Zero's Briefs

Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics — Trump promises $5,000 to every adult if Republicans hold Congress — At the Republican convention in Dallas, on September 9, Donald Trump tied a payment of $5,000 to every US adult, to be spent within the United States, to the Republicans retaining control of the House and Senate after the November 3 vote. The Associated Press calculates an estimated cost of $1,230 billion for a payment to all adults, and reports that Vice President JD Vance, within an hour of the speech, indicated the measure might not apply to the wealthiest citizens (Associated Press; Georgia Public Broadcasting). Neither the funding source nor the legal mechanism has been detailed.

Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics — Third September without school in the Gaza Strip — The start of the school year in the Gaza Strip did not take place in September 2026: it is the third consecutive year in which children are waiting to return to class. The news currently comes from a single source (the daily press review by the Quotidiano dei Contribuenti, curated by the Centro Studi Confedercontribuenti); no independent confirmation available.

Europe — Copernicus: August 2026 ties with July 2023 as hottest month ever measured — The global average surface air temperature in August was 16.96 °C, 0.85 °C above the 1991-2020 average and 1.65 °C above the 1850-1900 estimate. On August 22 an extra-polar average daily sea surface temperature of 21.11 °C was recorded, described as a record. The June-August quarter is the hottest global summer on record, tied with 2024; in Western Europe it is the hottest ever observed (Copernicus Climate Change Service; RaiNews).

Europe — Brussels proposes the European Innovation Act — On September 9, together with the procurement reform, the Commission presented the proposal for the European Innovation Act: a common procedure for research and development procurement, designed to increase legal certainty and facilitate joint tenders among administrations of different Member States, measures on access to financing for new and growing businesses through the leveraging of patents and other intellectual property rights, and an advance payment to winning companies in tenders with a strong innovative component. The text follows consultations with public buyers, businesses, trade unions and civil society (eDotto; Sentenzeappalti.it).

Tech & AI — Google announces WeatherNext 3 for weather forecasting — On September 10 Google announced the release of WeatherNext 3, an artificial intelligence model developed together with DeepMind and Google Research, trained on historical atmospheric observation data, fed by satellite data and with forecasts updatable every hour. The description of it as the most advanced and accurate model, with reference to an evaluation by the company Brightband, is the company’s own position. The news currently comes from a single source (the corporate announcement reported by Il Sole 24 Ore - Info Data); no independent confirmation available.

Tech & AI — A personal estimate on AI risk, not a shared forecast — Evan Hubinger, a researcher at Anthropic, argued in a message on X that the probability of artificial intelligence systems causing the extermination of human beings could exceed 10% within the next ten years; the assessment, reported by the BBC on September 9, does not concern models currently available and is not a scientific forecast shared by the research community. Hubinger said the company “does not yet have a plan to solve superintelligence alignment.” The news currently comes from a single source (QN); no independent confirmation available.

Culture — Lisbon reopens the Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II — The Portuguese national theatre reopens on September 18, 2026, after three years of closure for works financed with NextGenerationEU programme funds. At the reopening, Macbeth returns to the stage, not performed since the fire that destroyed the building in 1964. The news currently comes from a single source (an ANSA report from Lisbon ANSA); no independent confirmation available.

Health — Lasker prize goes to Emmanuel Mignot and Masashi Yanagisawa — The 2026 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award was granted on September 9 to the two researchers for the identification of orexin, a peptide that maintains wakefulness, and for the discovery that its deficiency causes uncontrolled sleep in type 1 narcolepsy. Mignot works at Stanford University School of Medicine, Yanagisawa at the University of Tsukuba. The Lasker Foundation notes that approved drugs blocking orexin receptors for insomnia already exist, and that a receptor-2 activator is in advanced development for narcolepsy: it is therefore still under study, not available. Le Monde reports a prevalence of about one person in 2,000 and around 6,000 patients in France (Le Monde; Lasker Foundation).

Film & Entertainment — Busan 31 opens on October 6 with 316 films — The Busan International Film Festival has presented its 31st edition, from October 6 to 15, 2026: 316 titles, including 247 official invitations from 59 countries, screened at the Busan Cinema Center, CGV Centum City and Lotte Cinema Centum City. The world premiere opening film is the new work by Kim Jong-kwan, set entirely in a single café, with lead actress Kim Min-ha hosting the opening ceremony alone. Actress Michelle Yeoh receives the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award, accompanied by a programme of films she has selected (Busan International Film Festival; Edaily; Marie Claire Korea).