Myanmar’s dictator wants back in with the West

Fat Bear Week is upon us  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Richard Hall | September 24, 2026     Hello there. The Brief has an extremely strict policy against objectifying animals, but we gladly make an exception during Fat Bear Week. After months of feasting on salmon, the brown bears of Katmai National Park in Alaska are ready to be judged, and people worldwide are encouraged to vote for their favorite mega chonk in an annual bracket-style tournament. Catch some of the hefty contenders below.  We also have an exclusive interview with Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's coup leader turned President, and some news about a state of emergency in California. IN TODAY’S BRIEF An interview with Myanmar’s dictator OpenAI’s ‘unacceptable’ breach Trump mulls a diesel export ban How to prepare for El Niño 167,000 lbs of meat recalled The bears are fat and winter-ready         READ THIS FIRST Exclusive: Myanmar’s dictator wants to rebuild ties with the West Jes Aznar for TIME Min Aung Hlaing hasn't spoken to Western media since seizing power in a coup d'état in Myanmar five years ago, abruptly ending the Southeast Asian nation's brief democratic experiment. But last month TIME's Charlie Campbell sat down with him for an exclusive interview and found a guarded leader attempting a transition "from generalissimo to civilian statesman." "Min Aung Hlaing may have swapped his uniform for a silken longyi sarong, but the barracks instinct to conceal, deflect, and command remains firmly in place," Campbell writes. The country of 55 million, formerly known as Burma, is still racked by civil war, repression is rife, and it is the world's top producer of methamphetamine and opium. Much of the international community has decided to thaw relations; Western countries must now decide whether to follow suit. Read the full story here.         SPONSORED Attio is the agentic CRM for modern teams. It’s your always-on revenue engine: agents and workflows build pipeline, chase every buying signal, and move deals forward alongside your team. Try Attio now.         WORTH YOUR TIME Australia condemns ‘unacceptable’ OpenAI breach of government health portal Ludovic Marin—AFP/Getty Images An OpenAI agent hacked into an Australian government health database in June, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed Wednesday, amid concerns from world leaders and artificial intelligence firms about the industry’s rapid, unregulated expansion. Albanese said the AI agent had accessed public and non-public files in the statistics reporting service portal for Australia’s universal health insurance scheme, Medicare, in June. OpenAI, however, only notified the government of the breach 84 days later—through an email sent to the public mailbox. “No personal information is believed to have been accessed at this stage, but investigations are ongoing,” Albanese said in a press conference in New York, where he attended the U.N. General Assembly. “Nonetheless, this situation is obviously unacceptable.” An OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement that during a recent review, they identified activity involving “several Australian government websites and services as our models attempted to look up answers, and available statistics for questions about Australia during an internal evaluation.” Its AI models then “took actions we did not intend.” The breach follows a string of incidents where AI models have gone rogue, prompting debate about whether the world is ready to deal with such security risks stemming from its swift development. —Chad de Guzman         HAPPENING NOW Trump mulls diesel export ban David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images As fuel prices at the pump reach record highs since the outbreak of the war in Iran, Washington is warming to the idea of a temporary diesel export ban as a way to lower costs. “I’ve said let's not send out the diesel—we make a lot of diesel,” President Donald Trump said as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York on Tuesday. “That could have a little bit of an effect on regular automobile gasoline because when you do that, you know, it’s a sort of a flow.” Trump echoed calls from Republican lawmakers, many representing farm states, who have pushed for an export ban in the last few weeks.  Diesel recorded its highest average price on Tuesday amid the energy dearth caused by the war, averaging about $6.53 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. It is at least 90¢ higher than last month’s average, and a huge leap from the $3.75 mean just before the war. —Chad de Guzman         SPONSORED Blu Dot surpasses 2,000% ROAS with self-serve CTV ads Blu Dot used Roku Ads Manager to drive incredible results for its furniture sales event. Its strategy hinged on custom audiences and retargeting, where intent was strongest. “Roku has been a top performer,” said Blu Dot’s Claire Folkestad. “We have seen…CPMs lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.” Learn More         IN FOCUS Why California just declared a state of emergency due to El Niño Mario Tama—Getty Images California’s governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency ahead of a potentially historic El Niño. In a statement released Sept. 21, Newsom said the declaration is meant to ensure communities have the resources they need to handle the impacts expected this winter.  “California is strongest when we look out for one another. That is what this action is about,” Newsom said. “Giving communities the support they need, giving first responders the tools to do their jobs, and giving families the confidence that their state is ready.” The state of emergency allows the government to mobilize state resources: readying flood-fighting supplies such as sandbags and pumps, preparing the National Guard to assist with flood response and search and rescue efforts, and fortifying roads and infrastructure. How will El Niño impact California? El Niño typically brings wetter, more intense winters to California—which could leave the state more vulnerable to severe winter storms, heavy rainfall, landslides, and flooding. An El Niño year does not guarantee that these conditions will occur, but it does increase the likelihood. Climate change is also supercharging weather events, and El Niño is no exception.  What impacts has California already felt from this year's El Niño? The governor’s office noted that the state has already experienced coastal flooding attributable to El Niño. The state can expect to see Kelvin waves, slow moving pulses of water that can stretch thousands of miles and raise sea levels along the coastline—increasing the risk for coastal flooding and erosion, and offshore Pacific hurricanes. Climate scientists also warn that the Pacific can expect to see a temporary 6-inch to 2-ft. rise in sea levels this winter.  How can Californians prepare for El Niño? The state has urged residents to take action to prepare for El Niño by signing up for emergency alerts and learning their flood risk, and having an evacuation plan and emergency kit at the ready.  It’s all part of an effort to ensure that the state is not caught off guard by El Niño. “We are not waiting for this season’s storms to be on our doorstep,” Cal OES director Caroline Thomas Jacobs said in a statement. —Simmone Shah         ONE NUMBER 167,000 lb The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a meat recall of more than 167,000 pounds of raw pork, beef, and goat products that it said were produced without the benefit of federal inspection. SOURCE: USDA         A VIRAL MOMENT Winter-ready Voting has begun for Fat Bear Week, an annual competition that celebrates brown bears getting the sustenance they need to survive the winter by squaring them off in an online vote. Click below to study the contenders and cast your vote.         SPONSORED Most founders are one system away from turning LinkedIn into their best sales channel. Engagement is easy to mistake for pipeline. On Sep 30, watch how a founder turns LinkedIn content into real outreach. Live. You'll walk away with a repeatable system: what to post, who to reach out to, and how to sequence it.  Eligible startups also get the LinkedIn-to-Leads Toolkit: ad credits, Apollo, Captions, and HubSpot's Prospecting Agent. Claim my spot       Linked In this addictive word-association game, find the steps that will unite two seemingly unrelated words in just four moves. PLAY NOW       ALSO WORTH YOUR TIME EDUCATION The Woman Winning the Reading Wars IDEAS  You Actually Don’t Need to See That Movie in IMAX       More Newsletters from Click to sign up. D.C. 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