10 Things Global News - 10th August 2026
Israel rejects Gaza peace plan, Iran holds out for better deal from US and Natural disasters impact Europe, Canada and China | Succinct, unbiased global news
Netanyahu Rejects US-Backed Gaza Disarmament Plan (Geopolitics)
Iran Holds Hormuz As Leverage Over June Deal (Middle East)
Houthi Strike Tests New Saudi Defence Pact (Conflict)
British Columbia Wildfire Forces Mass Evacuations (North America)
Typhoon Dolphin Forces Mass Evacuations Across Eastern China (China)
Myanmar Rejects ASEAN Call And Envoy Process (Asia)
Taiwan Adds Internet Resilience To War Games (Asia)
Western Europe Sets New June-July Heat Record (Climate)
Syria Takes Control Of Key Russian Bases (Middle East)
North Korea May Send Up To 50,000 Troops To Russia (Asia)
A succinct daily briefing delivered each weekday to help you stay on top of the stories shaping the world.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a US-backed 15-point plan for Gaza that would pair Hamas disarmament with a phased Israeli withdrawal, exposing a public disagreement with President Donald Trump over how the process should proceed.
Netanyahu said Israeli forces would not withdraw until Hamas had surrendered all weapons, insisting on “real disarmament”. The proposal instead envisages Hamas handing over weapons in stages to a new Palestinian administration as Israel gradually withdraws. Hamas has reaffirmed its commitment to the plan while arguing that Israel must first cease military operations.
The disagreement leaves the sequencing of disarmament and withdrawal unresolved. The framework calls for a timetable to be agreed within 14 days after all parties approve it but Israel has now ruled out the document.
The Board of Peace nevertheless said it was still seeing Israeli cooperation on the ground in Gaza.
Sources: Washington Post, New York Times
Iran is keeping the Strait of Hormuz largely closed while pressing Washington to restore concessions from a June memorandum using control of the waterway as leverage even as negotiations with Oman near completion.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks with Oman were in their final stages but reopening remained dependent on conditions conveyed through mediators.
Tehran is seeking sanctions relief, an end to the US naval blockade and the release of frozen assets, measures largely contained in the June agreement. Shipping through the strait, which carried about one-fifth of global oil supplies before the war, has fallen to a fraction of pre-war levels.
The uncertainty is feeding into energy markets. Brent crude rose more than 1 percent on Monday to $83.77 a barrel, around 16 percent above its pre-war level as traders weighed the absence of a breakthrough and the risk that any agreement could prove fragile.
Sources: New York Times, Al Jazeera
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery on Sunday, two days after Saudi Arabia signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan amid widening regional instability from the US-Israel war on Iran.
The Saudi energy ministry said a fire at the refinery was extinguished with no injuries, while Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group used a drone in the attack. The pact says an armed attack on any of the three countries would be regarded as an attack on all, although it remains unclear whether or how Turkey or Pakistan would join any Saudi response.
The attack comes after the Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month. Houthi strikes have also targeted the Red Sea port of Yanbu, while access to the Strait of Hormuz remains a major obstacle in US-Iran peace talks, compounding disruption to regional energy routes.
Sources: The Guardian, Reuters
A fast-moving wildfire in British Columbia has killed at least one person and forced more than 20,000 people to evacuate as the province battles more than 100 fires in hot, windy conditions and prolonged drought.
The Bald Range fire, first reported Friday evening, raced about nine miles towards Okanagan Lake within hours and had burned more than 53 square miles by Sunday. Summerland, home to about 12,000 people, was ordered evacuated, while residents in nearby Peachland were also forced to leave. British Columbia Premier David Eby said some people became trapped as conditions changed rapidly with more than 50 rescued by firefighting aircraft.
Officials said the blaze became intense enough to generate its own weather system and lightning. A provincial state of emergency has been declared, giving authorities additional powers as crews continue fighting fires across British Columbia.
Sources: CBS News, BBC
Typhoon Dolphin made landfall in Zhejiang province on Sunday with sustained winds of 151km/h, forcing more than a million people to evacuate across eastern China as authorities warned of flooding and landslides.
Shanghai moved 215,600 people from high-risk areas, while Wenzhou relocated more than 900,000 and opened over 1,500 emergency shelters. Shanghai’s two main airports cancelled more than 80 per cent of Sunday’s flights, and a city-centre weather station recorded its highest 24-hour rainfall in more than 150 years.
Dolphin weakened rapidly to a tropical storm by early Monday but heavy rain was forecast across large parts of eastern and central China through to Wednesday. The storm is expected to move north and inland with authorities warning that prolonged rainfall could trigger widespread flooding and landslides across several provinces. Rail services were also adjusted across Shanghai and five provinces as transport networks prepared for further disruption.
Sources: The Guardian, South China Morning Post
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Myanmar’s military-backed government has rejected ASEAN’s renewed call for the unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and questioned whether the bloc’s special-envoy process should continue beyond the end of this year.
The foreign ministry said any full release of the detained former leader would take place only in accordance with the law. It said Myanmar would continue working with current ASEAN envoy and Philippine Foreign Minister Maria Theresa Lazaro but saw no need to continue that mechanism when Singapore assumes the ASEAN chair on January 1, 2027.
The rebuff follows an International Committee of the Red Cross visit to Suu Kyi last week, her first known contact with an independent international humanitarian organisation since her detention five years ago. President Min Aung Hlaing has also dismissed ASEAN’s 2021 peace plan. Critics say recent elections were designed to consolidate military control and were not free and fair.
Sources: South China Morning Post, India Today
Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang military exercise has expanded into civilian communications resilience with the government deliberately slowing mobile internet for the first time while troops rehearse repelling a Chinese assault.
On Monday, forces on the strategically important Penghu Islands simulated stopping a rapid coastal landing using tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft guns. Reservists also joined the exercise as Taiwan works to integrate them more closely into operational planning.
Later in central Taiwan, authorities will reduce mobile internet speeds to test how citizens communicate if bandwidth becomes scarce during emergencies including a Chinese invasion. ATMs, traffic signals, ambulance calls, landlines and fixed internet will remain unaffected. Northern Taiwan, including Taipei, will hold the same exercise on Thursday. The slowdown forms part of wider efforts to prepare the population for disruption to communications infrastructure and encourage alternative ways to stay connected.
Sources: Reuters, Wall Street Journal
Western Europe recorded its hottest June-July period on record this summer, with the regional average temperature reaching 21.62°C, surpassing the previous mark set in 2022, according to Copernicus.
The extreme heat began in May and has contributed to major wildfires, prolonged drought and new national temperature records. Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, said persistent high-pressure systems trapped heat over western Europe while dry soils reduced natural cooling, allowing temperatures to build more readily.
The consequences are already visible across the continent. More than 530,000 hectares have burned across the European Union this year, while hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated in France and Spain. Wildfire warnings remain in place across large parts of Europe as extreme heat and drought continue to keep risk elevated.
Sources: The Independent, Associated Press
Syria has reached an agreement with Russia that will place key facilities at Hmeimim air base and Tartus port under Syrian civilian control, largely ending Moscow’s use of the two sites as military outposts.
Under the deal, Syria will take over the transport facilities at Hmeimim and commercial sites inside Tartus port. Military facilities at both locations will become joint training and qualification centres after a three-month transition period. Damascus said the arrangement followed about 18 months of negotiations and marked a new phase in Syrian-Russian relations.
The agreement significantly reduces a Russian presence that had made the two bases important staging posts for operations in Africa and the Mediterranean. It comes as Syria strengthens ties with the United States and Europe, while Washington moves to end the country’s state sponsor of terrorism designation and has already lifted most sanctions.
Sources: FT, CNN
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says between 30,000 and 50,000 North Korean soldiers are set to be deployed in Russia, a sharp increase from his July estimate of 30,000. He did not explain how he obtained the information.
Zelenskyy said North Korea was using the war to build experience in modern warfare while receiving licences and military tools from Russia, reflecting growing military cooperation. North Korea has already sent an estimated 14,000 soldiers to Russia’s Kursk region since 2024 and supplied artillery rounds, ballistic missiles and other weapons.
Zelenskyy urged South Korea to deepen cooperation with Kyiv and provide support for Ukraine’s air defence systems, where he said the country faces shortages. Ukrainian diplomats are in contact with Seoul over possible agreements, including a drone deal. Neither North Korea’s embassy in Russia nor South Korea’s foreign ministry immediately commented.
Sources: NBC News, France 24
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On this day …
On this day in 1961, Britain formally applied to join the European Economic Community, beginning a political argument over its relationship with Europe that would span more than half a century.
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s Conservative government had initially remained outside the six-member EEC, but changing economic and strategic calculations led it to seek membership. The application was ultimately blocked by French President Charles de Gaulle in 1963, and a second attempt was vetoed in 1967.
Britain eventually joined in 1973, voted to remain in 1975, then voted to leave in 2016.
Few relationships in modern British politics have proved as enduringly difficult to define.