Aug. 26, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day: in 1920, the 19th amendment to United States Constitution, giving women the right to vote, is certified.
QOTD: “The officials responsible for this tragedy should be held accountable and punished,” Mr. Khan said in front of the hospital.
UKRAINE/RUSSIA/MIL - A Wildberries depot in Russia is hit again and destroyed as Ukraine extends its drone campaign
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-wildberries-oil-refinery-2a90ab9665931b35ddd191a2beaa9165
Ukrainian long-range drones struck for the second time in five weeks a major warehouse belonging to Russia’s biggest online retailer, causing a fire that burned it to the ground, local authorities said on Wednesday.
The depot in the Tambov region southeast of Moscow, which is several hundred kilometers (miles) from the Ukrainian border, was previously hit on July 18 when seven people were killed. That attack heralded the start of Ukraine’s aerial campaign that has delivered repeated blows to Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries. The company’s size and commercial importance have brought comparisons with Amazon.
Ukraine’s cutting-edge drone capabilities developed since Russia’s February 2022 invasion have allowed it to hit dozens of Wildberries facilities across Russia in recent weeks. Ukraine says goods sold by the company include equipment and technical components that are used by the Russian military. The attacks have also served Ukraine’s war goals by unsettling Russians living far from the front line and hurting the Russian economy.
ICELAND/EU - Narrow majority of Icelanders back EU membership talks, poll shows ahead of referendum
https://www.reuters.com/world/narrow-majority-icelanders-back-eu-membership-talks-poll-shows-ahead-referendum-2026-08-26/
A narrow majority of Icelanders support restarting negotiations on joining the European Union in a nationwide referendum set for Saturday, according to a new opinion poll, down slightly from the previous survey.
The August 29 ballot is not a vote on membership itself and any deal with the EU would require Iceland to hold a second referendum on whether to join the bloc based on the terms agreed in the negotiations.
The August 21-25 survey of 1,019 people by polling agency Maskina showed 51.3% of respondents support holding negotiations with Brussels on joining the bloc, while 48.7% are opposed, Icelandic daily Visir reported.
The gap between the two sides has narrowed further since an August 13 poll, when 52.2% said they backed restarting the talks while 47.8% said they opposed them.
Reykjavik abandoned EU membership talks in 2013 after four years of negotiations, but a rise in the cost of living and the war in Ukraine are among the factors in recent years that have rekindled Iceland's interest in joining the 27-nation bloc.
IRAN/US/ECON - Iran’s gas lines are growing, but there’s no sign so far that its leaders will bow to US sanctions
https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-war-sanctions-blockade-fuel-economy-41ac797399040746c2caa76a409ae580
Lines have grown outside gas stations across Tehran in recent weeks as the United States has tightened its blockade and threatened more severe sanctions, with some people waiting for two hours or more to fill up.
The uncertainty deepened on Tuesday, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowed to fully sever the country from the global economy. In recent days, Iranian officials have spoken of a possible reduction in heavy gas subsidies as they seek to endure the tightening blockade.
“Maybe we will face a shortage of fuel,” said Hashem Abadi, a 34-year-old barber. “I rush to the filling stations whenever my tank is down to half or so.”
The latest U.S. measures are aimed at wringing concessions from the Islamic Republic nearly six months into the war launched by President Donald Trump and Israel. The war has already battered Iran’s economy and inflicted mounting pain on ordinary people. But there’s no sign yet that it has brought Iran’s leaders to their knees, or that it will reignite the anti-government protests that convulsed the country in January.
RUSSIA/EU - Russia’s Escalating Hybrid Attacks Put Europeans in a Bind
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-26/russia-is-escalating-hybrid-attacks-and-europe-has-no-answer
Russia is expanding its campaign of hybrid attacks against countries that supply weapons and money to Kyiv and has caught Europe without a plan to respond.
From cyber attacks to armed drones and mysterious cases of arson, tensions are rising across the continent as the war in Ukraine is set to enter its fifth winter. Just this month, Poland said it thwarted an attempted assassination of a US citizen originally from Ukraine that was ordered by Russia while Estonia accused Moscow of being behind a fire at a drone maker.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that those responsible for hybrid attacks “will pay the price” after an explosive-laden drone was discovered at an airport in Leipzig near a Ukrainian cargo plane, raising speculation that Moscow was involved in attempted strike.
US/SEC - 3 Secret Service officials put on leave amid investigation into "potential misconduct"
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/3-secret-service-officials-put-on-leave-investigation-potential-misconduct/
Three U.S. Secret Service employees have been placed on leave pending an investigation into "potential misconduct," the agency confirmed late Tuesday.
The impacted staffers include Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi and two other members of the Secret Service's communications office, U.S. officials told CBS News.
As part of the probe, the staff members lost their security clearances and access to their work devices, which is common practice in internal probes, the officials said.
It isn't clear why the employees were put on leave or what the investigation entails.
A Secret Service spokesperson confirmed that three "non-law enforcement personnel" were put on administrative leave "pending an investigation into potential misconduct," but did not elaborate. The spokesperson said the matter is being investigated by the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility.
"The U.S. Secret Service is committed to upholding the highest standards of professionalism and integrity in fulfilling our zero-fail mission of protecting the President and other high-level government officials. Our critical work demands that our workforce maintain an unwavering commitment to duty, honesty, and courage in all aspects of their jobs," the spokesperson said.
CHINA/RUSSIA/ENERGY - Six Chinese nationals among seven killed in Russian gas plant fire
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/seven-dead-including-six-chinese-nationals-nine-are-missing-russias-gas-plant-2026-08-26/
Six Chinese nationals were killed and nine more are missing after a fire broke out at a gas chemical complex in Russia's far eastern Amur region, the plant said on Wednesday.
A total of seven people died and 152 people were treated for injures, including 36 who were rushed to hospitals, the plant said on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday.
The fire, which broke out on Tuesday, was extinguished, it added.
An emergency services plane had arrived to transport the injured to other hospitals in Russia.
The complex, which bills itself as one of the world's largest polyethylene and polypropylene producers, is a joint project of Russian company Sibur and Chinese oil and gas company Sinopec. It has yet to begin operations and was preparing for production start.
Russia frequently relies on foreign labour, including workers from China, for the construction of large industrial and infrastructure projects.
Russia's Investigative Committee said it was investigating the incident as a potential breach of industrial safety regulations and was working to establish the cause of the fire.
CHINA/WEATHER - China prepares for more heavy rain from back-to-back storms
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/china-prepares-more-heavy-rain-back-to-back-storms-2026-08-26/
China's coastal areas and southern regions are preparing for days of intense precipitation, with tens of thousands of people evacuated as Typhoon Narra tracks inland and another storm churns toward the country's eastern seaboard.
Narra made landfall as a tropical storm on Tuesday evening in the southern island province of Hainan after lingering over the Beibu Gulf — also known as the Gulf of Tonkin — for several days, dumping heavy rain across Guangxi, Hainan and Guangdong.
Narra and the accompanying Typhoon Saudel, alongside tropical cyclones Gaenari and Atsani, form a rare quartet of storms swirling simultaneously across the Northwest Pacific and South China Sea, according to China's Meteorological Administration.
The multi-storm system has forced regional authorities including in Guangxi and Hainan to close businesses, suspend tourist operations and evacuate tens of thousands of residents.
Heavy rain is expected to persist in the south, even as recent downpours have already pushed rivers over warning levels and inundated low-lying areas in Guangxi.
Typhoon Saudel is forecast to make landfall along China's eastern seaboard between Zhejiang and Fujian provinces between Thursday and Friday, with weather models projecting its outer rain bands could extend back toward Guangxi.
PAKISTAN/SEC - 14 Newborns Die in Hospital Fire in Pakistan’s Capital
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/world/asia/pakistan-islamabad-hospital-fire.html
Fourteen newborn babies died on Wednesday in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, after a fire broke out in a nursery of the city’s largest hospital, according to officials. It was the deadliest disaster in years at a health care facility in the South Asian nation of 250 million.
The fire spread shortly before 7 a.m. after an air conditioning unit exploded in the maternity ward of the Pakistan Institute for Medical Sciences, officials said. Rescue teams dispatched six fire engines and four ambulances, but only one newborn baby could be saved as the fire spread rapidly because of the presence of oxygen cylinders.
Among the victims were the twin daughters of Bahadur Khan, a vegetable seller who had left them with their mother at the hospital on Tuesday night to get some rest at home. Mr. Khan’s wife was recovering in the intensive care unit on Wednesday, he said, and was not aware of their daughters’ death. They were three days old.
US/CANADA/INDIA/SEC - Prominent Sikh separatist says FBI has warned him of new threat on his life
https://apnews.com/article/india-nikhil-gupta-pannun-sikh-murder-b1c6a424dc2bfc4d8606d08ba70b00c6
A prominent Sikh separatist said Tuesday that the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have warned him that he faces a new credible threat to his life even as a man from India faces sentencing later this year for a 2023 death plot against him.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for Sikhs For Justice, said he was warned by FBI agents who visited him Aug. 12 that he should not travel until the threat is resolved, and, if he does, the agency should be notified in advance of his plans.
He said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police warned him by telephone on Tuesday, though neither law enforcement agency gave any details about the plot that was uncovered. Messages seeking comment from both law enforcement agencies were not immediately returned.
Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, said he was warned according to the terms of a “Duty to Warn” law in the United States that obligates U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to notify individuals when they discover credible and specific threats of murder, severe bodily harm or kidnapping.