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Top 10 stories, 18 August 2026

The ten strongest current-affairs stories of 18 August 2026, each explained from the beginning.

Defence & Security
“The Strategy of Terrorism”
Terrorism is a strategy that uses violence or threats to create fear and pressure political decision-makers. Its targets may be smaller than its intended audience. The goal is not only physical damage. It is to change b…
Based on reporting by Foreign Affairs
Health & Medicine
Ebola in DRC: Deadliest outbreak on record ‘outpacing the response’
Ebola is an infectious disease caused by Ebola viruses. It can produce fever, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea, and sometimes bleeding. The illness matters because severe disease can be fatal, especially when treatment beg…
Based on reporting by France 24
Defence & Security
AI and the Risks of Tearing Down an Old System
Operation Epic Fury was a military campaign in which artificial intelligence became central to the targeting process. The article presents it as a major example of American warfighting using AI to handle information and…
Based on reporting by War on the Rocks
Defence & Security
U.S., Allies Hold Major Ballistic Missile Defense Drill; New Zealand Starts Pacific Patrol
Pacific Dragon 2026 was a biennial, multilateral exercise focused on ballistic missile defense. U.S. 3rd Fleet, the Missile Defense Agency, and international partners worked together around the Hawaiian Islands. The goa…
Based on reporting by USNI News
Politics & Governance
So what’s the strategy for democracy in 2026?
“Strategy for democracy in 2026” refers to the policy choices the United States and its partners should make to protect and strengthen democratic government worldwide. The discussion treats democracy as a security conce…
Based on reporting by Atlantic Council
Politics & Governance
Israeli military ‘paralysis’ on settler violence exposed in West Bank siege
The striking issue is not military capacity. Israel is described as the Middle East’s most powerful military, able to hit targets far from home. Yet troops reportedly did not remove a small group of settlers occupying r…
Based on reporting by South China Morning Post
Environment & Climate
Cement Kilns Could Become Carbon Negative if Run on Clean Energy as Limestone Absorbs CO2
A carbon-negative cement kiln would have a net climate benefit. Across its full process, it would take more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it releases. That is different from merely lowering emissions, which st…
Based on reporting by Good News Network
Science & Technology
The Unwritten Benchmark: A New Challenge for Multimodal Machine Learning in Abstract Perceptual Reasoning
The Unwritten Benchmark is a proposed challenge for multimodal AI. It examines whether a model can reason about hidden or unstated information while events unfold. The article presents it as a test of abstract perceptua…
Based on reporting by ArXiv AI
Environment & Climate
‘We humans are inept at taking care of baby animals’: why well-fed orphan bears die in the wild
The release was meant to return orphaned grizzly cubs to the wild, but the outcome was devastating. All but two of the 12 bears were dead within a year. That result shows how difficult survival can be for young bears wi…
Based on reporting by Guardian Americas
Social Issues
How slavery reparations could help make yearning to return to Africa a reality
In this context, reparations means actions intended to address harms created by the enslavement of Africans and by colonial rule. The goal is not only compensation for past suffering. It also involves repairing continui…
Based on reporting by Guardian Americas

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