August 24, 2026

U.S. AND CANADA | Trade talks aimed at averting new cross-border tariffs between the U.S. and Canada collapsed Saturday with each side blaming the other for failing to reach an agreement. The impasse prompted the U.S. to impose 50% tariffs on some $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, and Canada set September 8 as the starting date for its new retaliatory penalties on U.S. goods. [more]

MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 178.

• The U.S. is expected to announce new sanctions on Iran and countries that still do business with the Islamic Republic today. Mohsen Rezaei, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said new sanctions on his country would be an "act of war," and warned of "seismic" retaliation. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,640 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Various European leaders, including U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, on his first overseas trip since taking office last month, joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv today for official celebrations marking Ukraine’s Independence Day and to signal their ongoing support for Ukraine amidst the ongoing Russian invasion. [more]

NEVADA | Some 90,000 residents of the northwest Reno, Nevada, region have been urged to evacuate amidst the ongoing Hawk wildfire that started Saturday and has grown to encompass more than 23 square miles. Governor Joe Lombardo has declared a state of emergency for the area, and units of the Nevada National Guard have been deployed to assist in firefighting efforts. [official update] [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | A federal judge on Friday vacated a Trump administration policy that suspended the processing of visas from 75 countries whose nationals the administration deemed likely to require public assistance in the United States. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas said in her ruling that the policy was contrary to law and in excess of statutory authority. [more]

U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA | The Department of Justice announced Friday that social media company TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to settle a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws. [more]

COLORADO RIVER | The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has announced sharp water cuts for the next two years for California, Nevada, and Arizona due to record-low water levels in the Colorado River. [press release] [more]

WHITE HOUSE | Temporarily blocking a lower court ruling that related work be suspended, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday allowed construction of President Donald Trump's new ballroom on the White House grounds to continue. The Court did not rule on the legality of the project or its funding, but gave justices addition time to consider Trump's request that the earlier ruling be paused indefinitely. [more]

ISRAEL AND GAZA | Officials from both Uganda and Burundi visited Israel last week for discussions on potential deployment of units of their countries' militaries to Gaza as part of a planned international security force. Other countries that have pledged participation in the stabilization force include: Morocco, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Albania, and Indonesia. [more]

THAILAND | A general amnesty for political offenses committed over the past two decades takes effect today in Thailand as part of efforts toward reconciliation after past political instability, violent protests, and military coups. Amnesty grants under the Peaceful Society Promotion Act could cover about 6,000 people, and reports note that some more serious cases, including those involving corruption, resulting death of serious injury, and lese majeste, or defaming the monarchy, would be excluded from the amnesties. [more]

MORE THAILAND | Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul held an emergency meeting with security officials yesterday following 51 apparently coordinated incidents of violence Saturday night in Thailand's southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala. Reports note the violence took place in regions where limited-scale Muslim insurgencies are active and that the attacks mostly involved small bombs, arson and other forms of property damage. [more]

NIGERIA | Local officials say at least 60 people were kidnapped by armed assailants who attacked several villages and a mosque in Nigeria ‘s north-central Niger state Friday. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks or abductions. [more]

BALTICS | Two people died, and an estimated 500,000 people were left without power, due to heavy rains and strong winds associated with a powerful cyclone that struck the Baltic nations of Latvia and Lithuania Saturday and into Sunday morning. [more]

NETHERLANDS | The Dutch Data Protection Authority has announced a fine of €825 million (about $964 million) against ride-hailing company Uber over the company's alleged use of automated software to suspend driver accounts in violation of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. [more]

INDONESIA | Amidst numerous ongoing large wildfires in the country's central and western regions, Indonesian police arrested 72 people yesterday on charges of suspected arson. Reports cite authorities as saying most of the suspects are accused of deliberately burning land to clear areas for plantations at low cost. [more]

GUINEA | Government officials say at least 30 people were killed, six others were injured, and several homes were destroyed yesterday when a mountain of refuse collapsed amidst heavy rains at a landfill in Guinea's capital city of Conakry. [more]

NORWAY | Ahead of the country's biannual ONS energy conference, Norwegian Energy Minister Terje Aasland said his country will continue developing oil ​and gas resources in the Barents Sea regardless of the European Union's support for a moratorium on Arctic hydrocarbon exploitation. [more]

GOLF | Wyndham Clark shot a final-round even-par 70 yesterday to win the BMW Championship and claim his third PGA Tour victory of the year. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $39 million in receipts, followed by "Insidious: Out of the Further" and "The Odyssey." [more]

R.I.P. | Actress and singer Shelley Fabares, best known for her television roles on "The Donna Reed Show,” “One Day at a Time,” and “Coach,” film roles opposite Elvis Presley, Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, and others, and a recording career that included the 1962 hit "Johnny Angel," died Saturday at the age of 82. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1949, following the signing of its establishment treaty four months earlier, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, military and defense alliance entered into force. [more history]