PHOTO: REUTERS
While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 15, 2026
· The Straits TimesUS 10-year Treasury yield breaches 5% as inflation, supply worries mount
The US 10-year Treasury yield surpassed 5 per cent for the first time since 2023 on Sept 14, as mounting inflation angst collided with swelling government and corporate borrowing needs.
The yield, a benchmark for US mortgage loans and bonds globally, rose almost 5 basis points to as high as 5.01 per cent, before paring much of the increase as buyers emerged.
“The 5 per cent mark in 10-year rates is clearly a key psychological level for investors – a point at which some may have earmarked for buying a dip,” said Molly Brooks, US rates strategist at TD Securities.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang puts Trump on speakerphone while downplaying AI risks
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM ALTCAP/X
Zelensky says Ukraine ready for ‘de-escalatory steps’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sept 14 that Ukraine was ready to de-escalate the war with Russia if its rival did the same, after US President Donald Trump announced that the foes had agreed to end strikes on energy targets.
With international oil prices climbing again, Trump had at the weekend berated Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries, blaming them for causing a shortage in diesel fuel.
In one of his surprise social media posts, the US leader announced on Sept 14 that “Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!”
British man admits drugging and raping wife over more than 2 decades
A British man on Sept 14 admitted repeatedly drugging and raping his wife at their home over more than two decades, shortly before his trial was about to begin.
The man – from northern England who is in his 60s but cannot be named as it would identify his wife who is entitled to lifelong anonymity – pleaded guilty at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to 45 charges, having previously admitted 15 offences.
The man has now admitted charges including 21 counts of rape, 15 counts of assault by penetration, 11 counts of sexual assault and one count of sharing intimate images without consent in a period between 2004 and 2025.
EU is set to propose ban on social media and AI chatbots for under-15s
The European Union will propose a ban restricting under 15s from social media, video sharing platforms, AI chatbots and online games, in the most sweeping plan yet to protect children from online dangers, a European Commission document seen by Reuters shows.
Concerns have mounted globally about the impact on children’s health and safety of major outlets, including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, Google’s YouTube and ChatGPT.
The EU proposal is part of an EU Kids Act that European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen will present on Sept 17. The former may announce some details in her State of the Union address on upcoming EU policy on Sept 16.