Brent Nears $100 as Middle East Strikes Rekindle Oil Supply Fears

‼️ 🇮🇷 🇸🇦 BREAKIKG: Brent crude climbed to its highest level since late July, rising about 1% to settle near $98 a barrel after briefly touching $98.99, as fresh strikes on Middle East energy infrastructure— including reported explosions at Iran’s key export terminal on Kharg Island—renewed supply-disruption fears. The rally was further supported after Saudi Arabia said Houthi attacks forced temporary halts at several of its energy facilities, underscoring the region’s vulnerability to escalation.

Bessent’s Bond-Market Remedy: Treasury Buybacks to Cool the Fever, Not Cap Yields

‼️ 🇺🇸 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Treasury’s expanded buyback program for older US government bonds is intended to ease a “fever” in the market and help restore equilibrium—not to alter the underlying level of yields. Speaking ahead of the first scheduled longer-dated buyback operation since the program was increased last month, Bessent rejected claims that the initiative amounts to quantitative easing or is a response to concerns over heavy US borrowing. Instead, he characterized it as a Treasury-led version of the Federal Reserve’s former “Operation Twist,” aimed at improving market functioning and smoothing distortions across the yield curve.

Ukraine War Set to Drag Into Next Year as Putin Prepares Winter Offensive

‼️ 🇺🇦 🇷🇺 BREAKING: European and US officials increasingly expect Russia’s war in Ukraine to continue into next year after the latest US peace effort failed to secure progress with President Vladimir Putin. European officials say Putin plans to intensify winter attacks to test Ukraine’s resilience and Western support, while the Kremlin described his hour-long call with Donald Trump as constructive; President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hopes to meet Trump in late September.