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IR Strikes resume: This week the US launched a new wave of airstrikes on targets in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first major escalation since late July after a period of relative calm focused more on economic pressure. The strikes followed Iranian attempts to threaten shipping and an earlier limited US attack on Larak Island, with Iran retaliating by firing missiles and drones at US-linked bases in Jordan (as well as sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq), most of which were intercepted. On Saturday, the US struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iran fired ballistic missiles at US Navy ships. During the September 1 US strikes, Iranian authorities reported that a munition hit a wedding celebration in Kuhestak, killing five people, including a child, and wounding dozens. The US denied targeting civilians, said it was investigating the reports, while independent analyses indicated a likely direct hit by a US weapon. Oil prices surged in response, with Brent crude ending the week roughly 7.6% higher.

RU Trump envoys visit Kremlin and Kiev: President Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held more than three hours of talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow yesterday, which the Kremlin described as “useful” but yielded no breakthrough, with Russia reaffirming its territorial demands and confidence in battlefield progress. Both sides agreed to a limited three-day pause on airstrikes against each other’s capitals to facilitate the envoys’ travel and the pair arrived in Kiev today to meet President Zelensky, who said Ukraine had prepared proposals focused on security guarantees and a “dignified” peace. Fighting continued elsewhere, with aerial strikes and civilian casualties in multiple regions, while front lines remained largely static amid ongoing attrition.

US Surprise jobs report: The US added a stronger-than-expected 162,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August (far above forecasts of roughly 50–65k), while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women accounted for about 98% of those gains, partly driven by hiring in hospitality, healthcare and local government education (sectors with relatively high female representation), with men adding only around 4,000. The robust report raised market odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike at the next meeting, pushing Treasury yields higher. Major US stock indexes fell on the day, with the Dow dropping about 0.5%, the S&P 500 0.4%, and the Nasdaq 0.3%.

DE Germany, Russia clash over Leipzig airport drone: Germany has accused Russia of orchestrating an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport on August 4, after an explosives-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane and defused. Berlin says intelligence and police investigations linked the operation to Russian state agents and has responded by closing Russia’s consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural center in Berlin. Russia has denied involvement, with President Vladimir Putin dismissing the German evidence as fabricated and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accusing Berlin of deliberately escalating tensions. In retaliation, Moscow announced it would close Germany’s Goethe-Institut cultural centers in Russia.

DE Polls open in Saxony-Anhalt: Voters in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt went to the polls today in a closely watched election that could give the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party its first chance to govern a German state. The AfD, whose lead candidate is Ulrich Siegmund, entered the vote with more than 40% support in polls, far ahead of the CDU at around 23%. However, it would need an absolute majority to govern alone, as all major parties have ruled out a coalition with the AfD. A strong result would also increase pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his federal coalition. If the AfD wins, Siegmund has promised a remigration and deportation offensive, a ban on rainbow flags in schools and a halt on building of new wind farms.

AR Milei ratchets up Falklands dispute: President Milei declared in a televised address that “winds of change” favor Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands, citing US President Trump’s recent suggestion that Washington may re-evaluate its traditional support for British sovereignty. Milei announced plans to accelerate sanctions against companies involved in oil drilling near the islands and pledged extra funding for a naval base in Tierra del Fuego to boost Argentina’s military presence. The UK reaffirmed its “unwavering” position that the islands remain British based on the islanders’ right to self-determination, as demonstrated by a 2013 referendum when 99.8% voted to remain a British overseas territory.

SP Massive protests over Ceuta migrant crisis: Tensions over the migration crisis in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta have intensified, with thousands taking to the streets in Ceuta and across Spain demanding the return of migrants. After at least 72,000 migrants crossed from Morocco in July, around 10,000 still remain in the enclave. Residents described scenes of violence, crime and disrupted daily life. Prime Minister Sánchez accused Russia and Israel of spreading disinformation and said there is no evidence Morocco orchestrated the influx, despite a Spanish police report also released this week stating that Moroccan border forces made "no serious attempt to try to reduce, disperse or move the mass of people away from the border perimeter” and even offered migrants “instructions to allow them to enter by water."

NL Netherlands pulls gold out of US and Canada: The Dutch central bank relocated approximately 86 tonnes of gold reserves out of the US and Canada to London and the Netherlands. The bank cited "increasing geopolitical unrest" and the need to bolster its crisis preparedness as the main drivers behind the shift.

US Uber announces mass layoffs: Uber announced on Wednesday that it will cut about 3,300 jobs, or 10% of its global workforce, in its biggest round of layoffs since the pandemic. The restructuring is aimed at reducing management layers and simplifying the company as Uber redirects resources toward its core businesses and autonomous vehicles. On the same day, Uber abruptly ended its operations in Nigeria and Uganda, effective immediately, after more than a decade in both markets. The Nigeria shutdown happened with effectively no warning, with the app going offline for drivers and even leaving some rides in progress disrupted.

US Sony and Warner Music sue Anthropic: Sony and Warner Music have sued the AI company for unlawfully using tens of thousands of copyrighted songs to train its Claude models, seeking up to $150,000 per infringed piece of work. The publishers allege Anthropic pirated song lyrics and sheet music from The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson among hundreds of other artists to train Claude to respond to human prompts. Sony and Warner also said that the AI company used their lyrics to teach its model to "generate vast quantities of purportedly 'new' AI-generated song lyrics, which compete with Music Publishers’ legitimate copyrighted works as harmful market substitutes."

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5 EU countries agree on “return hubs” plan by year end

Denmark, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece agreed this week on a shared model for “return hubs” outside the European Union. After a meeting of their interior ministers in Copenhagen on Friday, the five said they aim to sign deals with one or more partner countries this year and begin transferring the first irregular migrants whose asylum claims have been rejected and who cannot be sent back to their countries of origin by 2027. The host countries have not been named, though Uganda and Rwanda have been widely reported as possible candidates. The group plans to fully finance the facilities and may offer additional incentives. They stressed the hubs would not be prisons or detention camps but places offering “a new chance,” and said they would work with the UNHCR and IOM while remaining within EU and international law.

The initiative builds on the stricter EU migration rules approved by the European Parliament in June that explicitly allow member states to set up such external centers. Danish Migration Minister Morten Bødskov said the goal is to be ready to move people in 2027, while Austrian Minister Gerhard Karner framed the broader aim as “pushing illegal migration towards zero.” Critics, including NGOs and the Council of Europe, warn the hubs carry significant human-rights risks and may prove costly and ineffective, pointing to Italy’s limited results with its Albania centers and the earlier failure of the UK-Rwanda scheme. The five ministers will meet again in Munich at the end of September.

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EE Defense Minister resigns over ammunition procurement scandal: Estonia’s Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur resigned after a failed €70 million procurement of artillery shells intended for Ukraine. The deal, funded through the EU’s European Peace Facility, involved upfront payment to Italian-registered company Datasel, owned by an Indian firm, that had never previously produced or sold such ammunition. Deliveries were delayed or failed quality checks (missing basic components like a fuse, propellant charge and primer, rendering them unusable), prompting Estonia to terminate the contracts and pursue arbitration, while the European Commission examines possible recovery of the funds from Estonia.

UN Nations vote to adopt new world map: The UN General Assembly voted 164-1 on September 4 (with six abstentions), to endorse a non-binding resolution encouraging countries and institutions to adopt the “Equal Earth” map projection instead of the traditional Mercator projection. The resolution, led by African nations, aims to more accurately depict the relative sizes of continents, most notably showing Africa as far larger than it appears on Mercator maps (where it looks roughly the size of Greenland despite being about 14 times bigger). The US cast the sole vote against it, calling the measure ideological and a distraction from more pressing issues.

US NYC bans AI for young students: New York City will impose a one-year ban on generative AI tools for students from kindergarten (2-K) through eighth grade, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced as part of a broader review of AI use in schools. The policy is intended to protect students’ critical-thinking skills and teacher-student relationships, while high school students will receive AI literacy training and limited access to approved tools. The city will also recommend daily screen-time limits and ban AI companion chatbots for students of all ages.

US Change of guard at Apple: John Ternus has taken over as Apple’s CEO, replacing Tim Cook after 15 years at the helm. Cook will remain with Apple as executive chairman, helping ensure continuity and handling some external affairs. Ternus, a longtime hardware executive, takes over as Apple faces pressure to catch up in artificial intelligence and drive its next phase of product innovation. His first major product launch comes next week, with Apple expected to unveil its latest iPhones on September 9, including one that is expected to be the company’s first foldable phone.

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