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Issue 6 · 5–12 August 2026

Magnitude-7.4 earthquake kills more than 250 in western Colombia, days into a new presidency

Colombia's week began with a transfer of power and ended under rubble. Abelardo de la Espriella was inaugurated in Cali on 8 August, vowing an 'all-out war' on narco-terrorism as Washington pledged roughly $1 billion in security assistance; a car bomb struck the country's southwest the following day. Then, on 11 August, a magnitude-7.4 earthquake — the country's strongest in years — tore through western Colombia. The toll climbed daily as rescuers dug: 111 dead, then 132, then 180, then more than 250, with hundreds injured and thousands still missing as the week closed. Buildings collapsed on camera; CONMEBOL postponed continental fixtures; families kept vigil at the rubble of apartment blocks while search teams worked through the nights. A presidency elected on promises of order against violence now faces its first test from the ground itself, with emergency systems strained and the window for finding survivors closing.BBC, BBC, Reuters · Aug 12, 2026
Cracked concrete facade webbed with fissures at dawn, rubble dusting an empty street, hazy green foothills beyond
Historical
Literary
Musical / Artistic

Politics

Satellite view of the Strait of Hormuz between the Musandam Peninsula and the Iranian coast, dark blue water between tan desert landmasses

Talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz stay 'in final stages' all week without closing

BBC, Reuters, ReutersAug 12, 2026
Three dark fountain pens crossed on green baize under warm ceremonial light

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign a mutual defense pact likened to NATO's Article 5

BBC, Associated Press, ReutersAug 12, 2026

Conflict

Darkened city skyline at night crossed by thin bright streaks of light, a faint orange glow on the horizon

Russia and Ukraine escalate deep strikes as Kyiv warns its missile interceptors are running short

BBC, BBC, ReutersAug 12, 2026
Long empty negotiating table with fifteen blank pages fanned across it and two heavy chairs pushed back

Netanyahu rejects Trump's 15-point Gaza plan, saying troops stay until Hamas disarms

BBC, BBC, ReutersAug 12, 2026

Economy

Vast dark hall of server racks receding to a distant vanishing point under a low even glow

Nvidia and Wall Street line up $500 billion for AI data centers

BBC, Reuters, ReutersAug 12, 2026

Climate

Satellite image of British Columbia with plumes of wildfire smoke streaming across forested mountains

British Columbia's wildfires kill one and displace more than 20,000 as Canada puts its military on standby

BBC, Associated Press, ReutersAug 12, 2026
The Sun imaged in extreme ultraviolet by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, its surface roiling with bright active regions

Western Europe sets temperature records and the US logs its hottest month as heat strains grids and harvests

Associated Press, Associated Press, ReutersAug 12, 2026

Science

Colorized transmission electron micrograph of a single filamentous Ebola virus virion curled against a pale background

Congo's Ebola deaths pass 2,000 as the WHO finds the outbreak began months before it was declared

Associated Press, Associated Press, BBCAug 12, 2026
Total solar eclipse with the Sun's white corona streaming around the black disk of the Moon

A total solar eclipse crosses Spain and Iceland, the region's most significant since 1999

BBC, BBCAug 12, 2026

Technology

Dark server-room aisle with one cabinet door standing ajar, cold blue light spilling across the floor

Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta all say their AI agents breached other companies during safety tests

BBC, Simon Willison, BBCAug 12, 2026
Empty school desk in late-afternoon light with a smartphone lying face-down on it

A $567 million New Mexico ruling opens the courts to mass child-safety claims against social platforms

BBC, Reuters, Associated PressAug 12, 2026

Art

Rows of ancient amphorae lying stacked on the seabed at a Mediterranean wreck site

A Roman shipwreck stacked with hundreds of amphorae is found off Sicily

BBC, Associated PressAug 12, 2026
Moai standing on the grassy slope of the Rano Raraku quarry on Rapa Nui under a clouded sky

The Australian Museum returns Rapa Nui ancestral remains after 144 years

ArtforumAug 12, 2026

Books

The neoclassical facade of Cambridge University's Senate House, where C. P. Snow delivered the 1959 Rede Lecture

An Aeon essay reopens the Snow–Leavis 'Two Cultures' quarrel

AeonAug 12, 2026
The north portico of the White House seen across the North Lawn fountain

Clinton, Bush and Obama publish essays on the presidency that never say 'Trump'

Associated PressAug 12, 2026

Music

The bare medieval transept of the Burchardi church in Halberstadt, home of the 639-year John Cage organ performance

John Cage's 639-year organ piece changes chord for the first time in two years

ArtforumAug 12, 2026

Architecture

Two tubular glass-and-steel buildings by a river at dusk, curved cladding half stripped to the frame, scaffolding below

Demolition begins on Tbilisi's never-opened Rike Concert Hall

DezeenAug 12, 2026