September 2026
All columns and Brief analyses.
10 results
OpenAI limits Astra's advanced cybersecurity access at a critical threshold
OpenAI's Path to Astra post says the upcoming Astra model is the first to meet the Critical cybersecurity capability threshold of its Preparedness Framework. OpenAI has described Astra as the first large language model to meet that threshold, saying it can find unknown vulnerabilities and exploit them without human guidance. The company says it plans to release Astra soon and to keep the most advanced cybersecurity capabilities behind restricted access. OpenAI reports a perfect ExploitBench score and two zero-day findings in a modified internal test.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand raises the cash rate to 2.75 per cent
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised its Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent on Wednesday, a second straight increase after July. The Monetary Policy Committee decided by consensus after June-quarter inflation reached 4.1 per cent, above the bank's 3.9 per cent projection. Governor Anna Breman said a future OCR increase is likely but the timing is highly uncertain. The cash-rate track was 2.81 per cent in December and 3.15 per cent by the end of 2027.
Ryanair cuts its traffic target to 214 million to reduce unhedged fuel exposure in a loss-making winter
Ryanair cut its traffic target for the year to March 2027 from 216 million to 214 million passengers. The airline says it is sensible to reduce exposure to unhedged jet fuel during the loss-making winter schedule from November to March, with jet fuel trading at 140 dollars a barrel. The cut is expected to reduce winter 2026 losses by 70 million to 100 million euros. About 80 per cent of Ryanair's fuel needs are hedged through March 2027 at 67 dollars a barrel.
Sandia reads the New Glenn test explosion off infrasound stations 1,700 kilometres away
Sandia National Laboratories researchers matched time-stamped video of the May 2026 New Glenn static fire explosion at Cape Canaveral with infrasound recorded at 36 broadband microbarometer stations, the farthest about 1,700 kilometres from the pad. Back-projection independently confirmed the time and place of the blast and put its yield at 0.131 kilotons of TNT equivalent. Elizabeth Silber and Logan Scamfer report the analysis in The Seismic Record.
Spain sheds 162,840 contributors in August while its jobless count is the lowest for the month since 2007
Spain's social security system lost 162,840 contributors in August and the number of people registered as unemployed rose by 44,419 to 2,355,918. The monthly fall was concentrated among education workers whose contracts ended for the summer holidays. The yearly picture points the other way: the jobless count is down by 70,593 people against August 2025 and registered unemployment is at its lowest August level since 2007.
Spanish police findings on total permissiveness by Moroccan forces at Ceuta sit against Sánchez's account
A Spanish police report seen by AFP says Moroccan security forces showed total permissiveness during the migrant rush into Ceuta, with a border deployment clearly smaller than usual. Separately, El Español published an assessment in which Spain's National Centre for Immigration and Borders held that July's mass entry was guided by Moroccan security forces; Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska asked police leadership to examine it. Pedro Sánchez had said no intelligence service pointed to Moroccan involvement.
The Bank of Canada leaves its policy rate at 2.25 per cent for a seventh consecutive decision
The Bank of Canada left its target for the overnight rate at 2.25 per cent on Wednesday, with the Bank Rate at 2.5 per cent and the deposit rate at 2.20 per cent. It was a seventh consecutive hold since last October's cut. The Governing Council said the economy is tracking its July report while new US tariffs and the war in the Middle East have raised upside risks to inflation. Governor Tiff Macklem called inflation near 3 per cent too high.
The US government tells the New York Times court that training a model on copyrighted text is fair use
The Trump administration has filed a 20-page statement of interest in The New York Times' copyright suit against OpenAI and Microsoft, arguing that training a large language model on copyrighted text is fair use. The Justice Department separates the copying done during training from what a finished model puts out, and says a narrower doctrine would hold back research and the American AI industry. The fair-use question is the court's to answer.
Two Saudi crude tankers are hit near Khasab as Brent trades above 92 dollars
The Saudi-flagged Sidr and the Liberian-flagged Senegal Prosperity, each carrying about 2 million barrels of Saudi crude, were struck within minutes of each other late on Monday near Khasab on Oman's Musandam Peninsula. Brent traded above 92 dollars a barrel on Tuesday, about 2 per cent above Monday's settlement of 90.49 dollars. West Texas Intermediate rose about 2.4 per cent to around 88 dollars. The Strait of Hormuz is described as effectively closed to commercial traffic.
Ueda will weigh upside price risks at the Bank of Japan's September meeting
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the board will set policy with upside price risks in mind at its 17-18 September meeting, remarks market participants read as a signal of a rate increase. Ueda spoke after the G20 gathering in Asheville with Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and said underlying inflation is approaching 2 per cent. Ueda did not commit to a specific decision. The US Treasury said Scott Bessent told Ueda he strongly supports Japan taking decisive steps against the yen's substantial undervaluation.