While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 10, 2026
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Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, has described the current stage of the agreement as a commitment involving the US, Hamas and the Board – notably leaving out Israel.
PHOTO: AFP
Gaza plan rejected by Netanyahu ‘only way forward’: Board of Peace chief
The US-backed plan for Gaza rejected on Aug 9 by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains the “only way forward” to prevent a repeat of Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attack, the head of President Donald Trump’s implementation board said.
“The option we are offering today is the only way forward that ensures this tragedy does not happen again,” Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 television.
He said that further talks were underway and, “I hope these discussions will lead to a positive outcome for everyone.”
Netanyahu earlier told his Cabinet that he rejected the plan, under which Hamas would hand over weapons to a nascent Palestinian governing body and Israel would start a withdrawal from the war-ravaged territory.
Iran names new head of top national security body
PHOTO: REUTERS
The former commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rezaei, has been named head of the country’s highest national security body, the Iranian presidency announced on Aug 9.
“In light of the resignation of Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr from his position as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and his appointment to new functions, President Masoud Pezeshkian has named Mohsen Rezaei as the head of this body,” presidency spokesman Mehdi Tabatabaei said on X.
Rezaei, 71, led the Guards from 1981 to 1997 – a tenure that included almost all of the Iran-Iraq war – before going on to occupy several high-ranking political posts. He then served as military adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
Alleged Irish crime boss charged with directing criminal organisation
PHOTO: REUTERS
An Irish court on Aug 9 charged alleged cartel boss Daniel Kinahan with directing a criminal organisation and remanded him in custody after his extradition from Dubai on a government jet.
The 49-year-old Irishman appeared in court after being flown back on the evening of Aug 9 from Dubai on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by Ireland.
He is alleged to be one of the leaders of a transnational group, known as the Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG) or the Kinahan cartel.
Russia says it captures two villages in eastern Ukraine
PHOTO: EPA
Russian forces have taken control of the two villages in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, state-run RIA news agency reported on Aug 9, citing the Russian Defence Ministry.
The ministry report on Telegram said Russian forces had seized Vasyutinske, a few kilometres east of the “fortress city” of Kramatorsk, and Toretsk, south-west of the city of Druzhkivka.
Ukrainian forces made no acknowledgement of the two settlements changing hands and Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports independently.
Lionel Messi bids farewell to father who guided his glittering career
PHOTO: AFP
Argentina football icon Lionel Messi bid farewell on Aug 9 to his father, the global star’s emotional anchor and agent since childhood who passed away following a battle with cancer aged 68.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner touched down on a private flight from Miami late on Aug 8 with his wife Antonela Roccuzzo and their children and has remained surrounded by his close family since.
A private ceremony with a few teammates from the Argentine national squad is scheduled to take place at a cemetery in the town of Perez, adjacent to Rosario, later on Aug 9.
