Latest news for 17 August 2026

UNITED STATES

Kushner meets Hamas.

President Trump’s envoy and son-in-law (Jared Kushner) has held a rare meeting with the Hamas political leader in Egypt, pushing the US-backed Gaza roadmap that requires Hamas to disarm. (Axios)

Comment: Kushner is hoping he can tackle this Israel-Hamas standoff as a classic sequencing dispute — he’s now due to see Netanyahu in Israel today (Monday) for a parallel push on Bibi’s phased drawdown in Gaza (something he’s freezing until Hamas disarms). But with only a couple of months until Israel’s high-stakes elections, it’s hard to see Bibi offering any hint of conciliation.

RUSSIA

Drone warfare.

A Spanish fighter jet on NATO deployment has shot down another suspected Russian drone in Romanian airspace, Russia’s fourth such incursion this year. Meanwhile, Ukraine has launched one of its biggest counter-attacks on Moscow this year, with confirmed hits on yet another logistics hub for Wildberries (Russia’s Amazon). (EuroNews)

Comment: The mutual crisis underlying both examples is now air defence, with Putin stripping S-400s and Pantsirs from elsewhere to defend Moscow, while US Patriot production won’t match rising demand until at least end of the decade.

INDONESIA

Earthquake.

A 7.7 earthquake in eastern Indonesia — the country’s biggest quake in years — has left more than 50 dead, 1,350 homes damaged, and thousands more evacuated. (Al Jazeera)

Comment: The relatively remote location has left export industries unscathed for now.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Adiós.

Some 21 Cuban diplomats and family members have now left the Dominican Republic after Santo Domingo’s expulsion order last week. A furious Havana is blaming US pressure. (AA)Comment: The Dominicans haven’t offered an explanation (nor does international law even require one), but it’s the latest in a string of conservative, US-friendly capitals cutting ties with the Cuban regime. It does increasingly look part of a US regional isolation strategy.

MEXICO

Visa drama for ex-president’s son.

President Sheinbaum has criticised a US decision to cancel the visa for the son of her left-leaning predecessor and mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (aka AMLO), calling the decision “essentially political in nature”. The US hasn’t provided public reasons for the revocation. (ABC)Comment: We’re just speculating here, but this is either a) a continuation of that above Trump 2.0 visa strategy to pressure leftist administrations in the region (particularly amid US-Mexico trade and security talks), or b) AMLO Jr is caught up in something shady (pics of the erstwhile party official exiting a Prada store recently went viral). He denies wrongdoing. We’ll see.

ISRAEL

US pressures Bibi on West Bank siege.

The US is pressuring Israel’s Netanyahu to publicly condemn an ongoing siege by Israeli settlers against Palestinian families in the West Bank village of Qusra, with even the staunchly pro-Israel US ambassador (Huckabee) calling it a “horrific act of terror”. (CBC)Comment: This settler siege is becoming a problem for Netanyahu: his coalition will need hard-right support if he wants any chance of surviving October’s elections, and yet that support has long been conditional on his late-2022 pivot to make the expansion and legalisation of outposts Israel’s official policy. But four years later, that same political base is now producing scenes that are not just drawing condemnation (plus renewed attention on the ICJ opinion rejecting Israel’s policy), but even getting a guy like Huckabee now wielding the T-word against Israelis.

MOROCCO

Mass arrests at Spain’s Ceuta border.

Moroccan police have arrested over 100 would-be migrants (and dozens of alleged facilitators) after social media posts reportedly encouraged another mass rush on the Spanish exclave of Ceuta. (Reuters)Comment: The last big surge two weeks ago saw 70,000+ folks enter the Spanish territory, effectively doubling its population while 100+ lost their lives. Nearly all have now returned, with many telling international outlets it was actually the Moroccan authorities themselves encouraging the rush (in presumed retaliation for Spain’s rapprochement with rival Algeria next door, á la 2021 Ceuta crisis). This time around, it’s unclear who’s behind all the social media incitation. Anyway, if the earlier rush was indeed a product of hybrid Moroccan statecraft (claims angrily denied in Rabat), it’s worked, creating a lingering crisis for Madrid not to mention divisions across Brussels.