August 18, 2026
MIDDLE EAST WAR | UKRAINE | U.S. CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS | U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA | U.S. IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT | U.S. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION | TRUMP VERDICT APPEAL | U.S. AND CANADA | U.S. AND SOUTH KOREA | AFGHANISTAN | PHILIPPINES | ISRAEL AND SYRIA | CONGO | BRAZIL | COLLEGE FOOTBALL
MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 172.
- Following the expiration of the 60-day U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding that sought to reach a deal to end the Middle East conflict, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is not seeking an extension of the arrangement and suggested Iran should surrender, while Iranian officials said today the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the U.S. meets its obligations under the now-expired memorandum. [more]
- The British military’s U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center reports that a ship was hit by a projectile this morning as it was transiting out of the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman. Available details on the incident are still sparse, and there have been no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack. [more]
UKRAINE | Today is day 1,634 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:
- Ukraine launched nearly 800 drones at targets in multiple regions of Russia overnight, including more than 600 that are reported to have been flying toward Moscow. [more]
- Russian officials today accused the U.K. of providing drones to Ukraine for use in long-range strikes against Russia and warned of unspecified "consequences" for supplying the weapons. U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, responding to the Russian statements, said today that his country will support Ukraine "100%" against Russia and remain at its side "in its hour of need." [more]
- At least 10 people were killed, and 17 others were wounded, today in a Russian missile strike on the northeastern Ukraine village of Pechenihy – an attack Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized as "brutal." [more]
U.S. CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS | Newly released data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that vaccination coverage among kindergartners in the United States decreased during the 2025-2026 school year for all reported vaccines from the year before, with coverage of measles, mumps, and rubella, DTaP, poliovirus vaccine (polio), and varicella vaccines decreasing in more than half of states. Reports cite medical experts as citing "chaos and confusion" in vaccination recommendation systems in the last year or so as contributing to the decline in vaccination rates. [CDC report] [more]
U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA | Opening arguments are scheduled to begin today in the federal trial of Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta in which the technology and social media giant is accused by four states – California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey – of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that get children addicted to its platforms. The trial will also address claims by 29 U.S. states that accuse Meta of violating federal law by collecting and using children's personal data while they used the company's platforms. [more]
U.S. IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT | According to planning documents published late last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are evaluating proposals to recruit, train, and support state, local, and tribal law enforcement resources to increase immigration-related arrests and to subsidize liability insurance for officers who are trained and deputized to enforce federal immigration laws to protect them from possible financial consequences if they are accused of on-duty misconduct. [DHS planning documents] [more]
U.S. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION | Ruling on a lawsuit brought by the state of Maryland and its Prince George's County, U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang yesterday blocked plans to move the FBI's headquarters to a federal office building in Washington, DC, saying the Trump administration illegally scrapped previously approved plans to build a new facility in nearby Maryland. [more]
TRUMP VERDICT APPEAL | The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday denied President Donald Trump's petition that the court reconsider their refusal to hear his appeal of a $5 million jury award to writer E. Jean Carroll after he was found guilty of sexually abusing her in the mid-1990s and later defaming her. [more]
U.S. AND CANADA | U.S. and Canadian negotiators are reported to be holding last-minute talks ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's new import tariffs of 50% on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods going into effect tomorrow. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed yesterday that negotiations are ongoing and characterized them as "very intense and delicate." [more]
U.S. AND SOUTH KOREA | Following U.S. President Donald Trump's order for the U.S. military to scale back planned joint exercises, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung stressed the importance of South Korea's military alliance with the U.S., calling it the foundation of national security. Reports cite South Korea’s Hankook Ilbo newspaper as saying in an editorial that Trump's move "reveals the stark reality of a faltering Korea-U.S. alliance, fueling public anxiety" and that is "absurd that the U.S. appears to treat North Korea more respectfully than its ally South Korea." [more]
AFGHANISTAN | As many as 50 children were wounded yesterday in an apparent grenade attack near a school in the Afghan capital Kabul. Reports note that the attack took place in a neighborhood populated mainly by the Hazara ethnic minority, which has been a repeated target of attacks by radical Sunni Muslim groups, including the Islamic State. [more]
PHILIPPINES | Authorities say a high school student armed with two pistols shot and killed a fellow student, and wounded two others, before killing himself in an incident today at a school in the southern Philippines port city of Zamboanga. Investigations are ongoing into the potential motives of the shooter. This was the second fatal school shooting in the Philippines in the past two months. [more]
ISRAEL AND SYRIA | In the latest strikes by Israel on Syria following the December 2024 fall of Bashar Assad’s government, at least eight Israeli airstrikes damaged the runway of Syria's Abu Duhur airbase in the northwestern province of Idlib early today, according to Syrian state media. [more]
CONGO | According to newly released government data, the Democratic Republic of Congo's ongoing Ebola outbreak has killed more than 2,300 people and become the country's deadliest outbreak of the disease on record. [more]
BRAZIL | President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said yesterday that oil drilling in northern and northeastern coastal regions of Brazil could be a "passport to the country’s future." The statement follows the announcement last week of hydrocarbons being detected during exploratory drilling off the coast of Brazil's Amapa state. [more]
COLLEGE FOOTBALL | Ohio State tops the AP Top 25 preseason college football poll released yesterday, followed by Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Texas. [full poll] [more]
TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing American women the right to vote. [more history]