Lead Story
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces dissolve, completing merger with Syrian army
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi announced on August 25, 2026, "We announce today the end of the mission of the Syrian Democratic Forces and declare, with full responsibility, their dissolution as an independent military force," capping months of integration under a January 29 framework agreement with the Islamist-led government in Damascus. The Kurdish-led force, once Washington's main partner in the fight against ISIS and the de facto ruler of a semi-autonomous zone across northeastern Syria, had its brigades folded into the Syrian Arab Army following a series of clashes with Damascus that ultimately gave the central government control of most of the northeast. The dissolution marks a major milestone in interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's effort to consolidate a unified national army after the December 2024 ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
Read more →Lead Story
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces dissolve, completing merger with Syrian army
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi announced on August 25, 2026, "We announce today the end of the mission of the Syrian Democratic Forces and declare, with full responsibility, their dissolution as an independent military force," capping months of integration under a January 29 framework agreement with the Islamist-led government in Damascus. The Kurdish-led force, once Washington's main partner in the fight against ISIS and the de facto ruler of a semi-autonomous zone across northeastern Syria, had its brigades folded into the Syrian Arab Army following a series of clashes with Damascus that ultimately gave the central government control of most of the northeast. The dissolution marks a major milestone in interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's effort to consolidate a unified national army after the December 2024 ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
Trump floats renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America" as Canada trade war escalates
President Trump said on Truth Social on August 25, 2026, that "the United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America," claiming the US doesn't expect to be "doing much business with Ontario any longer," a threat that echoes his earlier renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America." The remark came as the US-Canada trade war deepened: Washington's 50% tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods took effect this week, Trump has said a 50% tariff on Canadian automotive and steel imports will follow in January, and Canada responded on August 25 by announcing retaliatory tariffs on C$19.94 billion of American goods, matching the US duties dollar for dollar. Ontario Premier Doug Ford sparred publicly with Trump, calling him a "loser" and a "dictator" and vowing to "fight with everything we have."
Read more →Trump floats renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America" as Canada trade war escalates
President Trump said on Truth Social on August 25, 2026, that "the United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America," claiming the US doesn't expect to be "doing much business with Ontario any longer," a threat that echoes his earlier renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America." The remark came as the US-Canada trade war deepened: Washington's 50% tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods took effect this week, Trump has said a 50% tariff on Canadian automotive and steel imports will follow in January, and Canada responded on August 25 by announcing retaliatory tariffs on C$19.94 billion of American goods, matching the US duties dollar for dollar. Ontario Premier Doug Ford sparred publicly with Trump, calling him a "loser" and a "dictator" and vowing to "fight with everything we have."
Supreme Court hands Trump preliminary win on mail-in voting executive order
In an unsigned 6-3 ruling issued August 24, 2026, with the court's three liberal justices dissenting, the Supreme Court lifted a lower court's June block that had halted enforcement of President Trump's executive order targeting mail-in voting, after 23 Democratic states and Washington, D.C. sued over the order ahead of the November midterms. The order seeks to build a federal list of eligible voters and direct the US Postal Service to deliver ballots only to people on it. The ruling addressed only the timing of the legal challenges, not the order's underlying legality, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that "today's decision does not address whether the President's attempts to interfere with states' administration of the November 2026 elections are lawful." A separate lower-court order still blocks the Postal Service from implementing the directive nationwide for now.
Read more →Supreme Court hands Trump preliminary win on mail-in voting executive order
In an unsigned 6-3 ruling issued August 24, 2026, with the court's three liberal justices dissenting, the Supreme Court lifted a lower court's June block that had halted enforcement of President Trump's executive order targeting mail-in voting, after 23 Democratic states and Washington, D.C. sued over the order ahead of the November midterms. The order seeks to build a federal list of eligible voters and direct the US Postal Service to deliver ballots only to people on it. The ruling addressed only the timing of the legal challenges, not the order's underlying legality, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that "today's decision does not address whether the President's attempts to interfere with states' administration of the November 2026 elections are lawful." A separate lower-court order still blocks the Postal Service from implementing the directive nationwide for now.
Israeli strikes kill four in Gaza, including two children, week after US urged restraint
Israeli strikes and tank fire across Gaza killed at least four people on August 24, 2026, including two children, according to hospital officials, a week after the United States privately asked Israel to curb attacks on the territory. A strike on a building in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed a four-year-old child and wounded his mother and sister after an evacuation warning, while Israeli artillery fire north of Khan Younis in southern Gaza killed a ten-year-old girl, according to the civil defence and Nasser Hospital. Israel's military said it struck what it described as two Hamas weapons storage facilities inside mosques in the Shati refugee camp and Deir al-Balah after issuing warnings, but did not comment on the other reported strikes.
Read more →Israeli strikes kill four in Gaza, including two children, week after US urged restraint
Israeli strikes and tank fire across Gaza killed at least four people on August 24, 2026, including two children, according to hospital officials, a week after the United States privately asked Israel to curb attacks on the territory. A strike on a building in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed a four-year-old child and wounded his mother and sister after an evacuation warning, while Israeli artillery fire north of Khan Younis in southern Gaza killed a ten-year-old girl, according to the civil defence and Nasser Hospital. Israel's military said it struck what it described as two Hamas weapons storage facilities inside mosques in the Shati refugee camp and Deir al-Balah after issuing warnings, but did not comment on the other reported strikes.
Ukraine hits Russian oil refinery for fifth time as Russian bombs wound 19 in Kramatorsk
Ukraine's defence forces struck Russia's Afipsky oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai overnight on August 24-25, 2026, igniting a fire and damaging nearby homes and rail operations at Afipskaya station in what was the fifth Ukrainian strike on the refinery this year; Ukraine's General Staff also confirmed a separate strike on the Astrakhan gas processing plant. The refinery, which has a design capacity of 6.25 million tonnes of oil a year, supplies fuel to Russia's armed forces. Hours later on August 25, Russian forces dropped nine FAB-250 guided bombs on Kramatorsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region, wounding 19 people including an infant, part of a broader overnight barrage in which Russia launched roughly 150 drones and two missiles at Ukrainian targets.
Read more →Ukraine hits Russian oil refinery for fifth time as Russian bombs wound 19 in Kramatorsk
Ukraine's defence forces struck Russia's Afipsky oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai overnight on August 24-25, 2026, igniting a fire and damaging nearby homes and rail operations at Afipskaya station in what was the fifth Ukrainian strike on the refinery this year; Ukraine's General Staff also confirmed a separate strike on the Astrakhan gas processing plant. The refinery, which has a design capacity of 6.25 million tonnes of oil a year, supplies fuel to Russia's armed forces. Hours later on August 25, Russian forces dropped nine FAB-250 guided bombs on Kramatorsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region, wounding 19 people including an infant, part of a broader overnight barrage in which Russia launched roughly 150 drones and two missiles at Ukrainian targets.