August 27, 2026

MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 181.

• Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said today that Pakistan is continuing diplomatic efforts to help resolve the conflict between the United States and Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,643 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• The Russian Defense Ministry said today its forces carried out "massive" overnight strikes on nine Ukrainian cities, targeting what it said were military-related industrial facilities, oil refineries, logistics hubs, and port infrastructure. [more]
• At a news briefing in Moscow today, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the U.K. is close to becoming legally complicit in what she called "terrorism" against Russian ​civilians through its provision of weapons and related technology to Ukraine and suggested that British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and elsewhere could be targeted in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian ​territory carried out using British weapons. [more]

U.S. ELECTIONS | While still suggesting that President Donald Trump's executive order placing new restrictions on mail-in voting is "likely unconstitutional," Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani yesterday agreed to lift an order prohibiting the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out Trump’s order for November’s elections. Talwani said in her order that she was "compelled" to lift the order after the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that a similar injunction she granted in a separate case was premature. [more]

SEPTEMBER 11 | U.S. military judge Air Force Lt. Col. Michael A. Schrama yesterday set a June 5, 2028, trial start date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three others accused of developing and directing the September 11, 2001, plane attacks on the United States. Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi are among the last of the detainees held at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. [more]

MAINE | Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles reportedly told supporters last week that he intends to ask the Department of Homeland Security to send U.S. Marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling places in Maine for this fall’s midterm elections to prevent violence, intimidation, and illegal voting. [more]

U.S. NUCLEAR POWER | The U.S. Army announced yesterday that it plans to construct nuclear microreactors on five domestic military bases. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll noted that five companies selected by the Army will be awarded up to $2.2 billion in total over five years to own, construct, and operate microreactors. [more]

PUERTO RICO | Amidst ongoing drought conditions of varying levels in about 63% of the Caribbean island territory, the U.S. government declared a drought disaster yesterday for 26 of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities, allowing farmers and agricultural producers in those regions to access emergency loans. [more]

MINNESOTA AND TEXAS | U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. refused yesterday to order Texas to extradite Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro to Minnesota, where he is charged with shooting a man and lying about it during the January immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. [more]

U.S. CYBERATTACKS | In a statement released yesterday, the U.S. Justice Department announced the seizure of internet domains linked to hacking platforms known as “QScan” and “QTRouter" that officials say were used to target sensitive U.S. networks. Among the cyberattack targets the Department of Justice says were victims of the hacking attacks and attempts were: the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Senate. The statement notes that the hacking platforms are believed to be linked to a Chinese company that lists China's Ministry of State Security and People’s Liberation Army as being among its clients. [DOJ press release] [more]

GLOBAL OCEAN CLIMATE | According to European climate service Copernicus, oceans around the world recorded their hottest average temperatures on record this past weekend, reaching 21.1 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday and Saturday, and narrowly breaking the previous average daily record set in March 2024. [more]

NEPAL AND TIBET | Yesterday's glacial collapse and resulting mudslides and flooding along the Nepal-Tibet border has left at least 270 people dead and more than 1,300 missing. Officials say dozens of bridges were destroyed and nearly 40 kilometers of roads were damaged in the disaster. Large-scale search, rescue, and relief efforts continue in the region today. [more]

FRANCE | Two people were killed, and nine others were injured, last night when a driver rammed his car into a group of pedestrians in the northern France city of Caen. Local officials say the incident appears to be the result of a "fight that turned bad" and is not being treated as a terrorist attack. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | Prosecutors announced today that they are seeking indictments against seven South Korean Transport Ministry officials in connection with the 2024 Jeju Air crash at Muan International Airport in South Korea in which 179 people were killed. Authorities say the seven officials are suspected of falsifying official documents related to the crash. [more]

GERMANY | Public health officials say two Frankfurt Airport workers have died of malaria following a July outbreak that infected six employees and is believed to have originated from infected mosquitoes that arrived at the airport on a plane. [more]

BRAZIL | The Brazilian government filed a $97 million lawsuit against popular online communications platform Discord yesterday, accusing the company of “direct violations to a number of obligations and protective norms of Brazilian law regarding the special protections and safety of vulnerable groups, including children and teenagers." [more]

R.I.P. | Actor Tim Curry, best known for his screen roles including Dr. Frank-N-Furter in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and the smug concierge in “Home Alone 2," and for stage roles in "Rocky Horror," “Spamalot,” “My Favorite Year,” and “Amadeus," died yesterday at the age of 80. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1883, Indonesia's Krakatoa volcano erupted. More than 36,000 deaths were attributed to the eruption and resulting tsunamis, which also destroyed an estimated 70% of Krakatoa island. [more history]