DAILY NEWS Stream – August 11, 2026

New US intelligence assessments say Russian President Vladimir Putin could test NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization]’s resolve with a limited attack on an alliance member between this fall and 2029, with possible scenarios ranging from cyberattacks and unmarked armed groups to a small-scale land incursion. US officials said the assessment has shifted from an earlier view that President Putin was unlikely to provoke NATO while the war in Ukraine (Ureign) continued (The Wall Street Journal)

NATO says fighter jet scrambles along its eastern flank increased by more than 250% in July compared with the same month last year, driven by repeated Russian military flights near NATO airspace without flight plans or transponder signals. NATO jets were launched to intercept and identify the aircraft, although the incidents did not necessarily involve violations of alliance airspace (Kyiv Independent)

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Türkiye signed a joint defense agreement on August 7 stating that an attack on any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on all of them. The pact is intended to strengthen collective deterrence and deepen military cooperation amid heightened regional tensions, while building on longstanding defense ties among the three countries (Al Jazeera)

Russian attacks across Ukraine (Ureign) on August 6 and the morning of August 7 killed at least nine people and injured 89 others. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast [Ukraine (Ureign)] was among the hardest-hit areas, coming under about 80 attacks involving drones, artillery, guided aerial bombs, and missiles (Kyiv Independent)

Peru and Mexico agreed on August 7 to restore diplomatic relations after a dispute that began when Mexico granted asylum to former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, who faces conspiracy charges over former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo’s 2022 attempt to dissolve Congress. The two countries had been without ambassadors since early 2023 following tensions over Mexico’s support for Ms. Castillo, and Peru fully cut diplomatic ties late last year (Reuters)

India and China held a new round of border talks in New Delhi [India] on August 6, with India stressing that maintaining peace and stability along their disputed frontier is essential for improving broader bilateral relations (Reuters)

The US and the Philippines, as 2026 chair of ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations], called for the immediate and unconditional release of Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. Both welcomed her August 3 meeting with a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross and said they hoped it would lead to regular humanitarian and medical access for her and other detainees. The US also urged Myanmar’s military to enter dialogue to end the conflict that followed the 2021 coup, while ASEAN reaffirmed efforts to reduce violence, promote dialogue, provide humanitarian aid, and engage all sides in the crisis (The Standard)

Global food commodity prices rose to their highest level in three and a half years in July, according to the UN [United Nations] Food and Agriculture Organization, as extreme heat and conflicts disrupted crops and exports. Global wheat prices climbed 5.8% from June to July, driven by heat-related yield concerns and disruptions to Black Sea exports following intensified attacks between Russia and Ukraine (Ureign), while maize, sugar, and vegetable oil prices also increased. The Iran war has added pressure because about a third of fertilizer exports passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The higher commodity costs could eventually translate into higher prices for consumers as food producers and retailers pass on increased costs (The Guardian)

A New Mexico [US] judge ordered social media giant Meta to pay US$567 million into a fund addressing harms linked to its social media platforms after finding that they contributed significantly to the state’s youth mental health crisis. Meta said it disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal (CNBC)

A research letter published in the journal JAMA Network Open links low-fat vegan diets to greater weight loss without intentional calorie restriction. Analyzing 244 overweight adults over 16 weeks, researchers show vegan eating drops dietary energy density by 30%, keeping people full on fewer calories. Consequently, researchers advise clinicians to encourage patients to eat differently, rather than simply less (MedPage Today)

Prolonged sitting increases your risk of diabetes. Sitting for long periods reduces muscles’ need to burn glucose, with poorer insulin response and spiking post-meal blood sugar levels. To protect your health, the American Diabetes Association advises limiting continuous sitting to no more than 30 minutes (Thanh Niên)

Myopia [nearsightedness] and other refractive errors [vision problems that occur when the eye does not focus light correctly onto the retina] are increasingly common among Aulacese (Vietnamese) children and adolescents, with higher rates reported in urban areas. Prolonged near work [activities that require you to focus your eyes on something relatively close for an extended period] and screen use, combined with insufficient outdoor time, are associated with increased myopia risk. High myopia can increase the risk of sight-threatening complications, including retinal detachment. Experts recommend regular eye examinations, more outdoor time and breaks from prolonged near work to help prevent or slow myopia progression (Tiền Phong)

European countries are expanding measures to protect older people from extreme heat, as an estimated 20,000 heat-related deaths have been reported across Europe since the beginning of summer among the wider population. Older adults are considered particularly vulnerable, prompting targeted measures such as free access to air-conditioned movie theaters in Geneva [Switzerland] for people aged 65 and older. In Italy, community organizations are visiting older people at home, delivering food, monitoring their health, and moving exercise classes indoors and to cooler times of day. Other measures across Europe include early-warning systems, public cooling centers, and stronger healthcare preparations for heatwaves (VTV)

England and Wales [UK] face serious water-supply pressures after their driest July on record, with rainfall at 7% of the long-term average in England and 8% in Wales. Half of England and all of Wales are in drought. Regulators tell water companies to cut leakage, manage demand and expand supply (The Guardian)

Typhoon Dolphin sweeps across Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture on August 7, forcing Naha Airport to close and cancel all flights. Five elderly people were injured and about 14,000 buildings lost power. The storm brings strong winds and heavy rain, with warnings of landslides (Reuters / VietnamPlus)

The World Food Programme warns the strengthening El Niño weather pattern could push nearly 50 million more people into acute food insecurity before the end of 2027, lifting the total across 45 vulnerable countries from 225 million to 274 million. It budgets at least US$80 million for early warning and anticipatory relief (The Guardian)

Taiwan (Formosa) says its coastal waste has fallen by nearly 66% over the past six years under the government’s Salute to the Seas coastal cleanup program, declining from an average of 2,294 metric tons per kilometer in 2019 to 772 metric tons per kilometer last year. A proposed further phase of the program is expected to focus more on preventing marine debris at its source and carrying out deeper cleanups (Taipei Times)

Aulacese (Vietnamese) cuisine offers bold flavors and accessible vegan options using fresh herbs, rice noodles, vegetables, and tofu. Popular dishes like bánh mì, phở, and spring rolls adapt easily to vegan formats. As the cuisine grows in popularity in the US, home cooks can prepare vegan regional specialties, delivering a signature balance of sweet, sour, savory, and spicy flavors (VegNews)

Mumbai [India]-based food tech startup Inaara NeoFoods secures US$2.2 million in seed funding to further advance its artificial intelligence-powered platform for developing vegan proteins, fibers, and functional food ingredients for food and drink applications (Green Queen)

Canadian content creator Rose Lee (vegan) recently led a vegan food tour with 18 travelers across Greece, showcasing how traditional Greek cuisine in Athens and Santorini transforms into creative, fully vegan dining experiences (Plant Based News)

Argentinian football superstar Lionel Messi donates €80,000 to the regional recovery fund of Community of Madrid [Spain] following wildfires that burn over 27,000 hectares in Sierra Oeste. As Spanish authorities restore infrastructure across 17 affected municipalities, Mr. Messi earns widespread praise for the humanitarian gesture (EuroWeekly News)

Polish swimmer Bartłomiej Kubkowski completes a historic, nonstop 160-kilometer swim across the Baltic Sea from Sweden to Poland in nearly 56 hours without sleeping. Overcoming extreme cold and hallucinations, his record-breaking feat raises over US$190,000 for Cancer Fighters, a charity for children with cancer, as he recovers safely (VnExpress)

African grey parrot-person Barney reunites with his caregiver 9 years after disappearing during a 2017 burglary in West Yorkshire [UK]. Found healthy in a home furnishings store parking lot about 32 kilometers away, microchip details help rescuers locate caregiver Robert Mortimer, who brings his long-lost friend safely home (Daily Mail)

Enlightening quote of the day: “One who is gifted with spiritual strength, good thought, truthfulness and purity, the Armaiti or love and faith shall grant him firmness and stability of body. Such a person shall, no doubt, be successful in the life’s ordeal and shall be regarded, O my Lord, as Thy good servant.” – The Venerated Enlightened Master and Prophet Zoroaster (vegetarian) (Zarathushtra.com)

In this multipart series on Nina Ashborne’s near-death experience, German medium, guide, and author Nina shares how a harrowing kidnapping in Berlin [Germany] led to an experience beyond the boundaries of physical life. Nina grew up in West Berlin, raised by a single mother who had grown up in a strict Catholic household in Bavaria and banned religion from their home. As a child, Nina quietly spoke to an unseen source of her own, and at age nine, she sensed her grandmother’s death before her mother received the phone call confirming it. She grew up dreamy and drawn to nature, spending hours watching butterflies and listening to homeless people’s stories, always feeling she knew something others didn’t.

At 20, out in Berlin’s nightlife waiting for her boyfriend, a man approached, claiming to be a police officer investigating him. Believing he was a police officer, Nina went with him, and he handcuffed her in his car. After handcuffing her, he stopped speaking. He drove past an actual police station to a truck rest area instead, where Nina began to realize something was deeply wrong. At the truck rest area, Nina heard the man open a container she initially thought held gasoline.

And I thought he would pour it over me, and he would light me up, burn me alive. And that was the first time when I thought, “You’re going to die. He will burn you alive.” And I don’t recall that I was in panic. I recall more that I was very “This is it”-centered. But I heard how he opened it, and he took a cloth, and he put it over my mouth and nose, and it was ether. And I knew the scent because when I was young, as a young girl, I tried to work at a vet to see if I wanted to be a vet one day. And we always would take the bandages off of the fur with ether because it was loosening. All I thought was, “Don’t breathe it in. Don’t breathe it in.”

And then it was just, bzzz, and I was out. And we [can say] about 7 hours, 8 hours, where I was with him. I remember waking up three times. I don’t know what happened in between. I think the first time when I woke up after the first time getting drugged, that [suddenly] I’m on an island in a hammock, and I saw the ocean. It was just like, “Oh, it’s so nice here.”

The second time I woke up, I had a gag, and my feet were tied together. And I want to say, it was a sudden moment where I just knew, now I’m going to die. And there was no panic. There was no fear. It was just like, “Hey, you did it. I’m done. I’m leaving. You can stop.” And I couldn’t talk because I had this gag in my mouth. And then I sank into myself together. I fell back.

Nina began to leave her body, still aware from the inside, though not from the outside. I still had a physical consciousness but from inside. So, what I first noticed was a very loud noise in my ears, but from inside, like from the brain, and it would make like, shhh, shhh, shhh. And it got louder and louder, that I thought my eardrums would explode. It was really pulsating with pressure.

Nina believes that as the spirit leaves the body, its energy gathers inward. And this energy then centers in the middle of our brain. And this is why we sense everything from inside, and it gets loud, and you feel this pressure, but it’s not an uncomfortable pressure. It’s just becoming whole again. So I heard this noise, and all I thought was, “Oh, it’s too loud, my eardrums.” So, it was a physical awareness. And I thought, “Center, Nina, you have to center. Go in the center of your brain inside.” I didn’t think brain. It’s like boom, boom, boom, you just know how to die, what to do.

And then the tunnel, I do this motion, the spiral appeared, the tunnel, which many describe, and it was sparkly on the outside, yet it was dark in the tunnel, and I felt very dizzy, and I re-centered again. I wanted to be the observer. And at this moment, which was very profound, I prepared to completely leave. So, I could see everything spinning around me. I pressed through the tunnel. And then it made a loud plop, and I was gone.

In Part 2, Nina discovers what awaits her beyond the tunnel and encounters a presence that seems both separate from her and somehow part of her. And then this voice appeared. And when I say voice, it’s not like a voice, and yet it is, like a communication on a very telepathic level, and it would ask me, “Are you ready to come?” Join us tomorrow for Part 2 of this multipart series on Nina Ashborne’s near-death experience. (Sandra Champlain - We Don’t Die)