Analysis ✳
Romania shoots down drone near Black Sea gas platform, blames Russia
Romania's air force shot down a sea drone linked to Russia as it approached an offshore gas platform, and the president blamed Moscow.
Anna Linford
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World ✳
Romania shoots down four Russian drones as airspace incursions surge in 2026
Romania belongs to NATO, the military alliance of the US and most of Europe.
World ✳
Canada and US near trade deal as provinces put American liquor back on shelves
Canada's trade minister Dominic LeBlanc says the country is close to a new trade agreement with the United States.
Analysis ✳
War, an unexplained ship incident and pirates hit three sea routes in one week
In the same week, Russia stepped up bombing of Ukraine's Odesa port to cut it off from the Black Sea, an unexplained incident was reported in the Strait of Hormuz (the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that much of the world's oil passes through), and Somali pirates hijacked a cargo ship, their fifth attack since April.
World ✳
Ukraine fires about 620 drones at Moscow in one of war's largest strikes
Ukraine's military launched around 620 drones at Moscow overnight, one of the largest single drone attacks on the Russian capital since the war began.
World ✳
Trump threatens to bomb Oman, the go-between for US-Iran talks
President Trump said the US would bomb Oman if the Gulf country 'gets in the way' over the standoff with Iran, the BBC reports.
Analysis ✳
Ukraine's Weapons Makers Warn Slow State Orders Could Halt Supplies
Ukrainian arms makers have warned their own government that slow, insufficient ordering by the state, not Russian attacks, could be what stops weapons reaching the front next, and they have proposed fixes.
World ✳
Trump says record nine-month Navy deployment near Iran will continue
President Trump said the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which has spent a record nearly nine months at sea backing US operations against Iran, will keep deploying, dismissing concerns about sailors' mental health.
EU asks countries to send Ukraine Patriot missile defenses, but can't force it
Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, and the European Commission are asking EU countries to voluntarily give Ukraine some of their Patriot air-defense systems, which shoot down incoming missiles.
Analysis ✳
Ukraine hits Russian oil port as tension rises across key sea routes
On 12 August Ukraine sent naval drones at Novorossiysk, Russia's main Black Sea oil-export port, part of an ongoing strike campaign.
World ✳
Russia strikes Zaporizhzhia with North Korean missiles, killing six
Russia fired ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea at the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least six people and wounding 19, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Analysis ✳
US expands China blacklist as Beijing widens control over critics abroad
The United States added 43 more Chinese companies to its blacklist over forced labor in the Xinjiang region, bringing the total to 187; China called this unfounded and denies forced labor happens there.