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The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global ​money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, has said the misuse of informal banking networks, including hawala and other similar service ​providers (HOSSPs), which move payments through agents rather than ​regulated financial institutions, is a growing worldwide problem. FATF President Giles Thomson warned that sophisticated, commercially run networks now act as a “serious risk multiplier,” and make it easier for criminals to hide activities that harm people and communities around the world. FATF ​said in its report that professional service providers, including lawyers, accountants, auditors, consultants and real ​estate agents, are increasingly involved in facilitating the schemes.

 

Reuters

WION

OpenAI has said it would commit $1bn in subsidized access to its AI cybersecurity tools, training and technical ​support for organizations that protect critical services, amid growing concern over increasingly sophisticated AI-enabled cyberattacks. The "Daybreak for Frontline Defenders" program will initially focus on U.S. operators of essential ​services including water utilities, electric grid operators, and state and local ​governments. There are plans to soon expand to partner countries, OpenAI said. "In the ⁠coming months, AI-enabled cyber attacks will become far more widespread and sophisticated as models around ​the world become increasingly capable," the company said, adding: "Our goal ⁠is to use frontier AI to make the systems Americans depend on harder to attack and easier to repair."

 

The Next Web

The Register

Reuters

Acron Technologies, a company which retrofits jets with an additional system to avert midair collisions, says some airlines are not waiting for a U.S. legal mandate on safety systems before outfitting their planes. "I don't ​think the industry is waiting to see what passes ultimately from a legislative perspective," Acron CEO Alan Crawford ​said. "We've got active conversations right now where the customer is indicating they would want to place orders by the end of the year, but you just never know." Acron has equipped American Airlines' single-aisle Airbus planes with its Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In platform.

 

Reuters

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recruited many new officers before basic vetting steps had been completed, including fingerprints, identity verification and credit checks, according to a newly released whistleblower complaint from an official who was a unit chief in ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility. “This unprecedented lowering of standards sacrifices proper risk mitigation for expediency, placing [Department of Homeland Security] at risk of infiltration and insider compromise,” the official wrote in a memo to the DHS’s Office of Inspector General dated August 2025. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has charged an ICE officer with lying about the shooting of a Venezuelan national during the Trump administration’s crackdown in Minnesota this year, in a rare instance of the DOJ seeking to hold immigration officers accountable while conducting arrests. Authorities say Christian Castro fired his weapon through a closed door and shot Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, in the leg.

 

The Gazette Cedar Rapids Iowa

AP News

New York Times

NPR

Current and former leaders of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have expressed concern over increasing pressure from the Trump administration, which is attempting to isolate the court. “Efforts to isolate the Court diplomatically – whether by encouraging States Parties to withdraw from the Rome Statute or urging non-States Parties to join measures ⁠intended to weaken it – are aimed at eroding not only one institution, but confidence in the international legal order itself,” Paivi Kaukoranta, the current president of the ICC's Assembly of States Parties, and seven former presidents wrote in a piece that appeared on the Just Security law and policy journal's website. The court, they stressed, is not intended to replace national justice systems, and they rejected the argument that it necessarily undermines state sovereignty.

 

AlJazeera

Ann Pope, a former senior director at the Competition and Markets Authority, the U.K.'s principal competition regulator, has filed a £2bn ($2.7bn) lawsuit against Apple on behalf of app developers. The claim alleges that Apple's app tracking transparency framework unfairly favoured its own apps over third-party developers. Pope said: "Privacy is an important protection for consumers, but it should be applied fairly and in a way that ensures businesses of all sizes can compete on a level playing field. It cannot become a reason for digital platforms to play by one set of rules while forcing app developers to play by another."

 

The Times

Volkswagen's supervisory board has approved a transformation plan that will see around 50,000 jobs being cut, in addition to a 50,000-job reduction already under way. The plan, which is the most extensive restructuring in the automaker's 89-year history, includes exploring alternatives for four plants in Emden, Zwickau, Neckarsulm and Hannover. The company said the changes are necessary amid rising global competition, shifting demand, and technological advancements. Volkswagen aims for an operating margin of 9% by 2030, up from 3.8% in H1 2026. "This is a strong signal for the future of the Volkswagen Group. We are taking responsibility for our entire workforce, for our partners and for industrial jobs worldwide," CEO Oliver Blume said. Asset manager Union Investment has warned that VW's credit rating could be cut to 'junk' status unless it cuts costs.

 

Deutsche Welle (EN)

France 24

Wall Street Journal

Reuters

The U.S. trade deficit widened 24.4% to $88.6bn in July, slightly below economists’ expectations of $90bn, as strong consumer spending and business investment drove a significant increase in imports. Total imports rose 2.8% to $399.3bn, with goods imports climbing 3.7% to $320.6bn. Capital goods imports jumped by $14.4bn to a record $140.3bn, reflecting increased purchases of computers, computer accessories, and semiconductors, likely related to continued investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Exports, meanwhile, declined 2.1% to $310.7bn, with goods exports falling 3% to $201bn. The decline was led by an $8.7bn drop in industrial supplies and materials, including crude oil and nonmonetary gold, although capital goods exports increased by $1.9bn, and consumer goods exports rose by $1.7bn, supported by pharmaceutical products. The goods trade deficit widened 17.3% to $119.6bn, while the inflation-adjusted goods deficit increased 12.7% to $106.4bn. The widening shortfall suggests trade could again weigh on U.S. economic growth in the third quarter, after subtracting 1.14 percentage points from GDP growth in the April-June period, when the economy expanded at a 1.5% annualized rate.

 

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Tyson Foods has cut its fiscal 2026 adjusted operating income guidance to $1.85bn-$2.05bn from $2.1bn-$2.3bn, marking its second downgrade within a month as one of the most severe U.S. cattle shortages on record and volatile cattle prices put further pressure on its beef business. The meat producer has also lowered its revenue growth forecast to 1.5%-2% from 2.5%-3.5%, citing cautious consumer spending and weaker foodservice demand alongside significant beef margin pressure. Tyson has closed a major Nebraska beef plant, reduced operations at a Texas facility and announced plans to close or sell three further beef sites, with the measures expected to begin reducing operating cost pressures in fiscal 2027. Shares fell around 7% following the revised outlook.

 

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Los Angeles County has issued hundreds of tax bills to private aircraft owners, including celebrities, billionaires, and business executives, as it seeks an estimated $38m in additional revenue from unpaid property taxes. California requires private jet owners to pay an annual 1% property tax based on where an aircraft is habitually situated. County officials have stepped up enforcement using aircraft location data to identify planes frequently based in Los Angeles that had not been properly assessed; many owners said they were unaware of their obligations and have since paid. The use of flight-tracking data by tax authorities has drawn privacy concerns and political scrutiny, although County Assessor Jeff Prang argues that it is necessary to ensure private aircraft owners pay taxes owed under California law.

 

Los Angeles Times

The sociologist Antonio Casilli has spoken with the Democracy Now website about the hidden workforce - primarily in the Global South - behind commercial AI. These workers perform repetitive work to train and maintain the systems, even though the technology is often presented as if it is autonomous. Casilli says public discussion about AI often focuses on future job threats, but the technology is already changing working conditions for millions of people, many of whom are in unstable, underpaid gig-style arrangements, precipitating demands for fair wages and employment protections.

 

Yahoo News Australia

Democracy Now

Starbucks has won an appeal against a federal labor board ruling that found its dress code at a flagship Manhattan store unlawfully restricted workers from wearing union T-shirts and multiple union pins. The appeals court ruled that the National Labor Relations Board had failed to adequately balance employees’ union rights with Starbucks’ legitimate interest in maintaining its preferred public image, and sent the case back to the board to apply a more evenly balanced test.

 

Reuters