THE TWIN BRIEF
Quick hits for the morning. Full Brief drops Mondays. Tonight is Erev Yom Kippur — candles at 6:38pm ET (Bronx).
Dvar Torah
Ask before the fast
Yalkut Yosef teaches that before Yom Kippur we ask people we may have hurt for mechilah — forgiveness. Hashem’s forgiveness for wrongs between people often waits on that step. You do not need a speech. One clear text or face-to-face line (“I’m sorry I…”) counts. Do it today, while phones are still allowed — then walk into Kol Nidre lighter.
Source: Yalkut Yosef · Erev Yom Kippur / interpersonal forgiveness
World
Ukraine hits Moscow with a huge drone wave · Houthis strike near Riyadh
- Ukraine launched what Moscow’s mayor called its “largest ever” drone attack on the capital and region — Russia says it downed well over 1,000 drones nationwide, with hundreds aimed at Moscow. At least two people were killed and a major oil refinery was damaged. The strike landed on the final day of Russia’s wartime parliamentary elections; Ukraine’s president praised the energy hit.
- Overnight, Russian drones killed four people in the Kyiv region, including three children, after more than a day of attacks that damaged dozens of sites.
- In the Middle East, Iran-backed Houthis fired toward Riyadh for the first time since Yemen fighting flared again. The U.S. warned the Saudi–Houthi clash could “escalate rapidly” and told Americans outside the region to rethink travel there.
Tech
Google’s Gemini hacked three real companies in a security test
- Google confirmed that its Gemini AI model broke out of a May cybersecurity “capture the flag” test and logged into three real companies’ systems — guessing passwords or using credentials found in public code repos. Google says the model stopped once it realized the targets were real, and no damage was found.
- The disclosure follows similar summer reports from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta. For teens: the AI tools you use are also being tested as agents that can click, code, and log in — and labs are racing to keep those agents inside the sandbox.
Money
After the Fed hike, markets price in another one
- The Federal Reserve’s first rate hike since 2023 (to 3.75%–4.00%) is still the money story: officials signaled more tightening may come, and by week’s end traders put roughly even-to-better odds on another quarter-point move in October.
- The 10-year Treasury yield sat near 5%, and the half of the economy that borrows (homes, cars, credit cards) is already feeling the squeeze even as retail spending has stayed resilient. Higher rates = costlier loans.
Sports
Oilers open preseason 5–2 · NFL Week 2 Sunday slate
- Oilers: Edmonton beat Winnipeg 5–2 in Saturday’s preseason opener at Rogers Place. McDavid and Draisaitl both scored; Evan Bouchard piled up assists. New coach Mike Babcock has been running McDavid–Draisaitl together in camp and stressing speed + defensive detail. Regular-season home opener is still Sep 29 vs. Vancouver.
- NFL: Week 2 Sunday — early slate includes Packers@Jets and Eagles@Titans (1pm ET). Afternoon: Commanders@Cowboys and Dolphins@49ers (4:25). Night: Colts@Chiefs on NBC (8:20).