September 2026
All columns and Brief analyses.
10 results
Hungary's forint gains amid signs its central bank may pause easing and revise its inflation goal
The Hungarian forint gained after a report said the central bank MNB may pause its easing cycle at the 22 September meeting and revise its inflation target to 2.5 per cent from 3 per cent. Commerzbank's Tatha Ghose tied the report to the MNB's cautious August tone, when it trimmed its base rate to 5.5 per cent without committing to further easing. Portfolio reported that the MNB said only that the rate path would follow September's Inflation Report, without acknowledging a pause.
Huw Pill warns a wait and see approach on rates risks falling behind on inflation
Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill told a Scottish business audience on 3 September that a wait and see stance on interest rates risks letting a Middle East-driven energy shock turn into persistent inflation, and that his own reading points to raising Bank Rate to 4 per cent. City AM reported he voted for an increase in July, when the Monetary Policy Committee held its rate at 3.75 per cent for a fifth straight meeting, with the next decision due on 17 September.
Ig Nobel Prizes leave the United States for the first time in 35 years, awarded in Zurich
Ten research teams were honored at a Zurich convention center on 3 September, the first time in the Ig Nobel Prizes' 35-year history that the ceremony moved outside the United States, organizers said, citing concerns that international attendees could not get visas. Among the winners: a team studying why parents find their own children's body odour more pleasant than a partner's, and why that recognition briefly reverses at puberty.
Iran strikes Kuwait and UAE bases as Kuwait condemns a sovereignty violation
Iran's army said Thursday it had struck US-linked bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates with missiles and drones, hitting communications equipment, hangars and troop positions. Kuwait's air defenses said they intercepted the attack and its Foreign Ministry condemned it as a sovereignty violation; the UAE denied any strike occurred. Tehran cast the attack as retaliation for a US strike on a wedding in southern Iran, and Trump said US forces remained ready to hit Iran again at any time.
Israel completes release of five Lebanese detainees at the Naqoura crossing
Israel handed four more Lebanese detainees to the Red Cross at the Naqoura crossing on Friday, completing the release of five civilians agreed with Lebanon after Beirut helped search for Lebanese Jews who disappeared during the civil war. Netanyahu's office said none of the five belonged to a terrorist organisation. Lebanon's prime minister vowed to keep pressing until every remaining prisoner is freed and Israeli forces leave.
Israel declares Hezbollah tunnels cleared under Lebanon's Ali al-Taher ridge
Israel's Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said the military had cleared Hezbollah fighters from tunnels under the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, completing what he called securing of Israel's security zone, and vowed troops would stay until Hezbollah is disarmed. Reuters reported Iran had warned Washington of a forceful response to any assault on the ridge, and said it could not independently verify Hezbollah's status there; Hezbollah made no immediate comment.
ISRO's GSLV-F17 sends EOS-05 toward a geosynchronous perch 36,000 kilometres above India
A GSLV Mark II rocket, flying as mission GSLV-F17, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and released the EOS-05 satellite, weighing 2,367 kilograms, into a sub-geosynchronous transfer orbit about 18 minutes later. ISRO describes it as India's first imaging satellite working from geosynchronous orbit, roughly 36,000 kilometres up, where a spacecraft's speed matches Earth's rotation. The satellite will use its own thrusters to climb the rest of the way and support agriculture, water-resource and disaster monitoring.
Japan's household spending falls 3.6 per cent in July as electricity, gas and food outlays drop
Japanese households spent 301,245 yen on average in July, 1.5 per cent less than a year earlier in nominal terms and 3.6 per cent less once inflation is stripped out, the internal affairs ministry's Statistics Bureau said. Independent Jiji Press reporting on the same release tied the real-terms drop to lower spending on electricity, gas and food, the categories the Bureau's own data highlights for the month.
Katalyst's LINK spacecraft closes to 15 km of NASA's Swift before running out of fuel
Katalyst Space Technologies' LINK spacecraft, whose mission to boost NASA's ageing Swift Observatory into a higher orbit was called off in August after an uncontrolled spin drained its fuel, still closed to within 15 kilometres of the telescope this week. NASA said LINK deployed all three robotic arms and fired its three electric thrusters together before breaking off; Katalyst estimates the spacecraft will deorbit within two to three weeks, having spent 30 million dollars in NASA funding on the servicing test.
Kim Jung-kwan ties chip tariff talks with the US to a no-less-favorable pledge
South Korea's trade minister Kim Jung-kwan said talks on US semiconductor tariffs are proceeding under the principle, set in last October's bilateral deal, that Korean chips receive no less favorable treatment than competitors. Speaking in Washington after an investment ceremony, he said a Taiwan-style tariff-quota structure was possible but Taiwan's own deal remains unfinished, and the first bilateral investment project should still be confirmed within September.