“More than a dozen words long used in Bermuda and across the Caribbean got an official nod on Wednesday from the Oxford English Dictionary. First in line is ‘bimpert’, a Bermudian word of unknown origin that is used to describe a stupid or foolish person. People on the tiny island in the north Atlantic often use it in this traditional phrase: ‘A bimpert is justah wuffless bye’, which roughly translates to: an idiot is just a worthless boy. Another colorful addition is ‘hornerman’, a word used in the eastern Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago since 1975 to describe an unfaithful man or a man having a relationship with someone else’s partner.” (09/23/26)
“Australia said on Thursday an OpenAI agent breached a government health data portal in June, gaining unauthorised access to files, in what could be the first known instance of an AI agent hacking a government website. The breach is one of the highest-profile incidents of AI agents accessing external systems outside the United States, coming on top of several recent breaches globally by rogue AI agents that have alarmed governments and companies. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the OpenAI agent gained unauthorised access to the medical statistics portal of Medicare, Australia’s universal health insurance programme, while conducting research on public medical spending.” (09/24/26)
“African elephants use dozens of different medicinal plants to treat themselves and their families when they are sick. This is the conclusion of a study which interviewed people who live and work alongside the elephants in the Mount Elgon region of Kenya. These particular animals have long intrigued scientists with their extraordinary behaviour – they are known as salt-mining elephants, because they go into caves and scrape the rock with their tusks to extract minerals for their diet. This newly published research suggests that the same elephants use several different plant species in the forest for medicinal purposes.” (09/24/26)
“Chicago could halt new data center development within city limits for a year. … Mayor Brandon Johnson, along with a group of alders, is pushing for a 12-month moratorium while the city develops a ‘comprehensive regulatory framework’ for data centers. There are 39 active data centers in Chicago, according to the city. … At least a half-dozen major U.S. cities, including Seattle, Charlotte, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Oklahoma City, have temporarily halted or restricted new data center development while considering new regulations.” (09/23/26)
“Italy’s government passed a decree Thursday to place an upper limit on the number of students in each school classroom who have only limited Italian language skills and to ban face-covering Islamic veils in schools. Premier Giorgia Meloni’s conservative government said the package is aimed at strengthening integration through language learning and has drawn support from right-wing allies. Opponents including some educators, unions and opposition parties warn that new rules could force students to attend schools far from their neighborhoods, while critics accuse the government of turning immigration into a political issue. With elections possible as early as next spring, analysts say the measures allow the premier to reassert her credentials on issues central to her conservative base, even though their impact is likely to be limited and significant questions remain about how they would be enforced.” (09/24/26)
“Andy Burnham has signalled he may lift the ban on drinking alcohol in the stands at football matches, suggesting it is ‘unfair’ for fans to be singled out when it is permitted for other sports. The prime minister, a committed Everton fan who still attends matches, said there was a case for trialling an end to the ban to bring football in line with rugby and cricket. The move was welcomed by the Football Supporters’ Association and the English Football League, but police warned it would be ‘incredibly rash’ to make changes without considering their impact on safety. Burnham has long opposed the ban, saying it is discriminatory and out of date, harking back to an era when football violence was fuelled by drinking within view of the pitch.” (09/23/26)
“A federal judge ordered US President Donald Trump on Thursday to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, saying his ban on the three media outlets was likely unconstitutional. In a major setback for Trump in one of his biggest battles with the media, US District Judge Tim Kelly issued his order in a lawsuit that the news organizations filed contesting the ban that the Republican president announced on September 18. Kelly ordered the Trump administration to immediately return the outlets’ press passes and blocked officials from enforcing the ban for 14 days. The judge rejected the government’s assertion that the ban was motivated by national security concerns.” (09/24/26)
“At least seven people were killed in a Russian strike on a farm in Kharkiv region, with a further 12 people injured. Two more people were killed in Kyiv, including one in the parking lot of a maternity hospital that was damaged. Eight people were injured. The attack came just hours after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged international leaders to keep choking Russia’s revenues and impede its war efforts, telling the UN general assembly that ‘Russia’s revenues must remain a target.'” (09/24/26)
“Bitcoin slipped on Wednesday, as sentiment for risky assets took a hit from soaring U.S. Treasury yields, a boost to Federal Reserve rate hike expectations, and a rise in oil prices as hopes for diplomatic progress between Washington and Tehran took a hit. After rallying nearly 7% on Monday and peaking above $87.3k to touch its highest level since the end of January, Bitcoin has given back some gains. Still, investors remain upbeat about regulatory proceedings around crypto despite the recent failure of the Clarity Act in clearing Congress. … U.S. Treasury yields surged on Wednesday amid a rise in odds of the Fed delivering a rate hike in October. The moves were driven by hot U.S. economic data.” (09/23/26)
“The Central Elections Committee voted Wednesday in favor of petitions to disqualify the Joint List slate — made up of Balad, Hadash, and Ta’al — altogether as well as Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party from running in the October 27 election, effectively barring all majority Arab parties from running in the election. The rulings by the panel, made up almost entirely of politicians representing Knesset factions, must be approved by the Supreme Court of Justice, which is expected to strike down the bans, due to the high legal threshold for preventing a political party from running.” (09/23/26)
