“Ukraine launched more than 620 drones at Moscow overnight in what appeared to be its largest such attack in years, while Russian attacks killed 10 people in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 180 of the 620 drones heading towards Moscow were ‘destroyed’ by Russian defences over the capital region between Monday evening and 5am (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday. He said 17 more drones were shot down en route to the capital later. … The drone attack wounded three people, including a 10-year-old girl, Moscow region’s Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram. … Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force reported shooting down or suppressing 111 of 147 ‘enemy’ drones overnight. Kharkiv’s regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said preliminary information indicated 10 people were killed and eight injured in the Pechenihy settlement.” (08/18/26)
“A ship was hit by a projectile early Tuesday as it was sailing out of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the attack highlights the ongoing danger of attempting to transit the waterway as Iran continues to throttle shipping traffic, even as it finalizes negotiations with Oman on a plan to manage the critical passage. … With negotiations between the U.S. and Iran stalled, Iran has been holding separate talks with Oman on a plan to manage ships transiting the strait, and said Monday it was in the process of finalizing details for a joint statement. U.S. President Donald Trump [whined like a spoiled three-year-old], reportedly threatening to Fox News reporter Trey Yingst in a telephone interview that the U.S. would bomb Oman if it ‘gets in the way.'” (08/18/26)
“The Trump administration says it is temporarily pausing construction of a controversial border construction project in the Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits Texas to do an ‘on-the-ground evaluation.’ The project through the national park in southern Texas has faced fierce bipartisan opposition by critics who say it is marring a pristine environmental area and that the region’s rugged and remote terrain already serves as a deterrent to migrants and smugglers.” (08/17/26)
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy Jared Kushner agreed on Monday that an American general would verify Hamas’s disarmament, an Israeli official said, as the premier insisted there would be no pullout from Gaza until then. The understanding marks a new attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to satisfy Israel after Netanyahu, facing a tough re-election fight, publicly rejected the latest part of a US plan aimed at ending the devastating Gaza war. Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a longtime family friend of Netanyahu, met the Israeli leader in Jerusalem a day after holding rare direct talks in Egypt with Hamas, which has publicly committed itself to the plan.” (08/17/26)
“The House Ethics Committee said Monday it’s reviewing allegations that Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., ‘may have engaged in sexual misconduct in violation of the Code of Official Conduct,’ including ‘engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer.’ … The married Gomez, who formed a Congressional Dads Caucus back in 2023, said in a statement that he had ‘made personal mistakes outside my marriage’ and would cooperate with the probe. ‘Although my actions were consensual in nature and haven’t violated the law or House Ethics rules, that doesn’t diminish the impact that these mistakes have made on those I care about the most,’ the statement said.” (08/17/26)
“You could soon get your Uber Eats order delivered by a Zipline drone thanks to the latest partnership between the two companies. As detailed in an Uber press release, the company is targeting a goal of one million drone deliveries each day by end of 2029. The partnering companies also announced that the first deployments are scheduled for later this year, with drone deliveries first becoming available in Zipline’s existing US markets, including Pea Ridge, Ark. and the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, before expanding to dozens of more cities. On top of the combination of Uber’s network and Zipline’s drone fleet, Uber made a strategic investment into Zipline but didn’t disclose the financial details.” (08/17/26)
“A 72-year-old woman says her civil rights were violated when an ICE agent in Manhattan sprayed her with pepper spray. Three weeks ago, Linda Wolff, an immigrant rights supporter who can often be found outside of Delaney Hall, said she was in Inwood when she got word ICE agents were [abducting people] in the area. She said she took out her phone and started recording. ‘I went back on the curb and was just filming ICE, and they walked over and they maced me,’ Wolff said Friday. ‘My civil rights were completely violated at that moment.’ Now, Wolff plans to take ICE to court.” (08/17/26)
“A Russian court on Monday convicted a prominent opposition politician for speaking out against the war in Ukraine and sentenced him to 11 years and one month in prison in the latest crackdown leading up to next month’s parliamentary election. The verdict against Lev Shlosberg, a senior member of the Yabloko party, was another step by the Kremlin to stifle dissent since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022. Yabloko is the only official political party overtly opposing the war. Shlosberg, 63, is Yabloko’s deputy chairman and served in the regional legislature of Pskov from 2016-21. He stood trial in the city of Pskov, some 600 kilometers (370 miles) northwest of Moscow, on charges of ‘discrediting’ and spreading ‘false information’ about the Russian military.” [editor’s note: Yabloko briefly BECAME the only “official party” opposing the war last month after the Libertarian Party was banned, and was barred from ballots itself earlier this month – TLK] (08/17/26)
“Rebuffing President Donald Trump for a second time, the U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear his appeal of a $5 million verdict in favor of E. Jean Carroll after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the former magazine columnist. The justices rejected Trump’s request to reconsider their previous decision in June denying his appeal of the 2023 jury verdict stemming from allegations that he raped her in the 1990s in a Manhattan department store’s dressing room. Trump’s lawyers contend that the trial was unfair. The Supreme Court is also weighing the Republican president’s appeal of a separate $83.3 million jury verdict for defaming Carroll in 2019 during his first term as president, when he denied the claims and asserted that she lied about the accusations. Trump’s lawyers in that appeal argue that presidential immunity shields him from Carroll’s claims and that lower courts wrongly decided that he had forfeited that defense.” (08/17/26)
“A Malian court sentenced on Monday a prominent broadcaster and an influencer, who had both criticised the ruling junta, to seven years in jail, an AFP journalist saw. The sentences are the latest handed to Malians critical of the unstable west African country’s military government, which came to power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021. Television and radio commentator Mohamed Youssouf Bathily – alias Ras Bath – was convicted by the court in Bamako of criminal conspiracy and discrediting the state, alongside Rokia Doumbia, a noted campaigner known online as ‘Rose, the cost of living’. Both had been in custody for several years following the airing of a 2023 programme by the journalist dedicated to the economic difficulties facing ordinary Malians.” (08/17/26)
