Five years after Evergrande's debt crisis rattled global markets, founder Hui Ka Yan has been sentenced to life in prison, marking a dramatic new chapter in the downfall of China's former property giant.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 20th of August, covering the latest developments.
Britain has summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires and demanded that the Israeli government withdraw a tender for construction in the controversial E1 settlement area in the West Bank.
The death toll from last week’s powerful earthquake in Colombia has risen to at least 314, while 262 people remain missing, President Abelardo De La Espriella said on Wednesday.
Two days inside Uzbekistan’s newsrooms, hospitals, factories and technology hubs reveal a country eager to show how it is changing — while that transformation is still under way.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday for a two-day visit, marking the first trip by Syria’s top diplomat to Pakistan in 19 years as Damascus seeks to deepen ties with the country.
The grandmother of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab has rejected an Israeli military investigation into her killing, saying the family does not trust the Israeli judiciary and calling instead for an independent international probe.
Lebanon has handed over former Syrian Major General Adel Issa to authorities in Damascus, where he faces charges including premeditated murder and torture resulting in death, Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
Iran has rejected UAE allegations that it fired two ballistic missiles towards the Gulf state, as tensions rise over military activity, trade and the Strait of Hormuz.
More than a year after Pakistan and India were involved in their most serious military confrontation in decades, a key airspace restriction between the nuclear-armed neighbours remains in force.
Uzbekistan has unveiled a sweeping package of business reforms, including easier access to loans, $1 billion in export support, a three-year moratorium on most inspections and stronger protections for entrepreneurs.
Escalating attacks on Black Sea ports, cargo vessels and export infrastructure have crippled a vital global grain trade route, threatening supplies to food-importing nations and driving prices higher.
Türkiye on Wednesday rejected Israel’s justification for striking a Syrian airbase near its border, calling the claims “untenable” as tensions between the two countries rise over Syria.
Uzbekistan plans to open a logistics centre at Georgia’s port of Poti by 2027, with capacity to handle up to 500,000 tonnes of cargo a year, as Tashkent strengthens transport links through the South Caucasus.
The United Arab Emirates suspended all trade and financial transactions with Iran on Tuesday after saying Iranian missiles had targeted maritime navigation in the Gulf.
Former Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for elections despite the war with Russia, mounting what is widely seen as the biggest domestic political challenge to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.
Ukraine's parliament has approved Yevhenii Khmara as the country's new defence minister, cementing a key leadership change as Kyiv navigates wartime priorities and a broader government reorganisation.
Thai schools conducted active shooter drills on Wednesday (19 August), as authorities moved to strengthen security measures two weeks after a 14-year-old opened fire at a school and killed at least eight people.
Apple has announced a major overhaul of its business terms for apps distributed in the European Union, introducing a five per cent commission on digital transactions outside its App Store and simplifying its fee structure as it seeks to comply with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
A record number of humanitarian workers were killed, injured or kidnapped in 2025, with the growing use of armed drones contributing to mounting risks in conflict zones, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
The Democratic Republic of Congo says the number of confirmed Ebola cases has risen to more than 5,000, with more than 2,300 deaths. Delayed detection, weak surveillance, funding shortages and conflict have allowed the virus to spread faster than in any previous epidemic at the same stage.
France is set to expel two Iranian diplomats in response to what Paris has described as a “deliberate assault” on two French embassy staff in Tehran last month, escalating tensions between the two countries.
At least six Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, according to Palestinian health officials, as efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to advance a plan to end the war remain deadlocked.
Georgia’s newly elected Catholicos-Patriarch Shio III is set to visit Istanbul, with the upcoming trip discussed during a meeting with Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, a representative of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
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