Friday, August 21, 2026

Kryvyi Rih strikes

Russian drone strikes on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine, kill at least 16 people and injure more than 130 others, including 22 children.

Mykolaiv strikes

A Russian strike on a neighborhood in Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine, kills four people, including three children, according to Ukrainian interior minister Ivan Vyhivskyi.

Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Pakistani forces raid multiple militant hideouts, killing 12 suspected Pakistani Taliban militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 37 suspected Baloch separatist militants in Balochistan.

Myanmar civil war

Resistance fighters and a local activist say Myanmar's military deployed hundreds of troops around the proposed Dawei Special Economic Zone in the Tanintharyi Region, burning villages and pushing resistance groups back as the government seeks to revive the project.

Myanmar civil war

At least 14 people are reportedly killed and 20 others are injured after Myanmar's military launched an airstrike on a Buddhist monastery compound in Myaung Township during a religious gathering.

Politics

In Mexico, Sinaloan governor Rubén Rocha Moya resumes office after a four-month suspension while contesting U.S. drug-trafficking charges and an extradition request. Mexican prosecutors say they find insufficient evidence linking him to criminal conduct.

2026 Fagersta school stabbing

A person is killed and three other people are injured in a mass stabbing, carried out with a sword, at a high school in Fagersta, Sweden. The perpetrator is arrested at the scene.

Capital punishment in Japan

Japan executes a 58-year-old man for a 2009 arson attack that killed five people at a pachinko parlor in Osaka. It is the first execution under Sanae Takaichi's premiership.

Lawsuits involving TikTok

TikTok agrees to pay $400 million to settle a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit alleging violations of federal children's privacy law through the collection of personal data from users under 13 without parental consent.

War crimes in the Gaza war

Turkish justice minister Akın Gürlek announces that Turkey has issued an Interpol arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his role in attacks on activists seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Justice

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance convicts Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung of incitement to subversion over their leadership of a group that organized annual Tiananmen crackdown vigils. They face up to 10 years in prison.

Justice

The Russian justice ministry designates independent news outlet Mediazona a "foreign agent" for a second time, accusing it of publishing false information about law enforcement.

Disasters

The death toll of a boat capsizing off the coast of Zambezia Province, Mozambique from August 16 rises to 12 after five bodies of those unaccounted for are found by search teams.

Disasters

Three people are killed and six more wounded in an explosion at a house in the Ain al-Qasab village of Idlib, Syria.

Disasters

Five people are reported missing and eight others are injured after a fire at a restaurant with apartments in Thusis, Grisons, Switzerland.

Business

The Panama Canal announces it will limit the number of ships allowed to cross the passage over the next month due to El Niño causing droughts in the region.

Project Elephant

India's Supreme Court orders states to protect elephant corridors, identify and remove obstructions, and prohibit groups from using fire to drive wild elephants away amid increasing habitat loss and human-elephant conflict.

Health

Around 16 people in Sudan's Red Sea state have reportedly died from a heat stroke amidst a rise in temperatures in the state.

Ethiopian civil conflict

The annual Ashenda festival in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, is cancelled over drone strike fears.

Culture

American fantasy film The Odyssey reaches US$1.35 billion at the worldwide box office to become the highest-grossing R-rated film, surpassing Deadpool & Wolverine.

2026–27 Malaysia Super League

In association football, Johor Darul Ta'zim claims a world record for the longest unbeaten run in top-flight league play, reaching 109 matches after defeating Kuching City 3–0 in Malaysia's Super League.

2026–27 DFB-Pokal

85 people were injured, including 35 police officers, after Kaiserslautern fans launched flares towards the main stand, while Mannheim fans stormed the pitch, causing the match between Kaiserslautern and Mannheim to be temporarily interrupted.