Month: August 2026

Pakistan is increasingly positioning itself as one of the Middle East’s most important diplomatic players.

Over the past week, Islamabad has simultaneously deepened strategic ties with Syria, prepared for high-level talks with Iran, and continued its role as a potential mediator between Tehran and Washington.

In a sense, Pakistan had taken a step back over the last two months. Now it is trying to return to the table. Pakistan is seeking to become an influential actor in shaping the region’s future. This was clear over the last year. The Trump administration has trusted Pakistan and worked with it.

The timing is important. The Middle East remains in transition following the US and Israeli military campaign against Iran that began in late February. While a memorandum of understanding is supposedly in play, tensions continue to grow. Iran is increasing its threat. The US is also talking up new economic pressure.

According to the media site Rudaw, Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is expected to travel to Tehran as part of Islamabad’s effort to promote “regional stability.” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the visit is intended to strengthen cooperation while continuing Pakistan’s “good offices” in promoting peace and security.

The announcement followed a telephone conversation between Munir and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who discussed developments and diplomatic efforts. There is a lot of generalized language here. However, what is important is that the visit is happening.

Pakistan’s role has evolved over the last several months. Rudaw noted that Islamabad helped mediate between Iran and the United States after the outbreak of fighting earlier this year, contributing to negotiations that produced a memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington.

Although tensions remain, Pakistan has emerged as one of the countries capable of maintaining dialogue with both sides.

That role may become even more important as Washington increases economic pressure on Tehran.

US President Donald Trump recently announced what he described as economic warfare against Iran, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promised tough sanctions. Those measures are expected to further tighten restrictions on Iran’s economy and increase pressure on countries that continue commercial ties with Tehran.

Iran has responded with new threats. Iran feels confident it can outfox the Americans.

According to a second Rudaw report, Mohsen Rezai, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned neighboring countries against cooperating with the new American sanctions campaign.

Rezai stated that if the economic blockade continued, Iran would prevent Gulf oil exports from leaving the region. “If the blockade continues, we will not allow a single drop of Persian Gulf oil to leave via any route,” Rezai said in remarks carried by Iranian state TV.

He also noted that Iran could target American economic interests if pressure continued, while insisting that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until Washington changed its policies. Iran is showcasing its continued arrogance.

These comments illustrate how the confrontation between the US and Iran has shifted. Earlier phases centered on military conflict: Missile strikes, drone attacks, and military operations. Now the competition is taking place through sanctions, maritime pressure, and competing trade routes. Each side wants to see who will blink first. Hormuz remains important to that struggle because roughly 20% of global oil shipments previously transited the waterway before the conflict disrupted maritime commerce.

Pakistan is expanding its regional partnerships elsewhere. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani recently concluded the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister to Pakistan in 19 years.

The visit reflects Damascus’s broader effort to rebuild regional relationships following the fall of the Assad regime and to establish what Syrian officials described as a “new Syrian state.”

During meetings with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Army Chief Asim Munir, and other senior officials, the two countries discussed expanding cooperation in politics, security, trade, aviation, and investment. Syria welcomed the recently announced Mecca Agreement for Mutual Defense and praised Pakistan’s role in supporting regional stability.

SANA reported that the two governments also discussed investment forums, restoring direct flights, and coordinating on regional diplomacy, including Pakistan’s efforts to reduce tensions between Iran and the US.

Syrian officials emphasized that Pakistan now sits alongside Saudi Arabia and Turkey as one of Syria’s strategic partners.

Mohammad al-Jaffal, an adviser at Syria’s Foreign Ministry, said relations with Riyadh, Ankara, and Islamabad represent three complementary tracks designed to strengthen Syria’s regional role. This could lead to Syria joining the new alliance of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, which would raise eyebrows in Israel, where tensions are growing with Turkey.

Taken together, these developments point toward Pakistan becoming a bridge between multiple countries. Islamabad maintains longstanding defense cooperation with Saudi Arabia. It has steadily expanded military and industrial cooperation with Turkey. It is now rebuilding relations with Syria while preserving dialogue with Iran and maintaining working ties with Washington.

For the US, Pakistan’s expanding regional role presents many opportunities. Islamabad’s ability to communicate with Tehran, Damascus, Riyadh, Ankara, and Washington could prove valuable during the next crisis.

Pakistan must be careful, though. It has to show the Trump administration it can achieve results. The administration now wants to see things happen that can help the US wind down this conflict. At the same time, balancing those relationships will become increasingly difficult if conflict between Iran and the US continues to grow.

The coming weeks will provide an early indication of whether Pakistan can successfully maintain its role as a regional mediator while also expanding its strategic initiatives.

US President Donald Trump capped celebrations of the US 250th anniversary with a first-of-its-kind auto race through the streets of Washington, closing a summer of sports and spectacle as drivers sped past the capital's iconic landmarks.

IndyCar’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix zoomed through the National Mall, past the US Capitol, down historic Pennsylvania Avenue and around the National Archives, in the marquee event on Sunday afternoon.

The race was expected to draw roughly 200,000 spectators, officials said, and tickets were free. Passes to private trackside clubs sold for $5,000.

Trump’s motorcade took an honorary loop around the race course before he waved the green flag to officially start the 250-mile (402-km) race at about 1:18 p.m. ET (1718 GMT). Although the green flag at IndyCar events typically is waved atop a tower at the start/finish line, Trump remained in his presidential box for Sunday’s start.

"I don't know if anything will ever top what we're going to be having," Trump said in July as drivers visited the White House to celebrate the start of the race course's construction.

The race is the latest in a series of sporting events Trump has used to celebrate the country and his second term, even as his approval rating has dropped to the lowest point since he returned to the White House in January 2025, and the US is embroiled in a war with Iran.

He opened the summer with a professional mixed martial arts bout on the South Lawn of the White House, then presented the trophy to FIFA World Cup champion Spain a month later.

Earlier in August, he appeared at the “Patriot Games,” a cross between a game show and track meet for high school athletes, televised on sports network ESPN.

For Trump, the events have served to raise his profile, both domestically and globally. The UFC fight card was streamed internationally, and during the World Cup trophy presentation, he lingered at mid-pitch while the Spanish team hoisted the trophy.

IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward, who races for Arrow McLaren, told the Fox News Sunday show he was feeling "pretty surreal" ahead of the race.

"We never thought that we were going to be racing here anytime in 2026," O'Ward said. "Everyone's excited that we're here and, I mean, it's a pretty picturesque backdrop."

The Washington race has faced its share of criticism. The track was originally set to run through the grounds of the US Capitol, but the proposal required lawmakers’ approval and stalled in Congress. Advertising is prohibited on Capitol grounds, and the race cars, with their dozens of corporate sponsors, along with trackside billboards, would have run afoul of those regulations.

Trump instead issued an executive order commanding Transportation Department officials to draw up a course that did not require congressional sign-off.

Officials paused air traffic at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport for three hours at midday on Sunday to accommodate the IndyCar event's military flyovers, including one featuring a Boeing 747 jet often used as Air Force One, and another including what appeared to be a B-2 stealth bomber.

The city's police closed major thoroughfares downtown due to pedestrian activity and security procedures.

Race officials said the city's roads will not need much refurbishment before or after the race, in which drivers are expected to reach 185 miles per hour (298 km per hour) on the Pennsylvania Avenue straightaway.

The event has dozens of corporate sponsors, including major companies such as Boeing, SpaceX's Starlink, and Delta Air Lines, which will be sponsoring an IndyCar race for the first time, Bud Denker, the Grand Prix's chair and president of Penske Corp., said on Thursday.

India’s Coast Guard and Navy continued search-and-rescue operations off the eastern coast on Sunday after a Panama-flagged cargo vessel carrying 24 crew sank, with two Chinese nationals rescued, a senior official said.

The two rescued Chinese seafarers said the vessel developed a list on Friday and sank within eight minutes, forcing crew to abandon ship, Shyam Jagannathan, director general of India’s Maritime Administration, told Reuters.

Jagannathan said the chances of finding survivors generally fall sharply after 12 hours, but rescuers were continuing the search.

Twenty-two crew members remain missing from the Ocean Winner, including 18 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals, and one Bangladeshi, according to the Indian Coast Guard.

The Indian Navy is closely coordinating with the Coast Guard to locate the remaining crew, the Navy said in a post on X.

The Coast Guard has sent two vessels from Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly known as Port Blair, for the search-and-rescue operation, a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

The Ocean Winner was carrying iron ore bound for China after departing from India’s eastern Paradip port on Friday, according to an initial report prepared by India’s Maritime Administration.

The cargo ship sank about 240 nautical miles from the port, according to government sources.

The cause of the sinking was not immediately known.

Iranian hackers affiliated with the regime in Tehran shut down a British power plant for four days in an “unprecedented” cyberattack in late July, the Telegraph reported on Saturday. 

According to the Telegraph, it is believed to be the first successful attack of its kind in the UK.

Though British officials have not named the targeted power plant, citing security concerns, the outlet noted that it is “relatively small” and, as such, the attack did not affect the UK’s national power supply or its ability to generate power.

“We have thresholds for important generators to legally notify us of cyber activity, and this site is nowhere near,” a British government source told the Telegraph. “It’s a very small-scale site, less than a rounding error compared to grid capacity.”

A British government spokesperson added that the UK has a "highly resilient energy system."

"We work closely with the energy sector to protect infrastructure and ensure the highest security standards," the spokesperson said. “This story refers to an incident impacting a small-scale energy generator, and at no point was there a risk to the wider energy system.”

The attack occured during the reported Iranian cyberattack that targeted over 30 municipal water systems in Minnesota and several other states in the US, according to the Telegraph.

US President Donald Trump stated in late July that he did not think Iran was behind the cyberattack

Joe Slowik, director of threat research for Dataminr, told The Washington Post at the time that similar attacks have occurred in water and energy systems across the United States since the beginning of the war with Iran.

“It is not a secret that these things have been taking place since the spring,” he said. “There have been disruptions in multiple critical infrastructure sectors. It’s a big deal.”

Kurt Gaudette, head of intelligence for Dragos, noted that the cyberattacks had generally been against "very low-hanging fruit" – vulnerable systems such as small utilities that used default passwords and whose controllers were open to the internet.

Tzvi Jasper and Goldie Katz contributed to this report.

Over 20 actors who have appeared in Marvel films have joined a campaign calling for the release of convicted Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti, according to an Instagram post published on Friday by the group, freemarwannow.

Among the actors who have joined the “Freedom for Marwan” campaign are Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Doctor Strange; Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk; Ian McKellen, who plays Magneto; and Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, and others.

According to the post, Barghouti's family launched the campaign at the end of last year in coordination with organizations in the UK.

The post included the statement, “We express our grave concern at the continuing imprisonment of Marwan Barghouti, his violent mistreatment, and denial of legal rights whilst imprisoned. We call upon the United Nations and the Governments of the World to actively seek the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison.”

According to campaign organizers, more than 200 cultural figures, including actors, musicians, writers, and directors, have attached their signatures, showing their support for the movement.

Barghouti is a former leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a terrorist organization that carried out many suicide bombings and shooting attacks during the Second Intifada.

According to Israel, Barghouti orchestrated or was responsible for, among others, the following attacks between 2001 and 2002: the murder of a Greek Orthodox monk on the road to Ma’aleh Adumim; the shooting attack during a bat mitzva celebration at a banquet hall in Hadera that killed six Israelis; a shooting spree on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem during which two Israelis were killed and 37 people wounded; a shooting attack in Neve Ya’acov in which an Israeli policewoman was killed; the murder of an Israeli at the Bashkevitz coffee and spice factory in the Atarot industrial zone of Jerusalem; the suicide attack perpetrated by Daryan Abu Aysha at the Maccabim checkpoint in which two policeman were wounded; the shooting spree at the Seafood Market restaurant which killed three Israelis.

Israel ultimately convicted Barghouti of five counts of murder and one of attempted murder in 2004. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms plus 40 years in prison.

Barghouti’s supporters, however, consider him to be a de facto Palestinian leader and symbol of resistance. Many argue that he was unjustly imprisoned and suffers violence in prison.

In May, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa became the first sitting head of state to sign an international petition demanding the release of Barghouti.

A recent poll showed that the most popular candidate for Palestinian leadership is Barghouti, with 54% of likely voters saying they would vote for him in a hypothetical presidential election.

Danielle Greyman-Kennard contributed to this post.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is expected to step down by the end of the year, leaving the Army without a Senate-confirmed leader after months of tension with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. 

This follows Hegseth's April firing of General Randy George as the army's chief of staff without explanation, drawing criticism from Republicans in Congress and from Driscoll, who described George as "an amazing, transformative leader."

US President Donald Trump has not yet nominated a replacement. Hegseth's former senior military aide, General Christopher LaNeve, has been serving as acting Army chief of staff.

Reports of tension between Driscoll and Hegseth emerged early in the Trump administration after Hegseth shut down Driscoll’s offer to organize a visit by US Vice President JD Vance and Trump to meet soldiers and talk about military reform, according to the WSJ. 

Driscoll and George were close partners and worked to integrate new technology into the military, seeing it as the future of warfare, the WSJ wrote. 

The two also traveled to Ukraine together with General Chris Donahue, the army's former top general in Europe, so Driscoll could meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about peace negotiations.

During his 18 months as army secretary, Driscoll encouraged the military to act like the Ukrainian army in finding ways to use commercial technology on the battlefield. Private companies have since pledged to spend more than $25 billion building data centers, critical mineral refineries, and dining facilities on army bases across the country, according to the WSJ. 

Driscoll and his family moved out of the house reserved for the army secretary at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, where several top defense officials lived; his family relocated to North Carolina, and Driscoll himself moved into a smaller apartment on base, the WSJ wrote. 

Trump praised Driscoll last month, calling him one of “the best guys.”

“With that beautiful smile, but he’s actually a killer. Look at that beautiful, nice face. Everything’s so happy. He’s a killer. Would you believe it? Those are the best guys, actually,” he said.

A US Army unit in Georgia is offering active duty service members a four-day pass to play the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI video game in exchange for at least two more years of service, CBS News reported Wednesday. 

The report cited a memo that first appeared on US Army WTF! Moments, which says any soldier who signs a reenlistment contract between Aug. 1 and Nov. 14 will be authorized for a special four-day pass designated to coincide with “the highly anticipated release of the video game Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6).” 

In exchange for the four-day playing pass, active duty soldiers would reenlist for a minimum of two years and up to six years.

Task & Purpose and Military.com were the first to authenticate the memo, the report said. 

The offer was proposed exclusively for one battalion in Georgia, but the program could be expanded across the military.

Twenty soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia in the Army’s 9th Brigade Engineering Battalion, part of the 3rd Infantry Division, have already agreed to the incentive, and approximately 130 soldiers are currently eligible for the offer. 

Over the years, the army has used various enlistment bonuses and incentives, including college tuition assistance, choice of duty station assignments, and access to special training programs where soldiers learn to jump from airplanes, to encourage soldiers to enlist or re-enlist.

The idea behind this reported offer is to connect with soldiers' unique interests.

"The idea was to have a unique incentives program that connects to what Soldiers are interested in," Lt.-Col. Angel Tomko, a spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division, said in a statement. "The command team, in conjunction with the career counselor, wanted to get soldiers excited to reenlist."

It has been over a decade since the last version of the game, GTA V, was published in 2013 by Rockstar Games, and the announcement of the the new publication has created intense anticipation for the gamers.

Again set in a fictional version of Miami and featuring its first female lead, the game is set for release on November 19th.

Notably, this isn't the first time the army has crafted a reenlistment incentive aimed at the gaming community.

After the army missed its recruitment goals in 2018 for the first time in more than a decade, recruiters were exploring alternative ways to sign new recruits.

Recruiters began attending gaming conventions, and the army launched an esports team focused on the popular video game franchise Call of Duty, along with other multiplayer games like Fortnite and League of Legends, to find potential recruits.

The US imposed 50% tariffs on some ‌Canadian goods on Saturday after the two longstanding allies failed to reach a trade deal, with each side accusing the other of derailing days of talks.

The tariffs that came into effect just after midnight (0400 GMT) on some $20 billion of Canadian goods – things like wooden ice hockey sticks that are rarely used anymore – are far ​from an economic game-changer for the largest US trading partner after Mexico. That represents just over 5% of Canada’s exports to ​the US.

But the new tariffs mark an increase in tensions between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney, ⁠and will likely make broader talks to renew the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement more difficult.

Carney said he had suspended trade negotiations and ​Canada would retaliate “dollar for dollar” on the new tariffs.
“I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the US and have directed Canada’s negotiators to ​return to Ottawa,” Carney said in a statement.

“They (negotiators) have worked hard, in good faith, to defend the interests of Canadians throughout these negotiations up until the very last minute,” he said. “However, last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”

Carney, the only person to ​ever run the central banks of two major economies, was elected last year on promises to stand up to Trump, and remains broadly ​popular. Polls show most Canadians oppose making any concessions to Trump.

Hours earlier, the two sides had seemed close to an agreement that sources said would have ‌lowered ⁠tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos and potentially brought American alcohol back to Canadian liquor stores.

"Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said during a White House briefing.

"This is a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States, which is the fastest-growing economy in the G7," Greer said.

A senior Trump administration official said the US offer ​would have put Canada in the ​best tariff position of any ⁠major exporter to the US, but that Canada had sought additional concessions, especially on steel, aluminum, autos and softwood lumber.

No additional talks are scheduled as the US implements the new duties, the official said.

Trump last month ​threatened to impose a raft of duties on a range of Canadian imports, including wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods, and hockey equipment.

The tariffs, which do not qualify for preferential treatment under the US-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement, open up some already vulnerable sectors to potential severe damage that could lead to job losses and business closures, trade experts have said.
 
The decision by the US administration followed three days of ⁠talks in ​Washington between Canada’s minister for trade with the US, Dominic LeBlanc, and Greer.

The new duties add to existing US tariffs on steel, lumber and autos, which have taken a major hit in the last 18 months, although the malaise has been largely contained within these sectors.

A South Korean container ship sets sail on Saturday for Europe via the Arctic in the nation’s first commercial voyage on the route to test its viability, with the hope of turning the southeastern port of Busan into a global maritime hub.

The PanStar Acro will sail north, hugging eastern Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, cross the Bering Sea, and take the Northern Sea Route, stopping in Felixstowe in Britain, Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Poland’s Gdansk before returning on a journey expected to take 40 to 45 days.

President Lee Jae Myung has made Arctic shipping a priority for South Korea, a shipping powerhouse. Officials say this could help transform Busan and position the Arctic as a regular trade route by 2030.

But the project risks friction with Western allies hoping to keep Russia isolated during its war against Ukraine. Seoul has consulted with Moscow about the journey, including whether the ship needed help to tackle any problems, such as getting stuck in ice.

South Korea's Oceans Ministry and Russia's Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests ​for comment.

Last year, 88 vessels made 103 transits through the route, up from 97 in 2024 and 43 in 2022, chiefly from nations such as Russia and China, according to Norway’s Centre for High North Logistics.

Melting Arctic ice has made passage through the north easier, while the increased shipping in turn accelerates global warming, scientists say.

The 2,758 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) container ship operated by South Korea's PanStar has secured 837 TEU of cargo, including auto parts, chemical products, and about 100 empty containers on the government-backed voyage.

The PanStar Acro is scheduled to flag off around 8 p.m. (1100 GMT), depending on loading and preparations, a government official said.

A US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace on Friday, in a move the US 7th Fleet said “demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

The Chinese military tracked and monitored the patrol and reconnaissance aircraft throughout the transit, the state-backed Global Times newspaper reported, citing a military source, saying the “situation was under control”.

US military ships or aircraft every few months pass through or above the waterway that separates democratically governed Taiwan from China — missions that anger Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the United States next month to meet President Donald Trump as Washington and Beijing look to stabilize ties marred by issues including Taiwan, trade disputes and technology curbs.

"By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations," the 7th Fleet said in a statement.

“The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the US say the strait is an international waterway.

Beijing has repeatedly said the Taiwan issue is its internal affair and at the core of Beijing's interests — a red line that must not be crossed or trampled on.

Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying that only Taiwan's people can decide their future.