US President Donald Trump announced Friday that the US had secured majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s oil reserves, expanding Washington’s influence over the country’s energy industry. Under the agreement, a joint company comprising the US government and a Venezuelan private operator will receive a 100-year ...
Day: August 31, 2026
Nepal disaster highlights climate, geopolitical plightNepal disaster highlights climate, geopolitical plight
Nepal’s catastrophic landslides — which have killed hundreds with thousands more unaccounted for — underlined the plight of developing nations in climate disasters: They are not large emitters but are disproportionately affected. Accelerating snow and glacier melt likely caused a glacier to break off and slam into a valley more ...
OpenAI hack shows emergent AI risksOpenAI hack shows emergent AI risks
Rogue OpenAI agents’ unprecedented coordination during the Hugging Face attack significantly increases the risk of AI escaping human control, analysts said, days after investigators released a bombshell report into the incident. Totaling 1,200 agents, the swarms justified the self-described “sacrifice” of individual agents to further the aims of the “collective” ...
Iceland votes against talks to join EUIceland votes against talks to join EU
Iceland voted against resuming talks to join the European Union, officials announced Sunday, as concerns over sovereignty trumped arguments for European integration. Icelandic voters rejected the measure amid widespread concern over maintaining control over fishing rights, a backbone of the country’s economy. The vote, which showed domestic concerns overriding geopolitical ...
Fed chair Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech eases investor fearsFed chair Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech eases investor fears
US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish Jackson Hole speech on Friday eased fears that the central banker wouldn’t raise interest rates to tackle inflation, as the odds of a September hike jumped. Though Warsh “was keen not to provide forward guidance… his words smacked of forward guidance,” ING analysts ...
US strikes Iranian launchers on Larak island amid strait of Hormuz tensionsUS strikes Iranian launchers on Larak island amid strait of Hormuz tensions
Attack was response to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps preparing rockets to launch sea mines into strait, US claims US forces have struck two Iranian launchers on Iran’s Larak island, a US official said, marking the first known American strikes since late July. “I can confirm that earlier today US forces ...