International

Sudan's Army Claims Momentum in Darfur as War's Toll on Children Deepens

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudan's military and allied Darfur rebel factions say they have blunted a series of Rapid Support Forces assaults on a strategic corridor west of el-Geneina this week, a battlefield shift that could set up a decisive fight for one of the paramilitary group's last strongholds in the region. The…

Netanyahu Rejects Trump's 15-Point Gaza Plan, Deepening Rift With Washington Over Hamas Disarmament

Background

Nearly ten months after a ceasefire quieted the deadliest phase of the Gaza war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a blunt rebuff on August 9, 2026, to the peace framework that President Donald Trump has spent the summer trying to sell as the war's final chapter. “Israel rejects the 15-point…

Federal Judge 'Reluctantly' Dismisses Final Jan. 6 Case Against Oath Keepers, Rebukes Justice Department

Background

More than five and a half years after the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, one of the most consequential criminal cases to emerge from that day has come to an unceremonious close. On August 4, 2026, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta granted a Justice Department motion to dismiss the seditious conspiracy…

Senate Narrowly Confirms Todd Blanche as Attorney General, Capping a Bruising Fight Over the Justice Department's Independence

Background

In the early hours of Saturday, August 8, 2026, the United States Senate voted 50-49 to confirm Todd Blanche as the nation's chief law enforcement officer, ending a monthslong confirmation fight that exposed deep fissures within the Republican Party over the independence of the Justice Department under…

In Besieged El-Obeid, the UN Sounds a 'Red Alert' as Sudan's War Enters a New Phase

El-Obeid, Sudan 

In the Sudanese city of el-Obeid, residents have learned to read the sky. Drones — sometimes as many as 40 at once, according to residents interviewed by NPR — hang over the city of roughly 500,000 people, and no place is safe from them: not homes, not the road to school, not the market, not…

Zambia Heads to Landmark Aug. 13 Vote as Debt Recovery, Power Crisis Test Hichilema's Grip

LUSAKA, Zambia  

With four days remaining before Zambians cast ballots in a general election that will double as a referendum on one of Africa's most closely watched sovereign-debt turnarounds, President Hakainde Hichilema is seeking a second term against a hastily assembled opposition coalition, even as his…