While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 13, 2026
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (right) – the youngest person to be appointed to the role – will leave her role to spend more time with her family.
PHOTO: EPA
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to leave job at month’s end
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her role at the end of the month, US President Donald Trump said on Aug 12, leaving the president without one of his most trusted advisers ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Leavitt will be an outside communications adviser and party operative shaping the future contours of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, she and Trump said in statements.
In a social media post, Leavitt, 28, said she aimed to spend more time with her young children. She gave birth to a daughter, her second child, in May and recently returned from maternity leave.
“Karoline has been a real leader in the White House, and has done a phenomenal job fighting for Justice, Liberty, and Freedom, since 2018, including our Historic Re-Election Campaign of 2024,” Trump said in a social media post, calling Leavitt “one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office.”
Spain darkens as solar eclipses races south from Arctic
PHOTO: AFP
Day briefly turned to night in Spain on Aug 12, as the country witnessed its first total solar eclipse in more than a century, plunging it into eerie darkness in one of nature’s greatest spectacles.
The spectral glow of the Sun’s outer corona, shimmering out of the edges of the shadowy Moon, drew gasps and cheers from huge crowds, just 90 minutes after it first appeared in the remote Arctic region of northern Russia. “This is crazy!” said one woman in Tarragona, on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, as the crowd beside her applauded enthusiastically.
The eclipse – a first in mainland Europe since 2006 – cast its shadow through parts of Greenland, racing south to smother Keflavik, some 50km from Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, before arcing across the Atlantic Ocean towards northern Spain.
Tel Aviv’s ‘Hostages Square’, focal point for Gaza war protests, officially renamed
The Tel Aviv plaza where for two years people rallied to demand the return of Israelis abducted by Hamas has had its nickname, Hostages Square, made official.
The city on Aug 12 formally renamed the area outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, where Israelis including victims’ families rallied each week after the Oct 7, 2023 attacks.
“History cannot be erased, and we must not allow it to be forgotten,” Mayor Ron Huldai said at the unveiling.
Half of Afghan women rarely leave home as Taliban restrictions deepen: UN
PHOTO: REUTERS
Half of Afghan women now leave their homes only once or twice a month as Taliban-imposed restrictions curtail their freedom of movement and participation in public life, according to data released by UN Women on Aug 12.
As the Taliban prepare to mark the fifth anniversary of their return to power this week, Afghanistan remains the only country in the world to ban girls from secondary education and women from attending university, stated the UN agency, which promotes gender equality.
“Half a decade after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan has systematically dismantled the rights of half its population, making it a global outlier with no parallel in the modern world,” UN Women said in a statement.
PSG retain UEFA Super Cup with 2-1 win over Aston Villa
PHOTO: REUTERS
Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain rubber-stamped their status as Europe’s top team as they beat Aston Villa 2-1 in the UEFA Super Cup on Aug 12.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue netted either side of a debut goal for Villa teenager Brian Madjo in Salzburg as PSG defended the title they first won 12 months ago against another Premier League side, Tottenham Hotspur.
The Super Cup, which pits the winners of Europe’s top club competition against the victorious side from the second-tier Europa League, was officiated by Somalian referee Omar Artan.
