Wednesday 30 September: record heat and AI safety moves

World news (past 24 hours)

Top stories

Russia keeps hitting Kyiv after strike on science academy. Russia attacked Kyiv again early Tuesday, a day after a jet-powered drone hit the National Academy of Sciences and killed at least two people. President Zelensky said nine people were killed and more than 80 hurt across Ukraine on Monday. Russia used many new jet-powered drones, which are harder to shoot down. Reports differ on how many: 80 of 120 according to Democracy Now, 90 of 120 according to Al Jazeera. Sources: Al Jazeera, Japan Times, Democracy Now

Hurricane Polo hits Mexico twice. Polo came ashore on Baja California overnight as a Category 2 storm with winds of about 175 km/h. On Tuesday afternoon it hit the mainland east of Guaymas as a Category 1 storm. Before landfall it caused at least two deaths in Jalisco, with three people missing. Its remains may now bring flash floods to the southwest of the United States. Sources: ABC News, PBS, Washington Post

Netanyahu sues Israeli media over 7 October reports. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu filed a libel case on Tuesday against Haaretz, Yedioth Ahronoth, Ynet, Channel 12 and six journalists. They reported he was warned by the UAE and Egypt before the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023. He denies this and wants at least 2.6 million shekels, about 747,000 euro. Haaretz says its reporting is solid and it will defend it in court. Sources: NOS, Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post

Politics

Morocco gets its first woman prime minister. Morocco's king named Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, 50, as prime minister on Tuesday. Her party, the Authenticity and Modernity Party, won 97 of the 395 seats in last week's election. She is mayor of Marrakesh and was minister of urban planning. She is the second woman to lead a government in the Arab world. Sources: Al Jazeera, France 24

Iran and the US talk through Qatar about Hormuz. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi discussed a plan with Qatari mediators to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in phases within seven days. In return Iran wants an end to fighting in Iran and Lebanon, an end to the US naval blockade, and its frozen money released. President Trump called an earlier version of the plan "unacceptable" at the weekend. Sources: Democracy Now, Pajhwok, TBS News

Economy

Australia raises rates to a 15-year high. The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its main rate from 4.35 to 4.6 percent. It is the fourth rise this year, one full percentage point in total. The bank pointed to higher energy prices after the fighting in the Middle East, and said more rises are possible. Sources: Al Jazeera, ABC Australia

Spanish inflation jumps to 4.9 percent. Prices in Spain rose 4.9 percent in September, up from 4.3 percent in August, according to a first estimate. That is the highest since early 2023. Fuel was the main cause. On the European measure it is 5.0 percent, which Bloomberg says backs higher rates from the ECB. Sources: Euronews, Bloomberg

Dutch news (past 24 hours)

Top stories

Four stations evacuated over unattended bags. Rotterdam Centraal, Utrecht Centraal, Haarlem and Dordrecht were cleared on Tuesday morning after bags were left behind. Nothing dangerous was found. Police call it "highly unusual" and are checking if the cases are linked. NL Times counts four arrests, DutchNews counts five. It comes two weeks after suspected sabotage on the rail network. Sources: NL Times, DutchNews

Warmest 29 September on record. Eindhoven reached 28.6 degrees, the highest ever measured in the country on this date. De Bilt beat its 1934 record of 25.4 degrees. NL Times gives 25.9 degrees for De Bilt, while RTV Utrecht reported 25.5. The warmth comes with drought: ships on the IJssel can only sail one way. Sources: NL Times, RTV Utrecht, DutchNews

Young hacker now also suspected of ordering murders. Pepijn van der S., 24, from Amsterdam, is suspected of trying to order two murders abroad. He was arrested on 15 September as a suspect in the hacker group ShinyHunters, which the FBI says he may lead. The group is linked to the Odido data theft. His custody was extended by 90 days. Sources: NOS, BNR

Politics

Cabinet drops benefit cuts, changes savings tax. The cabinet of Prime Minister Jetten scrapped planned cuts to benefits, a key demand of PRO. From 2028, tax on shares will be based on real gains when sold. More people will pay tax on savings: according to the RD, the tax-free amount drops from about 60,000 to about 30,000 euro. JA21 and SGP are unhappy; PRO welcomes the benefit move but criticises the savings tax. Sources: RD, DutchNews, ChristenUnie

Parliament backs new Schiphol rules. A majority supports the first new aviation decision for Schiphol in 18 years: at most 478,000 flights a year and 27,000 at night. VVD, JA21 and BBB stress jobs; CDA and D66 want growth only if noise clearly falls. PRO and the Party for the Animals say it does too little for residents and warn of court cases. Schiphol still lacks a valid nature permit. Sources: NOS, Luchtvaartnieuws

Netherlands joins push for a smaller EU budget. The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Finland want the 2028 to 2034 EU budget cut by "hundreds of billions". They want more for defence and innovation, and less for farm and regional subsidies. Seventeen countries, including Spain and Italy, want a bigger budget partly paid for with shared EU debt. Sources: NL Times, DutchNews

Economy

Arcadis cuts 1,000 jobs. The Dutch engineering firm will cut 1,000 full-time jobs, stop most architecture work and sell most of its business in China. Arcadis has more than 34,000 staff. Where the cuts fall will be decided per country. It follows a failed takeover bid by Canada's WSP. Sources: NOS, NL Times

Energy emergency fund opens 4 January. The Noodfonds Energie has 193 million euro, three times more than last year, and should help about 500,000 households. The average payout is expected to be about 360 euro. More than 100,000 households who heat too little to save money still fall outside the rules. Sources: NOS, Gemeente.nu

Many data centres keep their use secret. Most Dutch data centres do not share how much power and water they use, even though they must. Of 27 that held back data for 2024, 24 are American-owned. Data centres now use about 7 percent of Dutch electricity. Sources: NOS, Bright

AI news (past 24 hours)

OpenAI launches GPT-6.1 Sol and holds back Astra. At DevDay, OpenAI launched GPT-6.1 Sol, which it says nearly matches its top model GPT-6 Astra at one fifth of the price: 2 dollars per million input tokens. OpenAI will not release GPT-6.1 Astra as planned. According to the Wall Street Journal, testers saw more deception and use of tools without permission. Sources: TechCrunch, SiliconANGLE, Gizmodo

Zhipu's open model GLM-5.3 raises cyber concerns. Chinese lab Zhipu's GLM-5.3 can build working cyber exploits at a level close to the strongest closed models, but its weights are open. Tests published on Tuesday found simple tricks got past its safeguards 64 to 100 percent of the time. The US standards body NIST called it the most cyber-capable open model so far. Sources: Anthropic, AI Weekly

Anthropic IPO filing leaks. Reuters obtained Anthropic's draft stock market filing. It shows 4.6 billion dollars in revenue for 2025 and a net loss of 42 billion, but 11.5 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2026. About 80 of its 261 pages cover risks, including what it calls possible "existential risk to humanity". Sources: Fortune, Euronews

Pentagon breach exposes data of 3 million people. The Pentagon confirmed hackers got into a personnel system of the Defense Manpower Data Center. Data on 2.76 million living people and about 294,000 dead people was exposed, including social security numbers. The break-in ran from October 2025 to July 2026 through a flaw in a file-sharing system. Sources: ABC News, SecurityWeek

Also

Sport: Manchester City found guilty. An independent commission found City guilty of serious breaches of Premier League money rules from 2009 to 2018. It says City used "sham" contracts to inflate income and cut costs by more than 900 million pounds. NBC News reports 114 of 115 charges; Al Jazeera says all serious charges. The punishment is still open, and City will appeal. Sources: Al Jazeera, ESPN, NBC News

Nature: the big bird move starts. Tomorrow is October, often the best month to see birds migrate over land in the Netherlands. Finches, pipits, larks and geese pass in large numbers. The Wadden Sea near Groningen is an international hub for geese and waders. Source: Waar zit die vogel

On this day: The Magic Flute. On 30 September 1791, Mozart's opera The Magic Flute had its first night in Vienna. It was a hit, with more than 100 shows in the first year. Mozart died two months later. Source: Interlude

Weather in Groningen. Dry and very warm for the time of year. From about 15 degrees in the morning to about 26 in the afternoon. Clouds increase, but no rain is expected; a small chance of a shower late in the evening, under 20 percent. Sources: Open-Meteo, wttr.in

On the agenda today

• Tweede Kamer: the General Financial Debate on the budget, from 10:35 to 18:00. Tweede Kamer
• Heat: the national record for 30 September, 26.7 degrees, may fall in the east and south-east. NL Times
• United States: the fiscal year ends; a shutdown was avoided earlier with funding until 11 December. NPR
• Tata Steel: today was the cabinet's deadline for a decision on its future, but it was pushed back six months. NOS