US envoys take a written peace plan to Moscow and Kyiv, the Iran war widens into the Gulf, Xi visits Cairo and Oslo seizes a Russian ship (Week of August 31 to September 5, 2026)
On Saturday, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin in Moscow with a written plan to end the war in Ukraine, under a reciprocal three-day pause on strikes on Kyiv and Moscow, before travelling to Kyiv. The seven-month US-Iran war dominated the week: a strike on a wedding in Hormozgan province put the civilian toll in dispute, Iran fired at US bases across the Gulf and tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington set the end of attacks on shipping as its precondition for talks. In parallel, Israel's leadership declared it is working to topple Tehran's government and revived the removal plan for Gaza, Xi Jinping made his first Egypt visit in a decade, and Norway seized a Russian vessel to enforce a $4.22bn award for Naftogaz. In the United States, the administration took its mail-in voting restrictions to the Supreme Court two months before the midterms.
This week's sections
- US envoys carry a written peace plan and a reciprocal pause on strikes (Moscow, September 5, 2026)
- A strike on an Iranian wedding becomes the test case of the war's civilian toll
- Iran fires at US bases in the Gulf and tankers are hit in the Strait of Hormuz
- Xi in Cairo: a proposed regional security framework, trade figures and joint air drills
- Netanyahu says Israel works to topple Tehran's government as Katz revives the Gaza removal plan
- Mail-in voting curbs go to the Supreme Court and the citizenship portal slips, two months from the midterms
- Norway seizes a Russian ship in Svalbard to enforce Naftogaz's $4.22bn Crimea award
Reported by:Al Jazeera English · Le Monde International · Euronews · South China Morning Post · BBC News World · The Guardian World