September 2026
All columns and Brief analyses.
10 results
Expiring lockups lift SpaceX's weight in the Nasdaq 100 to more than double
A pro forma calculation from Global Index Watch, the service through which Nasdaq publishes index data, circulated on Friday evening and puts SpaceX's weight in the Nasdaq 100 at about 2.82 per cent, against about 1.28 per cent now. The driver is a wider free float, as selling restrictions have lapsed since the company entered the index in July. The settled weight is due later this month, and funds tracking the index are expected to align their portfolios with it.
Former US EPA staff count 30 federal steps easing the AI data-center buildout
A group of scientists and policy specialists who once worked at the US Environmental Protection Agency has published a catalogue of decisions by the Trump administration which, on the group's reading, speeds AI data-center construction at the cost of air and water protection. The catalogue runs to 30 decisions taken since January 2025, of which 17 either name AI or are aimed at data centers. The agency rejects that characterization.
France's 30 billion euro 2027 budget squeeze reaches pensions
Roland Lescure wants France's roughly 30 billion euro 2027 budget adjustment to come mainly from spending, including about 6 billion euros from basic pensions. Marine Le Pen says tax increases and unfairness to workers are red lines, while preferring an imperfect enacted budget to reliance on a special law.
Hassabis backs independent oversight inside frontier AI labs
Google chief scientist Demis Hassabis backed Dario Amodei's proposal to place independent evaluators with standing, employee-level access inside frontier laboratories. The Decoder and EL PAÍS report that Hassabis called the direction right while saying details need work; Google researcher Peyman Milanfar disputed the case for an imposed speed limit.
Hayabusa2 completes deep-space laser ranging test during Torifune asteroid flyby
During a high-velocity encounter with asteroid Torifune, JAXA navigated the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to execute an innovative deep-space laser ranging test using its onboard LIDAR altimeter. The successful measurement adapted the LALT instrument to capture surface reflectance and precise distances, validating optical tracking methods for future planetary exploration missions.
Iraq seizes Maysan drone launcher linked to Saudi pipeline strike
Iraqi security forces in southeastern Maysan province seized a drone-launching platform linked to strikes against Saudi Arabia's East-West crude pipeline, while Baghdad dismissed the local operations commander and agreed with Tehran to form a joint border investigation. Saudi authorities in Riyadh said they are withholding military retaliation while Baghdad pursues the inquiry, as Iraqi officials restructure provincial security commands to secure the border zone.
Ivonescimab lifted median survival to 30.8 months against pembrolizumab in HARMONi-2
A prespecified interim analysis of the phase 3 HARMONi-2 trial, presented at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Seoul, put median overall survival at 30.8 months with ivonescimab against 22.6 months with pembrolizumab in 398 people in China with untreated PD-L1-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The hazard ratio was 0.73. Akeso, the drug's developer, reads that as a 27 percent lower risk of death and says the gain was largest in PD-L1-high tumours. The safety profile stayed broadly comparable.
Korea Exchange moves into Nextrade's after-hours window
Korea Exchange will open real-time trading in most Kospi and Kosdaq stocks from 16.00 to 20.00 starting September 14. The Korea Herald and SBS News report that continuous matching replaces the ten-minute single-price system, putting the exchange into direct competition with Nextrade during the same hours.
Larry Ellison cancels prearranged plan to sell 50 million Oracle shares
Oracle's executive chair Larry Ellison has withdrawn a scheduled 10b5-1 trading plan that would have allowed him to sell up to 50 million shares. The company confirmed that no trades were executed under the June agreement and that Ellison has no alternate plans to reduce his stake.
Laser shock measurements revise diamond melting temperature at megabar pressures
Dynamic laser compression experiments reveal that diamond melts at temperatures differing by more than 700 °C from earlier experimental estimations. By tracking phase boundaries under extreme megabar loading, researchers successfully resolved persistent discrepancies in high-pressure carbon modeling, establishing vital empirical constraints for inertial confinement fusion capsule engineering and planetary interior structure simulations.