Miami sheriff blasts Dem mayor for planned Grand Theft Auto 6 tie-in that top cops claim glorifies crime

 The Miami-Dade County Sheriff blasted a proposal that would temporarily transform Miami into a real-life version of Grand Theft Auto 6’s Vice City. 

Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, a self-described “tough-on-crime” Republican, slammed Miami-Dade’s Democratic Mayor Daniella Levine Cava for a potential marketing tie-in with the game’s creator, Rockstar Games.

The upcoming and highly anticipated video game takes place in a fictional southern Florida city, with players taking part in murders and other depravity.

“Grand Theft Auto is a video game franchise built around criminal activity — we need to seriously consider the message we send when our own government promotes a fictional identity centered around many of those same crimes,” the sheriff said. 

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Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, a Republican, blasted a proposal by the mayor to temporarily transform Miami into a real-life version of Grand Theft Auto 6’s fictional version known as Vice CityAFP via Getty Images
“Its fictional world includes murder, robbery, drug trafficking, carjacking, violence against law enforcement, and other conduct that the men and women of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office work every single day to prevent,” Cordero-Stutz added. 

As part of the plan, dubbed GTA VI × MDC, Miami — described as “the real-world inspiration for Vice City” — would be transformed using “approved GTA VI characters or visual references,” if approved, according to public records. 

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Miami’s Sheriff has slammed Mayor Daniella Levine Cava for a proposed marketing collaboration pitched by the municipality in June to Rockstar Games that would turn Miami into the fictional Vice City.Rockstar Games

Some of the ideas pitched by the city to the gaming developer include renaming Miami International Airport to Vice City International and the Port of Miami to Port Gellhorn — which serve as the locations’ in-game counterparts — and installing Vice City-labeled sewer and stormwater manholes.

The city even went as far as proposing a Vice City Motor Fest event, which would “combine classic cars, customized vehicles, lowriders, motorcycles, tropical graphics, and local entertainment within a controlled, family-appropriate setting,” according to the pitch. 

Police Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, a Republican weighing a 2028 challenge to Levine Cava for her seat as mayor, also weighed in and attacked his political foe over the proposal, saying that he “cannot believe” the city is “even considering temporarily rebranding important county assets.

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Jason, one of the characters from “GTA 6,” shooting at police.Rockstar Games / YouTube

“We should be promoting the Miami-Dade we have worked so hard to build, not a fictional version of our community defined by crime and violence,” Bermudez said. 

The marketing plan hasn’t been approved, according to the mayor’s office. 

“Nothing has been formally agreed to or approved, and any idea would have to go through the appropriate review and approval process,” Carlos Suarez, a spokesperson for the mayor, told PCGamer.

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Lucia, a character from “GTA 6,” flipping-off the cops as the couple flee from police after robbing a store in the game’s trailer.Rockstar Games / YouTube
But discussions were still ongoing.

“Given Miami-Dade’s clear influence on the game, we think there could be a unique opportunity to generate revenue for the County while showcasing Miami-Dade to a massive audience,” Suarez added. 

Fans of the series have attacked the sheriff and commissioner online, calling them the “fun police” and saying the city could miss out on potential revenue by shooting down the deal.

https://nypost.com/2026/09/06/us-news/miami-sheriff-blasts-dem-mayor-for-planned-grand-theft-auto-6-tie-in-that-top-cops-claim-glorifies-crime/

China rolls out massive US$54b package for insurers, banks in financial powerhouse push

 The rare capital boost of such magnitude seeks to shore up insurers and banks as solvency pressures mount and regulatory demands loom

China rolled out a package of capital injections worth about 360 billion yuan (US$54 billion) on Sunday for the country’s largest state-owned insurers and state banks, marking a step towards Beijing’s long-flagged plan to build itself into a global financial powerhouse.

The Ministry of Finance, which led the move, had rarely injected capital into financial institutions at such magnitude, according to analysts.

China Life Insurance Company said it would receive 35 billion yuan to help strengthen its “ability to withstand risk”, according to its website.

Among banks, the Agricultural Bank of China planned to raise up to 160 billion yuan through a private placement of new A shares to the finance ministry, China National Tobacco Corporation and related subsidiaries, an exchange filing showed.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was targeting up to 100 billion yuan from the same group of investors, according to an exchange filing.

The Export-Import Bank of China, a policy lender known as Eximbank, was set to receive 30 billion yuan to “significantly enhance its capacity to support the real economy and opening up, while reinforcing its resilience in risk prevention”, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The People’s Insurance Company (Group) of China planned to issue new shares in onshore markets to raise as much as 15 billion yuan, with the finance ministry subscribing in cash, according to its filing with the Shanghai exchange on Sunday.

China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation, known as Sinosure, announced a 10 billion yuan injection to replenish its core capital, aimed at improving its solvency adequacy ratio and expanding its capacity to meet insurance obligations.

China Taiping Insurance Group was set to receive 7 billion yuan to help it withstand risk, according to the company’s website.

China Reinsurance planned to issue new A shares, with the finance ministry set to subscribe in cash for a total of 3 billion yuan, according to its filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

“Recent top-level meetings have all called for more proactive fiscal policy to counter growth pressures, and capital injections into financial institutions are part of that fiscal toolkit,” said Shen Meng, a director at Beijing-based investment firm Chanson & Co.

“They not only reduce operational and regulatory risks for these institutions, but also stimulate broader investment and consumption through the multiplier effect of the financial sector.”

Shen said the finance ministry had “rarely injected capital into financial institutions on such a scale, and that the few precedents were mainly aimed at repairing balance sheets and cutting risk”.

The capital injections build on Beijing’s ambition to transform China into a financial powerhouse, a goal the central bank formally embedded in its first-ever stand-alone five-year plan this year, which pledges to expand the yuan’s global use and build a “strong central bank” to drive that vision.

S&P Global Ratings has estimated China’s big four state-owned banks – ICBC, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China – faced a capital shortfall of as much as 3.7 trillion yuan by 2025 to meet total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirements.

TLAC refers to a capital buffer international regulators require of the world’s biggest banks so they can absorb losses in a crisis without needing a government bailout.

China’s six largest state-owned banks posted their first simultaneous increase in both first-half revenue and net profit since 2022 this year, driven by a tentative recovery in net interest margins – the gap between what banks earn on loans and pay out on deposits.

That margin had steadily narrowed over the previous two years, dragging the industry average down to a record low of nearly 1.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.

Beijing’s push to fortify its state financial institutions dovetails with efforts to elevate Hong Kong’s role.

Regulators have urged mainland insurers to invest in Hong Kong-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), bolstering the city’s status as a global financial centre.

Ping An, the country’s largest private insurer, had sought regulatory approval to expand into Hong Kong ETFs after posting 36 per cent profit growth in the first half of this year, according to the company’s board secretary.

Mainland financial firms are also ramping up overseas fundraising to support yuan internationalisation. Last year alone, companies including China Pacific Insurance, ICBC and China Everbright Bank each raised between US$300 million and US$2 billion in Hong Kong and other offshore markets.

https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3366559/china-rolls-out-massive-us54b-package-insurers-banks-financial-powerhouse-push

Vaxcyte narrows VAX-31 OPUS-1 Phase 3 topline data guidance to the end of October

 

Vaxcyte narrows VAX-31 OPUS-1 Phase 3 topline data guidance to the end of October 2026, names Luis Jodar CMO and David McAvoy CLO

• Luis Jodar, a former Pfizer vaccines executive, is appointed Vaxcyte's Chief Medical Officer.
• David McAvoy, previously Teva's legal chief, joins Vaxcyte as Chief Legal Officer.

https://finviz.com/stock?t=PCVX&p=d

No IRGC strikes on Hormuz ships listed in JMIC’s Saturday incident report

 

The Joint Maritime Information Center’s update on maritime security incidents recorded on Saturday listed three tankers disabled by US forces near Iran.

JMIC said US Central Command confirmed the STARK 1 was permanently disabled near Jask in the Gulf of Oman, the DOWNY off Kharg Island and the KYLO, also known as NOXEN, in the Gulf of Oman.

The update comes after the Revolutionary Guards claimed its naval forces had struck three oil tankers and three US-linked vessels in retaliation for US attacks on Iranian tankers.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202609066909

Energy chief says US ‘always open’ to Iran deal while pushing for change

 

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that Washington remains open to diplomacy with Iran, after earlier suggesting there “may not be a nuclear agreement” with the current government.

“We are always open for a deal,” Wright told CBS’s Face the Nation, saying President Donald Trump preferred a negotiated settlement over military action unless “absolutely necessary.”

But Wright said the US military’s “biggest role” in the region was stopping Iranian oil and other energy exports.

“We are strangling their economy to try to bring either a change in policy from the existing regime or a new regime,” he said, adding that Tehran’s current strategy was “slowly failing.”

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202609062500

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202609068401

Rome declares ‘red zone’ around the Colosseum, adding extra security to fight criminals

 Rome is burning.

Italy’s capital city has declared the area around its famed Colosseum a “red zone,” adding extra 24-hour security to protect its citizens as well as tourists after an influx in crime.

The Colosseum, the most famous attraction in Italy, which welcomes over 7 million visitors annually, has been fraught with harrowing incidents such as “predatory crimes and drug dealing,” according to Italian news agency ANSA.

In July, a group of around 40 youths fired fireworks directly at police cars, injuring officers at Largo Gaetana Agnesi, the terrace overlooking the 1,946 year-old amphitheater and directly above its new $8.3 billion subway station.

In the ordinance, Lamberto Giannini, Rome’s prefect in charge of security, said the crimes have been carried out “predominantly by groups of young individuals of non-EU origin,” ANSA reported.

Roman officials declared the area around the Colosseum a “red zone.”Corbis via Getty Images
He also blames the spike in crime on the newly opened “Roma Colosseo” metro station, which doubles as a museum, that opened in December.

The precautionary measure, which includes around-the-clock presence of local police and military, was taken in late August and will remain in effect until Dec. 24. 

The military — armed and wearing camouflage standing by their vehicles — has always been present in the area, but has not fully deterred criminals, CNN reported.

“Security is tight here, but I just saw a woman get pickpocketed,” Janelle Triton, a Philadelphia tourist visiting the Colosseum, told the outlet.

“She said the thief had gone by the time law enforcement was alerted. “We were told by our hotel not to come here at night though, so we have avoided the area.”

The red-zoned area includes the city’s main Termini train station, which is 1.2 miles from the Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, which is located inside Vatican City, and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the site of Pope Francis’ tomb.

https://nypost.com/2026/09/05/world-news/rome-declares-area-around-colosseum-a-red-zone-adding-24-hour-security/