Lead Story
Israeli strikes kill at least six across southern Lebanon, target Hezbollah tunnel network
Israeli warplanes carried out a wave of strikes across southern Lebanon before dawn on August 15, 2026, killing at least six people and wounding two others in the town of Ansar, north of Tyre, according to Lebanese health officials. A separate barrage hit the Nabatieh area, including some of the heaviest strikes yet on the Ali Taher Ridge, beneath which the Israeli military says Hezbollah maintains a major underground facility. The strikes, among the deadliest in Lebanon since a ceasefire deal took hold, come as Israel continues to carry out near-daily attacks it says are aimed at degrading Hezbollah's military infrastructure despite the truce.
Read more →Lead Story
Israeli strikes kill at least six across southern Lebanon, target Hezbollah tunnel network
Israeli warplanes carried out a wave of strikes across southern Lebanon before dawn on August 15, 2026, killing at least six people and wounding two others in the town of Ansar, north of Tyre, according to Lebanese health officials. A separate barrage hit the Nabatieh area, including some of the heaviest strikes yet on the Ali Taher Ridge, beneath which the Israeli military says Hezbollah maintains a major underground facility. The strikes, among the deadliest in Lebanon since a ceasefire deal took hold, come as Israel continues to carry out near-daily attacks it says are aimed at degrading Hezbollah's military infrastructure despite the truce.
Ukraine declares Dnipropetrovsk campaign a success as Russia intensifies missile strikes
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on August 14, 2026 the successful end of a campaign that recaptured 745 square kilometers of territory in the southern Dnipropetrovsk region this year, liberating 26 settlements and killing an estimated 10,000 Russian soldiers in the process. The territorial gains were overshadowed by intensified Russian ballistic and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, which officials say are increasingly hard to intercept after the exhaustion of Patriot interceptor stockpiles. Separately, the US Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill to tighten sanctions on Russia's wartime economy, a long-sought win for congressional supporters of Ukraine.
Read more →Ukraine declares Dnipropetrovsk campaign a success as Russia intensifies missile strikes
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on August 14, 2026 the successful end of a campaign that recaptured 745 square kilometers of territory in the southern Dnipropetrovsk region this year, liberating 26 settlements and killing an estimated 10,000 Russian soldiers in the process. The territorial gains were overshadowed by intensified Russian ballistic and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, which officials say are increasingly hard to intercept after the exhaustion of Patriot interceptor stockpiles. Separately, the US Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill to tighten sanctions on Russia's wartime economy, a long-sought win for congressional supporters of Ukraine.
Kushner to visit Israel and Egypt after Netanyahu rejects Gaza 'Board of Peace' plan
Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and Middle East envoy, will travel to Israel and Egypt next week alongside Board of Peace high representative Nickolay Mladenov to try to salvage the postwar plan for Gaza, officials said August 14, 2026. The trip follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of a 15-point proposal from the international Board of Peace consortium, which calls for Hamas to gradually hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing committee while Israel withdraws its troops from the territory. Netanyahu specifically objected to the disarmament-for-withdrawal sequencing, leaving the roadmap for Gaza's postwar governance in limbo months after the ceasefire took effect.
Read more →Kushner to visit Israel and Egypt after Netanyahu rejects Gaza 'Board of Peace' plan
Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and Middle East envoy, will travel to Israel and Egypt next week alongside Board of Peace high representative Nickolay Mladenov to try to salvage the postwar plan for Gaza, officials said August 14, 2026. The trip follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of a 15-point proposal from the international Board of Peace consortium, which calls for Hamas to gradually hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing committee while Israel withdraws its troops from the territory. Netanyahu specifically objected to the disarmament-for-withdrawal sequencing, leaving the roadmap for Gaza's postwar governance in limbo months after the ceasefire took effect.
Taiwan wraps up largest-ever war games, officials warn threat is 'no longer a lab exercise'
Taiwan concluded the live-fire phase of its annual Han Kuang exercises on August 14, 2026, capping the island's biggest-ever military drills, which mobilized roughly 20,000 reservists alongside active-duty forces to rehearse repelling a Chinese invasion. In one key drill, convoys of M60A3 tanks and armored vehicles moved overnight from Hualien to Yilan on civilian flatbed trucks to simulate rushing reinforcements to a coastal landing site, while other units tested new US-inspired communications methods and anti-amphibious defenses. Defense officials said the scale and realism of this year's exercises, including the largest reservist call-up on record, reflect a shift from tabletop planning to concrete preparation as tensions with Beijing persist.
Read more →Taiwan wraps up largest-ever war games, officials warn threat is 'no longer a lab exercise'
Taiwan concluded the live-fire phase of its annual Han Kuang exercises on August 14, 2026, capping the island's biggest-ever military drills, which mobilized roughly 20,000 reservists alongside active-duty forces to rehearse repelling a Chinese invasion. In one key drill, convoys of M60A3 tanks and armored vehicles moved overnight from Hualien to Yilan on civilian flatbed trucks to simulate rushing reinforcements to a coastal landing site, while other units tested new US-inspired communications methods and anti-amphibious defenses. Defense officials said the scale and realism of this year's exercises, including the largest reservist call-up on record, reflect a shift from tabletop planning to concrete preparation as tensions with Beijing persist.
Zambians await results as Hichilema calls early vote count 'encouraging'
Vote counting continued across Zambia on August 14 and 15, 2026 after Wednesday's general election, with President Hakainde Hichilema saying he had received encouraging early results and reports of peace and unity nationwide as he urged citizens to remain patient. Hichilema, seeking a second term on the strength of economic gains made since a pandemic-era debt crisis, faced a reorganized field of 14 candidates, with first-time contender Brian Mundubile drawing large crowds during the campaign. The Electoral Commission of Zambia had not yet announced official results as of August 15, though Hichilema's party is seen as well placed to retain dominant control of parliament given a historically fractured opposition.
Read more →Zambians await results as Hichilema calls early vote count 'encouraging'
Vote counting continued across Zambia on August 14 and 15, 2026 after Wednesday's general election, with President Hakainde Hichilema saying he had received encouraging early results and reports of peace and unity nationwide as he urged citizens to remain patient. Hichilema, seeking a second term on the strength of economic gains made since a pandemic-era debt crisis, faced a reorganized field of 14 candidates, with first-time contender Brian Mundubile drawing large crowds during the campaign. The Electoral Commission of Zambia had not yet announced official results as of August 15, though Hichilema's party is seen as well placed to retain dominant control of parliament given a historically fractured opposition.