Morning Brief - 20 August 2026
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 20th of August, covering the latest developments.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 20th of August, covering the latest developments.
A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has killed at least eight people and injured more than two dozen others, Ukrainian officials said, with fires reported across the city and Poland activating defensive air operations.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
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.
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.
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 U.S. imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court's (ICC) President Tomoko Akane and a senior trial lawyer at the court Abdoulaye Seye on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
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.
At least nine people were killed, including a child, in a fire at a hotel in India's eastern city of Kolkata on Wednesday, local police said.
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.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 19th of August, covering the latest developments.
South Korea and the United States are scaling back their annual joint military exercises following an order from U.S. President Donald Trump to substantially reduce American participation.
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