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President Donald Trump has warned that allowing Canada to become an associate member of the European Union could constitute a “hostile act,” threatening to impose significant additional tariffs or restrict U.S. trade with Europe if he believes the move is made with “bad intention.” His comments followed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s pledge to pursue closer ties with Canada, potentially making it the EU’s first associate member. The warning comes amid escalating U.S.-Canada trade tensions. Trump has ordered restrictions on imports of Canadian dairy products, alcoholic beverages, and motorcycles, while adjusting existing 50% tariffs on other Canadian goods. Trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa nearly produced an agreement in late August but collapsed at the last minute. Canadian and European officials have meanwhile been discussing associate membership as a way to deepen ties, although both sides have said full Canadian membership in the EU is not an option.

 

CNBC

Euronews

Politico

Wall Street Journal

Senate Democrats have blocked a proposed regulatory framework for cryptocurrency: a 49-50 vote halted efforts to establish new guidelines for the $2.3trn market. The legislation faced opposition amid demands for stronger ethics safeguards to prevent President Trump's potential financial gains from crypto investments. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said: “Let's make sure that we do not pass a crypto bill that will let Donald Trump continue to rake in billions of dollars in crypto profits.” Despite some concessions from Trump over ethics, Democrats deemed the latest proposal insufficient. The bill's future remains uncertain as the House and Senate prepare for the upcoming elections.

 

Los Angeles Times

Council of Fashion Designers of America chief executive Steven Kolb has been placed on leave pending a review after he was filmed physically restraining animal rights protesters who disrupted a Cos runway show during New York Fashion Week. Six PETA activists took part in the protest against the use of wool. Footage showed Kolb covering the mouths of two protesters as they shouted slogans; PETA said it had filed a police report and was consulting lawyers. Mr Kolb later said he had reacted inappropriately and should have left the situation to security. H&M, Cos’s parent company, said its priority was the safety of guests, models and colleagues. PETA said it hopes to meet with Mr Kolb, adding it will not pursue its initial plan to file a police report and instead hopes to discuss ending the use of wool and animal skins in fashion.

 

Reuters

US News and World Report

Washington Post

The U.S. Justice Department has indicted five suspected Russian intelligence operatives for allegedly plotting attacks against perceived enemies of the Kremlin, including a murder-for-hire scheme targeting a prominent dissident in the U.S. The indictment describes the defendants as part of a network that "is one arm of the Russian Federation's apparatus used to carry out external attacks." Among the accused are Yuri Khrameev, a former colonel in the Russian intelligence service, and his son, Kirill Khrameev. The charges include conspiracy to finance terrorism and murder-for-hire. The indictment details efforts since 2024 to recruit individuals for targeted killings, including a plot involving a Venezuelan citizen in Brooklyn and a U.S. citizen in Lithuania. Attorney General Todd Blanche highlighted the importance of stopping adversaries from "unleashing violence and terror on American soil."

 

NPR / National Public Radio

U.S. ⁠Attorney General ⁠Todd Blanche has said the Department of ‌Justice ⁠would ⁠investigate "anybody associated" with AI if they ​violated the law. "As far as ​AI is concerned, there's ⁠a lot ⁠of ⁠criminal laws," ​Blanche told reporters at the ​White ⁠House. "So if anybody associated with AI ⁠violates criminal law, we'll investigate that." Blanche ⁠added that he did not believe the role of the DOJ was to regulate AI. In an interview with Bloomberg on the day of the White House briefing, Blanche said the department will act only if there are clear violations of the law. “I’m not going to do regulation by prosecution and investigate or prosecute AI companies when there’s not a statute that they’re violating,” he said. “If we’re going to charge somebody with violating the laws and take away their liberty and put them in prison, it should be because they violated the law.”

 

Bloomberg

U.S. News

Universal Music Group (UMG) has filed a lawsuit against digital music distributor DistroKid, claiming the company disseminates “AI-generated ‘slop' that siphons revenue and listeners from legitimate artists.” The complaint, lodged in federal court in Delaware, accuses DistroKid of “deceptive trade practices and blatant copyright infringement.” UMG is seeking statutory damages and injunctive relief for violations of its exclusive rights. DistroKid, which allows independent artists to upload music to over 150 platforms, is criticized for failing to adequately screen content; one user reportedly released 4,562 tracks in a year.

 

Los Angeles Times

A federal appeals court has ruled that American insurance companies can sue Kia and Hyundai in California over claims related to theft-prone vehicles. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals directed a federal judge to reopen a case seeking over $1bn in reimbursements for claims linked to the automakers' decision to drop a key ignition safeguard. A UCLA study indicated that thefts of these vehicles, exacerbated by a viral TikTok trend, could persist in Los Angeles for more than 15 years. “We're likely to be seeing elevated thefts of these cars through 2042,” observed Jeffrey Brantingham, the study's lead author.

 

Los Angeles Times

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the first time in three years, unanimously approving a quarter-point increase that lifted the federal-funds rate target range to 3.75%-4%. The move begins to reverse some of the rate cuts delivered last year, and the vast majority of Fed officials projected one additional increase this year as the central bank seeks to return inflation to its 2% target. The shift follows a period in which the Fed has made little progress on inflation since mid-2025, despite cutting rates three times late last year amid concerns about a weakening labor market. The inflation outlook has since been complicated by an energy-price shock stemming from the Iran war, while a surge in AI-related investment has supported economic growth, financial markets, and demand for capital. Following the announcement, President Donald Trump, who has consistently urged the Fed to cut rates, said he told Kevin Warsh, the central bank's chair to "do what you want," adding that Fed officials are "very political. They’re doing the wrong thing [...] They are people put on by politicians.”

 

The Hill

CNBC

Washington Post

Wall Street Journal

Federal income tax brackets could increase by approximately 3.2% for 2027 as the IRS adjusts thresholds for inflation, according to projections from Bloomberg Tax. The projected increase would be larger than the 2.7% adjustment implemented for 2026 and is intended to limit “bracket creep,” which can push taxpayers into higher brackets when wages rise because of inflation without a corresponding increase in real income. Under the estimates, thresholds would rise across all seven federal tax brackets. For example, the 22% bracket would begin at a projected $52,025 for single filers and $104,050 for married couples filing jointly, compared with $50,400 and $100,800, respectively, in 2026. The figures remain projections, however, and the IRS is expected to announce the official 2027 tax provisions within the next several weeks.

 

The Hill

Hilary Maxson, Oracle's chief financial officer, has told employees that the company’s latest layoffs are not about “doing more with less,” but about simplifying processes and directing resources toward areas with the greatest customer impact. Her comments came during her first companywide meeting, one day after Oracle began another round of job cuts, although executives reportedly did not directly discuss the layoffs during the meeting. Oracle eliminated approximately 21,000 positions, or about 13% of its workforce, during the fiscal year ended May 31st 2026, and has expanded its 2026 restructuring plan by approximately $700m to an estimated $2.8bn. The cuts come as Oracle sharply increases investment in AI infrastructure and data centers, with capital expenditures reaching $28.5bn in the quarter ended August 31st, up from $8.5bn a year earlier. The company continues to forecast fiscal 2027 capital spending of $90bn-$95bn.

 

Quartz

Business Insider

Spanish labor union FIST wants a court to cancel the redundancies of 2,062 staff who worked for a company that moderated content for Meta. Canadian tech firm Telus International, which operated in Spain as CCC Barcelona Digital Services, cut the roles  in a package agreed with main unions last year, citing the termination of its contract with the U.S. tech giant, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Minority union FIST has now launched a lawsuit against Telus and Meta, claiming before a court in Barcelona that the layoffs were an “attack and a retaliation against the workers’ exercising of their basic rights.” According to the lawsuit, more than half of the affected workers had launched legal action for alleged “salary discrimination” based on language and origin: moderators’ wages varied according to their working language.

 

Catalan News

Demócrata

Straits Times

Chinese regulators are expected to increase scrutiny of humanoid robotics companies seeking mainland listings after Unitree Robotics lost more than 200bn yuan ($29.8bn) in market value following its August IPO. Unitree’s shares have fallen 44% since listing, despite surging 460% on their first day, leaving the company valued at 190bn yuan and around 347 times estimated earnings. The sell-off has intensified concerns about high valuations and limited commercialisation across China’s humanoid robotics sector. Unitree’s first-half underlying profit fell 19% year-on-year while revenue growth slowed to 48% from more than 300% in 2025, with 70% of downstream applications concentrated in research and education. Regulatory scrutiny is expected to focus on sustainable revenue growth, profitability and technological capabilities, potentially affecting IPO applicants including Deep Robotics and loss-making Leju Robot.

 

South China Morning Post

School districts are increasingly restricting high-caffeine energy drinks amid concerns about their impact on student health, sleep, and classroom behavior. In Texas, Lampasas School District banned energy drinks and caffeine pouches after recording 1,000 more nurse visits in the 2025-26 school year than the year before, with officials reporting panic attacks, heart palpitations, elevated blood pressure, and fatigue among students. Nearly one in four high school seniors now consumes energy drinks daily. Beverage companies maintain that the products are intended for adults and that they do not market or distribute samples to consumers under 18.

 

Wall Street Journal