August 2026
All columns and Brief analyses.
10 results
Washington holds the line on Iran while integrating Venezuela crude
The American administration is keeping its naval blockade and oil sanctions on Iran in place while dismissing back-channel talks. In contrast, the United States is deeply integrating Venezuela's reviving oil output into its own refining network.
WhatsApp introduces an on-device scam detector alongside Meta's Mac assistant and Amazon's free Alexa+
Consumer AI features are expanding. WhatsApp is testing a local machine-learning model to flag suspicious messages, Meta has released a screen-reading desktop assistant, and Amazon dropped the subscription fee for its conversational television search.
With Treasury yields above 5.2 per cent, food prices move to the centre of the euro area's inflation outlook
US Treasury yields stay above 5.2 per cent while the ECB expects food prices to shape the euro area inflation outlook. Agricultural pressures stemming from El Nino are projected to extend into 2027.
Young trees in karst forests resist drought poorly; long-term insect monitoring avoids the tropics; Collodaria plankton get sugars from algae
Young trees in karst forests resisted drought poorly. Long-term insect monitoring avoids the tropics where diversity is highest. Collodaria plankton get sugars from algae and sulphur compounds from seawater.
Z.ai leads open-model rankings with unreleased weights, while Liquid AI recovers quantization losses
The latest open-model benchmarks are led by a system whose weights remain restricted, while edge devices gain a robotic control model and a quantization method that retains almost all high-precision performance.
ZTO grows 23 per cent, SM Investments lifts profit 8 per cent, and Lufax narrows its loss
ZTO increased revenue by 23 per cent via its profitability strategy, while SM Investments lifted half-year profit by 8 per cent on strong consumer demand. Lufax narrowed its operating loss through cost cuts in a slowing environment.
A thirty-year neutrino deficit turns on an approximation about the nucleus
Gallium detectors in the GALLEX, SAGE and BEST experiments have counted about 20 per cent fewer neutrinos than predicted for more than thirty years. A recalculation reproduces that shortfall without a sterile neutrino, and moves the open question into the nuclear structure of gallium-71 and germanium-71.
Colombia's growth and its deficit are two sides of one account
Colombia's second quarter grew 3.5 per cent while general government consumption grew 12.2 per cent. The same spending appears in Fitch's numbers as a deficit near 7 per cent of GDP. Both statements hold, because they describe one flow from opposite ends of the balance sheet.
Dhaka runs the Teesta with Beijing and the relationship with Delhi
Bangladesh's water minister is rebuilding the language of friendship with India while his government keeps a China-backed project moving on the Teesta. Dhaka's room to bargain sits between those two moves, and the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, which expires in December, sets how long that room stays open.
Entry into force is tied to the council that must certify PKK disarmament
The law published in the Official Gazette ties the pardon promised to thousands of PKK members to a single finding: nothing runs until the National Security Council certifies that the group has fully dissolved itself and disarmed.