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Intrigue

Daily flyovers

Latest news for 10 September 2026

Quick hits of consequential news from all corners of the world.

  1. 01

    UNITED STATES

    “I am the house now”.

    That’s what Scott ‘Scotty from Finance’ Bessent told students on Tuesday, before announcing on Wednesday a new $6B government debt buyback plan to curb spiking yields. But Bessent’s move seems not to have appeased bond buyers, who quickly pushed the 10-year yield to its highest point since 2023. (Guardian)

    Comment: Bessent now risks getting stuck on the losing end of the game he famously played (and won) against the Bank of England as a young trader in the 1990s, with investors jittery around inflation, war, and debt. We explored this here.

  2. 02

    NORTH KOREA

    Enriching!

    Citing a study of satellite images, the UN’s atomic agency believes North Korea has built a new enrichment facility that could hold up to 28 centrifuge cascades — that’s potentially ~3-4 extra warheads a year. The country has barred IAEA inspections since 2009. (CNN)

    Comment: It’s all in line with Pyongyang’s stated goal of expanding its nuclear arsenal. We wonder if, once Kim Jong Un’s storage units are complete, North Korea will start looking for buyers.

  3. 03

    UKRAINE

    Almost?

    Norway’s Prime Minister Støre has told reporters that Ukraine’s presidential jet — en route to King Harald’s funeral in Oslo — was “almost hit” by a Russian drone while Zelensky was stopping over in Moldova. Subsequent reports suggest the initial claim was exaggerated and the drone, closing Moldova’s airspace, exploded ~160km from the airport. (Independent)

    Comment: Putin has been trying to assassinate Zelensky for years, but a ~160km miss suggests this was probably more a continuation of Putin’s routine violation of Moldovan and Romanian airspace, both to bypass Ukrainian air defences and test NATO responses.

  4. 04

    EUROPEAN UNION

    Procure this.

    Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has unveiled the bloc’s proposed new Public Procurement Act, which aims to encourage national authorities to ‘buy more European’. (Politico)

    Comment: This move has the potential to mobilise an annual ~€600B in EU procurement to revive European manufacturing and beyond, but the devil will be in the details. It’s really about granting permission (not mandating a quota), plus it’s a regulation that would apply directly (not a directive that then gets rewritten and debated in 27 member nations). Also, defence procurement is exempt — in this day and age, just get what works. Some of the details (emphasising quality and local content) also seem aimed at curbing the “lowest price wins” deals that have favoured China, though there are always work-arounds.

  5. 05

    VIETNAM

    Balancing act.

    President To Lam has wrapped his Moscow meeting with Putin, signing several new deals on everything from trade to energy. The very next day (Thurs) he landed in Paris for France’s new International Space Summit. (Bloomberg $)

    Comment: It’s Vietnam’s classic polyamorous diplomacy, though with a bit of history: Hanoi and Moscow go way back to their mutual falling-out with Mao’s China, and Vietnam still needs spare parts and upgrades for its Russian military kit. But Vietnam has slowly diversified its suppliers over the years, and posing with Macron in Paris the next day is the receipt.

  6. 06

    COLOMBIA

    Laxer gun laws.

    New-ish right-firebrand leader Abelardo de la Espriella has signed a decree to make it easier for lawful gun owners to carry their weapons in public, fulfilling a campaign promise to liberalise gun laws. (BBC)

    Comment: One of his predecessors (Santos) first temporarily paused public carry back in 2015 as a way to boost security over the holidays. Trying to land the big FARC deal that won him a Nobel Prize, he extended the pause as homicide numbers improved. But with a populist now at the helm and FARC splinter groups regrouping, ‘El Tigre’ is clearly signalling a break with that era of de-escalation.

  7. 07

    NIGERIA

    Jihadist ceasefire?

    According to reports by The New Humanitarian, the government of Nigeria has been in a secret three-month ceasefire with Jihadist group Boko Haram since June — the same week the military said it had rescued 360 kidnapped villagers, amid disputed reports of a ransom. (New Humanitarian)

    Comment: Governments will go out of their way to reassure everyone that they do not negotiate with criminals or terrorists, but there’s mounting evidence that — absent military solutions — this is exactly what Nigeria has been doing. We wonder to what extent this is a tactical pause so Nigeria can focus its fire on the local ISIS offshoot, which seems better organised and a more lethal threat to both Nigeria and Boko Haram.