Month: August 2026

The Taliban marked five years in power on Saturday, seeking to portray their government as in control even as aid and rights groups warned of escalating crises.

Outside the former US embassy in Kabul, armored Taliban vehicles took part in a parade, displaying flags and banners, and celebrating what the government described as "victory day" from Western domination.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister, said in a video address that their return to power was the result of "morale, courage" and "divine assistance."

But he also made a rare acknowledgement of "issues and problems that may still exist."

International organizations and the UN say the Taliban have struggled to address the natural and humanitarian crises Afghanistan has faced over the past five years, in part because Afghan women are under severe restrictions.

The Taliban have also faced a string of assassinations of key regional officials in the country's northeast in recent weeks.

In late July, the Taliban's information director in Badakhshan province was killed in an attack later claimed by Islamic State. The mayor of the province's capital also died in an attack on Thursday, local media reported.

Taliban officials did not immediately confirm the reports.

When the Taliban returned to power in 2021 amid the withdrawal of the US and its allies, they promised to govern more liberally than they had in the late 1990s and early 2000s — a period marked by public executions, the sheltering of Osama bin Laden and the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas.

But those assurances quickly faltered, human rights groups say. The Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls since 2021, barring 2.5 million of them from secondary schools and universities, according to UNESCO, and limiting their freedom of movement.

Half of Afghan women now ‌leave their homes only once or twice a month, according to data released by UN Women on Wednesday.

The Taliban say they respect women's rights in accordance with Islamic sharia law.

Five years on, their government remains internationally unrecognized, with Russia the only country to have formally recognized it.

Relations between the Taliban and Pakistan — initially their most important partner — are tense, as Islamabad accuses Kabul of supporting Pakistani insurgents.

Many former embassies in Kabul have remained empty since the Taliban's return to power, including the US embassy that was the backdrop of Taliban celebrations on Saturday.

But the Taliban have made quiet diplomatic inroads, analysts say, as some countries weigh the limits of their influence in Afghanistan and the need to engage with the government.

The Taliban are increasingly pushing for arrangements with European nations that have been seeking ways to deport more Afghans. The government in Kabul is also using its geographical location at the crossroads of South and Central Asia and the Middle East to strike economic deals.

Zia Ahmad Takal, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban's foreign ministry, told Reuters that ceremonies marking the government's fifth anniversary were expected to be held in the capitals of Pakistan, China, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey and Malaysia.

"My hope for the future of Afghanistan is that we will move toward development, God willing," Najibullah Ghorzang, a 28-year-old shop owner who attended Saturday's ceremonies in Kabul, said.

"We defeated a great empire, and we will defeat them again," he said of the US and its allies.

The International Rescue Committee warned on Friday that Afghanistan’s humanitarian needs had reached a record level, driven by droughts, the fallout from deadly earthquakes and the deportation of Afghans from neighboring Iran and Pakistan.

While foreign aid budgets have shrunk, the number of Afghans in need of humanitarian assistance has risen by 3.5 million people since 2021, it said.

"Sustainable peace and prosperity require more than just an absence of conflict," Georgette Gagnon, a senior UN representative on Afghanistan, said in a statement.

"Afghanistan's future depends on building a society in which the rights and potential of all Afghans are realized."

Fatima, 28, has struggled to survive with her child. After the Taliban's return to power, she fled to Iran, where she could continue working as a make-up artist even as the Taliban banned women from such work in Afghanistan.

Last year, she was expelled from Iran and deported to Afghanistan.

"Every morning, I wake up wondering how I will cover my basic living expenses, and every night I close my eyes with worries about my child's future," she said.

Spain has beefed up police and military presence in its North African enclave of Ceuta amid social media messages encouraging migrants to attempt another mass border breach on Saturday, two weeks after tens of thousands rushed into the city.

Soldiers in combat fatigues stood watch outside supermarkets and official buildings on Friday evening, while police cars heavily patrolled the enclave's main avenues. Still, outdoor cafes were packed with diners, and the downtown area was calmer the in the days after the deadly rush on July 30.

On the other side of the border, dozens of black-clad Moroccan security personnel surveilled the beach in Fnideq from which many migrants who swam around Ceuta’s Tarajal breakwater departed. At least 96 people died in the attempt and over 72,000 managed to enter Ceuta, according to Spanish government estimates.

While the vast majority of them voluntarily returned to Morocco shortly thereafter, the crisis sparked a rift within the European Union and fueled anti-immigration rhetoric among far-right parties worldwide.

Spain has since installed a maritime barrier and sent over 500 additional police officers from the mainland. The Interior Ministry said they would remain as long as the situation required.

"We'll continue to deploy whatever personnel are necessary to restore normality as soon as possible and prevent events like those of July 30 from happening again," Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters in Ceuta on Thursday.

About 5,000 migrants remained in Ceuta, the minister said. Officials have started screening adults and decided more than 500 asylum cases, most of them rejected.

Grande-Marlaska added that people who entered irregularly would not be allowed to stay in the enclave, travel to mainland Spain or obtain legal status, except in rare cases of extreme vulnerability. Spain would return those without a right to remain to Morocco, he said.

Earlier this week, Rabat said it was monitoring "the circulation of social media posts and messages of unknown origin" calling for a mass crossing on August 15, warning it would prosecute organizers and participants.

Local media showed a reinforced security apparatus near the border with Ceuta and Spain's other African enclave, Melilla, including the installation of new razor wire on the fences separating the territories.

Authorities prevented several groups from boarding trains and buses to the north in cities such as Casablanca, Fez and Kenitra. However, witnesses told Reuters that some groups from sub-Saharan Africa were sidestepping security checks on the road to Fnideq, taking mountainous routes instead.

One witness said the schools in Fnideq had been turned into dormitories for security forces deployed near the border.

Many of the youths who entered Ceuta on July 30 were fishing, swimming or showering at Ceuta's Tarajal beach on Friday.

Fez native Driss Sadik, 22, swam for five hours to reach Ceuta. He warned against others emulating him.

"The important thing I would advise people trying to cross: Don't cross now, my brothers. You're only going to suffer," he told Reuters.

Adil Jamil, 17, echoed the sentiment.

"Those who enter aren't going to benefit from anything. There will just be more and more of us, and they won't find a solution for all," he said.

Jamil added that the mass border rushes were "planned by the people": they chose a day, gathered in Fnideq, and crossed together to find strength in numbers.

"If I had stayed with my parents, I would've died slowly. But if I risk my life, arrive and build my future… it will be better," he said.

A man suspected of shooting and killing five people in northern Michigan on Friday was found dead after a manhunt, Michigan State Police said in a statement on social media.

One victim remained hospitalized in critical condition, the police said.

Troopers were dispatched around 11:40 a.m. local time (6:40 p.m. Israel time) to a home in Missaukee County, Michigan, after a report of a shooting. Officers found three people dead and a fourth person wounded, the state police said.

The suspect, identified by police as 39-year-old Chad Hickman, fled the scene before troopers arrived, prompting a manhunt. During the search for the suspect, investigators discovered another deceased victim at a second residence.

Troopers later located Hickman's vehicle near a wooded area close to Whitlock Lake, where they found Hickman and another person dead, police said.

"This situation is heartbreaking for the community and challenging for the investigators involved," said Lieutenant Ashley Miller, cited in the police statement.

Police did not release the names, ages, or genders of the victims, saying next-of-kin notifications were underway.

A tsunami warning was issued after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Indonesia’s Flores region on Saturday, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

The independent scientific organization initially classified the earthquake as magnitude 7.5, then downgraded it to 6.9, before reclassifying it as 7.5 and then upgrading it to 7.7.

Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology, and geophysics agency (BMKG) issued the tsunami warning, while also warning of possible aftershocks in the region.

According to the EMSC, the earthquake occured at a depth of 35 km at 4:58 a.m. local time (12:58 a.m. Israel time), with a tsunami evaluation conducted before the warning was issued.

An additional earthquake was detected at a depth of 10 km in the same region soon after, at 5:13 a.m. local time (1:13 a.m. Israel time), with the EMSC noting its classification as magnitude 5.5 following an earlier classification of 6.3.

Australia’s tsunami warning center said the undersea earthquake will have “no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

A deal to free an American hostage held by an Islamic State affiliate in West Africa’s Sahel region was brokered with the help of the eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar, four sources told Reuters.

The hostage, a pilot working for a Christian missionary organization in Niger, was handed over to eastern Libyan authorities late Thursday, one of the sources said. Libya's role in the deal has not previously been reported.

Haftar’s involvement in the freeing of a US hostage reflects how he has carved out a position as a major security broker in the Sahel region, and has used it as leverage to curry favor with the Trump administration.

The missionary, Kevin Rideout, worked for the evangelical agency Serving in Mission and was kidnapped in Niger in October. It was not clear what, if anything, was traded in exchange for his release. One of the four sources said the Libyan side had paid a ransom, without providing further details.

The State Department declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment about Haftar's involvement. In a social media post, Trump said the US looks forward to welcoming Rideout home.

The authorities in eastern Libya were not immediately available for comment.

Reuters reported last year that Rideout was seized by three unidentified men on his way to the airport in Niamey and taken to the western Tillaberi region of Niger, where Islamist militants linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda operate.

The US has made recovering Rideout one of its top priorities in the Sahel. The Trump administration lifted sanctions on top Malian government officials earlier this year in an effort to secure overflight access to the country's airspace to hunt for the pilot.

For months, officials believed Rideout may have been moved to Malian territory.

The details of Rideout’s handover to Libyan authorities and his journey to Libya were not immediately clear.

Two sources said the recent effort to secure his release from the Islamic State affiliate was led by Cherif Ould Tahar, a Malian Arab businessman with connections to regional armed groups and smuggling networks. Tahar could not immediately be reached for comment.

A Kentucky woman has been taken into custody and charged with two felony counts in connection with the vandalism at the World War Two memorial in Washington, US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, said on Friday.

Pirro said on social media that Melissa Farris faces charges, each carrying penalties of up to 10 years in prison.

The World War Two memorial was vandalized with bubbly soap and graffiti on Thursday. The fountain bubbled over with suds and the words “Clean hands Dirty $” were painted on one surface, splattering the area with red and green paint.

In videos posted to her Facebook account, Farris records herself spray painting the memorial and asking why she has not been arrested. She describes herself on the social media platform as a "pirate captain" who is "panhandling for America."

The criminal complaint filed Friday quotes Farris as saying, “Someone has to make choices that are different, and I am accountable for my actions,” she said. “I am going to make these choices today, and I will step foot into the courtroom, and I will wait to be arrested …. Our government needs to be accountable for their choices too.”

In later videos posted after the incident, she appears disheveled and crying, saying she knows she upset people by her actions but was trying to get help for herself.

According to the complaint, a witness took a photo of Farris spray painting the memorial, an image that was circulated among US Park Police.

An officer recognized Farris as someone they had arrested three days earlier for unlawfully camping on federal property a few blocks from the memorial.

Law enforcement found a white sign with painted letters in a nearby trash can, with paint that appeared to match the paint used on the memorial.

Along with her statement on X/Twitter, Pirro posted photos of a woman who appears to be Farris holding a can close to the red paint on the memorial.

Two of Farris’ family members contacted by Reuters declined to comment.

Pirro has recently drawn US President Donald Trump’s anger for dropping charges against four people accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool after Trump oversaw renovations of the pool.

The pool's condition soon deteriorated, with a peeling liner and algae blooms. Pirro blamed that deterioration on faulty installation in dropping the vandalism charges.

Trump said in response that Pirro had "folded like an umbrella."

Trump appeared to link the Reflecting Pool damage to the World War Two memorial in a post on social media on Friday, calling it an insult to Americans who had died in the conflict.

"First the Reflecting Pool, now this," he wrote. "We are on their trail! Where do these animals come from???”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage regained his parliamentary seat on Friday in an election he triggered to bolster his position against allegations of financial impropriety, a strategy that was undermined when his main challenger, a comedian dressed as a trash can, won more than a quarter of the vote.

Farage, one of Britain's leading Brexit campaigners, in a highly unusual move, did not turn up at the vote count in the southern English seaside resort of Clacton because he said the police had advised him there was a campaign to disrupt the result. He also canceled a victory speech planned for later on Friday.

"I am damned if I am going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory… and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies," Farage told supporters at a party before the result was announced.

The election was triggered after Farage resigned from parliament last month to seek a fresh mandate from voters in what he described as a war against an establishment bent on discrediting him over taking undeclared gifts from donors.

The result, while a victory, underscored the political risks of Farage's gamble. With a parliamentary investigation into his finances set to resume, the vote may have done little to remove a threat he wanted to sideline.

After Britain's main parties pulled out of the race, calling it a self-serving stunt, Farage's main challenger ended up being Count Binface, a figure created by comedian Jonathan Harvey, who has become a fixture of fun at British elections.

While Farage took 62.8% of the vote, Count Binface, whose policies included capping the price of ice cream cones and conscripting anyone using a speakerphone on public transport, secured 26.7%.

After enjoying a lengthy lead in the opinion polls, Reform has seen its popularity wane, driven partly by the funding accusations made against Farage, who is under investigation in parliament over whether he should have declared a £5 million gift from a cryptocurrency billionaire investor.

After declaring his decision to trigger the election in Clacton little more than a ploy to distract from those allegations, other British parties pulled out of the race, leaving even some of Farage's strongest supporters questioning whether the veteran politician had been wrong-footed.

Laura Richards-Gray, a politics lecturer at Birkbeck University in London, said the absence of major-party opponents undermined his attempt to turn it into what he called a "people versus the establishment" contest.

"This has backfired, particularly nationally, as Farage lost control of the narrative," she said, adding some voters saw the election as "a waste of time and money."

Farage's position has not been helped by a rise in support for the governing Labour Party.

Since Andy Burnham became prime minister last month, Labour has been enjoying a bounce in ratings, with the party leading Reform 28% to 25%.

Burnham has dominated the airwaves and social media in his first few weeks in office, and while the next national election is expected in three years’ time, he appears to be consolidating a left-leaning bloc around Labour.

Reform, on the other hand, is competing for a divided right-wing vote with the Conservative Party and the anti-immigration party Restore Britain gaining in support.

Despite winning this vote, the parliamentary watchdog is expected to continue its investigation into his financial declarations once he returns to parliament.

At the heart of the investigation is whether he should have declared the gift from a Thailand-based billionaire before the 2024 national election. Under ‌parliamentary rules, members of parliament must declare any donations received in the year preceding an election within one month of taking office.

Farage has admitted receiving the money, but not declaring it, saying he has done nothing wrong because it was a personal gift.

If the parliamentary authorities, who are investigating, conclude that Farage breached declaration rules, he could face a suspension from parliament, and another vote to retain his seat, where the main parties would probably field candidates.

The World War Two memorial in Washington was vandalized with bubbly soap and graffiti on Thursday, prompting vows from the US government to find the perpetrator.

The fountain bubbled over with suds and someone painted "Clean hands Dirty $" on one surface, splattering the area with red and green paint. Uniformed police and National Guard troops converged on the scene, which was cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape, keeping visitors away.

One investigator in plainclothes bent over the site of the graffiti, measuring the damage with a tape measure, Reuters pictures showed. Workers arrived to remove the graffiti, the Washington Post reported, citing Park Police officers at the site.

Dedicated in 2004, the memorial features 56 granite pillars around the edge of an elliptical plaza on the National Mall as a monument to the 400,000 Americans who died and 16 million who served in the armed forces during the conflict, according to the National Park Service.

"The vandalism that occurred is an utter disgrace and will not be tolerated," the Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, said in a statement. "Our US Park Police are on the scene and the investigation is ongoing. The public should know we will find the person responsible for this disgusting act."

The Friends of the National WWII Memorial, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the memorial, called the vandalism “unacceptable,” saying the memorial was a “sacred place of remembrance.”

"There are many places in our country for expression, debate, and disagreement. A national memorial honoring those who served and those who never returned home should never be used as a canvas for vandalism," the Friends said in a statement.

The US role in World War Two is largely a matter of national pride and unity even in highly polarizing times, though many Americans still debate whether the US should have dropped two atomic bombs on Japan to end the war.

The vandalism comes as US President Donald Trump has launched a personal and sometimes politically divisive campaign to alter memorials around Washington.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will impose tariffs on imports of drones and their components, including from some key U.S. allies, with the Trump administration saying the country was “too reliant” on foreign sources of drones.

A proclamation signed by Trump imposes a 100% ad valorem tariff on drones of a certain size or with certain capabilities that are particularly sensitive for national security purposes, the White House said, adding that a tariff of 25% will be imposed on drones that are smaller in size.

A 15% tariff will be imposed on drones and components from the European Union, Japan, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan, and a 10% ad valorem tariff will be imposed on drones from the UK, the White House added.

Trump has made tariffs a central pillar of his foreign and trade policies despite legal setbacks and criticism from some analysts.

Trump said in the proclamation text released by the White House that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had probed the effects of imports of unmanned aircraft systems or drones.

"The Secretary found that import penetration from foreign producers of UAS is substantial and that the United States is too reliant on foreign sources of UAS and UAS components," Trump said.

Lutnick found that drone and drone components from certain foreign entities “pose security and safety risks” and that the domestic US industry does not produce enough to meet security needs, Trump said.

The tariffs will take effect in 21 days, the White House said.

For components of drones that are not particularly sensitive, the tariffs will take effect 180 days after signing, it said.

For products the Pentagon has approved for an exemption from the Federal Communications Commission's "Covered List" within 20 days of signing, the tariffs will take effect 180 days after signing, the White House said.