Portal:Current events/2026 August 21

August 21, 2026 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Russo-Ukrainian war
- Russian attacks on civilians in the Russo-Ukrainian war
  - Kryvyi Rih strikes
    - Russian drone strikes on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine, kill at least 16 people and injure more than 130 others, including 22 children. (Reuters)
  - Mykolaiv strikes
    - A Russian strike on a neighborhood in Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine, kills four people, including three children, according to Ukrainian interior minister Ivan Vyhivskyi. (Ukrinform)
Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Pakistani forces raid multiple hideouts and kill 49 militants allegedly belonging to the Pakistani Taliban and the Balochistan Liberation Army in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)
Myanmar civil war
- Resistance fighters and a local activist say Myanmar's military deployed hundreds of troops around the proposed Dawei Special Economic Zone in the Tanintharyi Region, burning villages and pushing resistance groups back as the government seeks to revive the project. (Reuters)
- At least 14 people are reportedly killed and 20 others are injured after Myanmar's military launched an airstrike on a Buddhist monastery compound in Myaung Township during a religious gathering. (AFP via CNA)

Arts and culture

Business and economy

The Panama Canal announces it will limit the number of ships allowed to cross the passage over the next month due to El Niño causing droughts in the region. (DW)

Disasters and accidents

The death toll of a boat capsizing off the coast of Zambezia Province, Mozambique from August 16 rises to 12 after five bodies of those unaccounted for are found by search teams. (Club of Mozambique)
Three people are killed and six more wounded in an explosion at a house in the Ain al-Qasab village of Idlib, Syria. (AA) (Middle East Eye)

Health and environment

Project Elephant
- India's Supreme Court orders states to protect elephant corridors, identify and remove obstructions, and prohibit groups from using fire to drive wild elephants away amid increasing habitat loss and human-elephant conflict. (AFP via France 24)
Around 16 people in Sudan's Red Sea state have reportedly died from a heat stroke amidst a rise in temperatures in the state. (Middle East Monitor)

Law and crime

Politics and elections

In Mexico, Sinaloan governor Rubén Rocha Moya resumes office after a four-month suspension while contesting U.S. drug-trafficking charges and an extradition request. Mexican prosecutors say they find insufficient evidence linking him to criminal conduct. (AFP via France 24)

Sports

2026–27 Malaysia Super League
- In association football, Johor Darul Ta'zim claims a world record for the longest unbeaten run in top-flight league play, reaching 109 matches after defeating Kuching City 3–0 in Malaysia's Super League. (AFP via RFI)
2026–27 DFB-Pokal
- 85 people were injured, including 35 police officers, after Kaiserslautern fans launched flares towards the main stand, while Mannheim fans stormed the pitch, causing the match between Kaiserslautern and Mannheim to be temporarily interrupted. (Goal)