Morning Edition · Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Macro
Treasury's Expanded Bond Buybacks Work Against Warsh's Inflation Fight
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent doubled repurchases of long-dated debt to $4 billion per operation, and the 30-year yield returned to 5.247% within a day.
Geopolitics
Putin Has Concluded Peace Talks Failed and Is Preparing Heavier Strikes on Kyiv, Bloomberg Reports
Three people close to the Kremlin say Moscow is weighing intensified ballistic-missile attacks on the center of the capital, and a growing number of Russian officials privately fear a last-resort turn to tactical nuclear weapons.
Markets
Iran and Oman Discuss a Temporary Hormuz Corridor and Crude Falls Toward $80
Oil dropped for a third session, and Indian equities rose as investors priced a partial reopening of the world's most important oil route.
Markets
Nvidia Results and the Federal Reserve's Preferred Inflation Gauge Are Due the Same Day
Analysts expect quarterly revenue near $92 billion at the chipmaker and an acceleration in core inflation to 0.2% on the month.
Macro
Canada Matches Washington With Tariffs of Up to 50% After Trade Talks Collapse
Ottawa's levies take effect on September 8 and cover goods from aluminium foil and dishwashers to fish.
Crypto
Bitcoin Holds Near $79,000 After a 23% Week as Sentiment Gauge Reaches 74
The same measure sat at 27 less than two weeks ago, and spot exchange-traded funds took in $1.92 billion over the past week.
Macro
Japan Plans ¥36.6 Trillion for Debt Service as Bond Yields Climb
The Finance Ministry raised its assumed long-term interest rate to 3.8% from 3.0%, a sharp one-year increase in debt costs.
Geopolitics
Russia Says It Downed 426 Drones Overnight as a Warehouse Burns in Tambov Region
The Kotovsk warehouse was destroyed and a Lukoil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod region also caught fire, while Russian officials reported at least three deaths from the wider drone barrage.
Geopolitics
CIA Director Travels to Moscow in an Unannounced Visit Neither Government Confirms
The Kremlin later confirmed the visit, saying Ratcliffe met Russian intelligence officials rather than President Vladimir Putin, who was briefed on the outcome afterward.
Geopolitics
US Treasury Sanctions Chinese and Hong Kong Firms Over Iran Trade While Sparing Major Banks
About 24 of the roughly 60 entities designated under the campaign are based in mainland China or Hong Kong.
Geopolitics
Japan, Indonesia and Australia Hold Their First Trilateral Defence Talks
The three ministers discussed a joint training facility on Morotai Island, weeks after Jakarta agreed to expand military ties with Beijing.
Geopolitics
China and India Resume Border Talks Days Before Modi and Xi Meet in Bishkek
Wang Yi and Ajit Doval agreed to continue the dialogue on what both sides call a fair and mutually acceptable settlement.
Tech
Artificial-Intelligence Ambitions Face Physical Constraints in Orbit and on the Ground
SpaceX proposes launching millions of satellites to host computing, while two researchers argue models should learn physics rather than language.