The World in Brief from The Economist

The yield on American ten-year Treasuries hit its highest since 2007 on Tuesday, briefly reaching 5.04%. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The yield on American ten-year Treasuries briefly exceeded 5%, the highest since 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump dismissed warnings about the dangers of artificial intelligence, saying critics were raising risks that “won’t happen”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Saudi Arabia shut down its East-West oil pipeline as a “precautionary measure” after it was attacked by drones launched from Iraqi territory; Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, called on artificial-intelligence companies to slow AI development Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia attacked two petrol stations in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, with jet-powered Shahed drones, killing two people Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israel said it killed Mohammed Abdel Salam al-Yazouri, a senior Hamas commander who reportedly helped plan the October 7th attack, during strikes on Gaza this week Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Houthi rebels seized Mocha, a strategic port in western Yemen, as fighting with Saudi-backed forces intensified. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America’s Treasury department said it would begin to buy back up to $6bn worth of long-dated government debt on Thursday as it attempts to contain borrowing costs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OpenAI said it used an unreleased artificial intelligence model to crack one of mathematics’ trickiest problems. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canada was set to impose new tariffs on around 700 American products, including steel, dairy and home appliances. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, in Kyiv on Sunday—the first time they have visited his country as negotiators. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America said it struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iran launched ballistic missiles towards two of its naval ships; A guerrilla drone strike and ground assault in Colombia killed at least three soldiers and injured four, the country’s armed forces said.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sara Duterte, vice-president of the Philippines, posted bail after being arrested on allegations that she had threatened to arrange the assassination of president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, his wife, and the then-house speaker during an online briefing in 2024 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Diesel prices rose to record highs in America, averaging $5.85 per gallon—more than 55% above their level before the country’s war with Iran Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nvidia, a chipmaking giant that is now the world’s most valuable firm, will buy Hugging Face for $13bn. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump said America’s renewed bombing of Iran would not last “too long”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America said it had launched fresh strikes on Iran. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America’s consumer-protection regulator and 22 states sued Amazon, alleging the e-commerce giant “systematically” overcharges advertisers that promote products on its site. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America struck two rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island, near the Strait of Hormuz, in its first known attack on the country since July. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nepal’s finance minister told Reuters that the country could need as much as $5bn to rebuild after flash floods devastated the area around a section of its border with Tibet Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America said it will impose sanctions on Banque Misr, an Egyptian bank, as it attempts to increase pressure on Iran by targeting its trading partners Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rescue workers in Nepal and Tibet continued their efforts to locate survivors of a massive flash flood that coursed through a border area on Wednesday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nvidia reported record quarterly sales of $96bn and profits of almost $60bn, up 106% and 126% respectively from a year ago and beating analysts’ forecasts for a 15th straight quarter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on $20bn-worth of American goods, from September 8th, matching levies imposed by America after trade talks collapsed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scott Bessent, America’s treasury secretary, threatened to expand secondary sanctions against Iran’s trading partners, targeting sectors such as digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, will visit Tehran on Monday as his country continues to try to mediate an end to the war in Iran. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, said his country would retaliate “dollar for dollar” against America’s new 50% tariffs, with its own levies taking effect on September 8th; Vladimir Putin threatened to hit Ukraine’s “most sensitive economic sectors” after it attacked a warehouse run by Ozon, Russia’s second-largest online marketplace, and reportedly targeted a nearby oil refinery Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iran accused America of violating other countries’ sovereignty with new sanctions due to be announced on Monday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America’s Supreme Court allowed the construction of Mr Trump’s $400m White House ballroom project to continue, for now Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yields on American 30-year Treasuries climbed on Thursday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Moderna and Merck, two American pharma companies, reported successful interim results in the trial of a personalised skin-cancer vaccine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yields on American 30-year Treasuries briefly rose above 5.3%, to their highest level since 2007, because of growing fears about inflation, the country’s $40trn debt and rising oil prices. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of America’s talks with Iran about reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to Fox News. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump said America was “having good talks” with Iran, but threatened to resume strikes if the negotiations failed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iran said a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea killed one sailor and injured another. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

France’s prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said wildfires “have reached a level that has never been seen before”; Protesters danced and chanted in the streets of Delhi after India’s education minister resigned. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alexander Novak, Russia’s deputy prime minister, said the government would maintain a ban on petrol exports until the end of the year Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mr Trump threatened Europe with another “substantial” tariff and said he would launch an investigation into the bloc’s penalising of American tech companies Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Trump administration imposed tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 countries, accusing them of failing to police imports of goods made with forced labour. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Saudi Arabia and America signed a deal to build a civilian nuclear programme in the Gulf state. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Volodymyr Zelensky sacked Oleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine’s top general, after days of protests calling for his ouster. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andy Burnham, Britain’s new prime minister, began appointing his cabinet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iran said two ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz using an “unsafe route” were involved in an unspecified “accident”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iran said two ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz using an “unsafe route” were involved in an unspecified “accident”; Ukraine hit four fuel-infrastructure facilities in southern Russia and oil tankers in the Black Sea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jens Spahn resigned as parliamentary leader of Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic Union after coming under scrutiny for fathering a child through surrogacy in America Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America said it destroyed a port surveillance tower in Iran, claiming it was being used to “track and target” commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Protests broke out across several cities in Ukraine, where wartime demonstrations have been rare, after President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked Mykhailo Fedorov, the reformist defence minister. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America said it launched another wave of strikes, the second in a matter of hours, on Iran, targeting the country’s “military capabilities”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America launched new strikes on Iran moments before its naval blockade on Iranian ports came into effect. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America said it launched another round of strikes on Iran. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.