Today’s news is dominated by escalating conflict and disaster response: Colombia is racing to rescue survivors after a magnitude-7.4 earthquake killed at least 265 people and left thousands missing in the country’s west, while a fast-spreading Ebola (Bundibugyo virus) epidemic in the DR Congo/Uganda has become the second-largest on record with over 4,300 cases. The Russia-Ukraine war continues with daily drone and missile exchanges, including a major Ukrainian strike on Russia’s Novorossiysk naval base, while Gaza’s fragile ceasefire remains under strain amid continued Israeli strikes and West Bank settler violence. Markets are calm and near record highs as U.S. inflation data came in cooler than expected, easing Fed rate-hike worries, even as the AI infrastructure boom accelerates with hundreds of billions in new financing. Meanwhile, extreme summer heat continues to batter Europe, Asia, and North America, and tensions simmer around Taiwan, Iran’s nuclear standoff with the U.S., and Africa’s migration and health crises.
North America
- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced she is stepping down at month’s end, calling it a “bittersweet decision” following President Trump’s announcementLeavitt called it a “bittersweet decision” in a social media post shortly after President Trump announced she’d be leaving her role. WORLD
- Democrat David Crowley won an upset victory in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary and will face Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany in NovemberIt was an upset win, surprising pundits and pollsters who had long placed Hong as the front-runner, meaning Crowley will square off against Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany. WORLD
- Former Southern Poverty Law Center extremism research director Heidi Beirich was arrested on fraud charges, with prosecutors alleging she shared finances with a paid neo-Nazi informantProsecutors say she shared a bank account with a paid neo-Nazi informant she was dating, and that the center paid over $4 million to people inside extremist groups while telling donors it was dismantling them. WORLD
Europe
- Western Europe is enduring its hottest summer opening on record, with heat linked to more than 25,000 deaths across the continent this year and over 1.2 million acres burned in wildfires, mainly in Spain, France and ItalyHeat has killed more than 25,000 people across Europe this year, and record-setting wildfires have displaced hundreds of thousands of people and burned more than 1.23 million acres of land, mainly in Spain, France and Italy. CNN
- Russia struck Ukraine’s Odesa region overnight, killing two railway workers, while Ukraine hit a major Russian logistics hub and struck Russian ships at Novorossiysk.
- Spain witnessed its first total solar eclipse in over a century, drawing large crowds to observatories in Aragon.
Asia
- Taiwan is riding an AI-chip-fueled economic boom that pushed its stock exchange to become the world’s fifth largest by market capitalization, even as tensions with Beijing continue, with Taiwan running large-scale reservist military drillsTaiwan’s stock exchange soared to become the fifth largest in the world based on market capitalisation, overtaking the United Kingdom, Canada and India. Al Jazeera
- Japan’s defense white paper warned that the military balance around Taiwan is “rapidly tilting in China’s favor,” a claim Beijing rejected as unwarranted.
- China’s markets were mixed, with the Shanghai and Hang Seng indexes ticking down while South Korea’s Kospi has rallied sharply this week.
Oceania
- Australia’s benchmark ASX 200 has traded modestly lower this week amid broader Asia-Pacific market caution ahead of U.S. inflation data.
- Australian rules football’s QAFL season and other regional sporting competitions remain in full swing as the Southern Hemisphere winter sporting calendar continues.
Middle East
- Clashes between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Yemeni government forces raged overnight, according to wire reports.
- Israeli settlers are besieging Palestinian homes in the West Bank village of Qusra; the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, condemned the actionsThe U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned the actions of Jewish settlers who are besieging the home of an American Palestinian family in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. NPR
- Indirect U.S.-Iran talks remain stalled, with an Iranian source saying there has been no progress on reviving an interim nuclear agreementA senior Iranian source told Reuters there has been “absolutely no progress” on discussions about the U.S. returning to the interim agreement with Iran. Just Security
Africa
- A ferry disaster on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba killed 44 people, and South Africa is seeking repatriation cost reimbursement from Malawi, Nigeria and Ethiopia amid rising anti-immigration tensionsSouth Africa is asking Malawi, Ethiopia, and Nigeria to reimburse it for the cost of sending their citizens home, after spending nearly $18 million on repatriations amid rising anti-immigration tensions. OkayAfrica
- The DR Congo Ebola outbreak has become the second-largest on record, with over 4,300 confirmed cases and more than 2,000 deaths.
- Malian government forces and Russian allies reportedly used Shahed-136 loitering munitions in northern Mali for the first time.
South America
- Colombia’s death toll from Monday’s magnitude-7.4 earthquake has risen to at least 265, with over 4,100 people still reported missing; regional aid, including Mexican rescue teams and free Starlink internet, is flowing into the hardest-hit areasThe earthquake killed at least 265 people, injuring more than 3,700 others and leaving more than 4,100 reported missing, causing extensive damage in Cali, Pereira, Quibdó, Manizales and other areas. Wikipedia
- New Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella faces an early crisis test managing the national disaster response.
Central America
- Regional governments across Latin America, including Mexico’s Topos de Tlatelolco rescue teams, have redeployed personnel to assist Colombia’s earthquake recovery.
- Central American nations continue to monitor migration flows northward amid ongoing U.S. immigration enforcement policy shifts.
Latin America & the Caribbean
- Aid organizations report that U.S. foreign-aid cuts have disrupted maternal and child-health programs in the region and beyond, contributing to rising pregnancy complications.
- Colombia’s earthquake response remains the dominant regional story, with international assistance offers arriving from across Latin America.
Global Sports
- NFL preseason football opened this week, with matchups including the Cincinnati Bengals hosting the Detroit Lions.
- MLS’s Leagues Cup league phase wraps up its group stage today with matches including América vs. Austin FC and Cruz Azul vs. Chicago Fire.
- UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev dismissed retirement talk ahead of his UFC 330 title defense against Ian Garry.
Global Space
- SpaceX continues its record launch cadence, having flown roughly 90+ Falcon 9 missions in 2026, including a recent 24-satellite Starlink launch from Vandenberg.
- Veteran NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, who trained on Boeing Starliner before reassignment to SpaceX’s Crew-11 mission, announced his retirement after 30 years.
- Blue Origin identified the engine issue behind its recent New Glenn rocket explosion, while Firefly Aerospace pushed back its Alpha Block 2 rocket debut to Q4 2026.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- The AI industry saw roughly half a trillion dollars in new infrastructure financing activity in the past day alone, alongside frontier platforms crossing the billion-user markIn the last 24 hours, nearly every layer of the AI stack moved at once: half a trillion dollars in new infrastructure financing is taking shape, frontier AI platforms are crossing the billion-user mark, and a major supply-chain breach has exposed more than 2,500 companies. Tech Startups
- Nvidia is developing an ambitious open-model initiative, Nemotron 4, reportedly targeting roughly one trillion parameters, aiming to spur more GPU demand rather than compete directly with closed labs like OpenAI and Anthropic.
- Google reorganized its AI leadership, naming Koray Kavukcuoglu to run DeepMind as it races to close the gap with OpenAI and Anthropic in frontier model performance.
- Security researchers disclosed (and providers have since mitigated) a flaw across major AI APIs that could let weaker models decode stronger models’ internal reasoning traces.
Global Leaders
- President Trump announced Karoline Leavitt’s departure as press secretary; reports also describe heightened security concerns around Air Force One amid Middle East tensions.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly threatened Europe over the seizure of vessels, per wire reports, as the Ukraine war grinds on.
- Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, is managing his first major crisis just days into office following the earthquake.
Global Finance
- U.S. stock futures ticked higher Thursday after July’s Producer Price Index came in flat, adding to optimism following Wednesday’s tame Consumer Price Index readingStock futures were mixed and oil prices fell as investors assessed a flat producer price reading, with the July reading of the producer price index — a key measure of wholesale inflation — flat in July versus an expected 0.2% rise. TheStreet
- Norway’s $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund reported a record half-year profit of more than $182 billion, driven by a rally in Asian tech stocks.
- U.S. household credit card balances are nearing record highs even as overall household debt ticked down in Q2 2026.
Global Health
- The DR Congo/Uganda Ebola epidemic, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, is now the fastest-spreading outbreak on record and the second-largest ever, with over 4,300 cases and roughly 2,000+ deathsBy early August 2026, the epidemic had become the fastest growing Ebola outbreak on record, as well as the second largest, complicated by the fact that existing Ebola treatments were certified for a different Ebola species. Wikipedia
- WHO’s Emergency Committee is set to meet August 18 to reassess the outbreak’s international risk status.
- Aid workers report U.S. foreign-aid cuts have worsened maternal and child health outcomes in Nepal and other low-income countries.
Global Entertainment
- Elvis Week is underway at Graceland in Memphis, running through August 16 to commemorate Elvis Presley.
- Spotify’s move to label AI-generated music and exclude it from recommendations continues to draw industry discussion.
- The 6th Astra TV Awards are set for August 15 in Los Angeles, with “The Pitt” leading nominations.
Global Celebrities
- UFC champion Islam Makhachev addressed retirement speculation ahead of his title defense.
- Entertainment outlets report ongoing celebrity legal and personal news cycles, including a high-profile custody dispute involving dancer Gleb Savchenko.
Global Technology
- The tech sector’s earnings season continues to move markets: Cisco Systems shares fell sharply after underwhelming quarterly results, while AI-hardware firm Cerebras tumbled on a revenue miss.
- Google is consolidating its AI leadership in California to accelerate its competitive response to OpenAI and Anthropic.
Global Stock Market
- Wall Street remains near record highs, with the S&P 500 close to an all-time high and the VIX volatility index at its lowest level of 2026The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) hit its lowest levels of 2026, falling over 5% to 14.40, with the market on a record streak of 183 consecutive sessions without an 80%+ downside-volume day. Eregal
- Asian markets were broadly positive Thursday, with Japan and South Korea futures advancing on eased Fed rate-hike concerns.
- Investor Nelson Peltz is reportedly preparing a bid to take Wendy’s private, sending shares up sharply this week.
Global Travel
- Airlines and tourism operators in western Colombia remain disrupted after seven regional airports suspended operations following the earthquake.
- Europe’s heatwave and wildfires continue to affect travel across Spain, France, and Italy, with transportation and water systems strained.
Global Culture
- Elvis Week and related Americana cultural commemorations continue in Memphis.
- Miss Universe Philippines 2026 concluded in May, with Bea Millan-Windorski of La Union crowned winner, reflecting ongoing regional beauty-pageant culture news.
Global Religions
- Turkey’s parliament approved legislation offering conditional pardons to thousands of Kurdish militants, part of a broader peace initiative tied to religious and ethnic reconciliation efforts.
- Interfaith and religious-freedom concerns continue amid West Bank settler violence against Palestinian communities.
Global Education
- Reports note Indiana’s literacy rates have risen for a fifth consecutive year, part of broader U.S. state-level education trend coverage this week.
- Nepal’s health and education infrastructure remains strained by aid cuts affecting maternal and child services.
Global Science
- Spain’s total solar eclipse on August 12 was the country’s first in more than a century, visible across parts of Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain.
- Scientists continue attributing 2026’s extreme heatwaves to a warming climate baseline interacting with persistent atmospheric “Omega block” patterns.
Global Climate
- Europe’s summer of 2026 remains one of the hottest on record, with heat-related deaths exceeding 25,000 and wildfires burning over 1.2 million acresThe first two months of summer in western Europe have been the hottest on record, as the continent grapples with devastating wildfires and braces for yet another heatwave. CNN
- Hungary and Romania were forced to temporarily shut down nuclear reactors cooled by the Danube due to critically low water levels.
- U.S. heat alerts have affected more than 40 million people this summer, with heat remaining the deadliest weather-related hazard in the country.
