While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 18, 2026
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US President Donald Trump listens, as his son-in-law Jared Kushner (right) speaks, during the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington DC, on Feb 19.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Trump envoy says Hamas disarmament could begin within 30 days
US President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner said on Aug 17 that progress towards disarming Hamas and moving forward with a Gaza peace plan could begin within a month, after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We could be seeing progress... in as little as 30 days, hopefully starting to take some of the weapons out, and hopefully, you know, filling in some of the tunnels as well,” Kushner told Fox News while in Tel Aviv.
The comments came as Kushner and Netanyahu agreed that an American general would verify Hamas’s disarmament, an Israeli official said, as the premier insisted there would be no Israeli pullout from Gaza until then.
The understanding marks a new attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to satisfy Israel after Netanyahu, facing a tough re-election fight, publicly rejected the latest part of a US plan aimed at ending the devastating Gaza war.
India PM Modi’s BJP replaces social media head weeks after youth protests
PHOTO: EPA
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) replaced its social media head on Aug 17 as part of an organisational reshuffle, the party said, weeks after youth-led protests amplified on social media forced the resignation of the education minister.
The reshuffle is the first by new BJP president Nitin Nabin, who took charge in January and, at 45, is the youngest party chief – a generational shift seen as part of the BJP’s efforts to retain young voters.
Social media head Amit Malviya, who held the post since 2015, was replaced by Deepak Mhaskey, the BJP said in a statement.
Hundreds hospitalised in Yangon cholera outbreak: Minister
PHOTO: EPA
A total of 500 people have been hospitalised for severe diarrhoea in Myanmar’s largest city, a Yangon official said on Aug 17, with nearly 150 testing positive for cholera.
Myanmar’s infrastructure and health sector are creaking after more than five years of civil war – in which more than 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed – and with the economy moribund.
Since Aug 9, 500 people have been hospitalised for diarrhoea, the key symptom of cholera, said the regional social affairs minister Bo Htay.
Los Angeles gang leader masterminded Tupac’s drive-by killing, prosecutor tells jury
PHOTO: REUTERS
A former street gang leader orchestrated the 1996 drive-by shooting of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas in retribution for the beating of his nephew, a prosecutor told jurors during opening statements in a murder trial tied to a long-unsolved crime that became a seminal moment in rap history.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, is charged in Nevada’s Clark County with a single count of murder using a deadly weapon. He has pleaded not guilty. Davis is accused of leading a group of men to kill Shakur, 25, who was one of rap’s most commercially successful and influential artists, in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip.
“You will learn that when the opportunity presented itself for retribution, Duane Davis made sure that the shooters were armed and ready to execute their plan. And remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself,” prosecutor Binu Palal told the jurors in a downtown Las Vegas courthouse, referring to recent public statements by Davis that revived the long-dormant case.
FIFA confirms departure of senior executive Kevin Lamour after Infantino criticism
PHOTO: REUTERS
FIFA confirmed on Aug 17 that Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour has left the governing body, weeks after he publicly criticised President Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell a stake in its tournament business, including the World Cup.
“FIFA can confirm that the working relationship between FIFA and Kevin Lamour as FIFA’s Chief Operating Officer has ended on 17 August 2026,” a FIFA spokesperson said.
“FIFA thanks Kevin for his two years of service and wishes him the best of luck for the future. No further comment will be made on the matter,” the spokesperson added.
