Global Express | Sep 3, 2026 Iran Strikes Kuwait as Trump Says Mideast War Won't Last Long

1. Iran Strikes Kuwait as Trump Says Mideast War Won't Last Long

Source: CNBC

Kuwait's army said Thursday it was confronting missile and drone attacks from Iran, a day after US President Donald Trump said renewed hostilities in the Middle East would not last "too long." Kuwait advised residents to follow safety instructions, saying explosions heard across the country came from air-defense systems intercepting hostile targets. Iranian state media said the strikes targeted US bases in Kuwait.

Trump told reporters Wednesday that he did not think the war would last "very much longer," describing Tuesday's American strikes against Iran as a "very heavy attack" and saying the US was prepared for further military operations "any time we want." Iran retaliated after Tuesday's strikes, targeting US regional allies Jordan and Bahrain.

Reuters reported that top Trump aides were pushing to keep the Iran war from escalating before November's midterm elections, with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio trying to keep the conflict relatively "quiet." An August University of Massachusetts Amherst poll of 1,000 respondents found more than two-thirds disapproved of Trump's handling of the war.

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2. Putin Floats 'Chance' at Peace as NATO Warns Russia Is 'Increasingly Reckless'

Source: CNBC

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Thursday that there is a "chance" at "peace" with Ukraine, while repeating that Kyiv's warnings to airlines to avoid Russian airspace amounted to "state terrorism." Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, he said the problem must ultimately be resolved by Russia and Ukraine.

Putin's comments come as efforts to end the more than four-year war have stalled. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Thursday there would now be a "new dynamic" in peace efforts as capitals around the world return to active diplomatic engagement.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned Wednesday that Russia is becoming "increasingly reckless," citing missiles and drones crossing Europe's eastern flank and an alleged Russian hybrid attack at Germany's Leipzig airport last month. "If Russia thinks we will be divided by the threat... they are mistaken," Rutte said.

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3. EU and NATO Vow to Pressure Russia After 'New Escalation' in Germany

Source: BBC

The heads of NATO and the European Commission warned that Russia is growing increasingly reckless and vowed to respond to a "new normal." Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said "Leipzig marks a new escalation" on EU soil, a day after Germany blamed Russia for a failed drone attack on Leipzig airport.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance stood "in full solidarity with Germany." Russia rejected the accusations and announced it would close Germany's Goethe-Institut cultural centres in Russia in response.

Only on Tuesday did the German government say police investigations and intelligence had proved Russia was behind the incidents. Berlin also announced the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and other institutions. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was studying how to tighten sanctions, with broad support for a visa ban on Russians.

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4. Report: Netanyahu Called IDF Chief Three Hours After Oct. 7 Attack Began

Source: The Jerusalem Post

Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not speak to then-IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi until three hours after the Hamas attacks began. Despite receiving two phone calls about the attack at 6:29 a.m. and 6:40 a.m., Netanyahu only spoke to Halevi at 9:45 a.m. during a situational assessment, and did not ask to speak with him during either call.

The report follows comments by Sara Netanyahu that Democratic Party chief Yair Golan had prior knowledge of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed and which launched the ongoing war.

Netanyahu later wrote on Instagram that IDF officers deliberately did not wake him for over an hour because they knew he would stop the massacre. "If they had woken me, everything would have looked different," he wrote.

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5. Dutch Central Bank Moves Gold Out of US and Canada

Source: CNBC

The Dutch central bank (DNB) said Wednesday it has transferred about 86 metric tons of gold out of the US and Canada to the UK, seeking to shore up contingency planning amid "increasing geopolitical unrest." Just over a quarter of its gold reserves held in New York and Ottawa were shifted to London between March and August.

DNB said the gold now stored with the Bank of England meets international trade standards and is recognized as "the world's most easily tradable gold," strengthening its "crisis preparedness." By contrast, gold held in the US and Canada could not be used as quickly in a crisis. Governor Olaf Sleijpen said the move improved the tradability of its reserves.

The move comes amid a blockbuster gold rally and US-Iran tensions over the Strait of Hormuz. Gold has jumped nearly 25% over the past 12 months and is trading at about $4,429.61 an ounce.

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6. FTC Alleges Amazon Made $20 Billion by Rigging Ad Auctions

Source: Ars Technica

The Federal Trade Commission and 22 states sued Amazon, alleging a secret seven-year scheme to overcharge advertisers. Since 2019, the lawsuit says, Amazon "secretly and systematically overcharged" its roughly 1.2 million advertising customers by manipulating the "auctions" used to set ad prices.

The FTC said internal documents showed Amazon replaced actual auction results with "higher prices set by Amazon." The scheme, involving "hidden surcharges," "likely illegally extracted over $20 billion" from advertisers, according to the suit filed in the Western District of Washington.

The suit seeks a permanent injunction, civil penalties, restitution and other relief. Amazon called the lawsuit "misguided," saying its system did not harm consumers or advertisers, but did not dispute the core mechanics of its auctions.

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7. Experts Condemn 'Pitiful' US Aid for Nepal Flood Victims

Source: The Guardian

Aid experts denounced the US's "embarrassing" and "pitiful" initial response to Nepal's flood disaster after the State Department announced $500,000 in emergency funds, a modest sum that was later increased. On social media, users contrasted it with spending on other Trump administration priorities.

The death toll from last week's flash floods has passed 1,000, with 4,400 people still unaccounted for, according to officials in Nepal and China. Rescue teams are trying to find workers trapped in hydropower tunnels buried in mud. The US contribution has since been raised to $3.6 million.

Seasoned specialists say the US response has shrunk to a shadow of its former capacity following the dismantling of USAID. Mark Ward, a former head of USAID's disaster response team, called the announcement “embarrassing for the United States and a bit of a slap at Nepal.”

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8. Bus Crash in Egypt's South Sinai Kills at Least 21

Source: Al Jazeera

A bus crash in Egypt's South Sinai governorate has killed at least 21 people and injured more than 20 others, the Ministry of Health and Population said. The incident happened Wednesday morning on the road from Dahab to Nuweiba on the eastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula, an area of Red Sea resorts popular with tourists.

Jordan's foreign ministry said a number of Jordanians were on the bus, and Jordanian state media reported that 10 of the victims were Jordanian nationals. The bus was carrying 43 people in total, including 22 Jordanians.

Egypt's Health Ministry spokesman said 20 ambulances were dispatched to the scene. Deadly road accidents are common in Egypt; nearly 6,000 people died in road accidents across the country last year, according to the state statistics agency.

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9. Google Launches Gemini 3.8 Flash, Reminding Everyone It's Still in the Race

Source: The Register

Google announced Wednesday the release of Gemini 3.8 Flash, an attempt to reclaim its reputation as a top-tier model maker. It is Google's fourth Flash model in as many months, scoring 59 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index at high reasoning — three points above its predecessor and level with GPT-5.6 Sol and Grok 4.6.

Google product leads said in a blog post that the model "outperforms most larger frontier models" on benchmarks such as DeepSWE v1.1 "at a fraction of the cost." At $0.58 per Intelligence Index task, it is the cheapest model at its level of intelligence.

The model is available to developers through Google Antigravity, the Gemini API and Google AI Studio, and to consumers via the Gemini app. Google also launched the Fairwind Program to give governments and critical infrastructure organizations access to a security-tuned version.

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10. WMO Confirms El Niño Has Formed, Set to Reach Super-Strong Level

Source: Guangxi News

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued a notice on September 3 confirming that El Niño has formed and will keep strengthening, and is expected to develop into a super-strong event with major impacts on global precipitation and temperature patterns, with extreme weather risks lasting into 2027.

The WMO said sea-surface temperatures in the central-eastern equatorial Pacific (the Niño 3.4 region) are now 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above normal, peaking at more than 2.5 degrees above average in some weeks, and subsurface waters are up to 8 degrees above average. It puts the probability of El Niño lasting until February 2027 at close to 100%.

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said the damage from drought and floods is already visible and will intensify. To respond, the WMO announced its largest mobilization in 50 years, working with national meteorological and hydrological services to strengthen forecasting and early warnings.

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