September 2026
All columns and Brief analyses.
10 results
LINK stopped 12–15 kilometres short of Swift; the planned boost never happened
Katalyst Space's servicing craft LINK reached a point 12–15 kilometres from NASA's Swift observatory during a troubled mission, without proceeding to capture or orbit raising. All three robotic arms and all three electric thrusters were exercised in flight. Two Swift science instruments are operating again, while both spacecraft continue descending.
Morocco rejects Spanish accusations over its role in the Ceuta crossing
Morocco's foreign ministry said there was no evidence showing Moroccan authorities were involved when more than 70,000 people crossed into Ceuta on 30 and 31 July. The response followed the release of documents showing that Spanish intelligence had warned both Moroccan and Ceuta authorities in advance. Rabat also asked why the migrants had not been returned.
Next price reading sharpens the Fed's rate dilemma
The US August consumer inflation report is due as oil prices rise and Federal Reserve officials differ over next week's rate decision. The FactSet consensus expects headline inflation to ease to 3.3 per cent from 3.4 per cent, with core prices rising 0.2 per cent on the month and 2.4 per cent on the year. The result could shift the rate-increase debate.
Nigeria's parliament halts all official engagement with South Africa
Nigeria's House of Representatives has halted every official and virtual engagement by the National Assembly with South Africa over continuing attacks on Nigerians; Akin Rotimi announced the measure. The decision covers lawmakers, committees, officials and staff. Abuja's reported deaths and the large gap between the two countries' counts of migrants sent home have pushed the safety of Nigerian citizens directly into the bilateral relationship.
NVIDIA PAIR routes local inference requests to an eligible machine on the network
NVIDIA's beta PAIR tool places a proxy in front of local model servers and assigns each request to one compatible computer on the same network. It can connect machines running different operating systems, but it neither combines GPUs nor turns their video memory into a shared pool. The model must therefore fit on one node. NVIDIA has published the code and warned that its faster multi-machine demonstration is not a performance guarantee.
Nvidia puts its 1.3 million-part Vera Rubin line on Palantir Foundry
Nvidia is the first customer of a joint software stack that moves its own supply chain onto Palantir's Foundry platform. The stack pairs Nvidia's open-weight Nemotron models and the cuOpt optimisation library with Palantir Foundry. A Vera Rubin accelerator cabinet carries a bill of materials of 1.3 million pieces, drawn from thousands of vendors. The setup can run on a company's own machines or in a cloud.
OFAC moves Iran-related licence applications to a presumption of denial
The US Treasury's sanctions office added 14 individuals and 5 entities to its blacklist under counter-terrorism and Iran programmes. The listings span Iraq, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Syria. OFAC also said Iran-related specific licence applications would immediately be considered under a presumption of denial, while retaining legally required and safety-based exceptions.
Oil and bond yields weigh on global stocks
Rising oil prices intensified inflation and interest-rate concerns as the S&P 500 fell 0.58 per cent and selling extended into regional markets in the next session. Brent eased to around 105 dollars after rising roughly 6 per cent to 107 dollars and reaching its highest level since May. Higher bond yields added pressure to equity valuations.
OPEC cuts 2026 oil demand growth to 380,000 barrels a day
OPEC cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2026 to 380,000 barrels a day, the fifth consecutive downward revision. It raised the 2027 forecast to 2.36 million barrels a day. Much of the difference between the two years comes from non-OECD economies, with a marked acceleration projected for China and India in 2027.
OpenAI closes 200 dollar Pro sign-ups while Astra loads its machines
OpenAI has stopped taking new buyers for ChatGPT Pro at 200 dollars a month, citing the load its newest model, Astra, is placing on its machines. Product lead Thibault Sottiaux said that tier creates the heaviest consumer use of the system. Existing Pro accounts keep running. Go, Plus and the programming interface still take new customers. The company has not said when Pro sign-ups resume.