summit
US officials said they disrupted a Chinese cyber-espionage campaign that compromised or targeted NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Justice and Energy departments and the Senate, seizing three domains used by a China-based company. A day later, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Washington to 'overcome obstacles' before an expected September 24 Trump-Xi summit, as both sides continue trading targeted economic measures.
Wholesale desks lift third-quarter profit at Royal Bank and TD Bank Group
Royal Bank of Canada and TD Bank Group posted third-quarter profit growth alongside rising wholesale and capital-markets revenue. Royal Bank of Canada reached a record 6.0 billion dollars in net income as fee-based wealth management and corporate banking revenue also rose. TD Bank Group reported its wholesale banking profit nearly double to 743 million dollars, bringing its adjusted net income to 4.671 billion dollars for the quarter.
Zambia's election runner-up enters police custody after courts close on challenge deadline
State broadcaster ZNBC reported that Brian Mundubile and running mate Makebi Zulu surrendered to police and were questioned with their lawyers present. Human Rights Watch said authorities closed and cordoned off courts on the final day for a presidential-election challenge, preventing Mundubile from filing. DW said the handover, reported two weeks after the disputed vote, had not been independently confirmed beyond ZNBC's account.