Overview
- The strike damaged homes and a nearby hospital, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack on August 20 signalled an escalation in Russia’s four‑and‑a‑half‑year invasion.
- Fire crews battled heat‑driven wildfires across the Balkans as Serbian military helicopters scooped water to slow blazes that have spread under drought conditions.
- Beijing opened the multi‑day World Robot Conference where organisers said more than 3,000 robotics products were on display, including VBOT robot dogs.
- In South Africa, Democratic Alliance leaders were photographed putting up 2026 local‑election posters, suspended MP Fadiel Adams testified at the Madlanga Commission, and Chidimma Adetshina appeared in Cape Town court over an alleged illegal entry.
- Activists staged a die‑in protest in Tel Aviv to draw attention to rising settler violence in the Israeli‑occupied West Bank, reflecting wider regional civic concern over civilian safety.