U.S.–Iran fighting intensifies around the Strait of Hormuz, Russian drones strike across Ukraine, and rescuers race to reach workers trapped beneath Nepal’s flood zone. Ten stories as of Thursday morning, September 3.
1. Strait of Hormuz / southern Iran. President Donald Trump threatened further attacks after the biggest U.S.–Iran exchange since July, saying Washington was prepared to strike again “anytime we want,” Al Jazeera reported. Iranian officials said the latest U.S. strikes killed at least 18 people and wounded at least 108; four people, including a four-year-old child, were killed at the wedding in Kuhestak. Iran retaliated against U.S. positions in Bahrain, Iraq and Jordan, while the Strait of Hormuz remained severely constrained. Brent crude climbed toward $97 a barrel Thursday, near a six-week high, and preliminary shipping data showed only six commodity vessels crossed Wednesday. Iran’s Red Crescent separately asked the International Criminal Court for an independent investigation of the wedding strike; neither Iran nor the United States is a party to the Rome Statute, so the request does not automatically give the court jurisdiction.
2. Odesa / Kyiv / western Ukraine. Russian attacks killed at least five people and injured at least 67 across Ukraine over the past day as drones reached western regions, the Kyiv Independent reported. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 163 drones overnight, roughly half of the Shahed-type aircraft jet-powered, and that 135 were downed or suppressed by 8:30 a.m. Strikes were recorded at 15 locations. Odesa reported 17 injured, including three children, after a high-rise was damaged; a man was hospitalized in the Boryspil district near Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said damage was recorded in 13 regions, a wide footprint for another night of attacks.
3. Rasuwa / Nepal–Tibet border. Nepal’s disaster authority said 1,252 bodies had been recovered and 4,216 people remained missing after last week’s glacier-collapse floods, while the combined Nepal–Tibet toll passed 1,270, Al Jazeera reported. Rescue crews kept digging toward hydropower tunnels where officials still hope air pockets protected trapped workers. The UNDP estimated that floods and mudflows left at least 2.2 million tonnes of debris. Nepal now expects roughly 20,000 houses will need rebuilding, including about 7,500 destroyed or buried, Reuters reported. Authorities say new settlements should be built on safer ground rather than simply replacing homes in the same exposed locations.
4. Ituri / eastern Congo. The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak reached 6,250 confirmed cases and 3,039 deaths in data through September 1, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in its Thursday update. That was an increase of 64 cases and 32 deaths from the prior report. Ituri remained the center of the outbreak with 5,104 cases and 2,324 deaths, and 869 patients were hospitalized in isolation nationwide. The outbreak now affects 60 health zones across six provinces; 89 percent of identified contacts were under follow-up. WHO has called it the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record and the fastest-moving it has seen.
5. Koror / Palau. Pacific leaders went behind closed doors for their annual retreat with Australia and Palau pushing for a unified condemnation of China’s July ballistic-missile test, ABC Australia reported. Kiribati and Naoero had blocked stronger language at the foreign ministers’ meeting, leaving consensus uncertain. Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. said a unified voice was needed to press Beijing to respect sovereignty and transparency. China’s Foreign Ministry accused Palau of “sensationalising” the test and trying to hold other forum members hostage to its position. The Pacific Islands Forum closes Friday, so the final communiqué will show whether the 18-member bloc found common ground.
6. Caracas / Orinoco Belt. Chevron said its Venezuelan joint ventures plan to invest more than $7 billion over five years and lift production to roughly 600,000 barrels a day—more than double the 2026 level. The company’s announcement said updated fiscal, commercial and legal terms support the expansion and assign Chevron additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt. Chevron put total production costs below $20 a barrel. The plan deepens the U.S. company’s role in a country where it has operated since 1923. It also lands as expensive oil and disrupted Hormuz shipping sharpen the value of barrels produced elsewhere.
7. Abuja. Nigeria confirmed plans to withdraw around 200 U.S. troops sent in February to assist with the country’s security crisis, AP reported. Nigerian officials said the deployment supported training and intelligence gathering and participated in a joint operation that killed a top Islamic State leader. Military spokesperson Samaila Uba said the personnel were tied to specific operational and counterterrorism objectives. He added that parts of the security partnership will continue after the drawdown. Nigeria still faces attacks by jihadist and criminal groups, including recent mass abductions in the country’s central region.
8. Toronto. A powerful Wednesday storm brought torrential rain, strong winds and large hail to Canada’s largest city, cutting electricity to at least 45,000 Toronto Hydro customers as of 8 p.m., Al Jazeera reported. Flooding and fallen trees closed roads, including the Don Valley Parkway, and disrupted transit service. Water also entered Michael Garron Hospital’s emergency department, though the hospital remained open. Mayor Olivia Chow activated the city’s emergency operations center as crews tackled downed wires, debris and flooded streets. Toronto Pearson Airport reported delays and cancellations.
9. New York City. Gloria Steinem, the author, organizer and co-founder of Ms. Magazine who became one of the best-known voices of the U.S. women’s movement, died Wednesday at 92, AP reported. She died at her New York home after declining health and had recently completed a memoir scheduled for release this fall. Steinem’s advocacy spanned more than six decades, while her journalism included a formative 1963 undercover report on working conditions at Playboy clubs. She co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971 and Ms. Magazine in 1972. A post announcing her death said her greatest gift was making others feel “seen and heard.”
10. Kenscoff / Haiti. More than 100 mourners gathered Wednesday inside the church where gang members had recently executed more than 30 people, AP reported. The August 23 attack on the farming community killed 47 people and resulted in more than 50 kidnappings, one of Haiti’s largest mass abductions in recent years. The U.N. said roughly 150 armed gang members took part, killing 22 people in the church courtyard and 12 behind the building. Six children and seven women were later released after community leaders and UNICEF intervened. Haiti’s gang violence has displaced nearly 1.5 million people, and gangs control an estimated 70 percent of Port-au-Prince.
Coming up. Friday 4 September — Pacific Islands Forum closes, Palau; U.S. August Employment Situation report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Tuesday 8 September — 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly opens, New York; Canadian counter-tariffs take effect. Wednesday 9–Thursday 10 September — ECB rate decision, Berlin. Saturday 12–Sunday 13 September — BRICS summit, New Delhi. Sunday 13 September — Sweden general election. The standing calendar is at The Watch.
Sources: Al Jazeera (Iran), Kyiv Independent (Ukraine), Reuters (Nepal), ECDC (Congo), ABC Australia (Palau), Chevron (Venezuela), AP (Nigeria), Al Jazeera (Toronto), AP (Steinem), AP (Haiti).
