The vast majority of policymakers in Westminster, let alone elsewhere around the UK, have never heard of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the geopolitical grouping currently holding its summit at Tianjin, but hear me out on why we should all be paying considerable attention to it.
Because the more attention you pay to this grouping of 10 Eurasian states – most notably China, Russia and India – the more you start to realise that the long-term consequences of the war in Ukraine might well reach far beyond Europe’s borders, changing the contours of the world as we know it.
The best place to begin with this is in February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. Back then, there were a few important hallmarks in the global economy. The amount of goods exported to Russia by the G7 – the equivalent grouping of rich, industrialised nations – was about the same as China’s exports. Europe was busily sucking in most Russian oil.
But roll on to today and G7 exports to Russia have gone to nearly zero (a consequence of sanctions). Russian assets, including government bonds previously owned by the Russian central bank, have been confiscated and their fate wrangled over. But Chinese exports to Russia, far from falling or even flatlining, have risen sharply. Exports of Chinese transportation equipment are up nearly 500%. Meanwhile, India has gone from importing next to no Russian oil to relying on the country for the majority of its crude imports.
Indeed, so much oil is India now importing from Russia that the US has said it will impose “secondary tariffs” on India, doubling the level of tariffs paid on Indian goods imported into America to 50% – one of the highest levels in the world.
The upshot of Ukraine, in other words, isn’t just misery and war in Europe. It’s a sharp divergence in economic strategies around the world. Some countries – notably the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – have doubled down on their economic relationship with Russia. Others have forsworn Russian business.
And in so doing, many of those Asian nations have begun to envisage something they had never quite imagined before: an economic future that doesn’t depend on the American financial infrastructure. Once upon a time, Asian nations were the biggest buyers of American government debt, in part to provide them with the dollars they needed to buy crude oil, which is generally denominated in the US currency. But since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has begun to sell its oil without denominating it in dollars.
At the same time, many Asian nations have reduced their purchases of US debt. Indeed, part of the explanation for the recent rise in US and UK government bond yields is that there is simply less demand for them from foreign investors than there used to be. The world is changing – and the foundations of what we used to call globalisation are shifting.
The penultimate reason to pay attention to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is that while once upon a time its members accounted for a small fraction of global economic output, today that fraction is on the rise. Indeed, if you adjust economic output to account for purchasing power, the share of global GDP accounted for by the nations meeting in Tianjin is close to overtaking the share of GDP accounted for by the world’s advanced nations.
And the final thing to note – something that would have seemed completely implausible only a few years ago – is that China and India, once sworn rivals, are edging closer to an economic rapprochement. With India now facing swingeing tariffs from the US, New Delhi sees little downside in a rare trip to China, to cement relations with Beijing. This is a seismic moment in geopolitics. For a long time, the world’s two most populous nations were at loggerheads. Now they are increasingly moving in lockstep with each other.
That is a consequence few would have guessed at when Russia invaded Ukraine. Yet it could be of enormous importance for geopolitics in future decades.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Guatemalan Minister of Governance Francisco Jimenez shake hands after signing a memorandum of understanding on a joint security program agreement at the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura on June 26 in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
After planes with Guatemalan children were loaded in the U.S., then prevented from taking off by a federal judge’s decision to temporarily halt the children’s removal, the Guatemalan government said on Aug. 31 that it was responsible for recently proposing to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that the unaccompanied Guatemalan minors be returned to their home country.
In a statement published to the social media platform X on the evening of Aug. 31, the same day as the judge’s decision, the Guatemalan government indicated it wanted to prevent the children from staying in shelters and detention centers and that it supports coordinated action to reunify Guatemalan children with their families.
El Gobierno de Guatemala informa sobre acciones de reunificación familiar de menores guatemaltecos migrantes no acompañados: pic.twitter.com/6956IVTWeN
The Guatemalan government has plans to identify the needs of each of the Guatemalan children and intends to include them in social programs in their home country, the government stated. All actions that have been taken in regards to the unaccompanied minors have taken the children’s human rights into account and have complied with due process, the government alleged.
NPR asked the Guatemalan government how many children it had requested be returned from the U.S., and whether all of their parents have asked that the children be returned to Guatemala, as a U.S. attorney indicated in a hearing on Aug. 31. The Guatemalan government did not immediately respond and did not directly address those questions in its statement.
The statement appears to contain a factual error. The Guatemalan government said it suggested the idea of sending back the unaccompanied minors to Noem while she was in the country in July. But Noem visited Guatemala on June 26, after making stops in Costa Rica, Honduras and Paraguay in a tour of Central America.
During that visit, Noem and Guatemalan Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez signed agreements, including one to potentially allow people not originally from Guatemala to seek asylum in Guatemala instead of the U.S., despite the fact that U.S. law permits asylum seekers to remain as they comply with court proceedings relevant to their case. Noem was also pictured on June 26 watching people being deported from the U.S. while at La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, with U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Tobin Bradley.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (R) talks to ERO Regional Attaché Guadalupe “Lupita” Serna (C) and U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Tobin Bradley as people deported from the United States disembark a repatriation flight as Noem is given a tour of Department of Homeland Security operations at La Aurora International Airport on June 26, 2025 in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Anna Moneymaker/AFP via Getty Images
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Anna Moneymaker/AFP via Getty Images
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NPR regarding whether Guatemala had suggested that the unaccompanied minors be returned to Guatemala while Noem was visiting the country in June.
Some attorneys representing the Guatemalan children set to be deported disagree with Guatemala’s statement that the process to remove the unaccompanied minors has not disregarded their rights. In the attempt to send children away without allowing them to first finish pursuing their asylum claims, lawyers for the National Immigration Law Center, the law firm representing some of the Guatemalan children in the U.S., believe the U.S. has violated both federal laws and the U.S. constitution.
“In the dead of night on a holiday weekend, the Trump administration ripped vulnerable, frightened children from their beds and attempted to return them to danger in Guatemala,” said Efrén C. Olivares, the Vice President of Litigation at the National Immigration Law Center.
The U.S. district court issuance of an emergency Temporary Restraining Order on Aug. 31 prevented the government from removing any unaccompanied Guatemalan minors in U.S. custody for the next 14 days. The National Immigration Law Center has vowed to continue defending the Guatemalan children’s right to stay in the U.S.
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This is the kind of thing that happens when a president prioritizes loyalty over competence when filling out their administration.
The Trump administration has been taking criticism for sending federal troops to Los Angeles at a cost of $1 million per day when there was no national emergency or civil unrest.
Donald Trump and members of his administration have tried to justify their waste of money by making regular claims about a crisis in LA.
Kristi Noem took those claims to a new, even more absurd level on CBS’s Face The Nation, “You know that always is a prerogative of President Trump and his decision. I won’t speak to the specifics of the operations that are planned in other cities, but I do know that LA wouldn’t be standing today if President Trump hadn’t taken action, then that city would have burned down if left to the devices of the mayor and the governor of that state. And so the citizens who live there, the small business owners in Downtown LA, they’re thankful that President Trump came in with federal law enforcement officers and helped support keeping those streets open, keep their homes and businesses from burning down, and made sure the law and order was restored.”
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When CBS News’s Ed O’Keefe asked Noem to clarify, she kept exaggerating:
Apple is preparing to roll out at least one SIM-free iPhone 17 model to more countries, with retail staff in the EU now being trained on how eSIM works.
The eSIM is gradually replacing physical SIM card trays
Following the introduction of eSIM support in the iPhone, and the eventual release of an eSIM-only iPhone 14 in the United States, Apple has been preparing to eliminate SIM card usage in other countries. For the iPhone 17 launch, it seems Apple will be doing just that.
According to a source of MacRumors on Sunday, Apple is requiring employees at Apple Authorized Resellers in the European Union to complete a training course by September 5. That training course, which appears in the SEED app, is accessible to both Apple Store employees and resellers.
You may have seen many catfishing tales in shows and documentaries, from MTV’s Catfish to Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare. But you have never seen anything like the latest Netflix true-crime documentary sensation, Unknown Number: The High School Catfish. The story revolves around a young high school couple, a series of downright vile text messages that span years, and a tangled web of lies that culminates in a reveal you’ll never see coming.
The True Story Behind ‘Unknown Number: The High School Catfish’
Netflix
Lauryn and Owen are two kids growing up in the small town of Beal City, Michigan. They start as friends, then begin dating, and eventually become the “golden couple” at their high school. They’re the typical “prom king and prom queen” high school couple you see in the movies. Except these kids were just 13, 14, and 15 years old throughout the duration of the incidents.
One day, Lauryn begins to receive a series of horrible messages from an unknown number calling her ugly, telling her Owen wants to break up with her, and that she’s worthless. Owen eventually receives similar messages urging him to help them “take down” Lauryn. As the months progress, the messages get worse. It seems the mysterious person is stalking them, referencing things they wore that day in school, how they performed in their latest game, and even details about their upcoming plans.
The texts come in fast and furious and eventually escalate to devastatingly cruel, vile, and even sexually graphic messages. Both sets of parents are at their wits’ end. When the police come up blank after interrogating several suspects, from an old friend of Owen’s who might still have a crush on him to Owen’s cousin, they send the information to the FBI in hopes that they can help.
A trace of an IP address leads to a warrant for the cell phone company, and the officer can cross-reference the number with Owen and his mom’s contact lists. Only one number comes up as a match, and who it belongs to will shock you to your core.
The Aftermath Is Crazier Than the Reveal
Netflix
The number, it appears, belongs to Lauryn’s own mother, Kendra. It seems downright ridiculous to think she could have sent such awful messages to her own child. Nonetheless, the police receive a warrant for her laptop and phone(s) and pay her a visit. It doesn’t take long for her to confess to the crime.
What’s most wild about the big reveal in this true-crime documentary is not even that it was Lauryn’s own mother sending her messages calling her ugly and worthless and telling her to kill herself. It was her justification for it, which wasn’t much of a justification at all. The family was having financial troubles. She was laid off from two jobs and lied to her husband about it, saying she quit one, and he presumably thought she was still working the other. Her own cousin questions whether Kendra had even been employed with the company in the first place.
She referenced her own childhood trauma, including being raped at 17 and wanting to protect her daughter. She felt upset that her daughter was growing up and didn’t want her to have the same experience. How sending such messages to not only Lauryn but to the seemingly nice, polite young man she was dating would accomplish this is unclear.
The story becomes even creepier when it’s suggested that Kendra might have been infatuated with Owen. He looks back and finds her behavior towards him odd. She would go out of her way for him, even cut his steak into pieces. Even after he and Lauryn broke up, Kendra would still attend Owen’s games and would reportedly text him one-on-one on occasion to see how he was doing.
During her hearing, Kendra admitted to knowing she had a mental illness, though what mental illness is not specified. It’s suggested in the documentary that she may suffer from a form of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Those with Munchausen’s either fake or intentionally cause physical or psychological symptoms in themselves for attention or sympathy. Munchausen by proxy, most famously exemplified in the Gypsy Blanchard case, occurs when a person, typically a parent, intentionally causes harm to their own child.
Thus, the inference is that Kendra’s acts were a form of cyber-based Munchausen’s by proxy, notes Beal City superintendent Bill Chillman in the documentary. Kendra caused Lauryn to feel such psychological pain from the words in these messages and being constantly taunted, so she could be the one there for Lauryn to help comfort her. The documentary’s director, Skye Borgman, tells Time she feels that Kendra sent those messages to “essentially force Lauryn closer to her.”
So Many Questions Remain
Netflix
Lauryn indicates in Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, one of the best new true-crime documentaries on Netflix, that while she hasn’t seen her mother in a year and a half since she was released from prison, they kept in touch while she was incarcerated. She still loves her mother deeply and wants to have a relationship with her, something most viewers watching simply can’t comprehend. Even in the body cam footage, when the police first reveal the discovery to Kendra, Lauryn can be seen hugging her mother and holding her hand while also clearly in shock.
Still, it’s tough to reconcile the lewd nature of the messages, many of which referenced inappropriate sex acts for teenagers who are so young. Furthermore, Kendra’s explanations don’t seem to express remorse for what she has done, nor do they acknowledge that it’s far more disturbing than some other, less damaging crime. “Realistically,” she says in a warped sense of justification, “a lot of us have probably broken the law at some point or another and not gotten caught. I’m sure people drove drunk, haven’t been caught.”
She doesn’t appear to comprehend that breaking the law isn’t the issue. It’s purposely, intentionally, heinously targeting her own daughter and an innocent young man in a sick and twisted game of catfish that plays on their vulnerabilities, drives them to have suicidal thoughts, as Owen admits in one of his text message replies, and strips away at their self-esteem. Not to mention the other innocent young women she hurt by having fingers unjustly pointed at them as possible suspects.
For now, Lauryn is 18 years old and thus a legal adult. Borgman observed, during her 2024 visit to Lauryn, a year after their initial interview, that she was “more measured” about how much she would let her mother into her life. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see Kendra yet, but admitted she still loved her mother.
It’s easy to judge, but it’s also a situation that no one can truly understand without being in it. Nonetheless, the entire story, from start to finish, takes you on a wild ride with unexpected twists and turns, evoking a range of emotions, from sadness to anger to outright disgust.
The most important message coming out of the documentary, according to Borgman, when speaking to Netflix Tudum, is to “listen to your kids, understand the threats that are out there, and give them the ability to make good decisions.” But it’s also clear from this incredibly unbelievable story that people are capable of doing things most of us can’t possibly ever comprehend. Stream Unknown Number: The High School Catfish on Netflix.
Alien: Earth is the latest chapter in the Alien series, but it is far from the first. Not only does the franchise live in its many movies, but the Alien universe also exists in comic books, the vast majority of which were published by Dark Horse Comics.
The Dark Horse era of Aliens comics significantly contributed to the broader lore of the series. Unfortunately, nothing that happened in those books is, strictly speaking, canon. But, as the Alien franchise continues to expand in the form of a television series, Alien: Earth has the power to fix that.
Many downright shocking moments in the Dark Horse Aliens comics would be perfect for a long-form canon series like Alien: Earth. So perfect, in fact, that it would be no surprise if fans asked themselves: if Alien: Earth doesn’t include these 10 shocking scenes, what’s the point?
10
Alien vs Ninja
Alien‘s Xenomorphs are known for battling Colonial Marines and Predators, but one comic shows Xenomorphs fighting a completely different type of enemy: ninja. In Aliens: Music of the Spears, ninjas break into a pharmaceutical company to steal an Ovomorph (Facehugger egg) and find themselves surrounded by Xenomorphs.
The battle between the ninjas and Xenomorphs is as epic as it is unique, especially for a Sci-Fi franchise. But the best part is that it happens on Earth, as Xenomorph knowledge and experimentation have become fairly common at this point in the franchise.
If Alien: Earth eventually normalizes the Xenomorphs’ existence on Earth the same way Dark Horse Comics did, then there’s no reason why this ‘Alien vs Ninja’ scene couldn’t exist in a later season.
9
Human/Xenomorph Hybrids
Bug-Men from Alien holding rifles.
Alien: Earth explores the idea of human/synthetic hybrids. But what about human/Xenomorph hybrids? That’s a hellish amalgamation introduced in Aliens: Colonial Marines, and these alien hybrids had a name: Bug-Men. The Bug-Men traveled the cosmos as armed soldiers, spreading Xenomorph life wherever they went.
The Bug-Men weren’t products of human experimentation, nor were they created by the Xenomorphs deliberately. They were regular humans who had been mutated by drugs derived from the Xenomorphs, a horrific (yet fascinating) side effect of introducing Xenomorph DNA into their bodies willingly.
8
Xenomorph-Derived Drugs
Xeno Zip and Royal Jelly, 2 drugs derived from Alien’s Xenomorph Queen.
The Bug-Men mutated because they took drugs created from Xenomorphs, but Aliens: Colonial Marines is far from the only time fans hear about these drugs. The aforementioned Aliens: Music of the Spears and Aliens: Genocide also heavily feature Xenomorph drugs, two of which are called Royal Jelly and Xeno Zip.
Royal Jelly is a hallucinogen that taps human minds into the same frequency of communication as the Xenomorph, while Xeno Zip is an ‘upper’ that temporarily gives humans the strength and speed of a Xenomorph (but not the creature’s durability).
These drugs are why pharmaceutical companies are as obsessed with Xenomorphs as Weyland-Yutani or Prodigy, as they are cheap to make (indeed, the companies basically only need a Queen Xenomorph) and are highly addictive. Drugs like these would be a perfect addition to Alien: Earth.
7
Xenomorph-Worshipping Cults
Alien’s Darwin Era cultist with a Xenomorph.
As confirmed in Alien: Earth, Xenomorphs communicate through high-frequency sounds that the human ear cannot hear, but that the human mind can intercept. When there are enough Xenomorphs around humans (ie, hives on Earth), some people are driven subtly insane by the Xenomorphs’ communication.
These people become increasingly fascinated by the Xenomorphs to the point where they long for the ’embrace of the Queen’ through impregnation. They worship the Xenomorph Queen, and they consider it a great honor and privilege to carry a Xenomorph inside of them.
Some cults use drugs like Royal Jelly to become more connected with the Xenomorph hive, which only increases their longing for impregnation. If Xenomorphs are going to stay on Earth in Alien: Earth, then the series should absolutely introduce these disturbing cults.
6
Xenomorphs Breeding Humans
Xenomorphs have always been portrayed as highly intelligent, and they use their intelligence for one thing above all others: breeding. The Xenomorph’s primary function is to grow its hive in any way possible. And, in Aliens: Labyrinth, they found a truly disturbing way to do just that.
The Xenomorph hive featured in this comic was dying, and the aliens only had a handful of humans left for reproduction. So, the Xenomorphs kept the weak and starving humans alive by feeding them pieces of former hosts (ie, dead people) before attempting to breed the humans like cattle.
This could be the horrific fate of Netherland in Alien: Earth if a potential Xenomorph outbreak were contained on the island. And now that fans know that’s a possibility, it’s hard to imagine the series going any other way.
5
Alien’s Connection to The Terminator
Terminator/Xenomorph hybrid from Aliens vs Predator vs The Terminator.
Alien: Earth has taken the Alien franchise to Earth for the first time, opening the possibility of canonizing a connection made in Dark Horse Comics with The Terminator franchise. It’s revealed in Aliens vs Predator vs The Terminator that Alien takes place in The Terminator‘s future after humanity defeats Skynet.
4
Further Exploration of the Xenomorph’s DNA Reflex
The Mantis Alien from Aliens: Space Marines.
Alien fans have known for years that the Xenomorphs adopt traits of their hosts, although the movies (and now the TV show) rarely explore that aspect of their biology. The closest fans came to this was in Alien 3 with the Runner Xenomorph, which was born from a dog.
Alien comic books, however, have explored the DNA Reflex extensively, but none so thoroughly as Kenner’s Aliens: Space Marines. These comic books were packaged with Kenner Aliens action figures and served as in-story explanations for the variety of Xenomorph toys.
However, just because these comics were made to sell toys doesn’t make them any less lore-accurate. And now it’s time for Alien: Earth to explore what a Xenomorph would look like after gestating within a giant mantis or alien rhino.
3
Xenomorph Synthetics
Aliens: Stronghold’s Jeri, the synthetic Xenomorph.
Synthetics appear to be a significant aspect of Alien: Earth, particularly in the context of human-synthetic hybrids. However, there’s a more interesting synthetic ‘hybrid’ in the comics that has yet to be brought to the screen, one that would be perfect for Alien: Earth – Synthetic Xenomorphs.
Dark Horse Comics introduced a synthetic Xenomorph named Jeri in Aliens: Stronghold. To be clear, this wasn’t a synthetic with the mind of a Xenomorph (like the hybrids in Alien: Earth); Jeri was simply a synthetic that resembled a Xenomorph. However, that alone offers some fun narrative possibilities.
In the comics, Jeri was used to infiltrate Xenomorph hives undetected. Plus, Jeri was a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, gun-toting Xeno-Synth, and that visual alone is enough to warrant his live-action introduction.
2
The Black Goo’s Terraforming Capabilities
Prometheus scientist explaining Black Goo terraforming.
The Black Goo is a substance derived from Xenomorphs (specifically Facehuggers) that the Engineers used to seed life on worlds across the universe. Peter Weyland was obsessed with refining the Black Goo to grant himself immortality, which is why David dubbed the substance “Prometheus Fire“.
In Dark Horse Comics’ Alien, Predator, and Prometheus crossover miniseries Fire and Stone, it’s revealed that the Black Goo also has the power to terraform entire worlds, as it did to the moon featured in Prometheus, LV-223.
With Alien: Earth‘s heightened focus on scientific breakthroughs, it would be fascinating if the series delved further into the Black Goo’s terraforming capabilities, especially as Weyland-Yutani is canonically on the verge of launching its “Building Better Worlds” campaign.
1
The Introduction of Steel Team
Alien’s Steel Team suited up in armor holding weapons.
This entry actually isn’t from a Dark Horse Aliens comic, but rather Marvel Comics’ Alien: Icarus. Steel Team is a team of synthetic special forces. They utilize their heightened strength, speed, durability, and near-immortality to tackle missions that human soldiers could only dream of accomplishing.
Alien: Earth had already teased a similar team when Prodigy’s “Lost Boys” sprang into action following the Weyland-Yutani ship crash-landing in Prodigy City. Now, all Alien: Earth needs to do is expand on that idea with a legitimate synthetic special forces team, just like in the Alien comics.
Four Cal State San Bernardino students received the news of a lifetime this month: full funding to support their ongoing studies.
The prize came courtesy of the band Fuerza Regida and Street Mob Records. Frontman and label head Jesús Ortiz Paz unveiled the scholarship at an April event held at CSUSB. The scholarship is named after their latest studio album,”111xpantia,” which was released in May.
“If we can do it coming from the same city, facing the same struggles, then trust me, you can do it too,” Ortiz Paz said in a motivational speech ahead of the scholarship announcement.
The funding is intended to support the next generation of change-makers in the San Bernardino region, where nearly a third of the population has received a bachelor’s degree or higher — which is below both the national and state averages.
Among the recipients is Ronald Alvarado, a San Bernardino resident devoted to public service.
When he’s not investigating government fraud for the city of San Bernardino or acting as chair of the city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission, the 37-year-old is pursuing two advanced degrees: a master’s degree in public administration and another in science and information systems technology.
“Growing up on the west side of San Bernardino, everything was set up against us,” he said. “Systematically down to the point that the freeways exit on the other side of town.”
Last month, Alvarado launched his campaign to run for City Council’s 1st Ward. The region is currently represented by Theodore Sanchez, who earlier this year faced pushback from organizers amid claims of inactivity.
“There was some community activism [where I am from], but where I really saw [change] was being in government,” said Alvarado of his newly launched campaign. “Maybe if we could find a seat at the table, we can help move our city forward.”
The 111xpantia funding will help Alvarado alleviate the stress of having to take out additional loans and allow him to focus his energy and resources on his campaign, he said.
Another scholarship recipient, Alejandra Peres, admitted she’d been unaware of the total funding amount when she applied. She discovered the application through an Instagram post on the day of the July 31 deadline.
“I thought it was like a $500 scholarship — that’s [still] a lot of help,” said Peres, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology. “But it ended up being a lot more than what I imagined, so it was a huge blessing.”
The 32-year-old from Duarte dreams of becoming a psychiatrist, a path that was inspired by her own experience navigating a chronic mental health condition. The 111xpantia scholarship removes one less worry for her as she gets her life in order.
“[The scholarship] gave me the ability to establish myself,” she said.
The other two scholarship recipients are a paraplegic student pursuing a degree in computer science who is motivated to create a more inclusive world, and a marketing student who will combine their passion for storytelling and psychology to support their community in the Coachella Valley.
This isn’t the first time Fuerza Regida has extended support to communities in Southern California. In 2023, the band kicked off its U.S. tour Otra Peda by donating $20,000 to Inclusive Action for the City, a nonprofit that helps street vendors.
In January, the band rented out a hotel to house families displaced by the wildfires. Amid the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement raids taking place across Southern California this summer, Fuerza Regida donated merchandise profits to organizations such as the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, which covers legal fees for impacted individuals.
Baylee Lynn’s debut single “Cautiously Optimistic” tops this week’s new music poll.
In a poll published Friday (Aug. 29) on Billboard, music fans voted the 17-year-old singer-songwriter’s first-ever release as their favorite new track of the week.
“Cautiously Optimistic” earned 64% of the vote, beating out fresh releases from artists like Sabrina Carpenter (Man’s Best Friend), Hayley Williams (Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party), Zach Top (Ain’t In It For My Health), and Blood Orange (Essex Honey).
The Tennessee native’s debut, produced by AJ Pruis, is a country-pop anthem inspired by artists like Dolly Parton and Faith Hill that captures the emotional journey of navigating love after heartbreak.
“When we wrote ‘Cautiously Optimistic,’ I envisioned this song being one that most teenage girls can relate to,” Lynn said in a statement. “I know what it’s like to be the girl who’s scared of letting her guard down because she fears being hurt again — but also what it’s like to be the girl who’s so good at ignoring all the red flags. I am beyond thrilled for this song to finally be out in the world!”
The track was co-written by Lynn, Pruis, Kyle Sturrock and Brett Tyler.
Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend took second place in the poll, pulling in 26% of the vote. The pop star’s seventh studio album, produced by Jack Antonoff, arrives just over a year after her Grammy-winning Short n’ Sweet, which topped the Billboard 200 for four weeks.
Williams’ Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, a collection of previously released singles with a brand new song titled “Parachute,” came in third with nearly 4% of the vote.
Check out the full results of this week’s poll below and visit Billboard’s Friday Music Guide for more must-hear releases.
Motorheads raced into fans’ hearts with its “Fast & Furious meets coming-of-age” premise, as star Michael Ciminoput it. Season 1 set up a promising mystery, tense conflicts, and burgeoning romances between its characters, who live in a small Rust Belt town obsessed with cars. But after its premiere in May 2025, has Prime Video told the Motorheads crew to start their engines again?
Shortly after the show’s debut, creator John A. Norris updated fans on X. He confirmed that the entirety of Season 2 has already been written up, which was exciting news after Season 1’s finale left so many questions unanswered. Did Harris (Josh MacQueen) die after his car flipped during his race with Zac (Cimino)? Will Zac and Caitlyn’s (Melissa Collazo) father come back after he disappeared before their birth?
There’s a chance fans won’t find out. Deadline reported Prime Video canceled the series months after its debut — but will it find another home? Check for the latest updates from the Motorheads team below.
Has Motorheads been renewed for Season 2?
Prime Video has called it quits on Motorheads, according to Deadline’s August 29 article. However, all hope might not be lost. The producers got Amazon’s permission to try and take the show elsewhere. According to Deadline’s sources, they’ve “already started conversations with potential new homes.”
“While Johnny and I are disappointed Motorheads won’t be continuing at Prime Video, we couldn’t be more proud of what the team created,” producer Jason Seagraves said. “Despite going into release with impossibly low audience awareness, our passionate and vocal fan base led the charge and made the series impossible to ignore. Their enthusiasm has energized us and we’re optimistic we’ll find a home that believes in and supports the show.”
On July 28, Amazon MGM Studios’ Head of TV, Vernon Sanders, discussed the future of Motorheads, along with We Were Liars and Overcompensating. The company, he said, was “excited” by what they saw in terms of Motorheads‘ results.
“Each show has a really passionate fanbase, and we’ve been really pleased by the completion rates of Motorheads and Overcompensating — so we’re going to be in conversations with all three,” he told Variety. “All three shows are working on Season 2 writers rooms, and we’ll hope to have renewal announcements soon on some, if not all, of those shows.”
Further, Norris and Seagraves said they have an interest in expanding the universe beyond Season 2, according to Us Weekly. “We absolutely want to do a Motorheads prequel,” Norris said. “I already know what I would call it.”
Since there has been no announcement yet that the show has been picked up by another streamer, the full cast list isn’t available yet. It’s expected that the actors who play the main four friends — Cimino, Collazo, Uriah Shelton, and Nicolas Cantu — will come back. Ryan Phillippe and Nathalie Kelley (aka Logan Maddox and Sam Torres) would likely return, too.
What will happen in Motorheads Season 2?
The creative team hasn’t divulged the plot details of a potential Season 2, but Cimino teased that it’ll be a “complete dynamic shift.”
“It’s going to flip the whole narrative on its head,” the actor told Us Weekly. “Now Zac is technically the head honcho in town. There’s going to be a dynamic shift regardless of what happens with Zac and how he approaches it. Whether he internalizes it or if he actually is dealing with it is the big question mark.”
The financial sector is going through a rapid digital transformation, but cybercriminals are adapting just as quickly. Banks are forced to spend heavily to keep ahead of surging financial fraud. Across the Asia-Pacific region, 98% of financial institutions have had to scale up their compliance operations, driving costs above $45 billion. This surge reflects a shift toward integrated anti-fraud strategies, with governments and industries rolling out targeted national responses to counter increasingly sophisticated threats.
Hong Kong authorities have launched Scameter, a mobile fraud alert system that that notifies users of high-risk transactions. Singapore has introduced the Shared Responsibility Framework, which allocates scam loss responsibilities to financial institutions and telecommunication operators, encouraging the implementation of anti-scam measures. Similarly, Australia’s Scam-Safe Accord is a cross-industry initiative across banks, building societies, credit unions aimed at elevating the standard of customer protection to counter scams.
These moves all represent a strong response to a growing regional threat, exemplified by Southeast Asia’s “scam compounds”: physical hubs where criminal syndicates orchestrate large-scale online scams, including identity fraud, phishing, fake investments and money laundering. Disguised as legitimate businesses, these sophisticated operations generate billions of dollars annually.
What’s driving this evolution in financial crime? Increasingly, it’s artificial intelligence. Criminal networks use AI to create synthetic identities, launch massive phishing campaigns, and bypass traditional security systems—and do so with fewer resources and in record time. While scam compounds are concentrated in Asia, the threat of financial fraud is global.
Yet as Asia’s crime syndicates make headlines, the region’s banks are quietly leading a shift in how to prevent fraud. Unlike other banks, which use AI for customers personalization and call center support, Asian banks are instead tapping AI to fight back against cybercriminals through fraud detection, identity verification, and anti-money laundering.
Why APAC is outpacing in AI-driven fraud defense
Asia’s greater focus on AI-powered fraud prevention is due to the region’s exposure to financial crime. Asian institutions are in the trenches when it comes to cybercrime, pushing them to rapidly adopt AI-driven strategies.
The scale of financial loss is staggering. In 2024 alone, the Asia-Pacific region lost an estimated $688 billion to fraud, nearly two-thirds of the world’s total. Asians’ rapid adoption of digital wallets and payment platforms makes matters worse: By outpacing the rollout of strong consumer protections, this usage opens doors for cybercriminals and is putting banks on the front lines.
Asian banks are leading the way in adopting ISO 20022, a new messaging standard that allows financial institutions to use AI to precisely detect anomalies and cut exposure to financial crime.
Same tech, different playbooks
Regional priorities are shifting as banks adopt AI. Asia-Pacific banks are focusing on fraud prevention and security, while European and U.S. institutions instead use AI to personalize products and customer service.
According to our research, just over half of organizations in the UK want to use generative AI to enhance the customer experience. That reflects the UK’s hyper-competitive market, where user-friendly interactions are key to winning customer loyalty. The U.S. is splitting its AI focus between customers experience and operational automation, supporting both consumer demands for frictionless banking and internal goals for efficiency.
In contrast, 58% of Asia-Pacific banks are focusing their AI investments on fraud detection and anti-money laundering, well above the global average. Asia-Pacific banks face a high-risk landscape where criminal networks use generative AI for identity fraud, phishing and financial scams. As a result, the region prioritizes cybersecurity, forging a sharper, security-focused AI strategy that views fraud prevention as a key competitive advantage.
Importantly, AI is blurring the distinction between security and service. Growing cyber threats means customers expect their banks to not just protect their money, but also provide clear, accurate answers in times of uncertainty. Our work with clients reveals that AI-powered chatbots and authentication systems can speed up queries from banking staff by sourcing information for them 30-40% faster than before. This has in turn had a knock-on effect for customer satisfaction, with customers now rating their experiences with chatbots 25% higher than their previous conversations with human agents.
What the next era of banking demands
Fraud detection can’t be isolated in today’s threat landscape. It must be embedded within financial infrastructure. Whether that’s through cross-industry accords like Australia’s Scam-Safe Accord, or through the blend of service and security seen in AI-powered chatbots that both authenticate users and resolve queries in real time, APAC is demonstrating how integrated systems can turn raw data into actionable defenses, driven by AI and aligned with operational needs.
Asia-Pacific’s experience highlights that financial security hinges on being proactive, not reactive. Faced with massive fraud losses and complex scam networks, Asian institutions have swiftly prioritized AI-driven fraud prevention. U.S. and European peers, on the other hand, treat fraud prevention as one possible AI application among many. That will be a mistake as AI-driven financial crime starts to spread globally.
AI’s role in fraud will grow. Asia-Pacific’s strategy shows the value of acting quickly to counteract it, integrating fraud prevention into financial infrastructure. As global threats escalate, the world should look to Asia, not just as a regional leader, but as a role model for secure, seamless financial transactions.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
