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After a month of calm during which Washington had shifted its effort to an economic war, US forces struck missile launchers on an island in the Strait of Hormuz on 31 August 2026. Tehran retaliated against two US bases in Jordan and targets in the United Arab Emirates, which called the attack a dangerous escalation. A tanker was hit by three projectiles in the strait's southern lane and a Saudi supertanker was intercepted. Brent rose to around 91 dollars.
A month after a record crossing from Morocco, the Spanish enclave of Ceuta has seen a surge of violence since 26 August 2026: groups of residents attacked migrants and tore down camps, a military vehicle was stoned and twelve Moroccan nationals were arrested. Madrid is asking the European Union for help.
An ice and rock avalanche triggered flash floods on the border between Nepal and Chinese Tibet. Reported death tolls differ sharply between countries, from several dozen to more than a hundred and sixty, and the missing range from a few hundred to nearly fifteen hundred. Among them are foreign tourists and Mount Kailash pilgrims. India has put Bihar on flood alert, Bangladesh has offered aid, Australia is searching for thirty-four nationals.
Washington formally removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, where it had been designated since 1979. The decision lifts a major part of US sanctions and opens the way to investment and reconstruction. It comes as Damascus and Israel have resumed security talks under American mediation, following an Israeli strike on a Syrian airbase, and as Turkey, the Gulf monarchies and Russia reposition their interests in the country.
South Korea sent its first container ship from Busan to Europe via the Northern Sea Route, after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz made the usual Gulf and Suez itinerary unusable. The crossing, estimated at 45 days, cuts thousands of kilometres off the distance but depends on Russian permits and on a navigation window limited to a few months a year.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a campaign to collapse Iran's economy, telling other capitals they are either with Washington or against it. Tehran calls the economic war a breach of international law and threatens a military response. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is falling.
US federal debt passed $40 trillion on 18 August 2026, reaching $40.047 trillion according to the Treasury. It has more than doubled since 2017; net interest approached $1 trillion in 2025 and the 30-year yield touched 5.33%. Seven countries cover the sequence, and the dividing line is not political but between those reading an American fact and those measuring what it costs them.
Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman, a US ally, just as the memorandum framing the confrontation with Iran expired and Tehran announced an escalation around Hormuz. Muscat has served for fifteen years as a channel between Washington and Tehran. Twelve countries cover the sequence: the Gulf reads it as a warning about what allied status is worth, while Nigeria and Singapore read it through the price of crude.
On 15 August, Moroccan gendarmes intercepted people attempting to reach Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in North Africa, after an online call for a second mass crossing. Madrid reinforced its deployment. Tallies diverge sharply between newsrooms: 111 arrests in some accounts, 294 in others, and deaths from 30 July sometimes folded into the episode, sometimes kept separate.
Since 9 August, Israeli settlers have besieged three homes in Qusra, in the occupied West Bank, cutting water and electricity and trapping around fifteen people. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, an avowed supporter of the settlements, called them "Israeli terrorists". France demands prosecutions; the UN calls it criminal.
Donald Trump announced on 12 August that his press secretary would leave at the end of the month to become an outside adviser. At 28, she was the youngest in history. She cites her family; part of the press notes she is leaving two months before the midterm elections. No successor has been named.
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