Stories for August 2026

Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 18:47 UTC
Rhine barges run at 20% of capacity as freight rates surge

Falling water levels on the Rhine are forcing barges to operate with a fraction of their usual load and have sharply raised the cost of river transport, as drought and extreme temperatures affect Europe's main inland waterways.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 16:08 UTC
Milei on Lula: released over a procedural flaw, not for being innocent

Argentine President Javier Milei repeated his accusations against Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday, arguing that the corruption convictions once against him were annulled on formal grounds, in remarks that came just as Brazil's ambassador to Buenos Aires was preparing to return after being recalled for consultations.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 07:24 UTC
Milei says he has chosen a 2027 running mate amid rupture with his vice president

Argentine President Javier Milei said he has already decided who will run alongside him as vice-presidential candidate in the October 2027 elections, while withholding the name, in remarks that come amid an open confrontation with his current vice president, Victoria Villarruel.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 07:20 UTC
Conflicting accounts over whether Spanish intelligence warned of mass entry into Ceuta

Spanish intelligence services concluded that Morocco did not plan last Thursday's mass entry of people into Ceuta, although it allowed the crossings and drew political benefit from the international attention, according to sources cited by El País. Other reporting contradicts that account on a key point: whether the government was warned in advance.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 00:30 UTC
Why Europe still buys Siberian larch? Properties, supply overview

Russia holds roughly a fifth of the world's forest area, and for two decades one species from that vast resource dominated Europe's timber facades: Siberian larch. Dense, cheap for what it offered, and shipped west in enormous volumes, it became the default cladding board from Norway to the Netherlands. Then, in 2022, the trade stopped almost overnight — and the European market has been improvising ever since.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 00:21 UTC
Prediction Markets Force US Courts to Decide Who Regulates a Bet

The question now before several United States appellate courts is not whether Americans may wager on sporting events. It is which government gets to say so.
Sunday, August 2nd 2026 - 21:39 UTC
A child's death in Argentina reopens debate over court-ordered family reunification

The death of a two-year-old girl in Villa Gesell, on the coast of Buenos Aires province, and the detention of her mother have drawn scrutiny to Argentina's child protection system, and in particular to court-ordered family reunification proceedings.
Sunday, August 2nd 2026 - 20:43 UTC
Two crew killed as firefighting helicopters collide in midair in Greece

Two crew members were killed on Sunday when two helicopters battling a wildfire collided in midair in the Psatha area, on the boundary between Attica and Boeotia northwest of Athens, the Hellenic Fire Service said.
Sunday, August 2nd 2026 - 20:29 UTC
Lula pledges defense spending so no one invades Brazil as he confirms his candidacy

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pledged on Sunday to increase defense investment if he wins October's elections, as his re-election bid was formalized at the Workers' Party national convention held at the Expo Center Norte in São Paulo.
Sunday, August 2nd 2026 - 20:11 UTC
Bachelet places fourth in first Security Council straw poll ahead of Uruguay debate

Former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet placed fourth in the Security Council's first informal poll on the candidates seeking to succeed António Guterres at the head of the United Nations, held behind closed doors in New York on Thursday.