“Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy who was convicted of killing Sonya Massey, has died. Daniel Fultz, one of Grayson’s defense attorneys, confirmed with Nexstar’s WCIA that Grayson died on Sunday. Grayson, 32, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Sonya Massey in October of 2025. Massey, a [b]lack woman, had called 911 to report she believed someone was trying to break into her home. Grayson and another deputy responded to the call at 12:50 a.m. on July 6, 2024. Massey was shot by Grayson about 30 minutes later, and was pronounced dead by 1:47 a.m. At the beginning of this year, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Recently, Grayson requested early release from prison on medical grounds. He had been battling colon cancer for years, and in July, WCIA reported the cancer had progressed to Stage 4 and spread to Grayson’s rectum, liver and lungs.” (08/24/26)
“Indonesia intensified its ground and aerial firefighting operations on Monday as huge blazes in central and western regions scorched wide areas of forests and peatland, creating a choking haze that blanketed cities and crossed borders. Indonesian police have arrested 72 people suspected of starting some of the forest and peatland fires, while four companies are under investigation for allegedly using fire to clear land at low cost. Emergency services have been battling fires driven by an intensifying El Nino pattern and a prolonged dry season, generating dense smoke that crossed into Malaysia and Brunei, according to the National Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB. Fires remained active in several regions on Monday, according to the agency, while large-scale suppression efforts continue in fire-prone provinces including West, Central and South Kalimantan on Borneo island and in Riau, South Sumatra and Jambi on Sumatra island.” (08/24/26)
“New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has unveiled a proposed law banning children younger than 16 from using social media platforms, citing what he said Monday was “harm being done to a generation” of young people. However, the bill hasn’t yet attracted enough support to pass into law because two of the three parties in Luxon’s coalition government will vote against it. Passage would require support from opposition lawmakers, who have yet to decide how they would vote. There also wasn’t enough time for lawmakers to hold a vote on the proposal before Parliament dissolved on Oct. 1 ahead of November’s election, Luxon said. Bills are required to pass three rounds of voting, usually over a period of months, before they become law.” (08/23/26)
“The immigrant father of a U.S. sailor on board the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which was deployed in the Middle East during the Iran war, was [abducted by violent gang members], the sailor said in a Facebook post. U.S. Border Patrol [abducted] Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, originally from Nicaragua, after conducting a vehicle stop in Key West, Florida, a spokesperson of the Department of Homeland Security, of which Border Patrol is a part, separately said on Sunday.” (08/24/26)
“Britain’s government Monday urged TikTok and other social media companies to take down viral videos ‘celebrating’ dangerous driving, after two police officers and five young men were killed in a crash when a car was driven down the wrong side of the road. The collision took place as concerns grow over social media videos showing people driving dangerously on purpose, posted by the drivers themselves or others inside the vehicles at the time. British media reports suggest that one of the people who died in the Volkswagen on Saturday may have previously posted such a video. U.K. Defense Minister Luke Pollard said the government has told TikTok and similar platforms to ‘step up’ and remove such ‘awful content’.” (08/24/26)
“A mountainous heap of refuse collapsed at the largest landfill in Guinea ‘s capital of Conakry early on Sunday, killing 30 people, according to the central government. Authorities said that heavy rains, which started at around 2 a.m., washed over the refuse at Dar Es Salam — the largest landfill in Conakry — and triggered a landslide that buried nearby shacks. A search and rescue operation was underway to find survivors. Six people were seriously injured and several homes were destroyed. The site, an open-air waste dump which is the largest in the city, had been designated for closure on Sunday, according to Lt. Col. Baldé Mamadou Bailo, the sanitation officer for the military engineering battalion.” (08/23/26)
“Three teenagers were killed and another eight people, including seven children, were wounded after drone debris hit a private childcare centre in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight, Russian officials said. In a post on Telegram, Russia’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova said that three teenagers, aged 13, 15 and 16, had been killed, with six more children hospitalised. Local governor Veniamin Kondratyev said that two adults had also been wounded. … The attack came as Ukraine attacked several logistics centres belonging to Russian online retailer Ozon, including in the town of Enem, close to Krasnodar city.” (08/24/26)
“Kazakhstan’s pro-government Adilet party won more than 71 percent of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary election, said the electoral commission in a result likely to consolidate the power of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Announcing the results on Monday, the commission said that four other blocs also entered parliament: the pro-business Respublika and Ak Zhol parties, the centre-left Nationwide Social Democratic Party and the Auyl party, which represents rural voters. … Adilet was founded in the Central Asian nation earlier this year and is led by Tokayev’s top aides. Shortly after its inception, it absorbed the previous ruling party, Amanat. All four other parties entering parliament are also seen as broadly supportive of Tokayev’s administration.” (08/24/26)
“The U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on [American buyers of] $20 billion worth of Canadian products early Saturday after last-ditch negotiations failed to resolve the latest strain in already tense relations between the historic allies. Canada’s leader said it will retaliate [by taxing Canadian buyers of American goods] beginning Sept. 8. In a call with reporters late Friday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada had declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms that had been agreed to earlier this week.” (08/23/26)
“Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday defended Tehran’s expired Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States as the best option for ending hostilities between the two nations, which Pezeshkian described as being ‘neither war nor peace.’ … ‘There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,’ Pezeshkian said in remarks published by state-run news agency IRNA. ‘The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.’ The MoU, signed by US President Donald Trump in June, laid out a 60-day timeline for ending the US-Israeli-led conflict as well as ensuring that Iran give up its nuclear ambitions. The deadline passed last week with no signs of compromise by either side, and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz — which Iran closed in response to US-Israeli attacks, putting the global economy in a chokehold for the past six months — still unresolved.” (08/23/26)
